Before Ridley Scott directed Lady Gaga to critical acclaim and award nominations in House of Gucci, Bradley Cooper directed her to an Oscar nomination in A Star Is Born. Now, during a conversation for Variety, the two directors are discussing the moments when the superstar singer most impressed them during filming.
Cooper tells Scott, “For me, with working with her, I remember the thing that blew my mind. It seemed simple but I thought it was a tall order, when my character brings [her character, Ally] onstage for the first time. I truly believed that that person had never been on a stage before.”
He continues, ” And I remember thinking, “How is she pulling this off?” That I actually believe on every level — as the director, as the character — that this person has never been in front of 20,000 people before. That was really kind of mind-blowing.”
As for Scott, he said the moment in House of Gucci where Gaga impressed him was the scene when her character, Patrizia, is told that her husband, Maurizio, played by Adam Driver, wants a divorce.
“She lost it so well and so real that I felt it had to be reflective of something that had happened to her, because it definitely hurt her,” Scott recalled. “And from that moment I was watching her, I felt, ‘My God, she just owns it.’… I think that was one take…I was saying, ‘I think you just did it, don’t you?’ And she said, ‘Yes, I did it.’ That was it.”
Gaga has already won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for House of Gucci. She’s also nominated for a Golden Globe, a Critics’ Choice award and many other accolades.
Britney Spears‘ attorney, Mathew Rosengart, recently issued a blistering statement against Jamie Spears, saying he is “bullying and attacking his daughter.” In response, Jamie’s attorney, Alex Weingarten, told ABC Audio that Rosengart is using the pop star “to promote himself and keep his name in the papers.”
The statements follow Britney’s previous claims that her father “and three men” forced her to be interviewed by Diane Sawyer in 2004, following her breakup with then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake.
Attorney Weingarten responded to Britney’s claims, saying, “Mr. Spears has no idea what Ms. Spears is talking about. Jamie never set up any interview with Diane Sawyer” because “He had nothing to do with Britney’s career at this point and was completely uninvolved.”
He added, “Jamie loves Britney very much” and “hopes that she continues to seek the help that she needs to stay safe and healthy.”
Rosengart said in a statement toVariety, “Rather than bullying and attacking his daughter, even as he claims to ‘love’ her, it would be far more appropriate for Mr. Spears and his lawyer to focus on answering the following fundamental questions” about alleged conservatorship misconduct, such as mismanagement of funds and unauthorized surveillance.
Attorney Weingarten tells ABC Audio Rosengart’s statement is “ridiculous.”
“We made a statement that ‘Jamie loves Britney very much, wishes Britney nothing but the best and hopes that she continues to seek the help that she needs to stay safe and healthy.’ How is that bullying or attacking anyone?” he said. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Rosengart is attempting to use Britney to promote himself and keep his name in the papers.”
Britney’s 13-year conservatorship was terminated last month. However, she’s locked in a new legal battle after claims surfaced about Jamie and Tri Star Sports and Entertainment allegedly bugging her home without her knowledge.
M83 has announced a 10th anniversary vinyl reissue of the band’s 2011 album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
Due out April 15, the reissue features a new cover showing the same kids from the original album artwork, now 10 years older. You can pre-order it now via ILoveM83.com.
Hurry Up would become M83’s breakout album, thanks in large part to the hit single “Midnight City,” which featured the hottest saxophone solo this side of “Baker Street.”
Along with the reissue announcement, M83 has premiered a new video for the Hurry Up song “My Tears Are Becoming a Sea,” which is described as a prequel to the original video trilogy of “Midnight City,” “Reunion” and “Wait.” You can watch it now streaming on YouTube.
M83 has released two more albums since Hurry Up: 2016’s Junk, and 2019’s DSVII.
Volbeat has hit a milestone with the band’s latest number-one hit.
“Shotgun Blues,” the current single off the Danish outfit’s new album Servant of the Mind, is the group’s 10th leader on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. That total ties Volbeat for seventh most number-ones on the tally, which began in 1981.
