(NEW YORK) — Terry Strada, the chair of the organization 9/11 Families United, which advocates for families of victims and survivors of the 2001 attacks, was shocked when she heard that the LIV Golf Tournament would be playing at the Bedminster Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“I couldn’t believe that it was actually going to be playing right there practically in my backyard,” she told ABC News’ podcast “Start Here.”
Strada used to live in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, a few miles from the course where the international golf tournament will play over the weekend. Her husband, Tom Strada, was working in one of the World Trade Center towers and died during the attack.
Strada said that 17 families in Basking Ridge lost a family member during the 9/11 attacks and told ABC News the fact that the LIV Golf Tournament, which is sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government, is playing nearby hits too close to home.
“We’re very disappointed in the players,” she said. “We’ve tried to point out to them, I wrote them a letter when this all began.”
For Strada, the connection between the Saudi Arabian government and the attacks on 9/11 is indisputable. “It is no longer alleged,” Strada said. “We are in the courtrooms with a lawsuit against the kingdom.”
“The kingdom actually provided the support network that was needed for the first arriving hijackers and most likely all of them to set up what they needed to plan, practice and carry out the attacks,” she told “Start Here,” citing President Joe Biden’s executive order in 2021 that led to documents being declassified.
“We know that 15 of the 19 of them [9/11 hijackers] were Saudi nationals, but now we know there was this anti-American pro-jihadist program that was set up in the Saudi Embassy, and it was running out of the consulate out in California, and it was filled with extremists,” Strada said.
The LIV Golf Tournament has raised eyebrows since it launched in London last month, with critics calling it the latest example of “sportswashing,” the process by which a group will launder its reputation with professional sporting events.
The golf tournament has managed to secure some of the biggest players in the game, and will travel across three countries in the following months.
The tournament first came under scrutiny because of the allegations of human rights violations against the kingdom, including the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Critics claimed that the kingdom is spending billions of dollars in order to improve its public image, and called on high-profile players such as Phil Mickelson to refuse to play.
The Bedminster golf course that is the site of the LIV Golf tournament is owned by former President Donald Trump, who “has been on record saying that he thinks this was a great move by the Saudis, that they’ve gotten great publicity,” “Start Here” host Brad Mielke said in his conversation with Strada.
“They haven’t done anything to make amends for the worst terrorist attack that ever happened on American soil,” Strada told ABC News.
“They put a lot of money into our economy for all the same reasons, they just try to buy respect. And you can’t buy respect. You have to earn it.”
Strada registered her “huge disappointment” with Biden, saying 9/11 families tried unsuccessfully to secure a meeting with the president prior to his recent visit to Saudi Arabia. Strada said it was important for the families whose loved ones died on Sept. 11, 2001, to “get the justice that we deserve.”
“The kingdom has not been held accountable for the pipeline of money that they used to funnel terrorism. The kingdom needs to be held responsible and accountable for that,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — Leading gun manufacturing executives testified Wednesday before a House panel investigating the role of the firearms industry in the nation’s high rates of gun violence, maintaining under sharp questioning from Democrats that American citizens — not firearms — cause mass shootings.
The hearing, helmed by House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, featured two CEOs and other gun industry members ahead of the consideration of legislation that would restrict the sale of semiautomatic weapons, which are often used in large-scale killings.
Many gun rights supporters and Republicans oppose such a move as unconstitutional.
Over the span of nearly six hours, House Democrats probed the manufacturers on their marketing tactics to children and adults, with lawmakers asking if they would implement additional safety features on their firearms and seeking, the lawmakers said, to better understand the features of the military-style weapons.
“I hope the American people are paying attention today. It is clear that gun-makers are not going to change unless Congress forces them to finally put people over profits,” Maloney said.
Gun companies have seen revenues of more than $1 billion over the last 10 years, according to a new report from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on the five major gun manufacturers’ sales and marketing of AR-15-style rifles.
The two CEOs who spoke Wednesday, Marty Daniel of Daniel Defense and Christopher Killoy of Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., both pushed back when asked if they felt they had responsibility for recent mass shootings, such as those in Uvalde, Texas; Highland Park, Illinois; and Buffalo, New York, among others, given that the weapons their companies make are often used in such massacres.
