Maren Morris says her postpartum depression helped inform the making of ‘Humble Quest’

Maren Morris says her postpartum depression helped inform the making of ‘Humble Quest’
Maren Morris says her postpartum depression helped inform the making of ‘Humble Quest’
ABC

Maren Morris’ next album, Humble Quest, comes on the heels of a global pandemic and the singer’s transition into parenthood. She and her fellow artist husband Ryan Hurd welcomed their son, Hayes, in March 2020.

The pandemic forced Maren to prioritize her mental health. “I’m pretty sure everyone in lockdown and this pandemic has had to do a temperature check on their mental health, and maybe it’ll become a more perpetual practice going forward — I hope it is,” she tells People.

Maren also experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to Hayes, another mental health challenge that caused her to grow as she worked on her new album. Her depression started to ease up when Hayes was about six months old, she explains, and therapy — and the support of Ryan — helped her make her way through it.

“I do check-ins all the time [with] therapy, which I’ve done for years, and my husband was a huge help diagnosing that, too,” she continues.

“Sometimes, it’s just someone really close to you saying, ‘Are you okay?’” the singer adds. “It’s so simple, but it kind of snaps you out of whatever fog you’re in that you think is normal, but isn’t.”

Maren and Ryan have long supported each other both professionally and musically, and they topped the country charts together with their duet, “Chasing After You.”

Maren recently posted a photo of the couple sharing a hug, captioning it ,“this album wouldn’t have happened without you.”

Humble Quest comes out Friday. Fans have already heard a handful of its songs, including lead single “Circles Around This Town.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

You Are Home: Is Harry Styles teasing a new album?

You Are Home: Is Harry Styles teasing a new album?
You Are Home: Is Harry Styles teasing a new album?
Anthony Pham via Getty Images

Harry Styles fans are convinced that the singer is teasing a new album with a mysterious online campaign.

The subject of the speculation is a website, Youarehome.co, which right now is only showing a door. When you click it, it opens, revealing a bunch of illustrations of different kinds of mushrooms.  It just so happens that the new line of products for Harry’s beauty and lifestyle brand, Pleasing, is called “Shroom Bloom.

There were also ads placed in newspapers around the world, advertising the website. Then, on Tuesday, Harry’s social accounts followed the Youarehome Twitter and Instagram accounts, indicating that there’s a link between them.

Another possible clue: those photos of Harry in London in February filming something that had him reclining on a huge bed. Because bed equals “home,” right?

Harry’a fans think all of this is pointing to new music, because Harry and his team pulled a similar stunt in 2019 to promote his single “Adore You.” In addition, Harry is headlining Coachella and doing a bunch of international tour dates, so having new music to perform and promote then would be pretty good.

Plus, Harry’s new movie Don’t Worry Darling, directed by his girlfriend, Olivia Wilde, is slated to be released this year, so that would increase interest in any new music he might have out.

Stay tuned.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 vaccine for kids: Moderna to seek emergency use authorization for vaccine in kids under 6

COVID-19 vaccine for kids: Moderna to seek emergency use authorization for vaccine in kids under 6
COVID-19 vaccine for kids: Moderna to seek emergency use authorization for vaccine in kids under 6
Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, children under age 6 may be one step closer to being eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Moderna said Wednesday it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine in young children “in the coming weeks.”

Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized in children 5 and older, but children 4 and younger don’t have access to vaccination.

Moderna released new clinical trial data showing its vaccine generated a strong immune response in children ages 6 months to 6 years old, with no significant risks.

Moderna’s vaccine in children is a two-dose, 25-microgram shot, about a quarter of the dose used for adults, given 28 days apart.

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is currently only available for people ages 18 and older.

Here are nine questions answered about the COVID-19 vaccines and kids as families seek to make the best decisions.

1. What is the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine?

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA technology, which does not enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn’t alter human DNA. Instead, it sends a genetic “instruction manual” that prompts cells to create proteins that look like the outside of the virus — a way for the body to learn and develop defenses against future infection.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine uses an inactivated adenovirus vector, Ad26, that cannot replicate. The Ad26 vector carries a piece of DNA with instructions to make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that triggers an immune response.

