At the Los Angeles premiere of his new action comedy, Bullet Train, Brad Pitt let it be known that, contrary to reports, he’s not ready to retire.
The 58-year-old Oscar winner might be AARP certified, but he insisted to Deadline that his comments to GQ about being on the “last leg” of his career could have been clearer.
“No!” was how Pitt responded with a laugh when asked if he was actually planning to hang it up, after an onscreen career nearly 80 movies long.
“I know, I really have to work on my phrasing,” the actor joshed.
“No, I was just saying, you know, I’m, like, past middle age [and] I want to be specific how I spend those last bits, whenever they may be.”
Pitt also has an impressive cache of work under his belt as a producer: His Plan B Entertainment has shepherded movies like The Departed, 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight to Best Picture Academy Award wins, and also produced Oscar winners Minari and The Big Short, and hits like World War Z.
His Friday release, Bullet Train, was directed by Pitt’s friend and former stunt double David Leitch and has Pitt playing a very unlucky assassin on an easy mission that goes awry in nearly every way.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden continued to test positive for COVID-19 Tuesday but is feeling “well,” according to a memo from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician.
“The President continues to feel well, though he is experiencing a bit of a return of a loose cough. He remains fever-free and in good spirits. His temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation remain entirely normal. His lungs are clear,” O’Connor wrote.
O’Connor added that Biden “will continue his strict isolation measures” and “will continue to conduct the business of the American people from the Executive Residence.”
Biden initially tested positive for COVID-19 on July 21. His symptoms at the time were said to have included a runny nose, cough, sore throat, a slight fever and body aches.
He was treated with Paxlovid and tested negative last Wednesday before emerging from isolation.
However, he tested positive again Saturday in a so-called rebound infection, which can occur when patients take Paxlovid.
High-risk patients still face drastically diminished risks of hospitalization after taking Paxlovid.
O’Connor’s memo Tuesday marked the first time he noted a reemergence of symptoms from the rebound case.
Biden had six close contacts before testing positive for COVID for a second time, though White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday none has tested positive.
It remains unclear for how long Biden will be able to leave the White House for a number of planned trips.
Jean-Pierre noted Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet released any guidance regarding travel after a rebound infection.
If you’re a fan of DJ Khaled and Jay-Z‘s collaborations, you’ll be happy to hear the two reunite on the former’s upcoming album, God Did. In an Instagram post Monday, the Grateful producer announced that he’s secured yet another feature from the Brooklyn rapper.
“HOV DID!!! HOV VOCALS IS IN! WOW,” he wrote alongside a montage of pictures, including one of Jay-Z with his head facing down. The other photos captured the reactions of Khaled, Jay’s longtime producer Young Guru and Lenny S, famed photographer and senior vice president at Roc Nation.
“#HOVDID#GODDIDALBUM COMING SOON !!!!!!” Khaled continued in his post. “HOV LOVE FOREVER BROTHER!!!!!!!!”
Confirmation of the upcoming collab comes just weeks after Khaled teased fans with a photo of him and Jay-Z in the studio. “They didn’t believe in us, HOV DID,” he captioned the image. “And when HOV believes, more HISTORY is made. #GODDID.”
“Thank you my brother for everything you do for US!!” he added. “HOV DID!! ALBUM ALMOST DONE !!!!!!!!!!”
The new Khaled and Jay-Z song will mark the latest musical collaboration between the two stars. They previously teamed up on “They Don’t Love You No More,” “I Got the Keys,” “Shining,” “Top Off,” “Nas Album Done” and most recently, “SORRY NOT SORRY.”
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) — Abortions have once again stopped in Kentucky after an appeals court reinstated two bans.
One ban, a so-called trigger law — designed to go into effect after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in June — bans all abortions from the moment of conception.
It also makes performing abortions a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The other ban prohibits abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected, which generally occurs around six weeks’ gestation, before most women even know they’re pregnant.
Neither ban allows exceptions in cases of rape or incest. The only exception is if the mother’s life is in danger.
An injunction preventing enforcement of the bans was issued June 30 and then extended on July 22 by a judge while a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center — abortion providers in Louisville — plays out.
But on Monday evening, Judge Larry Thompson granted an emergency request filed by State Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office to reinstate the two laws.
