Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was laid to rest last week but, according to U.K. newspaper The Sun, his band mates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood were not able to attend the funeral because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The paper reports that small private ceremony for Watts was held in Devon, U.K., but because the band was in Boston rehearsing for The Stones’ upcoming U.S. tour, they weren’t allowed to travel back to their home country for the services.
The Sun also reports that it was the wishes of Watts’ family that the funeral took place secretly, without much attention.
According to the newspaper, an inside source said that The Rolling Stones plan to pay tribute to Watts at their upcoming concerts, and also are organizing a celebration of his life that will be held in the U.K. later in 2021.
Watts died on August 24 at the age 80. As previously reported, before his death, Charlie had handpicked lauded session drummer Steve Jordan to step in for him on the band’s forthcoming trek.
The Stones’ 2021 No Filter Tour of the U.S. kicks off September 26 in St. Louis and is mapped out through a November 20 show in Austin, Texas.
Selena Gomez’s murder-mystery Hulu series, Only Murders in the Building, has been picked up for season two.
The series, in which Selena stars alongside comedy greats Steve Martin and Martin Short, debuted as the most-watched Hulu Original comedy on its premiere day on August 31. It was also the most-watched comedy on premiere day across all streaming video-on-demand titles ever on the platform.
Only Murders in the Building has been a critical success as well, maintaining a 100% Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.
“So ready for this!! Season 2!!!” Selena wrote on her Instagram Story Tuesday.
Only Murders in the Building follows three true crime-obsessed strangers who come together when a crime occurs in their own apartment building. A new episode debuts today.
And in other singers who are also actors news, Olivia Rodrigo’s Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has been picked up for season three.
Five for Fighting has released a new single called “Blood on My Hands,” inspired by the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
John Ondrasik, who records under the Five for Fighting name, wrote the song the day when 13 U.S. soldiers and more than 60 Afghans were killed by a suicide bomber, and he’d talked to a friend who was organizing the evacuation of civilians from the country. “It was a highly emotional call and moment of clarity,” he says in a statement.
While John says he wasn’t motivated politically to write the song, he notes that, “like all Americans,” he was “stunned and horrified” by the images of people trying desperately to leave the country before the Taliban took over.
“I am deeply troubled by the plight of Afghan women forced to live under the return of Taliban rule, and felt great sadness when reading a story about a popular folk singer…being dragged from his home and shot by the Taliban,” says John.
He continues, “There is a great tradition of artists speaking their minds and calling out their leaders for answers. Many of those have been inspirations to me. I understand that this song might be perceived by some as a political attack, but those who follow me know I am an American with a history of calling out both sides.”
“After hearing ‘Blood on My Hands,’ a friend said that he found the song to be politically neutral, but morally-forward,” he adds.”My hope is that this song helps demand accountability, so the American promise is not forsaken.”
Reese Witherspoon is letting fans know that they have to wait a little while longer to watch Elle Woods and company return to the big screen in Legally Blonde 3. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the actress said that the movie is still very early in its planning stages.
“We don’t have a script yet!,” she exclaimed of the script that is currently being penned by Mindy Kaling, before assuring, “Mindy’s busy. Mindy’s working hard on it.”
“I know she is. And she and I just love each other,” she continued. “We have a great laugh just thinking about, ‘What would Elle Woods be doing right now?'”
Jennifer Aniston, who joined Witherspoon for the interview to promote their upcoming second season of Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, also noted that her co-star is also “a little busy.” But the Friends alum appeared intrigued by what a potential Legally Blonde 3 plot would look like, and asked Witherspoon what Elle Woods would be up to nearly 20 years after the second sequel: Red, White and Blonde.
“So many things have changed, but then some things are just so similar,” Reese replied rather cryptically, but refused to delve further.
That led to a hilarious exchange with the possibility of Aniston making a cameo in the upcoming comedy, which ended with her remarking, “I’ll be illegally blonde.”
Legally Blonde was released in 2001, followed by Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde in 2003. A release date for the third Legally Blonde film, which was confirmed by Witherspoon in 2018, has not yet been announced.
(NEW YORK) — Justice Stephen Breyer said Tuesday the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 decision allowing Texas to effectively ban abortion across the state was “very bad” but not politically motivated.
“We don’t trade votes, and members of the court have different judicial philosophies,” Breyer, the court’s most senior liberal justice, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“Some emphasize more text. … Some, like me, probably emphasize more purposes. And the great divisions are probably much more along those lines than what we would think of as political lines,” Breyer said.
