For a guy who knows how to make a splash on the red carpet and onstage, Jared Leto is no stranger to fashion. Now, the Oscar-winning actor and 30 Seconds to Mars frontman will be playing one of fashion’s biggest names.
Women’s Wear Dailybroke the news that Leto will be playing the late Karl Lagerfeld in a biopic the actor is producing in collaboration with the fashion house that still bears Lagerfeld’s name.
“I feel like this is a full-circle moment and Karl would be proud of what we are doing,” Leto told the trade, adding, “Karl was an artist. Period. He was a fashion designer, he was a photographer, he was an artist. There was no defining him. He was a creative powerhouse.”
Lagerfeld died in 2019, but before his death, per WWD, Leto told him he wanted to portray him, and the designer reportedly answered, “Only you, darling, only you.”
Leto retweeted the article, noting “Karl has always been an inspiration to me. He was a true polymath, an artist, an innovator, a leader and, most importantly, a kind man.” He added, “When we came together with the Karl Lagerfeld team, we immediately shared a creative vision of doing a respectful ode to Karl while pushing the artistic boundaries of what a biopic can be.”
According to the Karl Lagerfeld company, the biopic will center on “key relationships in Karl Lagerfeld’s life, told through an unpredictable lens, much like the man himself.”
Good Morning America — ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
While Hilary Swank said she was thrilled to announce she was pregnant with twins on Good Morning America, leave it to the internet to try to bring things down.
One troll apparently decided that the 48-year-old, two-time Oscar winner was too old to be a mom-to-be and told her that on her Instagram.
“AREN’T YOU LIKE 50?” the troll replied in all caps. “MIGHT live to see their wedding, maybe,” the user added.
That didn’t sit well with Swank’s fans, including her You’re Not You co-star Emmy Rossum, who had a three-letter response: “GFY.” That’s, of course, text shorthand for a three-word reply of which two of the printable words are “Go” and “Yourself.”
Rossum’s response drew nearly 200 likes.
Notwithstanding the rude comment, Hilary’s announcement, complete with a pic of her cradling her baby bump, was met with thousands of replies in support, including those from a host of her famous friends Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Katie Couric, Sharon Stone, Kate Hudson and more.
Hilary is expecting twins with her husband, entrepreneur Philip Schneider.
A stake in late legendary Ramones singer Joey Ramone‘s music catalog has been acquired by the Primary Wave Music publishing company.
The agreement includes non-exclusive rights to license Ramone’s name and likeness as well as income from many songs from the pioneering punk band’s catalog.
Among the many classic Ramones tunes included in the deal are “Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio,” “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Rockaway Beach.”
Mitchel Hyman a.k.a. Mickey Leigh, Joey’s brother and only heir, says of the agreement, “I’m happy to welcome Primary Wave as partners in my brother’s interests in Ramones. I’m thoroughly convinced of their eagerness to perpetuate his legacy, and their sincerity about doing it in a way that will never compromise his credibility. I, very much, am looking forward to working with them.”
Adds Primary executive Lexi Todd, “Joey Ramone was a total original — his songwriting, style, and voice are all undeniably unique and immediately recognizable still today. A counterculture icon and prime mover of punk rock, Ramones demonstrated first-hand the power of music in influencing culture and built a foundation that has influenced decades of musicians. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to continue the legacy of Joey Ramone and Ramones catalog.
Born Jeffrey Hyman, Joey co-founded the Ramones in 1974 and served as the group’s lead singer and one of its main songwriters throughout the band’s 20-plus-year history. He died of cancer in April 2001, a month before his 50th birthday. Joey was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Ramones in 2002.
FivioForeign is showing love to newcomer GloRilla despite losing an award to the rapper at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards.
“I did not get robbed,” he wrote on Twitter, denouncing fan claims that he was snubbed. “Glorilla won cuz she deserved it & ima Happy for her.”
Both rappers were up for Best Breakthrough Hip Hop Artist — along with BabyKeem, Blxst, Doechii, NardoWick and SaucySantana — with Glo Rilla taking home the win.
Many fans on social media disagreed with Fivio, some comparing her short discography to that of the New York rapper’s longer body of work.
“He def got robbed. She has one hot song on the charts and just released another one last week,” one user tweeted.
Another user emphasized the idea that Fivio shouldn’t have been included in the Breakthrough Artist category. “…he already been out so he’s not a breakthrough artist, Glorilla actually was the only breakthrough artist in that category,” they wrote.
Glo Rilla’s viral song “FNF (Let’s Go)” became hip-hop’s summer anthem and earned her a label deal with Yo Gotti‘s Collective Music Group in July.
Speaking to Billboard about his decision to sign the rapper Gotti said,“GloRilla is a natural born star — she has a different sound and approach that’s needed in hip-hop right now.”
