Founding INXS multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Farriss has just released a music video for the latest single from his 2021 self-titled debut solo album, the uplifting “You Are My Rock,” which premiered Thursday exclusively on the CMT Music channel and at CMT.com.
The video features Farriss and his backing musicians performing the tune in the outback of his native Australia. The tune combines the country influences showcased throughout most of the album with some rock and gospel flavors.
As Farriss explains in a YouTube video clip, “‘You Are My Rock’ is the last track, and I wanted to deliberately leave it ’til the end because I wanted to, basically, kick a** at the end of the record. The song is about thanking people in your life for opportunities that are given to you, for people that support you.”
He adds, “I’m simply saying thank you to everybody [for] listening to my album to get to the end of the song.”
Farriss has a few upcoming U.S. performances lined up to promote his album, including on August 22 in Lexington, Kentucky, and on September 15 at the AmericanaFest event in Nashville.
Farriss co-wrote most of INXS’ songs with the group’s late original frontman, Michael Hutchence, including such big hits as “What You Need,” “Need You Tonight,” “Devil Inside,” “New Sensation,” “Never Tear Us Apart” and “Suicide Blonde.”
The fallout from Will Smith‘s Oscars slap continues.
On Thursday, Varietyreports that the actor’s Q Scores, the industry standard for measuring celebrities’ mass appeal, have dropped significantly since he slapped host Chris Rock onstage at the Academy Awards in March.
Conducted twice a year in January and July, nearly 2,000 consumers starting from age 6 are surveyed about their opinion on famous figures.
Prior to the incident on live TV, Smith had a positive Q score of 39, meaning that 39% of the respondents cited TheFresh Prince of Bel-Air star as one of their favorite celebrities. But based on the July report, his score has dropped to 24, which Henry Schafer, executive VP of Q Scores, says is a “very significant and precipitous decline.”
His negative Q score has leapt from 10 to 26, meaning that 26% of those surveyed have a “fair” or “poor” opinion of the actor.
As for Rock, both his positive and negative Q scores remain unchanged in the aftermath of the incident, ranking at 20 and 14, respectively.
Smith received his first Oscar for Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard during the 2022 ceremony.
(WASHINGTON) — A magistrate judge in Florida heard in-person arguments Thursday on a request from a coalition of media outlets to make public the affidavit supporting the search warrant executed at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last week.
After hearing the Justice Department’s case, the judge appeared inclined toward deciding that at least a portion of could be unsealed with government redactions.
The Justice Department had urged the judge, Bruce Reinhart, to keep the affidavit fully under seal, arguing that if it were to be made public it could “cause significant and irreparable damage” to an ongoing criminal investigation involving highly classified materials related to national security.
Arguing on behalf of the Justice Department Thursday, Jay Bratt, the head of the agency’s counterintelligence and export control section, acknowledged the heightened public interest in this case, but argued there is another public interest which is the government’s position to keep the underlying affidavit sealed as it would provide a roadmap and “suggest next investigative steps that we would be about to take.”
Bratt said the investigation is in its “early stages” and feared for the safety of witnesses and potential witnesses and the threat of “possible obstruction and interference.”
“This investigation is open. It is in its early stages,” Bratt said.
Bratt argued that redactions to the affidavit would not be sufficient, as information in it could identify witnesses based on the descriptions of events that only certain people would have knowledge about.
But after hearing the government’s arguments, Judge Reinhart said, “I am not prepared to find that the affidavit should be fully sealed.”
The judge said he believes there are portions of it that presumptively could be unsealed — whether they would be meaningful is for someone else to decide, he said. The government may disagree with him on some points, he said, giving DOJ until next Thursday to file its proposed redactions.
ABC News and a number of other media organizations have called for the release of the affidavit, noting the historical significance of the unprecedented law enforcement search of a former president’s residence and the “immediate and intense public interest as well as a vociferous reaction from Mr. Trump and his allies.”
Officials said in their Monday filing, however, that they believed the redactions that would be necessary to protect the investigation “would be so extensive as to render the remaining unsealed text devoid of meaningful content.”
DOJ would likely seek an immediate appeal on any ruling by Judge Reinhart that would reveal further substantive details underlying their investigation.
The government said, though, it would not object to the unsealing of other materials filed in connection with the warrant, such as cover sheets for the application, the government’s motion to keep the warrant under seal and Judge Reinhart’s original sealing order — none of which will likely reveal much beyond the materials already disclosed.
Thursday afternoon, the court posted the other redacted materials that the Justice Department did not object to being unsealed.
