Katy Perry and Rihanna are friendly, so it’s no surprise that Katy would be thrilled that the “Work” singer has welcomed her first child.
Speaking to E! News, Katy said she didn’t have any advice for Rih, who welcomed a baby boy with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky on May 19. However, she did have plenty of well wishes.
“I’m so happy for her and congratulations. I know that this time is so precious and it’s just like a gorgeous, cozy time. It’s a beautiful, magical time, so soak it all in,” Katy told E!
Katy has previously said that becoming a mom to daughter Daisy Dove with fiancé Orlando Bloom was the best decision she ever made.
“I feel so fulfilled doing this job, being able to really give all of my experience and knowledge to these kids and give them a real, true lottery ticket, like a life change,” she shared. “This is such an incredible opportunity. It’s a show that is really changing people’s lives.”
Katy also commented on performing with country superstar Thomas Rhett on the American Idol finale. While she and Orlando have been living in Kentucky, where he’s filming a movie, she told E! she’s not sure she’ll be going all-in on the country lifestyle.
“I don’t know if I can do all that,” she joked. “I mean, if I do get the overalls, they will be Balenciaga.”
(NEW YORK) — A baby formula shortage has escalated in recent months from a product recall to a national crisis, prompting emergency responses from business leaders and White House officials.
As of early May, 43% of U.S. baby formula was out of stock, according to the data firm Datasembly.
To help make up for the shortfall, the Biden administration on Sunday began flying in tens of thousands of pounds of baby formula from abroad in what it calls “Operation Fly Formula.” A day before, an apology in a Washington Post op-ed was issued by Robert Ford, the CEO of Abbott Nutrition, the nation’s largest baby formula producer.
The emergency has come on the heels of the voluntary shutdown in February of an Abbott factory in Sturgis, Michigan, where the company produces major brands of powdered formula like Similac and EleCare. The shutdown went into effect when four babies fell sick from bacterial disease after ingesting formula produced at the facility and two of the infants died. It remains unclear whether the bacteria that made the children ill came from the baby formula produced at the Michigan factory, but a Food and Drug Administration inspection of the facility found it fell short of adequate sanitation.
The root causes of the desperate situation stretch well beyond the last few months, supply chain experts told ABC News. Pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions led to barren store shelves, rigid international trade barriers impeded imports and market concentration left few alternate suppliers, they said.
“The scenario where you have a manufacturing problem that occurred at an Abbott facility in Michigan, those kinds of things happen all the time,” Nada Sanders, a professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, told ABC News. “Ultimately, we have very, very weak supply chains.”
Many families rely on baby formula for some portion of sustenance early in a child’s life. Almost 20% of babies consume infant formula before they reach two days of age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a 2020 report. More than half of infants receive supplementary nutrition in addition to breastfeeding over their first three months, the report said. Some babies require formula to meet specific nutritional needs.
As with a host of products — from computer chips to lumber — the pandemic has snarled the supply chain for baby formula. Shortages of labor and raw materials have slowed production and hampered distribution, Sanders said. The disruption weakens the supply chain’s responsiveness to the sudden ups and downs of customer demand, she added.
“All of this is ultimately related to the COVID pandemic, and really two-and-a-half years of supply chain disruptions and backlogs of every kind possible,” Sanders said.
Even amid the widespread supply chain disruptions brought about by the coronavirus, few products have faced the crisis-level shortages observed with baby formula in recent weeks, said Sanders and Scott Lincicome, an economist at the libertarian think tank Cato Institute.
One reason why the baby formula market has proven especially susceptible to shortages is the trade barriers and public health regulations that prevent major inflow of the products from abroad, Lincicome said. The U.S. imposes steep tariffs on baby formula. Plus, the FDA requires foreign manufacturers to abide by nutritional and labeling requirements.
In turn, 98% of baby formula consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically. When the Abbott factory shut down, the market lacked an international supply to fill the gap. Last week, the FDA announced “increased flexibilities” for the importation of baby formula in an effort to alleviate the shortage.
