(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., confirmed that he attended his gay son’s wedding on Friday — just days after voting against a bill that would codify federal protections for same-sex marriage.
“Congressman and Mrs. Thompson were thrilled to attend and celebrate their son’s marriage on Friday night as he began this new chapter in his life. The Thompsons are very happy to welcome their new son-in-law into their family,” Thompson spokeswoman Maddison Stone told ABC News in a statement late Monday.
Stone did not directly respond to further questions about Thompson’s attendance in light of his vote on the marriage legislation.
Thompson was one of 157 House Republicans to vote against the proposal last week, which Democrats had pushed following the Supreme Court’s decision to scrap constitutional protections for abortion access.
In a statement to the local newspaper Centre Daily, Stone called the bill “nothing more than an election-year messaging stunt for Democrats in Congress who have failed to address historic inflation and out of control prices at gas pumps and grocery stores.”
The legislation was sparked by Justice Clarence Thomas’s supporting opinion in the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Thomas wrote that the high court should revisit past decisions protecting same-sex marriage and contraception access.
Forty-seven House Republicans ultimately voted in favor of the marriage bill, and Senate Democrats are trying to cobble together the 10 Republicans they’d need to overcome a filibuster in the upper chamber and send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Same-sex marriage has long been a contentious topic for Republicans. The most recent party platform, which was enacted in 2016 and renewed in 2020, states that marriage is between a man and a woman, though polling shows the majority of Americans – including a majority of Republicans – support same-sex marriage.
Usher has signed on to executive produce Storyville, a series that explores the roots of the Jazz Age.
Varietyreports the upcoming show follows a group of five brothel madams fighting for control of New Orleans’ red light district. Usher will work alongside show creators Bill Macdonald and Walt Becker.
“Storyville is an epic tale sparked by the origins of the sound that inspired my career,” the eight-time Grammy winner said in a statement, “a story that touches the nerve of social and cultural relevance today.”
The show marks Usher’s first time serving as an executive producer of a drama series. The “OMG” singer previously served as EP for Quibi’s series short The Sauce in addition to the 2005 movie In The Mix.
Storyville is being developed by Starlings Television and company president-slash-EP Chris Philip said of the forthcoming series, “Usher’s massive global appeal, musical and acting genius will propel this unique and compelling original series into must-see viewing worldwide.”
“His invaluable creative and musical contributions to Storyville fulfill our vision of contrasting the gritty, sometimes brutal sides of New Orleans life with it giving birth to a beautiful, diverse and defining new artform,” the statement continued.
It is unknown what network will air the forthcoming series, as it is currently being shopped to broadcasters.
Storyville was New Orleans’ red light district, which ran between 1897 and 1917. It is believed to be the birthplace of jazz music.
(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is in active discussions with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his testimony behind closed doors, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Pompeo is tentatively scheduled to speak with the committee in the coming days, sources said.
The recent outreach to Pompeo is an indication of the committee’s continuing interest in gathering information and testimony from high-level Trump administration officials as it moves toward the release of a public report on its findings this fall.
A lawyer for Pompeo declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the Jan. 6 committee.
According to Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a top aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Pompeo called Meadows on Jan. 6 to alert him that discussions were happening within the Cabinet about invoking the 25th Amendment as a vehicle to remove Trump from office.
“And from what I understand, it was more of a — this is what I’m hearing, I want you to be aware of it, but I also think it’s worth putting on your radar because you are the chief of staff,” Hutchinson recalled Pompeo telling Meadows in her testimony before the Jan. 6 panel. “You’re technically the boss of all the cabinet secretaries. And you know if the conversations progressed you should be ready to take action on this.”
In his book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote that Pompeo and then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment. Pompeo has denied that conversation occurred.
Myles and Layne Ulrich, the sons of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, have released their debut single with their band Taipei Houston.
The track is called “As the Sun Sets” and is available now via digital outlets. You can also watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
The Ulrich brothers first announced Taipei Houston last year. The Royal Blood-esque duo features Layne on vocals and bass and Myles on drums. Myles also plays guitar.
Taipei Houston will be playing a number of festivals over the next few months, including Lollapalooza, Reading & Leeds and Austin City Limits. They’ll also be playing a run of West Coast dates, opening for The Melvins.
Along with the Ulrichs, James Hetfield‘s son Castor plays in a band called Bastardane, while Robert Trujillo‘s kid Tye is the bassist in the group OTTTO.
Wet Leg‘s self-titled debut album has made the shortlist for the 2022 Mercury Prize, the prestigious honor given to the best British or Irish album of the past year.
“We’re so freakin lucky that we got to make the album that we made,” the “Chaise Longue” duo writes in a tweet reacting to the news.
“These past couple of years have been full of surprises and unexpected adventures,” they add. “Here’s perhaps one of our fave surprises so far…Our debut album has been shortlisted for a @MercuryPrize!?”
Among the other records that made the shortlist include Sam Fender‘s Seventeen Going Under, Nova Twins‘ Supernova and Harry Styles‘ Harry’s House.
The 2022 Mercury Prize winner will be revealed during a London ceremony held September 8.
Kevin Hart plays a devoted stay-at-home dad who gets a week away from the kids, thanks to his wife (Regina Hall),in the trailer to the new Netflix comedy Me Time.
The free week comes at the perfect time, when his over-the-top childhood friend, played by Mark Wahlberg, decides to go all out to celebrate his 44th birthday.
The birthday boy is quick to take the fish out of the water: He’s shown taking a hesitant Hart to a nude beach, camping in the desert — in which Hart’s character gets tackled by a mama mountain lion — and going wing-suit diving, the latter mostly accidentally.
