Lil Nas X is seeing double at Madame Tussauds — that’s because he’s the latest celebrity to get the wax figure treatment.
The Grammy winner celebrated the Hollywood debut of his wax clone on Tuesday. The figure celebrates the iconic golden Versace suit he donned to last year’s Met Gala. Designers went all in and even replicated the nail art Lil Nas X wore in 2021.
Other attention to detail additions include the Versace earring he rocked to the event, as well as the choker he wore underneath the suit. “Are we twins or what? I knew this was going to be good but this is like, scary amazing,” he said in a statement.
Lil Nas X shared a side-by-side view to his Instagram, where the jokes wouldn’t stop rolling. “Never thought i would get the pleasure of meeting myself,” he quipped. “The sexual tension was too much to bare [sic].”
Fans were quick to point out they had a hard time figuring out who was who because the figure was so lifelike. “Okay that’s too realistic because I couldn’t figure out which one was real,” one fan expressed in the comment section. Another remarked, “This [is] so freaky.”
Others noted they thought the real Lil Nas X — who was dressed in all black and a long, blonde wig — was the wax figure at first.
Madame Tussauds said Lil Nas X earned his wax figure because of all his contributions to music, fashion and pop culture.
Fans can interact with the lifelike statue now at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood, California.
In the meantime, get ready for new Lil Nas X music. His song “Star Walkin’,” which is the theme for League of Legends‘ 2022 Worlds Tournament, drops Friday at midnight.
After August Alsina claimed that Tory Lanez assaulted him at a concert Saturday night, the Los Angeles Police Department opened an investigation into the accusation.
“We are aware of the allegations that the defendant attacked artist August Alsina and are investigating these claims,” a spokesperson for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office told Billboard in a statement. “The allegations are serious and will be thoroughly examined.”
A Twitter video shows that Alsina ignored a handshake from Lanez backstage at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago. In the final half of the video, as Lanez is seen walking away, a man off-camera commented, “Tory says he knocked August Alsina’s a** right out with one punch.”
The Chicago Police Department tells Billboard they received a report of a “30-ye[a]r-old male” being “punched in the face by a 30-year-old male after exiting a building in the 2300 block of S. Lake Shore Drive,” the location of the Arie Crown Theatre, on Saturday at approximately 11:30 p.m.
As previously reported, Alsina posted an Instagram photo of himself in an elevator with blood streaming from his mouth. In the caption, he claimed that he hadn’t said any “disrespectful words” but was suddenly punched by Lanez. Tory denied the incident, tellingDJ Akademiks, “I don’t know if he is doing a promo—I don’t know what that n**** is talking about.”
Lanez is currently out on bail after being charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion following a July 2020 pool party in the Hollywood Hills. He is charged with felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, personal use of a firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The Canadian rapper faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Elvis Costello has announced plans for a unique, 10-night stand dubbed 100 Songs and More that will take place from February 9 to February 23 at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre.
Costello will perform a completely different set each night and will play more than 200 of his songs over the course of the engagement. Elvis has confirmed 10 tunes that he’ll perform at each show; he’ll play at least 10 additional songs during every gig.
The first five concerts will feature Costello performing solo; he will be joined by his Attractions and Imposters keyboardist Steve Nieve at the remaining five shows. Elvis penned a clever poem that hints that some surprise guests may also be joining him during the run. For more information, visit ElvisCostello.com.
Tickets for the 100 Songs and More concerts go on sale to the general public this Friday, September 23, while presale tickets are avaiable to Citi card members through the company’s Citi Entertainment program. Visit CitiEntertainment.com for more details.
In other news, Costello has two special charity shows scheduled on September 30 at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. The concerts will feature him playing tunes by late Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia and Garcia’s longtime songwriting partner Robert Hunter. The event will raise money for Prader-Willi Homes of California, a charity dedicated to the creation of a residential center for people with Prader-Willi syndrome and other developmental disabilities.
Roseanne Barr has been back on the stand-up stage following her 2018 ouster from the reboot of her titular show, and now, it appears she’s been warming up for a new comedy special.
A Roseanne Comedy Special will drop on the subscription-based Fox News offshoot Fox Nation in 2023, ABC Audio has learned.
It will be Roseanne’s first comedy special in 16 years.
Fox Nation president Jason Klarman said in an announcement, “Roseanne is a comedy icon whose humor connects with the American audience like no other. Her ability to channel the challenges of everyday people and find the humor in it all has earned her the passionate following of millions of dedicated fans,” adding he’s “thrilled” to add the exclusive comedy special to the streaming platform.
The special promises to showcase, “Ms. Barr’s signature comedic take on a variety of topics, with no subject off limits.”
Barr was fired from ABC’s hit Roseanne reboot in 2018 after sending a racially insensitive tweet; the series was rebranded as The Conners,and her character was killed off off-screen.
Cardi B is ecstatic after receiving a personalized early birthday gift from Beyoncé.
Queen Bey sent her a handwritten note across the top of a vinyl copy of the Renaissance album.