The redacted copy of the search warrant released last Friday sent shockwaves through Washington, as it revealed the Justice Department was investigating the potential violation of at least three separate criminal statutes in its search of Mar a Lago, including obstruction of justice and one crime under the Espionage Act.
A property receipt accompanying the warrant shows agents seized 11 boxes of documents of various classifications, including one set referring to “classified/TS/SCI documents” (the acronym stands for top secret/sensitive compartmentalized information that not everyone with even top-secret clearance can view) and four other sets of top-secret documents.
The documents were discovered by authorities after a lawyer for Trump signed a statement in June to the FBI affirming that all classified documents on the premises had been handed over to investigators, sources confirmed to ABC News.
Trump’s team has yet to take court action despite publicly trying to pressure the Justice Department to release the full affidavit.
Christina Bobb, who is on Trump’s legal team, said they had no plans to file anything or speak publicly, but told reporters she came to watch the hearing.
Trump in recent days has called for the “immediate release” of the affidavit while leveling various attacks at the FBI and Justice Department, while also demanding over his social media website that the documents be returned to him. But Trump’s legal team has yet to take any sort of legal action on either front in response to the search.
Former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin are among multiple other witnesses interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation, ABC News confirmed Tuesday, with sources saying both sat with investigators sometime in the spring. But there’s no indication that the Justice Department’s filing referencing officials’ hopes of protecting witnesses who testified in the investigation was a direct reference to Cipollone or Philbin.
ABC News’ John Santucci contributed to this report.
Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley has sold his publishing catalog.
According to Billboard, the sale was made to the company HarbourView Equity Partners, which has recently acquired the catalogs of Hollywood Undead, and country artists Lady A and Brad Paisley.
As for how much Whibley took home from the transaction, Billboard reports that the “terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.”
Sum 41 is currently touring the U.S. with fellow Canadians Simple Plan. The “Fat Lip” outfit has also been working on a new record, a double album called Heaven and Hell.
It looks like Dolly Parton may have a little Christmas present for us.
The legendary philanthropist and musician has been spotted shooting something at her East Tennessee theme park. Alternately, she’s been seen being escorted around in a golf cart alongside Willie Nelson, while photos emerged of Jimmy Fallon in the ’50s section of the park, sporting a leather jacket and a hairstyle inspired by either Elvis Presley or the Fonz.
The Red-Headed Stranger and the Tonight Show host are reportedly working on a holiday movie with Dolly. In 2020, Jimmy duetted with Dolly on Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” for her A Holly Dolly Christmas album, while Dolly and Willie go back even further than their 1982 top-10 duet, “Everything’s Beautiful (In Its Own Way).”
Titled Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas and set to air on NBC, according to Knox News, it’ll also feature Jimmie Allen, as well as Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus.
Of course, Dolly already has quite a stable of yuletide films, ranging from 1986’s A Smoky Mountain Christmas to 2020’s Christmas on the Square.
Selena Gomez has the best of both worlds — her newest season of Selena + Chef is here, and she filmed it at a location near and dear to her heart: the Hannah Montana house.
For those out of the loop, while Selena landed her breakout role on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place, she starred in Hannah Montana as the diva Mikayla in 2007.
As for the home itself, which boasts eight bathrooms and seven bedrooms, it was also the face of another series, Big Little Lies. But, right now, it’s where the new season of Selena + Chef takes place, and the Grammy winner took fans on a room-by-room tour of the famous Malibu home.
She also revealed she wanted to film the new season in Malibu because it’s one of her “favorite spots,” despite rarely being able to spend time there. “It’s been pretty much a dream being here,” the singer said of her temporary abode.
The notoriously poor cook showed off the gigantic kitchen, which has floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the beach, noting that while it’s not her kitchen, “We haven’t burned anything down. So, that’s good.” Selena also says the home is her “comfort zone.”
Aside from that, Selena showed off the beachfront views the home has to offer and revealed she has gone surfing on the Pacific’s blue waters.
Sadly, that’s where the tour ended — depriving fans of seeing all the amenities the luxury home has to offer.
Even after 30 years, the cast of A League of Their Own still keeps in touch.
The 1992 film, which starred Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, Lori Petty and Anne Ramsay, is loosely based on the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that was active from 1943 to 1954. It was created to keep professional baseball in the public eye while many of the male players had been drafted for World War II.
Geena, who played the catcher and the team’s assistant manager, Dottie Hinson, says that she and many of the cast members are still close.
“The girls and I are all still in contact and we still remain a team,” Geena shares with People, adding that Anne is a “very close friend.” “So much time has passed, but A League of Their Own has been very important in my life.”