After a mysterious tease earlier this week, Green Day has indeed announced an intimate Lollapalooza aftershow.
The punk rockers will play Chicago’s Metro concert hall this Friday, July 29. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, July 27 at 11 a.m. CT.
The 1,100-capacity Metro is a much smaller venue than the one Green Day played when they last hit the Windy City: A little place called Wrigley Field. Billie Joe Armstrong and company headlined stadiums across the U.S. last summer on their Hella Mega tour with Fall Out Boy and Weezer.
Lollapalooza takes place July 28-31 in Chicago’s Grant Park, with Green Day scheduled to headline the final day. The lineup also includes Metallica, Machine Gun Kelly, Måneskin, Porno for Pyros, Glass Animals, Turnstile and Wallows.
Kate Bush‘s “Running Up That Hill” keeps on running up that chart. Specifically, the Billboard Hot 100.
The English artist’s 1985 single, which has seen a massive resurgence over the past two months thanks to its inclusion in the latest season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, has now reached #3 on the all-genre ranking, previously beating its previous peak of #4.
The latest jump gives Bush the highest-charting Hot 100 single of her career, after “Running Up That Hill” previously became her first top-10 and top-five hit on the tally.
In Bush’s home country, “Running Up That Hill” hit #1 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart, breaking several records along the way.
The newfound success of ”Running Up That Hill” led the normally press-shy Bush to publish several public statements and even give a rare interview.
John Mayer is known mostly for his music, but now that he’s starring in the upcoming mystery-comedy Vengeance, is he planning on shifting gears to take over Hollywood?
“I like being in my friends’ movies,” John told Entertainment Tonight. “I don’t really have a brain for acting. I like when my friends call me and say, ‘You wanna do stuff?'”
Continued the seven-time Grammy winner, “I’m my own agent for film.” Acting as his own acting representative is pretty easy, too. He laid out what the job entails, saying, “It happens just when friends go ‘Hey I have an idea for you,’ — I go ‘yeah, I’ll do it.'” Simple as that!”
John added he enjoys working with his friends and highlighted his time with The Office’s B.J. Novak — who wrote, directed and stars in Vengeance. The movie is about a New York-based journalist/podcaster who hooks up with a girl from Texas. She winds up dead, so he travels to the Lone Star state to investigate.
The “New Light” singer said, “B.J. is very thoughtful on where he wants it to go” with the upcoming project and added that courtesy was extended to his character, also named John, who is “a parody” version of a rockstar. John also teased a particular scene he has with Novak.
He described it as “a great moment between two guys that are smart but dumb” and added, “The way we are talking it’s like we are only ever listening to ourselves talk.”
(WASHINGTON) — A Senate investigation revealed evidence on Tuesday of widespread corruption and misconduct dating back years at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta.
At a hearing Tuesday morning, an investigatory panel led by Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff intends to press outgoing Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal on agency records that show staff at the Atlanta federal penitentiary “acted with impunity and even lacked regard for human life,” Ossoff said in his opening statement.
“The evidence the [subcommittee for investigations] has secured to date reveals stunning long-term failures of federal prison administration that likely contributed to loss of life; jeopardized the health and safety of inmates and staff; and undermined public safety and civil rights in the State of Georgia and the Southeast Region of the United States,” Ossoff said.
The prison was rife with contraband, including weapons and synthetic cannabis, and large amounts of confiscated drugs were never logged after they were discovered, according to Ossoff and the subcommittee’s review of internal BOP documents in addition to interviews with whistleblowers, federal judges and former senior agency leaders.
A lack of security checks also allowed inmates to pass contraband between cells and freely use narcotics, Ossoff said.
The findings documented by the panel — an investigatory arm of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — include allegations of poorly maintained and often dangerous conditions for inmates. Between 2012 to 2020, a total of 12 inmates died by suicide which the committee linked to a lack of compliance by staff to prison procedures and “complacency, indifference, inattentiveness, and lack of compliance with BOP policies and procedures,” according to Ossoff.
Internal reports from 2017 and 2019, now revealed by the committee, found prison guard weapons were improperly stored and at times went missing.
Erika Ramirez, a whistleblower and former chief psychologist of the Atlanta facility, testified on Tuesday to a variety of unsafe and unsanitary conditions as well as a lack of control over contraband.
“The walls were infested with mold,” Ramirez said. “Whenever it rained, the sewer would break — would back up and overflow onto the recreation yard, sometimes leaving a foot of human waste behind. Security-wise, there was little to speak of. Given the volume and flagrancy of the contraband, it was obvious that cell searches were not being properly conducted, if at all.”
Ramirez testified that she documented her findings and reported them to upper management and, in some cases, to the BOP central office in Washington. Ramirez was subsequently, involuntarily transferred to a facility in Texas in what she described as retaliation for speaking out.
Former jail administrator Terri Whitehead also appeared at Tuesday’s hearing and said unsanitary conditions at the prison resulted in security lapses.
“For example, there was so many rats inside the facility, dining hall and food preparation areas that staff intentionally left doors open so the stray cats that hung around the prison could catch the rats,” Whitehead said. “It is never a good idea to leave prison doors open.”
After BOP Director Carvajal initially declined to testify, the subcommittee subpoenaed him; he announced his retirement at the beginning of the year and plans to leave BOP in August, when his successor takes over.
The U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta has been under public scrutiny for years. An inmate and his fiancée pleaded guilty in 2017 to running what prosecutors described as an “inmate Uber.” The two admitted to transporting convicts to and from the prison, allowing them access to outside food and contraband.
Last year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that four senior prison officers were banned from the facility amid a corruption investigation and the prison’s population was reduced from more than 1,800 to 134.
Representatives with the BOP and the Atlanta penitentiary did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
