At 3 a.m. Eastern time, the Marvel shows that were produced for Netflix — Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Iron Fist, and the team-up The Defenders — landed on Disney+.
As previously reported, the mature content of the shows led the streaming service to update their parental settings, so starting today, you’ll have to re-enter your Disney+ account’s password one time to authorize access for the “Full Library” option. If you don’t want your kids to watch the TV-MA-rated superhero shows, you’ll also have the option to set a parental password.
Also landing on the service today is the more family-friendly Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which previously aired on ABC.
While Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, The Punisher and Iron Fist are gone from the MCU — for now, at least — Daredevil stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are still an active part of it. Cox, who plays blind lawyer Matt Murdock, moonlighting as the titular red-suited vigilante, had a surprise cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, while D’Onofrio’s hulking criminal genius Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, recently showed up in Hawkeye. Marvel also recently all but promised fans soon will see even more of Cox as Daredevil.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Fenty Beauty by Rihanna
Rihanna is counting down the days until she welcomes her first child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky and, in a new interview, teased how she plans to approach motherhood.
ELLEasked Rih, “which Real Housewives mom are you most looking towards now that you’re going to be a mom?” Rihanna’s answer: Teresa Giudice.
“She will flatten you about those kids. And that resonates with me a lot because I feel like that’s the type of mom I’m going to be. Psycho about it,” said Rih. The singer added she will do more than “flip a table” if her child’s privacy is violated. “You talk about my kids, it’s over,” she promised.
Rihanna is heavily guarding information regarding her unborn child and has not publicly revealed the gender, name or exact due date of her little one.
She also shared the best advice she’s received now that she’s inching closer to her rumored spring due date: “Sleep now because I won’t get much later.” She added, “I need to work on that before it’s a thing of the past.”
Gwen Stefani added another major event to her packed summer schedule — the 2022 Hollywood Bowl. The Grammy winner will kick off this year’s festivities, which also coincide with the event’s 100th anniversary.
Gwenwill have the honor of launching the Hollywood Bowl’s summer lineup, which will double as an opening night spectacular featuring the LA Philharmonic, aka the LA Phil, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association announced Tuesday. The singer will team with LA Phil to perform a medley of her hits, including “Don’t Speak,” “Used to Love You,” “Hollaback Girl” and more.
Musical director Gustavo Dudamel will also lead the LA Phil in debuting a fanfare orchestral piece that composer John Williams created specifically to honor the Hollywood Bowl’s centennial anniversary.
Gwen will also be joined by Grammy-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis, as well as the Let It Happen dance group and ballet dancer Roberto Bolle. The night will also feature the UCLA Bruin and USC Trojan marching bands, as well as a fireworks display.
The opening night celebration will be held June 3. Tickets are now on sale at the Hollywood Bowl’s official website.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce that historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) will be eligible for new grant funding following a series of bomb threats made against them.
The Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) program under the Department of Education is intended to enhance campus security and provide mental health resources by providing short-term, immediate funding for institutions that have experienced a “violent or traumatic incident.”
Harris “will make clear that every American should be able to learn, work, worship, and gather without fear,” a White House official told ABC News. The announcement will be made at the White House on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
HBCUs targeted by the threats could receive grants ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 per campus and will be determined based on specific needs. No bombs were found.
The campuses of at least 36 HBCUs and other colleges have been targeted by threats and at least 18 of these colleges and universities were targeted on Feb. 1 alone — the first day of Black History Month.
Institutions went into lockdown or evacuated the campus while local law enforcement agencies investigated the threats.
“Threats to the education and well-being of Black Americans and HBCUs are an unfortunate part of American history,” the press release read. “The bomb threats that we witnessed in January, each week in February – Black History Month, and this month are reminiscent of the attempts during the Civil Rights Era to intimidate and provoke fear in Black Americans.”
These threats came as hate crimes against Black Americans are on the rise, increasing by nearly 50% between 2019 and 2020, according to the FBI.
Several federal agencies are taking on this issue. The Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have met with HBCU leaders on tools they can use to strengthen campus security.