This same type of vaccine has been authorized for Ebola and has been studied extensively for other illnesses and for how it affects women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Neither of these vaccine platforms can cause COVID-19.

2. What is the status of vaccine eligibility for kids?

Children ages 5 and older are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine.

Children ages 12 and older are also eligible to receive a Pfizer vaccine booster shot.

Pfizer is expected to have more information on the efficacy of a three-dose regimen for kids under age 5 in March or April. The company announced in February that it would postpone its application to the FDA for a vaccine for kids under 5 and instead continue with its study on the three-dose vaccine and seek authorization when that data is available.

The two other vaccines currently available in the U.S., Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, are currently available only for people 18 years and older.

Moderna said on March 23rd it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA for its vaccine in children under age 6 “in the coming weeks.”

3. Why do kids need to be vaccinated against COVID-19?

While there have not been as many deaths from COVID-19 among children as adults, particularly adults in high-risk categories, kids can still get the virus and they can also transmit the virus to adults.

A total of 11.4 million children have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic. Child COVID-19 cases have “spiked dramatically” during the omicron variant surge, with more than 3.5 million child cases reported in January.

According to the CDC, unvaccinated 12- to 17-year-olds had an 11 times higher risk of hospitalization than fully vaccinated adolescents.

“We know that COVID does not spare kids,” ABC News medical contributor Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said in December. “Maybe it’s less severe than their adult counterparts but we also know that the virus has had real significant impacts on morbidity and mortality in kids.”

“We also know that kids play an important role as vectors of spread,” he said. “And especially in light of increases we’re seeing right now, with increases of cases in kids in record numbers, infections among kids further perpetuate community transmission and further create risks for those who would be the most vulnerable of the virus.”

4. Do kids experience the same vaccine side effects as adults?

Adolescents experienced a similar range of side effects to Pfizer’s vaccine as seen in older teens and young adults — generally seen as cold-like symptoms in the two to three days after the second dose — and had an “excellent safety profile,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in August.

None of the children in Pfizer’s clinical trials of kids ages 5-11 experienced a rare heart inflammation side effect known as myocarditis, which has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, mostly among young men.

5. Is there data showing COVID-19 vaccines are safe for kids?

The CDC released three studies in December showing COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for children.

One study, which evaluated the safety reports of more than 42,000 children ages 5 to 11 who received a Pfizer shot, found the side effects from the Pfizer vaccine were mostly mild and temporary. It also found that myocarditis, a heart inflammation side effect that has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, does not appear to be a risk.

A second study, which looked at data from 243 children ages 12 to 17 in Arizona, found the Pfizer vaccine was 92% effective at preventing infection. The study, conducted between July and December when delta was the dominant variant in the U.S., also found that adolescents who developed COVID-19 reported a lower percentage of time masked in school and time masked in the community.

The third study, also conducted when delta was dominant, found that among children ages 5 to 17 hospitalized due to COVID-19, less than 1% were fully vaccinated against the virus.

6. How effective are the vaccines in children?

Pfizer announced in late March that its clinical trials showed the vaccine was safe and 100% effective in children ages 12-15, similar to the 95% efficacy among adult clinical trial participants.

Marks confirmed on May 10 that after a trial with more than 2,000 children, Pfizer found no cases of infection among the children who had been given the vaccine and 16 cases of infection among the children who received a placebo.

No cases of COVID occurred in the 1,005 adolescents that received the vaccine, while there were 16 cases of COVID among the 978 kids who received the placebo, “thus indicating the vaccine was 100% effective in preventing COVID-19 In this trial,” said Marks.

7. Do kids get the same dose of the vaccines as adults?

In Pfizer’s clinical trial, children between 6 months and 5-years-old received two doses of 3-microgram shots, a tenth of the dose given to adults, three weeks apart.

Kids ages 5 to 11 are given a 10-micrograms dose of the Pfizer vaccine, one-third of the adolescent and adult dose. Like with adults and adolescents, the pediatric vaccine is delivered in two doses, three weeks apart.

For 12-to-15-year-olds, the FDA has authorized the same dosing as adults with the Pfizer two-dose vaccine.

The FDA and CDC have recommended the Pfizer booster shots now available for kids ages 12 and older be administered five months after the primary vaccine series.

