After teasing it earlier this week with a goofy teaser video called “I Feel Funny,” Justin Bieber has now officially dropped his new single, “Honest,” featuring Houston rapper Don Toliver.
Speaking to Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1 about why he collaborated with Toliver, Justin explains, “I just love his melodies…he has a really amazing cadence to his songs and his music. And I’m just a genuine fan. He’s very unique. And he just is himself. And that’s what I love about any artist that can just has a lane and does what they do and does it well.”
In the video, Justin and Toliver, along with two women, ride snowmobiles through mountains and hang out in the snowy woods, wearing a variety of fabulous puffer coats. In one James Bond-ish moment, a man in black starts shooting at them, but the woman riding with Justin on the back of the snowmobile takes him out.
Lyrically, the song seems to be another tribute to Justin’s love for his wife, Hailey: “You’re modest, I like it/You stay down and you the baddest/You kept it real with me from jump” he sings. “I like that hazel on you/I look straight in your eyes, holy matrimony.”
When Toliver comes in, he raps about “me and JB smoking skunk” and hands Justin what appears to be a joint, from which he takes a hit. The clip ends with Toliver, Justin and the two women sitting around a fire in the snowy woods, smoking.
Future’s highly anticipated new album, I NEVER LIKED YOU, dropped on Friday and the hot new project is filled with star-studded features from Drake, Gunna & Young Thug, Kodak Black, Kanye West and more.
Ye appears alongside his longtime friend Future in the music video for “Keep It Burnin,” which was also delivered on Friday. The fiery new track, which Future teased earlier this week, first showed up on Ye’s Donda 2.
The 16-track project comes nearly two years after his RIAA Platinum-selling album, High Off Life, marking the Atlanta rapper’s ninth studio collection and first full-length project since his collaboration with Lil Uzi Vert on Pluto x Baby Pluto.
In a recent cover story for GQ, Future opened up about his vulnerability on the album, saying, “I’m putting myself out there. Sharing my lifestyle with the world. Sharing my pain with the world. Sharing my ups, sharing my downs with the entire universe. I believe in the energy of the universe and manifestation. That’s why I’m giving myself, because I’m willing to correct myself. I don’t want to just…be wrong. I’m willing to give you all of me, so you can tell me how to build on me, and make me a better me.”
It may be safe to say Future’s proud of his latest body of work: Prior to the album’s release, the rapper tweeted about his ambitious expectations, saying, “When the album drop ain’t no being humble…Da biggest.”
I NEVER LIKED YOU is now available for streaming on all major platforms.
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of 2022, after years of growth, according to a new report.
Economists had expected consumer spending to accelerate in March, as rising wages prompted more American spending on services such as dining out and travel.
Watch the full report from ABC’s Good Morning America:
The “severe and persistent muscle spasms” that have been plaguing Celine Dion for months don’t appear to be going away any time soon. The star is now postponing her 2022 European shows to 2023.
Celine was unable to launch her new Las Vegas residency at Resorts World last November due to the condition, and now she says her recovery is taking longer than she had hoped.
“I’m so sorry we have to change our tour plans for Europe one more time; first we had to move the shows because of the pandemic, now it’s my health issues causing us to postpone the shows,” Celine says in an emotional video statement. “I am doing a little bit better…but I’m still experiencing some spasms.”
“I need to be in top shape when I’m on stage,” she adds. “I honestly can’t wait, but I’m just not there yet… I’m doing my very best to get back to the level that I need to be so that I can give 100% at my shows because that’s what you deserve.”
Celine adds, “I appreciate your loyalty…thank you so much for the messages of love and support that you always send to my social media. It means a lot to me.”
Celine also took the opportunity to say that she stands with the people of Ukraine, adding, “I hope and pray that this war ends soon.”
The rescheduled shows start in February of 2023 and run through April, and then resume in August and run through October. It’s possible that between April and August, Celine’s hoping to return to Las Vegas.
