Billie Eilish and Foo Fighters are among the nominees for the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
The “bad guy” star racked up five nominations, including Best Cinematography for “Therefore I Am” and Best Direction and Video for Good for “Your Power.” Meanwhile, Dave Grohl and company received three nods: Best Rock, Best Choreography and Best Cinematography, all for “Shame Shame.”
Also competing for Best Rock are Evanescence‘s “Use My Voice,” The Killers‘ “My Own Soul’s Warning,” Kings of Leon‘s “The Bandit,” Lenny Kravitz‘s “Raise Vibration,” and John Mayer‘s “Last Train Home.”
The Best Alternative nominees are Bleachers‘ “Stop Making This Hurt,” Glass Animals‘ “Heat Waves,” Imagine Dragons‘ “Follow You,” Twenty One Pilots‘ “Shy Away,” Machine Gun Kelly and blackbear‘s “My Ex’s Best Friend,” and Willow and Travis Barker‘s “Transparent Soul.”
Other nominees include Glass Animals’ “Tangerine” and Coldplay‘s “Higher Power” for Best Visual Effects, and Lorde‘s “Solar Power” for Best Cinematography. Additionally, 24kGoldn and iann dior‘s alternative hit/mainstream smash “Mood” is nominated in two categories, including Song of the Year, and Goldn himself is up for Best New Artist.
Voting is open now via VMA.MTV.com. The ceremony will air live from New York City Sunday, September 12.
In Free Guy, comic and Get Out scene stealer Lil’ Rel Howery plays Buddy, the best friend of Ryan Reynolds‘ Guy — two pals who don’t know they’re actually background characters in a video game.
Rel explains being Reynolds’ friend onscreen was easy: “…Ryan Reynolds has been my friend in my head for a very long time,” he laughed at a recent virtual press conference. “And to this day I still don’t think he believes me. Like no, I’m a legit fan.”
Rel said to Reynolds, “When you started winning everything for Deadpool, I was calling people, like, ‘I told y’all! I told you Ryan Reynolds was a superstar!'” The admission cracked up the rest of the cast, including an embarrassed Ryan.
Superfan Rel admitted he doesn’t get nervous meeting famous people, but he was for Ryan. “I watch Definitely Maybe maybe twice a month. I still do,” the comic admits. “[It’s] one of my favorite movies.”
He adds, “…[O]ne of those fun things I…love about this business is when you just get the chance to work with people you look up to and not just as an actor, but just as a fan…So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna take this moment. I don’t know if Ryan’s going to be my friend after this [movie], but doing this, I’m ’bout to be best friends.”
For his part, Reynolds deadpanned, “As soon as this camera’s off, it’s over, Rel.”
Ryan added on a more serious note that he was “lucky” to work with Rel and the rest of the cast, and hoped to work with them again, “either in another Free Guy movie…or in another form.”
Free Guy opens Friday from 20th Century Studios, which is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — As the number of pediatric COVID-19 cases continues to rise across the United States, parents are adding face masks to the top of their back-to-school shopping lists.
For the 2021-2022 school year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends all students ages 2 and older wear face masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of nearly 70,000 pediatricians, has also called on schools to enforce universal masking mandates.
Dr. Allison Bartlett, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at University of Chicago Medicine, is the mother of three sons who are all under age 12 and therefore not yet able to be vaccinated. Bartlett said her sons will be attending in-person school in the fall and will be wearing face masks.
“The whole COVID pandemic has changed with the delta variant and the very high levels of spread,” Bartlett told ABC’s Good Morning America, explaining the increased urgency for mask wearing. “It’s true that most kids don’t get sick, but most kids are not all.”
“I hope that parents understand that no kid likes wearing masks, but the kids that I have interacted with completely understand why they’re doing this, that they’re doing this to protect other people,” she said. “It’s a team effort and everyone has to contribute.”
With unvaccinated children at risk, parents have questions about which types of face masks will keep their children and those around them the safest.
GMA spoke with Bartlett along with Dr. Richard Malley, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, a pediatrician at Columbia University, to break down what parents need to know.