Disturbed, Metallica and Tom Petty — solo and with The Heartbreakers — also have 10 Mainstream Rock number-ones. Shinedown has the most, with 16.
“Shotgun Blues” is also the second number-one of Servant of the Mind, along with the lead single “Wait a Minute My Girl.” The album, Volbeat’s eighth studio effort, dropped earlier in December.
Fittingly, the number-two single on this week’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart is “Hunter’s Moon,” by Ghost, with whom Volbeat will launch a U.S. co-headlining tour in January.
(WASHINGTON) — Not far from the San Pedro Bay Port Complex in Orange County, which sees 40% of the nation’s imports, Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., has been witnessing supply chain issues in her district due in part due to bottlenecks in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Now she and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., are sending a bipartisan letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., calling for a bipartisan select committee to address the issue. The proposed committee would have an equal number of members from both sides of the aisle to address supply chain issues and the impacts on the economy, families and small businesses.
“Congress must come together in a bipartisan way to address this economic and national security crisis that threatens to undermine U.S. competitiveness abroad,” Kim said. “That is why I am proud to work with Rep. Sherrill and a bipartisan group of colleagues to call on House leadership to ensure Congress takes immediate steps to bring relief to our nation’s economy.”
The committee would investigate the root causes of the supply chain issues and how the crisis has affected various industries. The panel would aim to draft and submit a report to Congress with its recommendations.
“Addressing the current shortfalls throughout our supply chain is imperative to continuing our economic recovery from the pandemic and addressing the very real impacts of inflation facing families across the country,” Sherrill said.
Kim also wrote a letter to California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in January urging officials to include dockworkers and others as essential workers.
She commended President Joe Biden for opening ports in southern California for 24-hour operation in October but said the administration needs to do more.
“While I was encouraged by the announcement that the San Pedro Bay Port Complex will be open 24/7, the administration’s actions so far are not the be-all and end-all that will solve the long-term issues of our supply chain and help ease persistent — not ‘transitory’ — inflation in our economy. A piecemeal approach won’t help solve the supply chain crisis, and that is why I led a bipartisan letter to the administration calling for a whole-of-government response,” Kim said.
He’s a singer, American Idol judge, and now, he’s great-uncle Luke: Country superstar Luke Bryan is celebrating the exciting news that his niece, Jordan, is pregnant with a baby boy.
Jordan and her husband Clint shared their big news on Instagram, including video footage of a gender reveal where the couple found out they’re expecting a son. Another snap in the series shows a cake with blue buttercream inside, and a gold topper reading “Oh baby.”
In the comments, Luke’s wife Caroline shared her excited with a blue heart emoji, writing “I’m still emotional.” Meanwhile, his mom LeClair said, “His Great Grandma is going shopping tomorrow.”
Jordan is the oldest child of Luke’s late sister, Kelly. Both Kelly and her husband, Ben, died when their three kids were young: Jordan was 20, her sister Kris was 16, and the youngest of the family, Til, was just 13.
Luke and Caroline stepped in to provide a parental role for the three kids after they lost their parents, and they’ve remained close to the children well into their adult lives. Back in September, Luke walked Jordan down the aisle at her wedding.
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education on Thursday urged districts to combat pandemic-fueled teacher shortages by offering them more money from the pot of federal COVID-relief aid, in a letter sent to schools nationwide.
Schools are facing dire staffing losses as droves of teachers leave their posts, exhausted by the stresses of the pandemic. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said federal money could be used to hire more substitute teachers and give permanent teachers much-needed time-off, or to offer teachers better salaries through hiring or retention bonuses.
“Let us be clear: [The American Rescue Plan] provides vital resources to hire additional educators and school staff and to improve compensation to recruit and retain educators and school staff,” Cardona wrote in the letter to educators, obtained exclusively by ABC News.