“I thought that was a very bad decision and I dissented,” he said.
The court’s denial of the request from Texas abortion providers to temporarily put state law SB8 on hold also drew sharp criticism from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote in dissent that the court chose to “ignore its constitutional obligations … the sanctity of its precedents and of the rule of law.”
Breyer explained that “a rule of law means you sometimes follow decisions you don’t like.”
The 83-year-old justice has published a new book — “The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics” — defending the Supreme Court as a nonpartisan institution whose power depends on credibility among Americans of all viewpoints.
“That’s a treasure, and it’s been built up over many many years,” Breyer told Stephanopoulos.
“I am worried if people don’t understand it,” he said, “they won’t have trust in our institutions. And if they don’t have trust in institutions, it becomes difficult if not impossible to live in a society of 331 million people of tremendous diversity.”
Breyer, the court’s oldest member, has come under intense pressure from progressives to step down while Democrats control the Senate and White House.
He told GMA that he is thinking about retirement but has not yet made a decision on timing.
“There are many different considerations,” Breyer said. “I do not intend to die there on the court; I hope not.”
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Sharon Osbourne didn’t mince words about her controversial exit from the CBS daytime talk show, The Talk.
Speaking with the British publication Daily Mail, Osbourne maintained her claim that she was set up by her co-hosts and show executives.
Osbourne, 68, ignited a controversy in March during an intense debate with fellow host Sheryl Underwood about racism versus freedom of speech when defending embattled broadcaster Piers Morgan, who railed against Meghan Markle‘s explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Osbourne disagreed with Underwood, saying Morgan’s criticism wasn’t racist.
Osbourne, who starred on The Talk for 11 seasons, exited shortly after. Now she maintains that the rough exchange was pre-planned by show executives in hopes of boosting The Talk‘s ratings.
“To leave me for 20 minutes on live TV… unprepared, not produced, not knowing what’s going on… They could have cut at any time and gone to a commercial break,” she maintained. “They didn’t cut because they liked the controversy and they liked that everybody would be talking about this because they needed something for the show that was going into the toilet.”
“I felt totally betrayed, not protected… I felt used,” said Osbourne, noting that she began receiving death threats following the controversy. “They all knew the question and they all knew what was going down. I felt totally betrayed.”
As for her stance on Piers Morgan, Osbourne again insisted that criticizing Markle does not equate to racism.
“It was a freedom of speech matter,” she quipped. “A journalist friend of mine… wrote something that people didn’t like and then a few crazies out there, some thugs go, ‘You must be racist.'”
CBS refuted Osbourne’s claims when asked for comment, saying the exchange was not “orchestrated.”
Jeff Kravitz/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s Sebastian Stan plays Tommy Lee in the upcoming Hulu limited series Pam & Tommy, and the Mötley Crüe drummer is pleased with the casting.
“I know Sebastian, he’s playing me. From what he’s told me, [it’s a] really beautiful story,” Lee tells Entertainment Tonight. “I think a lot of people would think it’s one thing, but it’s really about privacy and how things got crazy then. There’s different laws now.”
Pam & Tommy chronicles Anderson and Lee’s tumultuous romance, including their 1995 wedding on the beach in Mexico after knowing each other for only 96 hours, and the private sex tape from their honeymoon that was made public and watched by millions without their consent.
Lily James plays Anderson while Seth Rogen will play the person who stole — and subsequently leaked — the couple’s personal sex tape.
Lee divorced Anderson in 1998. The ex-couple shares two sons: 25-year-old Brandon and 23-year-old Dylan.
“The story’s actually cool, what actually happened wasn’t,” Lee, 58, tells ET, insisting “people need to know” what occurred.
Lee was previously portrayed by Machine Gun Kelly in the 2019 Crüe biopic The Dirt.
Pam & Tommy also stars Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling, Andrew Dice Clay, Pepi Sonuga, Spencer Granese and Mozhan Marnò. A release date has yet to be announced.
Matt Winkelmeyer/MG19/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Wondering why you didn’t see Halsey on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night? The new mom took to Twitter to explain why they didn’t attend.
“I’m still breastfeeding,” they wrote. “I only had my baby 7 weeks ago.”
Referencing the gala’s “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion theme,” the singer added, “There’s nothing more ‘American fashion’ than moms having to go back to work after just giving birth lol.”
When people on Twitter began criticizing Halsey for their response, pointing out that they had recently attended a party, Halsey responded, “Being out for 3 hours vs 9!!! I’m sorry I don’t know why I have to explain this.”