But the supply problems aren’t confined to overseas producers, Sanders and Lincicome said. They pointed to a key problem that hinders the responsiveness of the domestic baby formula industry: business concentration. Abbott, the top producer, accounts for about 48% of the U.S. formula market. In all, four companies — Abbott, Nestle USA, Perrigo and Mead Johnson Nutrition — control roughly 90% of the market.
Some critics, including Lincicome, have attributed the small number of market players largely to a federal nutrition program for women, infants and children, known as WIC, which helps low-income families purchase baby formula. Roughly half of the baby formula bought in the U.S. goes through WIC, with about 1.2 million infants getting ahold of formula through the program. That scale grants WIC considerable power in the marketplace, Lincicome said.
WIC uses a system in which each state chooses a single company to be the sole provider of baby formula for all residents enrolled in the program. That approach reduces the price that WIC pays for baby formula, cutting the cost for taxpayers, Lincicome said. But the large size of each statewide contract prevents small companies from winning a bid and gaining a foothold, he added.
In response to the crisis, President Joe Biden signed a measure on Saturday that allows families enrolled in WIC to buy formula beyond what the program normally allows in emergency situations.
“Combine the trade wall with domestic concentration,” Lincicome said. “You have a situation where you end up having a few players in a closed market and when one of those players goes down, the other handful of players left can’t fill the gaps.”
He added: “And you lack access to global markets which might be able to fill that gap in the short term.”
Last week, Abbott and the FDA reached an agreement for the company to reopen the Michigan factory, which should eventually return U.S. baby formula supply back to normal, Sanders said. She predicted it would take three months to fully alleviate the shortage; Lincicome estimated eight weeks.
“Hopefully Abbott will be able to get their production out and get everything smoothly running and what’s taken by customers is replenished at the right cadence,” Sanders said. “Meaning no bumps.”
In a new video interview with GQ, Mike Myers runs through some of his biggest hits, from Wayne’s World to Austin Powers, to the 2001 animated film Shrek.
While Wayne’s World had something in common with Austin Powers — in that Myers didn’t think anybody except he and his family would like either of them — Shrek especially resonated with the former Saturday Night Live actor.
“There’s an emotional center there,” Myers recalled of making the original film, which he saw as a “dramatic role.”
He adds, “You know the old joke: ‘I wouldn’t want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member.’ I have always felt that way. The concept of going from a self-loathing ogre to a self-accepting ogre was meaningful to me.”
“I love playing Shrek,” Myers continues. “If I had to do one Shrek a year I’d be thrilled.”
The original Shrek went on to be a blockbuster, winning the first Best Animated Film Oscar and spawning three massively-earning sequels.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the newest film set in the ogre’s universe, will debut in December.
Myers latest effort, the secret society comedy series The Pentaverate, is now streaming on Netflix.
5 Seconds of Summer is preparing to connect with fans on a whole other level with their new album, 5SOS5.
The Aussie band, made up of members Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Ashton Irwin and Calum Hood, is dropping their fifth studio effort September 23. Ashton told People, “This album is a total ownership, a total realization, a total ascension of what the group wants for themselves. We’ve taken a lot of these things into our own hands and it’s been an incredible testing journey.”
“The tests and the challenges have only provided positive outcomes internally. What we’re really doing is attempting to allow our audience to know us better as songwriters,” Ashton continued. “We’re attempting to reach higher highs with our live shows, through creating the music that truly we think represents the best parts of us. So it’s a total new beginning in many ways.”
5SOS has been together for 10 years, and Luke shared that this project is proof they are “stronger than ever.”
“It says that there’s a lot of awareness into helping each other rise to the occasion of this being a very inclusive album,” he said. “It says that this band is trying to achieve something that we as a band 10 years ago would only be dreaming of achieving.”
Luke added, “It shows a lot of hope for this band sticking around for as long as we can. Hopefully it shows that we’re trying to just connect with people…and the kind of power that an art form can hold is something that we take very seriously. We put a lot of heart and soul into these in hopes that we connect with as many people as we can in a positive way.”
