Keef Knight’s tragic run-in with the police during season one of Hulu’s Woke amped up not only his career as a cartoonist, but also his activism. And, since the Black-focused animation dramedy is finally returning for a second season after three production delays due to COVID-19, its stars say Woke isn’t a show just for Black people: it’s for everyone.
Lamorne Morris, who plays Knight, tells ABC Audio that he’s both excited for the return and anxious to see people’s reactions. While the main characters, played by Sasheer Zamata, T. Murph and Blake Anderson, provide their unique perspective on Black-related issues, Morris believes anyone can see themselves in one of the characters.
“We talk about the allies, the folks who want to be allies…the overnight activists…,” Morris said. “I think no matter who you are, you can follow one of these characters…and it would possibly mirror your own life.”
Zamata agrees, pointing out that each character “gets to analyze the idea of being ‘woke’ in a different way.”
“I hope people get to watch it and identify with some of the themes that we’re throwing out there and maybe question some of the stuff that they’ve been seeing in their own life,” she says.
In speaking on the difference between Woke and other projects that highlight the Black experience, all the stars agree that comedy is a great way to address what some consider sensitive topics.
“When we approach it with a funny point of view or an entertaining point of view, it opens that world up to everybody,” Anderson says.
Zamata adds, “…Hopefully they come for the laughs, but also learn a little bit at the end of the day, too.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the U.S. assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Wednesday on Day 42:
All Russian troops withdrawn from around Kyiv and Chernihiv
The tens of thousands of Russian troops arrayed against Kyiv and Chernihiv have withdrawn north across the borders of Belarus and Russia to consolidate before likely redeploying to eastern Ukraine, according to the senior defense official.
“We are assessing that they have completely withdrawn from Kiev and from Chernihiv,” the official said.
But even with the Russian forces, the territory remains treacherous.
“There are some indications that they left behind mines and things like that, so the Ukrainians are being somewhat careful in some areas north of Kyiv as they begin to clear the ground and clear the territory and re-occupy it,” the official said.
On Monday, the Pentagon estimated that roughly one-third of the Russian forces apparently originally designated to take the capital remained.
Before the withdrawal, there were about 20 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) consisting of 800-1,000 troops each in the areas north and northwest of Kyiv, and another 20 BTGs near Chernihiv, according to the official.
While the U.S. hasn’t yet seen these troops redeploy elsewhere in Ukraine, it’s likely to happen soon, according to the official.
“Our assessment is that they won’t want to spend too much time on refit and resupply because they have made a very public show of saying that they’re going to prioritize their efforts on the Donbas region,” the official said.
But the timing will depend on how much work is needed to get the Russian forces back into fighting condition.
“Some of these units have been much more depleted than others, and it’s possible that the Russians could combine units to make new BTGs as a result, we just we just don’t know,” the official said.
Of the roughly 130 BTGs Russia dedicated to the invasion, about 80 are still inside Ukraine, according to the official. More than 30 are already in the Donbas region.
US sending ‘urgent’ shipment of anti-tank missiles for fight in Donbas
Ukrainian forces are preparing for a major fight in the east as Russia prepares as many as 40 BTGs to join 30 more battalions already in Donbas.
“They’re not waiting,” the official said. “They are already adapting to increased Russian activity in the Donbas region and doing the best they can.”
On Tuesday, the Biden administration authorized a $100 million drawdown package to “meet an urgent Ukrainian need for additional Javelin anti-armor systems,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.
The senior U.S. defense official said this move was specifically to help in Donbas.
“One of the reasons why you saw us describe this $100 million drawdown package last night as an urgent need for Javelins was in fact because of the activity in the Donbas and the Ukrainians wanting to make sure that they’re ready for increased Russian activity there,” the official said.
Ukrainians get drone training in US
A small number of Ukrainians currently in the U.S. for “professional military education” were pulled aside for a couple days of training on Switchblade drones, which the U.S. is sending overseas as part of its military aid, according to the official.
