Prince Michael Jackson is carrying on the historic legacy of his late father by hosting the annual Thriller Night Halloween costume party at the Jackson family estate.
Michael’s youngest son has teamed with Taj Jackson, son of Tito Jackson, to design an immersive haunted house for the event on October 29th at the Jackson Hayvenhurst mansion in Encino, California.
“I’m so excited to to host our event this year; although we had a virtual event with Omarion in 2020, there’s magic on the Hayvenhurst property and it’s so great to be able to share it with everyone after we’ve been cooped up for almost a year,” Prince Michael says in a statement. “Every year we try to out do ourselves and this year I think we’ve done just that!”
For the first time, guests will enjoy live performance during Thriller Night. Chris Tucker will deliver a stand-up comedy show, and two-time Grammy winner Elijah Blake will sing.
There will also be a Legacy Room featuring Michael Jackson‘s most memorable costumes from both the “Thriller” and “Ghost” videos, and an exhibit showcasing of some of his awards, including the plaque for selling 100 million units of the landmark Thriller album.
Thriller Night will benefit Prince Michael Jackson’s non-profit organization, The Heal Los Angeles Foundation. Tickets can be purchased on the foundation’s website.
Flavor Flav is in trouble once again for domestic violence.
The Public Enemy co-founder was arrested earlier this month in Henderson, Nevada, on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery, according to TMZ.
The alleged victim, who has not been identified, claims that he grabbed her and threw her to the ground.
Flav’s attorney, David Chesnoff, told TMZ, “In alleged domestic violence cases, there are often 2 sides to the story, and we will explain our side in the courtroom and not in the media.”
This is the fourth time Flav has been arrested for domestic violence.
In 2012, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor domestic violence charges for assaulting his then-fiancée Elizabeth Trujillo and threatening her teenage son with a knife.
In 1991, Flavor pleaded guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend Karen Ross, which resulted in a jail stint and losing custody of his children at the time. Two years later, he was arrested again for domestic violence, along with cocaine and marijuana charges.
As news of his arrest was being reported, the 62-year-old former reality TV star declared Tuesday on Instagram that he’s been sober for one year.
“1 year up, lotz more to go,” Flav wrote. “Next year I pray my whole family will be walkin the same path I am.”
Måneskin has premiered the video for the band’s new single, “MAMMAMIA.”
The bloody clip finds each member of the Italian outfit fantasizing about killing vocalist Damiano David in various different ways, including drowning him in a toilet, stabbing him, and beating him with a guitar. Mamma mia, there’s a lot of blood.
You can watch the “MAMMAMIA” video streaming now on YouTube.
“MAMMAMIA” dropped earlier this month. It follows Måneskin’s breakout singles “Beggin'” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave.”
Sweet has just released a new single, an updated version of their song “Everything,” which originally appeared on the veteran U.K. glam-rock band’s 2002 studio album, Sweetlife.
Sweet’s current U.K. incarnation is led by the band’s sole surviving original member, guitarist Andy Scott, who says he was inspired to record a new rendition of “Everything” while watching his group’s latest lineup rehearse the tune.
“During the rehearsals for Sweet’s forthcoming UK tour 2021, we were trying out various songs from our back catalogue that could be added to the set list,” explains Scott. “As soon as I heard Paul Manzi and Lee Small‘s vocals on the song ‘Everything,’ I knew that we needed to get it down and record it as our new single.”
He adds about “Everything (2021),” “I think the new version is a far superior production. It’s much closer to how I envisaged it when I co-wrote the song back in the day.”
“Everything (2021)” is available now via streaming services, and you also can check out a music video for the song at Sweet’s official YouTube channel.
Sweet kicks of their 2021 U.K. tour in late November. Check out their full schedule at TheSweet.com.
(NEW YORK) — Family members of a former NHL player who had cocaine and fentanyl in his system when he died are now speaking out to warn people about the risks of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
Jimmy Hayes, a 31-year-old father of two who played seven seasons in the NHL, was found dead at his home near Boston on Aug. 23.
His death was ruled accidental.
“I hope getting Jimmy’s story out there can save someone’s life,” Hayes’ father, Kevin, told the Boston Globe. “If this can save someone from the pain, great. It’s just so sad. I pride myself on being pretty mentally strong. I’m a street guy. But there’s just no formula for this. You have a beautiful, all-American boy who made a terrible mistake and it cost him his life.”
Hayes’ wife, Kristen, told the Boston Globe she was “completely shocked” that her husband’s death was drug-related, telling the newspaper, “I was so certain that it had nothing to do with drugs. I really thought it was a heart attack or anything that wasn’t that [drugs].”
Hayes was a Boston native who played over 300 games in the NHL for four different teams. His dad Kevin told the Boston Globe that Hayes came to him over a year ago and told him he was “hooked” on pain pills, and later sought treatment.