1. Children do not need N95, KN95 masks.
All three experts agreed that while N95 and KN95 masks, the types of masks often used in hospitals, provide the best protection, they are not designed nor needed to be used by children.
“N95 masks on a child may not fit and even if they do fit, they’re not as comfortable,” said Malley. “We don’t want to be recommending masks that kids are not willing to wear.”
Both Malley and Bartlett also pointed out N95 and KN95 masks do not work if they do not fit properly, which is why medical staff who wear them undergo intense fitting procedures to make sure they are secure.
“Absolutely an N95 that has been fitted to you provides the most protection. It is true in a healthcare setting but not relevant to kids and schools,” said Bartlett. “They don’t really make child size N95s and unless you’ve gone through the fit testing, it doesn’t really provide any extra protection.”
2. The mask your child will wear is the best mask.
All three experts also agreed that whatever face mask your child is willing to wear indoors at school is the best mask for them, whether it is surgical, cloth or disposable.
“It all comes down to if they’re not going to wear it, it doesn’t matter how high quality the mask is,” said Bartlett, adding as an example, “A well-fitted cloth mask works much better than a poorly-fitted surgical mask.”
Malley suggests letting a child pick out their own masks can help motivate them to wear them and help them feel part of the solution.
“Everybody recognizes that [mask wearing] is an inconvenience for kids, so one way to help the process is to let the child choose,” he said. “Go online or go to the store and have the child select the mask they’re going to wear.”
3. Parents and kids need to regularly check the fit of the mask.
In order for a mask to be effective, it needs to fit over the nose and cover under the chin, according to Malley.
“You want something that covers the nose and mouth and when they speak or laugh, that the mask is not falling off their face,” he said. “You want the jaw to be able to move.”
The face mask should also lay flat on the skin, according to Bartlett.
“In my experience, sometimes the surgical masks tend to gape more at the side because they’re rectangular,” she said. “And sometimes fabric masks work better because they fit better and are softer or more comfortable to fit the face.”
Both experts also noted it is perfectly fine for kids to use clips or bands to relieve pressure on their ears when wearing a mask.
4. Face masks can be re-worn by kids.
“As long as your mask is fitting well, as long as the mask is taut and you have a good fit at the top and at the bottom, you can keep washing it and wearing it,” said Bracho-Sanchez.
5. A sun test can help check the quality of your child’s face mask.
One technique to check the quality of your child’s mask is hold the mask up to the sun. If you can see light through the mask as you hold it stretched, it’s not thick enough.
6. Children will not get sick from wearing face masks.
Concerns about children not being able to breathe while wearing face masks or risking illness from germs in their masks are not founded in science, according to Bartlett.
“There is not a risk to kids of CO2 [carbon dioxide] retention or not getting enough oxygen,” she said. “There is no medical concern to having your face covered with a mask like this.”
When it comes to germs, Bartlett said the masks prevent foreign pathogens from coming in, so the only germs kids could have in their masks are the same germs from their body.
She did suggest though that parents send their children to school with clean, spare masks so they have one on hand to swap out if, for example, they sneeze in the mask.
“Send kids to school with a few masks and, at home, wash masks regularly and have a constant supply of masks on hand,” said Bartlett.
How’s this for a smooth move…Carlos Santana has teamed up again with his “Smooth” collaborator, Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas, to record a new song titled “Move” that will be the first single from Santana‘s star-studded upcoming album, Blessings and Miracles.
The track, which also features guest vocals by American Authors, will be released to radio on Wednesday, August 18, while the album in scheduled to arrive on October 15.
“‘Move’ came about was very much like how ‘Smooth’ happened,” explains Carlos. “It was like divine intelligence behind the scenes, and I just knew I had to record it with Rob. The song is about awakening your molecules. Ignite and activate yourself — you know, move. When Rob and I work together, we have a sound that’s splendiferous.”
In a press statement, the new song is described as “a grinding, grooving, swaggering, swaying and altogether breathtaking mix of pop and Latin rock with sure-fire hooks for days.”
