The Grammy Awards race has just opened up in a big way, now that a Grammy favorite has withdrawn his album from consideration.
Silk Sonic, the duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, won Record and Song of the Year at the Grammys earlier this year for their hit “Leave the Door Open.” Their album An Evening with Silk Sonic, released in November 2021 — after the Grammy cutoff for this year’s ceremony — was expected to be a major contender when the nominations for next year’s ceremony are announced in November. But as Bruno tells Rolling Stone, he feels as though they’ve already been honored enough.
“We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year,” Bruno says in his statement. “We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”
“Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to ‘Leave The Door Open,'” he continues. “Everything else was just icing on the cake. We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform — not once but twice — and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more.”
“Thank you to everyone that supported this project and championed it,” he concludes.
Of course, Bruno already has more Grammys than he knows what to do with: As a solo artist, he’s won 11 trophies. Anderson .Paak, meanwhile, has four Grammys as a solo artist.
(NEW YORK) — WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is facing nine years in a Russian prison, is worried that she may not be released, her attorney told ABC News as the U.S. works to secure her freedom.
“Her being afraid of not being released is mostly connected to the negotiations, which we are not aware of at all,” Griner’s attorney Alexandr Boikov told ABC News on Thursday.
After being detained in Russia for more than five months, Griner was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court on Aug. 4 and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Her attorneys filed an appeal on Aug. 15 and a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
“She is not very much hopeful for the appeal because the first court decision — the verdict showed that the case is totally unjust even by present Russian standards, and we are not hoping for a big release, but of course we hope for the best,” Boikov told ABC News.
According to Boikov, decisions on appeals are usually made during one hearing, but other hearings could be scheduled and he expects a decision by the end of October.
Griner, a 31-year-old Houston native who plays professional basketball for the Phoenix Mercury, was detained on Feb. 17 at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Khimki as she returned to Russia to play during the WNBA’s off-season after she was accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.
Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges in July, saying that the vape cartridges containing hashish oil were in her luggage mistakenly and that she had no “intention” of breaking Russian law.
Since she was detained in February, Griner has only spoken to her wife, Cherelle Griner, twice and currently “she’s not having phone calls with her family,” Boikov said.
He added that while requests are not being “denied,” there’s “a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork and back and forth between different institutions” so scheduling phone calls has been “very hard.”
Boikov said that Griner is also experiencing some physical “pain” in prison, where she is unable to exercise or receive physical therapy.
“She has some issues with her knees, with her back, I think basketball-related but of course, she doesn’t have a big bed, a good mattress or a time or place to exercise and to keep her muscles in shape,” he said.
“Of course, without movement and the conditions in jail, she is not in very good shape,” he added.
The U.S. government classified Griner’s case on May 3 as “wrongfully detained,” meaning the U.S. will more aggressively work to negotiate her release even as the legal case against her plays out, the State Department has said.
Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine began one week after Griner was detained, and some officials have expressed concern that Americans jailed in Russia could be used as leverage in the ongoing war.
President Joe Biden initially told CNN on Tuesday that he would be open to meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 November summit to discuss Griner’s release, but when asked by ABC News on Wednesday about a potential meeting, the president said, “not with Putin.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that Biden “has no intention of meeting with President Putin.”
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told ABC News on Wednesday that “securing the release of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner is a priority for this administration.”
Asked about Griner’s condition and whether the U.S. has access to her in prison, Price said that the “most recent consular access with Brittney Griner was at the beginning of August.”
“We continue to impart on the Russian government the necessity of consistency and regular consular access to Brittney Griner but also to all of those Americans who are detained in Russia,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a preliminary injunction as part of her $250 million civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump to stop what she says is his ongoing fraudulent conduct.
On the same day last month that James filed the lawsuit accusing Trump, his three eldest children, and two corporate executives of “staggering” fraud that she claims “grossly inflated” Trump’s net worth, the Trump Organization quietly registered a new entity, Trump Organization II, according to a new court filing Thursday.
Investigators suspect that Trump could move assets from his family real estate business to the new entity in an attempt to evade liability posed by the lawsuit, according to the attorney general’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
“[T]he Trump Organization now appears to be taking steps to restructure its business to avoid existing responsibilities under New York law,” the filing said.
Thursday’s filing also made clear James is concerned that Trump and the other defendants could be using the same alleged “fraud and misrepresentation” as they prepare Trump’s financial statements for the current year.
“Indeed, in many areas, the Trump Organization has continued using practices they knew to be improper or fraudulent,” the motion said.
James is also seeking the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s submission of financial information to accountants, lenders and insurers, “to enjoin Defendants from transferring to non-party affiliates or otherwise disposing of assets without Court approval,” the filing said.
“Our investigation uncovered the fact that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in significant fraud to inflate his personal net worth by billions of dollars to illegally enrich himself and cheat the system,” James said in a statement Thursday. “Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued those same fraudulent practices and taken measures to evade responsibility. Today, we are seeking an immediate stop to these actions because Mr. Trump should not get to play by different rules.”