After a six-year break from the road, Bruce and the band are back.
Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Bandhave announced a 2023 tour, which will include U.S. shows in arenas starting in February followed by stadium shows in Europe, and then a second North American leg in August.
In a statement, the Boss said, “After six years, I’m looking forward to seeing our great and loyal fans next year. And I’m looking forward to once again sharing the stage with the legendary E Street Band. See you out there, next year — and beyond.”
So far, only the European shows have been announced, starting April 28 in Barcelona. U.K. shows will be announced at a later date, as will the U.S. dates.
These are the first tour dates for Bruce and the band since The River Tour wrapped up in Australia in 2017, though they did perform on Saturday Night Live in 2020 to promote their most recent album, Letter to You.
Broadway legend and five-time Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury will receive the special 2022 Tony for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin and American Theatre Wing President and CEO Heather Hitchens, announced on Monday. “Angela Lansbury’s contributions to the stage are insurmountable,” they said in a statement. “[She] has given us a lifetime of unforgettable performances, and it is a great honor to present her with the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award.” The 75th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, airs live coast-to-coast, on Sunday, June 12 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. Julianne Hough and Darren Criss will host The Tony Awards: Act One, streaming live on Paramount+ at 7 p.m. ET…
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is set to debut on HBO Max on May 30, Warner Bros. announced Monday. The Secrets of Dumbledore finds Jude Law‘s titular character enlisting Magizoologist Newt Scamander — once again played by Eddie Redmayne — to lead an intrepid team of wizards to stop the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald from seizing control of the wizarding world. Mads Mikkelsen replaces Johnny Depp as Grindelwald. The cast also includes Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler and Jessica Williams. The film debuted in theaters globally on April 15, opening to $43 million at the domestic box office and a global tally of $193 million…
Station 19 alum Okieriete Onaodowan has been tapped to play the title role in AMC’s Demascus, according to Deadline. The comedic sci-fi series follows Demascus, “a 33-year-old Black man on a mission of self-discovery and the burgeoning field of digital psychiatry that might be the key to defining his truest self, per the outlet. Onaodowan will next be seen as a series regular in season three of Amazon’s Jack Ryan…
Amazon has given a two-season order to The Hospital, the animated sci-fi comedy from executive producers Maya Rudolph and Natasha Lyonne, the streaming service announced on Monday. The series follows Sleech and Klak — voiced respectively by Greta Lee and Keke Palmer — “aliens, best friends and intergalactically renowned surgeons — as they tackle anxiety-eating parasites, illegal time loops and deep-space STIs,” per Amazon. “Risking their careers to take on a remarkable case, they put existence itself in jeopardy. Although considering their dismal personal lives, oblivion might be an improvement.” The voice cast also includes Kieran Culkin and Sam Smith, along with Rudolph and Lyonne…
(NEW YORK) — Pfizer’s release of data showing its three-shot COVID-19 vaccine is 80% effective among children under the age of 5 is welcome news for parents anxious to get their young children vaccinated more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set to meet in June to review data from both Pfizer and Moderna, a COVID-19 vaccine could be widely available to everyone in the United States ages 6 months and older by July.
The news comes as the U.S. is experiencing another COVID-19 wave, with cases rising in nearly every state and official infection numbers up to more than 100,000 per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the U.S., 28% of 5- to 11-year-olds and 58% of 12- to 17-year-olds are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ analysis of CDC data.
“I think we all want to be done with this pandemic but unfortunately, it’s not quite done with us,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, vice-chair of the AAP’s committee on infectious diseases. “We are in a much different place than we were two years ago in terms of both the therapeutics that are available to treat the disease and the vaccines, showing a decreased spread of the disease and a decrease in hospitalizations.”
O’Leary, also a pediatrician and professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado, spoke to ABC News’ Good Morning America to answer parents’ top trending questions about the COVID-19 vaccine and kids.