The Academy Award-winning actress also says that while she didn’t know how to play baseball before the film, she learned through filming that she had natural athleticism for the sport.
“I’d never played baseball. I didn’t know how to play at all,” she explains. “But I had to learn to play for this part. And it turned out that I actually had some kind of untapped athletic ability.”
A League of Their Own has been adapted into a TV series starring co-creator Abbi Jacobson as team catcher Carson Shaw and Chante Adams as pitcher Maxine Chapman. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 12.
(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:
Aug 18, 3:59 PM EDT
Russia reportedly tells Zaporizhzhia plant workers not to go to work Friday
Russia has reportedly told some workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant not to go to work on Friday, according to Ukrainian officials.
In an official Telegram channel, the main director of Ukraine’s military intelligence said Thursday, “Occupiers announced an unexpected day off on August 19. At the nuclear plant there will only be operational staff. All other employees will be denied entry.”
The official added that representatives of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom also have “temporarily left the territory of the plant.”
This comes as both Ukraine and Russia have warned of a provocation being planned at the plant Friday.
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett
Aug 18, 1:08 PM EDT
Zelenskyy calls on UN to ensure demilitarization of Zaporizhzhya plant
During a meeting in Lviv on Thursday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the U.N. to ensure the demilitarization and “complete liberation” of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant from Russian forces, according to a statement from his office.
The two “agreed upon the parameters” of a possible visit to the plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, Zelenskyy’s office said.
Russia has claimed a demilitarized zone around the plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would make it more vulnerable.
During their meeting in Lviv, Zelenskyy also called for a U.N. fact-finding mission to head to Olenivka, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion late last month.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Aug 18, 12:04 PM EDT
Russia rejects calls to create demilitarized zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
The international calls and proposals for Russia to create a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine are “unacceptable,” according to Ivan Nechayev, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
“Their implementation will make the plant even more vulnerable,” Nechayev said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Moscow is expecting experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant “in the near future,” according to Nechayev.
The secretary-generals of the U.N. and the IAEA have called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
Shortly after invading neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian troops stormed the Zaporizhzhia plant, near the town of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Dnipro River in the country’s southeast. The Ukrainian workers have been left in place to keep the plant operating, as it supplies electricity across the war-torn nation. However, heavy fighting around the site has fueled fears of a catastrophe, like what happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine over 36 years ago.
Aug 18, 9:34 AM EDT
Firefighter describes destruction after deadly strikes in Kharkiv
A Ukrainian firefighter who responded to the Russian missile attacks in Kharkiv overnight told ABC News that the scale of the blasts was “one of the biggest” he’s ever seen.
One of the rockets struck a large apartment block on Wednesday night, killing at least nine people and injuring another 16, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“It went through all four floors and hit the ground and almost blew up everything,” the firefighter, Roman Kachanov, told ABC News during an interview on Thursday. “All the buildings around were without windows.”
“There was a dormitory, and the building was almost completely ruined,” he added. “There was a playground that was smashed like a big titan blew it up.”
Kachanov is among the rescue workers searching for survivors amid the smoldering rubble.
“I’ve seen three bodies on the floor covered by objects,” he said. “We tried to extract them and while we tried, the other wall started to fall and we had to run away as fast as we can.”
Kachanov said another missile hit the city before dawn Thursday, not far from where he and his team were working. He said the blast “was very loud” and “sounded close.”
“Everyone had to lay down,” he recalled. “The team had to split — fire truck had to leave to go to that other fire.”
Aug 17, 5:40 PM EDT
Large apartment block struck in Kharkiv, at least 7 dead
At least seven people are dead and another 13 injured by strikes on a large apartment block in Kharkiv, officials said.
Based on recovered shrapnel, authorities determined an Iskander-M missile system was used in the strike, said Ivan Sokol, Ukraine’s director of the regional Department of Civil Defense.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing at the three-story residential building, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
-ABC News’ Tatiana Rymarenko
Aug 15, 1:49 PM EDT
Shelling resumes near power plant, both sides claim the other is firing
More shelling was underway Monday in city of Enerhodar, which is under Russian control and where the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is located.
Enerhodar Mayor Dmytro Orlov urged residents to stay inside. He said Russian forces seized another government facility in Enerhodar, a lab where 30 of the employees are refusing to cooperate with the Russian-appointed administration.
Meanwhile, Russia’s semi-official Interfax reported that Ukrainian forces opened fire in Enerhodar.
Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator Energoatom said the plant remained occupied and controlled by Russian forces on Monday. The Ukrainian staff continues to work and make every effort to ensure nuclear and radiation safety, but Energoatom warned that periodic shelling by Russian troops with multiple rocket launchers since last week caused a serious risk to the safe operation of the plant.
