Actress Selma Blairopens up in the April/May issue of AARP The Magazine, and talks about living — and really living — with multiple sclerosis.
The former Cruel Intentions and Hellboy star first went public that she had MS in 2018, and has since become a role model for others living with the degenerative condition. Her trials and tribulations were chronicled in the documentary Introducing Selma Blair, and in her book, Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up.
Her MS not only informed the book’s content, but how it came together, Selma tells the magazine. “When I sat down to write Mean Baby after the prefrontal brain damage, it came out as if from the 8-year-old I was when I first wanted to write a book!” she laughs, calling that “beautiful.”
Selma also adds, “My mother was a harsh critic, and I always wanted her to edit my book. [When] she died of cancer…I felt such a profound sense of grief and loss. But when I started down the path of embracing life and writing about it, the documentary about me became very rooted in my mother, a love letter to her, as I try to let go.”
The magazine feature and the film spotlight Blair’s optimism, despite her illness. “I’ve always been a talker and prone to drama, so even if my voice falters or goes into a spasm, I talk through it — I’m learning not to give it a rest!” she declares.
Blair also adds, “I realized that if I’m lucky, I could reach 85, MS or not. Our abilities are always fleeting, but when they fail, it’s always treated as a tragedy. How do we enter a chaotic shift in our life without feeling it’s an end to something? We just have to adapt.”
Black Veil Brides are “taking time away” from their Trinity of Terror triple-headlining tour with Motionless in White and Ice Nine Kills after frontman Andy Biersack tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement posted to Twitter Sunday afternoon, Biersack shared he “started to feel an awful sicknesses come on out of the blue” following BVB’s performance in Chicago the previous night.
“[I] developed a high fever and chills,” Biersack wrote. “Unfortunately after multiple tests it is clear that both me and several other members of the BVB touring crew have tested positive for COVID.”
He added, “For obvious reasons and out of an abundance of caution we will be taking time away from the tour until we are cleared to play again.”
The tour will continue as scheduled with Motionless in White, Ice Nine Kills and opener Lilith Czar still playing, though fans who had their hearts set on seeing Black Veil can request a refund at point of purchase.
“We are truly sorry for this awful situation and promise to make it up to any of you looking forward to seeing us as part of the TOT tour as soon as possible,” Biersack wrote. “Thank you for your understanding and we can’t wait to get back out onstage to sing with you all soon.”
BVB drummer Christian “CC” Coma previously tested positive for COVID-19. In his absence, the band played several acoustic shows.
Sure, lots of country star couples first met their better half at work: Blake Shelton first got to know Gwen Stefani on the set of The Voice, for example, and Carrie Underwood met her husband Mike Fisher backstage at one of her concerts.
But there are plenty of long-lasting loves that got their start before their careers started taking off. Luke Bryan and Caroline Boyer, one of the genre’s most beloved couples, first crossed paths as college kids at a bar called Dingus McGee’s. Not only isn’t the bar’s name romantic, Caroline wasn’t immediately charmed by Luke’s big, boisterous personality.
“It took me a couple of days to realize this wasn’t just some drunk college guy — this is how he acts,” Caroline recounts in a spot for Jockey, a company for which both members of the couple serve as brand ambassadors.
George Strait and Alan Jackson have both got the Bryans beat, chronology-wise: Each superstar met his better half in high school. Brantley Gilbert and his wife Amber also met as teens, and Dylan Scott met his now-wife in middle school. Dierks Bentley met his wife Cassidy in middle school, too, and had a crush on her in 8th grade.
But Thomas Rhett just might have everyone else beat: He and his wife Lauren have known each other since their kindergarten days, and tried dating in high school but broke up for a while before ultimately getting married when Thomas was 22.
Now, their love story frequently serves as inspiration for his songs. As he sings in his 2017 hit “Life Changes,” “I’ve been waiting on her since the second grade.”
The Ides of March frontman and ex-Survivor member Jim Peterik revealed in a recent video update posted on his Facebook page that he’s recovering from a neck operation that has sidelined him during the past several weeks.