“School districts should act with urgency to keep schools open for in-person learning and ensure they do not waste this opportunity to make critical investments,” he said.
The American Rescue Plan, signed into law last March by President Joe Biden, provided over $122 billion to schools.
Cardona listed various ways schools could use this pot of money to improve the situation for teachers, custodians, bus drivers, school nurses and other educators, and cited schools that have already done so.
“The most common reason educators have cited for leaving school employment in the last year is stress, followed by insufficient pay,” Cardona wrote.
“Many school leaders are increasing wages by offering hiring and retention bonuses, working towards permanent salary increases, or providing premium pay that help educators receive the compensation they deserve and keep them in the profession, and we encourage others to continue to work towards increasing compensation,” he wrote.
Cardona cited reports of schools offering signing bonuses of up to $6,000 in California, and other financial incentives offered to new teachers in Oklahoma, North Carolina and New Jersey.
“Now, more than ever, supporting educator well-being is critical for retaining our current educators and staff,” Cardona wrote.
Still, some schools have noted that short-term pay increases aren’t enough to solve their staff shortages.
Some principals have found that there are simply not enough trained professionals in the pipeline for them to recruit, and it takes time for teachers or counselors to get certified. Others have found that the temporary pay increases from federal relief are unsustainable.
And other schools have reported that nearby districts have been able to poach teachers with higher salaries funded by federal aid, leaving schools in lower-income areas with less teachers.
On the other hand, the National Education Association, a powerful teachers’ union, has thrown its weight behind the policy of using federal aid to retain teachers, saying it’s been effective with educational support professionals, or ESPs, when paired with other solutions.
“ESP leaders have found that increasing pay and benefits is the top strategy,” the NEA said in a post on its website.
“But what also helps is providing flexibility for retirees to return to work while still receiving pension payments, revisiting licensure challenges, providing incentives, creating cross-state collaborations to make it easier to work in other states and localities, and looking at the well-being of current staff and ways to improve it to keep them on board,” the union wrote.
The NEA noted that the average salary of ESPs in 22 states is $30,000 or below, “which is not a livable wage or an attractive career proposition.”
Without addressing the educator shortages, schools are facing interruptions in all facets of the school day, from longer bus routes due to less bus drivers, larger class sizes or substitute teachers who aren’t qualified for the subjects they’re assigned to, and even school closures.
Schools in 11 states — Idaho, California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia — have had to close temporarily because of staffing shortages, according to an October report in Ed Week.
For his part, Cardona acknowledged that the short-term solutions were just the beginning, but called on schools to take advantage of what was available.
“[The Department of Education] strongly encourages you to use funding under ARP to respond to the urgent needs resulting from the pandemic while beginning to plan for the investments needed to ensure that every student has access to the qualified educators and staff they need,” Cardona wrote.
(LONDON) — Queen Elizabeth has canceled her annual pre-Christmas celebration for family for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 95-year-old monarch traditionally holds a lunch at Buckingham Palace before Christmas for extended members of the royal family, but has decided to cancel it again this year, a royal source told ABC News.
“The decision is a precautionary one as it is felt to put too many people’s Christmas arrangements at risk if it went ahead,” the royal source said. “While there is regret that it is cancelled, there is a belief it is the right thing to do for all concerned.”
Buckingham Palace has not yet confirmed where or with whom Queen Elizabeth will celebrate Christmas, her first without her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, who died in April at the age of 99.
Last year, also amid the coronavirus pandemic, the royal family broke a decades-long tradition of spending Christmas at Sandringham, Queen Elizabeth’s estate in Norfolk.
The queen and Philip instead spent the Christmas holiday at Windsor Castle, their home outside London, where they had spent much of their time since March 2020, when the U.K. began its first stay-at-home orders.
In past years, Philip and Elizabeth oversaw the family’s multi-day Christmas celebration at Sandringham with their four children — Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward and Princess Anne — and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The family traditionally holds their gift exchange on Christmas Eve, following the German tradition, where they often swap funny or homemade gifts.