“Although it’s not a very difficult system to operate, we took advantage of having them in the country to give them some rudimentary training on that,” the official said. “And there may be some additional rudimentary training while they’re here.”
The official said fewer than 12 Ukrainians were given this U.S.-based training.
Pentagon blames Russia for nitric acid explosion
The official said the Pentagon is “monitoring” an apparent nitric acid explosion in the Luhansk region, which Russia blamed on Ukraine.
“We’ve seen the Russians claim that this was a Ukrainian attack on this. We do not believe that is true,” the official said. “We do believe that the Russians are responsible, but exactly what they used when they did it, why they did it, what the damage is, we just don’t have that level of detail,” the official said.
‘Premeditated’ Russian atrocities in Bucha
“When you see individuals with their hands tied behind their backs and evidence of being shot in the head, that certainly appears to be premeditated,” the official said, again calling for Russian war crimes in Ukraine to be investigated.
Long-range strikes shifting east
Russia has now launched more than 1,450 missiles against Ukraine, according to the official. The Pentagon is seeing more airstrikes targeting the east than Kyiv as Russia shifts its overall focus to the Donbas region.
Kourtney Kardashian is setting the record straight on rumors that she recently married Travis Barker. The truth: she did — and she didn’t.
On Monday, reports surfaced that the Kardashians reality star and Blink-182 drummer tied the knot in Las Vegas following the 2022 Grammy Awards. Then on Wednesday, Kardashian shared a series of photos from the “ceremony” on Instagram, along with a caption on what went down.
“Once upon a time in a land far, far away (Las Vegas) at 2am, after an epic night and a little tequila, a queen and her handsome king ventured out to the only open chapel with an Elvis and got married (with no license),” she wrote. “Practice makes perfect.”
The snaps featured the couple wearing matching leather jackets and embracing in a chapel, with an impersonator featured in the background of the images.
The couple, who confirmed their relationship with an Instagram post in February 2021, announced their engagement in October. Kardashian shared snaps from Barker’s romantic proposal on the beach, simply captioning her post, “forever.”
Barker has been married twice before, to Melissa Kennedy from 2001 to 2002 and to Shanna Moakler from 2004 to 2008. He shares two children with Moakler: 18-year-old Landon and 16-year-old Alabama.
Kourtney has never married but shares three children with her ex, Scott Disick: 12-year-old Mason, 9-year-old Penelope and 7-year-old Reign.
The Backstreet Boys are launching their DNA tour Friday in Las Vegas, so they appeared on Wednesday’s Kelly Clarkson Show to talk about it — and to sing, of course.
The five members of the group split up to participate in a game of “Throw Me a Line,” in which the object was to identify the boy band song by the lyric. AJ, Kevin and Brian played against Howie, Nick and Kelly, and at first, AJ, Kevin and Brian were ahead, correctly identifying Boyz II Men‘s “I’ll Make Love to You,” and singing it, as well.
Then Nick, Howie and Kelly identified *NSYNC‘s “Bye Bye Bye.” But then AJ, Kevin and Brian broke the tie by buzzing in as soon as they heard the host read the lyric, “All you people.”
Of course, it was Backstreet’s own “Larger Than Life,” which they then proceeded to sing. “It’s a shame we’re going back on tour — y’all don’t know the words?” AJ teased.
Kelly was surprised they were able to identify the song that quickly, to which Brian replied, “I WROTE that one!”
Discussing the tour, AJ joked, “Our kids were so happy that we were home for the past two years, but our wives were like, ‘You HAVE to go back to work. PLEASE go back to work!'”
Kelly also treated the audience to a “Kellyoke” performance of Backstreet’s “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely.”
Anatolii Siryk/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
(BUCHA, Ukraine) — As Mykola Pavlyuk stood outside his apartment building in Bucha, tears streamed from his eyes, cutting through the grime on his face. He was desperate to share his story but shook from the trauma of it.