“To: Cardi B,” the 28-time Grammy winner wrote. “Hard working, beautiful and talented queen, thank you for always supporting me. Sending so much love to you and yours, Respect, Beyoncé.” The “Bodak Yellow” rapper was thrilled as she displayed her present on Twitter.
“Look what Beyoncé sent me,” Cardi said, holding the vinyl up to the camera for all her followers to see. “It’s so beautiful, so lovely. I’m gonna put it in a glass frame with laser beams on it. Anybody who gets motherf***ing next to it is gonna get electrocuted on motherf****ing sight.”
She ended her video saying, “I just wanna say thank you so much. I feel so special,” then sang a line from one of the songs on Renaissance, “Plastic Off The Sofa.”
Cardi turns 30 years old on October 11, and she may receive more early birthday gifts. She has six nominations for the BET Hip Hop Awards, including Hip Hop Artist of the Year.
Fat Joe will host the show, which is set to air October 4 on BET.
Luke Bryan is clearly having fun on his Farm Tour.
After performing “Born Here Live Here Die Here” with the song’s co-writer, Jameson Rodgers, Luke also invited opening act Riley Green for some onstage antics.
The two entertained the crowd with a cover of Tim McGraw‘s hit “Where the Green Grass Grows” during a recent stop on the Farm Tour. At one point, Luke takes a sign from a fan in the audience and resorts to having Riley sign it for him since he lacked a pen.
“I’d love to sign your sign Luke Bryan. Do you want me to sign it for you?” Riley asks, Luke following with his own signature.
In between singing the lyrics, Luke continued the onstage antics by taking a pair of a fan’s glasses and walking around the stage with them on his head.
“Some songs fit just right out there on a farm. Don’t ya think@rileyduckman?” Luke writes on Instagram. “[You’re] an animal,” Riley replies.
Luke launched the Farm Tour on September 15. It continues through September 24.
Joe Jonas understands fans are anxious to hear the Jonas Brothers‘ long-promised sixth studio album and vowed the three-year wait will be well worth it.
Speaking to POPSUGAR, Joe teased fans can expect a very different vibe when he and his brothers unleash their new music. “The music, it’s headed towards — I just think a whole new era,” the hitmaker revealed. “I don’t have a ton to say about it because we’re taking our sweet time.”
The DNCE singer confirmed he doesn’t “have a date” for when their new music is set to come out, adding, “I just can tell you that it’s a work in progress.”
Joe also refused to release any details about what their new music will sound like. “I don’t have really a musical idea of what it’ll sound like or what it won’t,” he cryptically noted. “I encourage everyone to be patient with us as we figure this out, but we’re not going to do it like other times, where we just go silent. We’re going to continue to play music and play shows and tour. I’m really excited for people to hear it.”
The Jonas Brothers’ last song came out in September 2021, the single “Who’s in Your Head.” Album-wise, fans have been waiting a lot longer.
Their last studio album was Happiness Begins, which arrived in June 2019. The comeback album, which is RIAA-certified Platinum, contained the hits “Sucker” and “Cool.”
Marvel movie star Anthony Mackie is taking to the skies — well, at least rooftop level — to help people just as his Sam Wilson did as Falcon and Captain America in the MCU.
Mackie, the son of a roofer, has teamed up with roofing and waterproofing manufacturer GAF’s GAF Community Matters, a charity initiative that is literally putting roofs over the heads of people in Mackie’s storm-battered hometown of New Orleans.
“Growing up, I spent summers working on roofs with my family, so I know how important this work is to keeping families safe and building stronger communities,” Mackie said in announcing the team-up. “Everyone deserves a roof over their head, and I’m proud to be working with GAF to give back to my hometown and ensure we withstand the next storm.”
According to FEMA data cited by GAF, more than 10,000 families remain displaced and unable to return home following Hurricane Ida in 2021. Nearly 20 years after Hurricane Katrina, around 26% of homes are still vacant in New Orleans’ 7th Ward.
GAF is investing $25 million to rebuild the community through its charity initiative. The goal is not only to physically repair damage but to train residents in how to do so.
The company plans to repair or replace 500 roofs throughout the Gulf Region, starting with 150 roofs in the Katrina-battered 7th Ward, and Mackie is right up there with them, shingles, not shield, in hand.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 20, 12:24 PM EDT
Kremlin says referendums to be held in separatist regions of Ukraine
The Kremlin made a series of dramatic announcements Tuesday, signaling its response to its failing military campaign in Ukraine.
The Kremlin said referendums will be held later this week in Russian-backed regions of eastern and southern Ukraine for people to vote on whether to join Russia.
Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs, called the proposed vote “sham referendums” in a post on Twitter.
“Russia has been and remains an aggressor illegally occupying parts of Ukrainian land,” Kuleba said. “Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say.”
Depending on the results of the referendums, which critics say is a foregone conclusion, Russia will suddenly consider territory it has occupied in Ukraine as its own.
Meanwhile, legislation is being rushed through the Russian parliament, laying the ground for a general mobilization of men aged 17-27, an age range that could be expanded.
Russian state media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his minister of defense will address the nation Tuesday night.
