Bobby Whitlock, 2nd from left, with Derek and the Dominos circa 1970; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Bobby Whitlock is best known as a member of Eric Clapton‘s 1970s band Derek and the Dominos, but in recent years, the singer, keyboardist and songwriter also has become a prolific painter.
On April 1, Whitlock’s first-ever art exhibition opened at the Crockett County Museum in Bobby’s current hometown of Ozona, Texas, and the 74-year-old musician will be at the museum this Wednesday, April 13, for a special meet-and-greet event that runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT.
The exhibit features almost 200 of his paintings displayed throughout the museum’s three floors, and Whitlock tells ABC Audio that he feels like he’s making art history with such an auspicious debut exhibition.
“No other artist has ever had this happen, where their first exhibition [features] nearly 200 works of art, and in a museum on top of that,” he enthuses. “Generally, an artist gets maybe a showing at a gallery [with] couple of pieces, that’s it.”
Whitlock says the exhibit came about when he was approached by one of the museum’s curators at the local post office.
She said, ‘I’ve been on your [websites] and I love your art, and would you like to do an exhibition?'” he recalls. “And I said, ‘Yeah, that’d be great,’ you know, ’cause I didn’t know what I was gonna do with all of my paintings.”
Bobby says he happily surprised when he was informed that so much of his artwork would be displayed, and that the exhibit was to run for six months.
As for how he felt getting to view his paintings hung on the walls of a museum, Whitlock notes, “[I]t took my breath away…It was pretty astounding to see something like that.”
The ongoing legal battle between exes Johnny Depp and Amber Heard managed to get even uglier in a Virginia courtroom today.
During their defamation trail, Heard made a never-before-revealed accusation of sexual assault, claiming it happened while the star was “black-out drunk” and when the pair was married.
According to Rolling Stone, one of Depp’s attorneys, Camille Vasquez, told the jury, “Ms. Heard had never made that accusation against Mr. Depp — it was never part of her allegations of abuse in 2016,” with his lawyers calling the accusations “convenient.”
The crux of the case is a Washington Post op-ed written by Heard, in which she claimed that she suffered domestic abuse during her marriage — without naming the Pirates of the Caribbean series star.
Vasquez continued about Aquaman star Heard, “When she realized the seriousness of what she alleged…she panicked and alleged sexual assault. In Mr. Depp’s fifty-eight years, not a single woman has ever accused him of violence, and nobody in Hollywood or the world had any reason to believe he was an abuser — until Ms. Heard publicly accused him.”
Vasquez added, “The only medical report of an injury during their relationship was a severe one sustained by Mr. Depp…She threw a vodka bottle at him that hit his hand and exploded, severing the end of one of his fingers.”
Depp’s attorneys also brought receipts proving Heard apparently reneged on a promise to donate her $7 million divorce settlement to both the ACLU and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn told the jury, “It’s not about which party can sling more mud…that’s what Mr. Depp wants to turn this case into.”
The project was released on April 12, 2005, and after only a week of radio airtime, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. After spending 14 weeks in the number-one spot, “We Belong Together” was hailed as the “song of the decade” by Billboard.
The album has garnered numerous accolades, including scoring eight nominations at the 48th Grammy Awards, and winning three trophies, among them the Best Contemporary R&B Album honor. It also was the biggest-selling album of the year worldwide, after amassing an impressive 10 million copies sold, according to U.K. newspaper The Telegraph.
Although it’s considered Carey’s “comeback album,” The Emancipation of Mimi is one that has cemented the superstar as an R&B great.
Tom Hanks and his Playtone production company partner Gary Goetzman are reuniting with Apple TV+ for a new series called Masters of the Air following their World War II naval film Greyhound.
While that Emmy-nominated movie is getting a sequel, Masters of the Air will instead look at the heroes of World War II through the eyes of those who took to the skies during the global conflict: American bomber crews.
Austin Butler, who worked opposite two-time Oscar winner Hanks in the biopic Elvis, is part of the cast, as is Barry Keoghan, recently seen as the Joker in The Batman. Fantastic Beasts series cast member Callum Turner will also appear in the series, as will Shadow and Bone‘s Freddy Carter.
The project is based on Donald L. Miller‘s book Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany.
Hanks was also the producer on the Emmy-winning World War II show Band of Brothers and its follow-up The Pacific, along with his Oscar-winning Saving Private Ryan director Steven Spielberg.