He added, “It’s one of the quickest rises that I’ve seen in my career because she only dropped in late-April and now she has the hottest cultural records in music. Glo is hungry for success and determined to win. We look forward to watching her grow as an artist and reach her full potential.”
Glo Rilla accepted the award with a brief but emotional speech.
Imagine getting to truthfully say, “I used to be in a band with Tom Morello” and “I won a Nobel Prize” in a game of Two Truths and a Lie.
Such is the life of Stanford chemist Carolyn Bertozzi, who this week was awarded with the 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Prior to her work at Stanford, she attended Harvard in the ’80s, where she started a band with the future guitarist of Rage Against the Machine.
Upon learning of his former bandmate’s accomplishment, Morello congratulated Bertozzi in a tweet while also revealing a few details about their group.
“We won the Ivy League Battle of the Bands in 1986 with our rockin’ group ‘Bored of Education,’ with [Bertozzi] on keyboards & me in spandex,” Morello shared.
Bertozzi then responded, “Thanks Tom! Maybe we can get the band back together someday.”
A Bored of Education reunion may not be too unrealistic, as Morello suddenly has a lot more free time following the cancellation of Rage Against the Machine’s 2023 North American tour. The outing was scrapped due to frontman Zack de la Rocha‘s continued recovery from the torn Achilles tendon he suffered during a Rage show in Chicago earlier this year.
Sam Smith helmed the James Bond theme “Writing’s On The Wall” for the 2015 film Spectre. To celebrate the franchise’s 60th anniversary, the British superstar revealed exactly how the haunting theme came to be.
Sam took to their Instagram Story to reveal they began working on the song while recording their 2013 hit “Lay Me Down” with producer Jimmy Napes.
“Jimmy just played some chords and it just flowed,” Sam expressed.
Napes picked up the story from there, explaining, “After we finished writing, we literally went next door to RAK Studio 1 and recorded it and that was the take.”
Throwback footage shows Sam singing “Writing’s” for the first time. “The vocal [for the song] is the demo vocal. The first vocal I ever did for the song,” they described. Because Sam used the first take, the piano Napes played in the background can actually be heard if one isolates the track’s vocals.
“Such a special memory,” the British superstar expressed when sharing the footage.
Sam isn’t the only artist saluting James Bond’s legacy. Adele, who sang the 2012 Bond theme “Skyfall,” took to Instagram to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her chilling theme. “Hold your breath and count to ten,” her account wrote, a nod to the song’s opening lyrics.
Billie Eilish, who is the newest Bond singer, also saluted the franchise on its anniversary when looking back at her offering “No Time to Die.” She told Prime Video she had chills when she heard her song play during the most “emotional parts of the film” at the movie premiere.
It should be noted all three of these artists took home the Oscar for Best Original Song, and to date, are the only singers to have won an Academy Award for their Bond themes.
Ashley McBryde is set to become the next member of the Grand Ole Opry. She got a surprise invitation to join the hallowed institution from Garth Brooks in the middle of an in-studio appearance on CBS Mornings.
Ashley was in the studio to promote her new album, Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville, when Garth showed up on the screen at the end of her interview, dialing in live from the Opry stage.
“I’m here for a proposal,” Garth said.
“You’re already married!” show co-host Gayle King joked from off-camera.
But it wasn’t that kind of proposal that Garth — an Opry member since 1990 — had in mind. “I am, but this is part of a family that keeps growing,” he continued before officially popping the question.
Garth was a little emotional as he spoke, and Ashley fought back tears as she gave her response. “It would be the great joy and the great honor of my life,” she replied.
“I’ve always said I will earn it, and this is a pretty surreal moment,” she reflected. But there was one more surprise for Ashley: When she turned around to look at her team, who all knew the surprise was coming, she saw her mom standing there.
“Now I’m gonna ugly cry on TV. That is my mother!” the singer said. “She’s gonna cry too, just so you know.” And she did: As her mom came out and gave her a hug, the pair were both weeping with joy.
Ashley will be formally inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in a ceremony on a yet-to-be-announced date.
(NEW YORK) — An alliance of oil-producing countries on Wednesday announced a dramatic cut in oil output with major implications for U.S. gas prices, industry analysts told ABC News.
The group of nations known as OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed on Wednesday to cut oil production by two million barrels per day starting in November.
The decision to slash oil supply arrives as crude oil prices stand at $93, well below a high in June of $123. Many forecasters are anticipating a global economic slowdown.
The move will cause a spike in U.S. gasoline prices that will last for months, analysts told ABC News. President Joe Biden can reduce some of the immediate price hike but lacks an effective option to mitigate the overall cost increase for U.S. drivers, they said.
