Tuesday, March 1, was Justin Bieber‘s 28th birthday and on Wednesday, he used his Instagram Stories to share some of the nice shout-outs he received from his celebrity pals.
Justin’s “Intentions” duet partner Quavo of rap trio Migoswrote, “Love this guy, always keep it 100, never switched up! Real Day 1 [Partner] HBD my boy!”
The Kid LAROI, who teamed with Justin for the smash number-one hit “STAY,” wrote, “Happy Birthday to a living legend. Thank u for changing my life. Words can’t describe how grateful I am for you. Love you dawg.”
Diddywrote, “Happy birthday, King!” while Big Seanwrote, “Happy birthday, JB.” Actor Evan Mock of HBO Max’s Gossip Girlwrote, “HBD J Fever,” and DJ Khaled, who teamed with Justin for two big hit songs, wrote, “Happy b day, love brother.”
Kanye “Ye” West simply posted a picture of himself smiling at a photo of Justin in a ball pit.
One of Justin’s friends posted a photo of Justin posing with Martha Stewart, of all people, who was one of the celebs who took part in his 2015 Comedy Central Roast. The friend got the picture from Stewart’s own Instagram: She posted a photo of herself with Justin after running into him at the restaurant where he was celebrating his birthday.
“Looking skinny yet fit and happy with a very attractive bunch of friends @justinbieber was at sushi park restaurant celebrating his 28th birthday!” the lifestyle guru wrote. “Happy birthday !!”
And of course, Justin’s mother, Pattie Mallette, and his wife, Hailey Bieber, also posted heartfelt wishes to Justin. Pattie wrote, “You are a delight and a true joy in my life. So grateful you were born! This world would NOT be the same without you.” Aww.
(WASHINGTON) — Opening statements got underway Wednesday in the case of a Texas man charged with participating in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol and later threatening his family members if they reported him to law enforcement.
Guy Reffitt, 49, a self-proclaimed member of the far-right anti-government “Three Percenter” militia group, is the first alleged participant in the Jan. 6 insurrection to bring his case to trial. He faces five felony charges that carry maximum sentences of between five and 20 years each.
“The evidence in this case will show that the defendant attacked the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6 precisely because Congress was meeting in a joint session,” assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler told the court. “At that time, he planned to light a match that would start the fire. He wanted to stop Congress from doing its job.”
“The defendant was the tip of this mob’s spear,” Nestler said.
Reffitt’s case presents a major test for the Justice Department, as the result could impact hundreds of other alleged rioters who are weighing whether to similarly take their cases to trial or enter into plea deals with the government.
Nestler said in his opening statement that the government plans to play audio recorded prior to the attack of Reffitt talking about what he planned to do to lawmakers upon storming the Capitol.
“We’re taking the Capitol before the day is over, ripping them out by their f***ing hair, every f***ing one of them,” Reffitt says in one of the audio clips. “I just want to see Pelosi’s head hitting every f****ing stair on the way out, and Mitch McConnell too … I’m packing heat and I’m going to get more heat and I am going to that building and I am dragging them out.”
In his brief opening statement, Reffitt’s attorney, William Welch III, said there was no evidence showing Reffitt assaulted anyone and that Reffitt’s statements to his family and others amounted to little more than hyperbole.
“Guy does brag, he exaggerates, and he rants — he uses a lot of hyperbole and that upsets people,” Welch said. “The evidence will show that this case was a rush to judgment.”
“Guy Reffitt did not enter the Capitol,” Welch said. “He did not break anything, he did not take anything.”
Following two days of jury selection and one-on-one question-and-answer sessions with more than four dozen Washington, D.C., residents, 12 jurors and four alternates were selected for the trial, including nine men and seven women. Their backgrounds range from a NASA employee and a natural-gas industry lobbyist to an analyst with the Pentagon and a wood crafter who works with the federal agency that maintains the Capitol complex.
Judge Dabney Friedrich acknowledged that “virtually every juror” would have some view of the assault on the Capitol, but said the goal of the jury selection was to find residents who could legitimately separate their personal feelings about the attack from the question of Reffitt’s guilt or innocence.
