NBA Youngboy reemerged on Instagram just in time for his new album, The Last Slimeto. He took to the social media platform Thursday, unveiling the songs and fellow artists on his project.
Per the post, there will be 30 tracks on the record, three of which are collaborative songs. Kehlani, Rod Wave and Quavo will lend their talents to “My Go To,” “Home Ain’t Home” and “Don’t Rate Me,” respectively.
Fans got a snippet of The Last Slimeto earlier this year when NBA Youngboy released a teaser project featuring 10 tracks. The full project is slated to drop on Friday, August 5.
Post Malone combined two of his favorite things — playing games and raising money for charity — with Gaming For Love, which has raised over $200,000 for several charities.
The streaming series, which ran from July 18 to July 24 on the Twitch streaming service, raised funds for Human Rights Watch, United Way, Project HOPE and The Trevor Project. Each stream ran for six hours, with the Grammy winner playing Apex Legends, and highlighted a different charity each day.
After counting all the donations, Post has successfully raised $196,066.20 for these services. He then directed $40,000 of his own money to the campaign, which was matched by Respawn Entertainment, the owner of Apex Legends.
The livestream that raised the most money in a single night was the one that ran July 24, which benefited The Trevor Project. The six-hour stream raised $76,026.33 after Post opened a private server and welcomed 60 people to compete in a tournament.
If you missed these livestreams and a chance to donate, don’t fret. The “Circles” rapper has since posted all the streams to his Gaming for Love YouTube channel, and every video has a link where one can send funds to their chosen charity.
Michael Ray has announced the release of a live EP called The Warehouse Sessions. The five-song collection arrives Friday, and that same day he’s performing as part of Fox & Friends’ All-American Concert Series.
Jeannie Seely is now officially the artist who has made the most appearances on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. The country legend will celebrate her 55th anniversary as an Opry member this September.
Gary Allan has parted ways with UMG Nashville, his label home of over 25 years. On social media, the singer told fans that he’s excited about the new music that’s in store and plans to share more information soon.
Slash is featured on a new song called “Crimson Chaos,” which is being released by the charity organization Road Recovery.
The tune was written and recorded by participants in Road Recovery’s Trax Program, which “offers young people the opportunity to build healthy networks during challenging times, helping them avoid self-destructive or risky behavior.”
In a statement, Slash says, “I’ve been hanging out with Road Recovery for a while now and I always find it a really enriching experience hanging and jamming with the kids.”
“These guys wrote me a song that I recorded and it’s really inspirational to see how young people and adults are inspired by the arts to get it together, get out of that funk, and get out of a bad situation to be able to turn their life around,” the Guns N’ Roses shredder adds. “That’s what these kids at Road Recovery have done and that’s pretty awesome.”
Footage of Slash playing with the Road Recovery kids is featured in the “Crimson Chaos” video, which is streaming now on YouTube.
If you only see one movie this year with Oscar-winning English Patient star Juliette Binoche driving a big rig, make it Paradise Highway.
Frank Grillo had a laugh with ABC Audio about that would-be tag line for the new thriller, but he says playing her shady brother was nothing short of a dream.
Grillo plays Dennis, the about-to-be-freed convict brother of Binoche’s Sally, a truck driver who he pressures into smuggling for him to keep him safe behind bars.
However, things take a turn when one of Sally’s “packages” turns out to be a trafficked little girl (Hala Finley).
Another Oscar winner, Morgan Freeman, plays an investigator on their trail.
“It was a dream for me because she’s just someone I admire so deeply as an actor,” Grillo says of Binoche. “She’s ‘all in’ all the time.”
He adds of the thriller, “It was heavy stuff, but we had such a good time.”
The actor, a veteran of Oscar winner Zero Dark Thirty, as well as the blockbuster Purge films, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War for Marvel Studios, is earning a reputation as the hardest working actor in movies.
In 2021, he starred in a slew of projects, including Copshop, the action film he co-produced with Gerard Butler; the medical fraud drama Body Brokers; and the Hulu action film Boss Level. He also reprised his character Brock Rumlow/Crossbones in Marvel Studios’ animated What If…?
Other than Paradise Highway, which is now in theaters and On Demand, Grillo has been hard at work on no fewer than six other movies, including the lead as Ferruccio Lamborghini in the biopic about the genius car inventor.
Long story short, he’s so busy he can’t keep track of them all.
“You know, my agents yesterday said to me, ‘Hey, dude, after the fall, you need to go away for a while,'” Grillo says, laughing.
Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian jail, which isn’t sitting right with many in the hip-hop industry. Since the news broke early Thursday, celebrities have used their platforms to express disdain for the severe punishment.
“This is wild, smh you don’t ever want to get caught up in the politics,” 50 Cent wrote on Twitter. “They are gonna tell her like 10 years for a vape pin watch.”