In his ruling, Thompson said that although the constitutionality of the statutes has not yet been determined, “a statute carries with it the presumption of constitutionality” in Kentucky.
“I appreciate the court’s decision to allow Kentucky’s pro-life laws to take effect while we continue to vigorously defend the constitutionality of these important protections for women and unborn children across the Commonwealth,” Cameron tweeted.
Cameron’s office did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
Abortion rights supporters have decried the ruling. In a statement, Rebecca Gibson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, called the decision a “devastating day for all Kentuckians.”
“Abortion is essential health care, and it is irresponsible and dangerous to prevent people from accessing the care they need,” she said. “Make no mistake — this ban goes beyond abortion. It is about who has power over you, who has the authority to make decisions for you, and who can control how your future is going to be.”
Gibson continued, “But it is my promise to the people of Kentucky that Planned Parenthood will never back down. We will always be here for you.”
The ACLU of Kentucky, which is representing EMW Women’s Surgical Center in the lawsuit, said the clinic will stop providing abortion care while the case in ongoing.
The organization also said in a tweet it will be appealing the decision to the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, writing, “We won’t stop fighting for your right to make the best decisions for yourself because no person should ever be forced to remain pregnant against their will.
Mo Ostin, the legendary record executive who headed the Warner Bros. Records label for over 30 years, died “peacefully in his sleep” on Sunday at age 95, according to a Warner Music Group press statement.
“Mo was one of the greatest record men of all time, and a prime architect of the modern music business,” Warner Records co-chairmen Tom Corson and Aaron Bay-Schuck said in a joint statement. “For Mo, it was always first and foremost about helping artists realize their vision … Mo lived an extraordinary life doing what he loved, and he will be deeply missed throughout the industry he helped create, and by the countless artists and colleagues whom he inspired to be their best selves.”
As explained in a Billboard obit, early in his career, Ostin was hired by Frank Sinatra to run the iconic singer’s Reprise Records in 1960. After Warner Bros. Records bought Reprise in 1963, Ostin signed artists like The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young to the label.
Ostin began his tenure as president of Warner Bros. Records in 1970, became the company’s chairman and CEO in ’72, and oversaw saw the label and its Reprise imprint until he retired in 1994.
During his years with Warner Bros. Records, the company signed such famous artists as Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Paul Simon, ZZ Top, Don Henley, Tom Petty, R.E.M., The B-52s, Green Day, Dire Straits, Chaka Khan and Prince.
After retiring from Warner Bros., Ostin co-founded and ran the DreamWorks SKG’s music division from 1996 to 2004. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Road House, the cult classic in which Patrick Swayze played a psychology degree-holding hombre who also happens to be the best bouncer in the world, is getting a reboot led by Jake Gyllenhaal.
ABC Audio has confirmed that Doug Liman, director of Swingers, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the Tom Cruise sci-fi epic Edge of Tomorrow, is calling the shots for Amazon Studios.
Produced by the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard films’ Joel Silver — who backed the 1989 original — the movie will also star No Time to Die‘s Billy Magnussen, The Suicide Squad‘s Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo from Amazon’s upcoming A League of Their Own reboot and Broad City‘s Arturo Castro.
Amazon Studios teases this iteration will have Gyllenhaal playing “a former UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at a rough-and-tumble roadhouse in the Florida Keys, but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems in this tropical paradise.”
For his part, Liman said, “I’m thrilled to put my own spin on the beloved Road House legacy. And I can’t wait to show audiences what Jake and I are going to do with this iconic role.”
Production gets underway in the Dominican Republic this month.
Demi Lovato and That ’70s Show alum Wilmer Valderrama called it quits in 2016, but it appears the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer is not done talking about their ex.
To recap, Demi and Valderrama met in 2010 — when the Grammy winner was 17 and he was 29. They dated for about six years before breaking up for good in June 2016. The two have since maintained there’s no bad blood between them, but a new song from Demi has fans thinking otherwise.
In anticipation of their new album, Holy Fvck, due out August 19, Demi teased a forthcoming track called “29” on their Instagram Story. Fans immediately picked up on the lyrics, which seem to be unmistakably about their controversial relationship.
TikTok fan account @demi_artistry reposted the sound clip, which contains the lyrics, “Fibre on the vine/ Too young to drink wine/ Just 5 years of bleeders/ Student and a teacher/ Far from innocent/ What the f***’s consent?/ Numbers told you not to/ But that didn’t stop you!”
