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.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 07, 7:42 am
Ukrainian foreign minister again calls for NATO no-fly zone
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba on Monday called for NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying Russian planes were targeting civilians.
“The Russian Air Force dominates in the skies and continues bombing our cities and killing many civilians,” Kuleba told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America.
U.S. and NATO officials have rejected calls from Ukrainian officials to impose a no-fly zone, saying doing so could provoke Russia, perhaps pulling other European countries and NATO members into the conflict. The U.S. and NATO have offered other military aid, including a possible deal to send aircraft to Ukraine.
“We believe that the rejection of the idea of the no-fly zone is based in the lack of confidence in the strength of NATO as an alliance,” Kuleba said. “Because the military might of NATO is incomparably bigger compared to Russia. So why would Russia dare to shoot down a NATO plane, knowing it is doomed, eventually doomed, if a war with NATO begins.”
Kuleba over the weekend had urged the international community to help in the struggle against “Russian barbarians.” He posted a photo on Twitter on Sunday of an unexploded bomb, which he said landed on a residential building in Chernihiv.
Mar 07, 5:50 am
Ukraine casts doubt on Russian pledge for civilian pathways
Ukrainian officials said Russia’s proposal on Monday to open “humanitarian corridors” for cities in Ukraine is not a genuine offer because it offers to evacuate civilians only to Belarus and Russia.
Iryna Vereshchuk, a Ukrainian vice prime minister, in a televised briefing called that “unacceptable” and said Ukraine had demanded instead that civilians be allowed to evacuate to other parts of Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry had said it would open a corridor from towns and villages north of Kyiv, where heavy fighting is taking place, but that would allow people to travel to the Belarusian city of Gomel and then be flown to Russia. Russia also offered corridors near the besieged northeastern and eastern cities of Kharkiv, Sumy and Mariupol, but that would also only allow people to leave over the border to Russia.
“This is an unacceptable option of humanitarian corridors. Our people from outskirts of Kyiv won’t go to Belarus and then to Russia,” Vereshchuk said.
She said that Ukraine wants civilians north of Kyiv to be permitted to leave to the capital and for those from Kharkiv to be allowed to western cities by train, and from Mariupol north to the central city of Zaporizhzhia.
“We delivered our proposal on how the corridors should be organized,” Vereshchuk said, later adding, “Humanitarian aid is prepared for a number of towns in the east and south. We ask Russia to confirm these corridors and provide ceasefire.”
Russia has repeatedly violated its own ceasefire since offering humanitarian corridors for Mariupol and another eastern town Volnovakha, including shelling evacuation points in Mariupol according to officials there. The Red Cross, which is trying to organize the evacuations, has said the agreements currently are too vague and without clear understandings for routes out.
Russia said Monday’s offer for the corridors was made following a lengthy phone conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
Vereshchuk said Russia was trying to exploit Macron’s name for a disingenuous offer of corridors.
“I hope president Macron understands that his name and good intentions are manipulated by Russia,” she said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 07, 3:43 am
Refugee arrivals to Poland top 1 million, guard says
More than 1 million people fleeing Ukraine have arrived in Poland since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, the Polish Border Guard said on Monday.
A record 142,000 people arrived on Sunday, the guard said on Twitter. On Monday, about 42,000 people had crossed the border before 7 a.m. local time.
As of Sunday, more than 1.5 million people had fled the war in Ukraine, marking the “fastest growing refugee crises in Europe since World War II,” according to Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees.
Mar 07, 2:43 am
With attacks on TV towers, Russia seeks to isolate Ukrainians, UK says
Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian communications infrastructure to “reduce Ukrainian citizens’ access to reliable news and information,” the U.K. Ministry of Defence said on Monday.
“Russia reportedly struck a TV tower in Kharkiv yesterday, suspending broadcasting output,” the Ministry’s update said.
Russian forces on March 1 struck a TV tower in Kyiv, the capital.
Mar 07, 2:18 am
Russia says cease-fire will allow evacuations from 4 cities
Russia declared a cease-fire starting Monday morning, opening humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Sumy, the Russian interagency humanitarian response staff in Ukraine said.
“Taking into account the disastrous humanitarian situation and its severe deterioration in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Mariupol, and also at French President Emmanuel Macron’s personal request to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Armed Forces are declaring a ceasefire and opening humanitarian corridors for reasons of humanity starting 10:00 a.m. on March 7, 2022,” the staff said.
