So, how close did Elton John come to being accidentally killed by Ed Sheeran when filming their “Merry Christmas” music video? According to the behind-the-scenes footage, pretty darn close.
Sir Elton took to Instagram on Monday to share the harrowing moment when Sheeran kicks at a bunch of presents and sends a Christmas bell sailing through the air. Thankfully, Elton is looking down at the time because he’s too busy playing the piano — so the shiny gold bell narrowly misses his head.
The moment is even slowed down to show just how close it came, with the bell whizzing past the singer’s left ear and temple.
As Elton looks up after that heavy prop clatters across his grand piano, Ed steps into frame while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
“Better luck next time, @teddysphotos,” Elton captioned the video and threw in the crying laughing emoji.
Sheeran previously revealed that he nearly took out the 74-year-old pop-rock legend when speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about the “Merry Christmas” music video.
“I kick a present, but the present had a big metal bell on top of it…the bell flew past his head and would’ve cracked him in the head,” Ed admitted, saying that it almost “killed him.”
(NEW YORK) — For years, thousands of sexual assault kits sat on the shelves in Wisconsin crime labs, leaving victims and investigators desperately waiting for crucial data, according to state officials.
But new legislation that went into effect Monday aims to clear up this backlog and provide victims with more information about their investigations.
Gov. Tony Evers signed two bills that have been in the works since 2019 that establish a detailed procedure for the collection and processing of sexual assault kits. The bills also create a tracking system where victims can see the progress of the tests.
“Victims and survivors of sexual assault have already gone through the unimaginable, and their path to justice should never be obstructed or delayed,” Evers said in a statement.
Under the new laws, when a health care professional collects sexual assault evidence, a victim will have the choice to report the incident to law enforcement.
If the victim chooses to report the incident, officers have up to 72 hours to collect the kit from the health care professional, and then 14 days to send the kit to the state crime laboratories for analysis.
If the victim chooses not to report the incident, the health care provider is required to send the kit to the state crime laboratories for storage within 72 hours. The kit will remain in storage for up to 10 years, and if a victim reconsiders reporting the incident, the kit will be tested.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice will track the kits and maintain the database for the victims.
The two bills were approved by the Wisconsin state Senate in 2019, but didn’t pass in both houses until this year.
Wisconsin is the latest state to address its sexual assault kit backlog.
Virginia and Missouri have also taken efforts to streamline the process and test thousands of kits that were in storage at labs in their jurisdictions.
(NEW YORK) — A suburban New York man threatened to attack the 2021 New York City Pride March with “firepower” that would “make the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting look like a cakewalk,” federal prosecutors said Monday.
Robert Fehring, 74, of Bayport, New York, allegedly sent at least 60 letters threatening to assault, shoot and bomb LGBTQ-affiliated individuals, organizations and businesses. He was arrested Monday morning.
A search of his home last month turned up photographs from a 2021 Pride event in East Meadow, New York, two loaded shotguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, two stun guns and a stamped envelope addressed to an LGBTQ-affiliated attorney containing the remains of a dead bird, federal prosecutors said.
“As alleged, the defendant’s hate-filled invective and threats of violence directed at members of the LGBTQ community have no place in our society and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said.
Forty-nine people were killed, and dozens were injured in the mass shooting Fehring reportedly referenced at Pulse nightclub, an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June 2016.
Fehring has reportedly been sending these kinds of threatening letters since at least 2013, according to the unsealed criminal complaint. In them, he threatened the use of firearms and explosives.
Along with the letter threatening the New York City Pride March — in which he wrote there would “be radio-controlled devices placed at numerous strategic places” — the criminal complaint also quoted from a letter Fehring allegedly sent to the organizer of the Pride event in East Meadow.
“[W]e were right there you…FREAK!!! They couldn’t get a shot off at you, slithering around the back stage area like a snake. Too many cops. Very disappointed. But your time has come. … They are out to KILL you….and your boyfriend. You are being watched. No matter how long it takes, you will be taken out…. high-powered bullet…. bomb….knife…. whatever it takes,” the letter said.
Fehring will appear before a judge Monday afternoon.
(NEW YORK) — The family of Emmett Till is expected to address the final report from the FBI and Justice Department’s investigation into Till’s 1955 murder at a press conference on Monday.
Till, 14, was killed while visiting family in Mississippi after he was accused of whistling at and making sexual advances toward a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. He was kidnapped, badly beaten and found in the Tallahatchie River several days later.
Carolyn Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother J.W. Milam were charged with Till’s murder and acquitted by an all-white jury. The two men later confessed to the killing in a paid magazine interview months later.
Rev. Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin — who was 16 at the time — was in the house when Roy Bryant and Milam came looking for Till.
