After receiving backlash over a lyric in her newly released song “Grrrls” being considered an “ableist slur,” Lizzo promptly updated the song and issued a statement.
“It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song “GRRRLS,” Lizzo wrote in a note shared to social media on Monday. “Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language. As a fat Black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me, so I understand the power words can have (whether intentionally, or in my case, unintentionally).”
“I’m proud to say there’s a new version of “Grrrls” with a lyric change,” she continued. “This is the result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist, I’m dedicated to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world. Xoxo, Lizzo.”
Lizzo released “Grrrls” on Friday, June 9 and in the song’s opening she raps, “Hold my bag, b****, hold my bag / Do you see this s***? I’m a spaz.”
Following the track’s release, users took to Twitter to call out her use of the term “spaz,” calling it an “ableist slur.” “Hey @lizzo my disability Cerebral Palsy is literally classified as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity refers to unending painful tightness in my legs) your new song makes me pretty angry + sad,” one user expressed. “‘Spaz’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better.”
The “Grrrls” lyrics have since been updated to read, “Hold my bag, b****, hold my bag / Do you see this s***?Hold me back.”
Halsey dropped by The Tonight Show on Monday, where the singer revealed that their son, Ender, who’ll turn a year old on July 14, is not a fan of their singing.
“He hates it…He’s my biggest critic,” the singer — who uses she/they pronouns — told host Jimmy Fallon.
“It’s funny, my mom can’t carry a tune in a bucket, it’s really bad,” they continued. “She sings, his eyes light up like she’s the stars and the moon, but when I sing, he’s not a fan. Not a fan”
Halsey also discussed their current tour, as well as their new single, “So Good,” written about their partner, filmmaker Alev Aydin, whom they met when he was hired to make a film about them in 2017.
“He kind of followed me around on tour and interviewed me,” Halsey recalled. “And after a couple of years of getting to know me, one day I kind of sat down and was like, ‘You know everything about me, I don’t know anything about you, I’m gonna start interviewing you back.’ And we found out that we had so much in common and after being friends for a long time, we fell in love.”
As for their Love and Power tour, Halsey declared, “Being back on the road and seeing people and the crowd coming alive…it’s incredible.”
The Love and Power Tour lands in Boise, Idaho on Wednesday.
Justin Bieber is leaning on his faith as he deals with his Ramsay Hunt syndrome diagnosis.
Taking to Instagram Stories Monday night, Justin gave fans an update on how he’s been feeling since revealing on Friday that he’s been diagnosed with the rare neurological disorder.
“Wanted to share a little bit of how I’ve been feelin,” he began. “Each day has gotten better and through all of the discomfort I have found comfort in the one who designed me and knows me.”
“I’m reminded he knows all of me. He know the darkest parts of me that I want no one to know about and he constantly welcomes me into his loving arms,” the “Honest” singer continued. “This perspective has given me peace during this horrific storm that I’m facing. I know this storm will pass but in the meantime JESUS IS WITH ME.”
The update comes after Justin shared his Ramsay Hunt diagnosis, which caused partial facial paralysis and resulted in the singer postponing his tour.
Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a rare neurological complication caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.
Dr. Leah Croll, MD, neurovascular fellow at NYU Langone Health, told ABC News, “Eventually, later on in life, the virus can reactivate and cause something like Ramsay Hunt syndrome. Certain situations that can be stressful…[and] other illnesses can trigger it. Sometimes, we don’t know why it happens.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery
WWE star and on-screen superhero John Cena made a real-life heroic effort to surprise a super fan who escaped the war in Ukraine.
Misha Rohozhyn and his family recently fled Mariupol after their home was destroyed amid the ongoing war. Liana Rohozhyn took her son, who has Down syndrome and is nonverbal, using the excuse that they were fleeing their home to see his hero.
It wasn’t true, of course — until Cena made it happen.
“When I read about Misha’s story, it reached out to me. Not just Misha’s story but Misha’s mom as well,” Cena said in an interview with WWE.
Cena, already in Europe for work, made a quick trip to Amsterdam, where Misha and his family have relocated to just outside the city. The superstar spent the afternoon with the boy building blocks, eating cake and getting him decked out in Cena’s “You Can’t See Me” gear. He even gave Misha his own replica WWE championship belt.
Seeing his hero in person brought a joyous and tearful response from Misha.
“Misha’s ability to embrace persistence. That’s extraordinary. Those words ‘never give up,’ we’ve all thought about those in our life, they’re very powerful and I think Misha is a great example,” Cena said. “Misha’s mom, they’re two great examples of how persistence can lead to joy even during the toughest of times.”