On Christmas Day, they walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church for the Christmas service.
After the service, the royals enjoy a Christmas lunch at Sandringham and then gather to watch Queen Elizabeth II deliver her annual Christmas message.
In the evening, the royal family will get together again for a Christmas buffet dinner with 15 to 20 different delicacies prepared by the queen’s chef.
On the day after Christmas, known as Boxing Day in the U.K., the royals traditionally partake in a pheasant shoot on the grounds of Sandringham.
Some members of the royal family gathered Dec. 8 at Westminster Abbey for a Christmas carols service hosted by Duchess Kate.
Kate and Prince William were joined by William’s cousins Zara Tindall and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
William’s aunt, Sophie Wessex, also attended, as did members of Kate’s family, the Middletons.
(WASHINGTON) — When Sarah Hutchinson, mom of a 5-year-old son, saw her $300 child tax credit payment deposited into her bank account Wednesday, she said she felt a sense of both relief and fear.
Hutchinson said she was thankful for the payment, which, as a single mom, she uses to pay for her son’s child care, but she also knew it could be the last one she receives under the child tax credit expansion, which went into effect in July after Congress passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in March.
The program is set to expire on Dec. 31, meaning the payments that Hutchinson and millions of other parents across the country received on Wednesday will be their last unless Congress votes to renew the program.
“I’m not looking forward to January,” said Hutchinson, 45, a librarian in Fredericksburg, Virginia, who is also facing more than $120,000 in student loans and thousands of dollars in medical bills accrued by her husband, who died in August. “I’m not sure how I’m going to work it out financially, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
Since July, around 35 million families each month have received the enhanced tax credit of up to $300 for each child under age 6 and up to $250 for each child ages 6 to 17, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
The families have primarily spent the money on kids’ school and child care expenses and essentials like food, rent, mortgage and utilities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Losing that extra financial aid would put nearly 10 million children at risk of falling back into poverty, according to a recent analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research and policy institute focused on reducing poverty.
That is the worry that keeps Torie Miesko, a single mom of two sons, up at night.
“I’m afraid,” said Miesko, 28, of Swissvale, Pennsylvania. “I’m trying to keep my sons out of poverty.”
Miesko works full time as an office administrator for a medical clinic while raising her two sons, ages 3 and 18 months. She said the $600 per month she has received since July helps her pay some of her rent and leftover bills and helps to cover her car insurance, which is necessary so that she can get to work.
“It has changed my life,” she said of the monthly child tax credit payments. “I have a little bit of a better job but still everything costs so much money and [the $600 monthly payment] is almost a whole other paycheck.”
Miesko shared her story with several U.S. senators this week in a Zoom call organized by MomsRising, an advocacy organization founded by moms.
The fate of extending the child tax credit expansion in 2022 lies with the Senate, which has yet to vote on the Build Back Better Act, legislation that passed the House of Representatives in November and includes a one-year extension of the monthly payments.
Miesko said she told senators she hopes the Senate stops “messing around” with the financial well-being of parents and passes the legislation.
“I really hope that they take it seriously and know that this really does impact everyday Americans greatly,” she said. “It’s sad how much regular Americans have to struggle and now they want to give [the monthly payments] for a couple of months and then take it back.”
Democratic leaders in Congress had hoped to pass the Build Back Better Act by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s self-imposed Christmas deadline, a timeline the White House said it supported. But that goal is slipping away, in large part due to the objections of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
The House-passed $1.75 trillion bill extends the monthly child tax credit for one year, through 2022, but Manchin has always said he objects to programs in the 10-year legislation that last for a shorter period of time, under the concern that those programs, like the enhanced child tax credit, could be made permanent and thereby more costly.
