April Simpkins, the mother Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, who died from suicide, has released a statement about her daughter’s death at age 30.
Kryst leapt to her death from a New York City high rise Sunday. The next day, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the pageant winner-turned lawyer and Extra correspondent’s death as a suicide.
“Today, what our family and friends privately knew was the cause of death of my sweet baby girl, Cheslie, was officially confirmed,” Simpkins’ message began.
She called her daughter, “a ball of sunshine wrapped in smiles,” adding, “We talked, FaceTimed or texted one another all day, every day.”
Addressing Cheslie directly, her “devastated” mother said, “You were more than a daughter — you were my very best friend. Talking with you was one of the best parts of my day. Your smile and laugh were infectious.”
Simpkins said of her daughter, “While her life on this earth was short, it was filled with many beautiful memories. We miss her laugh, her words of wisdom, her sense of humor and mostly her hugs. We miss all of it – we miss all of her. She was a vital part of our family which makes this loss even more devastating.”
In lieu of flowers, Simpkins asked for people to make a donation to Dress for Success, “an organization that was dear to [Chelsie’s] heart.” The non-profit provides professional clothing to people in need.
Kryst spoke out about mental health during her reign as Miss USA, saying on the pageant’s Facebook page in 2019, “I do a lot to maintain my mental health, and the most important thing that I did is talk to a counselor.”
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK] for free confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even if it feels like it, you are not alone.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York announced on Wednesday that four men have bee arrested on federal charges in connection with the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams on September 6, 2021.
Irvin Cartagena, 39, is accused of selling heroin laced with fentanyl to the Boardwalk Empire and The Wire star on September 5, the day before Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment. Hector Robles, 57, Luis Cruz, 56, and Carlos Macci, 70, were also arrested on a charges of conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl.
Williams, a five-time Emmy nominee, died from a lethal combination of several drugs, including heroin and cocaine. He was 54.
In other news, two of the stars of the 2017 film Girls Trip are reuniting on television. Jada Pinkett Smith will be featured on an upcoming episode of The Equalizer starring Queen Latifah, according to Deadline.
Smith will guest star as Jessie Cook, an expert thief with a photographic memory. Cook and Robyn McCall, portrayed by Latifah, previously worked together on a mission for the CIA. Jada, who recently reprised her role as Niobe in The Matrix Resurrections, also appeared with the rapper/actress in the 1996 movie Set It Off, co-starring Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise.
Finally, Jennifer Lopez, H.E.R., Kerry Washington, Janelle Monáe, Shonda Rhimes, Lin-Manuel Miranda and basketball stars Steph Curry and Chris Paul have joined Michelle Obama‘s When We All Vote campaign to change the culture around voting and increase participation in every election.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday relaunched the federal government’s cancer “moonshot” initiative, with the goal of cutting the death rate from cancer in half over the next quarter-century.
“We can end cancer as we know it,” Biden said during an event at the White House.
The initiative is personal for Biden, who lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015 and who first launched the initiative as vice president.
“I committed to this fight when I was vice president,” Biden said Wednesday. “It’s one of the reasons why quite frankly why I ran for president. Let there be no doubt, now that I am president, this is a presidential, White House priority. Period.”
After the Obama presidency, Biden and wife — and now first lady — Jill Biden founded a nonprofit foundation dedicated to finding a cure for cancer.
In 2016, Congress authorized $1.8 billion in funding for the government’s moonshot initiative over seven years. There’s $410 million left for the next two fiscal years.
In addition to cutting today’s age-adjusted death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years — after it has fallen by about 25% over the past 20 years — the initiative will aim to “improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer,” the White House said.
“It’s bold,” Biden said. “It’s ambitious. But it’s completely doable. Just as we harnessed the size to develop cutting edge COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, we’ll bring a fierce sense of urgency to the fight against cancer.”
On Wednesday, Biden said he was “announcing a call to action for cancer screening and early detection.”
More than 9.5 million cancer screenings were missed in the U.S. because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said.
“We have to get cancer screenings back on track,” Biden said. “And make sure they’re accessible to all Americans.”
But the pandemic has also led Biden to set “very ambitious goals,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters Tuesday.
“The scientific advances that we saw from the COVID-19 pandemic, from the response to it, also points to things that are possible today,” the official said.
One example, according to the White House, is that the relaunched initiative will aim to “study and evaluate multi-cancer detection tests, like we did for COVID-19.”
