Ellie Goulding welcomed her baby boy, Arthur, last year, so she’s had plenty of practice when it comes to reading bedtime stories. Now, she’s flexing her skills on the BBC’s children’s programming channel, CBeebies, by reading a bedtime story to its youngest listeners on the show CBeebies Bedtime Stories.
The official CBeebies Twitter shared the good news on Thursday, tweeting, “Catch Ellie Goulding on #cbeebiesbedtimestories at 6:50pm next Tuesday!” The “Love Me Like You Do” singer will be reading the book, What If, Pig? by author Linzie Hunter.
Hunter said on her Twitter she is “thrilled” that Ellie is reading her book next week. She explained the effort will benefit Red Nose Day, the annual fundraising event from the charity Comic Relief. All next week on CBeebies, celebrities will read “fantastically funny” children’s books. Among those joining Ellie will be U.K. chat show The Last Leg co-hosts and comics Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe, as well as a few others.
Ellie now joins a growing list of artists to have entertained children on CBeebies Bedtime Stories, including Ed Sheeran, Dolly Parton and others.
The Canadian rockers have announced a new album called Otherness, ending the 13-year wait for a follow-up to their last full-length record, 2009’s Old Crows/Young Cardinals.
Otherness will be released on June 24. Its first single, titled “Sweet Dreams of Otherness,” is available now via digital outlets.
“This song was largely [vocalist/guitarist] Dallas [Green‘s] brain child, but over the course of writing this record, it became more of a mission statement for the band,” says vocalist George Pettit. “It’s kind of about performance and embracing a new found confidence in a state of peculiarity.”
A video for “Sweet Dreams of Otherness,” directed by She’s Out of My League and This Is the End star Jay Baruchel, premieres Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
After breaking up in 2012 after a farewell tour, Alexisonfire reunited in 2015. In 2019, they released the song “Familiar Drugs,” marking the band’s first new music since getting back together. That was followed by two more new tunes, “Complicit” and “Season of the Flood.”
Here’s the Otherness track list:
“Committed to the Con”
“Sweet Dream of Otherness”
“Sans Soleil”
“Conditional Love”
“Blue Spade”
“Dark Night of the Soul”
“Mistaken Information”
“Survivor’s Guilt”
“Reverse the Curse”
“World Stops Turning”
Pete Davidson is teaming up with his SNL boss Lorne Michaels for a new sitcom about his life. Sort of.
Deadline reports the headline-grabbing funnyman will star in a show, tentatively titled Bupkis, which will center on a fictionalized version of his real life, a la Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The trade reports the show is to be an “unapologetically unfiltered, R-rated” series that’s being pitched to streaming services, and “A-list talent” is being sought to co-star with the King of Staten Island star.
The show is being co-written by Davidson’s longtime friend and King of Staten Island co-writer Dave Sirus.
(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, don’t appear to have advanced closer to the city since coming within about 20 miles, although smaller advanced groups have been fighting gun battles with Ukrainian forces inside the capital since at least Friday.
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 10, 12:54 pm
Russia claims mercenaries from US and UK attacking Russian medics
Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov held another press briefing in which he accused NATO countries of committing war crimes.
Konashenkov claimed Thursday that mercenaries from the U.K. and U.S. are increasingly attacking Russian military medics who are accomplishing humanitarian missions in Ukrainian territory.
“Attacks on Russian medics and special medical vehicles by the Ukrainian nationalists and mercenaries that came earlier from the U.S., Britain and Europe to Ukraine have become more frequent over the past few days,” Konashenkov said.
Konashenkov also denied reports that the Russian military had carried out a strike on a children’s hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday, dismissing reports on the matter as an “an information provocation staged by the Kyiv regime.”
“The alleged airstrike that took place is a completely staged provocation in order to maintain the anti-Russian public outcry in the Western audience,” he alleged.
Russian forces have destroyed nearly 3,000 military installations in Ukraine since the invasion began, Konashenkov claimed. In the last 24 hours, 68 installations, including two sites of the Ukrainian troop control system, 12 material and technical support centers and three Osa air defense missile systems, were obliterated, he said.
Mar 10, 12:48 pm
Harris meets with Ukrainian refugees, US embassy staff in Poland
As part of her trip to Poland, Vice President Kamala Harris met with 7 people who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine and some members of the U.S. embassy staff Thursday to discuss their experiences.
