(NEW YORK) — Americans like Chris and Amy Clary are booking Airbnb vacation rentals online in a bid to help Ukrainians directly amid Russian attacks of the Eastern European country.
The Clarys are in Texas but they’ve booked five Airbnbs in Kyiv and outside the capital.
“We wanted to get money into people that are living there. And they’re desperate for funds, obviously for food, maybe to get out of town,” Chris Clary told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Airbnb said it is “humbled by the inspiring generosity” of people looking to help through the platform.
“Airbnb is temporarily waiving guest and Host fees on bookings in Ukraine at this time,” the San Francisco-based company told GMA in a statement.
The company said on March 2 and 3, it saw more than 61,000 bookings in Ukraine, including more than 34,000 by U.S. guests. It has also set up a website — Airbnb.org — dedicated to helping people in emergencies. There have been over 1.2 million visits to the site already.
“Airbnb allows them to get funds almost immediately and directly to the source,” said Chris Clary. “I believe it’s important because those people need as much assistance as possible and as quickly as possible.”
Added his wife Amy: “I get to chat with the host. You know, find out how they’re doing. Are they OK? And ask questions. And it really makes it like a personal connection to what’s going on in Ukraine and to the Ukrainian people.”
The Clarys said they try to look for Airbnb listings that feature family photos and reviews from past bookings. They also send messages to hosts first with questions before booking.
“When you get the messages back, they are incredibly grateful. It really brings you to tears whenever you read them,” Chris Clary said.
The Clarys say they’ve inspired friends to do the same and hope to keep the momentum going, looking next into booking short-term stays in Poland, which borders Ukraine to the northwest.
Celebrities are also joining the growing number of people looking to help people caught in the Russian and Ukrainian conflict that began on Feb. 24.
Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher launched an online fundraiser called “Stand With Ukraine” to help Ukrainians. In a video message introducing the campaign, Kunis said she was born in Ukraine and emigrated to the U.S. in 1991 with her family and has “never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.”
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have also announced they would match donations up to $1 million for the nonprofit UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency.
Bethenny Frankel, the former reality TV star, has also used her BStrong initiative to get aid to Ukraine and neighboring countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Former Dancing With the Stars choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who recently escaped Ukraine amid the escalating conflict, said he’s also working to help people in the region with his wife, dancer Peta Murgatroyd. They said they’ve started an Amazon store where people can buy items for people in need.
Machine Gun Kelly is bringing Bring Me the Horizon to a new song.
The “Bloody Valentine” rocker and Horizon frontman Oli Sykes made a surprise appearance at Los Angeles’ Emo Night event last Friday night, where they premiered a never-before-heard collaborative track. Fan-shot footage of the performance is streaming now on YouTube.
Kelly later tweeted that the official recording of the song would be released “soon.”
We’d guess that the track will appear on MGK’s upcoming album Mainstream Sellout, which arrives March 25. The follow-up to 2020’s Tickets to My Downfall features the WILLOW and Lil Wayne collaborations “Emo Girl” and “Ay!”, respectively.
A track with Kelly would follow a string of recent collabs for Sykes and Horizon, including “Let’s Get the Party Started” with Tom Morello and a joint rendition of Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits.”
If you’ve ever wondered whether Taylor Swift is a Marvel or a DC kinda gal, it appears we have our answer.
Taylor took to her Instagram Stories over the weekend to praise the new film The Batman, and, in particular, Zoë Kravitz‘s portrayal of the iconic character, Catwoman. Taylor posted a photo of Kravitz onscreen in the film, which appears to have been taken in a theater or screening room.
“@zoeisabellakravitz IS THE CATWOMAN OF DREAMS,” Taylor captioned the post. “The Batman was PHENOMENAL!!”
Taylor and Zoë have apparently been friends for quite a while: There are photos of them out together in New York City in 2016.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, opened with $128.5 million at the box office this weekend, the second-best opening of the pandemic era. Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home was first.
(NEW YORK) — As war in Ukraine rages on, several peace talks and increasing economic sanctions against Russia have failed thus far to stop the aggression.
Ukrainians have withstood days of airstrikes and shelling across multiple cities since the invasion began on Feb. 24. The better-equipped Russian military has shown no signs of de-escalation and has claimed to have taken control of several areas of Ukraine, though it has also been slowed by Ukrainian resistance.