(NEW YORK) — Trevor Reed’s family said President Joe Biden may have saved their son’s life, doing everything he could to bring Reed home, in their first interview since seeing their son on U.S. soil.
“Ultimately it was President Biden,” Joey Reed, Trevor Reed’s father, said in an interview Friday on Good Morning America. “We’ve said all along if we could just speak to the man, we think he would make this happen and that’s exactly what happened. He did everything that we had said he would do and it’s amazing and we can’t thank him enough.”
He added, “We believe he may have saved Trevor’s life.”
Reed, a former Marine from Texas, was released from Russian prison on Wednesday as part of an international prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia. He had been held in Russia since 2019.
Trevor Reed’s family said they met with him on Thursday for a few hours. His mother, Paula Reed, said it was the first time they got to hug him, saying “it was heaven.”
The Reeds said they received a phone call early Thursday morning from Roger Carsten, the presidential envoy on hostage affairs, who handed the phone to Trevor Reed, who was on a plane headed to the U.S.
Reed was arrested in Russia, while on a trip visiting his girlfriend, after Russian authorities alleged he grabbed the wheel of a police car and assaulted a police officer while drunk.
Reed denied the allegations and maintained his innocence. A year later he was sentenced to nine years in prison. After several appeals he was moved from a Moscow prison to a remote prison colony.
Reed was exchanged for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, a convicted drug trafficker.
Reed’s parents said their son has a long road to recovery, in an interview with ABC News’ David Muir on Wednesday.
He is currently in a medical facility receiving care, but his family did not have a complete update on his health on Friday.
“We don’t really have a whole lot of answers yet. He’s getting testing done. He is at a top-notch medical facility and getting great care so we’re excited about that but we won’t really know more for a few days,” Paula Reed said.
The Reeds lobbied for years for the U.S. to negotiate for their son’s release, even personally pleading with Biden.
Other Americans, including Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner, are still being held in Russia.
“Our hearts go out to them and we can only imagine how disappointed they are that their loved ones didn’t get to come home,” Paula Reed said.
She added that Whelan’s release was the first thing her son brought up when the family spoke.
“He said he didn’t feel well and we said, ‘Do you mean physically?’ He said, ‘No, mom. I feel terrible that Paul still there and I’m here.’ And he said when I get better, I’m going to start advocating for them to bring Paul home right away,'” Paula Reed said.
James Corden will step down as host of CBS’ The Late Late Show in 2023.
The British comedian, who will have hosted the show for eight-and-a-half years by the time he leaves, made the announcement on Thursday’s show.
“This will be my last year hosting the show,” he told his audience, explaining, “When I started this journey, it was always going to be just that — a journey, an adventure. I never saw it as my final destination.”
“I never want this show to overstay its welcome in any way, I always want to love making it,” he continued. “And really think that a year from now, that’ll be a good time to move on and see what else might be out there.”
In addition to his late-night gig, Corden has starred in films such as Peter Rabbit, Cats and The Prom. He is also a partner in Fulwell 73, the production company responsible for Hulu’s The Kardashians and Camila Cabello’s Cinderella, and will star alongside Sally Hawkins in Amazon’s upcoming comedy-drama series Mammals.
Corden replaced Craig Ferguson, who hosted The Late Late Show for nine years with help from comic and impressionist Josh Robert Thompson, who voiced Ferguson’s robotic sidekick, Geoff Peterson.
Corden’s first show aired on March 23, 2015. Since then, he’s introduced popular viral segments like Carpool Karaoke, Drop the Mic and Spill Your Guts.