Rian Johnson has revealed the title of his sequel to the 2019 film Knives Out. “Benoit Blanc’s next case, the follow up to Knives Out, is called GLASS ONION,” Johnson tweeted on Monday, along with a short video announcing the followup should arrive in time for the holiday season. Joining Daniel Craig, who returns as Detective Blanc, are Kate Hudson, Ethan Hawke, Leslie Odom Jr., Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn and Dave Bautista. Glass Onion will be the first of two sequels, both of which Johnson will direct. Plot details are being kept under wraps. The first film earned $311.6 million in theaters worldwide…
(NOTE LANGUAGE)To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before star Lana Condor is taking care of some unfinished business in the trailer to her new Netflix series, Boo, B****. “Over the course of one night,” the eight-episode series follows “a high school senior, who’s lived her life safely under the radar, seizes the opportunity to change her narrative and start living an epic life, only to find out the next morning… she’s a motherf****** ghost,” according to the show’s official logline. Boo, B**** launches July 8 on Netflix… (Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)
Disney/Pixar’s Lightyear is ready to fly to infinity and beyond, but it will skip theaters in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, as well as Malaysia or Indonesia, according to Deadline. The reason is reportedly due to a same-sex kiss between Alisha, a character voiced by Uzo Aduba, and another woman included in the Toy Story sequel. Lightyear joins other Disney movies that have faced restrictions in the Gulf region, allegedly for reasons ranging from depictions of or references to homosexuality to depictions of gods and prophets, include West Side Story, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals…
(WASHINGTON) — If the Supreme Court upends nearly 50 years of abortion rights as expected, all eyes will be on the White House and a liberal president who has vowed to fight to keep abortion access.
But what can he do, really?
In recent weeks, dozens of abortion advocacy groups, lawyers, providers and lawmakers have huddled to pitch ideas that range from from what advocates call creative to the seemingly far-fetched. The White House has met with many of these officials in recent weeks to hear them out, although it remains tight-lipped on where its legal strategy might be headed.
Could the government lease federal buildings and public lands to abortion clinics? Declare a public health emergency, and offer disaster relief money or health care grants to states anticipating an influx of patients?
What about federal travel vouchers for patients seeking health care in abortion-friendly states, or relaxed import rules for abortion pills made overseas? President Joe Biden, some argue, also could say that banning abortion pills by mail — as some states are trying to do — violates rules on interstate commerce.
“We are all thinking creatively about what administrative solutions might exist,” including increasing the availability of abortion pills, said Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity who met with the White House in one of its “listening sessions.”
“But in this specific moment, what I’m looking for from this administration is leadership,” she said.
Complicating much of the issue for the Biden administration are decades-long restrictions on federal spending legislation that prohibits the executive branch from spending money on most abortion services. That prohibition is unlikely to change so long as the Senate remains narrowly divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Still, abortion rights advocates say every idea is on the table. Under Biden’s control, they argue, are powerful institutions, including the Food and Drug Administration, which has approved access to the abortion pill by mail, and Medicaid, the government’s insurance program for low-income families.
That means post-Roe, the United States will likely spend years embroiled in legal battles over abortion, as conservative states bump up against the power of the presidency.
Biden “can’t reverse the Supreme Court with an executive order,” said David Cohen, a professor of law at the Drexel Kline School of Law, who has written in favor of fighting abortion restrictions.
“But there are things that he can do, and ways that he can harness the federal government to increase access, even if some states are trying to limit it,” Cohen said.
Biden hinted as much in an interview last week with ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“I think what we’re going to have to do is that there are some executive orders I could employ, we believe. We’re looking at that right now,” Biden said.
Legal experts predict that much of Biden’s strategy will likely focus on the idea of “federal preemption” — the idea rooted in the Constitution that federal law always wins out over state laws.
For example, it’s possible that Biden might argue that states can’t lawfully restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone because the FDA has already approved its use for all Americans, Cohen said.
Under Biden, the FDA also has determined that the drug is safe enough to prescribe through a telehealth appointment and mail to the patient, even as 19 states restrict the drug to being dispensed in-person.
That decision to allow access to the abortion pill, Cohen argues, “is rooted in federal law because the agency only exists and only has the authorization to authorize a person because of federal law.”
The idea of FDA policy outweighing state restrictions is currently being tested in court. GenBioPro, the manufacturer of generic mifepristone, is challenging Mississippi’s restrictions on the drug as being at odds with federal rules, with a decision expected this summer.