In the clip, Peterik, 71, is seen wearing a neck brace while sitting at the console of what appears to be his home studio. He explains that he’d recently been experiencing severe headaches and went to a doctor who told him that arthritis in his neck was impinging on a nerve and that if he didn’t have an operation to address the issue he could be paralyzed in a couple of months.
Peterik says he had the surgery about a month ago and reports that it went very smoothly, while admitting his recovery has been a bit difficult and that he’s experiencing a lot of pain. He points out that former Grand Funk Railroad frontman Mark Farner had a similar operation about four years ago and that Farner told him it took him about a year to recover, adding, “Hopefully it’ll be quicker than that [for me].”
Jim says he’s taking it easy, but has begun rehearsing with The Ides of March for some upcoming shows, the first of which is scheduled for April 27 at the City Winery in Chicago. He also reveals that the group will be playing an as-yet-unannounced special show in June backed by a full orchestra.
Meanwhile, Peterik shared some details about a few music projects he’s been working on, including a collaboration with Chicago‘s Robert Lamm, with whom he’s written songs for that band’s next studio album. Jim says that album will be released at the end of June, and its title is the name of one of the tunes he co-wrote.
True to his word, Machine Gun Kelly did not “lose to the Encanto soundtrack.”
The “Bloody Valentine” rocker’s new album, Mainstream Sellout, has debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, following in the footsteps of his first chart-topper, 2020’s Tickets to My Downfall.
“Against all odds…we went #1 again,” Kelly tweeted in celebration of the news. “You have my heart forever. Thank you.”
Mainstream Sellout moved a total of 93,000 equivalent album units in its first week, 42,000 of which were traditional album sales. It’s the first rock record to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 since AC/DC‘s Power Up accomplished the feat in November 2020.
Leading up to Mainstream Sellout‘s release, Kelly had been vocal about wanting another number-one record after notching his first with Tickets. In an interview with Billboard, he said, “One thing about Machine Gun Kelly: He doesn’t lose to the Encanto soundtrack.”
For what its worth, the Encanto soundtrack sits at number three on this week’s Billboard 200. The album previously led the chart for nine non-consecutive weeks, the most by far for any record in 2022.
MGK will launch a U.S. tour in support of Mainstream Sellout in June. The arena outing will also feature artists including Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker and WILLOW on the bill for select dates.
Brothers Osborne and Carrie Underwood are reflecting on the weight of their Grammy Award wins.
Brothers Osborne, the duo of John and TJ Osborne, took home their first Grammy Sunday night for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, for “Younger Me.” The brothers got emotional onstage while accepting the award during the pre-show, as the song was inspired by TJ’s coming out journey after sharing publicly that he is gay in February 2021.
After accepting the award, the twosome turned to Instagram to share more about their win.
“We have so many people to thank but if there are two people that deserve notoriety it’s our younger selves. Little TJ and John stuck it out as awkward teenagers and proved what they were certain would happened and what their older selves probably doubted,” the duo wrote, adding that “it took years of grinding and hard work” to get here. “We will never forget this day for as long as we live. Thank you all for sticking it out with us through everything.”
Carrie also walked away a winner, as her album, My Savior, picked up the Grammy for Best Roots Gospel Album. “I love this album ( #MySavior ) so much and I truly believe it is the most important album I have ever made! Thanks to all who supported! I am eternally grateful!” she wrote alongside a photo of herself backstage, proudly holding the trophy.
The superstar also performed her new single, “Ghost Story,” live for the first time, while Brothers Osborne tore up the Grammys stage with “Dead Man’s Curve.”
Chris Stapleton walked away as the most winning country act of the night for Best Country Album, Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.
Dhani and Olivia Harrison; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com
George Harrison‘s son Dhani Harrison set a unique Grammy record on Sunday night.
Billboard reports that Dhani is now the first child of a Beatles member to win a Grammy. He did so by sharing the award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, presented to the 50th Anniversary edition of George’s 1971 album, All Things Must Pass. His co-winners were his mother, Olivia Harrison, and Darren Evans.