How far Russian President Vladimir Putin will go, how much longer Ukrainian forces can hold out and what exactly it would take to end the conflict are key questions in the war.
“No one has a crystal ball, and it is very difficult to predict outcomes of conflict,” said retired Gen. Robert Abrams, an ABC News contributor and the former commander of U.S. forces in Korea.
Amid “unprecedented” sanctions against Russia and the stronger-than-expected Ukrainian resistance, “what appears to be happening is Putin is becoming even more resolved,” Abrams said. He pointed to threatening comments Putin made Saturday about Ukraine’s statehood, which “in plain speak means Russia is intent to invade, occupy and make Ukraine part of Russia, and erase the name Ukraine and replace it with Russia. That’s new. And that is an indication that it will be difficult to judge how far Putin will go.”
Role of international aid
When asked at a Thursday news conference by ABC News senior foreign correspondent Ian Pannell how long Ukraine can hold out against the Russian advance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “I don’t know.”
One key factor in Ukraine’s fight is the level of support from the international community, including NATO, the European Union and the United Nations, Abrams said.
The United States has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, and millions more in lethal aid has been sent by NATO and several EU countries.
“I think there are many other things that we can do to support the Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian people,” like arms, ammunition, enhanced communications and food, Abrams said. “It’s going to require continuous and predictable resupply into Ukraine to be able to give them the means necessary to defend themselves.”
During a Zoom call Saturday with more than 300 U.S. lawmakers, Zelenskyy pleaded for more air support, including drones and planes, Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., a co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, told ABC News Live. Quigley said the president also repeated his call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine — something experts have argued could very quickly escalate into a “World War III”-type scenario.
“To those who are advocating for a no-fly zone, we just need to all ask the question, are we prepared for the consequence — basically starting World War III?” Abrams said. “I don’t think we are, I don’t think it’s worth the risk of that sort of level of conflict, because that’s what is coming. President Putin has made it clear that anybody that intervenes militarily will be treated as an enemy. That’s not a bluff.”
“And he is prepared to escalate this conflict as high as anybody wants to go,” he continued.
Morale on both sides
Another key factor in the outcome of the conflict is how long Ukrainians can “maintain their will,” Abrams said.
“How much are they willing to sacrifice for their country?” he said. “It is crystal clear that they have been galvanized, that the country has been galvanized, the Ukrainian people are fighting for their country and for their way of life. … What will that look like on day 60? Day 120? That is difficult to predict.”
President Joe Biden remarked during his State of the Union last week that the Ukrainians’ “fearlessness, their courage, their determination, literally inspires the world.”
Zelenskyy has been a key part of maintaining morale, Abrams said.
“He has been masterful in leading his country in this conflict,” Abrams said. “He is sharing the same hardships, he is communicating with his people. He’s constantly communicating with the international community.”
That connection can help Ukraine prevail, he said, though “we’re in for some very, very difficult, tough days and tough images, for those of us outside looking in.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s military, though superior, has been dogged by logistical challenges, including food and fuel shortages, and a “lack of cohesion and discipline,” which could work in Ukraine’s favor, Abrams said.
“I think that’s the bigger picture that people really need to understand about the dynamics and what makes soldiers fight with the ferocity and intensity that we would expect to see,” he said. “It boils down to, do you believe in what you’re fighting for? And in this case, I think what we’re seeing is not necessarily extensive effects of lack of food or fuel — that certainly does have a role to play — but I don’t think the Russian military believes in what they’re fighting for.”
A possible off-ramp
The “Russian playbook” indicates that its military will continue to bomb and shell Ukrainian cities and “choke them out,” according to Abrams — pointing to Aleppo, Syria, and Grozny, Chechnya, as examples — in order to take over and instate its own puppet government.
The international community, in particular NATO members, has been closely watching the conflict in hopes of preventing it from escalating beyond Ukraine’s borders as well.
A senior White House official told ABC News the administration has been discussing efforts to make sure Putin is not completely boxed in with no way out but to fight.
Abrams said he thinks there is a chance for a potential “off-ramp” for Russia, “but it will require compromise.”
That could look like Putin getting at least one of his demands met, such as Ukraine recognizing the two breakaway regions in the Donbas region as separate states, a guarantee of neutrality in Ukraine or a commitment that Ukraine never joins NATO.
