The new Disney+ film Better Nate Than Ever is about a musical theater loving teen who is trying to live out his dream of someday being on Broadway.
Nate, the main character of the film — played by Rueby Wood — is also gay, and writer/director Tim Federle tells ABC Audio his hope is that it “causes discussion” and “bring some eyeballs to a movie that might not have light sabers or Marvel characters or Homer Simpson.”
What Better Nate Than Ever does have, says Federle, is Friends alum Lisa Kudrow “and a whole bunch of heart.”
What doesn’t show up in the film is any mention of the word “gay,” and it wasn’t overt for a reason.
Notes Federle, “I’m not sure how many things are overt when you’re 13. So when I was 13, I knew I was different, and I knew that I was probably trending toward identifying as gay. I certainly wasn’t ready to say the word out loud.”
“If it’s a word that some people are still afraid to say, then certainly when you were at your most vulnerable, which for many of us is when you’re in seventh grade, you’re going to be really careful with how far you put yourself out there,” he continues. “So I see Nate’s journey in the movie as taking a step toward who he will become.”
As for the film’s message, it’s pretty simple: “No matter what your dream is, chess player…an animator…president of United States — what you need more than anything is people around you who get you and encourage you to kind of step into your own light,” he explains. “And that, to me, is what this is really about.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
Better Nate Than Ever starts streaming today on Disney+.
(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 Wednesday on Day 36:
Russians being hunted as they withdraw from Kyiv area
The U.S. continues to see roughly 20% of the Russian forces that were arrayed against Kyiv repositioning away from the capital, the official said. And Ukrainian forces are attacking these troops as they withdraw from the area.
“As these forces begin to reposition, the Ukrainians are moving against them,” the official said.
Most of the Russian forces that are repositioning were located to the north and northwest of Kyiv. Most notably, they seem to have abandoned Hostomel airport, which has been a site of intense fighting at various points since the beginning of the invasion.
“We believe that they have very likely abandoned Hostomel airfield,” the official said.
Although some troops are repositioning, long-range strikes on Kyiv continue.
“Despite the rhetoric of de-escalation, we’re still observing artillery fire and airstrikes in and around Kyiv,” the official said.
Shifting focus to Donbas
“This repositioning that they’re doing around Kyiv and other places in the north, and this reprioritization on the Donbas, clearly indicates that they know they have failed to take the capital city, that they know they have been under increased pressure elsewhere around the country,” the official said.
While Russia might be dedicating more forces to taking control of the Donbas region, the Ukrainians are primed to make it a tough fight.
“The Ukrainians know the territory very, very well. They have a lot of forces still there, and they’re absolutely fighting very hard for that area, as they have over the last eight years,” the official said. “So just because they’re going to prioritize it and put more force there or more energy there doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for them.”
Russian ships can hit Donbas
While there are still no signs of any imminent amphibious landings, Russia has several ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov that could be used to threaten the Donbas region with cruise missiles, the official said.
Putin not getting full picture from advisers
“Our assessment is that the planning for this war was done with a very small circle of people, and that Mr. Putin’s advisers do not count many. And, you know, our assessment is that they have not been completely honest with him about how it’s going,” the official said.
The official said Russian President Vladimir Putin has kept to a “very, very close circle,” a leadership style that inherently limits access to information.
“I can’t account for the fact that the people advising him have chosen to obstruct certain information or omit certain information. All we can say is we don’t believe that he has been getting the full picture,” the official said.
Odesa under blockade
“We know that the Russians have continued to blockade Odesa,” the official said. “So obviously it’s having it’s having an economic impact there.”
Kherson contested
“We assess that they’re still fighting over Kherson. We know that the Russians are in the city, but we aren’t prepared to call it for one side or the other at this point. I mean, it had been in Russian control, but the Ukrainians are attempting to retake Kherson, so it’s still being fought over,” the official said.
Bombardment of Mariupol continues
“I don’t have an update on the degree to which a cease-fire is being applied in Mariupol. What I try to give you is what we’ve seen, you know, in the last 24 hours since we last talked, and we have continued to see Mariupol will come under airstrikes,” the official said.
(NEW YORK) — The body of a Nevada teenager who was allegedly kidnapped from a Walmart parking lot over two weeks ago has been found, authorities said.
Naomi Irion, 18, was last seen inside her car outside a Walmart in Fernley, Nevada, outside Reno, on March 12, according to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. Surveillance video captured a man getting into the driver’s seat of her car and leaving in an unknown direction with Irion in the passenger seat.
A tip regarding her disappearance led investigators to a remote part of neighboring Churchill County on Tuesday, where they found a “possible gravesite” and recovered the body of a woman from the scene, authorities said. On Wednesday, the remains were identified as Irion’s by the Washoe County Medical Examiners Office.
Her death is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said Thursday.
