Alec Baldwin sat down with George Stephanopoulos for the one-hour primetime special, Alec Baldwin Unscripted, on Thursday, and gave his account of the shooting accident on the set of Rust that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
Baldwin claimed that he and Hutchins began blocking out the scene. She was directing his every move, and “Everything [was] at her direction.”
“She’s guiding me through how she wants me to hold the gun for this angle,” he said. “I’m holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit.”
To get the shot, Baldwin said he needed to cock the gun, but not fire it. “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin insisted.
“So, you never pulled the trigger?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Baldwin said. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them.”
During rehearsal, Baldwin said the film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, handed him a revolver, telling him, “This is a cold gun” — industry jargon for a weapon that is either literally empty or loaded with non-firing “dummy” rounds.
Lisa Torraco, Halls’ attorney, corroborated Baldwin’s account on Thursday, saying Halls told her “from day one” that he was watching from three or four feet away and “the entire time Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard parallel to the barrel…that Alec did not pull that trigger.”
Torraco would not confirm if Halls was the person who handed Baldwin the gun.
(NEW YORK) — As health officials expected, the United States has now confirmed several cases of the omicron variant, which was first identified in Botswana and has since been detected in at least 35 counties.
The World Health Organization declared omicron a variant of concern on Friday. Earlier this week, the agency said the overall global risk is “very high” due to the variant’s large number of mutations, including on the spike protein of the virus, though there are still many unknowns, including information on its transmissibility, severity and impact on immunity.
Here’s what we know so far about the variant in the U.S.
First states to detect cases
The first three cases of the omicron variant identified in the U.S. were detected in fully vaccinated Americans with recent travel histories. All three people experienced mild symptoms, health officials said.
The first case was detected in California in an individual who had returned from South Africa on Nov. 22. The person, who was not yet eligible for a booster dose, sought COVID-19 testing a few days upon returning to San Francisco after developing symptoms, and genomic sequencing testing confirmed the case to be omicron on Wednesday, health officials said. All close contacts have been contacted and have tested negative.
Colorado confirmed a case of the omicron variant Thursday in a woman from Arapahoe County who had recently traveled to southern Africa. State epidemiologists had flagged the testing specimen for genome sequencing due to the recent travel history. The resident was eligible for a booster but had not yet received it, health officials said.
Through its regular surveillance of COVID-19 case specimens, Minnesota detected an omicron case Thursday in a Hennepin County resident who had recently traveled to New York City to attend the Anime NYC 2021 convention from Nov. 19 to 21. The man, who had received a booster dose in early November, developed mild symptoms on Nov. 22 and sought testing on Nov. 24. It seems likely that the transmission occurred at the NYC convention, but that is not certain, health officials said. His symptoms have since resolved. A close contact tested positive for COVID-19, though tests to confirm if that is also omicron have yet to be conducted, health officials said.
Thursday evening, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that at least four cases of the omicron variant had been detected in the state. They included a 67-year-old, fully vaccinated woman in Suffolk County who recently traveled from South Africa, and then three residents in New York City. A fifth case is also suspected to be omicron, Hochul said. All cases are mild.
A second California case was also announced Thursday evening, in a fully vaccinated Los Angeles County resident who had returned from South Africa on Nov. 22, health officials said. The infection “is most likely travel-related,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said.
The detected cases illustrate the need to seek out testing based on travel history and symptoms, as well as the importance of sharing travel history with public health officials, health experts said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently advises that people who recently traveled internationally should get tested three to five days upon their return regardless of symptoms or vaccination status. NYC officials have also encouraged all attendees of the Anime NYC 2021 convention, estimated to be around 53,000, to get tested immediately and take precautions such as social distancing.
No cause for panic
Health experts have said the presence of the omicron variant in the U.S. is not surprising, and while concerning, it is not a reason to panic.
“At this point, I’m not terribly alarmed,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told reporters Thursday during a briefing on the omicron case.
The governor said that if community transmission is occurring in Colorado, it’s very small because no omicron variant has been discovered in wastewater analysis yet. Roughly 15% of all positive COVID-19 tests are sequenced in Colorado.
San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax told reporters during a briefing yesterday that the case was “not a cause for us to panic” and that the city “is prepared” for this.