A Congressional hearing is also being held on Thursday to hear what the federal government can do to support HBCUs.
(WASHINGTON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a historic, virtual address to Congress on Wednesday to plead with the U.S. to do more to help stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a speech to Ukrainians earlier Wednesday, Zelenskyy called his upcoming address to Congress “a speech from all of us, from each of our defenders, from each of our citizens, for the most powerful democracy in the world — for the state and the people, who can do a lot to stop Russian aggression, to restore peace on our land,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced the Ukrainian president and led members in chanting, “Slava Ukraini” or “Glory to heroes” in Ukrainian.
“Glory to heroes,” Zelenskyy repeated. “Thank you very much, madam speaker, members of the Congress, ladies and gentlemen, Americans, friends, I’m proud to greet you from Ukraine from our capital city of Kyiv, a city that is under missile and air strikes from Russian troops every day, but it doesn’t give up — and we have not even thought about it for a second.”
In an emotional appeal, Zelenskyy asked Americans to put themselves in the shoes of Ukrainians by remembering Pearl Harbor “when your sky was black from the planes attacking you” and the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Remember September the 11th, a terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories on battlefields, when innocent people were attacked from air, yes, just like no one else expected it, you could not stop it,” he said. “Our country experiences the same thing every day, right now at this moment, every night for three weeks now various Ukrainian cities — Mariupol and Kharkiv — Russia has turned the Ukrainian skies into a source of death for thousands of people.”
President Joe Biden would be watching Zelenskyy’s address to the degree his schedules allows, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, and will also give an address of his own afterward, detailing what the U.S. is doing for “Ukrainian security assistance.”
He gave something of a preemptive response in remarks to reporters on Tuesday while signing a $1.5 trillion government funding bill, which includes $13.6 billion in supplemental aid to Ukraine.
“We’ve been providing anti-armor — taking out tanks, anti-air capabilities, directly — directly to the Ukrainian forces. And we’re also facilitating significant shipments of security assistance from our Allied partners to Ukraine,” Biden said. “With this new security funding … we’re moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country.”
While the U.S. has imposed a slate of economic and trade sanctions to isolate Putin, the Biden administration has flatly and repeatedly rejected a no-fly zone, as well as U.S. troops fighting Russia in Ukraine and any help delivering MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland wants to get to the Ukrainians. It’s also unclear whether Congress might try to move to act unilaterally if the White House doesn’t take more action.
Kane Brown leads all comers for the 2022 CMT Music Awards, the nominations for which were revealed Wednesday morning. Two-time nominee Carly Pearce helped announce four major categories during the 8 a.m. hour on CBS Mornings, with the remaining nominations following later today.
Kane scored nominations in four categories, including the most coveted award of the night, Video of the Year. Mickey Guyton and Kelsea Ballerini follow close behind, with three nods each.
The 2022 CMT Music Awards also includes a brand-new category, the CMT Digital-First Performance of the Year award, which recognizes performances given as part of the CMT Digital segment. Among those competing for the award in its first year are Carly, Brittney Spencer, Cody Johnson, Jon Pardi, Josh Turner and Lainey Wilson.
Brittney and Cody are two of the artists recognized for the first time at the CMT Awards, joining fellow first-time nominees Breland, Elvie Shane, Caitlyn Smith, Priscilla Block, MacKenzie Porter and Tenille Arts. Outside the country genre, other first-time nominees include H.E.R., and Paul Klein of LANY.
Voting for the 2022 CMT Awards is open now. The show will broadcast live from Nashville on CBS — its first time airing on a major broadcast TV network — on April 11 at 8 p.m. ET. Kane and Kelsea hosted the awards show last year, and Kelsea will return as a co-host in 2022, alongside actor Anthony Mackie.