The Emmy-winning comedy Schitt’s Creek is moving from Netflix to Hulu beginning October 3, Hulu announced on Thursday. The series, starring Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy, joins Hulu’s extensive library of hit comedies, including ABC’s Abbott Elementary and Home Economics, Freeform’s Single Drunk Female and FX’s Dave, as well as original series like Only Murders in the Building, Life and Beth, and How I Met Your Father…
Judge Judy Sheindlin is expanding her presence on Amazon Freevee, formerly IMDB TV, with Tribunal, a new show that will feature a panel of three judges collectively adjudicating real cases. “Tribunal is an exciting new format which combines traditional court with a video-enhanced presentation,” said Sheindlin in a statement obtained by Variety. “The panel of judges offer a dynamic combination of different backgrounds, experiences, and opinions that are unique, unparalleled, and compelling.” The new series order follows the launch of Judy Justice on Freevee, which has already been renewed for a second season…
Stranger Things star Maya Hawke has joined the cast of Maestro, Netflix’s Leonard Bernstein biopic, starring, co-written and directed by Bradley Cooper, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Per Netflix, Maestro tells of the complex, 30-year love story between Bernstein and Felicia Cohn Montealegre, from their first meeting in 1946, through two on-again engagements, a 25-year marriage, three children and as Bernstein grappled with his own sexual orientation. Hawke will play daughter Jamie…
(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 earlier this month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 29, 6:37 am
American killed while fighting in Ukraine
U.S. citizen Willy Joseph Cancel was killed in Ukraine while fighting alongside Ukrainian troops against invading Russian forces, his family confirmed to ABC News early Friday.
Cancel, a 22-year-old former U.S. Marine, “was eager to volunteer” when he learned about the war in Ukraine, according to his wife, Brittany Cancel.
“He went there wanting to help people, he had always felt that that was his main mission in life,” Brittany Cancel told ABC News in a statement. “My husband was very brave and a hero.”
Before going to Ukraine, Cancel was working as a detention officer in Kentucky. He also had dreams of becoming a police officer or firefighter, according to his wife.
“I did not expect to be a widow at 23 years old or for our son to be without a father,” she said. “All I want is for him to come home, and to give him the proper burial he deserves.”
An official with the U.S. Department of State told ABC News on Friday morning that they “are aware of these reports and are closely monitoring the situation,” but declined to comment further “due to privacy considerations.”
-ABC News’ Caroline Guthrie and Conor Finnegan
Apr 29, 5:53 am
Journalist killed by Russian bombardment in Kyiv
At least one person — a journalist — was killed in a rocket attack on a residential building in Kyiv on Thursday evening, ABC News has learned.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Kilitschko said Friday that rescuers had found the body of a victim amid the rubble.
Radio Liberty, a service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported that one of its employees, Vira Gyrych, was killed when a Russian missile hit her apartment in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday. Her body was found beneath the wreckage Friday morning, according to the report.
Gyrych had worked as a journalist and producer for Radio Liberty’s Kyiv bureau since 2018. Prior to that, she worked for leading Ukrainian television channels, according to Radio Liberty.
“The editorial staff of Radio Liberty expresses its condolences to the family of Vira Gyrych and will remember her as a bright and kind person, a true professional,” Radio Liberty said in its report.
Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky also confirmed Gyrych’s death in a Twitter post, saying she was a former employee of the Israeli embassy in Kyiv.
Thursday’s rocket attack came as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Kyiv. Five Russian missiles flew into the city, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At least 10 people were injured, including four who were hospitalized, according to the Kyiv City Council.
Apr 29, 5:02 am
UN chief pledges to ‘fight with the use of force’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres admitted Thursday that “the U.N. Security Council has not been able to do everything in its power” to resolve the war in Ukraine, as he pledged to “fight with the use of force.”
“We will not give up,” Guterres said during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
According to Guterres, U.N. staff are already providing on-site assistance in 30 locations across Ukraine. The U.N. chief called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a violation of the U.N. Charter.” One of the organization’s values, he said, “is the need that territorial integrity of the countries must be respected.”
“This is fundamental,” Guterres added.
Guterres visited Kyiv as the Ukrainian capital was hit by two missile strikes on Thursday evening. Five missiles flew into the city, according to Zelenskyy. At least 10 people were injured, including four who were hospitalized, according to the Kyiv City Council.