Aug 15, 5:53 AM EDT
Griner to appeal Russian conviction, lawyer says
Brittney Griner’s defense team filed an appeal for the verdict by Khimky City Court, according to Maria Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners law firm.
The WNBA star was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court this month.
-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova
Aug 14, 4:44 PM EDT
1st UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat set to depart for Africa
The first UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat is set to head for Africa from the near the port city Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.
The MV Brave Commander is loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat that will be shipped to Ethiopia as part of a mission to relieve a global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has halted grain exports for months, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov announced at a news conference.
Kubrakov said the UN-chartered ship is scheduled to leave the Pivdenny port near Odesa on Monday.
“When three months ago, during the meeting of the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kyiv the first negotiations on unlocking Ukrainian maritime ports began, we have already seen how critical it is becoming a food situation in the world.” Kubrakov wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “This especially applies to the least socially protected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, for whom Ukraine has always been a key importer of agro-production.”
He said Ethiopia is in desperate need of Ukrainian grain.
“This country has been suffering from record drought and armed confrontation for the second year in a row,” Kubrakov said. “Ukrainian grain for them without exaggeration — the matter of life and death.”
He said he hopes the MV Brave Commander will be the first many more grain shipments under the U.N. World Food Program.
Aug 12, 2:28 PM EDT
‘They treat us like captives’: Exiled Zaporizhzhia manager on conditions at plant
An exiled manager at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant told ABC News that the Ukrainian staff is treated “like captives.”
Oleg, who asked to be referred by a pseudonym, said he felt threatened by the Russian soldiers.
“They didn’t say, ‘I’m going to shoot you now,’ but they always carry guns and assault rifles with them,” said Oleg, who managed one of 80 units at the plant but was able to leave last month. “And when an assault rifle or a gun has a cocked trigger, I consider it as a threat.”
Amid reported shelling in the vicinity of the plant, Oleg said he was primarily concerned about its spent fuel containers, “which are in a precarious position, and they are not shielded well.”
Aug 11, 4:43 PM EDT
UN secretary-general calls for all military activities around nuclear power plant to ‘cease immediately’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “calling for all military activities” around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in southern Ukraine “to cease immediately,” and for armies not “to target its facilities or surroundings.”
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator Energoatom said Russian forces shelled the plant for a third time on Thursday, hitting close to the first power unit. Earlier on Thursday, Energoatom said five rockets struck the area around the commandant’s office, close to where the radioactive material is stored.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed interim governor of Zaporizhzhya Oblast, issued a statement claiming Ukrainian forces struck the plant, hitting close to an area with radioactive material.
Guterres said he’s appealed to all parties to “exercise common sense” and take any actions that could endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
“Instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster,” he said, adding that he’s “gravely concerned.”
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Thursday to allow for an IAEA mission to visit the plant as soon as possible. He said the situation at the plant is deteriorating rapidly and is “becoming very alarming.”
Luke Combs, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde and Brothers Osborne are just some of the artists who cover country legend John Anderson on the new Something Borrowed, Something New tribute album.
Eight more artists — primarily from the world of Americana — round out the record. Interestingly, no one steps up to bat for Anderson’s campy classic from 1983, “Swingin.'”
Jonah Hill may have directed and starred in the upcoming film Stutz, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see him promoting it.
Stutz is a documentary that explores mental health alongside Hill and his therapist. Coincidentally, Hill’s mental health is the reasoning behind his decision to forgo promotional media appearances for the show.
“Through this journey of self-discovery within the film, I have come to the understanding that I have spent nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, which are exacerbated by media appearances and public facing events,” he explained in an open letter obtained by Variety.
The actor, 38, went on to say that he’s “so grateful” the film is premiering this fall and he “can’t wait to share it with audiences around the world in the hope that it will help those struggling.”
Further explaining his choice to not do press, Hill added that he’s taking this step to “protect [himself.]”
“If I made myself sicker by going out there and promoting it, I wouldn’t be acting true to myself or to the film,” he said. “I usually cringe at letters or statements like this but I understand that I am of the privileged few who can afford to take time off. I won’t lose my job while working on my anxiety.”
“With this letter and with Stutz, I’m hoping to make it more normal for people to talk and act on this stuff,” the Superbad star continued. “So they can take steps towards feeling better and so that the people in their lives might understand their issues more clearly.”
“I hope the work will speak for itself and I’m grateful to my collaborators, my business partners and to all reading this for your understanding and support,” Hill concluded.