According to a Moscow-based military analyst, even parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas, which are not currently controlled by Russian forces, will be considered Russian territory.
After its apparently successful offensive in northeastern Ukraine, the Ukranian military now appears to be pushing further east and is contesting areas of the eastern Donbas region.
In a highly symbolic moment, Ukrainian forces claim they have retaken a village in Luhansk, in the northern part of the Donbas, an area the Kremlin took control of in July.
Sep 18, 4:01 PM EDT
Zelenskyy says preparation underway to liberate all of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Sunday that he interpreted a lull in fighting after a series of victories by his country’s military forces as preparation for the liberation of all of Ukraine.
“Maybe now it seems to some of you that after a series of victories, we have a certain lull,” Zelenskyy said.
He went on to say, “this is not a lull. This is preparation for the next series. To the next series of words that are very important to us and must sound. Because Ukraine must be free … all of it.”
Ukrainian troops made good on Zelenskyy’s call to take back lands claimed by Russian forces with an aggressive counteroffensive over the past week in the country’s northeast region.
Ukrainian officials said their forces drove out the Russian in two key areas in the Kharkiv region and are not going to let up.
Sep 18, 1:59 PM EDT
Biden says China not supplying Russia weapons to use in Ukraine
President Joe Biden said in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that it does not appear China is sending weapons to Russia to use in Ukraine.
“Thus far there’s no indication that they’ve put forward weapons or other things that Russia has wanted,” Biden said in the clip from the interview released Sunday.
That’s consistent with the message his administration has repeatedly shared for months. But it doesn’t mean China has stopped helping Russia in other ways, including purchasing Russian oil.
Biden recounted how he had previously told China’s President Xi Jinping that if he thought “Americans and others are gonna continue to invest in China based on your violating the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia, I think you’re making a gigantic mistake. But that’s your decision to make.”
Biden also said he does not think there’s currently a “new, more complicated cold war” with China, as the interviewer, Scott Pelley, put it.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Sep 18, 12:06 PM EDT
‘True face of aggression’: Ukrainian ambassador condemns Russia over mass grave
Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, accused Russia on Sunday of committing “war crimes of massive proportions” after a mass grave was discovered in Ukraine.
“It’s tortures, rapes, killings. War crimes of a massive proportions,” Markarova claimed in an interview with ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “That’s why we need to liberate the whole territory of Ukraine as soon as possible because clearly Russians are targeting all Ukrainians. Whole families. Children. So, there is no war logic in all of this. It’s simply terrorizing and committing genocide against Ukrainians.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address on Thursday that a mass grave was found in the recently recaptured territory of Izyum. Over 400 bodies could be buried in the site, according to Ukrainian officials.
Markarova said the majority of the bodies recovered from the site are Ukrainian, including entire families. She also said most of the remains showed “clear signs of torture.”
She said an investigation of the mass grave is underway and that with the assistance of the United States her country is continuing to prepare national and international criminal cases against Russia.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, despite evidence otherwise.
“It’s so important for everyone to see the true face of this aggression and terrorist attack Russia is waging,” Markarova said.
(ATLANTA) — Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is urging the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the Justice Department’s request for a partial stay of a district judge’s ruling that has effectively paused the government’s investigation into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified records after leaving office.
The DOJ had filed a motion Friday with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a partial stay of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order requiring a special master to review items with classification markings seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last month.
The government has said Trump was improperly keeping highly classified and sensitive materials that he took with him after leaving the White House. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Tuesday’s new filing from Trump’s attorneys calls the DOJ’s investigation into Trump “both unprecedented and misguided,” and repeats their claim that it is merely “a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control.” The Justice Department has said that characterization ignores the fact that documents possibly containing some of the nation’s highest protected secrets were found inside Trump’s private club in apparent defiance of a grand jury subpoena.
“The District Court did not err in temporarily enjoining the Government’s review and use of records bearing classification markings for criminal investigative purposes because the merits support that narrowly tailored injunction,” Trump’s lawyers argue in the new filing.
Cannon’s order effectively froze the government’s ability to use the contents of the seized records, including classified documents, as part of its criminal investigation.
DOJ officials also said the order has effectively halted a separate assessment by the intelligence community as to whether any classified information in the documents has been compromised or whether other materials may still be missing.
Cannon also rejected the DOJ’s request to allow investigators to continue reviewing the government records taken from Mar-a-Lago for its probe. Instead, she ruled those records had to be given to a special master for review to consider claims for return of personal property and assertions of attorney-client or executive privilege.
The special master appointed by Cannon, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, has called for lawyers representing both Trump and the DOJ to appear in his Brooklyn courtroom Tuesday afternoon.
In a filing on Monday evening, Trump’s legal team stated it was objecting to a request from Dearie for more information regarding whether Trump ever claimed to have declassified any of the documents at issue while he was president — noting it could end up serving as one of their defenses if Trump is ever indicted.
While Trump has repeatedly claimed he declassified all documents in his possession, his legal team has never made such an assertion in any of the court proceedings surrounding the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago.
