–After eight seasons of round-table discussions from the panel of all-women hosts, The Real will be coming to an end, Warner Bros. has decided, according to Variety.
The news comes not long after weeks of speculation about the show’s cancellation. Last month, one of The Real‘s hosts, comedian Loni Love, responded to rumors, saying at the time that a decision about the show’s fate hadn’t yet come down.
“It’s been a busy few days but I got a call from the studio…no official decision has been made about #TheReal,” she said. “I will be ok but please give grace to the 150 crew members this may affect…we will finish Season 8 and wait for official word.”
On Instagram on Friday, she confirmed the news, saying in part, “The Real cast & crew did everything we could.”
The Real is an hour-long daily talk show that airs on Fox stations and is hosted by Love, Jeannie Mai Jenkins, Adrienne Bailon and Garcelle Beauvais.
—Chris Brown has confirmed another addition to his growing family.
He shared a picture of his beautiful baby girl, Lovely Brown, to his Instagram story on Thursday, along with a series of red heart emojis.
The image was originally shared by Lovely’s mother, Diamond Brown, and Brown reposted it.
Chris has two other children — a son, Aeko, and a daughter, Royalty.
–TMZ is adding to its repertoire of media and celebrity news.
As reported by HiphopDX, the entertainment site announced a new daily music show called TMZ Hip Hop.
The show, which premieres Monday, April 11, will feature a panel of five co-hosts who will discuss some of the biggest headlines in rap.
Check out a preview of the new show on Fox’s YouTube channel.
James Jackson; courtesy: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
Lady Gaga‘s dog walker Ryan Fischer — who was shot last year while attempting to fight off several men who stole two of Gaga’s French bulldogs — has reacted to the news that the man accused of shooting him, James Jackson, was mistakenly released from custody early this week and is currently at large.
As previously reported, Jackson was released due to a “clerical error,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department. In a statement Friday afternoon, the Department said, “Our office indicted Mr. Jackson on Tuesday to speed up the legal process. He was arraigned on the indictment under a new case number. Mr. Jackson was subsequently released from custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
The statement continued, “We are unsure as to why they did so. However our office is working with the Sheriff’s Department to take Mr. Jackson back into custody. If anyone has information, please reach out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
In a statement to ABC News, Fischer said of this development, “While I’m deeply concerned at the events that led to [Jackson’s] release, I’m confident law enforcement will rectify the error.”
He added, “I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time.”
After Fischer was shot, he was hospitalized and underwent surgery; reportedly, he still has trouble breathing due to the damage to his lung.
(LOS ANGELES) — COVID-19 cases are rising in Los Angeles County as the BA.2 variant continues to spread throughout the United States.
Data from the L.A. County Department of Public Health shows 1,088 new cases of the virus were recorded Thursday with a seven-day rolling average of 841 new cases per day.
That average is a 40% increase from the average of 601 cases per day recorded two weeks earlier, according to the data.
Additionally, the seven-day average of positive tests rose to 1.0% from 0.7% over the same period.
However, officials believe the number of positive cases is an “undercount” because many people who test positive use rapid at-home tests and don’t report their results.
During a press conference Thursday, L.A. County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said there were 14 new outbreaks in schools for the week ending Tuesday compared to four outbreaks the prior week.
One of the active outbreaks, which occurred at a high school, started with 26 cases and has since grown to 60 cases.
Health experts said the surge of cases is, in part, due to BA.2, a subvariant of the original omicron variant.
Ferrer revealed during the press conference that the highly infectious subvariant accounted for 46.5% of samples that underwent genomic sequencing, up from 31.8% the week prior.
Because the most recent date for which subvariant-specific data is available in Los Angeles is March 19, Ferrer said she expects BA.2 may now make up more than half of all COVID-19 infections in the county.
This is in line with data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showing BA.2 makes up 75% of all cases in the Western region, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada.
“Given that BA.2 is more transmissible than the earlier strains of omicron, it’s very likely BA.2 is now the predominant subvariant in L.A. County,” Ferrer said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health did not return ABC News’ request for comment.