Here’s what the OPEC+ oil cut means for U.S. gas prices and how Biden has responded:
The OPEC+ oil cut will significantly raise U.S. gas prices
The OPEC+ oil cut will hike U.S. gas prices because the price depends on a balance between supply and demand.
A reduction of two million barrels of oil a day amounts to a roughly 2% loss from the oil market, since the world consumed nearly 100 million barrels of oil each day in August, the most recent month on record, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. is set to produce an average of 11.8 million barrels oil per day in 2022, which stands 500,000 barrels short of a record set in 2019, according to the EIA. But oil prices are set on a global market, where the OPEC+ cuts cannot be offset by a comparable short-term increase in U.S. oil output.
“You’ll be looking at substantial upward pressure on gas prices,” Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Houston, told ABC News.
The average price for a U.S. gallon of gas is $3.86, according to AAA data. That price marks a 2% rise from a month ago and a 20% rise from a year ago. In California, the state with the highest average gas price, a gallon costs $6.42.
After the OPEC+ oil cut, the price will rise even further. The price will increase as much as 40 cents, reaching as high as $4.26, analysts said. The price hike will begin within weeks and last for months, they said.
The move will impose a uniform impact on gas prices across all regions of the U.S., according to Krishnamoorti and Peter McNally, a global sector leader for industrial materials and energy at Third Bridge.
Patrick de Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, disagreed. Prices have already begun to increase in the South and Northeast, where prices had been stable in recent weeks, he said.
Areas on the West Coast and some of the Great Lakes states, however, which have experienced massive price spikes over the last few weeks due to refinery issues, will likely continue to see prices drop, though by not as much as originally anticipated, he added.
The Biden administration response
The Biden administration sharply criticized the OPEC+ oil cut on Wednesday. In a statement, the White House said Biden “is disappointed by the shortsighted decision by OPEC+ to cut production quotas while the global economy is dealing with the continued negative impact of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The Biden administration ordered the Department of Energy to release another 10 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in November.
The move continues an effort launched by the administration in March. The U.S. and its allies announced the collective release of 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves over the following months, seeking to alleviate some of the supply shortage and blunt price increases.
The additional release next month from the strategic reserve could blunt some of the price increase in November but cannot mitigate the overall impact, analysts said. The administration lacks an effective tool to dial back the extended price hike, they added.
“There is no operation warp speed for the energy industry,” said McNally.
Jada Pinkett Smith is ready to speak for herself, and she’ll do that in her new, not-yet-titled book that will release in the fall of 2023.
In partnership with Dey Street Books, the Red Table Talk host plans to publish an “honest and gripping” memoir that will chronicle lessons learned throughout her “difficult but riveting” journey. As detailed in a press release, the book will explore personal life experiences “from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of personal rediscovery and the celebration of authentic feminine power.”
The release adds, “With no holds barred, Jada reveals her unconventional upbringing in Baltimore — from the child of two addicts to a promising theatre student and a violent interlude as a petty drug-dealer — followed by a parallel rise to stardom alongside her close friend 2Pac, then falling in love with and marrying WillSmith, and a joyous embrace of motherhood.”
At the center of the book are the “unexpected love stories” of Jada’s “complicated marriage” to Will and her relationship with herself.
“The world has imposed many labels and narratives on Jada Pinkett Smith,” CarrieThornton, Dey Street Books VP and Editorial Director said. “This is down to the realities of our media landscape, but also the roles thrust upon women by culture.”
Thorton added, “This memoir is Jada giving the world her truth, taking readers on a journey from lost girl to woman warrior. It is my great honor to take that journey with her.”
The Kid LAROI says his “Stay” collaborator, Justin Bieber,has inspired him to become a better version of himself.
Speaking to ET Canada, the Australian singer revealed how Justin influenced him. “He’s a really good dude,” LAROI expressed. “He’s someone that whenever I’m having a hard time or something, I can go and speak to and he’s a really great listener and he gives really great advice.”
He continued, “I feel it’s very important to be a great listener. I’m still learning how to do that.” Part of that practice, he says, includes knowing when to apologize to his girlfriend when he’s not being “a good enough listener.”
LAROI added one only stands to gain when they are truly able to listen to another person, adding, “That’s really important in any relationship, friendship, whatever it is.”
The singer is also working on becoming a better person because he wants to represent his country in the same way Drake represents Canada on a global scale.
“The biggest thing is just inspiring people,” he expressed. “For me growing up, I think being in Australia it was a really big dream to come to America and be globally doing music on a big level or whatever. So I think for me, that seemed kind of almost impossible. I just want to hopefully inspire other young people and have them think that it’s not as impossible as you think.”
LAROI is currently hard at work on his debut album.