“History tells us to end these wars, there’s always going to have to be compromise, because I don’t think we’re going to find either side giving unconditional surrender. That’s the other alternative, and I think that’s highly, highly unlikely,” Abrams said.
Though much remains unclear at this time, two things are certain, Abrams said.
“I think we can be certain that the vast majority of the cities in Ukraine are likely to be decimated and destroyed,” he said. “I say that because the Ukrainian resistance, their armed forces and their people, has been so strong, so capable, and it has come as a complete surprise to the Russian military … and as a result, the Russian military has already basically taken the gloves off and they’re using what we call dumb bombs — non-precision-guided munitions, rockets and artillery — in suburban areas and housing areas, destroying civilian infrastructure.”
Additionally, the conflict is going to displace millions of people, he said. So far, over 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine, and the United Nations has predicted that 10 million Ukrainians ultimately could be displaced by the war.
“There’s nothing good coming out of this war,” Abrams said. “The stories of the courage and heroism and just the grit, the real grit of the Ukrainian people — it’s inspiring. But their country is slowly being destroyed, one village at a time.”
Dua Lipa seems to be amused by the Saturday Night Live skit about her that aired over the weekend
In the skit, guest host Oscar Isaac played a janitor named Mike who stumbles into a writing group being held after hours in the high school where he works. When they invite him to read something he’s written, he starts reading a story called “The Apogee of Midnight,” which turns out to be fan fiction about Dua.
In Mike’s story, Dua shows up late at night in the high school and says, “My name is Dua Lipa. I’m a big pop star, and I’m looking for a janitor here named Mike.”
He continues reading the story: “The janitor paused. That was his name. Dua Lipa sighed. ‘You haven’t heard of me, have you?’ ‘Sorry, ma’am. More of a classic rock guy, myself — but sure, maybe I’ve seen a bikini pic or two.’”
In Mike’s story, Dua then asks him to teach her how to make out, saying, “I’ve never done it before.”
The leader of the writing group tries to stop Mike, and the women in the group say the story’s “creepy.” But the men in the group are on the edge of their seats, dying to know what’s going to happen.
Dua posted the entire sketch on her Instagram and captioned it, “*adds to list of things I never thought would happen in my life,*” along with a bunch of laughing emojis.
In other Dua news, days after being hit with a copyright lawsuit over her song “Levitating,” Billboard reports that two more songwriters have filed a lawsuit against her over the same song. The songwriters, L. Russell Brown and Sandy Linzer, claim “Levitating” copies parts of their 1979 song “Wiggle and Giggle All Night” and their 1980 song, “Don Diablo.”
(MOSCOW) — WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia, facing drug charges after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow in February.
Griner, 31, is now one of at least three Americans detained in Russia amid the global tension surrounding the Russians’ attack on Ukraine.
Watch the full report from ABC’s Good Morning America:
While many have criticized Kanye West‘s new video for “Eazy“, in which he apparently murders an animated analogue for Pete Davidson, the SNL star himself is laughing it off.
A source tells Entertainment Tonight that Davidson, who is dating West’s estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, “finds the fact that Kanye included a cartoon version of him in his music video hysterical.”
“He is almost flattered by it all because it is so ridiculous to him,” the source adds.
And fans of the evidently irresistible comedian and The Suicide Squad actor needn’t worry about him, the source continues, commenting Pete “is not threatened by Kanye in any way, shape or form.” Instead, Ye’s reaction is helping Davidson “to grow in more ways than one, including for himself and his relationship with Kim. He is turning all of the negativity into a positive thing.”
Sunday night, Kanye himself addressed the controversy on Instagram, noting that, like the disclaimer that appears in end credits in a movie, any similarities between the video’s characters and real people is purely coincidental.
“Art is therapy just like this view,” Kanye began. “art is protected as freedom of speech/art inspires and simplifies the world/Art is not a proxy for any ill or harm.”
He added, “Any suggestion otherwise about my art is false and mal intended [sic].”
Over the weekend, the “Without Me” singer took to social media to share a slideshow of photos of their furry friend, along with a heartbreaking tribute.