The spread of the variant mirrors what’s been seen in several countries in Europe, including England, which hit a record-high 1 in 13 people being infected with the virus last week, according to the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics.
However, experts said the rise in cases can also be attributed to the relaxing of public health measures.
“People are letting down their guard in terms of distancing, masking and attending crowded events,” Dr. Otto Yang, associate chief of infectious diseases and a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, told ABC News. “It’s not rocket science. We know how the virus spreads. We know if we relax the measures, it will spread more.”
Ferrer said the relaxing of indoor masking is also one of the reasons behind school outbreaks.
However, hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus in L.A. County continue to remain low.
In the last two weeks, daily hospitalizations have dropped from 373 to 273, according to county data.
Meanwhile, the daily number of deaths currently sits at 15, down from 16 the week before, the data shows.
Yang said the low numbers are due to several factors including high vaccination rates, effective treatments and some prior immunity from infection during the previous omicron wave.
But he warned that these figures could rise in the next few weeks.
“These indicators lag so it takes time [during a surge] before people become seriously ill and die,” Yang said.
Yang also encouraged residents to get their booster shots if they haven’t already and to consider wearing masks around family members or friends at high risk of severe illness.
“If you are at risk of giving it to someone who would have a severe case, consider wearing a mask and avoiding indoors crowded events,” he said. “The same measures will still work. Even if your personal risk isn’t high, think about the people around you.”
(NEW YORK) — Despite a recent increase in COVID-19 breakthrough infections, an updated report illustrates the significant impact the nation’s vaccine campaign has had in preventing millions of virus-related deaths, hospitalizations and infections.
The U.S. COVID-19 vaccine program is now estimated to have prevented 2.2 million deaths, 17 million hospitalizations and 66.1 million additional infections through March 2022, according to updated modeling from the Commonwealth Fund, an organization advocating for improved healthcare for marginalized communities.
In the analysis of recent trends, researchers estimated that the daily peak of deaths pre-omicron, and without vaccination, would have exceeded 24,000 per day, far surpassing the actual peak of 4,300 per day, experienced by the country during the winter of 2021.
Without the vaccines, the omicron wave could have been substantially larger, the study suggested.
In addition, the researchers estimate that without vaccines, there would have been nearly $900 billion in associated health care costs.
The model accounts for waning immunity and changes in population behavior over time, as schools and businesses have reopened and travel has increased. As immunity wanes, researchers stressed that “redoubling efforts to increase vaccine uptake, especially among the elderly and other vulnerable groups, will be critical to avert outbreaks as pandemic restrictions are lifted,” particularly as the omicron subvariant, BA.2, spreads.
“Our findings point to the tremendous power of vaccination to reduce disease burden from COVID-19. This may be even more important if newer variants arise or population immunity ebbs. Without continued funding, the lifesaving impact of vaccinations are at risk,” researchers said.
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden have both taken credit for the development and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Following the release of the study, the White House said in a statement that the loss prevented by the vaccine is the “the result of the Biden Administration’s efforts to use every tool to make vaccinations easy and convenient for every American, Congress providing us the vital resources we needed, and the American people stepping up and doing their part.”
“Together, we’ve spared millions of families the immeasurable loss that too many others have suffered, and turned unthinkable pain into extraordinary purpose and progress,” the statement said.
Trump has also touted his administration’s leadership in the nation’s vaccine rollout, asserting that the vaccines would not have been developed at such a fast pace without his pressure on drug companies.
“There are some people that say my greatest achievement was getting the vaccine, because the vaccine was said to take three to five years, and most people said it wasn’t going to happen,” Trump said during a panel interview at Princeton University in July 2021. “We made maybe one of the best bets in history because we bought billions and billions of dollars worth of the vaccine by saving time long prior to knowing whether or not it was going to work.”
Despite Trump’s support of the COVID-19 vaccine, last month, an ABC News analysis of federal data found that on average, the death rates in states that voted for Trump were more than 38% higher than in states that voted for Biden, following the widespread availability of vaccines.
“The irony of course, is that the Trump administration was responsible for fighting for this pandemic funding, in fast-tracking the vaccine process that has really saved a lot of lives,” Peter Jacobson, professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, told ABC News.
