Maren Morris is taking Humble Quest on the road beginning in June, and she’s expecting it to be an emotional experience.
“I feel like I’m going to cry through the entire first show on the tour,” The singer tells Entertainment Weekly. That’s because, with some notable exceptions such as a performance at the Houston Rodeo, the 2022 Humble Quest Tour is Maren’s big return to live music after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The whole touring industry came to a screeching halt, and we were all cut down to size and realized maybe we took some of this for granted,” the singer admits. “And we never will again.”
Kicking off on June 9 in North Carolina and extending through a hometown Nashville arena show in December, the Humble Quest Tour features a lengthy list of Americana-leaning opening acts. Among those are Brent Cobb, Ruston Kelly, Brittney Spencer and Maren’s fellow Highwomen band mate, Natalie Hemby.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter
After a two year hiatus, the highly anticipated Culture Con is back! ATL is the first stop on the conference’s first-ever multi-city tour and, considering the recently-announced headliners, Black changemakers won’t want to miss it.
Among the stars set to lead conversations throughout the five-day conference are Love and Marriage creator Carlos King, up-and-coming rapper Omeretta The Great, TV personality Kandi Burruss, activist and politician Stacey Abrams and more.
Conferences in the past featured career-inspiring conversations with speakers such as Tracee Ellis Ross, Michael B. Jordan, Lena Waithe, Billy Porter, Spike Lee and others.
Culture Con, once referred to by Forbes magazine as “a conference every creative should attend,” was launched in 2017 by The Creative Collective NYC, a minority women-owned business. From May 2-7, young professionals and entrepreneurs can take advantage of workshops, exclusive screenings and parties, and also learn from Black leaders in entertainment, by way of exclusive conversations.
In 2019, actress Regina King spoke at the conference, opening up about she wished there had been an experience like Culture Con when she was coming up. “Oh, I wish I had this when I was in my early 20s,” she said. “Just to be in a space where everyone looks like me and everyone wants to do something…it’s pretty powerful.”
Actress Kat Graham will host in Atlanta, the conference then heads to Los Angeles from June 16-18 with a final stop in New York from Oct. 3-8.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump should be held in contempt for failing to respond to a subpoena as instructed, the New York Attorney General’s office said Thursday in a new court filing.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also asked the judge to impose a daily $10,000 fine until Trump complies.
The subpoena, issued as part of James’ civil investigation into the way Trump values his real estate portfolio, sought personal documents from Trump, including tax records and statements of financial condition. The original deadline of March 3 was pushed to March 31 after Trump asked for an extension.
“The judge’s order was crystal clear: Donald J. Trump must comply with our subpoena and turn over relevant documents to my office,” James said in a statement.
Trump raised new objections to the document requests on March 31, which James’ office said is impermissible.
“This Court’s order was not an opening bid for a negotiation or an invitation for a new round of challenges to the subpoena. It was, rather, a court order entered after full briefing and argument during which Mr. Trump could have, but did not, raise any of the purported objections or assertions he has now raised,” the attorney general’s motion said.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Thursday’s filing.
Trump has asked a state appellate court to quash a separate subpoena that required him and his two eldest children to sit for depositions, arguing, in part, that the subpoenas result from an investigation driven by James’ political animus. James’ office rejected the claim.
Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen testified before Congress in 2019 that the former president valued his real estate holdings differently depending on whether he was seeking loans or tax deductions.
Cohen provided the House Oversight Committee with copies of Trump’s financial statements that he said misrepresented the values of Trump assets to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance.
Trump and his children have denied any wrongdoing.
ABC announced Wednesday that Kate Walsh will return to play her beloved Grey’s Anatomy character on an upcoming episode of the long-running primetime medical drama. Dr. Montgomery will return in the May 5 episode.
Walsh shared the news via a popular TikTok trend, featuring audio from SpongeBob SquarePants, in which someone appears in front of the camera wearing one thing, backs away and returns wearing something else.
