Camila Cabello is speaking out about body insecurity.
In an Instagram post she shared over the weekend, Cabello included an essay about how she feels when she steps out in public in a bikini knowing her photo will be taken by paparazzi.
“Every time I’ve gone to this beach club in Miami I get papped — somehow when I check in paps know and get me in my bikini and every time I’ve felt super vulnerable and unprepared,” Cabello wrote. “I’ve worn bikinis that were to[o] small and paid no mind to how I looked, then saw pictures online and comments and been so upset.”
The singer went on, “I reminded myself when it impacted my self esteem that I was thinking the culture’s thoughts and not my own. A culture who has gotten so used to an image of what a ‘healthy’ woman’s body looks like that is completely not real for a lot of women.”
Cabello, who is in the middle of doing press for her new album Familia, which will be released later this week, said on Saturday that when she went to the beach she “held my core so tight my abs hurt” and was “self conscious of where the paps were the whole time.”
The “Bam Bam” singer said the whole situation made her feel sad. “I’ve never had a worse time at the beach,” she said. “I felt the emptiness and sadness of our culture’s thoughts that became my thoughts.”
Cabello has been open about her body image in the past. Following paparazzi photos that were taken last year of her in workout clothes, the singer shared a candid message to fans about overcoming the pressure of beauty standards and being at peace with one’s body.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Sacramento police have arrested a suspected gunman in the shooting that killed six people in a popular nightlife area over the weekend.
Dandre Martin, 26, was identified as a “related suspect” in the shooting, which broke out on K Street in downtown Sacramento early Sunday morning just after a fight took place, the Sacramento Police Department said. Martin was arrested on assault and illegal firearm possession charges, police said.
More than 100 shell casings were recovered from the scene, according to police. Investigators believe multiple gunmen are responsible for the shooting and are sifting through hundreds of pieces of evidence, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said during a press conference Sunday afternoon.
Video posted on Twitter on Sunday showed people running through the street as the apparent sound of rapid gunfire could be heard in the background.
The victims were identified by the Sacramento County Coroner’s office on Monday as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; and Devazia Turner, 29.
At least a dozen people were injured in the shooting, Lester said. The conditions of the injured victims were not immediately known, police said.
It is not known whether the alleged gunmen knew each other, Lester said. A large crowd was present at the time of the shooting, she added.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg condemned the shooting during a news conference Sunday afternoon, describing it as “a senseless and unacceptable tragedy.”
“And I emphasize the word unacceptable,” Steinberg said. “Thoughts and prayers are not nearly enough. We must do more as a city as a state and as a nation.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson, Zohreen Shah and Jennifer Watts contributed to this report.
Miranda Lambert normally steers clear of too much razzle-dazzle at her shows, but when she heads to Las Vegas this fall, she’ll kick things up a notch.
The singer’s recently announced Velvet Rodeo residency launches in late September. “Make it rain!” she tells Rolling Stone about her mindset going into the show.
“I’ve always been very low production, never changed my wardrobe onstage unless I ripped something. I’m very much, like, ‘This is a rock ‘n’ roll show.’ But with Vegas, we have to take it up a notch,” the “If I Was a Cowboy” singer reasons.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to come easily to her. “A wardrobe change? I’m going to have to get used to that. Can we get some Velcro so it’s real easy?” she adds.
But Miranda has already proved her versatility. Over the course of the past year, she’s rocked a buzzy uptempo vibe with her Elle King duet “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” and slowed things way, way down for her acoustic, vulnerable and Grammy-nominated The Marfa Tapes.
By the time she hits Las Vegas, Miranda will have added to her repertoire yet again, as her next album, Palomino, is due out next month. For a pro like Miranda, a little Velcro should be no sweat.
Every year, people complain about the stars who were either left off of or given short shrift during the “In Memoriam” segment of The Grammys, and Sunday night’s segment was no different: There were complaints that neither The Moody Blues’ Graeme Edge nor Slipknot‘s Joey Jordison were included. But now, we have some clarity about a part of last year’s “In Memoriam” segment that people complained about.
Eddie Van Halen, who died in October of 2020, was saluted in the 2021 Grammys “In Memoriam” segment with a clip of him playing his signature instrumental “Eruption” while his iconic “Frankenstein” guitar sat alone on the stage. Many felt the Grammys could’ve done more to honor the guitarist who single-handedly changed rock music, but now it’s been revealed that it wasn’t up to them.
David Wild, a writer and producer of The Grammys, who was a friend of the late guitarist, tells The Mitch Lafon and Jeremy White Showpodcast that they went to the Van Halen family and offered a number of tribute ideas, including various artists performing Eddie’s songs, or Eddie’s son Wolfgang performing.
But according to Wild, “They said no one should perform…they didn’t want anyone, so we had to find video, and there is very little video of Van Halen.” What’s more, Wild claims the family didn’t want a clip of a song with any of Van Halen’s vocalists singing on it: They only wanted Eddie.
Wild, who decided to put the “Frankenstein” guitar onstage, tells the podcast it was “frustrating” when the segment drew criticism, including from Wolfgang Van Halen, who wrote that he had declined to play “Eruption,” but complained, “I didn’t realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of [four] full performances for others we had lost.”
