Not only do Slipknot‘s masks terrify humans, but they’re pretty confusing to dogs, too.
Drummer Jay Weinberg posted an Instagram video of his dog, a Brussels Griffon named Papaya, reacting to his new mask. Weinberg placed the mask on the floor next to Papaya, who then proceeded to circle and sniff it intently in between intermittent barking.
That the mask might have an interesting smell for dogs probably shouldn’t be that surprising, given that a tour laundry specialist once deemed garments worn by Slipknot to be the “most soiled” he’s ever handled.
Weinberg debuted his new mask during Slipknot’s performance at Knotfest Los Angeles last week. The show also featured the live premiere of the Knot’s new single, “The Chapletown Rag.”
Entertainment Weekly has shared the first-look images of Viola Davis as former First Lady Michelle Obama in Showtime’s The First Lady, an anthology series about women in the White House.
As previously reported, the new series, told from the perspective of the women “at the heart of the White House” will also star Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford, Cailee Spaeny as Anna Roosevelt, and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. The First Lady is scheduled to be released on Showtime in the spring of 2022.
In other news, Deadline is reporting that Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen has set his next feature film. McQueen has signed on to write, direct, and produce Blitz, a project based on his original idea. He will produce the project with New Regency, the company that helped to made his Oscar winning film 12 Years a Slave. Plot details on Blitz are being kept under wraps. The new film will begin production sometime next year.
Finally, Will Smith was apparently in the giving spirit during the making of his upcoming film, King Richard. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Smith, who was reportedly paid up to $40 million for his role as Richard Williams, gifted cash bonuses to his costars who worked with him on the critically-acclaimed drama. Those co-stars included, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, who play his daughters Venus and Serena, as well as Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal and Aunjanue Ellis, among others. Smith’s bonuses to the cast came after Warner Bros. changed the release plan for the upcoming movie to debut simultaneously in theaters and on its streaming service HBO Max on November 19.
Screenshots Courtesy of Sesame Street’s YouTube Page
Ahead of Billie Eilish’s guest spot on Sesame Street set to air next year, the show has released a sneak peek of her putting an educational spin on her song “Happier Than Ever.”
In the clip posted to YouTube and shared on Billie’s socials, the singer duets with The Count, changing the lyrics to be all about counting to two. They’re helped by Bert, Elmo and other Muppets.
“When I’m counting with you/I’m happier than ever,” she sings. “…Here is what we’ll do/Come on, let’s count to two.”
The 52nd season of Sesame Street debuts November 11 on Cartoonito on HBO Max, with new episodes — 35 in all — dropping every Thursday. Billie’s episode won’t air until June 16, 2022.
Actor Scott Bakula posted to Instagram a heartfelt tribute to his Quantum Leap co-star Dean Stockwell, who died Saturday at age 85. ABC News’ Los Angeles affiliate KABC-TV reported the Oscar nominee’s death was from natural causes.
Bakula, who in Quantum Leap played an accidental time-traveler whose only contact was Stockwell’s Admiral Al Calavicci, a hologram advisor, remembered the actor fondly.
He explained Stockwell read for the adventure show after Bakula was already cast. “We connected immediately and my career and my life were changed that day,” he recalled.
Bakula said his co-star became a “dear friend and mentor” over five “very intense years” on the series; a man whose passions included, “life, his work, his art (he was an amazing artist!), his family, all kinds of causes, people, music, the planet, cigars, golf, and on and on!”
Bakula noted his former co-star was a former child actor himself, and as such had a “soft spot” for the young performers who appeared on Leap, a series that earned Stockwell a Golden Globe.
“He was very protective of their rights and safety and always checked in with them to make sure that they were ok,” Scott noted, adding, “His big hearted response to the kids made all of us take notice and be better guardians ourselves.”
In closing, Bakula said, “I loved him dearly and was honored to know him. He made me a better human being…”
A friend in need’s a friend indeed, but a friend with new music is better.
Placebo has announced a new album for the first time in nearly a decade. The U.K. band will release Never Let Me Go, the follow-up to 2013’s Loud Like Love, on March 25, 2022.
Never Let Me Go includes the previously released single “Beautiful James,” as well as a just-released track called “Surrounded with Spies.” Both tunes are available now for digital download.
Placebo will hit the road in support of Never Let Me Go in November 2022 for a U.K. tour.