1. What does the Pfizer vaccine efficacy news mean?
Earlier this year, Pfizer moved forward with studying three doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for kids 6 months to under 5 years old after disappointing data on a two-dose vaccine.
The new data released by the company Monday shows the three-dose vaccine is effective in kids, which means the vaccine is one step closer to being authorized by the FDA, according to O’Leary.
“This was really the news we’ve been waiting for from Pfizer on whether or not this third dose was going to meet the requirements required from the FDA,” he said. “The immune response that the vaccine provided for the children in the trial was similar to the immune response that we saw in older adolescents and adults in who we know the vaccine is effective in preventing infection, hospitalization and death.”
In addition to being effective, the new data also shows the three-dose vaccine “appears to be safe,” O’Leary said.
2. What happens next for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for young kids?
Next month, FDA advisers will meet to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine applications for kids from both Pfizer and Moderna, which submitted its request to the FDA in April.
The FDA has tentatively scheduled the meetings for June 14 and 15, during which advisers will review applications for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 5 to 17 and ages 6 months to under 6 years, as well as Pfizer’s vaccine for kids ages 6 months to under 5 years.
Within one or two days of the FDA meetings, the applications go to a CDC advisory committee. From there, the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, decides on whether or not to grant emergency use authorization for the vaccines.
With that timing, we could see a vaccine for kids under age 5 approved by the beginning of July, according to O’Leary.
Pfizer’s vaccine is currently available for people ages 5 and older, while Moderna’s vaccine is authorized for people ages 18 and older.
3. Do kids under 5 get the same vaccine as adults?
The dosage of the vaccine is different for children than it is for adults, but the vaccine itself is the same for everyone, according to O’Leary.
If authorized, Pfizer’s vaccine dosage for kids ages 6 months to under 5 years would be three shots of 3 micrograms each. Each dose is one-tenth the adult dose.
Moderna’s vaccine for kids under age 6, if authorized, would be a two-dose, 25-microgram shot, about one-quarter of the dose used for adults, given 28 days apart.
4. How do I know the COVID-19 vaccine is safe for my child?
Pfizer’s newly-released data on its three-dose vaccine for kids under age 5 showed “no significant safety” concerns, according to O’Leary.
The fact that a vaccine for the youngest children is coming after the vaccine has already been delivered to hundreds of millions of people around the world should bring comfort to parents, O’Leary said.
“There is no reason to expect in this age group that we’re going to have some kind of different safety profile than what we saw in children, for example, 5 and older, in whom millions and millions of doses have been given,” he said. “So we have a pretty good understanding of the safety profile.”
The CDC has also released multiple studies over the past year showing COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for older children.
Overall, O’Leary said parents should remember that, based on data, the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine in protecting kids outweigh any potential risks.
“I think we all know that the disease is most severe in the elderly and people who have problems with their immune system, but that’s not to say that COVID-19 is a benign illness in children,” he said. “We’ve seen tens of thousands of hospitalizations in children, and the risk to children under 5, actually, for hospitalization is higher than it is for older children, so absolutely there is a need to protect those children with the vaccine.”
For parents of children of all ages who may be on the fence about getting their child vaccinated, O’Leary said to speak with your child’s pediatrician.
“The best thing you could do is make an appointment with your pediatrician and talk with them about about the vaccine,” he said. “I think it is important to get those kids vaccinated but, on the other hand, I do understand why parents have some questions, and your best source of information is going to be your child’s pediatrician.”
5. How long after having COVID-19 can my child get a vaccine?
If a child has not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and contracts the virus, they can get vaccinated “as soon as they’re out of their isolation period, based on when they were infected and had symptoms,” according to O’Leary.
“It doesn’t need to necessarily be the next day but, in general, as soon as as they can to provide that protection,” he said.
For people who are not vaccinated, CDC guidelines are to quarantine at home for five full days.
6. How do I know if my child needs a booster vaccine?
A booster dose of Pfizer’s vaccine was authorized earlier this month for children ages 5 to 11 years old.