In order to protect more Americans moving forward, the Biden administration and its top health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the White House, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have continued to push for COVID-19 funding.
“COVID-19 is not over. And we have an obligation to protect our country, the American people and make sure we’re taking steps to prepare,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a press conference this week.
The White House asserted inaction on funding for Covid-19 relief will leave the nation vulnerable to the emergence of future surges and variants. Weekly allocations of many COVID therapies have already been scaled down with the funding stalled in Congress.
“This is deeply disappointing – and it should be unacceptable to every American. We’ve worked too hard and come too far to leave ourselves and our economy vulnerable to an unpredictable virus,” the White House statement said.
Fans are waiting patiently for the Jonas Brothers to release new music and, on Friday, they received word from the bros themselves that the won’t have to wait much longer.
Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the trio spoke about their plans for the future, leading Joe Jonas to tease that they’re crafting new music. “We’re back in the studio, we’re writing, recording and getting that process started, and finding inspiration everywhere,” he remarked while crossing his fingers. “So we’re ready to get it out there for the world — hopefully by the end of this year. We’ll see!”
The JoBros didn’t disclose when exactly the new music will drop.
The brothers haven’t released a new album since 2019’s Happiness Begins, but they’ve released on-off singles, the last being “Who’s In Your Head?”, which came out last September.
The JoBros also teased their upcoming Vegas residency, with Nick Jonas marveling they haven’t “played a show since October of last year, so we’re obviously very excited to get back on stage.” Nick added the residency was set to take place “pre-COVID,” so they had to push back the exciting venture back by two years.
“This is a long time overdue for us to bring an exciting show to our fans,” he hinted.
Kevin Jonas also jumped in, teasing that they might bring on some “special guests” during their residency, leading a wide-eyed Kelly to jokingly threaten, “Don’t invite me — mama will show up!”
The JoBros will be taking over Park MGM for a five-night residency from June 3 through June 11. Tickets are available to purchase on Ticketmaster.
(NEW YORK) — Power is still out for around 850,000 customers in Puerto Rico on Friday, after a massive outage left 1.5 million customers without power, according to LUMA Energy, the company that took over transmission and distribution from the island’s power authority.
As of 12 p.m. on Friday, power was restored for around 660,000 customers. LUMA said most of the island should have power by Friday night and it expects to restore power to “more than 1 million customers during tonight.”
The power outage came after a fire erupted at one of the island’s four main power plants. The exact cause of the interruption of service is under investigation, LUMA said.
“The extent of the outage has impacted each generating facility in Puerto Rico and a significant effort to restore service is underway,” LUMA said in a statement.
Given how widespread the outage is, the government and the energy company said there is no timetable for full restoration.
“We are continuing to make progress in restoration but due to extensive damage at Costa Sur substation, we are not in position to provide an estimate of full restoration at this time,” LUMA said.
Public schools were closed to students on Thursday and Friday due to the outage, according to the island’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi.
Around 100,000 customers were also without water on Thursday due to the power outage, according to president of the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, Doriel Pagán Crespo.
The outage also affected some traffic intersections by shutting off traffic lights, officials warned.
Only essential personnel are being summoned to central government agencies on Friday, Pierluisi said, in another tweet.
Addressing the upcoming hurricane season, Josue Colon, the executive director of the power company, said the electrical grid still needs to be reconstructed and that it would not be responsible for them to say that the island’s grid could withstand a hurricane like 2017’s category 5 Maria.
From fresh tracks by lyrical legends to intros by rising hip hop stars, check out this week’s New Music Friday for the latest music:
—Fivio Foreign, Bible — The NY drill rapper dropped his highly anticipated debut album and it boasts a star-studded line up of guests like Ne-Yo, A$AP Rocky, Alicia Keys and more.
—42 Dugg & EST Gee, Last Ones Left — Detroit meets Michigan, yet again. The two rappers have teamed up for their first full project but they’ve delivered hits together in the past, like “Members Only” and “Rose Gold.”
—Lil Baby, “In a Minute” — He’s fresh off his first Grammy win for Ye‘s “Hurricane,” and the new track is just one of the two singles the Atlanta rapper just dropped, marking his first solo projects this year.