Leaders in New York and Minnesota had similar messages.
“We’re ready for it. This is not surprising,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said during an on-camera briefing earlier Thursday.
“This news is concerning, but it is not a surprise,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement. “We know that this virus is highly infectious and moves quickly throughout the world.”
Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm echoed that sentiment during a briefing Thursday, saying omicron is something to take seriously but “not a reason to panic.”
“We’re at a stage where there is still a lot we need to learn about omicron,” she said.
Officials in the cities and states where the variant has been detected have said they don’t plan to make any changes to health orders at this time.
Impact on travelers
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters Wednesday he doesn’t think a domestic flight policy for testing or vaccination due to omicron is necessary right now but said it’s always something under consideration.
“These kinds of things we always talk about and consider. But right now, I’m not so sure we need testing for air travel in this country,” he said.
There are strengthened requirements for travelers coming to the U.S. amid the spread of the omicron variant. On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that all passengers must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within one day of flying into the U.S., regardless of their vaccination status or nationality.
“This tighter testing timetable provides an added degree of protection as scientists continue to study the omicron variant,” he said during a briefing.
Unvaccinated Americans already were required to show proof of a negative test within one day of traveling. The new rule, which goes into effect Monday, expands that one-day requirement to all vaccinated travelers coming into the U.S. from other countries. Unvaccinated nonresidents are currently barred from boarding a flight to the U.S.
Delta still dominant
Amid concerns about the omicron variant, health experts have stressed that delta is still a major issue in the U.S., where close to 100,00 new cases are diagnosed daily. Delta comprises 99.99% of new COVID-19 cases.
“I think omicron is another kind of wake-up call, and we needed another one,” Malcolm, with the Minnesota Department of Health, said. “Even though we might feel like we’re done with the pandemic, it is most certainly not done with us.”
Health officials have urged people to get vaccinated and get boosters and to continue to follow COVID-19 guidelines such as wearing a mask indoors while in public, test if you have symptoms and stay home if you’re sick.
ABC News’ chief medical correspondent, Dr. Jennifer Ashton, told David Muir on Thursday that vaccinations remain the most important tool we have in combatting COVID-19 this winter.
“Some protection is better than none, and while we learn about the many mutations that omicron has … we have to double down on what we know is going to be our best tool in the toolbox, and that is vaccination,” Ashton said.
Regarding boosters, Fauci has urged Americans who are eligible to get the shot now.
“Right now, I would not be waiting,” he said Wednesday. “People say, well, if we’re going to have a booster-specific vaccine, should we wait? If you are eligible, namely six months with a double mRNA dose, or two months with the J&J, get boosted now.”
“We may not need a variant-specific boost,” he added.
ABC News’ Matthew Fuhrman, Cheyenne Haslett and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of the wife of famed music executive Clarence Avant at the couple’s Beverly Hills home.
Beverly Hills investigators have identified Los Angeles resident Aariel Maynor, 29, as a suspect seen in multiple surveillance videos, including city cameras, heading eastbound out of Beverly Hills shortly after 81-year-old Jacqueline Avant was shot, Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook told reporters during a news conference Thursday.
Maynor accidentally shot himself in the foot while in the process of another burglary, Stainbrook said.
Around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, about an hour after Jacqueline Avant was found with a gunshot wound to her head, the Los Angeles Police Department Hollywood Division responded to a report of a shooting at a residence in the 6000 block of Graciosa Drive in Hollywood. When officers arrived, they found Maynor in the backyard, Stainbrook said.
After a “thorough” investigation, investigators determined that Maynor was allegedly in the process of committing a burglary when he shot himself by mistake, Stainbrook said.
He has been in police custody after he was treated at the hospital. An assault-style rifle was also found in the backyard of the home, Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Blake Chow told reporters.
Beverly Hills Police officers responded to the 1100 block of Maytor Place just before 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, where they found that Jacqueline Avant had been shot, according to the department. She later died at the hospital.
“Somewhere in the night we had a watch commander that started to put two and two together and reached out to Beverly Hills,” Chow said.
Police believe Maynor is the only suspect, Stainbrook said.