“I believe that these murders are a local problem that have to be solved locally,” Daniel said. “These acts are committed by murderers. The murderers are responsible.”
“I don’t consider what my company produces to be ‘weapons of war,'” Killoy said.
Some of the Uvalde and Buffalo victims’ relatives sat in the chamber during the hearing. The parents of 10-year-old Alexandria Rubio, one of the students slain in Uvalde, propped up their daughter’s photo in the room.
Republicans on the committee defended the manufacturers, agreeing that “criminals” are responsible mass shootings rather than guns or weapons manufacturers.
Some lawmakers, like South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, called the hearings “political theater.”
Rep. Jody Hice, a Georgia Republican, and Tennessee Republican James Comer, the committee’s ranking member, said the hearing was a part of a “disturbing trend in this committee of going after both private citizens and the constitutional rights of American citizens.”
“I want to know when are you, Chairwoman Maloney, going to apologize to the American citizens for not dealing with the real issues and showing responsibility and accountability?” Hice asked — trying to redirect the focus to what he said was a more important issue.
“When are we gonna have hearings in this committee, holding people responsible in cities, municipalities, states and right here in our own Congress, for being soft on crime? When are we going to have hearings to do away with the ridiculous, outrageous policies of defunding the police?” he said.
Daniel, of Daniel Defense, said that he was at the hearing voluntarily but was “concerned” that the implied purpose of the hearing was to vilify and blame rifles for recent deadly shootings.
Two months ago, the Uvalde gunman used a Daniel Defense weapon to kill 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school.
“Many Americans, myself included, have witnessed an erosion of personal responsibility in our country and in our culture. Mass shootings are all but unheard of just a few decades ago,” Daniel said. “So what changed? Not the firearms … I believe our nation’s response needs to focus not on the type of gun but on the type of persons who are likely to commit mass shootings.”
During his testimony, Daniel said he wanted to reduce violent crime. He said that the hearing focused on a weapon, the AK-15, that is responsible for less than 4% of homicides.
Killoy began his testimony by discussing his corporation’s safety practices, then defended the right to gun possession despite the push by some in Congress for further restrictions and reforms.
“We firmly believe it’s wrong to deprive citizens of their constitutional right because of the criminal acts of wicked people. The firearm, any firearm, can be used for good or evil,” Killoy said. “The differences in the intent of the individual possessing it, which we respectfully submit can be the focus of any investigation into the root causes of criminal violence involving firearms.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., asked Killoy if he would track crimes committed with his company’s firearms as part of a new human rights assessment.
“Congressman, respectfully, that’s not our job. We’re not law enforcement. We don’t have the resources or capability to track injuries or fatalities.” Killoy said.
Ryan Busse, a senior adviser at the Giffords Law Center and a former gun-industry professional, testified that he had seen the industry evolve over time, becoming more emboldened in their marketing and sales of weapons.
“Sadly for me, there is no place in the industry for anyone who believes in moderation or responsible regulation,” he said.
When questioned on how exactly an AR-15 differs from other guns, Busse said AR-15s were “designed to be an offensive weapon of war for troops in battle, to charge into places like buildings and battlefields to take as many lives as possible as fast as they possibly can.”
Maloney spoke with ABC News on Tuesday about the context of the hearing. She said it should be a “wakeup call” for Congress to act on gun reform “to hold these gun manufacturers accountable for the deadly weapons that they’re manufacturing that are killing innocent Americans.”
“Most industries have a responsibility for their products. We have liability on our cars. Every time there’s a car wreck, we study it. We should do the same thing with guns. We should have liability on guns. They’re far more dangerous than cars,” Maloney told “GMA3.”
Maloney told ABC News that a representative for a third gun manufacturer, President Mark P. Smith of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., was invited to the hearing, but did not attend. Smith’s company made the weapons used by the shooters in Highland Park and in Parkland, Florida, among others.
“I would say, ‘We have invited three manufacturers — CEOs — [and] two have accepted,'” Maloney said.
“One is dodging us and not responding to our requests for documents,” she contended. “And we intend to hold them accountable eventually in some form.”