In this case, Walsh appears at first wearing a comfy outfit before disappearing around the corner and returning in a white doctor’s coat.
“I’m back in uniform and that can only mean one thing,” Walsh wrote in the caption.
Walsh teased that fans should “stay tuned,” leading some to wonder if she will be back for more than one episode or in a more permanent capacity.
This isn’t the first time Walsh has returned to Grey’s Anatomy since her character departed for her own series, Private Practice, in 2007. The spin-off ran for six seasons, ending in 2013.
Walsh has been back as Addison for a handful of episodes over the years and even appeared earlier this season in two episodes from October 2021.
Grey’s Anatomy is currently in season 18 and has been renewed for a nineteenth season.
Elena Di Vincenzo/Archivio Elena di Vincenzo/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images
Rammstein has premiered a new song called “Zick Zack,” which will appear on the band’s upcoming album, Zeit.
The track is accompanied by a video that finds the German metallers covered in plastic surgery while stiffly making their way through a Las Vegas-style show. Toward the end, frontman Till Lindemann‘s face starts to literally fall off, which he solves in probably the most gruesome way possible.
“Zick Zack” is available now for digital download. Its video is streaming now on YouTube.
Zeit, the follow-up to Rammstein’s 2019 untitled album, drops April 29. It also includes the previously released title track.
Rammstein will launch their long-awaited North American stadium tour in August. The outing was originally planned for 2020 before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Days before the show, the CMT Music Awards is continuing to fill out its bill with more exciting performers and unexpected duet team-ups.
Jason Aldean will take the stage with rocker Bryan Adams. The country singer’s new album, Macon, Georgia, includes a cover of Bryan’s 1983 classic, “Heaven.” The cross-genre collaborations aren’t stopping there: Jimmie Allen and Little Big Town will hit the stage with soul singer Monica.
Thomas Rhett and Riley Green will take the stage together, too; They have a collaboration called “Half of Me” on TR’s latest album. Then there’s Walker Hayes, who’s performing solo at the CMTs.
Additionally, a diverse roster of presenters has just been added to the CMT Awards. Nominees Jimmie Allen, Gabby Barrett, Dustin Lynch, Kacey Musgraves and Jordan Davis will do double duty as presenters during the show. More presenters from the country genre include Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes and Dylan Scott.
From outside the genre, ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons, actors Rob Corddry, Taylor Lautner, Joel McHale and Dennis Quaid. TV personalities Gayle King, Karamo Brown, Tan France and Antoni Porowski will also present awards.
The 2022 CMT Music Awards will air live from Nashville on CBS on April 11.
Getting engaged is romantic, but you know what’s even more romantic? Getting engaged in Paris. Avril Lavigne can tell you this from personal experience.
On Thursday, she posted a photo of her boyfriendMod Sun getting down on one knee in front of her on what looks like a boat cruising down the River Seine, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. In the next series of photos, Avril shows off her heart-shaped diamond ring as Mod Sun grins.
She captioned the photo, “Oui! Je t’aime pour toujours,” which is French for, “Yes! I love you always!” She also wrote in French that the happy event took place on Sunday, March 27.
On his Instagram, Mod Sun posted photos and video of the moment, and wrote, “The day we met I knew you were the one. Together forever til our days are done. I had a dream where I proposed in Paris. I pulled out a ring + asked you to wear it. I was on one knee as I looked in your eyes. You’re too beautiful for my words to describe. I grabbed your hand + took one last breath… I said “will you marry me?” + she said ‘yes.'”
Avril and Mod Sun have been dating since around February of 2021. This will be Avril’s third marriage. She was previously married to fellow Canadian musician Sum-41‘s Deryck Whibley from 2006 to 2009, when Avril filed for divorce.
Then, in 2012, after one month of dating, Avril got engaged to another fellow Canadian musician, Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. The couple wed in 2013, and Avril announced their split in 2015.
In 2019, Mod Sun, born Derek Ryan Smith, claimed that he had wed and divorced Bella Thorne.