“I’m waiting to be shot, and I close my eyes,” Parker recalled in an interview with ABC News for an upcoming documentary series “Let the World See.” “I wasn’t shot, I opened my eyes and they’re passing by me. The guy said we’re looking for fat boy, the fat boy from Chicago.”
“They left with him, and that’s the last time we saw him alive,” he added.
Till’s murder came at a time of intense racial unrest and animosity. When his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, demanded an open casket at his funeral, it helped spark the civil rights movement.
The Justice Department opened an investigation into Till’s killing in 2004 but determined that there was no federal jurisdiction due to the statute of limitations. The investigation was originally closed in 2007 after a local grand jury declined to indict anyone on state charges.
It was reopened in 2018, following the publication of Timothy Tyson’s book “The Blood of Emmett Till,” in which Carolyn Bryant revealed she had not been telling the truth when she testified that Till had grabbed her and uttered obscenities. The Bryant family now deny that she had recanted her allegations.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
The Critics Choice Association announced its picks for TVs best in 2021, and HBO’s drama Succession led the pack with eight nominations. Another HBO series, Mare of Easttown earned five, tied with Paramount+’s drama Evil.
All told, HBO led the pack with 20 nominations overall, followed by Netflix’s 18.
Disney+’s WandaVision earned four nominations, tying with Apple TV+’s Emmy winner Ted Lasso, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Paramount+’s The Good Fight and NBC’s This Is Us.
Succession earned nominations for Best Drama Series, as well as nods for Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong in the Best Actor in a Drama Series category. J. Smith-Cameron and Sarah Snook will similarly be competing against each other in the Best Actress category, while their co-stars Kieran Culkin, Nicholas Braun, and Matthew Macfadyen are all vying for the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series prize.
Easttown was nominated for Best Limited Series, with its Oscar and Emmy-winning lead Kate Winslet nominated in the Best Actress category. Emmy winner Evan Peters was given a nod in the Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series category; Jean Smart earned that nomination in the actress category.
Evil was hailed in the Best Drama Category, with nominations for leads Mike Colter and co-star Katja Herbers in the lead actor categories. Their co-stars Andrea Martin and Christine Lahti were nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
The 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards will be broadcast liveon The CW and TBS on Sunday, January 9, 2022, from the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel.
Here’s a list of nominations in the major categories:
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Evil (Paramount+)
For All Mankind (Apple TV+)
The Good Fight (Paramount+)
Pose (FX)
Squid Game (Netflix)
Succession (HBO)
This Is Us (NBC)
Yellowjackets (Showtime)
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (NBC)
Mike Colter – Evil (Paramount+)
Brian Cox – Succession (HBO)
Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game (Netflix)
Billy Porter – Pose (FX)
Jeremy Strong – Succession (HBO)
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Uzo Aduba – In Treatment (HBO)
Chiara Aurelia – Cruel Summer (Freeform)
Christine Baranski – The Good Fight (Paramount+)
Katja Herbers – Evil (Paramount+)
Melanie Lynskey – Yellowjackets (Showtime)
MJ Rodriguez – Pose (FX)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Nicholas Braun – Succession (HBO)
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Kieran Culkin – Succession (HBO)
Justin Hartley – This Is Us (NBC)
Matthew Macfadyen – Succession (HBO)
Mandy Patinkin – The Good Fight (Paramount+)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Andrea Martin – Evil (Paramount+)
Audra McDonald – The Good Fight (Paramount+)
Christine Lahti – Evil (Paramount+)
J. Smith-Cameron – Succession (HBO)
Sarah Snook – Succession (HBO)
Susan Kelechi Watson – This Is Us (NBC)
BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Great (Hulu)
Hacks (HBO Max)
Insecure (HBO)
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
The Other Two (HBO Max)
Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu)
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Iain Armitage – Young Sheldon (CBS)
Nicholas Hoult – The Great (Hulu)
Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Kayvan Novak – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Elle Fanning – The Great (Hulu)
Renée Elise Goldsberry – Girls5eva (Peacock)
Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Sandra Oh – The Chair (Netflix)
Issa Rae – Insecure (HBO)
Jean Smart – Hacks (HBO Max)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ncuti Gatwa – Sex Education (Netflix)
Brett Goldstein – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Harvey Guillén – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Brandon Scott Jones – Ghosts (CBS)
Ray Romano – Made for Love (HBO Max)
Bowen Yang – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Hannah Einbinder – Hacks (HBO Max)
Kristin Chenoweth – Schmigadoon! (Apple TV+)
Molly Shannon – The Other Two (HBO Max)
Cecily Strong – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Josie Totah – Saved By the Bell (Peacock)
Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
BEST LIMITED SERIES
Dopesick (Hulu)
Dr. Death (Peacock)
It’s a Sin (HBO Max)
Maid (Netflix)
Mare of Easttown (HBO)
Midnight Mass (Netflix)
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video)
WandaVision (Disney+)
BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Come From Away (Apple TV+)
List of a Lifetime (Lifetime)
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Amazon Prime Video)
Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Lifetime)
Oslo (HBO)
Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas (The Roku Channel)
BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Olly Alexander – It’s a Sin (HBO Max)
Paul Bettany – WandaVision (Disney+)
William Jackson Harper – Love Life (HBO Max)
Joshua Jackson – Dr. Death (Peacock)
Michael Keaton – Dopesick (Hulu)
Hamish Linklater – Midnight Mass (Netflix)
BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Danielle Brooks – Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Lifetime)
The clip was directed by filmmaker Jack McCoy and is dedicated to the ocean charity Surfrider Foundation Australia and the organization’s work spreading awareness about the importance of protecting the coastlines from pollution and other environmental disruptions.