Waititi, Hemsworth on “Thor: Ragnarok”/Marvel Studios
With its writer/director Taika Waititi hinting since last year that his fourth Thor movie will be the “craziest film he had ever done” — a bold statement from the guy who won an Oscar for imagining Hitler as an imaginary friend in Jojo Rabbit — fans are rabid for a trailer.
Alas, first the Super Bowl, and then the Oscars ads passed with nary a hint about Thor: Love and Thunder.
Today, star Chris Hemsworthposted that “long-lead press” — that is, generally, magazine interviews — had begun to promote the anticipated film, and that managed to whip up fans further. “Get ready folks, this film’s gonna be wild!” the God of Thunder himself promised.
However, with no trailer in sight, some fans are getting desperate for any hints, poring over Hemsworth’s picture with Taika, and their co-star Tessa Thompson, as if it were the Zapruder film.
One fan circled the stars’ hands: Waititi has his two index fingers up; Hemsworth is throwing up the heavy metal “devil horns,” and Thompson has peace signs flying in both hands. The fingers spell out “11 4 22,” the fan guesses, predicting the trailer would drop on April 11.
Like we said, they’re desperate.
All we do know for sure is that Natalie Portman is returning to the franchise as Jane Foster, who inherits the mantle of Thor; Thompson’s Valkyrie takes up the throne of New Asgard, hinted at the end of Avengers: Endgame; and Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, and the rest of their Guardians of the Galaxy pals also appear, as do a host of other stars.
Matt Damon, and Sam Neill also re-appear, after cameoing in Thor: Ragnarok, and Russell Crowe also will be seen.
Christian Bale reportedly plays the heavy, Gorr the Butcher, when the movie debuts July 7.
(NEW YORK) — A new COVID-19 variant has been identified in the United Kingdom, but experts say there is no cause for alarm yet.
The variant, known as XE, is a combination of the original BA.1 omicron variant and its subvariant BA.2. This type of combination is known as a “recombinant” variant.
Public health experts say that recombinant variants are very common and often crop up and disappear on their own.
“Right now, there’s really no public health concern,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “Recombinant variants happen over and over. In fact, the reason that this is the XE variant recombinant is that we’ve had XA, XB, XC, XD already, and none of those have turned out to be any real concern.”
According to an update last week from the U.K. Health Security Agency, 637 cases of XE have been identified as of March 22, with the earliest detected Jan. 19.
An early indication from the U.K. suggests XE could be slightly more transmissible than BA.2, but the World Health Organization said more research is needed.
Meanwhile, XE makes up less than 1% of total COVID-19 cases that have undergone genomic sequencing in the U.K., and there is no evidence to suggest that the variant can escape vaccines, cause more severe disease or is more deadly.
“This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate, and we cannot yet confirm whether it has a true growth advantage,” Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for UKHSA, said in a statement.
So far, no cases of the recombinant variant have been reported in any other country, including the United States.
Brownstein said there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding XE, but that — in the U.S. — there is a high level of protection both from vaccines and from natural immunity during the omicron wave.
“It’s possible it may be more transmissible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more severe,” he said. “And given the sheer number of infections we’ve already seen with omicron, it’s really unclear whether even being slightly more transmissible means we’ll see any impact of this variant whatsoever.”
Brownstein said one of the reasons the U.K. was able to pick up on the variant as quickly as it did is because of its robust surveillance system.
According to the global database GISAID, the U.K. has submitted more than 1 million omicron samples for genomic surveillance. The U.S. has submitted more than 781,000.
“The U.K. has done a phenomenal job of sequencing a large number of cases, doing analyses and producing the output of that work,” he said. “So you could see the identification of XE actually as a positive because it shows that our public health systems are working, identifying new variants even when the case numbers are super small.”
Brownstein added, “This shows that some of these variants can be needles in a haystack, and here we have an example of one being identified very early on.”
The World Health Organization released its own report saying it is monitoring XE, but there is no evidence yet that it is a variant of concern like alpha, delta and omicron.
“WHO will continue to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants” and will “provide updates as further evidence becomes available,” the organization said in a report published March 29.
Brownstein said variants will continue to emerge, but it is important for people to follow COVID-19 mitigation measures so they don’t get a chance to spread.
“Being vaccinated and boosted, as well as practicing good hygiene and following public health recommendations all help to drive transmission down in the community,” he said. “When we have uncontrolled spread, that’s when the virus is given chances to mutate.”
The UKHSA said it is also monitoring two other recombinant variants known as XD and XF, both of which are a combination of the delta variant and BA.1.
To date, only 38 cases of XF have been identified in the U.K. and none since mid-February while the XD variant has only been identified in global databases in 49 cases, mostly in France.
(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon has been providing daily updates on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s efforts to resist.
Here are highlights of what a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Monday on Day 40:
Nearly 70% of Russian troops near Kyiv have withdrawn
About two-thirds of the Russian forces that were arrayed against Kyiv have withdrawn toward Belarus, according to the official. This up from an estimated 20% late last week.