“The exact cause of death is known however cannot be released at this time as the circumstances around that event if released would compromise the ongoing investigation,” the Lyon County and Churchill County sheriff’s offices said in a statement.
No further information is being released at this time due to the ongoing investigation, authorities said.
“We would like to extend our sympathy and condolences to the Irion family and thank all the volunteers for their hard work in trying to find Naomi and bring closure to the family,” the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office and the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said in a joint statement.
Irion was waiting for a shuttle bus on March 12 around 5 a.m. to take her to her job at Panasonic Energy of North America in the Reno area. Her brother reported her missing the following day when she did not come home from work.
The sheriff’s office initially characterized her disappearance as “suspicious in nature.” After locating her car on March 15 in an industrial park about a mile from the Walmart, the sheriff’s office said investigators found evidence suggesting her disappearance was “criminal in nature.”
A suspect in the alleged kidnapping was arrested last week. Troy Driver, 41, of Fallon, Nevada, has been charged with first-degree kidnapping and is being held on $750,000 bail following his first court appearance Wednesday, according to Reno ABC affiliate KOLO.
The FBI was offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Irion’s location. The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office also released multiple photos and a video of the man authorities say entered Irion’s car in hopes of identifying him.
Driver’s next hearing is scheduled for April 5, KOLO reported.
Screens saluting Taylor Hawkins at the Estereo Picnic festival in Bogotá, Colombia; JUAN PABLO PINO/AFP via Getty Images
Foo Fighters are up for three awards this Sunday night at the Grammys, but should they win, reportedly, they won’t be in the house to accept them.
The band was originally scheduled to perform on the telecast, but Rolling Stone has learned that they will no longer appear, following the March 25 death of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Foo Fighters have also canceled all their upcoming tour dates.
At Sunday’s ceremony, which airs on CBS, Dave Grohl and company are up for Best Rock Performance for “Making a Fire,” Best Rock Song for “Waiting on a War” and Best Rock Album for Medicine at Midnight.
A CBS official told Variety this week that Hawkins memory will be “honored in some way” at the Grammys, adding, “We want to figure out what is the right thing to do that is respectful to everyone involved. We’re patient. We’ll be planning right up until the very end.”
(WASHINGTON) — Congress could soon send to the president’s desk a bill that would cap the cost of the lifesaving drug insulin at $35 per month — a move that could significantly reduce and rein in out-of-pocket drug costs for millions of Americans with diabetes.
The House approved the bill Thursday by a vote of 232-193, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.
The bill now heads to the Senate, and it could be taken up in the upper chamber in a matter of weeks if there is bipartisan agreement.
Experts say it costs less than $10 a vial to manufacture, yet there are still American families with insurance paying hundreds of dollars per vial of insulin.
Currently, costs for patients can range from $334 to $1,000 a month for insulin, according to a 2020 Kaiser Family Foundation report.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 37.3 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, which is about 11% of the U.S. population. Out of the nearly 40 million people who have diabetes — about 25% or 7.4 million Americans need insulin. Many people with diabetes are prescribed insulin, either because their bodies do not produce insulin (Type 1 diabetes) or do not use insulin properly (Type 2 diabetes).
The bill to cap the cost of insulin was originally a part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” domestic policy agenda, but since that massive piece of legislation is stalled in the Senate, lawmakers decided to move unilaterally on this standalone bill specifically addressing insulin.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on Wednesday that it is “inexcusable” people are being charged exorbitant prices for “a lifesaving and life-sustaining drug whose costs [have] not increased and whose research costs have been amortized a very long period of time ago.”
Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan, one of the authors of the House bill, said it’s “outrageous that a single vial of insulin costs up to $1,000, when the medication costs just a few dollars to make.”
The bill caps cost-sharing for a month’s supply of insulin starting in 2023 at whichever amount is lower: $35, or 25% of a plan’s negotiated price, according to the bill’s text. The bill does not lower the overall price of insulin; it would likely shift more of the cost onto insurers and employers.
Supporters of the bill say it will save lives by making insulin affordable for millions of Americans, many of whom now reduce the amount they take or skip doses, resulting in far more costly visits to emergency rooms and the hospital.
Grateful Dead spin-off group Dead & Company has announced plans for a new U.S. summer tour that currently features 20 dates, running from a June 11 concert at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles through a two-night stand July 15-16 at Citi Field in New York City.
The trek features several other two-show engagements — on June 13-14 in Mountain View, California; June 17-18 in Boulder, Colorado; and June 24-25 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 8, at 10 a.m. local time via DeadandCompany.com. Tickets will be made available through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program, which you can register for now through Sunday, April 3, at 12 p.m. PT. A Verified Fan pre-sale will begin on Tuesday, April 5, at 10 a.m. local time and run through Thursday, April 7, at 10 p.m. local time.
In addition, Dead & Company is offering various enhanced experience and travel packages, which go on sale April 5 at 10 a.m. local time. Visit CIDEntertainment.com for more details.