“Manchin has been clear that he wants the bill to stay at $1.75 trillion,” a source familiar with the matter told ABC News. “[Manchin] isn’t explicitly telling Biden to remove any specific policy, but he has made clear that expensive provisions are not going to fit to keep the bill at $1.75 trillion.”
A White House spokesperson said Wednesday they want the bill passed “as soon as possible.”
“It’s our longstanding rule not to discuss the specifics of private discussions with lawmakers, but the president and Sen. Manchin have had productive and friendly conversations,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told ABC News. “The president wants to pass Build Back Better as soon as possible so that it can cut the biggest costs families face, get more Americans into the workforce, reduce the deficit and fight inflation for the long haul.”
If lawmakers do not extend the program ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline, the advance child tax credit payment that parents have been receiving for the past six months would stop. At tax filing time, parents would still receive the remaining half of the credit they are eligible for that wasn’t paid out in advance, according to Erica York, an economist with Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy.
“If lawmakers don’t ever extend the expansion, the child tax credit for 2022 would revert to its current law levels, a maximum credit of $2,000 per child under age 17 that phases in with earned income for lower-income households and that is largely received at tax-filing time, rather than through advance payments from the IRS,” said York. “This could mean many parents would go from receiving a very large child tax credit, to a slimmed down version, or even zero.”
Family policy experts say the potential lost income would devastate many families at a time when inflation concerns are mounting and the coronavirus pandemic is still ongoing.
Losing the monthly child tax credit payments would also impact the families that need it most, including families of color and households led by mothers, according to Amber Wallin, deputy director of New Mexico Voices for Children, a research and advocacy organization focused on improving the lives of children in New Mexico, which has one of the country’s highest child poverty rates.
“Data shows these types of programs disproportionately benefit families that are headed by mothers, and that’s really important right now because the data also shows that mothers have really disproportionately been harmed by the economic impacts of the pandemic,” said Wallin. “Mothers more than fathers have lost wages, have decreased work hours and have exited the labor force since the pandemic began, especially mothers of young children.”
Calling programs like the child tax credit “crucial,” Wallin added, “It’s about more than just providing relief to families. It’s about providing targeted relief that gets exactly to the families that need it, and that’s what the child tax credit does.”
ABC News’ Trish Turner and Justin Gomez contributed to this report.
Thursday’s Los Angeles premiere of Cyrano has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. “Out of an abundance of caution given the changing COVID landscape, United Artists Releasing has decided to postpone the Los Angeles premiere of CYRANO,” the studio said in a statement obtained by Variety on Wednesday. “While we will no longer be hosting a red carpet or after-party, you are welcome to still attend the screening of CYRANO on December 16th,” the statement continued, adding “All COVID protocols will be followed,” including proof of full vaccination and a negative PCR test within 48 hours of the event. A red carpet prior to the screening was to have included appearances by stars Haley Bennett, Peter Dinklage and Kelvin Harrison Jr. No new date for a red carpet premiere has been announced…
Hulu on Tuesday revealed a first look photo and premiere date for the upcoming limited series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried. The Dropout follows the story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, played by Seyfried, “an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong,” per the streaming service. In 2018, a federal grand jury indicted Holmes and the now-defunct health technology company’s COO, Ramesh Balwani, on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for distributing blood tests with falsified results to consumers, charges on which Holmes is currently standing trial. The Dropout premieres with three episodes on March 3rd, with new episodes stream weekly thereafter…
Good Trouble‘s Odelya Halevi has joined the cast of NBC’s Law & Order revival, according to Deadline. She’ll play Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun in what’s being billed as Law & Order‘s 21st season. Halevi joins fellow Law & Order newcomers Jeffrey Donovan, who plays an NYPD detective, Hugh Dancy, who also plays an assistant district attorney, and Camryn Manheim, who portrays Lt. Kate Dixon. Law & Order alum Anthony Anderson also reprises his role as Detective Kevin Bernard, and Sam Waterston has been in negotiations to return as DA Jack McCoy. The Law & Order revival premieres February 24…