“I have invited in these very important people to join me for a conversation about their experiences, and also their thoughts about what we can do the United States and our allies in this region and around the world to support the many people that have been displaced through the necessity to flee Ukraine and the harm that it represents at this moment,” Harris said to the group.
Harris thanked the group for meeting with her to share their experiences.
“The conversation we will have this afternoon will help inform me, the President of the United States, and the American people about what you have experienced, so that we can best support you and your family,” Harris said to the group.
Before the press was ushered out, Harris sought to reassure the participants.
“We are here to support you and you are not alone. And I know there’s so much about the experience that you’ve had that has made you feel alone. You are not alone,” she pledged.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mar 10, 12:39 pm
Lukashenko to meet with Putin in Moscow on Friday
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will travel to Russia on Friday for a meeting with his close ally and Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders will meet in Moscow where they “will discuss key issues concerning bilateral relations, the development of union cooperation and economic cooperation in conditions of sanctions pressure,” according to the Pool of the First Man channel on Telegram, which is reportedly linked to Belarusian state media.
“The situation in the region and in Ukraine is on the agenda as well,” the channel said.
Mar 10, 12:18 pm
Western Union suspends operations in Russia, Belarus
Western Union announced Thursday that it is suspending its operations in Russia and close ally Belarus amid the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The Denver-based money-transfer and payments company said in a statement that it “stands with the world in condemning the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”
“All of us share the shock, disbelief, and sadness around this tragedy and humanitarian disaster,” the company added. “Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine and to our colleagues, customers, agents, and partners who have been impacted.”
Company leadership have engaged in extensive dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders “in an earnest effort to arrive at the right decision regarding our services in Russia and Belarus,” according to Western Union.
“We have thoroughly evaluated internal and external considerations, including the consequences for our valued teammates, partners, and customers,” the company said. “Ultimately, in light of the ongoing tragic impact of Russia’s prolonged assault on Ukraine, we have arrived at the decision to suspend our operations in Russia and Belarus.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 10, 12:13 pm
Harris announces $50 million in aid to UN World Food Program after meeting with Polish president
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the U.S. will be giving $50 million in humanitarian assistance to the United Nations World Food Program.
Harris made the announcement during a joint press conference after she met with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.
USAID will deliver the funds to the WFP, which go toward providing emergency food aid, such as high-energy biscuits, to refugees and supporting the WFP’s operations to get aid into Ukraine, according to a release from USAID.
Including the aid money announced Thursday, the U.S. has provided $107 million in humanitarian aid since Russia’s war against Ukraine started, according to USAID.
In the press conference, Harris and Duda spoke about the unified partnership between the U.S. and Poland on the war in Ukraine.
“We will do everything together in partnership, in solidarity, to support what is necessary this very moment in terms of the humanitarian and security needs of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Harris said.
Harris and Duda also condemned the Russian attack on a maternity hospital which killed 3 people and wounded 17, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We have been witnessing for weeks, and certainly just in the last 24 hours, atrocities of unimaginable proportions,” Harris said.
Duda went as far as saying if hospitals and residential buildings are bombed where there are no military installations, “this is an act of barbarity baring the features of a genocide.”
“We cannot accept such military activities that bare the characteristics of genocide,” Duda said.
Harris also announced that the U.S. has delivered Patriot missile systems to Poland, which it had promised earlier this week, and noted the recent deployment of 4,700 U.S. troops to Poland.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Conor Finnegan
Mar 10, 11:40 am
At least 549 civilians, including 41 children, killed in Ukraine: OHCHR
At least 549 civilians, including 41 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Russian forces invaded on Feb. 24, according to the latest figures from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Meanwhile, at least 957 civilians, including 52 children, have been injured, OHCHR figures show.
The tallies are civilian casualties that occurred in Ukraine from Feb. 24 to March 9 and have been verified by OHCHR, which cautioned that “actual figures are much higher.”
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Mar 10, 11:31 am
Goldman Sachs shutting down its operations in Russia
Goldman Sachs announced Thursday that it will be shutting down its operations in Russia.
“Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement.
The company added, “We are focused on supporting our clients across the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations in the market and ensuring the wellbeing of our people.”
