Olivia Rodrigo continues to rack up the accolades: TIME has just named her its Entertainer of the Year for 2021.
“The 18-Year-Old Singer-Songwriter’s Uninhibited, Confessional Album Captured the Tone of a Turbulent Year,” the publication writes of Olivia. In her cover story, the “Good 4 U” singer talks about her future, running her business and those constant comparisons to other artists — from Taylor Swift and Carole King to Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette.
“Young women are constantly compared to each other. I’m the ‘new this’ or ‘this woman meets that woman,’ and that can be reductive,” she tells TIME. “I’m just Olivia. I’m doing my own thing. It’s meaningful when people recognize that.”
But those artists to whom she’s been compared have nothing but praise for Olivia. Alanis Morissette says of the teen star, “She has a steadfast care about self-expression. She’s not precious about it, nor does she seem overwhelmed by it all.”
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carole King says Olivia has “a gift of knowing how to tell a story in a song.” And Gwen Stefani, the person with whom Olivia says she’d most like to write a song, says she’d be “honored” to do so.
As for what’s next for her, Olivia’s already made a deal to own her own masters, avoiding the mistake that her idol Taylor Swift made as a teen that she’s now busy correcting. She’s also moved into her own place, but her parents still help with laundry and grocery shopping.
And in terms of following up SOUR, Olivia tells TIME, “I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t any pressure. But I sometimes remember: ‘This happened 10 months ago. You don’t have to have it all figured out yet.’”
Fans could hardly wait to see the cast of Friends reunite for the 2021 HBO Max special, but for Jennifer Aniston, filming was more emotionally complicated than she anticipated.
The actress told The Hollywood Reporter that she was “so naive” to think that revisiting that time in her life would be easy.
At times during filming, Aniston got so overwhelmed that she “had to walk out,” she said.
“It was like, ‘Hi, past, remember me? Remember how that sucked? You thought everything was in front of you and life was going to be just gorgeous and then you went through maybe the hardest time in your life?'” she recalled. “It was all very jarring.”
Aniston, 52, starred in Friends from 1994 until 2004, a time during which tabloids made much ado about her relationship with actor Brad Pitt, from whom she split in 2005. Although she did not get into specifics in the THR interview, Aniston did tell the publication that while she appeared on comedy series, her expectations for her personal life “sort of shape-shifted.”
Ultimately, her reaction to the media’s obsession with her also evolved.
“I used to take it all very personally — the pregnancy rumors and the whole ‘Oh, she chose career over kids’ assumption. It’s like, ‘You have no clue what’s going with me personally, medically, why I can’t … can I have kids?'” she said. “They don’t know anything, and it was really hurtful and just nasty.”
Now, however, Aniston is grateful to have had all of the experiences that have come her way, good and bad.
“Everything’s a blessing if you’re able to look at life’s ups and downs in that way,” she said. “If it all hadn’t happened, I would not be sitting here the woman that I am.”
The Wendy Williams Show lives on. On Wednesday, it was announced that the show will return in January with a variety of celebrity guest hosts as Wendy Williams continues to deal with ongoing health issues.
“‘The Wendy Williams Show’ Returns with All-New Episodes in the New Year!” the show’s official Instagram page shared in a post.
Fat Joe and Remy Ma are scheduled to kick off the hosting duties, taking over January 3-7. Michael Rapaport will hop in the purple chair from January 10-14 before handing the reins over to Kym Whitley and Finesse Mitchell for the week of January 17. Ending the month hosting January 24-28 will be guest host Sherri Shepherd.
Last month, Wendy gave fans a much needed update on her health and assured them that she’s working toward a return.
“HOW YOU DOIN’? I MISS YOU ALL! As everyone knows, my health has been a hot topic,” the November 8 statement read. “I’m making progress but it’s just one of those things that’s taking longer than we expected.”
Williams continued, “I’m a woman of a certain age, and I know enough to listen to my doctors and will return to my purple chair as soon as we all agree I’m ready. I want to thank all of my staff and our guest hosts for stepping up and stepping in while I can’t be there.”