(NEW YORK) — Chris Smalls was fired from his Amazon warehouse job in 2020, after leading a protest over fears working conditions could lead to a coronavirus outbreak at the Staten Island, New York, facility.
Now, Smalls has a new job: president of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU).
Smalls’ Amazon story begins in 2018, when he says he helped open the New York warehouse while employed as a supervisor for the online retailer. That’s when he founded the ALU, bringing together a scrappy group of former and current warehouse workers.
It was that Staten Island group that made history on April 1, after going head-to-head with Amazon in a union vote, and winning. This marked the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history.
“After I was terminated, they had a meeting about me – [Amazon founder] Jeff Bezos, and the general counsel — calling me not smart or articulate,” Smalls said in an interview on ABC News Live April 6. “And, ironically, they also said to make me the face of the whole unionization efforts.”
Following his termination, Smalls traveled across the country, protesting and advocating for workers’ rights. He said his mission was to educate Amazon workers on the benefits of unionizing, in hopes of encouraging them to fight for a change at their warehouses, too.
After months on the road, Smalls returned to New York, to finish the job of unionizing the Staten Island warehouse.
“We live the reality of the warehouse lifestyle. And we felt that this was the best way to go to try to unionize Amazon and it absolutely worked for us,” said Smalls, remembering the countless protests and walk-outs he’s participated in over the last two years.
Warehouse workers cast 2,654 votes in favor of a union, giving the fledging Amazon Labor Union enough support to pull off a victory. According to the National Labor Relations Board, which is overseeing the process, 2,131 workers rejected the union bid.
“We’re fortunate enough to have enough to win, but I think it would be a lot higher had Amazon not been able to spend millions of dollars trying to stop this campaign,” Smalls told ABC News Live.
Sixty-seven ballots were challenged by Amazon or the ALU, which wasn’t enough to affect the outcome of the vote. About 57% of the more than 8,300 workers on the voter list cast their ballot.
Despite victory in the union vote, Smalls blames Amazon for the overall results, saying the winning percentage would have been higher if the corporation hadn’t discouraged the unionization among employees.
“Amazon spends millions of dollars on union busting; they put these workers into captive audiences 24/7. Workers go to these trainings where there’s drilled anti-union propaganda all day and all night,” Smalls claimed.
Amazon did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Smalls’ claims.
After the historic union vote, Amazon posted the following statement on its website: “We’re disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees. We’re evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election.”
Smalls responded to the statement during his interview with ABC News Live, saying “the workers spoke for themselves.”
“To be disappointed that their own workers voted yes is utterly ridiculous if you asked me. And the workers said that they want a union and they voted in that favor, and that they should just acknowledge that, and accept that, and recognize the union in Staten Island,” Smalls added.
Since the vote on April 1, Smalls said he’s heard from Amazon workers across the U.S., asking for help with organizing a union at their warehouses. But right now, the ALU has its hands full with the New York warehouse and a neighboring facility slated to have a separate union election later this month.
The ALU is also preparing for a challenging negotiation process for a labor contract. The group has demanded Amazon officials come to the table in early May, but experts say the retail giant, which has signaled plans to challenge the election, could stall the process.
(WASHINGTON) — Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in its 233-year history, is poised for Senate confirmation on Thursday afternoon.
She is expected to secure at least three Republican votes, marking a bipartisan victory for President Joe Biden’s high court nominee.
Here is how the news is developing Thursday. Check back for updates:
As the confirmation vote nears, Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who presided over Jackson’s confirmation hearings, called her ascension to the high court “a glass shattering achievement for America.”
“Today, the members of this Senate have the opportunity to take a monumental step forward. We will vote to confirm a once in a generation legal talent, a jurist with outstanding credentials and a lifetime of experience and the first-ever African American woman to serve as Justice of the Supreme Court,” Durbin said.
Durbin briefly walked the Senate through some of the struggles African Americans and women have faced in this country, asking senators to consider that when the Supreme Court first met in the Capitol building in February of 1801, there were one million slaves in a nation of five million people.