Speaking of Olivia, she’s now the third wife or widow of a Beatles member to win a Grammy, following Linda McCartney‘s wins with husband Paul for the Wings songs “Band on the Run” and “Rockestra Theme,” and Yoko Ono‘s Album of the Year win with the late John Lennon for Double Fantasy.
John Lennon’s son Julian Lennon was nominated for the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1986, but lost to Sade.
As for other veteran performers at the Grammys, Joni Mitchell won for Best Historical Album for Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967). She was also this year’s MusiCares Person of the Year honoree, making her, according to Billboard, the first person to both win a Grammy and be Person of the Year in the same year since Paul McCartney did it 10 years ago.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.” Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as well as other major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 04, 10:22 am
Russia may launch major offensive in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Monday it is monitoring large movements of Russian troops and reinforcements in eastern Ukraine.
The General Staff said it expects Russian forces to launch a possibly major offensive in the Donbas region within the next 24 hours, particularly against the city of Severodonetsk, which is the administrative center of the government-controlled areas of the Luhansk Oblast.
Meanwhile, Donetsk Oblast Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko has urged civilians to evacuate now, even from areas not close to the front lines.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his recognition of two breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that share a border with Russia — the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. Russia-backed separatist forces have controlled these parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhanks oblasts since 2014.
Apr 04, 10:04 am
Zelenskyy visits bombed city of Bucha
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited on Monday the decimated city of Bucha, where Ukrainian officials have accused Russian troops of committing war crimes against civilians.
Zelenskyy toured the Kyiv suburb that was retaken by Ukrainian forces in recent days. Zelenskyy went to a road in the city littered with destroyed Russian equipment and he spoke to local residents.
Zelenskyy repeated accusations that Russia committed war crimes and genocide after Ukrainian officials said 410 people believed to have been civilians were found dead, many with their hands bound behind their backs and shot at close range.
Russian officials have denied the accusation and have requested the U.N. Security Council investigate.
Apr 04, 9:34 am
Ukraine accuses Russian brigade of war crimes, releases names of troops
Ukraine has accused a brigade of the Russian Ground Forces of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published online Monday what it said was a list with the names of hundreds of personnel of Russia’s 64th Motor Rifle Brigade whom they believe were directly responsible for atrocities in Bucha. Ukrainian officials have said there is evidence of other Russian units being involved.
Ukrainian authorities announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Images emerged showing bodies, some of which showed signs of torture, in civilian clothes strewn in streets and in mass graves across Bucha, northwest of Kyiv. ABC News journalists on the ground saw some of the dead, including a family that locals said were executed with their hands bound.
Russia has denied the claims.
-ABC News’ Natalia Kushnir and Fidel Pavlenko
Apr 04, 9:23 am
Russian oligarch’s yacht seized in Spain
A yacht that belongs to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg was seized Monday in Marina Real in the Spanish port of Palma de Mallorca, two U.S. law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The yacht was seized by Spanish authorities and KleptoCapture, the U.S. Department of Justice task force charged with finding assets of oligarchs trying to evade sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Vekselberg was among the oligarchs sanctioned previously by the United States in 2018 after Russia invaded Crimea.
The task force is trying to find yachts, airplanes and other moveable properties before the oligarchs can move them to jurisdictions where it might be more difficult for U.S. authorities to investigate.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr and Aaron Katersky
Apr 04, 8:20 am
Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘fake attack’ in Bucha
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ukrainian forces of staging an attack in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, where images have emerged showing bodies in civilian clothes lying in the streets and in mass graves.
“The other day, another fake attack was launched in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, after Russian military personnel left from there in accordance with the plans and agreements reached,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. “A few days later, a staging was arranged there, which was dispersed through all channels and social networks by Ukrainian representatives and their Western patrons.”
According to Lavrov, Russian forces vacated the area on March 30.
“On March 31, the mayor [of Bucha] solemnly said that everything was fine there,” he added. “And two days later, we saw how the same production was organized on the streets, which they are now trying to use for anti-Russian purposes.”
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Some photos taken Sunday in Bucha show unarmed individuals who appear to have been executed with their hands or legs bound. A number of world leaders have accused Russia of committing the atrocities.