-ABC News’ Victor Ordoñez
Mar 10, 11:19 am
Samaritan’s Purse opens outpatient clinic in Lviv
Samaritan’s Purse opened an outpatient clinic just outside the train station in Lviv on Thursday and has already treated its first patients.
Some people have evacuated so quickly they left their homes without their medicine — and by the time they made it to Lviv they were in desperate need, Mark Agness, an emergency room doctor from California, told ABC News. Pregnant women and newborns are also common.
“That’s why we do this … it’s really the parable of the Good Samaritan. Help thy neighbor — well they’re my neighbor,” said Agness.
Chelsea Musick, a nurse from Iowa, has been with the organization for years and said working in Ukraine is different. Unlike other humanitarian disasters, this was entirely man made, she said. She described the patients she’s seeing as having a “haunted” look in their eyes.
Samaritan’s Purse is also building a large field hospital, which they expect to be operational by the weekend, in the parking garage of a local mall, a few minutes away from the train station. The hospital will have enough room for 15 surgeries a day and will be able to increase beds as needed.
The operation is primarily funded by individual donors from the U.S., the organization said. Two airlifts of supplies have already been coordinated from the U.S.
-ABC News’ Irene Hnatiuk, Maggie Rulli and John Templeton
Mar 10, 11:07 am
For one Ukrainian poet, the sword is mightier than the pen
In a college gym-turned-shelter, Kyrill Nodikov, a Ukrainian poet who has been published in Ukraine and Russia, told ABC News he and his 20-year-old son are ready to enlist in the war.
Nodikov was seeking refuge in a shelter with his wife, their three kids, a dog and a tabby cat.
There are thousands of families struggling with the same dilemma: whether to take their animals, which makes their exodus far more complicated, or leave them behind. Most have stayed loyal to their animals.
When asked what it would be like to take care of her twins and pets by herself, Oksana, Nodikov’s wife, started crying.
Sitting on mats on the floor of the gymnasium, the family gathered in a huddle, hugging, holding and comforting Oksana. And then they did the Ukrainian version of a pinky promise: hooking their pinkies and saying, “Peace, friendship, bubble gum.”
-ABC News’ Matt Gutman, Brandon Baur and Scott Munro
Mar 10, 10:27 am
Small number of UK soldiers allegedly join fight in Ukraine against orders
A “small number” of soldiers from the United Kingdom may have “disobeyed orders” by joining Ukraine’s fight against invading Russian forces, according to a spokesperson for the British Army.
“We are aware of a small number of individual soldiers who have disobeyed orders and gone absent without leave, and may have travelled to Ukraine in a personal capacity,” the British Army spokesperson told ABC News in a statement Wednesday night. “We are actively and strongly encouraging them to return to the U.K.”
Personal information on the individuals is not being released for privacy reasons, according to the spokesperson.
The U.K. is advising against all travel to Ukraine and warned that going to fight or assist others engaged in the conflict may be against the law or could lead to prosecution. The U.K., along with its allies, is providing a range of support to Ukraine, including enhancing the country’s defense capability. But that support is fundamentally defensive in nature and neither NATO nor Ukraine pose any aggressive threat to Russia, according to a spokesperson for the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
“All Service Personnel are prohibited from travelling to Ukraine until further notice,” the U.K. defense ministry spokesperson told ABC News in a statement. “This applies whether the Service Person is on leave or not. Personnel travelling to Ukraine will face disciplinary and administrative consequences.”
The spokesperson noted that the U.K. has incredibly limited consular support in Ukraine and is unlikely to be able to offer assistance to any citizens there. There are many ways people can support Ukraine, including through charitable donations, according to the spokesperson, who acknowledged the strong desire to want to help defend freedom and democracy in Europe.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Mar 10, 9:22 am
Harris meets with Polish leaders in Warsaw
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and President President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Thursday morning, reaffirming the United States’ commitment to Poland and other NATO allies.
During a joint press conference with Morawiecki following their bilateral meeting, Harris thanked the Polish people for inviting “with such courage and generosity the refugees who have fled Ukraine.”
“As we have said from the beginning, if Russia were to take aggressive action, there would be consequences,” Harris added. “And those consequences I believe have been evident but a result of our work together that we have been doing together as a unified force.”
