Gotcha! Jimin is playing one heck of an April Fool’s prank on his fellow BTS band mates and their fans by taking over their Twitter account — literally.
Over 45 million people follow BTS on Twitter, but the account now belongs to Jimin and Jimin only. He changed the group’s icon and banner to images of him, with the former being of him as a baby — and he also changed their Twitter handle to his name, Jimin Park.
“I don’t know how to change it back to original,” he tweeted in Korean. “I don’t know anyway.”
But Jimin wasn’t done. He extended his prank to Instagram and pretended to be Bang Si-hyuk, the founder of their label, BigHit Music. Just as he did on Twitter, Jimin changed his profile image to that of Si-hyuk and updated his bio to “Father of BTS” in Korean.
As of late Friday morning, neither profile has been changed back to normal.
In conjunction with the prize, Bono received an award of $50,000 to donate to the charities of his choice, which he bestowed on the ONE and (RED) organizations he co-founded.
During his acceptance speech, Bono talked about his passion for rock music, which is all about freedom and liberation, drawing parallels to the ideals of the U.S. and to Ukraine’s current fight for freedom against its Russian invaders.
Reflecting on growing in Ireland during a time of great conflict in that country, Bono noted, “We looked to America. We saw a country with its own long-running arguments, its own injustices. We knew this promised land wasn’t always keeping to that promise. We knew America wasn’t living up to all its ideals, but the fact is America had ideals.”
He continued, “We knew that because you wrote them down, you cited them, you held yourself to account on them. They shaped the struggle for civil rights and women’s rights and gay rights. I don’t know how, but I seemed to know that America wasn’t just a country. I felt it was an idea.”
In honoring Bono with the Fulbright Prize, Justice Cynthia A. Baldwin, Fulbright Association Board Chair, said, “The purpose of the Fulbright Prize is to recognize those who promote peace through greater understanding among peoples, cultures, and nations, and there’s no doubt that Bono embodies the best of leadership in times of unrelenting global crises and challenges.”
You can watch a video of the presentation at the Fulbright Association’s YouTube channel.
Chris Rock apparently isn’t tolerating fans’ negative reactions to Will Smith.
During his stand-up show at The Wilbur Theatre in Boston on Thursday night, the comedian shut down an audience member who yelled “f*** Will Smith!”, instead replying “no, no, no, no,” according to People. This after fans at his first show at the Wilbur on Wednesday, his first live appearance since Smith slapped him during the Academy Awards, started chanting Smith’s name, which Rock ignored.
However, Rockdid address the incident during the Wednesday show, saying that he’s “still processing what happened” and declaring, “I haven’t talked to anyone, despite what you’ve heard.”
During the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night, Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith‘s bald head, which she shaved due to alopecia, which causes hair loss. Her husband reacted to the joke by walking onstage and slapping Rock across the face, after which he returnedg to his seat and twice shouted, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f****** mouth!”
Later in the ceremony, Smith won his first Academy Award, for Best Actor for King Richard.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to tout the nation’s economic recovery when he delivers remarks from the White House on Friday.
U.S. employers added 431,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.
Though the March report came in slightly below economists’ expectations, the numbers for January and February were revised higher to show 95,000 more jobs added in those months.
Notable job gains continued in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, retail trade and manufacturing.
The labor force participation rate, or the number of people in the economy looking for work, is inching almost back to where it was before the pandemic. As employees head back to the office, teleworking fell to 10% from 13% the previous month.
March marks the 11th consecutive month of job growth above 400,000. According to The Wall Street Journal, this is the strongest job growth in the U.S. since 1939.
More than 19.9 million of the 22 million jobs lost at the peak of the pandemic have now been recovered, with economists expecting a full recovery by the summer.
“The March jobs report was right down the fairway – lots of jobs, lower unemployment, and higher labor force participation. The job market is rip-roaring. While not quite back to full-employment, the economy is close, and at the current pace of job growth will be there by summer,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, wrote on Twitter. “But it is somewhat disquieting in that the job market must cool off quickly, or inflation, our number one economic problem, will soon be a much bigger one.”
The report, while strong, comes amid soaring gasoline prices and 40-year high inflation, which has cost Biden in the polls ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Seventy percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of inflation, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve just two weeks ago raised short-term interest rates for the first time since 2018 and said it will raise them six more times this year in an attempt to offset inflation.
Kiefer Sutherland commands a Black Ops team in the new film The Contractor, which features Chris Pine and Ben Foster as members of his covert ranks.
Their assignment takes Pine’s Sergeant James Harper deep undercover on a mission involving a potentially lethal virus…an all-too familiar scenario, even though it was filmed pre-pandemic.
“The signs were coming,” Sutherland tells ABC Audio. “We had been warned about a virus for the last 15 years. I think it’s very sad when writers using their imagination, taking current events and kind of going, ‘Well, this is the worst circumstance/scenario that could possibly happen so I’ll write it in that direction,’ and then having it come true.”