Pavlyuk, 53, was one of the surviving residents of the besieged Ukrainian town, northwest of Kyiv, where gruesome evidence of killings and torture has come to light following the withdrawal of Russian forces. He told ABC News when Russian troops came to his apartment building, they killed all the men who were younger than 50, including two of Pavlyuk’s friends.
Pavlyuk said he was given 20 minutes to bury them. He showed ABC News the shallow graves he hastily dug in the backyard, each marked with a plank of wood and topped with a religious icon. He wanted to give them whatever dignity he could.
“But it’s too shallow,” Pavlyuk said. “I just wanted to protect them from the dogs.”
Pavlyuk and other residents spoke with ABC News in the days after Russian forces departed Bucha, leaving an apparent trail of death, destruction, terror and trauma that has shaken the global community. Hundreds of people were said to have been killed during the occupation. When ABC News arrived on Tuesday, bodies still lay in the streets. The international community has called for an investigation into whether war crimes, including genocide, were committed.
When Russian troops arrived in Bucha, which they occupied Feb. 27, they asked everyone for documentation and forced the men to strip down naked to reveal any tattoos, according to Pavlyuk. They immediately shot and killed anyone whom they deemed a threat, without asking any questions, he said.
The mayor of the nearby town of Motyzhyn, Olga Sukhenko, and her family appear to have met the same fate. ABC News witnessed their lifeless bodies in a wooded area.
Another Bucha resident, who declined to give her name, told ABC News her husband was also forced to remove his clothes to show whether he had any tattoos.
Russian soldiers took over Pavlyuk’s apartment building, turning the homes of Ukrainian families into wartime dormitories for drunk, violent thugs, he said. Rooms Pavlyuk showed ABC News were strewn with blankets and old food.
Pavlyuk said he and his wife lived in the basement for more than month with little food or water, only leaving to cook on a stove outside.
He told ABC News they faced the constant fear of an arbitrary killing or a random act of violence, like when a friend was killed by a grenade he said was thrown as a joke by a drunk soldier. The friend’s body parts lay outside on the ground for days until Pavlyuk was allowed to gather them, put them in a bag and bury them in a grave next to his two other friends, he said.
More bodies were dumped in a mass grave outside a church. Residents had gone out to collect some of the dead from the streets while the town was under Russian occupation. The trench was filled with bodies in black plastic bags that lay on top of other victims, who were either wrapped in sheets or nothing at all. Locals told ABC News there could be as many as 90 people buried there.
Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, seizing territory and bombing entire cities. As the war grinds on, Russia faces strong resistance from Ukraine, whose troops managed to take back some territory in recent days as Russian forces retreated.
According to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova, at least 410 civilians have been found dead in Bucha and other recently recaptured towns near Ukraine’s capital, where there’s an ongoing investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russian forces. Graphic images have emerged from Bucha showing unarmed individuals in civilian clothes who appear to have been executed with their hands or legs bound, sparking outrage from the United States and a number of nations and institutions.
Russia has denied responsibility, calling the images “fake” and saying all of its units withdrew completely from Bucha around March 30. An ABC News analysis of videos and satellite imagery confirms some of the bodies seen lying in the streets of Bucha were there as early as March 19, when the town was still occupied by Russian forces, contradicting Russia’s claims that the scene was “staged” after its troops left.
While in Bucha, ABC News encountered a Human Rights Watch team gathering evidence of war crimes.
“What we’ve seen so far and what we’ve heard from residents — what we’ve been documenting — is really horrific, including reports that Russian forces have pulled people out of their homes, briefly interrogated them and then executed them,” said Richard Weir, a researcher in the Crisis and Conflict division at Human Rights Watch.
A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross was also on scene in Bucha, assessing needs and delivering humanitarian aid.