It was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but Maren Morris and her husband, Ryan Hurd, shared a sweet exchange onstage during the CMT Awards.
During the debut performance of their duet, “I Can’t Love You Any More,” Maren sang the line “and you like me even when I’ve been a bi***.” Though her husband’s response wasn’t audible on air, Maren is now sharing it.
“For the record, @ryanhurd said ‘you’re not a bi***, baby’ which made me laugh and almost miss my next lyric,” the hit singer revealed with a crying laughing and heart emojis. “I truly can’t love you anymore than I do now.”
“I Can’t Love You Any More” is featured on Maren’s new album, Humble Quest. It serves as the couple’s second duet, following the chart-topping “Chasing After You.”
Britney Spears surprised fans when she announced her pregnancy on Monday, which fiancé Sam Asghari seemingly confirmed hours later in a separate statement about fatherhood.
This will be their first child together and Britney’s third, overall, as she shares sons Sean, 16, and Jayden, 15, with ex-husband Kevin Federline, to whom she was married from 2004 to 2007.
In a statement to ABC News, Federline reacted to Britney’s surprise reveal via his attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan.
“Kevin is aware of the announcement Britney made on her Instagram,” the statement reads. “Kevin wishes her to have a happy and healthy pregnancy. He extends his congratulations to Britney and Sam Asghari as they navigate through the excitement of planning for parenthood together.”
Others reacting to the Britney’s big reveal include Tia Mowry, Selma Blair, Britney’s “Pretty Girls” collaborator Iggy Azalea, Chloe Bailey, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, model Tess Holliday, Andy Cohen and many others.
Interestingly, fans noticed Jamie Lynn Spears quietly liked Britney’s pregnancy announcement, making her the only member of the Grammy winner’s immediate family to publicly react to the news as of early Tuesday afternoon.
ABC News has reached out to both Britney and Sam’s teams for comment.
Chino Moreno‘s Deftones side project Crosses has premiered the video for the song “Protection.”
The clip, which was partly inspired by The Exorcist, shows a woman seemingly haunted by unseen forces, cut with footage of Moreno performing with his Crosses band mate, Shaun Lopez.
You can watch the “Protection” video streaming now on YouTube.
The song “Protection” dropped in March alongside another new tune, “Initiation.” The tracks marked the first new, original music from Crosses since their self-titled debut album was released in 2014.
Meanwhile, Moreno and Deftones are prepping to launch a U.S. tour this Thursday in Portland, Oregon. The pandemic-delayed trek will support the latest Deftones album, 2020’s Ohms.
Chance the Rapper stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday to deliver a chilling performance of his new single, “Child of God.”
With sounds similar to his Grammy-winning third mixtape, Coloring Book, the 28-year-old Chicago native says he created the track as an ode to artistry through fine art. He did so after experiencing a “life changing” trip to Ghana, where he connected with song collaborators Moses Sumney and Naïla Opiangah.
Sitting in front of an original 6-by-12-foot painting by Opiangah, one that was recently displayed at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and that is also featured in the song’s official video, Chance spoke the poetic lyrics: “Just do your thing, child // Do your thing // Truth be told, I got the ball on a string // Carried the weight of the world, but it came with some handles // I drag it to the basket, Moses with the passage // Safely Lord God, please make an example.”
Speaking about the song’s name change from “Do Your Thing Child,” which was inspired by the Opiangah’s artwork, Chance told Colbert, “The piece itself is an embodiment of Blackness. It’s a lot of Black bodies in the piece, and not only is it a multitude of them, but they’re all women.”
“Having the autonomy… and the agency to name it [the painting & song] how we want is just a powerful thing,” he added.
Chance also shared on Instagram recently that April marks the 10th anniversary of his first-ever mixtape, 10 Day.
(MENLO, Iowa) — President Joe Biden traveled to Iowa on Tuesday for his first time as president to announce new efforts to bring down gas prices as the administration faces an 8.5% jump in the consumer price index compared to a year ago, which it attributes mostly to what the White House calls “Putin’s Price Hike.”