Here are this year’s CMT Music Awards nominees:
VIDEO OF THE YEAR Brandi Carlile — “Right on Time” Cody Johnson — “‘Til You Can’t” Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson — “Never Say Never” Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood — “If I Didn’t Love You” Kacey Musgraves — “justified” Kane Brown — “One Mississippi” Kelsea Ballerini feat. Kenny Chesney — “Half of My Hometown” Luke Combs — “Forever After All” Maren Morris — “Circles Around This Town” Mickey Guyton — “Remember Her Name” Miranda Lambert — “If I Was a Cowboy” Taylor Swift feat. Chris Stapleton — “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)”
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Cody Johnson — “‘Til You Can’t” Eric Church — “Heart on Fire” Kane Brown — “One Mississippi” Luke Bryan — “Waves” Luke Combs — “Forever After All” Thomas Rhett — “Country Again” Walker Hayes — “Fancy Like”
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Brandi Carlile — “Right on Time” Gabby Barrett — “Footprints on the Moon” Kacey Musgraves — “justified” Maren Morris — “Circles Around This Town” Mickey Guyton — “Remember Her Name” Miranda Lambert — “If I Was a Cowboy” Tenille Arts — “Back Then, Right Now”
DUO/GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR Brothers Osborne — “I’m Not For Everyone” Dan + Shay — “Steal My Love” Maddie & Tae — “Woman You Got” Old Dominion — “I Was On a Boat That Day” Parmalee — “Take My Name” Zac Brown Band — “Same Boat”
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR Breland — “Cross Country” Caitlyn Smith feat. Old Dominion — “I Can’t” Elvie Shane — “My Boy” Parker McCollum — “To Be Loved By You” Tenille Arts — “Back Then, Right Now”
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Carly Pearce & Ashley McBryde — “Never Wanted to Be That Girl” Dustin Lynch feat. MacKenzie Porter — “Thinking ‘Bout You” Nelly & Florida Georgia Line — “Lil Bit” Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood — “If I Didn’t Love You” Jimmie Allen & Brad Paisley — “Freedom Was a Highway” Jordan Davis feat. Luke Bryan — “Buy Dirt” Kelsea Ballerini feat. Kenny Chesney — “half of my hometown”
CMT PERFORMANCE VIDEO OF THE YEAR Brothers Osborne — “Muskrat Greene/Dead Man’s Curve Medley (from CMT Campfire Sessions)” George Strait — “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone (from CMT GIANTS: Charley Pride)” H.E.R. feat. Chris Stapleton — “Hold On (from 2021 CMT Music Awards)” Kane Brown — “Three Wooden Crosses (from 2021 CMT Artists of the Year)” Kelsea Ballerini feat. Paul Klein of LANY — “I Quit Drinking (from 2021 CMT Music Awards)” Mickey Guyton feat. Gladys Knight & Breland — “Friendship Train (from 2021 CMT Music Awards)” Nelly feat. Kane Brown, Blanco Brown & Breland — “Ride Wit Me (from CMT Crossroads: Nelly & Friends”)
CMT DIGITAL-FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR Brittney Spencer — “Sober and Skinny (from CMT Campfire Sessions)” Carly Pearce — “Dear Miss Loretta (from CMT :60 Songs)” Cody Johnson — “Dear Rodeo (from CMT Campfire Sessions)” Jon Pardi — “On the Other Hand / Forever and Ever Amen” (in honor of 2021 CMT Artist of a Lifetime Randy Travis) Josh Turner LIVE (from CMT KickBack) Lainey Wilson — “Things a Man Oughta Know” (from the CMT Studio)
(WASHINGTON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to deliver a historic, virtual address to Congress on Wednesday to plead with the U.S. to do more to help stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a speech to Ukrainians earlier Wednesday, Zelenskyy called his upcoming address to Congress “an important speech.”
“A speech from all of us, from each of our defenders, from each of our citizens, for the most powerful democracy in the world — for the state and the people, who can do a lot to stop Russian aggression, to restore peace on our land,” he said.
Although it’s unclear whether Zelenskyy will pressure President Joe Biden by name to have NATO impose a no-fly zone, Biden will be watching Zelenskyy’s address at 9 a.m., White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, and will also give an address of his own afterward, detailing what the U.S. is doing for “Ukrainian security assistance.”