Here’s the Never Let Me Go track list:
“Forever Chemicals”
“Beautiful James”
“Hugz”
“Happy Birthday in the Sky”
“The Prodigal”
“Surrounded By Spies”
“Try Better Next Time”
“Sad White Reggae”
“Twin Demons”
“Chemtrails”
“This Is What You Wanted”
“Went Missing”
“Fix Yourself”
Travis Scott is scheduled to be one of the headliners of the 2022 Coachella festival, and 20,000 people have signed a Change.org petition asking the promoters to remove him from the lineup.
The petition is titled, “Remove Travis Scott as a Goldenvoice performer.” Goldenvoice is the promoter for the event. Coachella will be held April 15-17, and April 22-24, 2022 in Indio, California. Due to the pandemic, the event was canceled this year, and in 2020.
“With the recent tragic and unnecessary death at Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert, due to Scott’s own gross negligence and sheer lack of compassion for human life, we ask AEG, Paul Tollett, and Goldenvoice to remove him as performer at all of their festivals,” petition creator Sendero Secreto commented.
As previously reported, Scott was scheduled to headline this weekend’s Day N Vegas Festival, which is also promoted by Goldenvoice, but he has cancelled his performance. He is being replaced by Post Malone.
Russell Dickerson is ready for his shining moment as a presenter at the 2021 CMA Awards — and he’s going to look fashionable doing it.
Ahead of the show on Wednesday night, the hit singer is putting his most confident foot forward, stating that he’s going to be “looking fly” and reading the teleprompter like a pro.
“I feel like I got the teleprompter. It’s really reading it and also keeping a real, normal look on your face,” he describes of his technique.
The “Home Sweet” singer is also looking ahead to other CMA Awards ceremonies when he can take his one-year-old son, Remington. Russell and his wife, Kailey, welcomed Remington in September 2020, and he’s already dreaming up matching father-son outfits they can wear to future events.
“I wish we could bring [him]. They’re obviously still very strict about the COVID stuff. That is gonna happen one year. Me and Rem are going to be dressed exactly the same, to the nines,” the singer predicts.
Russell is part of the all-star lineup of presenters at the 55th annual CMA Awards, airing tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
George Harrison circa 1954; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
A house in the Liverpool, U.K., suburb of Speke where George Harrison lived while growing up will be auctioned off on November 30 by the Omega Auctions company.
The residence, a three-bedroom council house where Harrison and his family resided from 1950 to 1962, is estimated to sell for between 160,000 and 200,000 pounds, or from about $217,000 to $271,000.
While living at the house, George met Paul McCartney and John Lennon and was asked to join their band The Quarrymen. That group and, later, The Beatles, frequently rehearsed at Harrison’s home.
A number of features dating back to when Harrison lived at the house remain intact, including a bath, a sink, some of the original doors and hanging rails in wardrobes, as well as a kitchen dresser unit found in one of the outbuildings in the property’s backyard.
Omega Auctions points out that the buyer would be able to apply for a blue plaque, which acknowledges that a site is of historic U.K. significance, starting this month.
The home will be available for viewing by appointment during the two weeks leading up to the auction.
A video featuring photos of the house, as well as vintage pics of Harrison taken in and around the home, has been posted on the Omega Auctions’ official YouTube channel.
Ken Jennings revealed the “lovely” gift he received from Alex Trebek‘s widow, Jean, when he first guest hosted “Jeopardy!” after the longtime host’s death.
“The first day I came in to guest host was just a few weeks after Alex had passed and it was a really rough time,” Jennings said in a video posted to the Jeopardy! YouTube page on Monday. “I got to the studio and one of the producers handed me a little box and Alex’s wife, Jean, had given me a pair of his cuff links that he had worn on the show.”
“What a lovely gesture that was from Jean,” he continued. “You know, at a time that was very hard for her family, dealing with a lot of grief and a lot of challenges, she thought about ‘Jeopardy!’ and she thought about me, a person she had never even met.”
Jennings concluded: “My Alex Trebek cuff links are the only cuff links I own. They’re kind of a good luck charm for me here.”
The video was shared on the one-year anniversary of Trebek’s death following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80.
Monday also marked the return of Jennings, who holds the Jeopardy! records for the number of consecutive games won, at 74, and the highest winnings in regular-season play, at $2,520,700, as guest host of the quiz show, taking over from Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik. Jennings was also the first guest host after Trebek’s passing.
Elsewhere in the video tribute, Jennings shared how Trebek’s memory is still alive and well on Jeopardy! behind the scenes.