The March CPI report released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed inflation is at its highest point in the U.S. in 41 years as rising prices have an impact on consumers worldwide. Prices were up 1.2% compared to just a month ago, the report said, raising concerns that, if the Federal Reserve gets more aggressive in raising interest rates to temper inflation, that might trigger a recession.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tried to preemptively cushion the blow of the report numbers on Monday. She said the White House expected a large difference between core and headline inflation, pointing to the price of gas as the main reason for the discrepancy.
“Just as an example, since President Putin’s military buildup in January, average gas prices up more than 80 cents. Most of the increase occurred in March and gas prices, at times, prices were up more than a dollar above pre-invasion level. That roughly 25% increase in prices will drive tomorrow’s inflation rating,” Psaki said.
To address those prices, Biden will announce he plans to issue a temporary, emergency waiver for the summer to allow the sale of “E-15” — a blend of gas with 15% ethanol, rather than the usual 10%, which the White House says will bring down gas prices by 10 cents a gallon. Usually, E-15 is not sold in the summer because it’s believed to add to smog.
But the move will have a limited impact: Only 2% of gas stations around the country carry E-15, mostly in the Midwest. The White House countered a question from ABC News on whether the impact would be insignificant for Americans.
“Ultimately this is about giving Americans more options and more flexibility,” a White House official said. “President Biden knows that every cent matters and families will see savings even after taking into consideration the difference in energy efficiency.”
Inflation and even gas prices have been on the rise even before the invasion of Ukraine. A new ABC News/Ipsos poll found Americans are more likely to place a “great deal” or a “good amount” of the blame for the price increases on Democratic Party policies (52%) and Biden (51%) than on Republican Party policies (33%) and former President Donald Trump (24%). A strong majority of Americans (68%) also disapproves of the way Biden is handling gas prices.
Biden’s trip to Iowa comes with the midterm elections seven months away. It’s a state he spent a lot of time in amid the 2020 campaign, but ultimately lost to former President Donald Trump by nine points.
While his remarks are set to focus on his administration’s actions to lower gas prices and the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year, Biden might feel obligated to address Tuesday’s report, which showed increases in prices for gasoline, rent and food were the largest contributors to inflation for Americans. Gasoline prices rose 18.3% compared to a month ago and were a major contributor to inflation; other energy prices also increased. Food prices increased by 1% and the food at home prices by 1.5%.
Aside from food and energy, rent was the biggest factor in the price increases. Airline fares, household furnishings and operations, medical care and motor vehicle insurance also contributed to inflation. Used cars and trucks fell 3.8% compared to a month ago.
The report, though in line with expectations, does nothing to temper concerns that the Federal Reserve has a tough job ahead of it in cooling this inflation without sparking a recession.
ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
(OKLAHOMA CITY) — It will now be a felony to perform an abortion in Oklahoma under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The bill passed in the state House last week without any debate after passing the Senate last year.
Under the bill, any medical provider who performs an abortion would face a fine of $100,000 and up to 10 years in prison. The only exceptions for performing an abortion would be if the mother’s life is in danger.
The new law is scheduled to take effect in August, but it is expected to be challenged in court.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for Reproductive Rights have said they will “challenge any ban that is signed into law in Oklahoma this session.”
“The law signed today is not yet in effect, and abortion remains legal in Oklahoma,” Emily Wales, interim CEO and president of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said in a statement.
The new abortion restriction in Oklahoma is particularly significant because of the outsized role the state has played in providing abortion access to women in the region since last year, when Texas enacted a law that bans nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
So far in 2022, the two Planned Parenthood clinics in Oklahoma that offer abortion services have seen more patients from Texas than from Oklahoma, according to Wales.
“We know that patients who need abortion are not going to stop seeking it, it’s just going to get harder and harder for them to access,” Wales told ABC News last week, when the bill passed the Oklahoma state House.. “Right now, patients may be traveling a few hundred miles from home, five or six hours, they’re going to add another five or six hours to get to the Kansas City area or to Wichita, and for some patients, that won’t be feasible.”
Dr. Christina Bourne, medical director of Trust Women, which operates an abortion care clinic in Oklahoma City and one in Wichita, Kansas, said the clinics are having to turn people away because of the demand.
“We are essentially having to turn the vast majority of people away from getting abortions because we just cannot keep up with the volume,” Bourne said last week. “We could be doing abortions 24 hours a day and not keep up with the volume that is demanded of us.”