“This has been the worst week of my life,” Halsey began. “Before I had a dog of my own, I would hear people mourn their pets and think ‘it’s just a dog…’ well I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Halsey, who got Jagger “when he was just a few weeks old,” went on to share that they thought about what it would be like when this day came, but didn’t expect it to come so soon.
“Jagger was 5 years old and yesterday we lost him to a progressive condition called Myelomalacia. It is sudden and uncommon and unfair with a catastrophic prognosis,” they explained.
“Within 3 days my beautiful baby boy went from chasing imaginary birds around the yard and laying in my lap turning his ears up at the sounds of Sesame Street, to having paralysis spread through his body by the hour,” they continued. “It was sudden and shocking and I still haven’t even really processed it.”
The pop star, who welcomed their son Ender with Alev Aydin last summer, added, “My very first love, who taught me how to be a mommy. My sweet, sarcastic, so very human boy. Every single person who had the privilege of meeting jagger will never forget him. He was that special.”
Halsey concluded, “If you’re reading this and you don’t have a pet, you might be thinking ‘it’s just a dog.’ Like I maybe used to. But I can tell you you’re wrong… If you loved Jagger along with me, thank you for giving him the best life the bestest boy could have ever had.”
Deadline reports The Many Saints of Newark star Alessandro Nivola has been tapped for a role in Sony/Marvel’s Kraven the Hunter, joining Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular character — a super-powered big-game hunter in the MCU. Details on Nivola’s role, other than he’ll be playing the villain, haven’t been revealed. Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe and Fred Hechinger also star. Kraven the Hunter will be released theatrically January 13, 2023…
Johnny Brown, the actor, comedian and singer best known for portraying the housing project superintendent Nathan Bookman on Good Times, died Wednesday, his daughter, actress Sharon Catherine Brown, announced on Instagram. He was 84. A cause of death was not given. “Our family is devastated. Devastated. Devastated. Beyond heartbroken. Barely able to breathe,” his daughter wrote. Brown was a regular performer for three seasons on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and also appeared in a number of other TV shows, including Maude, The Rookies, The Jeffersons, Archie Bunker’s Place, Family Matters and Sister, Sister, and in films including The Wiz, among others…
This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia is attached to star in a drama pilot for ABC titled The Company You Keep, according to Variety. The pilot, based on the Korean series My Fellow Citizens, follows Charlie, a con-man played by Ventimiglia, and an undercover CIA officer named Emma, whose love affair puts them on a collision course professionally when he ramps up the “family business” so he can get out for good and she closes in on a vengeful criminal who holds Charlie’s family debts in hand…
Tim Considine, best known for co-starring on the television serials The Adventures of Spin and Marty and The Hardy Boys before playing the oldest brother on My Three Sons for five seasons, died Thursday in Los Angeles at his home in Mar Vista, his son, Christopher, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 81. A cause of death was not revealed. Considine also appeared alongside his My Three Sons co-star Fred MacMurray in Disney’s The Shaggy Dog, and in The Clown, opposite Red Skelton. On TV, he appeared on Bonanza, The Fugitive and Gunsmoke, among others…
The Batman beat expectations, opening with an estimated $128.5 million domestically. The film, which marks Robert Pattinson‘s bow as the Dark Knight, was only the second pandemic-era movie to score a $100-million opening weekend, after Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Batman — also starring Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell and Zoë Kravitz — added another $120 million from overseas showings, bringing its total opening take to 248.5 million.
Last week’s box office champ, Uncharted, slipped to number two, delivering an estimated $11 million in its second week. The video game adaptation, starring Tom Holland, tacked on an estimated $17.4 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $271.5.
The canine adventure Dog pulled up at number three, pocketing an estimated $6 million. Its domestic tally currently stands at north of $30 million after three weeks.
The aforementioned Spider-Man: No Way Home, also starring Tom Holland, pulled in an estimated $4.4 million, lifting its domestic total to $786.4 million after 12 weeks.
Disney and 20th Century’s murder mystery Death on the Nile earned an estimated $2.7 million over the weekend, Its four-week total now stands at just $37.1 million.
Rounding out the top five was Universal’s animated musical comedy Sing 2, earning in an estimated $4.2 million to bring its domestic total to $207.7 million. Since launching last December, the family-friendly movie has made an impressive $360 million at the worldwide box office.