The video features thrilling slow-motion footage of acclaimed free surfer Craig Anderson and other surfers riding giant waves.
McCartney, who previously has collaborated with McCoy on other videos with ocean-conservation themes, contacted Jack about making a clip for “Slidin’,” a song from his 2020 solo album McCartney III that he felt lent itself to be accompanied by surfing and ocean scenes.
“As soon as I heard the song I said to myself ‘Craig Anderson’,” McCoy explained. “I called on some of Craig’s friends to provide me with some amazing footage and made what became the official video for the track.”
He added, “With Paul’s blessing, Craig and I chose to dedicate the video to Surfrider Foundation to help beat the drum with their ongoing fight for our coastline, in particular the current fight to STOP PEP11, a proposal to drill for oil and gas off [Australia’s New South Wales] coastline.”
McCoy ended up making another “Slidin'” video using O’Brien’s remix for the song, which Ed created for the recent McCartney III Imagined compilation.
O’Brien noted that creating the McCartney remix “was a lot of fun,” recalling, “The winter was dark and a second lockdown was imminent, but working on this track with [producer] Paul Epworth was a moment of light.”
McCoy also is working on a new video project with McCartney in support of Surfrider Foundation Australia that features nine world-class free surfers.
(NEW YORK) — Billionaire investor and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt was forced to surrender $70 million worth of stolen antiquities and comply with a lifetime ban on collecting antiquities on Monday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said.
Steinhardt had to give up 180 stolen antiquities, which court records said were looted and illegally smuggled out of 11 countries, trafficked by 12 criminal smuggling networks, and lacked verifiable provenance prior to appearing on the international art market.
The Larnax, a small coffin from the islands of Crete, Greece, dating back to 1400 BCE, was among the surrendered pieces.
The Larnax is valued at $1 million and was bought by Steinhardt for $575,000 in October 2016 from known antiquities trafficker Eugene Alexander, the DA said.
Payments for the piece were made using Seychelles-headquartered FAM Services and Satabank, a Malta-based financial institution that was suspended for money laundering, according to the DA’s office.
While complaining about a subpoena requesting provenance documentation for another stolen antiquity, Steinhardt pointed to the Larnax and said to an Antiquities Trafficking Unit investigator, “You see this piece? There’s no provenance for it. If I see a piece and I like it, then I buy it.”
The 180 pieces will now be returned expeditiously to their rightful owners in 11 countries: Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Turkey.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office conducted a multi-year, multi-national investigation into Steinhardt’s criminal conduct beginning in February 2017.
“For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe,” Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said Monday.
“His pursuit of ‘new’ additions to showcase and sell knew no geographic or moral boundaries, as reflected in the sprawling underworld of antiquities traffickers, crime bosses, money launderers, and tomb raiders he relied upon to expand his collection,” Vance added.
Investigators from the DA’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit learned that Steinhardt possessed looted antiquities at his apartment and office.
They initiated a grand jury criminal investigation into his acquisition, possession and sale of more than 1,000 antiquities since at least 1987.
There were 17 judicially-ordered search warrants and they conducted joint investigations with law enforcement authorities in the 11 countries mentioned above.
Vance said the investigation developed compelling evidence that 180 were stolen from their country of origin and “exhibited numerous other evidentiary indicators of looting.”
“Mr. Steinhardt is pleased that the District Attorney’s years-long investigation has concluded without any charges, and that items wrongfully taken by others will be returned to their native countries,” Steinhardt’s lawyers said in a statement Monday. “Many of the dealers from whom Mr. Steinhardt bought these items made specific representations as to the dealers’ lawful title to the items, and to their alleged provenance. To the extent these representations were false, Mr. Steinhardt has reserved his rights to seek recompense from the dealers involved.”
Most of the 180 seized antiquities first surfaced in the possession of individuals who law-enforcement authorities later determined to be antiquities traffickers — some of whom have been convicted of antiquities trafficking, and many of the seized antiquities were trafficked following civil unrest or looting.