The Oklahoma legislature is also still considering more legislation to restrict abortion access, including a bill that passed the House last month that is modeled after Texas’s law and allows for citizens to sue for up to $10,000 anyone who performs or “aids and abets” an abortion. The Oklahoma Senate has also passed several anti-abortion measures recently, including a bill that allows for private lawsuits.
Abortion access at a greater distance
Experts say that in light of more restrictions, women who have the means will have to travel further for abortion care, while those who don’t will not get care.
“We expect that the facilities that remain open in other states will be overwhelmed, as we have already seen with Senate Bill 8, with residents from other states coming in to get care,” said Dr. Kari White, an associate professor and faculty research associate at the University of Texas at Austin. “And there are some people for whom these longer distances are are just going to be impossible, and they will consider either other ways to try to end their pregnancies by ordering medications online or potentially doing something unsafe, and other people will be forced to continue their pregnancies.”
White, who is also the lead investigator of the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, has studied the impact of Texas’ six-week abortion ban. According to her research, around 1,400 Texans have gone to another state for abortion care each month since SB8 went into effect in September, with 45% traveling to Oklahoma.
“We’ve certainly heard from some of the people we’ve interviewed in our study that they were willing to wait a little bit longer to get an abortion in Oklahoma because they could travel to Oklahoma, but it was too far for them to go to a state like New Mexico,” she said. “They just couldn’t make it work in terms of the additional cost, the time away from work or their child care responsibilities.”
New Mexico and Colorado, which have less stringent abortion restrictions, are likely to become hotspots for women in the region who have the means to travel for abortion care.
Those states have also felt the impact from SB8, according to Planned Parenthood, which reported a more than 1000% increase in abortion patients with Texas zip codes at Planned Parenthood health centers in Colorado and a more than 100% increase at Planned Parenthood health centers in New Mexico compared to the previous year.
Other states that surround Oklahoma — Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas — face their own restrictions on abortion access and are dealing with already overwhelmed systems, experts say.
The two Planned Parenthood clinics that provided abortion care in Missouri have been closed in the law few years due to state restrictions, according to Wales, who added, “Missourians for a long time have been living the Texas crisis, where the majority of them are forced to flee their home state for care already.”
Arkansas has around three abortion clinics statewide currently, while Kansas has four, according to Sandy Brown, president of the Kansas Abortion Fund, a volunteer-run, nonprofit organization that helps fund Kansan women seeking abortion care.
“Our clinics here have been swamped,” Brown said. “They just can’t absorb the volume of people coming in from other states. Now, if Oklahoma happens, it’s really, really going to be bad, because we already can’t almost handle the patients that are coming in now.”
More states expected to act after anticipated Supreme Court ruling
Currently, it is unconstitutional to pass abortion bans before a fetus is viable — anywhere from 22 to 26 weeks.
In May or June, the Supreme Court will announce its ruling on a 15-week ban in Mississippi and whether or not it is constitutional. If the Supreme Court determines the ban is constitutional, it could mean Roe v. Wade is either overturned or fundamentally weakened.
More than half of the nation’s 50 states are prepared to ban abortion if Roe is overturned, according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights organization.
If that happens, another factor to watch will be whether states that have banned abortion make it increasingly difficult for their residents to obtain abortions in other states, Mary Ziegler, visiting professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School and author of “Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present,” told ABC News earlier this year.
In the meantime, abortion rights advocates and providers say they worry that the far distances people are having to travel to seek abortion care means the most vulnerable people, such as those without the financial resources to travel, are being left behind.
“Traveling is an option and has always been an option for affluent white people,” Bourne said. “Through abortion restrictions, we are legislating people who experience intersecting identities, poverty, people of color, queer folks, people with many children, people with busy lives who are going to be left out of that and forced to carry a pregnancy to term that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t have.”
Wales, of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said that as clinics in Oklahoma and Kansas have seen increased demand for abortion services, that has resulted in a delay in services for the type of general reproductive health care, like contraception and cancer screening, that makes up the majority of the clinics’ work.
“The increased need in abortion and the restrictions from the states … those things have pushed family planning patients and other types of care back,” Wales said. “It also means our family planning patients are coming in more concerned, more confused about what is available to them, because they just understand that rights are being restricted.”
“It has created a great deal of fear, I think, among the people we see,” she said.
ABC News’ Mary Ketakos contributed to this report.
