The new Hulu series Welcome to Chippendalesdebuts today, chronicling the dramatic story of the Chippendales founders Steve Banerjee and his business partner Nick De Noia, and how their relationship went from success to scandal.
Kumail Nanjiani portrays Banerjee, an Indian immigrant who realized the American dream, and he tells ABC Audio he can relate to some of Banerjee’s journey, specifically “the idea of coming here and having to prove yourself and trying to make it.”
“And then coming here with an idea of what American success looks like and seeing how different it is from the reality of it… I sort of understood coming here, wanting to make your mark,” says Nanjiani, before adding, “However, I would like to think we chose different paths to get there.”
Surprisingly, neither Nanjiani nor his costar, Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Banerjee’s wife Irene, have actually been to a Chippendales show, but they feel they got the full experience through the recreations on set.
“There were times where we would have to, like, be silent because we needed sound, and there would be a part where they’d rip off their pants. And all of us would still go, Oh!” Ashford recalls.
“200 women and me going, Oh!,” adds Nanjiani.
Despite not making it a show, Ashford was familiar with this story before filming, thanks to her mother, who also has never been.
“I actually have a mother who really likes to watch crime shows. She’s a murder porn person… she likes murder porn,” she explains. “And so from my mother, I knew the ins and outs of the dark dramas of the Chippendales legacy.”
As for how she thinks her mother would react to a Chippendales show?
“… My mom would have a Diet Coke and a good scream in the corner,” she says.
(NEW YORK) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told “The View” Tuesday that the state should take a second look at how local sheriffs are using the red flag law to protect citizens in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs.
On the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance on Saturday, Nov. 19, gunfire erupted at Colorado Springs’ LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q. According to police and officials briefed on the investigation, suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich allegedly walked into the club with a legally purchased assault-style rifle and began shooting, leaving five people dead and 17 injured.
Aldrich was arrested and is facing five counts of murder and five counts of bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, which is Colorado’s hate crime law.
In June 2021, prior to the LGBTQ nightclub shooting, Aldrich allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb. After his mother’s neighbors evacuated the surrounding area, bomb squad and crisis negotiators persuaded him to surrender. Still, charges against Aldrich were dropped and there were no public records that indicated police or relatives attempted to trigger Colorado’s red flag law.
“The View” co-host Joy Behar pressed Polis on Colorado’s low-rate of using the red flag law and questioned why authorities never took away Aldrich’s weapons. Noting that everyone is currently focused on the shooting victims and healing, Polis said that “if there’s one law to focus on,” it’s Colorado’s red-flag law, a bill which he signed on April 12, 2019.
Polis went on to explain that while Aldrich did allegedly make a bomb threat in the past and was apprehended at the time, charges were never pressed.
“What this should trigger is law enforcement can then seek a red flag or extreme risk protection order just to remove custody of guns from somebody who might be dangerous,” he said. “That’s what we’d like to see more of.”
“This is a new law in Colorado,” he continued. “But it’s really up to local law enforcement, and in this case it really looks like we should take a second [look] at how our local sheriffs used this law to protect people when there’s these kind of threats and danger.”
During a press conference Monday, police identified patrons Thomas James and Richard Fierro – who was in the U.S. Army for 14 years – as the heroes who stopped the suspected gunman. Polis mentioned that the two patrons who attacked the gunman are still recovering and calls their act of heroism “a tremendous thing,” adding that “they were lucky to be at the right place at the right time and make the right decision, otherwise dozens more people would be in mourning.”
After speaking with the families of the five victims who were fatally shot at Club Q, Polis said that the families “are in a complete state of shock.”
“These were people who were just out being who they are in a part of the state, a part of the country where it isn’t always easy,” he continued. “This is a somewhat conservative area. This was a refuge, this Club Q the largest LGBT club in Colorado Springs.”
Polis said that he told the owners of Club Q that he wants to be there to show solidarity.
“There’s never gonna be any motive that makes sense to any of us. It’s an act of evil,” he said of the mass shooting. “People should talk about our love and respect for one another rather than ever trying to set one group of people against another as unfortunately some do.”
“It will take time to heal and to come back from that, but we’re strong,” Polis said. “I’m committed to working with Colorado Springs and the LGBT+ community to make sure that we can heal in a good way.”