Other items that were surrendered included the Stag’s Head Rhyton, valued currently at $3.5 million and the Ercolano Fresco, valued at $1 million.
It’s not quite that “two truths and a lie,” trope, but instead, one confirmed truth, and two more rumors for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
First, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is getting a sequel. Director Destin Daniel Cretton will return for a second film, as part of a deal with ABC News’ parent company Disney, and Marvel Studios and Hulu’s Onyx Collective, the latter of which highlights work from creatives of color. A Shang-Chi spin-off is also reportedly in the works.
Now, for the rumors. While it’s already known that Marvel Studios’ Disney+ shows can cross over to the big screen, Twitter is atwitter with rumorsHailee Steinfeld‘s Hawkeye character Kate Bishop will appear in the July, 2023 threequel Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Maybe that Pym Tech arrow in Hawkeye‘s third episode was a hint…
Another rumor making the rounds is that Marvel Comics baddie M.O.D.O.K. will also appear in Quantumania. The bobble-headed baddie, whose name stands for “Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing,” currently appears on the small screen, in the Hulu comedy that shares his name.
What has been confirmed is that Jonathan Majors‘ villain Kang will be the main antagonist in that film, after first appearing in the Disney+ series Loki.
(NEW YORK) — Medina Spirit, the winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, died of a heart attack following a workout at California’s Santa Anita Park, the horse’s trainer announced Monday.
The 3-year-old colt collapsed on the track after completing a routine morning workout and died “suddenly,” the on-site veterinary team who attended to him determined, according to a statement from Santa Anita Park.
The veterinary team took blood, hair and urine samples from the horse and sent them to the California Horse Racing Board, according to Santa Anita.
A full necropsy, as per protocol in California, will be performed at the University of California-Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine to try and ascertain the exact cause of this sudden death. The results will be released by the California Horse Racing Board, according to the Park.
Medina Spirit’s first-place finish at the Kentucky Derby was dampened by a positive drug test for betamethasone, a joint injection/anti-inflammatory medication, following the race on May 1.
The horse was found to have 21 picograms of the steroid in his system, twice the legal limit. The medication is legal but not on race day in Kentucky, Maryland and New York, the states that host the Triple Crown series.
In June, Churchill Downs suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert for two years after the positive test was confirmed.
Baffert maintained his innocence, describing the positive test as a “complete injustice” and maintaining that the steroid was used to treat a skin rash.
A topical ointment, and not an injection, led to the failed test, an attorney for trainer Bob Baffert announced on Friday, The Associated Press reported. The determination was made through urine samples tested by a lab in New York.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will determine whether the test proving the drug was given via ointment and not injection could get Medina Spirit’s positive test tossed out, the AP reported.
Medina Spirit has not been stripped of his victory. He also came in third in the Preakness Stakes.
Baffert said in a statement, “My entire barn is devastated by this news.”
“Medina Spirit was a great champion, a member of our family who was loved by all, and we are deeply mourning his loss,” Baffert said. “I will always cherish the proud and personal memories of Medina Spirit and his tremendous spirit.”
Baffert also said his “thoughts and prayers” are with Zedan Racing Stables, the owners of Medina Spirit.
“Medina Spirit will be missed by all those who worked with and cared for him,” Santa Anita said.
Churchill Downs and the California Horse Racing Board are expected to release statements on Monday.
Santa Anita Park made national headlines in 2019, after dozens of horses died at the racing facility in a single season — the majority on the main track.
The deaths prompted a task force investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office and calls from Gov. Gavin Newsrom to shut down after it did not heed the California Horse Racing Board’s recommendation to suspend racing when the death toll was at 29.
More than 40 horses died that season.
Despite the highly publicized deaths, the facility boasts a high rate of safety and considers itself the largest training facility in the U.S.
In 2019, horses raced or trained at the facility more than 420,000 times at a safety rate of 99.99%, according to the park.
ABC News’ Henderson Hewes, Cheryl Gendron and Bonnie Mclean contributed to this report.
Pentatonix is giving fans one last chance to celebrate the holidays with them. The a capella sensations unveiled plans for an all-new global livestream event, set for December 19 and 20.
The event also will offer a first in Pentatonix history. The group has never included instruments for a live concert before, but the livestream show will incorporate a piano, cello and the drums in their set.
You can watch Pentatonix: The Evergreen Experience via the Moment House, an exclusive streaming service that broadcasts events worldwide. The show will be filmed at the group’s December 11 performance in Kentucky, which will feature songs from their new holiday album Evergreen as well as some of their holiday favorites.
The group’s Scott Hoying said in a statement, “This is such a special show for us, and such a great experience to perform on our first tour in two years, so we wanted all our fans around the world to get a chance to see it.”
Tickets for the livestream event can be purchased on the Moment House website now.
If you want to see Pentatonix in person you can still catch them on tour, with tickets available on their website.