“Our deepest gratitude to The City of Beverly Hills, the BHPD and all law enforcement for their diligence on this matter,” the Avant and Sarandos family said in a statement. “Now, let justice be served.”
Jacqueline Avant was also the mother-in-law of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.
It is unclear if anything was taken from the Avants’ home, but the back sliding glass door was shattered, Stainbrook said.
Clarence Avant was featured in the 2019 Netflix documentary “The Black Godfather” and in October was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 90-year-old is popular among A-list celebrities such as Oprah, Jay-Z and former President Barack Obama.
Police read a statement from the Avant family Wednesday afternoon during a press conference, which described Jacqueline Avant as “an amazing woman, wife, mother, philanthropist, and a 55-year resident of Beverly Hills.”
ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr and Alex Stone contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The former house manager of Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida, estate testified on Thursday that the very first time he met Ghislaine Maxwell, in approximately 1991, she made it very clear to him that she occupied a central role in Epstein’s affairs.
“She right away took over,” Juan Alessi told the jury on the fourth day of Maxwell’s criminal trial on multiple charges of child sex trafficking. “And right away she mentioned to me she was going to be the lady of the house.”
Alessi, 72, said that from about 1991 to 2002 he was responsible for overseeing Epstein’s house and its staff, and that in that role he communicated with Maxwell on “a daily basis” as she passed along orders for him from Epstein.
Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate, faces a six-count indictment for allegedly conspiring with and aiding Epstein in his sexual abuse of underage girls between 1994 and 2004. She has been held without bail since her arrest in July 2020 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges and proclaimed her innocence.
Alessi’s testimony could provide prosecutors an important connection between Maxwell and the government’s key witness. “Jane” has previously testified that she suffered sexual abuse by Epstein beginning in 1994 when she was 14 years old and continuing for several years, and she has accused Maxwell of facilitating and sometimes even participating in that abuse.
Alessi testified that, on multiple occasions, his orders included picking up “Jane” and driving her to and from Epstein’s house at the behest of both Epstein and Maxwell.
“Do you remember Mr. Epstein instructing you to pick [Jane] up?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey.
“Yes,” he said.
“Do you remember Miss Maxwell instructing you to pick [Jane] up?” Comey asked.
“Yes,” he said.
He picked her up, he said, because, “I don’t think she had a license.”
Alessi testified that he didn’t have any knowledge of what “Jane” did while she was at the house. He just “brought her to Miss Maxwell at her desk,” he said, and “from there, it was not my job to see where they were.”
On Tuesday, “Jane” testified that she recalled being picked up for visits to Epstein’s house by a man who worked at the house.
“I don’t remember his name, but he was a sweet Latin American man,” she said.
Alessi, who was born in Ecuador, said he also recalled seeing Jane with luggage “maybe twice” at Epstein’s house, and described an occasion where he drove Jane, along with Epstein, Maxwell and Maxwell’s dog, a Yorkie named Max, to the Palm Beach airport to board Epstein’s private plane. “Jane” testified on Tuesday that she traveled to both New York and New Mexico with Epstein and Maxwell, where she suffered further abuse, and that her travel was sometimes arranged by Maxwell.
Alessi testified that during his decade-plus tenure working for Epstein, he witnessed “two females … who appeared to be underage.” He identified “Jane” — now a 41-year-old woman who testified earlier this week — and Virginia Roberts, as the two females who appeared to him to be under age.
Roberts — who is one of Maxwell’s most high-profile accusers — is not expected to testify in this trial.
Alessi described being in the driver’s seat as Maxwell jumped out on a car ramp in front of Mar-a-Lago to talk to Roberts. The next time Alessi saw her, he said, was later that day at Epstein’s Palm Beach home.
According to Alessi, during his time working for Epstein, there were “other girls constantly flying in” to the Palm Beach estate with Epstein and Maxwell.
One of Alessi’s key responsibilities, according to a “Household Manual” that Alessi testified looked like an updated version of one originally by Maxwell and presented to him near the end of his tenure, was discretion.
“I am sorry to say that it was degrading to me,” Alessi said.
During his testimony, prosecutors highlighted a passage in the manual that read: “Remember that you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, except to answer a question directed at you. Respect their privacy.”