Boosie expressed similar sentiments, tweeting, “9 YEARS FOR A DAM WEED PEN like wtf IM STAYING MY BOOSIE BADAZZ N THE STATES this fucked up.” He further vented his frustrations in a video shared to Instagram.
As previously reported, Griner was arrested in February after vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country, were found in her luggage at a Russian airport. She pleaded guilty to drug charges, insisting she mistakenly packed the oil.
Griner’s been ordered to serve nine years behind bars and pay a $16,500 fine, which is about 1 million Russian roubles. She has the right to appeal the conviction.
In the wake of the news, Meek Mill urged Griner’s fans to “fight for her,” while legendary star Chuck D warned artists to steer clear of any trouble with foreign governments.
“I’ve taken hundreds of artists personnel across the earth …number 1 message dont Fcuk with these govts on any sht,” Chuck cautioned. “BG has been used & abused dangled by D-evils. Here NRA & image gangsters must know that the killing machines of War ain’t a movie. While all can only sit watch pray.”
President Joe Biden has since called for BG’s immediate release.
(NEW YORK) — Scientists are emphasizing the need for proper disaster planning now that they have confirmed another busy hurricane season ahead in the Atlantic.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a revised hurricane outlook for the rest of the 2022 Atlantic season on Thursday, stating that between 14 and 20 named storms are expected, with up to 10 hurricanes and up to five major hurricanes.
The average number of named storms per year is 14, with the average number of hurricanes clocking in at seven, and an average of three major hurricanes per year, according to NOAA, which continues to point to another above-average hurricane season.
NOAA had predicted up to 21 named storms in its original forecast in May. There have been three so far this season.
Although hurricane season officially starts on June 1, most tropical cyclones occur from August to October.
The U.S. is currently on the 27th year of a “high activity era,” meaning that the chance of a hurricane making landfall on the East Coast is double that of a “low activity era,” Matthew Rosencrans, climate test bed director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, told ABC News.
The intensity of hurricanes is expected to increase as climate change continues to warm ocean waters, leaving ample breeding ground for strong systems to develop.
The agency is urging Americans to be prepared for not only strong winds and storm surge, but inland flooding well away from the storm’s center.
The speed at which hurricanes are intensifying just before they make landfall is making it difficult for coastal communities to prepare, Rosencrans said.
Of the last several Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S., the majority of them were tropical storms just 48 hours prior to strengthening to the most severe category, he said.
“So the way I look at that is, it’s not that you have 48 hours to prepare,” Rosencrans said, adding that both disaster management officials and residents need to start preparing now in the event of a hurricane later this season.
ABC News’ Melissa Griffin, Dan Manzo and Samantha Wnek contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Nearly one year after the death of Gabby Petito, her family announced a major donation to help victims of domestic violence.
The Gabby Petito Foundation, formed by Petito’s family after her death, has donated $100,000 to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which offers free resources and support for people suffering from domestic violence.
“No family should feel the pain that we’ve felt every day since we lost Gabby,” Petito’s mother, Nichole Schmidt, said in a statement. “Survivors who are able to reach out should connect with an advocate quickly.”
The hotline said it will use the donated money to hire and train more full-time advocates and will use it to “advance its technology infrastructure” to be able to answer more calls and online messages.
Katie Ray-Jones, the hotline’s CEO, said the donation comes at a much-needed time due to the increase in rates of domestic violence throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The donation was made to the hotline’s “Hope Can’t Wait” emergency fundraising campaign, which is trying to raise $2 million.
“The Hotline’s contact volume has almost doubled over last year; on average we’re receiving nearly 80,000 incoming calls, chats and texts each month,” Ray-Jones said in a statement. “More than ever, survivors need validation, support and safety planning, and connection to resources such as shelter, legal aid, economic assistance and healthcare.”
She continued, “The Gabby Petito Foundation’s generous donation, and all gifts to our campaign, will help to ensure our critical 24/7 work continues and we can connect with more people impacted by domestic violence.”
Petito, 22, went missing in late August while on a trip through Colorado and Utah with her then-boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who later went missing after returning to Florida without Petito.
On Sept. 19, 2021, search crews discovered a body in Bridger-Teton National Park in Wyoming that was later determined to be Petito’s. An autopsy found she died from strangulation, officials said.
Search crews combed the Florida wetlands where Laundrie was last seen and found his remains in Carlton Reserve, near North Port, on Oct. 20, 2021.
In January, the FBI released new details in the investigation of Petito’s death, saying that Laundrie wrote that he killed her in his notebook.
Petito’s parents have worked since her death to raise awareness around domestic violence and provide support for people in need.
In his eulogy at his daughter’s funeral, Joseph Petito told mourners, “If there is a relationship that you’re in that might not be the best thing for you, leave it now. Take care of yourself first.”
The Gabby Petito Foundation’s mission is to “address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons and to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence situations, through education, awareness, and prevention strategies,” according to its website.
Experts note that when cases like Petito’s are in the news, though extremely tragic, they can raise awareness about domestic violence and the many forms it may take.