Advocacy lawyers also expect that Biden is working on the idea of expanding access to mifepristone, possibly by easing import restrictions on overseas providers. The drug is widely available in states that don’t restrict abortion, although international organizations like Aid Access have been mailing the drug to any U.S. resident even if a state prohibits it and despite objections by the FDA.
Another focus by Biden could be on Medicaid, the largest insurance payer of pregnancy-related services.
While federal money can’t be used for most abortion services, Medicaid — which the federal government jointly operates with states — is required to pay for abortion care in cases of rape, incest and if a physician certifies the pregnancy would put the patient’s life at risk.
Compliance among states with these rules has been uneven historically, and several conservative legislatures are pursuing laws with stricter exceptions. In Oklahoma, for example, the law only allows abortion in cases of rape and incest if it’s reported to the police, and to save the life of a mother “in a medical emergency.”
It’s possible Biden could take steps to enforce Medicaid’s exceptions as federal law, making it easier for patients to get reimbursed, several advocacy groups predict.
John Yoo, a former top legal adviser to the Bush administration, said he thinks the most consequential step Biden could probably take is leveraging his power over Medicaid and Medicare, as well as the federal health care exchanges governed by the Affordable Care Act. For example, Biden could require that insurers cover abortion services, at least in states where it’s legal.
“I don’t think those (steps) could pre-empt state laws that make it criminal to carry out abortion, but would provide federal support once (a person) could get to a state where abortion was legal,” said Yoo, a law professor at the University of California, Berkley.
Still, Yoo said he thinks Congress would have to lift its restrictions on federal spending on abortion — a provision known as the Hyde amendment — to make that happen.
Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups say what matters most is that Biden is as aggressive as possible.
In a letter to the president, more than two dozen Democrats, including Sens. Patty Murray of Washington and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, called on Biden to invoke his “unique power to marshal the resources of the entire federal government to respond.”
URGE’s Inez McGuire said even symbolic statements by the president can make a difference.
Declaring that abortion access is a human right is an opportunity for the administration “to let young people know (and) communities of color know … that our struggle to fight for abortion access is seen and understood by this administration,” she said.
Toby Scott/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — For months, sky-high prices have pummeled the budgets of everyday Americans.
But many have offset the damage, at least in part, with wage increases driven by high demand for workers and resilient consumer spending. In short, strong pockets of the economy have blunted the worst effects of severe inflation.
But the economy will likely cool off in the coming months as the Federal Reserve raises borrowing costs through a series of interest rate hikes — an effort to tame inflation by slowing down the economy and eating away at demand. If the policy works, it will dial back inflation while preserving a stable level of economic growth and low unemployment, experts told ABC News.
But an unsuccessful series of rate hikes could fail to reduce prices while dramatically slowing the economy, experts said. Such an outcome would bring about stagflation — a mix of the words stagnation and inflation — which describes an economy with low growth and high prices. In other words, the high prices remain, but the lifeline of elevated income disappears.
“Stagflation is basically the worst of all worlds,” Veronika Dolar, a professor of economics at Long Island-based State University of New York Old Westbury, told ABC News. “It’s the place you definitely don’t want to be.”
What is stagflation?
Usually, in good economic times, low unemployment forces employers to raise wages so they can retain or attract workers, which heightens consumer demand and steepens price increases. Conversely, a slow economy typically results in stagnant wages, reduced demand, and slashed prices, the latter of which helps to relieve the financial strain for those who lose their jobs or receive diminished pay, Dolar said.
On rare occasions, however, high inflation persists even as the economy slows and unemployment rises, resulting in stagflation, she said.
No single economic authority formally decides whether stagflation has occurred, unlike a period of recession, which the National Bureau of Economic Research determines, Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, told ABC News.
The last major bout of stagflation took place in the 1970s, when an oil shortage sent gas and other related prices soaring as it simultaneously dragged down economic output. But the crisis of the 1970s offers few lessons for the current moment, since the U.S. economy is far less reliant on gas expenditures and foreign oil, Harvey said.
Instead, present-day inflation is owed to generous central bank and Congressional policies in response to the pandemic, which flooded the economy with money, spiked demand and exacerbated a supply chain bottleneck, Harvey said. Moreover, the price crunch has intensified amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he added.
Some economists, like Dolar, believe we’re already in a period of stagflation. She noted that the U.S. gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 1.4% over the first three months of this year, even as inflation remained historically high. But Harvey disagrees, saying stagflation hasn’t arrived but poses a real threat.
Why stagflation matters
Stagflation hurts people in two different ways, Harvey told ABC News.
“One, the stuff you’re buying is more expensive,” he said. “And two, you have less income.”