“This says a lot about Russia’s true attitude to global institutions. About the efforts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the U.N. and everything that the organization represents,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly broadcast.
Earlier on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Western countries of openly calling on Ukraine to attack Russian territory with the weapons they supply to Kyiv.
“We have already commented the other day on statements by British Deputy Defense Minister [James] Heappey about okaying Ukraine’s strikes on Russian military targets,” Zakharova told reporters in Moscow, according to Russian state media. “In other words, the West is openly calling on Kiev to attack Russia, even with weapons received from NATO countries.”
According to Zakharova, Kyiv has taken this as a guide to action, evidenced by the Ukrainian military’s shelling of Russian border territories over the past few weeks that resulted in casualties and destruction. Zakharova said the Ukrainian strikes were “further evidence that Zelenskyy’s regime is not independent in its decisions and is completely dependent on external handlers.”
Zakharova also stressed that such “criminal activity” of the Ukrainian military against Russian territory cannot go unanswered.
“I would like Kyiv and Western capitals to take seriously the statements of our country’s defense ministry that further Ukrainian provocations to strike Russian targets will definitely lead to a harsh response from Russia,” she said.
At a press conference in Vienna on Thursday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi warned that Russian missiles over Ukrainian power plants could cause a nuclear accident. Grossi, who recently visited Ukraine and its Chernobyl nuclear power plant, said the Ukrainian government officially informed his agency, the nuclear watchdog of the U.N., of a video surveillance camera recording the flight of a missile directly over the South Ukraine nuclear power plant near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk on April 16.
“The IAEA is studying the evidence and if it is confirmed, the incident will have extremely serious consequences,” Grossi said. “If such a missile changed its trajectory, it could seriously affect the physical integrity of the nuclear power plant, which could lead to a nuclear accident.”
-ABC News’ Edward Szekeres, Yuriy Zaliznyak, Uliana Lototska and Nataliia Kushnir
Apr 28, 6:41 pm
Russia could be ‘intensifying’ forced displacement of civilians: US official
The U.S. has “credible information” that Russia could be “intensifying” the forced displacement of civilians as it plans to overthrow local governments in southern and eastern Ukraine, a senior U.S. diplomat said Thursday.
Michael Carpenter, the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters there is “credible reporting” that after failing to topple the central government in Kyiv, Russian forces are forcibly removing Ukrainian civilians from areas in the south and east — and could be “intensifying” those efforts as they seek to set up proxy local governments.
Carpenter said he has also now deemed “credible” the reports that Russian forces are forcibly displacing Ukrainian civilians, often through “filtration camps” where many are “brutally” interrogated, to tamp down on Ukrainian support in these parts of the war-torn country.
Carpenter repeatedly declined to provide more details to back up these claims, saying only, “We have very credible information from a variety of different sources that point to Russia’s plans.”
Gabby Barrett may typically be the one in the spotlight, but she passed the mic to her fellow artist husband, Cade Foehner, during a recent performance at the Seven Seas Food Festival in Orlando’s Sea World.
Music is the foundation of the couple’s relationship: They met back in 2018, when they were both competitors on Season 16 of American Idol. Gabby came in third that season, while Cade finished in the top five.
When he took the spotlight, Cade treated fans to a performance of an unreleased song called “I Love You,” which — of course — he wrote for Gabby.
“I wrote it for her a long time ago…when we first started dating,” Cade told the crowd in his slow, Southern drawl, with Gabby interjecting to joke, “He’s not from Orlando, if you can’t tell.”
Apparently, both members of the couple draw musical inspiration from their relationship. Gabby’s chart-topping hit, “The Good Ones,” was based on her relationship with Cade.
If Cade looks familiar to some fans, that’s because he’s Gabby’s road guitarist and sometimes sings backing vocals. However, a vocal performance spotlighting Cade is a little bit rarer of a sight.
The country couple got married in 2019 and are parents to a one-year-old daughter named Baylah May.