Since January 2019, Polis has been serving as Colorado’s governor, making him the first openly gay man to win a U.S. gubernatorial election. As the first openly gay man to govern a U.S. state and Colorado’s first Jewish governor, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked him how it feels to be a part of groups being targeted.
Polis explained that while he usually tries to ignore hateful rhetoric directed towards him or his communities, not everything can be overlooked.
“Sometimes we need to speak out more when people cross the line, and I think that’s a lesson I’m going to take from this, just to be more outspoken,” he said.
“You can have your opinions, left, right, conservative, liberal, you know, whatever they are is fine. But there’s a line to cross when you denigrate people just based on who they love or their faith or their race, and that’s never okay,” Polis continued. “We need the to be very clear in saying that.”
GAYLE,one of the openers on Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour, revealed how the two met up for the first time.
Speaking with E! News, the singer explained, “I was playing at this award show which is called NSAI — Nashville Songwriter Association International — which helps songwriters get more rights, royalties and all of that.” Her song “abcdefu” was nominated for that event.
“It’s a very high honor especially because it’s writers saying, ‘I appreciate the song,'” GAYLE explained before diving into how she and Taylor crossed paths.
Taylor, as it turned out, was nominated for Artist/Writer of the Decade.
“I obviously didn’t think she was going to show up,” GAYLE explained. “All the sudden I was there and she was there. and I played ‘abc’ and she came up to me and was like, ‘You did such a good job, I love the song’ and was being very complimentary and said some very encouraging things.”
And the rest was history. GAYLE also took a moment to honor the hitmaker, saying, “Genuinely what she has done for women in Nashville and female songwriters — she showed us we can do it.” The teen singer adds she thanked Taylor for inspiring her.
“I wanted to personally thank her for giving me the inspiration to move to Nashville and become a songwriter and I don’t think I would be where I am if it wasn’t for her showing me I could maybe do it,” she said.
Now, fans are curious to see if GAYLE and Taylor will unleash a collaboration. “Anything she wants I am there,” she declared.
Bonnie Raitt is set to help Brandi Carlile celebrate motherhood next May. The singer is one of several artists who have signed on for Brandi’s new Mothership Weekend festival, taking place May 12 to 14 aka Mother’s Day weekend, in Miramar Beach, Florida.
“This is a celebration of matriarchy through rock & roll,” Brandi shares on Instagram. “Bring the kids, bring your wife, bring your mom, or just come alone and you’ll immediately find yourself surrounded by family.”
Bonnie is booked to perform Sunday, right before Brandi’s headlining spot, with Fancy Hagood also on Sunday’s bill. Brandi also headlines Friday, on a bill that includes Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats and Danielle Ponder, with Hozier headlining Saturday’s bill with Mavis Staples,The Milk Carton Kids and Katie Pruitt.
Tickets go on sale December 5 through the festival’s website.
Beyoncé‘s Renaissance previously topped the Billboard 200, as well as Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums, but now it’s making its mark on the dance/electronic charts.
Billboard reports the album is now dominating the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart after the publication noticed the reception from the dance community and reevaluated its genre categorization.
While the album is now catching steam in the dance/electronic categories, Renaissance‘s singles have long been charting in the genre. Following the project’s release, “Break My Soul,” “Pure/Honey,” “Summer Renaissance” and “Thique” landed on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Most recently, the viral TikTok hit “Cuff It” debuted on the Hot Dance/Mix Show Airplay.
Renaissance dropped in July as Bey’s seventh studio effort. It’s been nominated in both R&B and dance categories for the Grammy Awards next year. The album, which is part of a three-act project, was recently named among TIME‘s Best Albums of 2022; it’s #3 on the list.
(ATLANTA) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday seemed poised to grant a Justice Department request to rescind the appointment of a special master in the investigation into the handling of classified material seized in August from former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
In a hearing Tuesday afternoon, a three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned an assertion from Trump’s attorney that “this is an extraordinary case” that warranted intervention from an outside arbiter to review all the materials seized in the August search.
“Other than the fact that this involves a former president, everything else about this is indistinguishable from any pre-indictment search warrant,” Judge Andrew Brasher said.
The attorney for Trump, Jim Trusty, insisted Trump was looking for no special treatment but asked the court to consider “a political rival has been subjected to a search warrant where thousands of personal materials have been taken.”