“Smooth” was featured on the hugely successful 1999 Santana album Supernatural, and spent a whopping 12 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late ’99 and early 2000. The tune also won three individual Grammy Awards — Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals — and is ranked second among the most successful Billboard singles of all time.
As previously reported, Carlos and Rob both are part of the lineup of the star-packed “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” event taking place August 21 in New York City’s Central Park, although it hasn’t been officially announced if they will perform together. Meanwhile, the Santana band is slated to kick off a new series of Las Vegas residency dates at the House of Blues on August 25.
How’s this for a smooth move! Carlos Santana has teamed up a again with his “Smooth” collaborator, Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas, to record a new song titled “Move” that will be the first single from Santana‘s star-studded upcoming album, Blessings and Miracles.
The track, which also features guest vocals by American Authors, will be released to radio on Wednesday, August 18, while the album in scheduled to arrive on October 15.
“‘Move’ came about was very much like how ‘Smooth’ happened,” explains Carlos. “It was like divine intelligence behind the scenes, and I just knew I had to record it with Rob. The song is about awakening your molecules. Ignite and activate yourself — you know, move. When Rob and I work together, we have a sound that’s splendiferous.”
In a press statement, the new song is described as “a grinding, grooving, swaggering, swaying and altogether breathtaking mix of pop and Latin rock with sure-fire hooks for days.”
“Smooth” was featured on the hugely successful 1999 Santana album Supernatural, and spent a whopping 12 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late ’99 and early 2000. The tune also won three individual Grammy Awards — Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals — and is ranked second among the most successful Billboard singles of all time.
As previously reported, Carlos and Rob both are part of the lineup of the star-packed “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” event taking place August 21 in New York City’s Central Park, although it hasn’t been officially announced if they will perform together. Meanwhile, the Santana band is slated to kick off a new series of Las Vegas residency dates at the House of Blues on August 25.
The 2021 edition of the annual Elvis Week celebration kicks off today, marking the anniversary of Elvis Presley‘s death and held at the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Graceland mansion in Memphis. Coinciding with the extravaganza, some new collectible Elvis-themed toys have been released.
The first is an Elvis Presley Barbie that features the famous female doll dressed in a replica of Elvis’ “American Eagle” jumpsuit. It’s emblazoned with sparkling red, gold and blue sparkling eagle designs and gold stars, and includes such accessories as a red scarf and a white cape. The doll also sports a pompadour hairstyle and a long ponytail.
The second collectible is the Little People Collector Elvis Presley figure set, which features three Little People characters reflecting different iconic looks of the legendary performer from the 1950s, the 1960s and the 1970s.
Both the Elvis Barbie and the Little People collector set will be available at major retailers including Walmart, Amazon and Target.
Meanwhile, this year’s Elvis Week runs from today through Tuesday, August 17. Among the many Presley-themed events and activities scheduled to take place during this year’s celebration are various concerts, Q&A sessions and discussions, fan parties and gatherings, movie screenings and much more.
Elvis’ ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, will make guest appearances at select events, including at a special concert on August 16 at the Soundstage at Graceland, featuring on-screen performances by Elvis accompanied by a live group that includes guitarist James Burton and piano player Glen Hardin of Presley’s TCB Band.
Elvis Week also will feature the traditional candlelight vigil held annually on the eve of the anniversary of Elvis’ 1977 death and running until the morning hours of August 16.
Marlon Wayans says he wanted to give Aretha Franklin‘s first husband and manager Ted White a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T when he channeled him in the new biographical drama, Respect. Unfortunately for the actor, that wasn’t an easy task.
“It was funny because I couldn’t really get anything out of anybody about Ted,” Wayans tells ABC Audio. “They said he was a really nice dresser. They said he was stroppy. They said he was charming, but…that there was a bad guy in there.”
Wayans says before he decided to take his own “creative license” to portray the accomplished songwriter, he first tried to “reach out to Ted” to get his perspective — “but Ted didn’t want to talk.”