Maloney opened the hearing Wednesday by announcing her intent to issue a subpoena for documents from Smith & Wesson “so that we can finally get answers about why this company is selling assault weapons to mass murderers, answers we were hoping to get at today’s hearing.”
The company did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The oversight committee previously sent letters to Smith & Wesson, Daniel Defense and Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc., among others, on May 26, following the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde.
The letters sought further information on the companies’ sale and marketing of AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles and similar firearms, “including revenue and profit information, internal data on deaths or injuries caused by firearms they manufacture, and marketing and promotional materials.”
On July 7, following the Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park, Maloney sent additional letters to the CEOs of the three top gun manufacturers, requesting their appearance at Wednesday’s hearing.
Maloney’s request for the hearing with gun executives came ahead of the committee’s June 8 hearing with Uvalde and Buffalo survivors and victims’ relatives.
President Joe Biden a month ago signed into law a bipartisan gun safety package, which did not include the weapons ban he sought. House Democrats are pushing for more reforms.
Maloney told ABC News that she believed the additional legislation “will make America safer for our citizens.”
At the hearing, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., pressed the gun manufacturers on several advertisements tied to their weapons with what appear to be acknowledgment of white supremacist groups. She asked both Daniel Defense and Sturm, Ruger & Company if they would condemn the practice of marketing to far-right extremist groups.
Both CEOs said they were unaware of her specific instances, but “we do not tolerate racism or white supremacy,” Killoy said.
Busse, the former industry professional, said he would push back on the idea that gun laws don’t work — citing Uvalde and Buffalo, both cases in which the shooters waited until they were 18 years old to lawfully purchase their guns.
In the wake of those killings, Democrats renewed calls to raise the minimum age to buy assault-style weapons.
“The fact is that the laws impact the way people purchase and use guns and we need to as a responsible society and you as a governing body need to take that into account,” Busse said.
In closing remarks, Comer, the ranking Republican, thanked the manufacturers for continuing to do business in the U.S. and he called for better security at our schools, mental health support and police funding.
Maloney, in her remarks, apologized to the families of gun violence victims.
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he will provide a $1.25 million grant to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for counseling students and faculty impacted by the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“As the community of Uvalde continues to heal, Texas continues working to help improve security and aid in the recovery among students and educators,” Abbott said in a news release.
The money will be used for community outreach, crisis intervention and trauma-informed counseling through the Governor’s Public Safety Office, the statement said.
“This new source of funding will provide critical support to students, staff, and faculty in Uvalde as they continue to process the trauma from that day and grieve for the innocent lives lost,” Abbott said.
The funding comes over two months after 19 students and two teachers were shot and killed by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, at Robb Elementary. Immediately following the incident, Abbott blamed the massacre on mental health issues in response to critics who criticized the state’s gun policies.
Texas is currently ranked as the worst state in the country for access to mental care, according to Mental Health America’s 2022 report.
A month before the school shooting, Abbott said that $500 million from various government agencies in the state would fund Operation Lone Star, a Texas-Mexico border security initiative by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department.
Approximately $210.7 million was from Texas Health & Human Services, which oversees public mental health programs.
The governor’s press secretary, Renae Eze, rejected the claim, telling ABC News in May that Abbott didn’t cut any funding from mental health services.
Abbott’s office touts a $5 million investment in establishing a long-term family resiliency center in Uvalde County, which provides access to mental health services to those impacted by the shooting, as part of its commitment to supporting the community.
ABC News’ Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed by a Baltimore family against Sesame Place, alleging racial discrimination from the theme park.
The family said it decided to come forward after videos of a Sesame Place character seemingly waving off two young Black girls at the same park went viral this summer.
Quinton Burns said he took his daughter to the amusement park on Father’s Day and during a parade of characters, he claims she, too, was ignored.
“[We] watched in utter disgust as the viral videos of these beloved Sesame Street characters were discriminating against these innocent Black children and the videos began to flood the internet,” Burns’ attorney Malcolm Ruff said at the press conference Wednesday. “She was ignored amongst a sea of other young white children, who were able to interact, give hugs, high-fives, and love from these characters that are supposed to be a source of safety, a source of equity, a source of kindness.”