In a recent filing, prosecutors said they expect to call 13 witnesses in Reffitt’s trial, including representatives from Capitol Police, the FBI and the Secret Service, as well as a counsel to the Secretary of the Senate, Reffitt’s son and daughter, and a fellow member of the Three-Percenter militia who traveled with Reffitt to D.C. and has been granted immunity for his testimony.
Reffitt spoke to ABC News from jail in December, saying, “This has been disastrous for me and my family, especially for my girls, my son — actually, all of my family.”
He also said he believes he’ll be exonerated at trial.
“It’s not that hard to prove that I didn’t do anything,” Reffitt said. “It should be pretty easy.”
After nearly 14 months of evidence-gathering, more than 750 people have been arrested on federal charges connected to the riot, and investigators say they are continuing to seek hundreds more who are suspected of participating in the violence that occurred that day.
Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo have announced a new show with their covers side project, The Wedding Band.
The concert takes place May 27 in Napa, California, and is an official after-show of the BottleRock Napa Valley festival, which Metallica is headlining.
Along with Hammett and Trujillo, The Wedding Band features a rotating lineup, including Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore, Bad Wolves guitarist Doc Coyle and Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane. The group’s sporadic live shows consist entirely of covers.
Lionel Richie will be receiving the Library of Congress’ prestigious Gershwin Prize for Popular Song next week, and now we know who’ll be honoring the singer at an all-star tribute concert that’s part of the event.
The March 9 show in Washington, D.C. will feature performances from Gloria Estefan, Boyz II Men, Andra Day, Yolanda Adams, Miguel, country star Chris Stapleton and Lionel’s fellow American Idol judge, country superstar Luke Bryan.
Anthony Anderson will host the concert, and Lionel himself will perform. It’ll air on PBS on May 17 at 9 p.m. ET, as well as on PBS.org and the PBS Video App.
The Gershwin Prize honors a “living musical artist’s lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of entertainment, information, inspiration and cultural understanding.” Past recipients include Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Smokey Robinson and Paul Simon.
This is yet another accolade for Lionel, who’s already won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and four Grammy Awards, and is nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
(NEW YORK) — As Ukrainians flee across Europe amid the onslaught of attacks from Russia in Ukraine, non-white refugees have faced discrimination from extremist groups patrolling the border, reporters and residents in the area told ABC News.
On March 1, dozens of self-identified right-wing nationalists marauded through the city center of Przemysl, Poland, and harassed refugees who looked to be people of color, the witnesses said. Many non-white refugees have arrived in the city while they evacuate Ukraine.
As this humanitarian crisis goes on, many fear extremism will continue to cause trouble for refugees of color trying to escape the war.
More than 836,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since Russian forces invaded the eastern European country on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
At least 453,000 of those refugees have escaped to Poland as of March 2, UNHCR said.
Near the Przemysl train station on Tuesday, where thousands of refugees are passing through, anyone who looked to be African or Arab were being targeted by the extremists in the attack, witnesses reported.
Julian Würzer, a reporter for the German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost who is stationed in Poland, told ABC News that extremists aggressively shouted at refugees to get out of the country and allegedly assaulted them.
Online videos seen by ABC News show police in riot gear diffusing the incident, which Würzer said went on for about 20 minutes before police arrived.
There have been no reports of injuries.
Local authorities did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment on the incidents.
These extremists are a minority in the country, however. There has been an overwhelming effort by local citizens to help those fleeing across the Polish-Ukrainian border. ABC News reporters on the ground say that volunteers across the region have been offering to house, feed, and clothe the many refugees.
At the border, witnesses tell ABC News that extremists have reportedly been accepting Ukrainians but vowing to “defend” Poland against an influx of non-Christians. These extremists are believed by some to be backed by Russia.
Poland’s government has aligned itself in recent years with right-wing ideals and has been criticized for anti-refugee sentiment. Last year, Poland refused to let thousands of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the country after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko forcibly drove them out of his country.
Commissioner Filippo Grandi of the UNCHR has confirmed that there have been instances of discrimination in the admission of certain refugees from Ukraine. Some third-country nationals have reported being stuck or being rejected from passage in their attempts to flee, he said.