“Humanitarian situation is dire,” ICRC spokesperson Alyona Synenko told ABC News. “We have seen extremely vulnerable people — elderly, people with limited mobility, people who are sick, who are alone in their unheated apartments with no electricity, with no running water, with medical needs.”
Bucha residents Tatyana Chernysh and her husband told ABC News they must have survived “by God’s will” when so many of their neighbors did not.
“At any time, the occupiers could enter our premises and do with us whatever they wanted,” said Chernysh’s husband, who said he was too frightened to give his first name. “It was terrifying. It was awful.”
The couple didn’t leave their house while Russian troops occupied the town. They said “good people” brought them food and medicine. Although the Russian soldiers camped away from their home, Chernysh and her husband said they heard unyielding gunfire and that stray bullets pockmarked their house.
Since the withdrawal of Russian forces and the recent arrival of aid, Chernysh and her husband have finally come out of hiding to see what remains of their battered town. They recalled seeing bodies strewn across the streets and sidewalks.
“It is obvious their intention was to destroy Ukraine, destroy our people, destroy our economy, destroy our culture,” Chernysh’s husband said of the Russian troops. “They claimed they came to liberate. They didn’t. They are terrorists.”
After surviving such “senseless” horror, the family said they “feel safe” and intend to stay in Bucha, despite a lack of electricity, running water and reliable communication.
“It’s where we live. We don’t want to yield our homes to occupiers,” Chernysh’s husband said. “It is our town. It is our home. We are going to stay.”
Although he admitted they might think twice if Russian forces return.
“Hopefully they won’t come back,” he added, “but with them you can never tell.”
Jason Aldean’s still flying high from the success of “I Didn’t Love You,” his duet with Carrie Underwood, which raced to the top of the country charts and earned a slew of awards show nominations in the wake of its release.
But when asked if he’s hoping to repeat the experiment, Jason says that any future collaborations with Carrie all hinge on finding the right material.
“I really feel like the songs dictate where you go with duet partners and things like that,” Jason explains to ET Online, in a conversation on the rooftop of his Nashville hot spot, Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar.
Regardless of what the future holds, Jason and Carrie’s journey with “If I Didn’t Love You” isn’t done yet: The song’s music video is nominated twice at the upcoming CMT Music Awards show, which will air next Monday.
(WASHINGTON) — Ohio Republicans introduced a House bill on Monday prohibiting “divisive or inherently racist” curriculum and banning instruction that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. The proposal is now facing backlash from local LGBTQ advocates.
The bill combines language from Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, and anti-critical race theory legislation proposed by Republicans in some states.
The bill states that “curriculum or instructional materials on sexual orientation or gender identity” would be banned in classrooms starting from kindergarten through third grade.
In grades four through twelve, such instruction would be banned if presented in “any manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” the bill reads.
It is unclear how age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate-ness is defined and applied.
Opponents of restricting LGBTQ content have been vocal with their outcries after Florida passed its Parental Rights in Education law.
LGBTQ advocates say the legislation would make LGBTQ identities taboo again and silence LGBTQ students and teachers in the classroom.
They say they expect these policies to have negative mental health impacts on LGBTQ youth who are already vulnerable to discrimination and bullying.
More than 225 bills that target LGBTQ content or identities have been filed in the first three months of 2022, according to LGBTQ media watchdog GLAAD.
“Ohio’s Don’t Say Gay bill is yet another insidious attempt to chill and censor free speech in the classroom. Lawmakers are effectively trying to erase LGBTQ+ people and skew history in their favor,” said Equality Ohio’s executive director, Alana Jochum, in a statement.
“Attacks like these are a product of a small minority of people pushing their agenda to dismantle diversity at all costs — and in the process putting educators and families in jeopardy for political gain,” she continued.
The ban on “divisive or inherently racist concepts” includes “critical race theory, intersectional theory, the 1619 project, diversity, equity, and inclusion learning outcomes” and “inherited racial guilt.”