Echoing the sentiment, Dolar said: “You’re already on your knees, struggling, and you get kicked in your gut.”
The lack of purchasing power ripples through the economy, denting business revenue and draining savings, Harvey said.
Stagflation offers no easy solutions, since generous fiscal policy or low borrowing costs may juice the economy but also risk raising inflation, while increased borrowing costs could bring down inflation but risk slowing growth even further, Dolar said.
The treacherous economic moment calls for financial prudence, Harvey said.
“Now is not the time to max out your credit card to go for a vacation,” he said. “Now is not the time for a small business to go to the bank and bet the business to do an expansion.”
(LONDON) — Members of Britain’s royal family stepped out Monday for Garter Day, marking the first time the annual tradition has returned since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prince Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, and Prince William and Kate, duchess of Cambridge, were among the royals who publicly attended Garter Day celebrations, a day of pomp and pageantry that includes a procession around Windsor Castle.
Garter Day, celebrated annually on June 13, is the day new appointments are invested in the Order of the Garter, which was created by King Edward III in 1348 and is the “oldest and most senior Order of Chivalry in Britain,” according to the royal family’s website.
Absent from the public celebration of the day was Queen Elizabeth II, who has been suffering from mobility issues that caused her to miss several events during her Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this month.
The 96-year-old queen attended the Garter Day investiture and lunch privately, but did not attend the public procession to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle nor the service.
Buckingham Palace later released a photo showing Elizabeth standing in between Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, and Camilla, both of whom were dressed in their Order of the Garter ceremonial dress.
Camilla was made a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter Monday, part of her journey to becoming queen consort when the queen dies and Charles becomes king.
Joining the queen in not attending Monday’s public events was her second-oldest son, Prince Andrew, who is a member of the Order of the Garter.
A royal source told ABC News the last-minute change of plans for Andrew to not attend public events was a “family decision.”
In February, Andrew agreed to settle a sexual assault lawsuit in which a woman, Virginia Giuffre, alleged that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to the prince, who she claimed took advantage and sexually abused her when she was under 18.
Prince Andrew repeatedly denied the allegations and attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives.
One month earlier, in January, Andrew lost his military titles and royal patronages amid the lawsuit.
Buckingham Palace announced at the time that Andrew’s titles and patronages were returned to his mother, the queen.
“With The Queen’s approval and agreement, The Duke of York’s military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen,” the palace said in a statement. “The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen.”
Andrew did not attend any of the queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this month because he tested positive for COVID-19, according to a spokesperson.
The last public royal event Andrew attended was in March, when he attended a service of Thanksgiving for his late father, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey.
(LOS ANGELES) — Facing a growing mental health crisis among America’s teens and young adults, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says the problem is not something adults can fix alone.
Adults need “to make sure that we’re hearing from kids so that their stories are our guiding light,” Murthy said. “Ultimately, we will know when we’ve reached the finish line when they’re doing well and they tell us they’re doing well and when data tells us that as well.”
After declaring a national advisory on the youth mental health crisis late last year, Murthy is now participating in a two-day conference called the Youth Mental Wellness Now! Summit, hosted by The California Endowment.
“I’m also particularly excited that we’re going to have a chance to hear from young people here in L.A. today,” Dr. Murthy told ABC News.
According to Murthy, adults need to hear directly from the youth what the problems are, and what they can do to help. The summit will feature actors and activists including Kendrick Sampson, best known for his roles in Insecure, The Vampire Diaries and How to Get Away with Murder, and Jordyn Woods, a model, actress and mental health advocate.
They will join California-based youth leaders Ja’Nell Gore from South Kern Sol whose parent company is YR Media, and Xochitil Larios from Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice in a fireside chat with the surgeon general.
The purpose of the youth-led summit is to create a national movement around youth mental health led by young people through the sharing of stories and to galvanize organizations to commit to support. They have concrete commitments in excess of $255 million.
Other organizations partnering with The California Endowment to host the event include The Steve Fund, California Children’s Trust, Youth Organize! California, YR Media and Revolve Impact.
Sometimes, the voice of young people is missing from initiatives to help them, but a strength of this summit is the central role young voices have.
“We wanted young people center stage,” said Dr. Bob Ross, CEO of The California Endowment. “We wanted to make sure that any go-forward strategy for investing in access to mental health services and optimizing the mental health and well-being of young people would be informed with young people as the experts, and additionally, having important and key adult allies more as listeners than talkers. You know, a lot of times you have these conferences, and it’s the expert adults that are doing all the talking.”
Gore emphasized that one importance of this summit is that “youth need to be able to hear other young people tell them that it’s OK to struggle with things.”