On average, more than one in three women and one in four men will experience rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 experience the highest rates of domestic violence, according to Kiersten Stewart, director of public policy and advocacy of Futures Without Violence, a nonprofit organization focused on ending violence against women and children.
“Domestic violence is still a very serious issue,” Stewart told ABC News last year. “As a country, we have made great progress in the last 25 years, but we haven’t actually reduced homicides nearly as dramatically, and that still needs to be a real focus.”
If you need help or need help supporting someone else, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788 or chat online at TheHotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended Tampa’s top prosecutor over public statements he made indicating he would not criminalize abortion.
DeSantis announced Thursday that he has suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, effective immediately, due to neglect of duty, saying during a press briefing that Warren has “put himself publicly above the law.”
The Republican governor cited a statement Warren signed along with other elected prosecutors nationwide after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which stated in part that “we stand together in our firm belief that prosecutors have a responsibility to refrain from using limited criminal legal system resources to criminalize personal medical decisions.”
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortions after 15 weeks are barred in Florida, with exceptions if the pregnancy poses a risk to the mother’s life and if the fetus has a fatal anomaly. Doctors who violate the law could face up to five years in prison.
“That is what the legislature has enacted, and it’s not for him to put himself above that and say that he is not going to enforce the laws,” DeSantis said about Warren.
“When you flagrantly violate your oath of office, when you make yourself above the law, you have violated your duty, you have neglected your duty and you are displaying a lack of competence to be able to perform those duties,” DeSantis continued.
The governor named Susan Lopez, a judge he appointed to the Hillsborough County Court, to replace Warren and serve as temporary state attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit.
Warren, a Democrat, was twice elected to the county seat, most recently in 2020.
DeSantis said the suspension follows a statewide review of state attorneys that narrowed in on Warren’s office. The governor said he did not speak with Warren throughout that process.
Warren called the governor’s actions an “illegal overreach that continues a dangerous pattern by Ron DeSantis of using his office to further his own political ambition.”
“It spits in the face of the voters of Hillsborough County who have twice elected me to serve them, not Ron DeSantis,” he said in a statement.
Warren also defended his work as a state attorney in the face of what he said was a violation of his constituents’ rights.
“In our community, crime is low, our Constitutional rights — including the right to privacy — are being upheld, and the people have the right to elect their own leaders — not have them dictated by an aspiring presidential candidate who has shown time and again he feels accountable to no one,” he said. “Just because the governor violates your rights, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
While outlining Warren’s “troubling record” as state prosecutor during Thursday’s press briefing, DeSantis also referenced a letter Warren signed last year condemning the criminalization of gender-affirming health care.
“In June of 2021, he signed a letter saying that he would not enforce any prohibitions on sex change operations for minors,” DeSantis said.
Florida currently does not have any laws that criminalize gender-affirming health care, which the order suspending Warren for “neglect of duty” acknowledges.
“[Although] the Florida Legislature has not enacted such criminal laws, these statements prove that Warren thinks he has authority to defy the Florida Legislature and nullify in his jurisdiction criminal laws with which he disagrees,” the order states.
The suspension is in effect pending further action from the governor.
Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., who is running for governor, criticized the suspension of the elected official.
“DeSantis’ decision to suspend him is that of a wannabe dictator who puts partisan politics first. Make no mistake, it’s an attack on Florida’s women,” he said on Twitter.
Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., whose jurisdiction includes Hillsborough County, called the governor’s actions an “extreme abuse of power” and a “new low.”
“Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren is an honest public servant who respects the Florida Constitution [including] our right to privacy which allows girls and women to determine their pathways in life,” she said on Twitter. “He is right to exercise discretion and not prosecute women and doctors.”
Several law enforcement officials spoke during the briefing in support of the suspension, expressing frustration with the prosecutor, who has been vocal on criminal justice reform issues.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Warren “seems intently focused on empathy for criminals and less interested in pursuing justice for crime victims.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said during the briefing that the state constitution requires that DeSantis ensure the state’s laws are being enforced.
Move over Jimmy Fallon! Demi Lovato and Megan Thee Stallion will be taking over The Tonight Show to kick off its new season.
Billboardreports Hot Girl Meg will take over the co-host chair starting August 11, marking her third time on the late night show. This time, the Grammy winner will help with the opening monologue and also interview all the guests appearing on the show.
As for Demi, the “Anyone” singer will sit in the hot seat between August 16 and 18 to promote their upcoming album, Holy Fvck, which drops August 19. Demi will take on co-hosting duties but will also feature as a special guest and take over Studio 6B as its musical performer.
It should be noted that the day before Meg touches down on The Tonight Show, Madonna will sit down for a very special episode. The legendary singer will discuss her exciting new compilation album, Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones.
Other special guests hitting up the studio this season are Elvis Costello, Idris Elba, Martin Short and Kate McKinnon.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights starting at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC.