Apr 04, 7:41 am
Kremlin reacts to images of dead bodies in Bucha
Russia responded on Monday to accusations that its troops have deliberately killed civilians in Ukraine, after images emerged showing bodies in civilian clothes scattered in areas on the outskirts of the capital that were recently recaptured from Russian forces.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova said Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in towns near Kyiv.
During a daily press briefing on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia “categorically dismiss[es] any accusations” of its role in civilian killings and that Moscow does not trust the evidence in Bucha.
“This information should be seriously doubted,” Peskov told reporters. “From what we have seen, the video materials cannot be trusted to a large extent, as our specialists from the Defense Ministry have detected signs of video forgery and other kinds of fakes.”
The Kremlin demands that “international leaders do not jump to conclusions, do not make hasty unsupported accusations but at least seek information from various sources and at least listen to our arguments,” Peskov said.
“The facts, the chronology of events also do not speak in favor of the credibility of these claims,” he added.
Russia will reiterate its calls to discuss the matter at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, according to Peskov.
“We believe that the issue should be discussed at the highest level, so we have proposed that it be discussed at the Security Council. We are aware that the initiative has been blocked,” he said. “Our diplomats will continue active efforts towards putting this item on the Security Council’s agenda. This issue is too serious.”
“The initiative aimed to put the item on the Security Council agenda demonstrates that Russia wants and actually demands its discussion at the international level,” he added.
Apr 04, 7:11 am
Russia seeks UN Security Council meeting on Bucha for Monday
Russia said it will repeat its request for the United Nations Security Council to meet on Monday over what Moscow described as “criminal provocations by Ukrainian soldiers and radicals” in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
The United Kingdom’s mission to the U.N., which assumed the presidency of the 15-member Security Council for April, has said the group will hold a scheduled discussion on Ukraine on Tuesday, rather than meet on Monday as requested by Russia.
“Yesterday, in the worst English tradition, the British presidency of the U.N. Security Council did not give consent to holding a meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Bucha,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement via Telegram on Monday. “Russia today will again demand the convening of the U.N. Security Council in connection with the criminal provocations of the Ukrainian military and radicals in this city.”
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova announced Sunday that 410 civilians were found dead in recently recaptured towns near the capital as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian forces. Images emerged showing bodies in civilian clothes strewn in the streets of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.
Russia’s deputy representative to the U.N. Security Council, Dmitry Polyansky, said via Twitter on Sunday that Moscow had requested a meeting to be held on Monday “in connection with the monstrous provocation of Ukrainian radicals in Bucha.”
Apr 04, 6:01 am
Russian troops, Wagner mercenaries move into Ukraine’s Donbas region
Russian forces are continuing to consolidate and reorganize as they refocus their offensive into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update Monday.
“Russian troops, including mercenaries from the Russian state-linked Wagner private military company, are being moved into the area,” the ministry added.
Wagner is the best-known of an array of Russian mercenary groups and has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian company has deployed fighters to countries in the Middle East and Africa. U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last month that Wagner “has an interest in increasing their footprint in Ukraine.”
Apr 03, 10:37 pm
Zelenskyy speaks at Grammys: ‘Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a brief speech at the on Sunday night.
Zelenskyy, in a video message, said war is the opposite of music, but hopes soon the silence of death will be filled with the sound of music.
“The war doesn’t let us choose who survives and who stays in eternal silence. Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos,” Zelenskyy told the audience. “They sing to the wounded. In hospitals. Even to those who can’t hear them. But the music will break through anyway.”
Apr 03, 8:14 pm
7 dead, 34 wounded in Kharkiv shelling, 70% of Chernihiv destroyed
At least seven civilians are dead and 34 are wounded following shelling in Kharkiv, the region’s prosecutor’s office announced Sunday.
The shelling occurred Sunday evening in the city’s Slobidskyi district, according to the Kharkiv regional military administration Oleg Sinehubov, who added that children are among the victims.
Meanwhile, in Chernihiv, around 70% of the city has been destroyed, according to Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko, who was speaking on Ukrainian TV.