Also on the new trek, the band will continue its sustainability partnership with the nonprofit organization REVERB, and has committed to a comprehensive carbon offset program while also encouraging fans to take action to help the environment via the organization’s Music Climate Revolution campaign.
The summer trek will mark Dead & Company’s seventh tour since the band formed in 2015. The group’s lineup features Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, as well as singer/guitarist John Mayer, ex-Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge, and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti.
In January, Dead & Company were forced to cancel their planned annual Playing in the Sand destination festival in Mexico because of spiking COVID-19 cases, including Mayer.
Will Packer, the producer of this year’s historic-for-the-wrong-reasons Oscars telecast, will appear on Friday’s edition of Good Morning America.
GMA‘s T.J. Holmes will interview the producer in the wake of Will Smith‘s on-air assault of Chris Rock, and his controversial subsequent accepting of his Best Actor trophy for King Richard.
World News Tonight with David Muir will air a preview clip tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
This development comes as reports swirl that Smith may not have been told to leave the Dolby Theatre after he smacked Chris Rock, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences alleged.
The gossip site TMZ reported Thursday that Academy members couldn’t reach a timely decision as to whether or not Smith should be allowed to accept his trophy in person.
In fact, according to the site, it was Packer who allowed Smith to stay, TMZ claims.
(NEW YORK) — Police are seeking a suspect in an assault on a New York City subway train that is being investigated as a hate crime after the assailant allegedly used an anti-gay slur.
The New York Police Department recently released video and images of the attack, which it said occurred March 19 on an uptown A train in Manhattan.
The assailant approached the 22-year-old male victim on the train as it approached the 190th Street subway station at around 2:22 p.m., police said.
“The unidentified individual sat across from the victim and stated ‘I wish I had my pepper spray’ before spitting at him,” the NYPD said in a statement.
The suspect then reportedly said, “I have to start carrying my pepper spray” before spitting at the victim again, police said.
When the victim stood up, the assailant “charged” at him and “grabbed him by the hair before punching him several times in the face and head,” police said.
An apparent cellphone video of the attack released by police showed the perpetrator punching the victim on the moving train.
“The perpetrator then ripped hair from the victim’s head and stated ‘I’m sick of all you f—,'” police said.
The victim was transported to a nearby hospital in stable condition with cuts to his head, the NYPD said. He also lost hair during the attack.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.
Police are also seeking a suspect in a separate subway attack that occurred Wednesday afternoon at a station in Manhattan. The suspect slashed a 47-year-old man on the arm before fleeing the Wall Street 2-train station, police said.
The city has increased the police presence in the subways in an effort to reduce crime in the public transit system since Mayor Eric Adams took office earlier this year. The killing of 40-year-old Michelle Go, who died after a stranger pushed her in front of an oncoming train, drew further attention to subway safety concerns.
“While we are by no means out of the woods, and there is a lot of progress that needs to be made on subway safety, I just want to acknowledge that the work has begun,” MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said at an MTA board meeting Wednesday. “Serious effort is underway.”
Anyone with information on the incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 or online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org.
(NEW YORK) — Skippy Foods announced a voluntary recall of some peanut butter products due to the possibility that a limited number of jars may contain small fragment of stainless steel from a piece of manufacturing equipment, according to a statement released by the Food and Drug Administration.
The recall includes a limited number of dates of Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut, Skippy Reduced Fat Chunky Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter Blended with Plant Protein. The recalled items have use by dates from early May 2023.
The products were sold in 18 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
There have been no consumer complaints to date and all retailers that have received the affected product have been notified.
No other sizes, varieties or packages of Skippy brand peanut butter or peanut butter spreads are included in this recall.
“From our family to yours, we want you to know that we take the quality of our products very seriously and apologize to our fans for this situation,” Skippy said in a statement. “Our company is committed to product quality and will continue to invest in our processes to ensure the quality and wholesomeness of our products.”
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
It looks like the people behind the Golden Raspberry Awards don’t want to add insult to injury.
The Oscars-spoofing organization recently “honored” Bruce Willis with his own historic category — “Worst Performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie,” for a series of eight straight-to-streaming films.
However, the Razzies have announced they’ve had an official change of heart in light of the revelation the Die Hard star is retiring because he is suffering from the degenerative cognitive disorder aphasia.
“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” said co-founders John Wilson and Mo Murphy in a statement. “If someone’s medical condition is a factor in their decision making and/or their performance, we acknowledge that it is not appropriate to give them a Razzie.”
Incidentally, this year’s Razzies bestowed Will Smith with it’s “Redeemer” award, following his Oscar-winning performance in King Richard.
ABC Audio tried to reach the pair for a comment about whether Will’s award — ironically named, considering Smith’s behavior at the Academy Awards ceremony — could also be rescinded. However, The Razzies didn’t reply as of press time.