“Women had no place in that first Supreme Court chamber, and Black women would only enter to clean it in the dark of night,” he said. “We know what followed. Americans battled in slavery, saw a bloody civil war, decades of efforts to break down racial barriers — and the efforts continue to this day.”
But with Jackson’s nomination, Durbin said millions of Americans will see themselves represented in her.
“This confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court honors the history that has come before it It honors the struggles of the past of the men and women who waged them. And this confirmation draws America one step closer one step to healing our nation,” he said.
Apr 07, 1:20 pm
Warnock highlights Georgia’s role in Jackson’s confirmation
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who was elected to the Senate last January in a special election, highlighted the impact of Georgia voters on Jackson’s expected confirmation and thanked them from the Senate floor Thursday.
“The people of Georgia made this appointment possible by making history last year,” said Warnock.
Because Supreme Court nominations require only a simple majority of 51 votes, Democrats taking control of Georgia’s two Senate seats last year — allowing them 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaking vote — was essential to Biden’s ability to get a nominee confirmed.
Warnock said his office has received thousands of emails and phone calls from Georgians in every corner of the state voicing their support for Jackson’s confirmation and echoing Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said of Jackson’s nomination: “Nobody’s going to steal my joy.”
“Yes, I’m a senator, I’m a pastor, but beyond all of that, I’m the father of a young Black girl. I know how much it means for Judge Jackson to have navigated the double jeopardy of racism and sexism to now stand in the glory of this moment in all of her excellence,” he said. “For my five-year-old daughter and for so many young women in this country — but, really, if we’re thinking about it right, for all of us — seeing Judge Jackson ascend to the Supreme Court reflects the promise of progress on which our democracy rests.”
Apr 07, 1:11 pm
‘History will remember the votes cast here today’: Leahy
With limited debate ahead, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., took to the Senate floor to praise Jackson as one of the most qualified nominees he’s ever considered in his 48 years in the Senate and scolded lawmakers for a process he said has been corroded with partisan politics.
“It’s distressing, it’s disheartening and as a dean of the Senate, it is saddening,” Leahy said.
Leahy has participated in 21 Supreme Court confirmation processes, more than any other sitting senator.
“I’ve long lamented the increase in political gamesmanship packed in our current confirmation process. And many times on this floor I’ve warned about the dire consequences for our courts and for our democracy at converting our confirmation process into a zero-sum game where one party wins and one party loses,” he said, noting that he’s more than once voted for Republican judicial nominees.
“To change that game simply requires we have some adults in the room,” he said. “We all come here for the United States not to score, headlines or trending tweets, but simply to do our jobs.”
Turning back to Biden’s nominee, Leahy said Jackson is “the justice we need now — for the generations to come for our children or grandchildren. For all of us.”
“History will remember the votes cast here today,” he added.
Apr 07, 12:35 pm
Jackson clears key test vote
The Senate has voted 53-47 to limit debate on Judge Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court, paving the way for a final confirmation vote later in the afternoon.
A beaming Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who praised Jackson as “worthy” in an emotional soliloquy during her confirmation hearings, presided over the Senate chamber for the cloture vote.
Because the Senate filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominations was modified by Senate Republicans in 2017, Judge Jackson’s nomination requires only a simple majority, or 51 senators, in both votes Thursday.
Since her formal nomination 42 days ago, Jackson held one-on-one meetings with 97 senators on Capitol Hill, according to the White House.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Apr 07, 12:34 pm
Harris to preside over confirmation vote
Vice President Kamala Harris will head to the Capitol later Thursday to preside over the Senate for Judge Jackson’s historic confirmation vote.
“This afternoon, with the United States Senate poised to make history by voting for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court, the Vice President will travel to the U.S. Capitol. The Vice President believes Judge Jackson will be an exceptional Supreme Court Justice, and she looks forward to presiding over the Senate to mark this important moment,” the White House said in a statement.
Harris, the nation’s first Black and first female vice president, will announce the final vote for Jackson, the first Black woman to be considered to the Supreme Court and, if confirmed, to sit on the high bench in its 233-year history.