The cancer “moonshot” initiative will have a coordinator in the White House, and the White House will form a “cancer cabinet” of officials from across the federal government. The initiative will involve the private sector, foundations, academic institutions and others, too.
Other goals, according to the White House, include increasing equitable access to screening and prevention — with at-home screening, mobile screening, and community health networks, as well as “accelerating efforts to nearly eliminate cervical cancer through screening and HPV vaccination, with a particular focus on reaching people who are most at risk.”
There will be a White House cancer “moonshot” summit, as well as a White House roundtable conversation series, they said.
The president also called on Congress to approve funding for a research project he has proposed to be housed at the National Institutes of Health, called “Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H),” which would try to develop breakthroughs for several diseases.
Biden was joined Wednesday in the White House’s East Room by about 100 members of the cancer community, including patients, survivors, researchers, advocates, caregivers, members of Congress and others, according to senior Biden administration officials.
During his remarks, the president drew on his own family’s experience navigating a cancer diagnosis, articulating many of the challenges people around the country face after hearing they have cancer.
“Despite all the progress,” Biden said, “there’s still a sense of powerlessness, guilt that maybe you’re not doing enough because you don’t know enough.”
The first lady and Vice President Kamala Harris. whose mother was a breast cancer researcher, also spoke.
If you’re a male of a certain age, it’s likely you had that iconic poster of Farrah Fawcett on your wall — it sold 12 million of copies, after all. Now you can relive those days in digital form.
The Farrah Fawcett Foundation announced Wednesday it would be releasing a limited edition of the famous snap, which captured the Charlie’s Angels bombshell in a red bathing suit, smiling and crowned with her famously feathered locks.
“Proceeds will be used to further the Foundation’s mission to support HPV-related cancer research, prevention and awareness,” noted the non-profit in the announcement, which dropped on what would have been Farrah’s 75th birthday.
Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in September 2006. The disease spread to her liver, eventually ending her life at age 62 in 2009.
“Farrah and this image are globally recognized icons in the world of celebrity,” noted Peter Klamka, CEO of MORE Management, LLC, which is producing the NFTs. “We are beyond grateful to be part of preserving this image forever on a blockchain and bringing an entirely new audience to the NFT community,” he continued.
If you no longer have the poster but still have your paper route money saved from back in the day, the auction begins in April.
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Lionel Richie has posted his appreciation at the news that he’s now a nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On Twitter and Instagram, the chart-topping, Grammy and Oscar-winning star wrote, “I’m honored to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside so many other incredibly talented artists. Congratulations to all the nominees!”
Lionel also reminded people that “Fan voting is open now and you can vote every day through April 29 at vote.rockhall.com.” The top five vote-getters in that online poll will make up a “fan ballot,” which will then be included in the voting that will determine which artists will be inducted later this year.
Lionel is one of 17 acts who are nominated this year, including Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton, Eurythmics and Devo. Even if he doesn’t get in, he’s getting a nice consolation prize this year: On March 9th, he’ll receive the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Music during an all-star tribute concert in Washington, D.C. The event airs on PBS May 17.
Meanwhile, Lionel is gearing up for the debut of the 20th season of American Idol, which debuts February 27 on ABC.
Tuesday, Graham Nashannounced that he was removing his solo music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young over alleged COVID-19 misinformation hosted by the streaming service. Now Graham and his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young band mates David Crosby and Stephen Stills have joined together in support of Neil.
While its been years since they’ve collaborated, the members of Crosby, Stills & Nash have teamed up to ask their labels to pull all of their collective recordings from Spotify.
A statement from trio reads, “We support Neil and we agree with him that there is dangerous disinformation being aired on Spotify’s Joe Rogan podcast. While we always value alternate points of view, knowingly spreading disinformation during this global pandemic has deadly consequences. Until real action is taken to show that a concern for humanity must be balanced with commerce, we don’t want our music — or the music we made together — to be on the same platform.”
The request covers recordings by CSN, CSNY and Crosby & Nash, as well as David’s and Stephen’s solo projects.
Young recently announced that he was pulling his music from Spotify after he was alerted to an open letter signed by hundreds of scientists and medical professionals expressing concern that harmful misinformation was being circulated on some recent episodes of the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, which is hosted exclusively by the streaming platform.
Neil had sent a letter to Spotify that basically gave them an ultimatum, and the service ended up removing his music rather than cutting ties with Rogan.