Critical race theory is a discipline in higher education that analyzes how racism impacts U.S legal systems. Intersectional theory analyzes how the different aspects of a person’s identity can affect how they may be impacted by discrimination.
The 1619 project is a New York Times initiative that reframes the story of America by placing “slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of the [country’s] national narrative,” according to the project’s website.
Opponents of this legislation say such laws villainize attempts to teach about race and diversity in public schools, shutting down lessons that could make students think about the history of oppression in the U.S.
Supporters of these kinds of bills, including Rep. Jean Schmidt who introduced the Ohio legislation, say that the legislation is intended to give parents more say over what their children learn.
“The classroom is a place that seeks answers for our children without political activism,” Schmidt said in a press release Tuesday. “Parents deserve and should be provided a say in what is taught to their children in schools. The intent of this bill is to provide them with the tools to be able to see what their child is being taught.”
So far, the bill only has two sponsors: Schmidt and Rep. Mike Loychik. Gov. Mike DeWine has yet to publicly announce his support for this bill.
Bills that restrict LGBTQ discussions, books, or curricula from classrooms have been introduced in Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana and other states.
However, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found that more than 6 in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school.
Researchers from Monmouth University found in a November 2021 study on critical race theory that respondents seem to approve of education on race, but not when the question is phrased asking about “critical race theory:”
When asked about teaching “the history of racism” in schools, 75% supported the idea. However, when asked about teaching critical race theory, only 43% supported it.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland tested positive for COVID-19 via antigen tests Wednesday afternoon, the Department of Justice said.
“He asked to be tested after learning that he may have been exposed,” the DOJ said in a statement.
The news comes hours after Garland participated in a press conference alongside multiple other top law enforcement officials, including FBI Director Chris Wray.
Garland, who is vaccinated and boosted, doesn’t have any symptoms, the statement said.
The attorney general is one of several prominent officials to test positive after attending Saturday’s Gridiron dinner in Washington, D.C.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, all attended Saturday’s event and have all tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
Garland will work virtually while isolating at home, and the DOJ will conduct contact tracing, the statement said.
Coming off his recent Grammy win as a contributor on Jon Batiste‘s We Are album, PJ Morton announced today the high profile lineup of stars that make appearances on his upcoming album, Watch the Sun.
The collection of original songs will feature top music artists of generations past like Stevie Wonder, Nas, Jill Scott, Alex Isley, Mr. Talkbox and El DeBarge, as well as influential musicians of today such as JoJo, Chronixx and Wale.
Though established as the uber-talented and beloved keyboardist of pop group Maroon 5, Morton says he’s “more open than I’ve been in the past” on the forthcoming 11-track album.
“As much as people know about me, I’m pretty private about specifics, but these were some real things going on in my life,” he said in the announcement. “So it manifested with lyrics that pushed myself — not just going with the first thing or the thing that felt good, but making sure that I challenged myself to go deeper.”
Clerks director Kevin Smith will soon become the first movie maker to release an entire movie exclusively via NFT, or non-fungible token.
The newest film by the director and Good Will Hunting producer, KillRoy Was Here, will only be made available to the person who buys the NFT.
For the forthcoming NFT sale, Smith collaborated with SCRT Labs’ Secret Network, which recently worked with Quentin Tarantino for the release of his successful Pulp Fiction NFT auctions.
The movie KillRoy is being called “a throwback anthology horror film featuring a creature that kills evil adults at the behest of victimized kids.”
The movie, along with exclusive content from the film, behind-the-scenes footage and a commentary track, will be launched as a 5,555-piece generative art NFT collection, according to the Secret Network.
The director adds, “When you buy the KillRoy NFT, you get exclusive access to the movie. But more importantly, the specific version of KillRoy you get is YOUR KillRoy to do with whatever you want: Make your own movie, turn it into a cartoon, license him for lunchboxes! We started the story, now YOU get to continue it with your very own version of our titular character!”
He calls it “an exciting and unique opportunity to go from art collector to collaborating artist!”