Ukrainian officials in Mariupol said Russia broke planned cease-fires on Saturday and Sunday.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Boston 126, Brooklyn 120
Milwaukee 132, Phoenix 122
Washington 133, Indiana 123
Utah 116, Oklahoma City 103
Houston 123, Memphis 112
Cleveland 104, Toronto 96
Denver138, New Orleans 130 (OT)
NY Knicks 116, L.A. Clippers 93
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
New Jersey 3, St. Louis 2 (OT)
Los Angeles 3, Buffalo 0
Dallas 6, Minnesota 3
NY Rangers 4, Winnipeg 1
Tampa Bay 6, Chicago 3
Carolina 3, Seattle 2
Vegas 2, Ottawa 1
Anaheim 3, San Jose 2 (OT)
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Nebraska 74, Wisconsin 73
Memphis 75, Houston 61
Illinois 74, Iowa 72
Michigan 75, Ohio St. 69
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Austin FC 5, Miami 1
Portland 1, Los Angeles FC 1 (Tie)
Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — In light of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, many major American and Western companies have decided to drop their presence in the region.
In the last two weeks, movie studios Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures and Disney, the parent company of ABC News, have dropped future movie releases in Russia. Ikea shut down all Russian stores and production operations. Microsoft and Apple have ceased all sales, including game consoles and phones, in the country as well.
On Saturday, Visa and Mastercard announced they would stop Russian operations.
That list is expected to grow as the conflict continues and consumers look for companies to take a stand on the invasion, business experts told ABC News.
“Companies have found it difficult to stay out of [current events],” Erik Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, told ABC News. “That doesn’t work anymore. If you don’t take a stand one way or another the conclusion is you’re either amoral or taken a bad stand.”
Gordon and other business experts said that there is also the economic calculus involved in the companies’ decisions to pull out of Russia as its declining economy makes the country a poor investment. Nonetheless, the experts said this is likely to pose a turning point in nearly 30 years of Western business in Russia.
Gordon said it’s unlikely that any of the Western business pauses will make an impact on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, compared to the economic sanctions levied by the U.S. and European nations. The Russian government, however, will likely retaliate against Western-based products and services with boycotts and blocks as the conflict continues.
On Friday, the country said it would ban Facebook and Twitter.
“I don’t think the Russian business will be a hospitable place for Western business for a very long time,” he said.
Shon Hiatt, an associate professor of management and organization at the University of Southern California, told ABC News that a similar situation took place during World War II when American companies stopped shipping their goods to Germany. Corporations lost millions of dollars in revenue during the 1940s, but Hiatt said the increased globalization of today’s economy means that American companies won’t take as much of a hit by halting their Russian operations.
“This isn’t the divestment like we’re seeing with BP or the other oil companies,” Hiatt said. “This is a small drop in the bucket for these companies compared to other markets.”
He noted, as an example, that the Russian market represents roughly 3% of worldwide sales for the movie industry.
Hiatt said the next couple of months will be interesting to watch within the business community. Depending on how long the conflict goes on and if Russia succeeds in its invasion, corporations around the world will have to make a major decision barring any government action, he said.
“Most companies believe this is a small strategic pause,” he said. “They may believe that in a few months, things might go back to normal. It’s still a changing situation.”
It’s Woman’s History Month, and Tuesday is also International Women’s Day, so many fans will no doubt turn to Emmy Meli‘s hit “I Am Woman” — which has become an empowerment anthem after breaking out on TikTok last year — to celebrate both occasions. Emmy says the very nature of womanhood inspired her to give the song that all-encompassing title.
“I didn’t say ‘I am A woman’ because to me, ‘I am woman’ feels like you’re embodying everything that comes with being a woman,” she tells ABC Audio. “‘I am woman’ means I can be a mother, I can be an artist, I can be a doctor, I can be a teacher, I can be an athlete. I am beautiful and powerful and special. It’s all of that.”
Since its release, fans have told Emmy about the impact the song’s had on their lives, and some have even gotten the title tattooed on their bodies. While at first, some people thought Emmy’s song was a cover of Helen Reddy‘s 1972 song of the same name, she’s proud that it’s started its own movement.
“I hope that people are going to be remembering my song and listening to my song…for a long time,” she says. “I hope that 40 years from now, when another girl writes another ‘I am woman,’ they’re going to be like ‘Nice cover of the song “I Am Woman” by Emmy Meli!'”
As for fans who get “I Am Woman” tattoos, Emmy says it’s “an incredible honor.”
“I have seen people tattoo Amy Winehouse…SZA…Lady Gaga [on themselves],” she says. “And I would just always think, like, ‘I wonder if someone would ever love me enough to tattoo something that I made or that I wrote on their body?'” It’s ‘surreal,’ she says, that it actually happened.