Travis Scott sat down with Charlamagne tha God for his first interview following last month’s Astroworld tragedy that left 10 people dead and many others injured.
In the hour-long interview posted to Charlamagne’s YouTube page Thursday, the rapper reiterated that he did not know the extent of the tragedy until after the show. He also denies hearing screams for help from the crowd that would have caused him to shut things down.
“You can only help what you can see and whatever you’re told, whenever they tell you to stop, you stop,” Travis said.
Charlamagne asked Travis about the “raging” he encourages at his shows and whether that contributed to what happened.
“It didn’t feel like, you know…people didn’t show up there just to be harmful,” Travis said. “People just showed up to have a good time and then something unfortunate happened and I think we really just got to figure out what that was.”
“‘Raging’…they have a textbook definition, but in concerts we’ve grown it to be just the experience of fun,” he added. “It’s not about just…harm. It’s not about that. It’s about letting go and having fun, help others and love each other.”
Travis went on to stay he wants to help improve concert safety measures for the future, so something like this never happens again.
(NEW YORK) — Roughly two-thirds of parents of elementary school-aged children are either holding off on getting their younger children vaccinated or refuse to do so, according to a poll released Thursday by the nonprofit KFF.
Parents of teens are more willing to get their kids vaccinated, but only about half of that age group have gotten the shot so far, KFF found.
The new findings come despite increasing evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and that kids and teens are now helping to drive the pandemic.
According to a recent analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services, cases among kids under age 18 spiked 884% since last summer. It was the largest increase in cases among all age groups.
“Most of them haven’t had a chance to talk to their doctor about it yet, so I’m not surprised,” Liz Hamel, vice president of public opinion and survey research at KFF, said of elementary school parents who remain hesitant.
Hamel cautions that the poll was taken before news of the omicron variant, which could sway parents. But based on how the vaccine rollout has gone so far, Hamel predicts that the third of parents who flatly refuse the vaccine won’t budge even as time passes. That’s because the estimation of adults who don’t want the vaccine — about 12-16% — has remained steady for about a year.
But the other third of parents of elementary-aged children who say they want to “wait and see” to vaccinate their elementary school children will probably get their kids a shot with time.
“I do think it will take a longer time for parents to come around, but I think that that is the group that eventually will get their kids vaccinated,” Hamel said.
More than 5 million children ages 5 to 11 have received at least one shot of the Pfizer vaccine since it became widely available to the public on Nov. 2, following a clinical trial involving 3,100 kids that found no safety concerns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks vaccine safety, says it hasn’t seen any signs yet that the vaccine has caused serious side effects in that age group, including the myocarditis seen in a small group of older teens and young adults.
Immunization experts say that if serious side effects do occur, they would happen as soon as the immune system is triggered — no later than two months of receiving a shot.
“Data take time to look at and collect. But so far, really there have been no signals” of safety concerns, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC News Wednesday.
“We have nearly 5 million children. I would say … if you want your children fully vaccinated by the holidays, now is the time,” she later added.
Still, many parents aren’t scheduling appointments just yet. While 5 million kids have gotten at least one shot, an estimated 28 million children ages 5 to 11 are eligible.
Vaccine hesitancy appears to be partisan, according to KFF. Nearly half of Republican parents of kids ages 5 to 11 plan to refuse the vaccine for their young children, compared with 7% of Democratic parents.
“Groups of parents who are less likely to say they have a vaccinated child — including younger parents, those without college degrees, and Republicans — are more likely to say they don’t have enough information,” according to the study.
(NEW YORK) — India’s military chief and his wife were among 13 killed in a helicopter crash around noon local time on Wednesday.
Gen. Bipin Rawat was traveling to Defence Services Staff College, Wellington in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course. The helicopter crashed roughly 2 miles away from the college, in Coonoor.
The Indian Air Force confirmed the crash in a thread on Twitter, calling it a “tragic accident,” adding that the vehicle was an IAF Mi 17 V5, a Soviet-designed military helicopter.