A child in that age range must wait at least five months after completion of a primary series to receive the booster, according to the FDA.
“I do think it’s important,” O’Leary said of fully vaccinated people ages 5 and older receiving a booster dose. “The data have been fairly clear over the last several months, and particularly during this omicron wave, that this booster really matters in terms of prevention of the severe outcomes.”
7. What precautions should my family take until a vaccine for young kids is authorized?
O’Leary said families should continue to practice safety protocols including mask wearing for children ages 2 and older, hand-washing and social distancing.
“We know that crowded, indoor settings where people are not masked is one of the higher-risk places, so try to avoid those types of environments,” he said.
O’Leary also said parents should make sure their kids of all ages are up to date on all their vaccinations.
“Honestly, for children, a lot of the diseases, although we don’t see them anymore, are actually more severe in kids than COVID-19, things like measles,” he said. “Going into the summer is a perfect time to make an appointment with your pediatrician for a checkup and make sure your kids are up to date on their vaccines.”
(NEW YORK) — National attention turns next to the South as Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Texas voters head to the polls on Tuesday, rounding out a consequential string of May contests.
Months-long, sometimes contentious battles to be governor, attorney general, secretary of state and for U.S. Senate and House seats will come to a head. The results should give more insight into the strength of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement with the Republican base as well as conservative voters’ appetite for election lies.
The most-watched races will be in Georgia, an emerging battleground state, with primaries for governor and the Senate that will preview closely fought races come November’s midterms.
At the top of the ticket — where he hopes to stay — sits incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp, an establishment Republican who shot to national prominence after the 2020 election when he refused to promulgate Trump’s debunked theory of a stolen election. Happy to take up that drumbeat, though, is Kemp’s challenger David Perdue, a former senator who lost to Jon Ossoff but who has embraced a MAGA-edge in his campaigning to return to office.
Perdue has spent most of his time on the trail pushing for sweeping electoral change, parroting Trump’s debunked talking points about voter fraud and a somehow-stole election. Despite Trump’s endorsement, though, Perdue’s message hasn’t seemed to stick with primary voters, at least not according to recent polling that shows Kemp with a major lead.
Trump-backed “big lie” believers continue down-ballot with Republican secretary of state candidate Rep. Jody Hice, who has said he would look to decertify the last presidential election — an extraordinarily undemocratic move that further highlights the possible ramifications of such candidates taking control of election administration.
Polling puts Hice in a neck-and-neck battle with incumbent Ben Raffensperger, who like Kemp was a popular establishment Republican-turned-enemy of the former president for refusing to act on the 2020 election conspiracy.
Not only are these races a test of Trump’s endorsement, they will also indicate how enthusiastically Georgia GOP voters will embrace the election mistrust that has become central to Trump’s pitch.
Another high-profile race is the GOP Senate primary, with the Trump-approved Herschel Walker leading the pack. Walker — a businessman and college football legend in Georgia — has been press shy, in part perhaps due to his headline-making past, including allegations of violent behavior and his diagnosis with dissociative identity disorder, or D.I.D., a complex mental health condition characterized by some severe and potentially debilitating symptoms.
Walker has denied some of the past allegations of domestic violence, physical threats and stalking; others he claimed not to remember. His campaign referred ABC News to his 2008 memoir, which detailed his D.I.D. diagnosis, and a 2008 interview he did with ABC News in which he discussed its effects on his marriage.
Democrats have two candidates who are likely to sail to victory Tuesday, with Stacey Abrams again up for governor — eyeing a possible rematch with Kemp in November — and Sen. Raphael Warnock up for re-election.
Across state lines in Alabama will see similar primary matchups for governor and an open Senate seat.
The three-way contest for the Senate slot evolved significantly over the campaign cycle: Rep. Mo Brooks earned Trump’s endorsement early in the race, only to have Trump withdraw it two months ago following disagreements over 2020 election claims.