Jackson is expected to watch final speeches and the roll call vote with her family in Washington.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer
Apr 07, 11:39 am
McConnell casts ‘judicial activism’ as threat to court
Just hours ahead of Judge Jackson’s expected Senate confirmation, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted what he called “judicial activism” as a threat to the court as an institution in remarks on the Senate floor.
“We’ve seen over and over that when judicial activism triumphs over fidelity to the rule of law, our courts mutate into clumsy proxy battlefields for arguments that belong in this chamber,” McConnell said, as Republicans have attempted to characterize Jackson as sympathetic to progressive causes.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, April 5, 2022. Earlier, three Republican senators broke from their party to support Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to the Supreme Court.
The GOP leader, again, slammed Jackson for failing to commit to opposing the Supreme Court’s expansion when she was asked about her views of court-packing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The solution is for all the justices to stay in their lane. There is one right number of justices who seek to follow the law. The number is nine. Ginsburg said it. Breyer said it. There is one right number of judges who seek to make policy,” McConnell said.
Notably, Jackson, in her confirmation hearings, repeated variations of the message that she intends to “stay in my lane,” if confirmed to the high court.
McConnell conceded Thursday that Jackson is barreling towards confirmation and pledged that Republicans will recognize her legitimacy as a justice — seemingly needling Democrats for their handling of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“Nevertheless, our Democratic colleagues are on track to confirm our next supreme Court justice,” McConnell said. “And you know what won’t happen: Top Republicans will not imply she is illegitimate we will not call for court-packing I won’t be joining any mobs outside her new workplace and threatening her by name.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Apr 07, 11:04 am
Schumer praises Jackson’s place in history ahead of key vote
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote to end debate on Judge Jackson’s nomination is on track for the 11 a.m. hour ahead of the historic confirmation vote around 1:45 p.m.
“The Senate gavels in this morning for a joyous, momentous, groundbreaking day,” Schumer said from the Senate chamber. “This morning, we will vote to end debate on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to be a justice on the United States Supreme Court. And later this afternoon, the Senate will fulfill its constitutional duty to finally confirm this remarkable and groundbreaking jurist.”
Schumer praised Jackson as encapsulating the “three Bs” — brilliant, beloved and belonging on the Supreme Court — and said the nation is long overdue to have a Black woman sit on the high bench.
“In the 233-year history of the Supreme Court never, never has a Black woman held the title of justice. Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first, and I believe the first of more to come,” Schumer said.
“This milestone should have happened generations ago,” he added, “but we are always trotting on a path towards a more perfect union.”
“Nevertheless, America today is taking a giant step towards making our union more perfect. People sometimes talk about standing on the shoulder of giants. Well, Judge Jackson will go down in history as an American giant upon whose shoulders others will stand tall — and our democracy will be better off for it.”
(NEW YORK) — The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted to pass a resolution to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council Thursday, in response to Russian forces’ alleged killings of civilians in Ukraine.
The vote passed with 93 countries voting in favor, 24 voting against and 58 abstaining from voting. Belarus, China, Iran, Russia and Syria were among the countries who voted against the resolution.
The vote came amid global outrage over the alleged killings of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, after Russian forces withdrew from Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
The UNGA needed a two-thirds majority to suspend Russia, now the second country ever suspended after the UNGA voted to remove Libya from the Human Rights Council in 2011 in response to Moammar Gadhafi’s violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
In a speech prior to the vote, a Ukrainian representative urged the assembly to remove Russia from the council.
“Suspension of Russia from the human rights council is not an option, but a duty,” Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told CNN on Wednesday that they “absolutely” have the votes to suspend Russia.
“We have been working very, very hard since this war started to build a coalition of countries who are prepared to condemn Russia. We got 141 votes, the first time we went into the General Assembly. The second time we got 140. And I have no doubt that we can defeat Russia here on the Human Rights Council,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
She added: “They don’t deserve to be on the Human Rights Council.”