Before repositioning, there were close to 20 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTGs) bearing down on Kyiv from the north and northwest, with each group comprised of 700-900 troops. Roughly 13 of those BTGs are now either in Belarus or on their way there, the official said.
The Pentagon believes these forces will be resupplied and possibly reenforced in the north before heading back into Ukraine to fight elsewhere.
“Our best assessment — and it is only an assessment — is that they will be applied in the eastern part of the country in the Donbas region,” the official said.
The U.S. has also seen some Russian troops leave the Ukrainian city of Sumy to head north to the Russian border, according to the official.
Despite these movements, the official said the “vast majority” of the more than 125 BTGs that Russia committed to the invasion are still inside Ukraine.
‘Sickening’ Russian atrocities in Bucha
The official said that while the U.S. cannot independently verify Ukrainian claims of Russian atrocities committed against civilians in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian troops, there is no reason to doubt them.
“It’s sickening, it’s disgusting,” the official said, adding that the claims should be included in the growing list of alleged Russian war crimes to be investigated.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the town, where he accused Russia of genocide. Ukrainian officials have said more than 400 civilians were found dead there, many with hands tied behind their backs, shot at close range.
“We have long said that the Russians would be brutal in their execution of this war. They have been,” the senior U.S. defense official said. “We said more than a week ago that we clearly believe the evidence pointed to war crimes by Russian forces. And what we’re seeing out of Bucha certainly reinforces those concerns.”
President Joe Biden put blame on Russian president Vladimir Putin while speaking to reporters Monday.
“You may remember I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,” Biden said. “Well, the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha … he is a war criminal.”
Russia shifting airstrikes
In addition to moving some of its troops away from the capital, Russia has also refocused its long-range strikes elsewhere, largely in the eastern and southern parts of the country, the official said.
“Clearly they’re still hitting Mariupol, but we have not seen the same level of airstrike activity on Kyiv,” the official said. “So there’s been a declination there over the last few days.”
Russia has fired more than 1,400 missiles against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion.
Military aid being rushed into Ukraine
The U.S. has continued to rush small arms, anti-tank and aircraft missiles and medical supplies into Ukraine, and has coordinating shipments from a half dozen other donor nations in the last 24 hours, according to the senior defense official.
“Everything we’re doing with respect to Ukraine is being expedited — everything,” the official said.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
At the Grammys Sunday night, Doja Cat and SZA won Best Pop Vocal Performance Duo or Group for their hit collab “Kiss Me More.” While Doja made it to the stage to accept the award — barely — she didn’t make it backstage to talk to supporters. But SZA — who was juggling crutches and a Grammy backstage after falling out of bed — took the opportunity to rave about her collaborator.
“She’s a star. And like, literally the first thing I asked her [was] ‘How do you write? What’s your process?'” SZA said of Doja. “I love people who write, and it’s something about the way that she just kinda like freestyles genuine things from her brain. And when I write, I freestyle everything too. So it was just crazy to meet somebody who even works similarly.”
“But I think she’s like, so masterful at what she does,” SZA continued. “I’ve just been able to really, like, admire just her powerhouse-ness and the way that she just, like, emotes from the brain, from the top.”
SZA also said backstage that she’s just finished what will be her second studio album.
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is going under the hammer.
Paul McCartney‘s original handwritten lyrics for The Beatles‘ Abbey Road track are up for auction on the Moments in Time website for the low, low price of $450,000.
According to TMZ, the lot includes three pages in all: One written by Paul and the others by Beatles road manager Mal Evans, who you probably saw in the Disney + Get Back documentary scribbling down lyrics as the Beatles wrote them. Contact MomentsInTime.com to bid.
TMZ reports that the last time the lyrics were sold was 2006, when they went for $192,000.
Michael Bublé admits he was ready to walk away from his music career in 2016 when his young son, Noah, was diagnosed with liver cancer. Noah has been in remission since 2017, but Michael revealed what was stolen from him during that scary time.
“I didn’t think I’d ever perform again. Never,” Michael told the U.K.’s The Telegraph. It wasn’t even on my radar.”
Michael said he was so affected by his son’s diagnosis, “I wasn’t even singing in the shower” because he poured all his energy into “taking care of my family and protecting my mental health.”
Following the good news that Noah beat liver cancer, Michael said it took him a long time to recover mentally and emotionally from that dark period in his life. He was encouraged to return to music and, in 2018, released Love.
“I limped back on that last record,” the Canadian singer confessed. “There was no way I was ready. I was still a wreck.”
Michael explained how deeply he was affected when recalling a moment in July 2018 when the pressure became too much. He had finished performing at London’s Hyde Park and admits he “was a mess” once he walked off stage. “I always felt like I was Teflon, there was never a moment that could get the better of me. I was a centered, focused machine on stage,” he explained. “For the first time in my whole career, I couldn’t hide emotionally. But it was beautiful. I realized I didn’t have that protective mechanism any more. And I felt free.”
Michael is glad he continued his singing, calling his career “a privilege” and “a joy.”