“So, I…based [Ted] on a minute-and-a-half interview I saw with him and Aretha,” Wayans says. “And from there, I started thinking about the psychology of a guy like Ted, because as much of a devil [that] he was, there was something angelic about him. And so I focused in on not him being all good or all bad, but sometimes he couldn’t keep his bad under control.”
To that end, Wayans says he formed a back story for White that helped explain his harsh behavior.
“And I focused on him maybe having… mommy issues and a lack of appreciation for women,” he shares. “And…even pimps and guys like that, they’re not bad people. They’re hurt people.”
Wayans continues, “Damaged people damage people. And so I wanted to protect that little nugget of innocence in him, because I think in order to make a great bad guy — you’ve got to love him and you got to hate them.”
Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson as the Queen of Soul, hits theaters Friday.
If you were hoping for a real-life Ross and Rachel situation between David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston, sorry to burst your bubble.
After the British tabloid Closer claimed the two Friends co-stars were dating in real life, Schwimmer’s rep reportedly told another U.K. tabloid — The Sun — that there was “no truth” to the rumors.
Closer had claimed the Friends reunion had “stirred up feelings” between the two. “They began texting immediately after filming and, just last month, David flew from his home in New York to see Jen in LA,” a source supposedly told the mag.
While a romantic relationship between the two appears to be the wishful thinking of Friends fans, Schwimmer and Aniston did previously reveal during the Friends reunion that they had crushes on each other back in the day.
“The first season, I had a major crush on Jen,” Schwimmer admitted. “At some point we were both crushing hard on each other — but it was like two ships passing [in the night], because one of us was always in a relationship.”
“So we just channeled all of our adoration and love for each other into Ross and Rachel,” Aniston said.
(U.S. Marshals) John Ruffo pictured with wife Linda.
(NEW YORK) — This report is part of Season 2 of the ABC News podcast, “Have You Seen This Man?,” hosted by “The View’s” Sunny Hostin. It follows the U.S. Marshals’ ongoing mission to find John Ruffo, who engineered one of the most outlandish frauds in U.S. history, vanished in 1998 and has never been found. A four-part Hulu Original limited series on the global search for Ruffo is currently in production from ABC News Longform. MORE HERE
An unassuming Brooklyn computer salesman who in 1998 committed one of the nation’s most outlandish bank frauds before making a brazen escape is now the subject of an intensifying global manhunt by the U.S. Marshals.
John Ruffo swindled banks out of more than $350 million and was scheduled to start serving a 17-year prison sentence when he vanished. The U.S. Marshals have labeled Ruffo one of their 15 most wanted fugitives and have provided ABC News unprecedented access to their manhunt for the second season of the podcast “Have You Seen This Man,” launching Wednesday.
(U.S. Marshals)
U.S. Marshals’ wanted poster for John Ruffo.
The case has for decades baffled investigators, who never fully understood why Ruffo was granted the unusual privilege of being allowed to self-report for such a hefty prison term. On the day he was supposed to show up at prison, he rented a Ford Taurus, drove to Queens, New York, to turn in the ankle monitor he had been wearing, took $600 out of an ATM, left his car in long term parking at JFK airport, and disappeared.
(U.S. Marshals)
The last known image of John Ruffo, caught on a security camera withdrawing $600 from an ATM in Queens, New York, before disappearing.
A grifter with a history of elaborate cons and an un-memorable everyman appearance, Ruffo has proven an unusually challenging target, investigators said. The Marshals believe his disappearance was aided considerably by more than $13 million in stolen money that has never been found.
Ruffo’s fraud was deceptive in its simplicity. Teaming up with a former executive from the Phillip Morris tobacco company, he devised a false story about what they said was a super-secret research effort to develop smoke-free cigarettes. Ruffo’s computer firm was supposed to be supplying computers for the project – but the entire enterprise was a mirage. As millions poured in from banks, Ruffo attempted to invest the money on Wall Street, figuring he could pocket the gains and pay back the loans. But he was not a shrewd stock picker. He and his co-conspirator were arrested when the ruse fell apart.
(U.S. Marshals)
U.S. Marshals provided this age progression image of John Ruffo.