Arguing for the Justice Department, Sopan Joshi of the Solicitor General’s office called the appointment of a special master by a district court judge an “extraordinary judicial intrusion into a core executive branch function.”
The judges pressed Joshi and Trusty as to whether there was any similar case where a judge has exercised such jurisdiction to intervene in an ongoing criminal investigation prior to indictment with any showing of “callous disregard” for the rights of the potential defendant.
Neither could name such a case, but Trusty suggested that by having the process play out they could perhaps find evidence that Trump’s rights were violated.
Trusty also sought to take issue with how agents conducted the search, noting that in addition to presidential records and documents with classification markings they also seized items like “golf shirts and pictures of Celine Dion” which he said should have no relevance to their criminal investigation.
But Chief Judge Bill Pryor noted it wasn’t unusual for such personal items to be swept up in a court-authorized search.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily the fault of the government. If, if someone has intermingled classified documents in all kinds of other personal property,” Pryor said.
DOJ is urging the appeals court to overturn special master Raymond Dearie’s appointment and have the roughly 13,000 documents returned to investigators examining whether Trump unlawfully retained highly sensitive documents involving national defense information after leaving the presidency, and potentially obstructed justice in resisting the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
The appeals court previously granted a request from DOJ to stay portions of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that had blocked the government from using roughly 100 documents with classification markings recovered from Mar-a-Lago in its investigation and demanded they be handed over to special master Dearie.
The Justice Department then moved for an expedited appeal to end Dearie’s review in its entirety, saying its inability to access the non-classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago was also significantly hampering its ongoing criminal investigation.
It was the first in-person meeting between top department officials and Trump’s legal team since Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith last Friday, which Garland said was warranted in part because of Trump’s announcement he would again run for president in 2024.
Smith has been tasked with overseeing the continuing criminal investigation of classified records seized from Trump’s estate in August as well as the separate probe into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his election loss to President Joe Biden.
In a filing Monday afternoon, the Justice Department formally notified the court of Smith’s appointment and stated he had reviewed the filings in DOJ’s case and that he “approves all of the arguments that have been presented in the briefs and will be discussed at the oral argument.”
Last week, officials said Smith was preparing to make his return to the U.S. from the Netherlands where he was serving as a chief prosecutor of war crimes at the Hague.
In a filing last week, officials from the department accused Trump and his legal team of engaging in “gamesmanship” in their fight to retain the roughly 13,000 documents in Dearie’s possession by asserting that when he ordered the packing of materials in the White House that were then transported to Mar-a-Lago, they were in effect automatically designated as his own “personal” records.
But at the same time, his attorneys said if Dearie rejected that argument for certain documents, they should have the opportunity to claim they are covered by executive privilege and should be shielded from the government.
They argued Trump’s legal team has put forward a “sweeping and baseless theory” to support their claims over the documents under a reading of the Presidential Records Act, saying Trump “appears to be claiming that he can unilaterally ‘deem’ otherwise Presidential records to be personal records by fiat.”
And even if Trump were correct in his claims, DOJ says, it would amount to a “red herring” regarding their right to access the documents as part of their ongoing criminal investigation.
“Documents commingled or collectively stored with the classified materials located at Plaintiff’s premises were lawfully seized by the FBI in accordance with the terms of the court-authorized search warrant because of their relevance to the government’s ongoing investigation,” top DOJ counterintelligence official Jay Bratt said. “That relevance exists irrespective of whether they were personal papers or government records. In the absence of a valid and substantiated claim of privilege, all such documents must now be made available to the investigative team.”
Paramore has shared a statement supporting the LGBTQ+ community following the mass shooting at the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs last Saturday, which killed at least five people and injured many others.
The post begins with Hayley Williams and company taking issue with “when someone says to not politicize moments like the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs,” declaring, “The hatred and the prejudice against any marginalized group is historically political.”
“Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is hatred, be it policy or a locker room conversation,” Paramore writes. “Politicians and other powerful people have a choice. Just like walking into a nightclub full of human beings and taking their lives was a choice in favor of hatred.”
“If you spew hate and it echoes, expect an infinite amount of potential outcomes,” the band continues. “Including people coming to the conclusion that maybe it’s time to start holding people accountable for the way they use their power to divide and normalize hatred. “
The statement concludes with Paramore writing that their “hearts go out to the entire community in Colorado Springs,” along with the “LGBTQ+ community and the families and friends who lost precious people who are more than just a statistic or a headline.”