“We will review the lawsuit filed on behalf of Mr. Burns,” Sesame Place told ABC News in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to addressing that claim through the established legal process. We are committed to deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience for all our guests.”
The suit claims that Sesame Place violated Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which protects people against racial discrimination in the creation and enforcement of contracts. When the family bought tickets, they entered a contract with the amusement park and by allegedly being discriminated by costume character actors, this contract was “breached, solely because of the race of the children,” Ruff said.
Video of the encounter is set to be released in the coming days by the family’s attorneys, according to Ruff.
In the incident involving girls from another family that prompted the Burns family to come forward, a “Sesame Street” character named Rosita is seen giving high-fives to parkgoers as she walks down the line, before appearing to shake her head at and wave off the two girls as she walks away from them.
“#BabyPaige & her cute lil friends went to @SesamePlace this weekend to celebrate Paige’s 4th birthday & this is how #SesamePlace treated these beautiful Black children,” the tweet, posted by the apparent aunt, Jodi Brown, of the girl celebrating her birthday, read.
In the park’s initial statement, it said the performer portraying Rosita intended the “no” hand gesture in response to requests to hold children for a photo and did not intentionally ignore the girls.
The park said it has apologized to the family directly and has invited them for a meet-and-greet with the characters, as well as an in-person apology.
“We sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize to the Brown family for what they experienced,” park officials said in a previous statement to ABC News. “To be very clear, what the two young girls experienced, what the family experienced, is unacceptable. It happened in our park, with our team, and we own that. It is our responsibility to make this better for the children and the family and to be better for all families.”
The park said it will implement mandatory bias training so “our employees so that we can better recognize, understand, and deliver an inclusive, equitable and entertaining experience for all our guests. We have already engaged with nationally recognized experts in this area,” the statement read.
The legal team representing the family of the two girls in the video has called for the costumed performer to be fired.
Footage of other incidents with Sesame Place characters and Black children were posted by others alleging they were treated similarly.
Sesame Place is a licensed park partner of Sesame Workshop and is owned by Sea World.
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(LEE COUNTY, Fla.) — Transgender students in Lee County School District in Florida who want to be identified by teachers and principals with pronouns that correspond with their gender identity will now have to fill out a Gender Support Plan.
“If a student does complete a gender support plan, which will by law require their parents’ involvement, it is a confidential document and available only to the school counselor and student,” said Rob Spicker, the assistant director of media relations and public information at Lee County Schools.
Without a completed gender support plan, with a parent’s signature, school staff will use the student’s name and gender as it is identified in the school’s system. Students who are 18 or older will not be required to have a parent’s signature.
Local parent Crystal Czyscon told ABC affiliate WZVN that she believed the document was discriminatory and “frightening,” fearing that students may be singled out.
The plan, a copy of which was acquired by WZVN, is to be filled out between a student and their counselor. It asks questions like whether the parents know about the student’s trans or nonbinary status, whether the student has support at home, how public is the student’s gender status, which school employees will be designated support systems and what will be the plan if a child is outed.
In defense of the district, Spicker said the plan is tended to protect LGBTQ students and denied that the plan is some form of registry of trans students. It is not required for trans students to fill out the form, he said. However, if they do not fill it out, they may only be identified by school faculty with their gender assigned at birth.
The move comes amid the implementation of the Parental Rights in Education law , dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics. The measure was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March.
It bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the legislation, HB 1557.
Under this law, parents can also decline any mental, emotional and physical health services available to their children at school, and schools will be required to notify parents of their child’s use of school health services unless there is reason to believe “that disclosure would subject the student to abuse, abandonment or neglect.”
The law also requires parents to be involved if a transgender student seeks to have the school use a preferred name or pronoun, Spicker noted.
The Gender Support Plan is part of the school’s Equity Guide, which was created in response to the Parents Bill of Rights law. It was intended to outline how LGBTQ students will be protected by the district in a way that follows the guidelines of the new law, Spicker said.
“The School District of Lee County’s Civil Rights and Equity Guide was developed to protect the rights of all students,” he said. “The guide helps our school staff manage that request to protect the student and follow the law.”