Later Thursday, during another joint press conference, reporters asked Harris and Duda about the U.S. rejecting Poland’s offer to hand over all its MiG-29 fighter jets to an American air base in Germany to boost Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Harris largely dodged the questions on whether the U.S. has an alternative plan for delivering the better air power that Ukraine has requested. She pointed to the $13 billion in funding Congress is in the process of passing to give to Ukraine for humanitarian and security needs, in addition to the ongoing support the U.S. has been delivering.
“I can tell you that the issue facing the Ukrainian people and our allies in Eastern flank is something that occupies one of our highest priorities in terms of paying attention to the needs, understanding it is a dynamic situation, and requires us to be nimble and to be swift,” she said.
While Duda acknowledged that the situation was an “extremely complicated” one, he argued his country was trying to be a “responsible” and “reliable member of NATO” by addressing the requests made to Poland while working with their partner nations.
“We decided to put those jets at the disposal of NATO, not expecting anything in return,” Duda said, “because we stressed very clearly that as a gap filler for the donated equipment, we were able to buy something that we would need as a replacement and we ourselves were ready to provide our equipment free of charge.”
Mar 10, 8:24 am
Over 2.31 million refugees have fled Ukraine: UNHCR
More than 2.31 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 5% of Ukraine’s population — which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020 — on the move across borders in 15 days.
More than half of the refugees are in neighboring Poland, UNHCR figures show.
Mar 10, 8:19 am
UK sanctions Chelsea FC owner, other Russian oligarchs
The United Kingdom has added Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea Football Club, to its list of sanctioned individuals as part of its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich was one of seven prominent Russians to be hit with fresh sanctions on Thursday, including travel bans and asset freezes. Igor Sechin, head of Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft, Alexei Miller, head of Russian state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom, and Oleg Deripaska, who owns part of Russian mining company En+ Group, were also targeted. The measures are worth an estimated 15 billion pounds ($20 billion), according to a press release from the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “there can be no safe havens” for those who support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in neighboring Ukraine.
“Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the U.K.’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people,” Johnson said in a statement Thursday. “We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.”
The move effectively derails Abramovich’s plan to sell his London-based professional soccer team, which he had announced earlier this month. Under the sanctions, Chelsea won’t be able to sell new tickets for matches, including games in the upcoming UEFA Champions League, and the club’s merchandise stores will be closed. Player transfers and new contracts are also banned.
According to the updated list of sanctions targets published by the U.K. Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Abramovich is allegedly “associated with a person who is or has been involved in destabilizing Ukraine and undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” namely Putin, with whom Abramovich allegedly “has had a close relationship for decades.” Abramovich has denied having strong ties to the Russian leader.
“This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the Government of Russia,” the document alleges. “This includes tax breaks received by companies linked to Abramovich, buying and selling shares from and to the state at favourable rates, and the contracts received in the run up to the FIFA 2018 World Cup.”
Mar 10, 7:47 am
Russia, Ukraine fail to reach cease-fire during talks in Turkey
The top diplomats from Russia and Ukraine failed to reach a deal for a cease-fire during talks in Turkey on Thursday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held separate press conferences after their meeting in the southern Turkish city of Antalya. Kuleba told reporters they were unable to agree on a cease-fire and that Russia was still demanding Ukraine change its constitution to formally give up its ambitions to join the European Union or NATO. He described the meeting with his Russian counterpart as “difficult.”
“We can’t end the war if the country that carried out the aggression is not willing to do so,” Kuleba said. “Today, I heard that the issue of a cease-fire is linked to Putin’s demands. Ukraine has not surrendered and will not surrender.”
“We are ready for diplomacy,” he added. “But while there isn’t one, we will firmly defend ourselves, protecting our people from Russia aggression. I hope that today’s format will continue if Russia is ready for a constructive dialogue.”
Lavrov, however, told reporters that “nobody actually planned to negotiate a cease-fire” during the meeting.
“If the goal of the meeting was to ask these questions, let’s stop firing and let’s arrange humanitarian corridors — not the way Russia has proposed, but the way the Ukrainian side wants this,” Lavrov said. “And if all of this is being done just to tell journalists later that all their good intentions failed, then perhaps this fits the logic of Ukrainian policy and diplomacy of which I’ve spoken: outward effects are designed for the public’s momentary perception and substitute real work.”