After Young exited Spotify, the company did announce that it will be adding content advisories before podcasts that discuss COVID-19.
We haven’t heard anything from Nick Jonas and his wife, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, since they surprised everyone on January 21 with the revelation that they’d welcomed their first child via surrogate. The baby’s sex hasn’t been confirmed by the proud parents, but a new interview with Priyanka may have inadvertently done so.
Priyanka is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Asia, and in part of the accompanying interview, the actress discusses her work as a UNICEF ambassador, trying uplift women and girls in India — which she says “changed me and made me feel like I’m useful to the world.”
But the magazine introduces that part of the interview with a passage that reads, “Female empowerment has always been something that Priyanka has been invested in. And now, considering that she has her own daughter to raise, that commitment is sure to become even more laser-focused.”
The article also notes, “And as of January 15th, Priyanka has finally discovered the most precious and profound form of love that exists — that of a mother towards her child.” That date is six days before the announcement was made, which seems to indicate that the baby was born on the 15th.
If Nick and Priyanka never actually discuss the sex — even the name — of their child, they’ll just be following a family tradition. When Nick’s brother and band mate Joe Jonas and his wife, Sophie Turner, became parents in July of 2020, they didn’t confirm either the sex or the name of their baby. It was Nick who actually confirmed reports, four months later, that it was a girl named Willa.
This Sunday, February 6, marks what would’ve been Bob Marley‘s 77th birthday, and to commemorate the milestone the late reggae legend’s family is curating a series of special in-person, virtual and charitable events that will take place in the coming days.
Marley’s 77th Earthstrong ROOTS festivities include a newly curated exhibit at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica, dubbed The 7 Roots of Bob Marley’s Livity, which will feature artwork by young, up-and-coming artists. Submissions will be accepted until Friday, February 4.
Also on February 4, The Marley Brothers, a group featuring Bob’s sons Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Julian and Ky-Mani Marley, will release a new cover of their dad’s song “Cornerstone,” a day before the siblings perform a headlining set at the CaliVibes Festival in Long Beach, California.
The 77th Earthstrong ROOTS festivities will wrap up on Bob’s birthday this Sunday with a limited-capacity concert celebration at Tuff Gong International studio in Kingston, Jamaica that will be streamed live on Marley’s official YouTube channel and the Tuff Gong Television YouTube channel. Also that day, a performance by Stephen Marley from his Lion’s Den Studio in Miami will premiere at Bob’s YouTube channel.
For more information about Bob’s 77th birthday festivities, visit Tuff Gong International’s official Facebook page.
(NOTE CONTENT) With the Super Bowl less than two weeks away, advertisers have been teasing their pricey ads that will air during the Big Game, and Gwyneth Paltrow is in the mix with a commercial for Uber Eats.
The short is, literally, in questionable taste: Paltrow pokes fun at herself by taking a bite of that candle she sells as part of her Goop lifestyle brand — you know, the one that’s supposed to smell like the Oscar winner’s most intimate place.
In the spot, a teaser of which just dropped, Paltrow contemplates the taste of the allegedly vaginal votive, and muses, “This candle tastes funny. Not bad, but funny.”
The ad is one of a series that shows people they can use Uber Eats to have other things delivered than just stuff to eat.
Another commercial has Two Broke Girls and Legally Blonde star Jennifer Coolidge biting into lipstick that an Uber Eats driver just dropped off. “Tastes like purple!” she declares, before chomping into the bristles of a make-up brush and exclaiming, “I love this!”
Kelly Clarkson has a musical surprise for fans: She’s recorded a new version of Dolly Parton‘s classic “9 to 5” with newly minted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee Dolly herself.
The song features in a new documentary called Still Working 9 to 5, which examines the landmark 1980 comedy and the impact it had on the women’s movement at that time, as well as how its message still continues to resonate today as women continue to fight for equality in the work place.
The doc features the stars of the original film — Dolly, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman — plus Rita Moreno from the spinoff TV series 9 to 5, as well as Allison Janney, appeared in the Broadway musical based on the film. There are also interviews with activists and individuals associated with the women’s movement, both in the past and today.
The documentary’s closing song is the new version of the original “9 to 5” theme song, produced by country music super-producer and songwriter Shane McAnally. Audiences will get to hear it for the first time when the movie has its premiere at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, on March 13. There will also be screenings March 14 and March 18.
ABC Audio has confirmed that the song, which was recorded at the end of 2021, will be commercially released in the middle of 2022.