Trump’s rescinded backing could prove consequential as Brooks now trails in the polls behind Katie Britt — a former chief of staff for retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby. Businessman Mike Durant was polling ahead of both candidates at certain points during the race but is now behind Britt and Brooks after Brooks saw a final-hour surge in recent voter surveys.
Brooks may still be campaigning off of Trump’s name, however. Campaign mailers obtained by the Alabama Political Reporter feature quotes from Trump during the time he supported Brooks.
Earlier this month, Brooks said he wouldn’t cooperate with the House’s Jan. 6 committee and was subpoenaed shortly thereafter. (He had spoken at the rally earlier on Jan. 6, 2021, before deadly rioting broke out at the U.S. Capitol; he has continued to try to delegitimize the 2020 election results.)
“I wouldn’t help Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney cross the street — I’m definitely not going to help them and their partisan Witch Hunt Committee,” Brooks previously told ABC News. “At this moment in time, right before an Alabama U.S. Senate election, if they want to talk, they’re gonna have to send me a subpoena, which I will fight.”
Brooks’ soon-to-be vacant House seat is a contest between former Trump Assistant Army Secretary Casey Wardynski, endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus, and Madison County Commissioner Dale Strong. Strong has been outraising Wardynski.
Another matchup in Alabama will be between incumbent Republican Gov. Kay Ivey and several primary challengers. That race — previously expected to be won handily by Ivey — has grown more combative after a term where Ivey bent away from some GOP messaging surrounding COVID-19 and gas taxes.
Lindy Blanchard, a former Trump-appointed ambassador running in the primary, called Ivey a “tax-hiking Fauci-loving” liberal in a recent ad. Ivey is also being challenged by the son of former Gov. Fob James — businessman Tim James — as well as former Morgan County Commissioner Stacy Lee George, pastor Dean Odle and others.
In Arkansas, races are shaping up to be somewhat less competitive. Former Trump White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the clear front-runner in a race where she’s eclipsing her competitors in fundraising and also received Trump’s endorsement. She’s up against Doc Washburn, the former host of a radio show in Little Rock.
Trump-backed Sen. John Boozman is on track to be reelected against several primary challenges, including from Army veteran and former NFL player Jake Bequette.
And in Texas, voters will decide more of the their 2022 nominees on Tuesday, determining the results of the runoff elections from the March 1 primaries.
The GOP race for attorney general is between incumbent Ken Paxton and Land Commissioner George W. Bush, a member of the state’s most prominent political family.
Paxton’s vulnerability from scandals — including indictment for securities fraud, FBI investigations into malfeasance and marital infidelity, among others, even as he has denied all allegations — will be tested against the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush and nephew of former President George W. Bush in a party that is more and more anathema to the Bushes’ brand of conservatism.
Tuesday’s sole competitive Democratic race will be in Texas. Progressive Jessica Cisneros, endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will face nine-term Congressman Henry Cuellar in the run-off election in the 28th district.
Sanders traveled to Texas to stump for Cisneros on Friday in a last-ditch effort to defeat Cuellar, the sole pro-life Democrat in Congress.
Maren Morris has made good on her desire to audition for Wicked.
The Grammy-winning country star has made an audition tape for the beloved Broadway musical, in which she sings a portion of “The Wizard and I,” a solo number sung by the character Elphaba. Standing in front of a backdrop, Maren lets her vocal chops fly as she sings, “And I’ve just had a vision/Almost like a prophecy/I know it sounds truly crazy/And true, the vision’s hazy.”
“The THEATRE dah-ling IS JUMPING OUT,” the country singer captions the audition, along with a green heart emoji, adding, “prepping for this audition is harder than I thought.”
She goes on to discuss the technicality of the vocal range required for the character, noting how Elphaba’s songs transition from falsetto to full voice, often while singing the same word. “It’s very technically skilled and I can do it, but the idea of 8X a week is daunting!” Maren admits. “As a singer of my own music, I can belt, but rarely.”
Maren revealed earlier this month that she was interested in auditioning for the acclaimed musical that chronicles the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. Wicked is currently being adapted into a feature film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