He gave something of a preemptive response in remarks to reporters on Tuesday while signing a $1.5 trillion government funding bill, which includes $13.6 billion in supplemental aid to Ukraine.
“We’ve been providing anti-armor — taking out and air capabilities — directly, directly to the Ukrainian forces. We’re also facilitating significant shipments of security assistance from our allied partners to Ukraine,” Biden said. “With this new security funding … we’re moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country.”
While the U.S. has imposed a slate of economic and trade sanctions to isolate Putin, the Biden administration has flatly and repeatedly rejected a no-fly zone, as well as U.S. troops fighting Russia in Ukraine and any help delivering MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland wants to get to the Ukrainians. It’s also unclear whether Congress might try to move to act unilaterally if the White House doesn’t take more action.
Zelenskyy’s virtual address will air at 9 a.m. on ABC News Live.
What Zelenskyy’s remarks might look like
Zelenskyy’s address to Congress is expected to be similar to the one he made to Canada’s Parliament on Tuesday, according to a Ukrainian official familiar with the remarks.
Addressing those lawmakers, Zelenskyy, in an emotional appeal for a no-fly zone, said that at least 97 Ukrainian children have been killed in the last 20 days in onslaught ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We are not asking for much,” he said. “We’re asking for justice, for real support, which will help us to prevail, to defend, to save lives.”
He called for more sanctions on Russia and for businesses to end their operations there and repeated his pleas for “aerial support.”
“Close the sky, close the airspace,” he continued. “Please understand how important it is for us to close our airspace from Russian missiles and Russian aircraft.”
Zelenskyy received a standing ovation, both before and after his remarks, but his central plea — for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine — has met with no success not just with the U.S. but with other NATO nations as well. He seized the chance to get personal with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, calling on Canadians to imagine they were under attack — something he may do as well speaking to Congress, with Americans watching a live stream of his remarks.
“How much more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen?” he asked. “We’re asking for more of your leadership and, please, take more, greater part in these efforts, Justin, and all of our friends of Ukraine.”
Pleas for a no-fly zone
Given Zelenskyy’s pleas, Psaki was pressed Tuesday on how the administration planned to deal with the likely request for measures like closing the airspace above Ukraine.
“I would say that without knowing what he’s going to say tomorrow, we certainly are familiar with what the asks have been. We have provided our own assessment of what does make sense and doesn’t make sense,” Psaki said, noting the additional funding to Ukraine Biden was signing.
Another reporter followed up, “Is Zelenskyy wasting his time tomorrow asking for these things?”
“Because of the passion and the courage and the bravery of President Zelenskyy, there has been support for expediting the delivery of a historic amount of military and security assistance and weapons that have helped him and his military fight back against the Russians,” Psaki said. “And I would say that, yes, we recognize there are a range of bipartisan calls, but what we have the responsibility to do here is to assess what the impact is on the United States and our own national security.”
Psaki added that a no-fly zone “essentially means us shooting down Russian planes, and them essentially shooting back at us.”
As the shelling of civilian residences continues in Ukraine, Biden said last week Russia would pay a “severe price” if it used chemical weapons — but the White House has refused to detail what those consequences would look like. Former President Barack Obama drew a red line on chemical weapons in Syria, but despite pressure from Congress, the administration has hesitated to declare the same.
While Zelenskyy has been vocal in pushing the West to do more, members of both parties in Congress have also pressed Biden to do more to step up aid and led the charge for trade sanctions the White House ultimately took on last week.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused the administration on Tuesday of “dragging its heels” in getting aid to Ukraine.
Asked how lawmakers might navigate having to deny Zelenskyy some of the security measures he may request of them, McConnell indicated he would agree to what Zelenskyy is asking, aside from imposing a no-fly zone.