One of the 14 people aboard the aircraft survived and was being treated at a hospital.
The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known. Authorities are investigating.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Rawat “an outstanding soldier” and a “true patriot” who has greatly contributed to modernizing India’s armed forces and security apparatus.
“His insights and perspectives on strategic matters were exceptional,” Modi stated on his official Twitter account. “India will never forget his exceptional service.”
Other Indian officials express their condolences, some on social media.
“India stands united in this grief,” Rahul Gandhi, a member of the Indian National Congress, tweeted, calling the accident “an unprecedented tragedy.”
Born in 1958, Rawat became India’s first chief of defense staff, or CDS, in 2019. As the highest-ranking active duty military officer in the country, he also worked as an adviser to the minister of defense and led India’s Department of Military Affairs.
The Wendy Williams Show lives on. On Wednesday, it was announced that the show will return in January with a variety of celebrity guest hosts as Wendy Williams continues to deal with ongoing health issues.
“‘The Wendy Williams Show’ Returns with All-New Episodes in the New Year!” the show’s official Instagram page shared in a post.
Fat Joe and Remy Ma are scheduled to kick off the hosting duties, taking over January 3-7. Michael Rapaport will hop in the purple chair from January 10-14 before handing the reins over to Kym Whitley and Finesse Mitchell for the week of January 17. Ending the month hosting January 24-28 will be guest host Sherri Shepherd.
Last month, Wendy gave fans a much needed update on her health and assured them that she’s working toward a return.
“HOW YOU DOIN’? I MISS YOU ALL! As everyone knows, my health has been a hot topic,” the November 8 statement read. “I’m making progress but it’s just one of those things that’s taking longer than we expected.”
Williams continued, “I’m a woman of a certain age, and I know enough to listen to my doctors and will return to my purple chair as soon as we all agree I’m ready. I want to thank all of my staff and our guest hosts for stepping up and stepping in while I can’t be there.”
Tom Holland is “excited” about his role as Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic about the film legend, but he admits he’ll have to brush up on his dancing skills.
“I’m going to dust off the old tap shoes and go back to Pineapple Dance Studios [in London] and start taking tap lessons,” the Spider-Man: Far From Home star told Variety while promoting the film with his co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Batalon.
“I’m quite a good tap dancer,” Holland added. “It’s something I’ve done for a very, very long time so it’s something I’m sure I’ll be able to pick up.”
The 25-year-old actor first showcased his dancing skills when he played the titular role in the West End production of Billy Elliott the Musical from 2008-2010, but mastering Astaire’s style will be a challenge.
“Fred Astaire does have a very particular style,” Holland explains. “Billy Elliot” was very much a kind of like scuffy boot kind of tap dancer, whereas [Astaire] is very elegant and graceful so I’ll probably have to learn how to do that. But it’s something I’m gonna practice, something I’m very excited for and I think it will be a fantastic film.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home will open in theaters December 17.
For the first time in over a decade, Britney Spears has “the power to do whatever she wants.”
On Wednesday, Britney’s lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, appeared on the pop star’s behalf for the latest court hearing and afterwards revealed that a judge granted the “Toxic” singer the power to execute documents herself.
“She had the power to do whatever she wants to do,” Rosengart said outside of the courthouse after the brief hearing, according to Variety.
Just last month, Britney’s 13-year-long conservatorship was terminated, however, there are still some small details to wrap up. The next hearing, which is scheduled for January 19, will deal with accounting matters. Currently, John Zabel has limited administrative powers to execute the estate trust and transfer assets into it.
(WASHINGTON) — Former Sen. Bob Dole — a decorated World War II veteran and presidential candidate who served in Congress for 36 years — lay in state at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday as the nation honored the late American statesman.
Dole died Sunday in his sleep at the age of 98.