The podcast, produced by the ABC News Investigative Unit and hosted by Sunny Hostin, has uncovered surprising new details about the bizarre double life Ruffo led in the months and years leading up to his disappearance.
“I mean, it’s a crazy story,” said Judd Burstein, the veteran attorney who represented Ruffo after his arrest in 1997. “He was very disciplined. He was the ultimate double life person.”
The job of finding Ruffo has been assigned to an elite pair of investigators who have expertise in cold cases, Deputy Marshals Danielle Shimchick and Chris Leuer, both based out of Virginia. In recent months, the search for Ruffo has intensified considerably, as Shimchick and Leuer have developed new and promising leads about his escape.
Among those most invested in his capture is the woman who had been Ruffo’s wife at the time of his disappearance, Linda Lausten. Lausten was among those who lost their homes when Ruffo failed to report to prison. His $10 million bail had been secured by six houses belonging to his family members – all of which were seized by the government after he fled.
(U.S. Marshals)
John Ruffo pictured with wife Linda.
Lausten said she remains baffled that he was allowed to slip away. She has always maintained she knew nothing about Ruffo’s crimes and has never been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with his crime or escape. Lausten has since remarried.
“Even the Marshals told me that it’s almost unheard of that a person would be sentenced to that lengthy sentence and be allowed to turn themself in alone, knowing what a high risk he was,” she said.
Listen, subscribe and rate “Have You Seen This Man?” on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and Audacy.
(NEW YORK) — Consumer prices continued to climb in July, further stoking concerns over inflation as the economy rebounds from the COVID-19 shock.
The Consumer Price Index, often looked to as a measure of inflation, spiked 5.4% over the last 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. This is the same pace reported in June, tying for the highest 12-month increase since August 2008.
The index rose 0.5% in July alone, the BLS said, leveling off somewhat from the 0.9% increase seen in June.
“This month’s increases were comparatively tame relative to what we had seen the last few months, and that’s in large part because the low bar of a year-ago number is starting to drop out,” Greg McBride, the chief financial analyst at Bankrate, told ABC News on Wednesday.
“What I mean by that is in the second quarter of last year, when the economy was on lockdown, price levels actually declined,” he added. “That exaggerated the increase on a year-over-year basis when we looked at it this year.”
McBride said there is no doubt prices are going up and inflation concerns are valid, adding that “there is more evidence that it could prove to be temporary.”
When compared to pre-pandemic data from two years ago, McBride said the annualized rate would fall to 3.1% versus the more concerning 5.4%.
“Think about a baseball player that usually hits 30 home runs a year, and then one year he hit 10 home runs, and then the next year he comes back and he hits 30 home runs again,” he said. “It’s going to look like he tripled his output — he didn’t. He just returned to normal.”
The so-called core index, which accounts for all items except the more volatile food and energy indexes, climbed 0.3% in July and 4.3% over the past 12 months, the latest data indicate. The food index, meanwhile, increased 0.7% in July and 3.4% over the last 12 months. The energy index climbed 1.6% last month, with the gasoline index alone rising by 2.4%.
The prices for used cars, which have been skyrocketing over the past few months amid a chip shortage, leveled off a bit in July. Used car prices increased by 0.2%, a significant reprieve from the 10.5% increase seen in June.
As consumer demand bounced back when the economy began to reopen all at once, many firms, spanning multiple industries, have reported supply chain bottlenecks and issues hiring back workers.
“Labor shortages and supply chain constraints have been a considerable factor in higher prices and underscores the transitory argument,” McBride said. “This debate of is it transitory or is it more sustained is one that’s going to continue through the balance of 2021.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell similarly downplayed inflation fears in a testimony before lawmakers in May.
“Inflation has increased notably in recent months,” Powell stated, according to his prepared remarks. “This reflects, in part, the very low readings from early in the pandemic falling out of the calculation; the pass-through of past increases in oil prices to consumer energy prices; the rebound in spending as the economy continues to reopen; and the exacerbating factor of supply bottlenecks, which have limited how quickly production in some sectors can respond in the near term.”
As these transitory factors abate, Powell said inflation is expected to drop back down again.