He added that businesses are not operating. Ukrainian soldiers have been able to liberate several villages in the Chernihiv region in the past couple of days.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Apr 03, 4:20 pm
‘Concentrated evil has come,’ Zelenskyy addresses civilian deaths in Bucha
Following graphic images of casualties coming out of Bucha, Ukraine, after Russian military withdrawal, Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has strong words about he called, “concentrated evil, in his daily address Sunday. Here are excerpts from that address:
“Hundreds of people were killed. Tortured, executed civilians. Corpses on the streets. Mined area. Even the bodies of the dead were mined!”
“Concentrated evil has come to our land. Murderers. Torturers. Rapists. Looters. Who call themselves the army. And who deserve only death after what they did.”
“I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of the killed people in Bucha, in Irpin, in Hostomel. What did they do? Why were they killed? What did the man who was riding his bicycle down the street do? Why were ordinary civilians in an ordinary peaceful city tortured to death? Why were women strangled after their earrings were ripped out of their ears? How could women be raped and killed in front of children? How could their corpses be desecrated even after death? Why did they crush the bodies of people with tanks? What did the Ukrainian city of Bucha do to your Russia? How did all this become possible?”
“All partners of Ukraine will be informed in detail about what happened in the temporarily occupied territory of our state. War crimes in Bucha and other cities during the Russian occupation will also be considered by the UN Security Council on Tuesday.”
Zelenslyy also invited former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Ukraine to witness the carnage.
“We do not blame the West. We do not blame anyone but the specific Russian military who did this against our people,” Zelenskyy, who has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO allies to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine, a measure so far, that President Joe Biden and other Western leaders have refused to do, said.
While host Jerrod Carmichael said in his monologue that he was over talking about Will Smith‘s slap of Chris Rock at the Oscars, Saturday Night Live was all about it.
“I’m not gonna talk about it,” the stand-up first said, referring to the incident only as “it.”
Carmichael marveled that the incident had, at that point, “it” only happened six days ago, and yet it feels like we’ve all been talking about it forever.
“Like, doesn’t it feel like it happened when we were all in high school?” He added, “It feels like it happened somewhere between Jamiroquai and 9-11.”
That said, the sketch show teed off on the incident a few times, with one sketch that had Carmichael playing a seat filler eager to meet Chris Redd‘s Smith at the show, only to become less enthused as the “it” played out in real time.
Jost’s co-host Michael Che noted, “Love makes you do crazy things. You know what else makes you do crazy things? Crazy.”
As for Smith’s resigning from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences after the attack, Jost joked, “He wasn’t going to, but then Jada gave him that look.”
Che and Jost also welcomed Kenan Thompson to the Update desk, playing O.J. Simpson, who in real life had opined.
As O.J., Thompson said, “I mean, Will, I don’t want to say that you’ve got rage issues, but if the glove fits…”
The Sony Pictures vampire superhero Morbius managed to fight off a critical drubbing to earn a respectable $39.1 million opening at the domestic box office, enough for the weekend’s top spot. The movie, starring Oscar-winner Jared Leto as one of Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man baddies, debuted to $84 million worldwide: Decent, but nowhere near Spider-Man:No Way Home‘s numbers, nor even another Spidey-adjacent Sony offering, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which opened to $90 million domestically last fall.
In the second-place slot this weekend is last week’s box office champ, the Channing Tatum/Sandra Bullock romantic romp The Lost City. The adventure film, which also stars Daniel Radcliffe, earned $14.8 million in its sophomore frame.
The Batman took in another $10.8 million domestically for third place. Starring Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz, it also crossed the $700 million mark globally after five weeks with $710.5 million, and counting.
Rounding out the fourth and fifth places in theaters over the weekend, respectively, were Tom Holland‘s blockbuster video game adaptation Uncharted, which earned $3.6 million, and the anime adventure Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie, which earned a bit under $2 million.
Both films are also scoring overseas: Uncharted, from Sony Pictures, has a worldwide haul of more than $234 million, while Jujutsu‘s bottom line was also boosted from foreign theaters, pushing its worldwide take to $149.1 million over the weekend.