Dole’s longtime wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Robin, were escorted by service members and alongside lawmakers for the formal arrival of Dole’s casket ahead of a congressional tribute ceremony with remarks from President Joe Biden, who worked alongside Dole in the Senate for more than 20 years and called him “a man of extraordinary courage, both physical and moral courage.”
The Capitol ceremony began with an invocation by the House Chaplain who said Dole has “revealed to us what moral and faithful service should be.”
“In extolling Sen. Dole’s unequal integrity, disarming humor, and deep compassion, may we be inspired to reach into the depths of our own small-town virtues or our big city bravado to immolate this plain spokesman statesman, this decorated war hero, this, your, humble servant,” she said in an opening prayer.
Biden, in his remarks, first thanked Dole’s daughter and wife of 46 years, Elizabeth, who also served in the Senate, representing North Carolina, for allowing the ceremony to take place. He then said, “America has lost one of our finest patriots.”
“We meet here in the very heart of American democracy, the capital of the United States of America, to receive a hero of that democracy for a final time,” Biden began. “Robert Joseph Dole belongs here in this place, in this temple of liberty to liberty and temple to possibilities.”
“He, too, was a giant of our history, and that’s not hyperbole,” Biden said, after listing great leaders in American history, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower and Martin Luther King Jr. “It’s real. Of wit and grace, of principle and persistence, of courage and conviction.”
The president shared a light-hearted, personal story before reading a portion of Dole’s final message to the nation.
“They once asked him, why in God’s name did he vote to continue to fund Amtrak. He said because if he didn’t, Biden would stay overnight and cause more trouble,” Biden said to laughter. “Bob and I, like many of us here, we disagreed on a number of things, but not on any of the fundamental things. We still found a way to work together.”
“As divided as we are, the only way forward for democracy is unity, consensus,” Biden said. “We can find that unity again.”
He will also deliver a eulogy at Dole’s memorial service on Friday at Washington National Cathedral, which will air on ABC News and ABC News Live.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered words on Dole’s management in the Senate, having served twice as majority leader for Republicans, and got laughs when describing Dole’s “trademark wit.”
“‘If I’d known, he said, we were going to win control of the Senate, we’d run better candidates,'” McConnell recalled. “I swear, Bob could have made it as a stand-up comic. But in that maiden speech, Bob was earnest. He was already championing a signature cause, helping Americans with disabilities,” McConnell said, garnering a nod from Vice President Kamala Harris, who sat in the socially-distanced audience.
Thursday’s ceremony at the Capitol was open only to invited guests, lawmakers said, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the public can watch online as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda until 8 p.m. — an honor reserved for the most revered American officials.
Honor guards greeted the body of the late senator shortly after 9:45 a.m. on Thursday and carried his casket up the steps of the building Dole served in for nearly four decades. The last senator to lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda was the late Sen. John McCain in 2018. Twelve U.S. presidents have also had the honor.
Dole was severely wounded in action while serving as an Army officer in World War II and left with limited mobility in his right arm — but he persevered. From humble beginnings, Dole went on to graduate law school, serve in the Kansas state legislature and then four terms in the House of Representatives and five terms in the Senate. He also led the Senate Republican Conference for more than a decade and was the longest-serving Republican leader until recently surpassed by Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
In Congress, Dole helped shape tax, social security and foreign policy, as well as government farm and nutrition programs. He was an advocate for the rights of veterans and Americans with disabilities, instrumental in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
He was known as one of the “last lions of the Senate.”
Dole ran for president three times, losing primaries in 1980 to Ronald Reagan and in 1988 to George H.W. Bush. After winning the Republican party nomination in 1996, he lost the general election to Bill Clinton, who later presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In a USA Today op-ed Dole finished on pen and paper less than two weeks before his death, he said Congress needs teamwork now more than ever, and wrote, “Those who suggest compromise is a sign of weakness the fundamental strength of our American democracy.”
A formal departure ceremony from the Capitol will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Friday ahead of a funeral at Washington National Cathedral and ceremony at the World War II Memorial with remarks from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
Dole’s body will then be flown to Kansas for services in his home state.