Grandi said that state policies are not causing instances of discrimination, and that “there should be absolutely no discrimination between Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians, Europeans and non-Europeans.”
“Everybody is fleeing from the same risks,” Grandi said at a March 1 press conference. “We will continue to intervene, as we have done several times to try to ensure that everybody is received in the same manner.”
ABC News’ Tomek Rolski and Christopher Donato contributed to this report.
Rapper J. Cole took to his Twitter to announce the second annual Dreamville Festival and revealed some of the artists, including Lil Baby and Lil Wayne, who will join next month in the star-studded lineup. For the first time, the festival will be held over the course of two days, instead of one.
From the new school’s Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, Ari Lennox and Kehlani, to the old school’s Lil Wayne, Jeezy, Ja Rule and Ashanti– the event is sure to bring all the action to Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park.
“Went crazy on the lineup Dreamville Fest 2 days this year. April 2nd and 3rd. See you in NC,” J. Cole said in the announcement tweet.
The “Dreamville” rapper is set to headline Sunday’s show along with T.I., Rico Nasty, Wale and others. Lil Baby will head up Saturday’s show alongside Fivio Foreign, EarthGang and more.
“The second annual Dreamville Festival will once again provide a thoughtfully-curated, multi-stage music event from J. Cole, who himself was raised in nearby Fayetteville, North Carolina,” a statement from the festival’s official website read. “The festival offers an opportunity for J. Cole to give back to his home state that has helped shape the artist he has become with a one-of-a-kind celebration of local culture, food and art that also features a curated selection of music performers blending together some of today’s biggest national acts with exciting up-and-comers.”
Tickets are available to purchase on the festival website. As of Wednesday afternoon, the “JV” and “Varsity” VIP packages were already sold out.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — A 52-year-old JetBlue pilot was pulled off a plane in Buffalo, New York, after blowing a blood alcohol content over the legal limit for pilots, according to Helen Tederous, public affairs director for the Niagra Frontier Transportation Authority.
Pilots face strict blood alcohol restrictions, with .04 considered illegal.
According to NFTA, a Transportation Security Administration officer noticed the pilot was acting drunk, and authorities removed him from the cockpit.
NFTA Airport Police took the man, who is from Orlando, Florida, into custody, and notified federal authorities, according to Tederous. He was released to JetBlue security and may face federal charges.
Dolly Parton is taking her forthcoming novel, Run, Rose, Run, to new heights with a debut appearance at South by Southwest.
This year, Dolly will bring some country flair to the annual music, film and media festival in Austin, Texas, when she and co-author James Patterson sit down for a conversation about the thriller novel, moderated by former Nashville star Connie Britton, on March 18 at Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater.
After the discussion, the country icon will perform original songs from the album being released in tandem with the book, along with some of her classic hits. The show will be available to stream for free on “Dollyverse” by Eluvio.
Run, Rose, Run follows a young artist named Ruthanna who moves to Nashville to pursue her music dreams, but is followed by dark secrets from her past. The book will be released on March 7, with the companion album set to drop on March 4.
Pixies have released a new song called “Human Crime.”
The track is available now via digital outlets, and is accompanied by a fantastical video directed by bassist Paz Lenchantin.
“The storyline is loosely based on an ‘inside joke’ between [frontman Black Francis] and I about going on tour,” Lenchantin says of the clip. “How we go through a door from our reality state into the altered state of becoming and being a Pixie.”
You can watch the “Human Crime” video streaming now on YouTube.
“Human Crime” is the first new Pixies song since 2020’s “Hear Me Out.” The band’s most recent album is 2019’s Beneath the Eyrie.
Black Label Society has announced a U.S. headlining tour for this spring.
The outing kicks off April 30 in San Diego, and concludes May 21 in Inwood, West Virginia. Alice Cooper guitarist and solo artist Nita Strauss will provide support on most dates.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 4. For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit BlackLabelSociety.com.
Black Label Society will be touring behind their latest album, Doom Crew Inc., which dropped last November.