Meanwhile, Lavrov continued to blame Ukraine and the West for the crisis. He claimed that Russian forces “did not attack Ukraine” and “do not plan to attack other countries.”
“But we just explained to Ukraine repeatedly that a situation had arisen that posed direct security threats to Russia,” he told reporters. “Despite our years-long reminding, persuasion, calls, no one listened to us.”
He said the agreement on the daily opening of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine “still stands,” but that the evacuation routes and timings are determined by the Russian commanders on the ground. He also made clear that Russia considers the peace talks with Ukraine taking place in neighboring Belarus are the main format for any negotiations. While Moscow hasn’t ruled out direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Lavrov said there must first be substantial progress at the meetings between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Belarus. A fourth round of those talks in Belarus is planned, but an exact date and time was unclear.
“We stand for any contacts in regard to the problems, which constitute the core of the current Ukrainian crisis, and the search for a way out of it,” Lavrov told reporters. “These contacts must have an added value, we believe they will never be used … to replace or depreciate the real, principal negotiating track, which is developing in the Belarusian territory at the level of two delegations.”
“Today’s conversation confirms there is no alternative to this track,” he added.
Mar 10, 7:12 am
Ukraine again attempts to evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors
Ukrainian officials said Thursday they are — once again — trying to evacuate thousands of civilians through humanitarian corridors under temporary cease-fires, if they will hold.
So far, evacuations in some cities are managing to go ahead while others are already failing, as Ukrainian officials accuse Russian forces of blocking or deliberately firing on the routes.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said seven humanitarian corridors — from several besieged cities as well as areas north of Ukraine’s capital — have been agreed upon with Russia for Thursday. The question is whether Russian forces will uphold their end of the deal.
An attempt to evacuate the areas north of Kyiv was underway, with buses trying to reach the towns of Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel and Borodyanka. The Kyiv region’s administration told ABC News that they were able to evacuate 15,000 people — primarily from Irpin and the town of Vorzel — but Russian troops refused to allow access to Bucha, Hostomel or Borodyanka.
Ukrainian officials were also hoping an evacuation would take place Thursday from Mariupol, the hard-hit southeastern port city where the humanitarian situation is arguably the worst, after Russian airstrikes destroyed a children’s hospital and maternity ward there on Wednesday. But Petro Andrushenko, an adviser to Mariupol’s mayor, told ABC News that no evacuation can happen Thursday because Russian warplanes have launched multiple airstrikes in the city center since the early morning. At least four aircraft had been spotted and around a dozen bombs had fallen, according to Andrushenko.
He said it was “physically impossible” right now to evacuate people “under bombs and bullets.” Nevertheless, there were reports that buses have set off in an attempt to reach Mariupol.
Russia has made clear that, despite the alleged humanitarian corridors, it is continuing its operation to “liberate” Mariupol.
Meanwhile, thousands of people are independently leaving Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, without a humanitarian corridor because the trains are still running and there are ways out of the besieged city.
Mar 10, 5:49 am
At least four killed by airstrikes in Kharkiv overnight, authorities say
Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, was hit with several powerful airstrikes overnight that killed at least four people, local authorities said Thursday.
Russian bombardment have destroyed 280 civilian buildings in Kharkiv, including schools and kindergartens, since Russia began invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the regional interior ministry department in Kharkiv.
Kharkiv has come under heavy attacks as Russian forces try to seize the city.
Mar 10, 4:56 am
Russia says operation to ‘liberate’ Mariupol ongoing
The Russian military alleged Thursday that its forces have managed to capture more of the outer neighborhoods of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, saying the operation to “liberate” the strategic port city is ongoing.
The claim came a day after a Russian airstrike destroyed a children’s hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol, where heavy fighting has been taking place in recent days.
Local authorities in the besieged city have accused Russian forces of waging a “medieval siege” against them.
Mar 10, 4:14 am
Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine meet in Turkey
The top diplomats from Russia and Ukraine are meeting now in Antalya, Turkey.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba arrived in the southern Turkish resort on Thursday morning ahead of the meeting — the highest level talks between their two countries since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Both officials first met separately with their Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, upon arrival. Cavusoglu is expected to attend their talks.