The movie also shines a light on conditions facing soldiers returning home from battle. Pine’s character is damaged, suffering both the physical and mental traumas of war.
“Regardless of how strong these people are, how well trained they are, they become emotionally, incredibly vulnerable,” Sutherland says, adding that more work needs to be done to help veterans.
“This has been an ongoing discussion since World War I,” Sutherland adds. “As a society, we need to do more for our veterans to deal with PTSD and all of the shell shock, all of the different kind of nomenclatures that we have for…these issues. We need to try and do better.”
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. employers added 431,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, the latest figures released Friday by the Labor Department show.
The biggest increases in employment in March occurred in leisure and hospitality (112,000) followed by professional and business services (102,000), retail trade (49,000) and manufacturing (38,000), according to the Labor Department.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped slightly from 3.8% in February to 3.6% in March.
(NEW YORK) — As many of us continue to spring into a new season, retailers such as Bloomingdale’s have continued to give us more reasons to refresh our wardrobes.
The department store has kicked off its Friends & Family sale, allowing shoppers to save up to 25% on marked items.
Whether you are in the market for a new dress or you’re looking to add some new denim to your wardrobe, now is the time to do it — at a fraction of the cost.
Any item labeled “FRIENDS & FAMILY: 25% OFF DISCOUNT APPLIED IN BAG” is eligible for the store’s sales event, which runs through April 3.
Get ready, Little Monsters, because Lady Gaga is going to take over the Grammy stage.
Varietyreports that Mother Monster is the latest artist to join an already jam-packed, star-studded performance lineup on music’s biggest night this Sunday.
It’s already a big night for Gaga, because she’s been nominated for five awards: Album of the Year and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her Tony Bennett collaborative work Love for Sale, as well as Record of the Year, Best Pop/Duo Performance, and Best Music Video for their song “I Get a Kick Out of You.”
While it’s unknown if Bennett will join Gaga on the Grammy stage because of his health, the two previously took it over in 2014 to perform “Cheek to Cheek.” The legendary crooner is battling Alzheimer’s Disease and last performed with Gaga at Radio City Music Hall over the summer. That concert aired on CBS, titled One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.
Aside from the “Applause” singer, other artists slated to perform at the upcoming Grammys are Olivia Rodrigo, Silk Sonic, John Legend, Carrie Underwood and many others.
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards, hosted by Trevor Noah, air Sunday night starting at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
Actress Taraji P. Henson and NBA player Chris Paul are among those that President Bidenannounced on Wednesday as members of the newly formed HBCU President’s Board of Advisors.
The members of the board will work alongside Biden on the initiative’s mission to “increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education to its students and continue serving as engines of opportunity.”
Henson, who attended the Washington, D.C. HBCU Howard University, shared the news on Instagram with an old photo of her younger self in a Howard baseball cap.
“I am excited to announce that President Biden has appointed me to serve on his HBCU Board of Advisors,” the Empire star said. “Since taking office, the President and Vice President Harris have invested $5.8 Billion in HBCUs and I look forward to working with them to continue efforts to support these important institutions.”
The Biden-Harris administration launched the HBCU initiative, formally titled the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities, in September of last year. According to the White House, its aim is to “promote a variety of modern solutions for HBCUs, recognizing that HBCUs are not a monolith, and that the opportunities and challenges relevant to HBCUs are as diverse as the institutions themselves and the communities they serve.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black, first woman and first person of South Asian heritage to ascend to the role, graduated from Howard University in 1986. She is also a member of the Black Greek organization Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ new album Unlimited Love is here, and so is the cinematic video for their new single “These Are the Ways.”
In the clip, singer Anthony Kiedis plays a man who’s shoplifting food to feed his pregnant wife. When a cop spots him, he runs out the door, jumps in his car and leads the cops on a chase. After ditching the car, he escapes on foot.
The rest of the clip shows the cops chasing Kiedis through a variety of houses, motel rooms and apartments, past the residents who are engaged in everyday activities like vacuuming, having dinner, having sex and having a party. Meanwhile, the band is shown playing the song in a motel room.
At the end, Anthony manages to slow the cops down with an overturned laundry cart, and seemingly escapes to shoplift another day. “These are the ways when you come from America,” he sings.
Unlimited Love features guitarist John Frusciante back on board and, for the first time in years, production by Rick Rubin, who was behind the board for Blood Sugar Sex Magik, One Hot Minute, Californication and many other albums.
Speaking of the Chili Peppers’ continued relevance, Kiedis tells the Los Angeles Times, “It’s nice not to feel like the world has passed you by. I love it when my son’s friends put on their playlists and we’re on there with Kid Cudi or someone.”