“I miss Alex a lot. When I’m here, I feel like he’s probably in the building somewhere,” he said. “It’s hard not to talk about him in the present tense.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 756,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 68.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
-US surgeon general releases guide to combating COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
-Pfizer to request OK for boosters to all adults: Source
-US reopens borders to vaccinated travelers
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Nov 09, 2:42 pm
Aaron Rodgers: ‘To anybody who felt misled … I take full responsibility’
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he takes full responsibility for anyone who felt mislead by his comments about his vaccination status.
“I do realize I am a role model,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday. “I made some comments that people might have felt were misleading. And to anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility for those comments.”
Rodgers, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week and is not vaccinated, said Friday that he wasn’t hiding his vaccination status, even though he told reporters in August, “I’ve been immunized.”
Rodgers also said Friday that he’s allergic to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines.
He added, “I believe strongly in bodily autonomy and the ability to make choices for your body.”
Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News in September that severe allergies to the vaccines are extremely uncommon and are experienced by less than one in 1 million people, according to health data.
The CDC said: “If you have had a severe allergic reaction or an immediate allergic reaction — even if it was not severe — to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get either of the currently available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. … If you aren’t able to get one type of COVID-19 vaccine because you are allergic to an ingredient in that vaccine, ask your doctor if you should get a different type of COVID-19 vaccine.”
Dr. Jeff Linder, chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News in September that research so far shows that severe allergic reactions are likely triggered by polyethylene glycol, or PEG, a component of the vaccines.
“An allergy to that is pretty rare,” Linder added. “It would have to be documented, as a moderate or severe allergy, before I would consider giving a medical exemption.”
Nov 09, 9:08 am
Unvaccinated Texans about 20 times more likely to die: Study
Unvaccinated Texans were about 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and 13 times more likely to test positive in September than those fully vaccinated, according to a study released by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The risk of death was 55 times higher for unvaccinated people in their 40s and 23 times higher for Texans in their 30s compared with vaccinated people in the same age groups, according to the Department of State Health Services.
Nov 09, 7:26 am
Singapore to begin charging COVID-19 patients who are ‘unvaccinated by choice’
Singapore announced Monday that, beginning next month, it will no longer pay for COVID-19 treatment for people who are “unvaccinated by choice,” as the island nation faces a surge in cases.
“The Government is currently footing the full COVID-19 medical bills of all Singaporeans, Permanent Residents and Long-Term Pass Holders … other than for those who tested positive soon after returning from overseas travel,” Singapore’s Ministry of Health said in a statement. “For the majority who are vaccinated, this special approach for COVID-19 bills will continue until the COVID-19 situation is more stable.”
“Currently, unvaccinated persons make up a sizeable majority of those who require intensive inpatient care, and disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources,” the ministry noted.
The new policy will apply to all unvaccinated COVID-19 patients who are admitted to Singaporean hospitals or COVID-19 treatment facilities on or after Dec. 8, according to the ministry.
Singapore has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world, with 85% of its 5.5 million people fully inoculated. But the country’s health care system is under strain as it grapples with its worst wave of COVID-19 infections since the start of the pandemic.
Nov 09, 7:02 am
US surgeon general releases guide to combating COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
The U.S. government’s top doctor released a step-by-step toolkit on Tuesday morning to help people combat misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines in their own close circles.
“We need people in communities all across our country to have these conversations,” Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told ABC News. “This is not just the government that needs to be engaged in these conversations. If anything, it’s individuals who have people they trust in their lives who have great power when it comes to helping them move our vaccination rates in the right direction.”
The guide provides a road map for vaccinated people to talk to unvaccinated people who have bought into conspiracy theories or lies that spread on the internet about the COVID-19 vaccines.
Over the summer, the surgeon general issued an advisory that called misinformation an urgent public health threat.
The toolkit, which Murthy hopes will be used by health professionals, faith leaders, teachers or parents with children newly eligible for the shot, is the next step in addressing the ongoing problem. November polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that nearly eight in 10 adults have come across false statements about COVID-19 and have either believed them or been unsure if they were true.
“During the COVID 19 pandemic, misinformation has in fact cost people their lives. So we don’t have an option to give up,” Murthy said.
The information released Tuesday encourages people to talk in person instead of online. One section is even entitled “If you’re not sure, don’t share!”
It includes discussion questions and illustrations explaining why people share misinformation or what a hypothetical conversation around misinformation could look like. The recommended approach relies heavily on listening, providing empathy and avoiding shame.
“When talking with a friend or family members, emphasize the fact that you understand that there are often reasons why people find it difficult to trust certain sources of information,” the guide states.