Lavrov and Kuleba are expected to talk for about 90 minutes. They will hold separate press conferences afterwards.
(CHICAGO) — Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett will get one last chance to publicly admit to fabricating a 2019 hate-crime attack on himself before learning whether a judge sentences him to prison.
Smollett, 39, is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago to hear his fate after a jury convicted him in December on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct stemming from him filing a false police report and lying to police, who spent more than $130,000 investigating his allegations.
During his trial, the actor testified in his own defense, maintaining his story that two masked men wearing hats bearing former President Donald Trump’s “MAGA” motto assaulted him on a street and put a noose around his neck.
“There was no hoax,” Smollett testified.
Judge James Linn is allowing news cameras into Thursday’s hearing, in which Smollett is expected to be granted an opportunity to speak.
Several supporters of Smollett, including civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson and actor Samuel L. Jackson, have written Linn letters vouching for Smollett’s character and asking him for leniency, according to ABC Chicago station WLS-TV.
“Jussie has a long track record of being a deeply engaged and contributing citizen,” the Rev. Jackson wrote in his letter to Linn. “Jussie has already suffered.”
Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, actress LaTanya Jackson, sent a letter to Linn asking him to “please find an alternative to incarceration.”
The maximum sentence Smollett faces is three years in prison. But Linn could consider Smollett’s lack of criminal history and sentence him to probation.
The judge could also order Smollett to pay a fine, restitution, or both.
Smollett’s lawyers have said they plan to appeal the conviction and that Smollett is “100% confident” he will win.
The openly gay actor told police that on Jan. 29, 2019, he was walking on a street near his Chicago apartment around 2 a.m. when he was set upon by two men. The attackers allegedly shouted racist and homophobic slurs before hitting him, pouring “an unknown chemical substance” and wrapping a rope around his neck.
Chicago police said Smollett’s story of being the victim of an attack began to unravel when investigators tracked down two men, brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who they said were seen in a security video near where Smollett claimed he was assaulted and around the same time it supposedly occurred.
The Osundairo brothers testified during Smollett’s trial that the actor paid them $3,500 to help him orchestrate and stage the crime.
In a stunning move, Cook County District Attorney Kim Foxx’s office initially dropped all charges against Smollett in March 2019 despite acknowledging Smollett fabricated the street attack on himself in a bizarre attempt to get a pay raise.
Prior to the decision to drop the charges, Foxx recused herself from the Smollett probe after it surfaced that she had been in touch with Smollett’s family. She left the decision on the disposition of the case to Joe Magats, the first assistant state attorney in Cook County.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Smollett forfeited 10% of a $100,000 bond and preemptively completed community service prior to the charges being dropped.
On his recent collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions, Elton John teamed up with a lot of famous artists, perhaps none more legendary than his old friend Stevie Wonder, with whom he recorded the song “Finish Line.” Now, an emotional and heartwarming music video for the tune has premiered on Elton’s official YouTube channel.
The clip, which was directed by Zack Sekuler, features a montage of vintage home movies, other footage and photos depicting or capturing pivotal moments in people’s lives, including couples with their babies, weddings, family gatherings, retirement parties and more.
The video also includes recent footage of scenes from the pandemic, including nurses and other front-line workers, and people going about their everyday lives while wearing masks. In addition, the clip boasts film clips and photos of Elton and Stevie together at various events throughout their lives, including concert performances, as well as in the music video for “That’s What Friends Are For,” their 1985 chart-topping hit that also featured Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight.
On his official website, Elton explains that after almost 50 years of friendship, “Finish Line” marked his first-ever vocal duet with Stevie, who also played harmonica and acoustic piano on the track.
“It sounds simply incredible. Stevie sounds like he’s 19 again,” Elton says. “It was a special experience making this record with Stevie.”
Released in October 2021, The Lockdown Sessions peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 and topped the U.K. albums chart.
Mike Cross (second from left) with Sponge, c. 1996; Bob Berg/Getty Images
Mike Cross, the original guitarist for the ’90s alt-rock outfit Sponge, has died.
“It is with heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Mike Cross,” reads a post on the Sponge Facebook page. “One of the musical architects and founding member of Sponge. His influence and talent will be missed.”