“This [is] like one of the first conferences of its kind,” said Jasmine Dellafosse, a nationally recognized youth activist who will emcee the summit.
“Often young people across California have been showing up and trying to address these issues for decades,” she said. “It’s actually an opportunity to connect policy and change with actual voices on the ground, and young people who were championing, you know, the issues in their communities while also still being extremely under-resourced.”
Murthy blames the youth mental health crisis on loneliness, isolation, economic hardship, uncertainty, and online and offline bullying, which were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Other existential challenges like climate change, racism and violence in the community have also caused youth to lose hope.
In addition to these factors, Ross highlights “exposure to trauma in early childhood,” often rooted in race, social factors, the criminal justice system and violence, as being a primary cause of the crisis. He also acknowledged the “stigma behind mental health and seeking mental health supports” as perpetuating the crisis.
Murthy said the government’s three-pronged approach to addressing the crisis is to “expand access to treatment,” “invest in prevention,” “and eradicate the stigma around mental illness, which still prevents youth from coming forward and asking for help.”
In a show of solidarity, more than 30 organizations to date have announced 75 commitments in response to the surgeon general’s call-to-action.
To aid with expanding access to mental health services, the Vista Group has committed to investing $250 million over the next three years into U.S. providers of adolescent and youth mental health services. Pinterest has also designated more than a third of their $10 million commitment to advance emotional well-being to support NGOs (non-government organizations) and nonprofits focused on youth to expand access.
The UCLA Center for Scholars & Storytellers will partner with Disney Branded Kids, CAA, Joy Coalition, YouTubeKids and leading showrunners to research best practices on how to incorporate mental health messaging to positively impact youth through their programming and marketing. The CW is committed to developing storylines in its programming to inform and support audiences.
Other organizations are committed to supporting youth utilizing digital technologies. Meta plans to enhance parental supervision controls and introduce a new feature called “nudges,” which are notifications that encourage teens to switch to a different topic if they’re repeatedly looking at the same topic.
“Today, again, it’s just a step forward,” Murthy said. “We’re not done until every child in America has access to good mental health care.”
(UVALDE, Texas) — Three weeks after one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, some relatives of students gunned down at Robb Elementary School say they’re hopeful about the federal anti-gun violence proposal announced by a bipartisan group of senators Sunday.
But others say they’re dissatisfied with the extent of the proposed legislation and the lack of answers in their community.
The agreement, if passed into law, would provide funding for mental health, including behavioral health centers, and create incentives for the creation of so-called “red flag” laws to remove firearms from people who are a danger to themselves or others; increase money for school safety; and strengthen the federal background check system as it relates to convicted domestic violence abusers or those with restraining orders.
Amelia Sandoval, whose grandson Xavier Lopez was killed in the attack, told ABC News that she has not been watching news coverage while she processes her grandson’s death. But when briefed on the proposed legislation, she choked up, saying, “Praise God. This is just the beginning, but praise God.”
Briana Ruiz, whose child survived the shooting, told ABC News that the proposed measures just aren’t enough.
“I feel like it’s a pathway to hopefully, eventually get to what many are asking for … but the age limit should have been raised as well,” she said, referring to the requirements to purchase an AR-style weapon like the one used in the attack.
Ruiz, who at one point was a teacher’s aide in accused shooter Salvador Ramos’ class, said she laments how an 18-year-old in Texas cannot buy beer or cigarettes, but can purchase an AR-15.
Twenty-two people, including 19 young children, were killed in the attack in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
Some in Uvalde said the proposed legislation is important, but it’s not their primary focus right now.
Monica Garza-Herrera, a relative of fourth-grade victim Amerie Jo Garza, said she was glad to hear about the federal framework — but she said she’s looking for local answers as well.
“What I want to know is what they’re going to do as far as here in our hometown to change things for our students that are still in school,” Garza-Herrera told ABC News.
She said there’s pain in the community, and she worries about whether her grandchildren and her sister, who is a teacher in the school district, are safe. She also wants to know if faster action on the part of law enforcement could have saved more children’s lives.
“Could they have been saved, even though they were shot?” she said. “Would they have gotten in there sooner? What do they plan to do about that? That’s what I’m waiting for them to tell us.”
While those answers may take time, President Joe Biden said he hopes to move quickly to get the legislative framework adopted into law. The framework has the backing of 10 Republicans, which suggests that, if adopted, the proposal would have enough votes to overcome its biggest hurdle in the Senate.
“Each day that passes, more children are killed in this country,” Biden said. “The sooner it comes to my desk, the sooner I can sign it, and the sooner we can use these measures to save lives.”