Asked to describe what he interpreted that instruction to mean, Alessi replied, “that I was supposed to be blind, deaf and dumb, and say nothing.”
Another passage displayed in court instructed the staff to “NEVER disclose Mr. Epstein or Ms Maxwell’s activities or whereabouts to anyone.”
“Do not be bullied and do not show any reaction or impatience, simply be firm,” the manual states.
Late in the afternoon Thursday, Alessi testified that he saw people who would come in to give Epstein massages, and that “98% of them were females.” He added that Epstein took a majority of his massages in his bathroom — attached to Epstein’s master bedroom — which Alessi said was shared with Maxwell.
Alessi said that he “never” went inside the room when Epstein was receiving the massages and that the door was “never” open during the massages. But Alessi said he would go into the room after massages “to clean up.”
Asked by Comey if he ever found something “unexpected” after Epstein’s massages, Alessi said he did on several occasions in the mid-1990s.
“I remember finding a large dildo. It looked like a huge man’s penis with two heads,” which he said he returned to a wicker basket in Maxwell’s bathroom, which is where he said it he was told to put it.
According to Alessi, other items he observed in the wicker basket — which he said was kept inside a garbage can — included pornography tapes and a black leather costume.
Maxwell’s attorneys are expected to begin their cross-examination of Alessi on Friday morning.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty Images
Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, Queen and AC/DC are among the top 10 rock artists of 2021, according to Billboard.
The publication has unveiled the 2021 edition of its annual year-end charts, which determine the biggest acts in a variety of different genres using combination of factors including airplay, sales and streaming data for songs and albums, as well as touring revenue and social media activity.
Fleetwood Mac is #4 on Billboard‘s Top Rock Artists chart, followed by the Fab Four at #6, Queen at #7 and AC/DC at #10. Other veteran rock artists ranked high on the tally include Creedence Clearwater Revival at #11, the Eagles at #12, Elton John at #13, Foo Fighters at #15, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at #16, Nirvana at #17, Journey at #18, Guns N’ Roses at #19, and Metallica at #20.
Contemporary rock act Glass Animals is #1 on the chart.
Meanwhile, the Top Rock Albums chart, which is based on sales data, is dominated by best-of compilations and classic studio albums by veteran artists.
The list is topped Queen’s Greatest Hits, and also features Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours at #3, Elton’s Diamonds at #4, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Chronicle at #5, Journey’s Greatest Hits at #6, AC/DC’s Back in Black at #7, Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits at #8, and The Beatles’ 1 at #10.
No album released in 2021 made the chart’s top 10.
Jay-Z and Will Smith are among the producers of a new ABC news docuseries about the murder of Emmett Till.
Let the World See will tell the story of Ms. Mamie Till-Mobley‘s quest for justice after her 14-year-old son Emmett was lynched and fatally shot in Mississippi on August 28, 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman named Carolyn Bryant in her family’s grocery story.
Bryant’s husband and his half brother were acquitted of Till’s murder. The following year, they admitted in a magazine interview that they were guilty. Till’s death became a catalyst for the civil-rights movement.
Following Till-Mobley’s death in 2003, the Till family has continued her legacy, remaining active in the movement as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others sparked protests around the country.
Let the World See premieres Thursday, January 6, 2022, at 10:01 p.m. ET on ABC, and will air for three consecutive Thursday nights following each new episode of ABC’s upcoming limited series Women of the Movement.
In other news, Tessa Thompson appears on the December/January cover of Ebony. The 38-year-old actress stars with Ruth Negga in the Netflix film Passing as two mixed-raced Black women who can “pass” as white in 1920s Harlem.
When asked about “light-skinned privilege in Hollywood,” Thompson says, “I’ve been able to play a lot of very different characters I’m not sure women who came before me — who I stand on the shoulders of — would have been able to. I’ve had the opportunity to really understand and unpack my own measure of privilege inside of the industry, and as someone who hopes to be a changemaker, [I’ve asked myself,] How do I contend with that? What do I do?”
Steven Spielberg, and the cast of his remake of West Side Story, including Ansel Elgort, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez and Mike Faist, will be on hand for a special IMAX Live Fan Event on Monday, December 6.