8. Could COVID-19 vaccines impact puberty and menstruation?

There is currently no clinical evidence to suggest any of the COVID-19 vaccines can have long-term effects on puberty or fertility.

9. Where can kids get vaccinated against COVID-19?

Vaccines are accessible at pediatricians’ offices, children’s hospitals, pharmacies like CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid and school and community-based clinics.

Parents can search for appointments at Vaccines.gov to find a local provider.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Anne Flaherty, Eric Strauss, Cheyenne Haslett and Jade A. Cobern, MD, a member of the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

You’ve got a friend in me: Tom Hanks photobombs Pittsburgh wedding

You’ve got a friend in me: Tom Hanks photobombs Pittsburgh wedding
You’ve got a friend in me: Tom Hanks photobombs Pittsburgh wedding
ABC

Tom Hanks has been in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while he’s shooting the film A Man Called Otto, and he’s apparently spreading smiles wherever he goes. 

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the two-time Oscar winner spotted a wedding party at the Fairmont Pittsburgh on Saturday, and approached photographer Rachel Rowland, explaining, “My name is Tom Hanks! Can I take a photo with the bride?”

Rowland told the Post-Gazette, “We all started screaming and were pretty much in shock.”

Bride-to-be Grace Gwaltney and her bridesmaids jumped out of their limo and posed for photos with the star. “He was just as wonderful and charming as you’d assume,” Rowland told the paper. “His wife, Rita [Wilson], was there and got in some photos, too.”

The famous couple wished the bride well, and she was whisked away to walk down the aisle.

Hanks is making the rounds, evidently. Days before, stay-at-home mom Ashley Glass saw Hanks and company shooting the film next door to her Pittsburgh home, and started recording the scrum of crew members and production vehicles. To her shock, the star spotted her and her 2-year-old son Charles, and addressed them through their window. 

“Hi, buddy boy!” Hanks said, waving enthusiastically at the tyke. “You gotta see the movie when the time comes.”

“I was in shock, honestly,” she told the paper. “I couldn’t even say anything but, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!'”

What’s more, Tom and Rita apparently posed for pictures with employees of a home improvement store on Monday, when shooting moved to the location.

 

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“You’ve been punked!”: Luke Bryan’s wife pranks him on set of ‘American Idol’

“You’ve been punked!”: Luke Bryan’s wife pranks him on set of ‘American Idol’
“You’ve been punked!”: Luke Bryan’s wife pranks him on set of ‘American Idol’
ABC

Luke Bryan‘s wife Caroline got the ultimate revenge on her prankster husband. 

On this week’s episode of American IdolLuke got quite the startle when his wife showed up to his place of work, in disguise as a stagehand. It all started when the “stagehand” dressed in a face mask and black sweatshirt came on to the set, causing a ruckus as she wiped down the piano.

“Aggressive on the piano,” Luke comments. 

Later on, the mysterious person disrupts the audition of Skylar Dixon when she sets off her phone alarm and obnoxiously opens a bag of chips as Skylar is singing. That’s when fellow judge Katy Perry reaches her boiling point, marching over to the rude employee and rips the bag out of her hands.

“Who is that?” Luke asks. 

The situation quickly escalates, with Caroline in disguise approaching the table and taking back the bag of chips, sending the judges into a fury — until Katy takes off the hood to reveal that it’s Caroline.

“Oh my God,” Luke laughs, hugging his wife before throwing the bag of chips at her.

“You’ve been punked!” shouts Lionel Richie.  It turns out that Katy was in on the joke all along, too.

“After all the stuff he’s done to me, he deserves it,” Caroline tells the camera backstage with a smile.  

The couple has a history of pranking one another, with Caroline saying it started when she and Luke met in college and continues to this day with their annual Pranksmas, where they prank family and friends throughout the holiday season.

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“Deuces Are Wild” again! Aerosmith announces new Las Vegas residency dates

“Deuces Are Wild” again! Aerosmith announces new Las Vegas residency dates
“Deuces Are Wild” again! Aerosmith announces new Las Vegas residency dates
Courtesy of Live Nation Las Vegas

After being forced off the road since 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aerosmith will be getting back in the saddle this year with a new series of their “Deuces Are Wild” Las Vegas residency shows at the Dolby Live at Park MGM theater.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers have scheduled three eight-show engagements at the venue, running from June 17 to July 8, from September 14 to October 5, and from November 19 to December 11. According to a press statement, the shows will be the first concert experience presented in immersive Dolby Atmos audio technology.