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to James’ newest filing. Trump has denied wrongdoing and has called James’ investigation a politically motivated “witch hunt” by an attorney general he has called “racist.”
James, who is black, rejected a settlement offer from the Trump Organization last month to resolve the matter, sources told ABC News.
The lawsuit accused them of engaging in “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation in the preparation of Mr. Trump’s annual statements of financial condition” that overstated the values of nearly every major property in the Trump portfolio over at least a ten-year period.
“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation grossly inflated Mr. Trump’s personal net worth as reported in the Statements by billions of dollars and conveyed false and misleading impressions to financial counterparties about how the Statements were prepared,” the lawsuit said.
“Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization used these false and misleading Statements repeatedly and persistently to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to satisfy continuing loan covenants, and to induce insurers to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums,” said the suit.
In Thursday’s motion, James said that nearly a month after she filed her suit, the former president and his son Eric have refused to accept service of the lawsuit. She sought permission to serve them electronically.
Jimmie Allen and Dierks Bentley will be repping country music in Pickled, a CBS sports-comedy special benefiting the Comic Relief US’ initiatives to address homelessness.
According to ABC News, the event, hosted by Stephen Colbert, will revolve around a celebrity pickleball tournament. Stars from every corner of the industry will play: Jimmie and Dierks will be knocking paddles with the likes of Tig Notaro, Max Greenfield, Will Ferrell, Kelly Rowland and Daniel Dae Kim.
In addition to his hosting duties, Stephen will deliver a national anthem duet with Kenny Loggins to kick off the event.
It’s not a huge surprise that Dierks and Jimmie are signing on for the challenge: While neither have professed to be avid pickleball players, they’re both active guys who enjoy trying new sports. Dierks often posts photos and videos of himself biking, especially while he’s out in Colorado. Meanwhile, Jimmie is an avid bowler who even hosted his own tournament this year and has plans to join the Professional Bowlers Association in 2023.
Picked will air live on CBS on November 17 at 9 p.m. ET.
The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach has announced a new album with his band The Arcs.
The group’s sophomore album is titled Electrophonic Chronic and is due out January 27. You can listen to the first single, “Keep on Dreamin’,” now via digital outlets.
Electrophonic Chronic will arrive eight years after The Arcs’ 2015 debut album, Yours, Dreamily, and five years after the 2018 death of band member Richard Swift. A press release notes that the album was “largely recorded” with Swift prior to his passing.
Auerbach is currently on tour with The Black Keys in support of their new album, Dropout Boogie, which was released in May. The outing concludes October 18 in Dallas.
Here’s the Electrophonic Chronic track list:
“Keep on Dreamin'”
“Eyez”
“Heaven Is a Place”
“Califone Interlude”
“River”
“Sunshine”
“A Man Will Do Wrong”
“Behind the Eyes”
“Backstage Mess”
“Sporting Girls Interlude”
“Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”
“Only One for Me”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John and The Rolling Stones are among the veteran artists who will compete for honors at the 2022 American Music Awards.
The Chili Peppers have received nominations for three awards — Favorite Rock Artist, Favorite Rock Song for “Black Summer” and Favorite Rock Album for Unlimited Love.
Elton is nominated for Collaboration of the Year for his Dua Lipa duet “Cold Heart” and for Favorite Touring Artist, making him the longest-recognized artist in AMA history: He was first nominated back in 1974, at the very first American Music Awards, for Top Pop/Rock Male.
The Rolling Stones are also in the running for the Favorite Touring Artist prize.
Leading all nominees this year is Latin superstar Bad Bunny, with a total of eight.
Fan voting is open now at VoteAMAs.com and via Twitter in nearly all the award categories.
The American Music Awards air Sunday, November 20, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Kevin Hart is mourning the loss of his father, Henry Robert Witherspoon. The comedian shared news of Witherspoon’s death with a series of tribute posts on Instagram Thursday.
“RIP to one of the realest & rawest to ever do it…Love you dad. Gone but never forgotten….Give mom a hug for me….y’all did good man,” he wrote, sharing a slideshow of images of his father with his family over the years.
“Thank you for everything,” he added. “I’m a better father because of you 😢💪🏾🙏🏾 We will all make you proud….”
Hart’s tribute continued in a follow-up post in which he shared another image of him and his dad. “RIP spoon …..😢🙏🏾,” he captioned the special memory.
The 43-year-old comedian lost his mother, Nancy Hart, to cancer in 2007. In an interview for Oprah’s Masterclass at the time,he opened up about the tough loss and how he planned to keep her energy alive by way of his father and older brother, Robert.
“All that energy went to my dad and to my brother. This is our little family,” Hart said. “If we don’t try to make this last name mean something, then we have nothing that’s going to live on. My last name means something now, but it’s because we made it mean something.”
Måneskin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters are among the nominees for the 2022 American Music Awards.