(WASHINGTON) — In a surprise move Wednesday, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin announced that not only had he reached a deal with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on a major health care-focused spending package — he had also signed onto climate and energy provisions.
It was a reversal of sorts for the conservative Democrat who just two weeks ago backed away from climate measures being included in any spending bill, telling a radio host that inflation was “absolutely killing many, many people” and that he would have to wait until July inflation numbers were out before considering such measures. Democrats were sure then that they would be left with a health care-only bill. Some other Senators had openly begun making their peace with it.
It was unclear Wednesday why Manchin had changed course.
“Today, we are pleased to announce an agreement,” Manchin and Schumer said in a joint statement, noting “many months of negotiations.”
The pair said they had “finalized legislative text” that, if approved, would reduce the deficit by some $300 billion while investing $369.75 billion in “Energy Security and Climate Change programs” over the next decade.
“The investments will be fully paid for by closing tax loopholes on wealthy individuals and corporations. In addition, the expanded Affordable Care Act program will be extended for three years, through 2025,” the senators said.
With Manchin’s approval, Democratic leaders in the evenly-divided chamber are now aiming to have the bill approved by the end of next week using a fast-track process known as reconciliation that allows passage of such legislation with a simple majority (and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote).
The House, according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, would then return sometime in August to pass the measure.
If approved, it would be a major victory for President Joe Biden, who announced his support for the deal in a statement Wednesday night after speaking to both Manchin and Schumer. Biden had tried but failed to get his party united behind a sweeping $2 trillion “Build Back Better” economic and social safety net bill that included provisions like universal pre-K, Medicaid expansion and paid family leave, but Manchin previously balked at that price tag amid rising inflation, tanking that bill.
Similar, if scaled-down, proposals since have all failed to garner sufficient support among Democrats, with Republicans opposed.
Wednesday’s deal was likewise swiftly condemned by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who tweeted, “Democrats have already crushed American families with historic inflation. Now they want to pile on giant tax hikes that will hammer workers and kill many thousands of American jobs. First they killed your family’s budget. Now they want to kill your job too.”
While Democrats await the Senate’s rule-keeping parliamentarian scrubbing through the new deal to ensure all provisions meet the strict guidelines of reconciliation, details of what exactly are in the bill are not yet known. But according to Schumer and Manchin’s portrayal, the bill “lowers energy costs, increases cleaner production, and reduces carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030,” measures that Democrats say will cost roughly the $369 billion.
Democrats also plan to extend for three years the pandemic-era subsidies for those lower-income Americans who buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. It was important for Democrats to push through those changes, they said, because insurance companies typically announce their premium increases in August.
The agreement, known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, brings in far more revenue — $739 billion — than the government would spend under this measure, according to Democrats. Together, the climate and ACA provisions would cost the government roughly $433 billion, and Democrats plan to put at least $300 billion of that toward deficit reduction.
That was at the insistence of Manchin, in a bid to bring down record inflation.
To bring in the needed money, Democrats said they plan to target big corporations and the “ultra-wealthy” by implementing a 15% corporate minimum tax as well as collecting more through IRS tax enforcement, both measures bringing in nearly $440 billion.
Republicans for weeks have warned that those tax hikes would hit small and mid-size businesses disproportionately, but Sens. Manchin and Schumer insisted in their news release that under their plan, there will be “no new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and no new taxes on small businesses” — a key campaign promise by President Biden.
“Senate Democrats can change the name of Build Back Broke as many times as they want, it won’t be any less devastating to American families and small businesses. Raising taxes on job creators, crushing energy producers with new regulations, and stifling innovators looking for new cures will only make this recession worse, not better,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement.
Most Senate Democrats have not yet seen the legislative text, though many appeared to be supportive.
Chris Coons of Delaware said he was “very encouraged.”
“I am pleased to report that this will be, by far, the biggest climate action in human history,”said Hawaii’s Brian Schatz. “Nearly $370 billion in tax incentives, grants, and other investments in clean energy, clean transportation, energy storage, home electrification, climate-smart agriculture, and clean manufacturing makes this a real climate bill.The planet is on fire. Emissions reductions are the main thing. This is enormous progress. Let’s get it done.”