—Bia ft. J. Cole, “London” — Cole is a legend in the rap game but after collaborating with newcomer Bia, he told her that he was “grateful” to have worked alongside her on the new track.
—Jack Harlow, “First Class” — The new single is one on the upcoming second studio album from the Kentucky rapper. The catchy new track features a sample of Fergie‘s “Glamorous.”
—Jim Jones, Lil Wayne & DJ Khaled ft. Migos & Juelz Santana, “We Set the Trends Remix” — As if the original needed anymore fixing, Jimmy called on his friend Santana and rap legend Wayne for a remix.
—Connie Diiamond is a 27-year-old rapper on the rise from the Bronx, NY. She’s said to have started rapping at the age of 14 and recently gained traction due to her catchy, New York flow and her thoughtful lyrics.
Måneskin is teasing a new song while expressing support for Ukraine as it continues to fight Russia’s invasion.
In an Instagram post, the Italian rockers share a minute-long clip of the track, which seems to take on a darker tone than past Måneskin tunes like “Beggin'” and “MAMMAMIA.”
“How are you sleeping at night/how do you close both your eyes/living with all of those lives/on your hands?” frontman Damiano David asks in the lyrics.
The clip is accompanied by a caption expressing support for Global Citizen’s Stand Up for Ukraine campaign, which calls on “governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals to donate to humanitarian efforts for Ukraine and refugees from conflicts worldwide, such as Yemen, South Sudan, and Afghanistan.”
“Refugees in Ukraine and around the world need urgent humanitarian aid,” Måneskin writes. “We’re using our voice to demand action, and you can, too.”
For more info on how you can help, visit ForUkraine.com.
Olivia Rodrigo is currently on her sold-out SOUR world tour — so what does she do between stops? A new TikTok featuring the Grammy winner explains just that.
Teaming with singer Conan Gray, who made a surprise appearance during her Thursday night show, the “drivers license” singer recreated a now-viral line from the 2008 movie Twilight. The hilarious video was taken at Vancouver’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Olivia and Conan dramatically recreate the scene where Rob Pattinson‘s Edward Cullen reveals to Kristen Stewart‘s Bella Swan that he’s a vampire.
Wearing a crop top and maxi skirt, Olivia twirls around before pretending to scream the line, “As if you can outrun me!” The scene changes to a sped-up clip of her laughing as she half-heartedly runs around the arena in her elevated combat boots — all to the movie’s whooshing sound effects.
Then Conan jumps forward and lip-syncs “As if you can fight me off” before he charges toward a poster of Olivia’s face and pretends to pummel at it, again set to the movie’s dramatic sound effects.
The video was on its way to amassing three million likes as of Friday afternoon and has been viewed more than eight million times since it was posted earlier Friday.
Olivia previously revealed she’s a fan of the Twilight saga. In 2020, she created an original song from Bella’s perspective, and also announced on Twitter around the same time, “My favorite album is the twilight soundtrack and nobody can change my mind.”
While performing in Vancouver, Olivia and Conan jumped on stage together to perform Katy Perry‘s hit “The One That Got Away,” according to videos taken by fans. Olivia is next set to play in Salt Lake City’s UCCU Center on Saturday.
Grateful Dead spin-off group Dead & Company are planning to stop touring after 2022, unspecified sources have confirmed to Rolling Stone.
The band, which includes three core Grateful Dead members — Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart — as well as singer/guitarist John Mayer, recently announced a U.S. summer trek running from June 11 through July 16. Tickets for the shows are available now at the group’s official website.
Last year, Kreutzmann missed some Dead & Company concerts because of heart-related issues, which also led him withdraw from his planned appearances at the group’s Playing in the Sand destination festival in Mexico this past January. The festival wound up being canceled because COVID-related issues. It’s not known if Kreutzmann’s heath is a factor in the band retiring from touring.
Dead & Company formed in 2015 and have been a very popular touring act ever since. The band’s other members are ex-Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge, and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti.
Rolling Stone says the band’s management declined to comment on the reports of the group’s plans to stop touring.