The Italian rockers and the “Californication” outfit are up for the Favorite Rock Artist prize, along with Machine Gun Kelly, Imagine Dragons and The Lumineers. The Foos will compete for Favorite Rock Song with “Love Dies Young,” as will RHCP’s “Black Summer,” ID and JID‘s “Enemy,” Måneskin’s “Beggin'” and Kate Bush‘s resurgent hit “Running Up That Hill.”
In the Favorite Rock Album category, you’ll find RHCP’s Unlimited Love, MGK’s Mainstream Sellout, ID’s Mercury — Act 1, Coldplay‘s Music of the Spheres and Ghost‘s Impera.
Måneskin is also up for New Artist of the Year, alongside GAYLE and Steve Lacy, while the Elvis movie soundtrack, which features the “Supermodel” group’s rendition of “If I Can Dream,” is up for Favorite Soundtrack. That category also includes the Stranger Things season 4 soundtrack, which revitalized both “Running Up That Hill” and Metallica‘s “Master of Puppets,” as well as the U2-featuring Sing 2 soundtrack.
Other nominees include Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and Elton John for Favorite Touring Artist.
The 2022 AMAs will air November 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. For the full list of nominees and to vote for your favorites, visit TheAMAs.com.
(PARKLAND, Fla.) — The jury has reached a decision in Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s death penalty case.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19. The jury’s decision must be unanimous for the death penalty.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 13, 9:54 AM EDT
Victims’ parents share emotional statements with jury
Victims’ parents took the stand during the trial to read emotional victim impact statements.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost 14-year-old daughter Jaime, said on the stand, “I couldn’t wait to teach her drive. … I couldn’t wait to see her graduate. I couldn’t wait to see her achieve her dream of getting into the University of Florida and rooming with her cousin and living her best life. I couldn’t wait to see her graduate and ultimately become a pediatric physical therapist, working her dream job.”
“Jaime imagined she’d be married by 25. I used to think every day about that moment and walking my daughter down the aisle. Becoming a grandparent to the two kids she already decided she was gonna have,” he said.
“What if Jaime wasn’t murdered? What would these moments end up being like?” Fred Guttenberg said. “Not a day goes by where the constant image of Jaime walking down the aisle is not still a part of my daily imagination. Along with that image of what should have been her future, our future together.”
Oct 13, 9:47 AM EDT
Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’
Cruz’s defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
“Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing,” defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. “It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered.”
The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a “systematic massacre.”
“Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: ‘No mercy, no questions, double tap. I’m going to … murder children. … I’d love to see the families suffer,'” prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.
“He’s thinking ahead,” Satz said, by “not only looking to inflict pain” on the victims, but also “anticipating how that pain, fear and death … is gonna affect the families.”
Cody Johnson is the most-nominated country artist at the 2022 American Music Awards.
He’s in the running for three trophies at this year’s ceremony, with mentions in the Favorite Country Album, Favorite Country Song and Favorite Male Country Artist categories. If he wins in any of those categories, it’ll mark his first-ever AMAs trophy.
Also repping the country genre are Carrie Underwood and Chris Stapleton, who are up for two awards apiece. Chris is nominated in the Favorite Male Country Artist and Favorite Country Song categories, while Carrie is nominated for Favorite Female Country Artist and Favorite Country Album.
Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Walker Hayes are also headed into the big night with two nominations each. All three of them are going head-to-head with Chris and Cody in the Favorite Male Country Artist category. Luke and Walker are also up for Favorite Country Album, while Morgan scored a nod in the Favorite Country Song category.
Other country acts nominated at the 2022 AMAs include Lainey Wilson, Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lady A, Dan + Shay, Dustin Lynch, Jordan Davis and many more.
Taylor Swift earned multiple mentions in country categories and is among the most-nominated artists overall, with a total of six nominations. Beyoncé and Drake each have six AMAs nods, too, but the most-mentioned nominee of the night is Bad Bunny, with a whopping eight nominations.
The American Music Awards air Sunday, November 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, live from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Here are the nominees in the country categories:
FAVORITE MALE COUNTRY ARTIST Chris Stapleton Cody Johnson Luke Combs Morgan Wallen Walker Hayes
FAVORITE FEMALE COUNTRY ARTIST Carrie Underwood Lainey Wilson Maren Morris Miranda Lambert Taylor Swift
FAVORITE COUNTRY DUO OR GROUP Dan + Shay Lady A Old Dominion Parmalee Zac Brown Band
FAVORITE COUNTRY ALBUM Carrie Underwood, Denim & Rhinestones Luke Combs, Growin’ Up Cody Johnson, Human: The Double Album Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version) Walker Hayes, Country Stuff: The Album
FAVORITE COUNTRY SONG Chris Stapleton, “You Should Probably Leave” Cody Johnson, “‘Til You Can’t” Dustin Lynch ft. MacKenzie Porter, “Thinking ‘Bout You” Jordan Davis ft. Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt” Morgan Wallen, “Wasted on You”