(Note Language) Meek Mill‘s Flamerz mixtape series continues with its fifth installment. Flamerz 5 is out now, but it’s not on your typical streaming services. It’s solely available on Audiomack, DatPiff and other mixtape sites.
“I don’t want Flamerz 5 on no streaming service,” Meek tweeted of his new project. “This strictly underground music…Billboard can’t rate it…Just rate the music…I’d bet you a million I can make the United States/world play it with one upload button…Been doing it since MySpace lol.”
Flamerz 5 sees Meek putting his lyrical spin on songs including Ice Spice‘s “Munch,” Burna Boy‘s “Last Last,” GloRilla and Cardi B‘s “Tomorrow 2” and DJ Khaled‘s “Last Last.”
His decision to stay away from streaming services comes after several gripes about his past record deals and the overall music industry. In a recent Q&A, Meek said he let go of the idea of releasing the Expensive Pain deluxe album when he realized the amount of money he was making.
“I let those albums go once I seen I was get 13. Cents to every dollar, once I really figured that out I ain’t promoting no label s*** I don’t eat off…My money come from my name and brand,” he explained.
He complained that the label rewarded him with a plaque for “Going Bad” featuring Drake, but was unable to tell him how much he made, despite knowing the song itself earned $24 million in record sales.
As a result, Meek said he “lost all trust for that whole system!”
“Now I got a real point to prove to show you can survive without getting rapped!” he tweeted.
A fifth person has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler.
The woman, going by the pseudonym Sabina, tells Pitchfork that she was involved in an “ongoing abusive relationship” with Butler between 2015 and 2018.
“Emotionally abusive, manipulative, toxic, and using his power dynamic to exploit my body at times that were convenient for him,” Sabina says.
Sabina says she met Butler in 2015 when she was 22 and he was 35. The relationship became sexual later in 2015, which she describes as “aggressive” and “ultimately dehumanizing.”
“I felt like I just had to do what he said,” Sabina says. “I was not really comfortable with some of the things he was asking me to do, but doing them anyway.”
In 2017, Butler sent Sabina an unsolicited sexually graphic photo of himself, which she describes as “really, really disrespectful and scary and gross.”
“It felt like that specific encounter was crossing a line that he shouldn’t have crossed and it was shocking,” Sabina says.
Pitchfork previously reported in August on four other people who accused Butler of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault in one case. In a statement to Pitchfork, Butler maintained that his encounters with all four accusers were “mutual and always between consenting adults.”
A rep for Arcade Fire did not respond to Pitchfork’s request for comment regarding this new allegation.
Despite the allegations, Arcade Fire has continued touring behind the band’s new album, WE, which is nominated for a 2023 Grammy, though opening artists Beck and Feist dropped off their respective legs during the worldwide trek.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of the death of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. The singer’s suicide at age 37 certainly came as a surprise to many, including his U.S. manager, Martha Troup, who says on the day of his death he was discussing his plans for the future.
“He wanted to start a publishing company. And he wanted to get an apartment in New York,” she tells the New York Post. “That’s what he said to me.” But, she says a few hours later he sounded different in a message he left. “He goes, ‘Things aren’t good, you know?’ And then the next one was like, ‘Hey, are you there?’” she says. “In the second one, it was more like he was tired. It was, like, almost sadness I heard in his voice.” He was found dead only hours later.
Troup calls Hutchence magical, noting, “He was the quintessential rock star. He was mesmerizing. He had a sensuality about him.” But she says he was also shy and sensitive: “He had his ups and downs, and he had his insecurities.”
Troup says that before his death the rocker was making plans for an Australian tour, but she was concerned because “he just seemed out of sorts.” She suggested cancelling the tour, but he insisted he couldn’t cancel, saying, “I would never do that to the fans in Australia.’”
Meanwhile, friend Dorothy Carvello still believes Hutchence didn’t mean to kill himself. “I’m not sure that he really intended to do that,” she tells the Post. “I think it was a rash act that happened in the heat of the moment, whatever happened. Because think about it — no [suicide] note. And for somebody whose job was to write words, I always found that strange.”