Cross was 57, according to Blabbermouth. The cause of death was not announced.
Cross co-founded Sponge in 1992 alongside his brother Tim Cross and vocalist Vinnie Dombroski after the three had played together in the Detroit band Loudhouse. Sponge released their debut album, Rotting Piñata, in 1994, which spawned rock and alternative radio hits in “Plowed” and “Molly (16 Candles Down the Drain).”
Sponge released two more albums, 1996’s Wax Ecstatic and 1999’s New Pop Sunday, before the Cross brothers left the group in 2000. The band has since released six more albums, with Dombroski as the sole remaining original member.
Cross, meanwhile, had recently started a new project called MC Roads. The band’s debut EP, No Nostalgia, was released just last September.
Gwen Stefani can thank the music she wrote in 2000 for inspiring her all-new makeup line, GXVE.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, the singer explained how the No Doubt album Return of Saturn, which she wrote when she was depressed and confused, made her want to pursue her passion project. Gwen said she revisited her 2000 work about seven years ago, when her life was “falling apart,” admitting she previously avoided listening to the record because of how much it stung.
“Everything was written in those songs,” she explained. “It’s like a diary.”
But listening to such a raw body of work made her want to chase her dream of creating her own beauty line: “This is what I’ve prayed about. This is the rest of my life… This is my creativity and my give-back,” said Gwen.
The Grammy winner said she’s been invested in makeup “since birth,” adding she grew up next to Disneyland and worked at a makeup counter in Anaheim, California. Gwen recalled of her old job, “What I loved about it was the feeling people would get from me: when we were done and they looked at themselves and said, ‘I had no idea I was this pretty,’ or ‘I didn’t know I could look like this.'”
Gwen carried that with her over the years, and revealed, “For every show I’ve ever played live, I’ve done my own makeup. That’s part of the ritual to [become] the person that needs to be out there.”
Added Gwen, “Maybe that’s why I got this far, because I love it.”
Return of Saturn’s original name was Magic’s in the Makeup, after another song on the record. “I think about those lyrics all the time,” Gwen says. “I always wished that song was heard by more people.”
The premise of the new pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death is so crazy, it just has to be true — and it is. The HBO Max series is based on the real life of Stede Bonnet, an 18th century wealthy English landowner turned pirate.
Show creator David Jenkins first learned about Bonnet from his wife and then ran to Wikipedia for more information. He tells ABC Audio that Bonnet “had a health crisis and left his family and became a pirate. And then, he very quickly got stabbed and then he met Blackbeard, the greatest pirate.”
“And then there’s wonderful holes in the narrative,” he adds. “Why did he leave his family? He says he was being nagged, but you’re like, dude, what did you do? How did you mess this up? I want to know. And then are you with Blackbeard? What’s up with that?”
While Jenkins couldn’t help but research about the Barbadian pirate, Rhys Darby, who plays Bonnet on the show, jokingly tells ABC Audio he didn’t do any research to play the role.
“You don’t have to do any. I mean, all these people are raving on about research. I mean, the audience aren’t doing research. They’re not ticking off a box. ‘Oh, he didn’t do that!’ And if they are, you know, shut up and just watch the entertainment,” he quips.
Even without doing research, Darby says that pirate life is often romanticized, but in practice doesn’t seem that great.
“There’s an element of everyone imagining what that might be like,” he explains. “Imagine being James Bond, having those mad skills. But you’d only ever want to do it for five minutes because, you know, it’s a horrendous life.”
Season 2 of Get Organized with the Home Edit is coming to Netflix, and this time around, Kelsea Ballerini is among the celebrity clients getting professionally organized.
In the show, Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin bring their organizational skills to spaces everywhere, turning clutter into cleanliness and delivering much-needed order to chaotic living spaces.
The first round of the series featured some big names, including Kane Brown and his wife Katelyn, who got a transformed kitchen pantry on one episode of the show.
This time around, Kelsea’s tour bus is up: A trailer for the show goes inside the bus and finds Clea and Joanna giving Kelsea’s space a complete makeover, including a perfectly organized snack drawer.
TV Insiderreports that singer-songwriter Tyler Hubbard — who is one half of the currently defunct superstar duo Florida Georgia Line — will get the Home Edit treatment this season, too.