For their “Deuces Are Wild” show, Aerosmith will deliver a 90-minute performance, accompanied by a 12-screen multimedia presentation that includes previously unseen visuals from the band’s archives.

“The only rust at Dolby Live is going to be on our van in the lobby!” says Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. “We are locked, cocked and loaded!”

Tickets to the new dates go on sale to the general public on Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m. PT at Ticketmaster.com/Aerosmith. Members of the band’s Aero Force One fan club can purchase pre-sale tickets starting Thursday, March 24, at 9 a.m. PT.

Citi card holders will be able to access pre-sale tickets beginning Friday, Mach 25, at 10 a.m. PT; visit CitiEntertainment.com for more details.  Pre-sale opportunites for members of the MGM Rewards loyalty program, as well as Live Nation and Ticketmaster customers, also will be available.

The last shows Aerosmith played before the pandemic began were in February 2020 as part of their residency at the Park MGM resort.

The band’s only other confirmed concert on their 2022 schedule is a previously announced September 8 show at Boston’s Fenway Park with Extreme celebrating Aerosmith’s 50th anniversary.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: US says Putin may be seeking ‘vengeance’ on Mariupol

Russia-Ukraine live updates: US says Putin may be seeking ‘vengeance’ on Mariupol
Russia-Ukraine live updates: US says Putin may be seeking ‘vengeance’ on Mariupol
FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

(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.”

Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time this week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.

Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Mar 23, 10:53 am
Sending NATO peacekeepers to Ukraine would be ‘very reckless’, Russia warns

Russia warned Wednesday that sending NATO peacekeepers to Ukraine would be “a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision.”

Last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that Poland will formally submit a proposal at the NATO summit on Thursday for a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Poland’s plans while speaking to reporters Wednesday.

“It would be a very reckless and extremely dangerous decision,” Peskov said. “A special military operation is going on, and any possible contact by our troops with NATO troops can lead to quite clear consequences that would be hard to repair.”

Mar 23, 10:32 am
Russia claims US isn’t interested in progress in Ukraine

Russia claimed Wednesday that the United States isn’t interested in the rapid progress of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

During a speech to students at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in Russia’s capital, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Washington of wanting to keep Moscow and Kyiv “in a state of hostilities” for “as long as possible.”

“Negotiations are difficult because the Ukrainian side seems to have expressed understanding of the things that should be agreed upon during the negotiations, constantly changing its position, refusing its own proposals,” Lavrov said. “It is difficult to get rid of the impression that they are being held by the hand by their American colleagues.”

He alleged “it is unprofitable” for the U.S. “that this process be completed quickly.”

“They expect to continue pumping weapons to Ukraine. Provocative statements are being made,” he added. “Apparently they want to keep us as long as possible in a state of hostilities.”

Mar 23, 10:27 am
US military aid begins to arrive in Ukraine

The first deliveries from the $800 million-military assistance that President Joe Biden authorized for Ukraine a week ago have started to arrive, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.

The military aid package includes Stinger anti-aircraft systems; Javelin anti-armor weapons; light anti-armor weapons; AT-4 anti-armor systems and tactical unmanned aerial systems.

CNN first reported the deliveries.

-ABC News’ Justin Gomez

Mar 23, 10:11 am
Video shows entire neighborhoods destroyed in Mariupol

Video has emerged showing the devastation in Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol.

Drone footage recorded Wednesday and released by a Ukrainian right-wing paramilitary group that has been incorporated into Ukraine’s National Guard shows entire neighborhoods destroyed in Mariupol. Mere shells are all that remain of buildings and smoke is still rising from some of the wreckage. The video has been verified by ABC News.

Ukrainian troops are continuing to battle persistent efforts by Russian forces to seize the strategic port city in southeastern Ukraine.