“My guess is that everything he is going to request is something we ought to be doing, and so my individual response to that would be yes,” McConnell said. “The administration needs to get the message they need to help the Ukrainians in every conceivable way we need to do it, and we need to do it right now — not only us but our NATO allies — who seem to be way more anxious than this administration to help the Ukrainians.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the invitation to Zelenskyy to speak to Congress “one of the highest honors” bestowed by the body on a foreign head of state.
“We have all been inspired by the courage of President Zelenskyy and that of the Ukrainian people. President Zelenskyy can rest assured that he will always have friends in Congress ready to listen to stand in his corner, and we’re honored to have him speak to us later this week,” he said on the Senate floor Monday.
As he continues his appeals to the West, the Ukrainian president last week also became the first foreign leader to virtually address the U.K.’s House of Commons and echoed Winston Churchill’s famous June 1940 speech after Allied forces pulled off the “miracle of Dunkirk.”
“We will not give up, and we will not lose. We will fight till the end – at sea, in the air, we will continue fighting for our land whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets,” he said, met, again, with a standing ovation.
ABC News’ Ben Gittleson, Penelope Lopez, Luis Martinez, Conor Finnegan, Sarah Kolinovsky, Molly Nagle, Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
Netflix’s new film The Adam Project, starring Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldaña and Mark Ruffalo, has scored for the streaming service.
According to new viewership figures from the streaming service quoted by Deadline, 92.4 million hours were spend by Netflix viewers globally since The Adam Project debuted Friday night.
In fact, the sci-fi film had the third most-watched debut in Netflix’s history, incidentally behind another Ryan Reynolds movie, Red Notice, which ranked in first place with 148.7 million hours watched globally in its first week in November of last year.
The star-studded apocalypse dramedy Don’t Look Up ranked in second place, with 111 million hours watched in its first week at the end of last December, according to Deadline.
In a new interview with Netflix, Reynolds explained the film from his Free Guy director Shawn Levy was “deeply personal” for him, as his character — a time traveler from the future who teams up with his 12-year-old self and his deceased father — shared some of Ryan’s real-life experiences.
“My father passed away years ago and for a long time, I told myself these stories about him that helped me make sense of my own deficiencies or shortcomings,” the actor admitted. “But…I realized that the reason I was really mad at my father wasn’t because he was a bad guy or because had screwed up as a dad — it was because he died. I was actually mad at my father because he died.”
This same realization is also reached by Reynolds’ onscreen character, Adam, in the film, bringing him closure.
The Vampire Diaries‘ Paul Wesley has been tapped to play Captain James T. Kirk in Paramount+’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, according to Deadline. The Star Trek: Discovery spinoff will be set a decade before the Kirk era, and will follow Pike and the USS Enterprise on their own intergalactic adventures. Anson Mount will return as fan-favorite Capt. Christopher Pike, along with Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Pike’s first officer, and Ethan Peck as science officer Spock. Strange New Worlds launches May 5 on Paramount+…
Isla Fisher has joined the star-studded cast of Strays, the live-action/CGI feature from Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar filmmaker Josh Greenbaum, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx and Randall Park top the voice cast of the adult comedy, with Will Forte appearing in a live-action role. Strays follows an abandoned dog who teams up with other strays to get revenge on his former owner. Ferrell voices the abandoned dog, while Foxx is one of the pooches who befriends him and Forte is the nasty human owner. Fischer’s role hasn’t been revealed…
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, starring Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood‘s Austin Butler in the title role, will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, according to Variety. Elvis explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with Parker, his enigmatic manager. The Cannes Film Festival, set to take place May 17-28, will unveil its Official Selection at a press conference in Paris during the second or third week of April…
(NEW YORK) — It appears Anthony Rizzo is staying put in New York.
Citing a source, ESPN reports the 32-year-old first baseman agreed to a two-year, $32 million deal with the New York Yankees Tuesday night.
The contract includes an opt-out clause after one season, according to ESPN.
Rizzo joined the Yankees mid-season last July after being traded from the Chicago Cubs, with whom he had been playing with since 2012.
In the 49 games he played with the Yankees last year, the three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner had eight home runs, 21 RBIs and a .249 batting average.