“So he gets help and everything was on the path to recovery, I thought,” said Kevin. “But this [expletive] is so powerful.”
Hayes is the latest well-known celebrity to die with fentanyl in his system.
The singer Prince fatally overdosed on fentanyl in 2016.
“The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams died in September of a drug overdose which included fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine.
In February, Dr. Laura Berman, a nationally known relationship and sex expert, shared a warning for parents when her 16-year-old son died after taking what she described as fentanyl-laced Xanax from a person he allegedly met on Snapchat.
What to know about the dangers of illicitly manufactured fentanyl
In the United States, illicitly manufactured fentanyl is the primary driver of the significant increases in drug overdose deaths in recent years. More than 93,000 people died of a drug overdose last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In September, the country’s top law enforcement officials announced the seizure of more than 1.8 million counterfeit pills during a coordinated series of law enforcement raids throughout the country since early August.
The pills are often made to resemble real prescription opioid medication like Oxycontin, Vicodin and Xanax or stimulants like Adderall, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Most are made in Mexico, with China supplying the chemicals.
“We cannot stress enough the danger of these counterfeit pills,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said at a Sept. 30 press conference. “We’re seeing these pills being illegally sold in every state in the United States. They are cheap, they are widely available, they can be purchased online and on social media — so through people’s phones, and they’re extremely dangerous.”
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is used frequently in medical settings. Developed for the pain management treatment of cancer patients, it is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the DEA.
“It is a very good and effective medicine at relieving pain in appropriate quantities managed by anesthesia,” said Dr. Kimberly Sue, medical director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition and an addiction specialist at Yale University. “What we’re seeing in the opioid overdose deaths in this country is related to fentanyl that is obtained outside of the context of medical prescriptions, usually on the street.”
In the case of an overdose death, fentanyl can cause a person to stop breathing, according to Sue.
Sue said that when people take medications that are not prescribed to them, they are playing “Russian roulette,” given the prevalence of illicitly manufactured fentanyl on the streets today.
“In the case of a pill that you buy off the street, people should assume there is fentanyl present even if it is labeled as some other medication,” she said. “I’ve taken care of many patients who think they’re buying an oxycodone or heroin and there’s nothing in it. It’s just fentanyl.”
Sue stressed that there are now resources like fentanyl test strips, which identify the presence of fentanyl in unregulated drugs, and naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, that can help save people’s lives.
“These are really tragic deaths because they are preventable,” said Sue. “I tell my patients, ‘You have to use all these strategies to try to stay alive and keep your friends alive.'”
If you or someone you love is in need of help, call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit HERE to reach SAMHSA’s 24-hour helpline that offers free, confidential treatment referral and information about mental and/or substance use disorders, prevention and recovery.
ABC News’ Luke Barr, Quinn Owen and Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More than 60,000 law enforcement officers were assaulted in the line of duty in 2020, including more than 40 who were killed, according to the FBI.
The total of 60,105 was an increase of 4,071 from 2019, with FBI drawing on reports from some 9,895 law enforcement agencies.
Among those assaulted, about 31% sustained injuries. In 2020, 46 officers were killed, down from 48 in 2019, FBI data showed.
Most of the assaults on officers happened after they responded to disturbance calls, including family quarrels and bar fights, according to the FBI.
“Police officers across the country are facing an increase in violent crime and violent acts committed against them,” said Laura Cooper, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. “Facing these dangerous situations is another reason why it has been difficult for police agencies to find recruits who want to put on a uniform and put their lives on the line.”
Vernon Stanforth, president of the National Sheriffs Association, said the staggering numbers weren’t a surprise “after this troubling year for law enforcement.”
Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund President Jason Johnson said the increased assaults on officers come at a time when they’re “seemingly under attack on all fronts.”
In the first nine months of 2021, 54 officers were feloniously killed while on duty compared with 37 over that same time period in 2020, according to the latest FBI data. Among those deaths, 20 were unprovoked attacks.
A new LELDF report showed that from June 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the subsequent protests, the percentage of officers quitting or retiring had increased by double digits compared with 2019.
This year, high-profile police killings have already dominated headlines, including the case of Chicago officer Ella French, who was shot during a traffic stop in August.
French, 29, was the first Chicago police officer since 2018 killed in the line of duty and the city’s first female officer killed in the line of duty since 1988.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 726,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 66.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Latest headlines:
-10 states see rise in hospital admissions
-UK records highest daily death toll since March
-‘National emergency’ declared on children’s mental health
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 19, 2:56 pm
Secretary Mayorkas tests positive for COVID-19
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has tested positive for COVID-19, a DHS spokeswoman confirmed to ABC News.
Mayorkas, who is fully vaccinated, “is experiencing only mild congestion,” a statement said.