Ten IMAX locations in the U.S. and Canada will screen the special Q&A with the filmmaker and his cast, as well as showing the film. The event starts at 7 p.m. ET.
West Side Story opens nationwide on December 10, 2021, from 20th Century Studios, which is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Here is a list of participating theaters:
Boston
Theater: AMC Boston Common 19
Chicago
AMC Oakbrook Center 12 (Oak Brook, IL)
Century 20 Daly City and XD
Regal Irvine Spectrum 21 + IMAX & RPX
Los Angeles
AMC Century City 15 IMAX
New York
AMC Empire 25 IMAX
New Jersey
AMC Garden State 16
San Francisco
AMC Metreon 16 IMAX
Seattle
Regal Thornton Place Stadium 14 & IMAX
Toronto
Cineplex Cinemas Winston Churchill & VIP (Oakville)
The late Juice WRLD would have turned 23 Thursday, and his mother remembered him with an emotional letter written to him.
“When you were born 23 years ago, I never expected that you would not be here today celebrating your birthday,” Carmela Wallace began the public note. “Although it has been nearly two years since you’ve been gone, I still think about you every day and losing you has changed my life forever. I’m glad that we always made sure that we said goodbye when we left each other because we didn’t know when we would see each other again.”
“You touched the world through your music with honesty and transparency. You shared a message of healing and sincerely desired to make a difference in the lives of others,” she continued. “I still receive messages from fans saying how your music helped them with anxiety and depression. I promise to continue your message of healing and use Live Free 999 as an avenue to normalize the conversation around mental health and substance dependency and help those who suffer in silence.”
Wallace closed the letter, writing, “Happy 23rd Birthday Jarad, I love you dearly. I’m thankful for the time that we had and will forever cherish every moment that we shared. Love, Mom.”
Juice WRLD, born Jared Higgins, will be remembered with the HBO documentary Into the Abyss, debuting December 16. A fourth studio album, Fighting Demons, will be released December 10, featuring Benny Blanco, Hit-Boy, Trippie Redd, The Kid Laroi and more.
Higgins died December 8, 2019 from an accidental drug overdose. He was 21 years old.
“Licorice Pizza” — Courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Inc.
The National Board of Review, which annually acknowledges excellence in film in a variety of categories, has announced its picks for its 2021 honorees, with its top awards going to Will Smith in the Best Actor category for King Richard, Rachel Zegler as Best Actress for West Side Story, and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Licorice Pizza named Best Film.
Anderson was also hailed as Best Director for this year.
The honorees will be feted at the NBR Awards Gala, hosted by Willie Geist, on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.
National Board of Review President Annie Schulhof commented in a statement, “In a moment of transition and uncertainty, there is nothing like Licorice Pizza to remind us of the joy, hope, and exhilaration that great cinema can inspire.”
Other movies hailed by the organization as one of its “Top Films” of the year included Dune, The Last Duel, the Netflix environmental disaster movie Don’t Look Up with Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, and The Tragedy of Macbeth, which stars Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.
Here is a list of the winners in the major categories:
Best Film: Licorice Pizza
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Best Actor: Will Smith, King Richard
Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story
Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Best Original Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, A Hero
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Breakthrough Performance: Alana Haim & Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza
Best Directorial Debut: Michael Sarnoski, Pig
Best Animated Feature: Encanto
Best Foreign Language Film: A Hero
Best Documentary: Summer of Soul (Or…When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Best Ensemble: The Harder They Fall
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Freedom of Expression Award: Flee
Top Films (in alphabetical order)
Belfast Don’t Look Up Dune King Richard The Last Duel Nightmare Alley Red Rocket The Tragedy of Macbeth West Side Story
Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order)
Benedetta Lamb Lingui, The Sacred Bonds Titane The Worst Person in the World
Peace may sell, but what about Megadeth-branded cryptocurrency?
Dave Mustaine‘s certainly hoping it will with the launch of $MEGA, described as the “official cryptocurrency of Megadeth and our community.”
“By buying, holding, and transacting with $MEGA, fans will gain access to exclusives and premium benefits,” reads a statement. Members of the Cyber Army fan club will also be able to “unlock additional exclusives, access, and offers.”