-ABC News’ Fergal Gallagher

Mar 23, 9:39 am
Russia, Ukraine agree on nine humanitarian corridors for Wednesday

Russia and Ukraine have agreed on nine humanitarian corridors to try to evacuate civilians trapped in embattled Ukrainian towns and cities on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

But the agreement does not include a safe passage from the heart of Mariupol, Vereshchuk said in an address Wednesday, adding that she hopes people wishing to leave the besieged southeastern port city can make it to nearby Berdyansk, where humanitarian aid awaits them. She said 24 buses are on standby to transport people.

Some of the previous attempts to evacuate civilians from Mariupol have failed after Russian forces continued to shell the city, despite agreeing to temporary cease-fires.

Mar 23, 9:17 am
Belarus expels several Ukrainian diplomats, closes Ukrainian Consulate General

Belarus announced Wednesday its decision to expel several Ukrainian diplomats and close the Ukrainian Consulate General in Brest.

“The Ukrainian embassy will continue to work in Belarus in a 1+4 format, that is, an ambassador and four staff members,” Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anatoly Glaz said in a statement, according to the state-run news agency BelTA.

Mar 23, 8:27 am
Ukraine says 100,000 remain trapped in besieged Mariupol

Fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continued in Mariupol on Wednesday morning, with the Ukrainian government warning that as many as 100,000 people remain trapped in the besieged port city.

One Mariupol resident, who managed to escape with her elderly parents and four cats, told ABC News her home had no electricity or heat and that she would have to scavenge for food and other supplies under Russian bombardment. She recalled seeing bodies strewn in the streets because residents had no choice but to leave them there.

“We understood anytime we might be killed by the next bomb,” she said during an interview Tuesday.

Pro-Russia separatist forces from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic in Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region said Wednesday that 562 civilians, including 110 children, were evacuated from encircled Mariupol to the occupied town of Bezymenne in the past 24 hours. A total of 4,621 civilians were evacuated from Mariupol between March 5 and March 23, according to the separatist forces.

Mar 23, 7:59 am
Russia claims to have swapped prisoners with Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners twice since the start of the war, according to Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

“Two prisoner exchanges have been completed between Russia and Ukraine,” Zakharova said in a statement Wednesday.

Mar 23, 7:56 am
Poland expels 45 Russian diplomats for espionage

Russia’s ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, said Wednesday that he has received a note from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding the expulsion of 45 Russian diplomats on charges of espionage.

The diplomats must leave Poland within five days, according to Andreev.

The news came after a spokesperson for Poland’s Internal Security Agency announced on Polish television that authorities had compiled a list of 45 Russian diplomats in the country who were suspected of spying.

Mar 23, 7:45 am
Two residential areas of Kyiv shelled overnight, officials say

Russian shelling hit two residential areas of Kyiv on Tuesday night, according to the city administration.

A shopping center and two private houses were damaged in the Sviatoshynskyi district of the Ukrainian capital, but no one was injured and the fires have been extinguished, officials said.

Several private houses and high-rise buildings were on fire in the Shevchenkivskyi district, where four people were injured. Rescuers and medics were still on the scene Wednesday, and the extent of the damage was under assessment, according to officials.

Mar 23, 7:32 am
Russia doesn’t believe claims of civilian deaths in Ukraine

Moscow doesn’t believe Kyiv’s claims of civilian deaths in Ukraine caused by Russian forces, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

“We don’t believe the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office. Russian troops are carrying out no strikes, aren’t firing on civilians,” Peskov told reporters during a daily call. “Russian servicemen are helping civilians and, regrettably, more and more eyewitnesses get out of the cities saying that they are being held there as human shields, and that nationalist battalions are firing — and there are plenty of such cases — on civilians.”

Mar 23, 6:42 am
Over 3.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR

More than 3.6 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency.

The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) amounts to just over 8% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 28 days.

More than half of the refugees crossed into neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.

Mar 23, 5:45 am
Russian forces allegedly destroy Ukrainian weapons depot

Russia claimed Wednesday that its forces carried out an airstrike destroying a weapons depot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Russian Ministry of Defense also alleged that troops have destroyed 430 aircraft, including drones, as well as more than 1,500 tanks and other combat armoured vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces since the “special military operation” began Feb. 24.