Mayorkas will work from home, the statement said. Contact tracing is underway.
ABC News’ Luke Barr
Oct 19, 1:00 pm
Pfizer vaccine 93% effective against hospitalizations for 12-18 age group
A new CDC study found that the Pfizer vaccine was 93% effective against hospitalizations for adolescents ages 12 to 18 from July to September.
The researchers also found that nearly all (97%) of adolescents’ ages 12 to 18 who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Oct 19, 12:30 pm
10 states see rise in hospital admissions
Ten states — all of which have colder temperatures — have seen upticks in hospital admissions in recent weeks, according to federal data: Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wyoming.
However, nationwide, just under 58,000 Americans remain hospitalized, a major drop from 104,000 patients at the end of the summer, according to federal data.
Death rates remain high, with more than 1,000 Americans dying each day, according to federal data.
Over the last month, the U.S. has reported approximately 45,000 COVID-19 deaths, including nearly 7,600 deaths in the last week.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 19, 11:48 am
UK records highest daily death toll since March
The United Kingdom recorded 233 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest total since March 5, according to government data.
In a statement confirmed by ABC News, issued before the new figures were published, the prime minister’s office said it was keeping a “very close eye” on the numbers and urged people to get their booster shots.
“We have seen case rates rising, we’ve started to see some indications that hospitalizations and death rates are increasing also,” a spokesman for the prime minister said. “It’s important that the public understand that getting your booster jab is just as important as getting your first and second dose.”
The new era of Christina Aguilera is upon us…or should we say, “la nueva era?” She’ll release a Spanish-language single this Friday.
On Twitter, Christina announced that the song is called “Pa’ Mis Muchachas” — which translates to “For My Girls” — and that it features Latin stars Becky G, Nicki Nicole and and Nathy Peluso.
This will be Christina’s first Spanish-language release since Mi Reflejo more than 20 years ago. The singer, whose father was born in Ecuador, told ABC Audio that it’s “my labor of love for a part of my culture and part of me that’s so important, that isn’t always brought out in my English music.”
Christina also told ABC Audio that in addition to the new music she’s putting out this fall, she’s also planning to release new music “throughout next year, in sort of six-song increments every six moths.”
Christina’s last album was Liberation, back in 2018. It reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 and earned her two Grammy nominations.
(NEW YORK) — A freshman at the University of Kentucky died from alcohol toxicity Monday night after he was found unresponsive at his fraternity house, officials said.
University police officers were called to FarmHouse Fraternity at about 6:22 p.m. Monday where Thomas Lofton Hazlewood, an 18-year-old fraternity member, was unresponsive, the university said.
The agricultural economics major was taken to a hospital where he died, the university said.
Hazlewood’s cause of death was “presumed alcohol toxicity” pending investigation, and the manner of death was ruled an accident, the Fayette County Coroner’s Office said.
“Foul play is not suspected, but police are investigating the circumstances of his death,” the university said in a statement Tuesday.
FarmHouse Fraternity CEO Christian Wiggins said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Thomas ‘Lofton’ Hazelwood, a new member of the University of Kentucky chapter of FarmHouse Fraternity. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and loved ones as well as the entire community. We have encouraged all members and new members to cooperate with any investigation prompted by Mr. Hazelwood’s death.”
“The thoughts of the entire UK community are with his family and all those who knew him,” the university said.
Blair Underwood has joined his next major project.
According to Variety, Underwood, along with Lola Kirke, have been added to the cast of Showtime’s Three Women. They join DeWanda Wise, Shailene Woodley, Betty Gilpin and Ravi Patel, who were previously announced. Based on Lisa Taddeo‘s book of the same name, the series centers on “three women completely overturning their lives.” Underwood will play Richard, a well-known chef who is “blindsided when his wife enters a sexual relationship with another man.” A release date has yet to be set for Three Women.
In other news, Netflix has rounded out the cast for the George C. Wolfe-directed film Rustin. Deadline has learned that Aml Ameen, CCH Pounder, Michael Potts, Bill Irwin, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Gus Halper, Johnny Ramey, Carra Patterson and Adrienne Warren have all been added to the upcoming feature. They join Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman and Audra McDonald, who were previously announced. The film follows Domingo as Bayard Rustin, a gay civil-rights activist who “overcame an onslaught of obstacles, and altered the course of American history by organizing the 1963 March on Washington.” A release date for Rustin has not been scheduled.
Finally, ABFF Ventures has announced that the 2021 American Black Film Festival will open its milestone 25th year with Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated film King Richard. As previously noted, the film follows Will Smith as Richard Williams, the ambitious father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Unlike previous years, ABFF will be available as a worldwide digital experience from November 3 to November 28 via its online platform ABFF PLAY. King Richard will be available by special invitation to a limited audience. To register for ABFF, visit ABFF.com.