Demi continues to belt, “Finally 29/ Funny, just like you were at the time/ Thought it was a teenage dream, just a fantasy/ But was it yours? Or was it mine?/ Seventeen, 29!”
While the “Anyone” singer has yet to confirm the song is explicitly about Valderrama, fans say the lyrics are obvious.
In addition, Lovatics have dug up an old Demi interview with Harper’s Bazaarfrom 2020 — shortly after the actor wed model Amanda Pacheco – where they said that, while they’re happy for Valderrama, “We’re not in each other’s lives, haven’t spoken in a long time.”
The singer also said, “When you get into a relationship with somebody at that young of an age and then you spend six years with somebody, you don’t really get to learn about yourself.”
If you’re on TikTok, chances are you’ve come across several videos soundtracked to a mashup of ABBA‘s “Chiquita” and Elton John‘s “Bennie and the Jets.” So, what happened when the songs’ creators found out about it?
ABBA’s Benny Andersson jumped on the trend by taking it a little too literally. He shared a TikTok video of himself smiling while playing the opening notes of “Chiquita.” The camera then jumps as “Bennie and the Jets” cuts in, focusing in on a different pair of hands.
The camera pans up and shows a smiling Sir Elton, who is wearing a cozy track suit as he plays “Bennie and the Jets.”
“Heard that ‘Chiquitita’ was trending again,” ABBA captioned the cheeky video and tagged the “Tiny Dancer” singer.
The mashup has been a popular reaction song on TikTok, with people using it to illustrate a dramatic turn of events in a narrative. The clip has been used in nearly 50,000 videos since it was first posted in June by a user named reymifasol, who captioned their creation, “please for all your gorgeous summer transitions.”
Things are about to get Heavy for Mitchell Tenpenny.
The hit singer has announced that his third studio album, This Is Heavy, will be released on September 16. He teased the announcement with an Instagram video with a graphic of a UFO beaming a light down to Earth as the phrase “are y’all f****** ready for album #2” scrolls across the screen.
The album will feature 20 tracks, including his current hit, “Truth About You,” which is climbing up the top 10 on country radio, as well as the unreleased “Always Something With You.” The full track list will be unveiled on Friday.
After “Truth” went viral on TikTok last summer, Mitchell featured it on his 2021 EP, Midtown Diaries, and released it as an official single.
“I hope the fans are as excited as I am that this music will be out soon. I spent an enormous amount of time writing during the pandemic and sharing bits and pieces of what I was working on along the way. The fans really showed up for me by giving me feedback on what they were liking,” Mitchell said in a statement. “Their direction helped shape this album and stretched me as a songwriter and artist.”
Heavy follows the release of the Nashville native’s 2018 sophomore album, Telling All My Secrets, which featured “Drunk Me,” his debut, chart-topping single that has now been certified Platinum. Additionally, Mitchell has amassed 1.3 billion career streams thus far.
(WASHINGTON) — One of two men charged with impersonating federal law enforcement officers and allegedly duping U.S. Secret Service agents pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy, among other charges including illegally recording sexual videos of women without consent.
Authorities say Arian Taherzadeh used a fake persona as a federal law enforcement officer to get close with real members of the Secret Service, including at least one assigned to the White House, and defraud multiple Washington, D.C., apartment buildings out of more than $800,000 in rent and fees.
Taherzadeh and his alleged associate Haider Ali had multiple firearms and a variety of equipment they kept in one of the penthouse apartments. Ali, a co-defendant in the case, had maintained his innocence since the two were arrested last April and pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him.
In addition to living rent-free with his associates, Taherzadeh provided two Secret Service employees with their own luxury apartments for about a year using his fake persona.
“The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain in active coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security,” the Secret Service said in a statement at the time.
Posing as a federal official, Taherzadeh gained access to security camera video from the apartment complexes and set up a surveillance system of his own. He installed cameras outside and inside his apartment, using them “to record women engaged in sexual activity,” according to the guilty plea.
A 9mm Glock handgun with large capacity magazine, an unlicensed long gun and several electronic devices including more than two dozen hard drives, a computer server and surveillance equipment were among the evidence seized by authorities.
Tactical gear often used by law enforcement, clothing with police logos and a finger printing kit were also found in the apartment.