Mar 23, 5:20 am
Talks with Moscow ‘are moving forward,’ Zelenskyy says

Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “very difficult” but “moving forward,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.

“It’s very difficult, sometimes confrontational,” Zelenskyy said in an early morning address. “But step by step, we are moving forward.”

Zelenskyy added that he is “grateful to all international mediators who are standing up for Ukraine.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ed Sheeran’s “traumatizing” trial concludes; judge said verdict will “take some time”

Ed Sheeran’s “traumatizing” trial concludes; judge said verdict will “take some time”
Ed Sheeran’s “traumatizing” trial concludes; judge said verdict will “take some time”
Ed Sheeran arrives at court; Neil Mockford/GC Images

It’s a waiting game now for Ed Sheeran, whose copyright trial over his hit “Shape of You” has now concluded, reports the BBC.

According to the BBC, Ed’s lawyer Ian Mill said the 11-day trial was “deeply traumatizing” for Ed and his co-writers on the song, Johnny McDaid and Steve Mac, and said that the case “should never have gone to trial,” describing it as “deeply unfortunate.”

Ed has been accused of copying parts of “Shape of You” from the song “Oh Why,” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sam Switch. In dispute is the ‘Oh I, oh I, oh I” part of the song, which follows the chorus. Chokri and his co-writer claim it’s virtually identical to their song, which came out two years before “Shape of You.”

Chokri’s lawyer argued that he’d made every attempt to send “Oh Why” to Ed in hopes that he would like the song and help promote it. Ed and his camp deny ever playing the song for Ed, or even being aware of the song.

The court was told that “Shape of You” was written in under an hour, which Chokri’s lawyer, Andrew Sutcliffe, claimed was proof that Ed had the melody of “Oh Why” “consciously or unconsciously in his head.” 

But Mill argued, “Speed is indicative of the genius of Mr Sheeran and his ability to work at a speed no one else can,” and said the similarities between the songs were “too generic” to be protected by copyright.

According to the BBC, “Shape of You” earns Ed and his co-writers about seven million dollars a year, though 10% of those royalties have been frozen until the dispute is settled. The judge said he would “take some time to consider [his] judgment.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ciara says she’s “Truly grateful” to join the cast of ‘The Color Purple’ musical film

Ciara says she’s “Truly grateful” to join the cast of ‘The Color Purple’ musical film
Ciara says she’s “Truly grateful” to join the cast of ‘The Color Purple’ musical film
MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

Ciara is the latest celeb to be added to the star-studded roster of the upcoming musical film, The Color Purple. 

The Grammy winner will play the adult version of Nettie, the younger yet protective sister of Celie, who will be portrayed by Fantasia Barrino

Following the announcement on Tuesday, Ciara tweeted, “Honored to be a part of this beautiful ensemble and historic film, The Color Purple. Truly grateful.”  

Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg, among others, the upcoming film adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical is set to begin production this month in Georgia, according to EW. 

Other notable cast members include Halle Bailey as the younger version of Nettie, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Danielle Brooks as Sofia, Colman Domingo as Mister, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, and R&B singer H.E.R as Squeak. 

The Color Purple musical film is set to premiere in theaters in December 2023.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Miley Cyrus safe after plane makes emergency landing

Miley Cyrus safe after plane makes emergency landing
Miley Cyrus safe after plane makes emergency landing
Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images for MC

Miley Cyrus has been on tour in South America, but she ran into some trouble on her way to a show in Paraguay.

While attempting to fly into the capital, Asunción, Miley’s plane ran into bad weather.  She posted on her socials, “To my fans and everyone worried after hearing about my flight to Asunción. Our plane was caught in a major unexpected storm and struck by lighting.”

“My crew, band, friends and family who were all traveling with me are safe after an emergency landing,” she added. “We were unfortunately unable to fly into Paraguay.  I LOVE YOU.”

Earlier, Miley had stated just how much her fans mean to her.  She tweeted, “I’ve known you all longer than almost any friend I have ….. you are my best friends…. We’ve grown up together and I love you.”

Miley is due to perform at a festival in Paraguay tonight.  It’s not clear if she’ll make the gig, or if it will even go forward; the first day was canceled due to weather conditions. Her final show in South America is Lollapalooza Brasil on March 26.

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