They clarified that they were “not complaining at all,” and that they understand they are “incredibly privileged to afford time off but the demands are still prevalent and the biology does not excuse me.”
“I am so grateful,” they wrote. “For my baby after everything I went through to get pregnant. For my undeserved comfort to spend time home. For the blessing to make art as a form of employment. But postpartum does not discriminate. That’s all I meant to say.”
Halsey welcomed their first child, Ender, in July with partner Alev Aydin.
(NEW YORK) — Children and young people around the world are experiencing increasing anxiety over the fate of the planet — specifically climate change and how lawmakers are handling the looming crisis, according to new research.
Scientists who surveyed 10,000 young people, ages 16 to 25, across 10 countries, found “widespread psychological distress” among them, and, for the first time, discovered that the anxiety was significantly related to perceived government inaction, according to a study published Tuesday in Lancet Planetary Health.
Nearly half of all young people surveyed, more than 45%, said their feelings about climate change negatively affect their daily life and functioning, according to the study.
Another 75% of those surveyed said they feel the future is frightening, while 64% said governments are not doing enough to avoid a climate catastrophe.
Of the young people surveyed, 58% said governments are betraying hem, while 61% said governments are not protecting them, the planet or future generations.
The study is the largest to ever research climate anxiety among children and young people and is the first to investigate how government action on climate change is related to widespread psychological distress among the youngest members of society, according to the authors.
“Climate change has significant implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to increased climate anxiety,” according to the researchers.
The results of the study were not surprising and indicate a lack of trust toward the government as well as the perception of institutional betrayal, Lisa Van Susteren, a general and forensic psychiatrist and co-author of the study, told ABC News. The findings are also “as much a measure” of climate denial among adults as they are a measure of kids’ anxiety, Van Susteren said.
“Kids are very media savvy. They’re not living in a cave,” Van Susteren said. “They have heard about what the future looks like. They’ve heard the warnings.”
Scientists warned of the dire situation the planet faces in the annual Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released last month.
“This report tells us that recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying, unprecedented in thousands of years,” said IPCC Vice Chair Ko Barrett, senior climate adviser for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Young people have been at the forefront of the climate fight for some years — with 18-year-old activist Greta Thunberg becoming a household name in 2018, and hundreds of thousands of young people around the world taking part in an organized global climate strike in 2019.
As an expert witness, Van Susteren performed psychological evaluations on the young people who were plaintiffs in Juliana V. United States, the 2015 federal lawsuit brought about by 21 youths who accused the government of failing to adequately combat climate change. She described it as “one of the most difficult experiences” in her career.
“You can clearly see that theirs depths of despair just are off the charts and are in part attributed to the sense that the future holds little promise,” Van Susteren said.
The case was dismissed in January 2020, but lawyers representing the plaintiffs intend to appeal the dismissal, they announced in February.
The researchers concluded that climate change and inadequate governmental response are associated with climate anxiety and distress in children and young people globally. Continued government inaction on climate change could lead to a public health crisis among the youth, the researchers warned.
Van Susteren described a “healing effect” that could take place if lawmakers and industry professionals were to do “the right thing” to significantly curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“They’re not going to heal with words alone,” she said. “They’re going to heal because of actions that are taken.”
The Grammy winner shared a TikTok video Monday showing her relaxing barefooted on her couch while strumming her guitar as she reminisces about the past year.
“I’ve loved making music during the pandemic to connect with fans from afar but…,” the narration begins before jump-cutting to various concerts that show Taylor interacting with swarms of her fans.
She captioned the video “I miss us” along with the hashtag “All I think about is you.”
In March, Swift announced that she would be permanently cancelling her Lover Fest shows, which were meant to celebrate her seventh studio album, Lover.
In a tweet, Taylor wrote, “It’s not my favorite thing in the world to have to tell you news I’m sad about. I’m so sorry, but I cannot reschedule the shows that we’ve postponed.”
“I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to see you in person as soon as I wanted to,” Taylor added. “I miss you terribly and can’t wait til we can all safely be at shows together again.”
Since issuing Lover, Swift released two surprise albums she recorded while in quarantine — folklore and evermore. Plans — if any — for a tour supporting the albums haven’t been disclosed, but fans are hoping Tay’s latest admission is hinting at a future announcement.
Why? Her latest TikTok video is exactly 13 seconds long — and 13, of course, is Taylor’s lucky number.