A meeting of the entire Senate Democratic caucus is expected at 9 a.m. Thursday to run through the details of the new plan.
But not every member of the caucus was happy with the deal.
Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, bristled, telling reporters on Wednesday: “Last I heard, Sen. Manchin is not the majority leader, despite what you may think. Last I heard, he is not the only [a] member of the Democratic caucus. I will look at it and we’ll go from there.”
Democrats need each of their 50 votes to remain united and healthy to seal the deal — not an easy feat considering Manchin himself has been quarantined this week with COVID-19.
The Black Keys are taking part in the 2022 edition of Ten Bands One Cause.
The annual charity initiative features 10 artists reissuing albums on pink vinyl to raise money for Red Door Community, formerly known as Gilda’s Club NYC, which supports those with cancer and their caregivers. The organization was founded in memory of late comedian and Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
This year’s crop of reissues includes The Black Keys’ 2003 sophomore effort, Thickfreakness. Other artists taking part include Judah & the Lion, The Bangles, The Allman Brothers Band, Nas and Senses Fail.
The five-track collection was originally only released in Japan and Australia on CD and was later included as part of Young’s Original Release Series #4 box set, which arrived in March.
Eldorado includes two songs, “Cocaine Eyes” and “Heavy Love,” that had never appeared on any other album as well as three tunes from Neil’s 1989 studio album Freedom — “Don’t Cry,” “Eldorado” and a cover of the 1963 Drifters hit “On Broadway.”
Young recorded the disc with bassist Rick Rosas and drummer Chad Cromwell, while longtime Crazy Horse guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro is featured on the title track.
The EP can be pre-ordered now and is available on CD as well as vinyl. Those who order the discs will also receive a high-res download of Eldorado.
When discussing the sound quality of the new release, Neil says, “Because of the technology used in mastering from the original files, the digital to analog transfer is superb, getting more out of the digital masters than the original CD could present. This then, is the best sounding Eldorado ever!”
Ariana Grande shared a new tutorial video to promote the newest offering from her R.E.M. Beauty, the sweetener concealer. The video is shocking fans because it’s a rare look at a bare-faced Ari. The concealer — which comes in 60 shades — arrives Thursday.
If you could use a couple extra bucks, Facebook — aka Meta — launched the Music Revenue Sharing feature that now allows creators to further monetize their content if they use music from its list of eligible and licensed songs. Post Malone‘s music is on that list.
Dove Cameron revealed what she reaches for during a snack attack! The “Boyfriend” hitmaker was on First We Feastand revealed she eats blueberry bagels with sprinkles, as well as brownies dipped in ranch. On the healthier side, she likes peppers in salsa, as well as rice cakes slathered with mashed avocado, chili flakes and smoked salmon.
Calvin Harris released the track list for Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 and revealed there’s new collabs with Charlie Puth, Normani, Latto, Swae Lee and more.
Lauren Jauregui marked the 10th anniversary of Fifth Harmony by writing a lengthy message to her fans, saying in part, “I’m so grateful for my past, present and future.”
Joe Jonas also got his snack on by eating a few international sweets. In an Instagram video, he tried out various treats, like a cinnamon roll-flavored Oreo and Dr. Pepper cotton candy, the two things he loved the most out of the entire selection.
Lady Gaga dropped limited-edition eyewear to benefit her Born This Way Foundation, reports Rolling Stone. She teamed with Pair Eyewear for some exclusive snap-on frames that “celebrate differences.” Twenty percent of proceeds will benefit her mental health outreach.
Omnivore Recordings; Allman Brothers Band Recording Company
The Bangles and The Allman Brothers Band are taking part in the 2022 edition of Ten Bands One Cause.
The annual charity initiative features 10 artists reissuing albums on pink vinyl to raise money for Red Door Community, formerly known as Gilda’s Club NYC, which supports those with cancer and their caregivers. The organization was founded in memory of late comedian and Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
This year’s crop of reissues includes The Bangles’ 2014 compilation Ladies and Gentlemen…The Bangles! and the Allman Brothers’ Live from A&R Studios, which was recorded in 1971 but wasn’t released until 2016. Other artists taking part include The Black Keys, Judah & the Lion, Nas and Senses Fail.
