Metallica has been working on new music, and Kirk Hammett is hoping it will do more than just get people headbanging.
Speaking with Classic Rockmagazine, the guitarist shares that he wants the metal legends’ next album to “cut through the division” people have been feeling.
“Metallica has always been about bringing people together through music,” Hammett says. “I think the sentiment now is that people need music more than ever to bring everyone together and collectively celebrate that we’ve got to this point.”
He adds, “There’s a lot of division in the world. Hopefully this Metallica album will cut through the division and bring people together in ways that are more beneficial for everyone overall.”
Hammett also reveals that the new material feels “very appropriate for the times.”
“Music should bring everyone together, it should be a celebration,” he says. “That’s what music is about. It’s not about selling albums or getting Grammys, it’s about putting out good music and helping the situation with that music.”
Metallica’s most recent album is 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct.
Meanwhile, Metallica is prepping a deluxe reissue of 1991’s The Black Album in honor of its 30th anniversary. That will be released on September 10, along with the 53-track Metallica Blacklist tribute compilation.
Demi Lovato is joining Paris Hilton for the socialite’s new Netflix cooking show, Cooking with Paris.
In a hilarious sneak peek of the episode, the two attempt making unicorn cannolis and end up failing miserably. After they decorate the pink-and-purple cannoli shells with sprinkles and edible glitter, they try to fill them, only to realize that the cream has melted.
“I was supposed to keep this in the refrigerator. We’ve had it out the whole time,” Paris says as Demi laughs. “So it’s all melted. Great.”
Paris then tries to wipe off some of the mess with a towel, but Demi tells her, “That’s a glove!”
The two then just decide to cover the cannolis with even more sprinkles and glitter and call it a day.
Cooking with Paris debuts Wednesday, August 4, on Netflix.
Friday, the pandemic-delayed adaptation of the Disney parks ride Jungle Cruise finally sails into theaters. In the movie, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a wisecracking riverboat captain chartered to take an adventurous scientist, played by Emily Blunt, down a dangerous river to find a mysterious tree that possesses powerful healing properties.
For Johnson, who co-produced the film with his Seven Bucks company, the film was a chance to stroll down memory lane. “I had ridden the ride when I was a kid. Many moons later, I went to Disney World for the first time and rode the ride then too, as well,” Johnson said at a recent press event. “So it had a nostalgic element to it when it was first presented to me. But also, you know, really the opportunity that we had that we could create something that was hopefully unique and special.”
Johnson, an avowed Disney fan — and a veteran of the hit Disney/Pixar film Moana — explained, “You hope to get lucky in a career where you have an opportunity like this, where you can make a movie that’s based off an iconic ride, that’s beloved with the most trusted brand in the world when it comes to family and delivering entertainment.”
Johnson praised Jungle Cruise‘s director Jaume Collet-Serra for adapting a theme park ride into a big-screen one — and liked his work so much that he tapped him to call the shots on Johnson’s upcoming DC Comics-based film Black Adam, which just wrapped production.
(NEW YORK) — The New York Yankees have acquired outfielder Joey Gallo from the Texas Rangers in a trade, the team announced Thursday.
The Yankees sent shortstop Josh Smith, second baseman Ezequiel Duran, second baseman/outfielder Trevor Hauver and right handed pitcher Glenn Otto to Texas. All four our top thirty prospects in the Yankees farm system.
New York gets Gallo, left handed pitcher Joely Rodriquez and cash considerations.
“We are incredibly excited to add two players that will really help us,” said manager Aaron Boone before Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay. “I’m thrilled [Gallo] coming to join the fold. This is obviously a tremendous player, hopefully people are talking about what a tremendous all-around player… We got a lot better today.”
Boone said Gallo will be with the team on Friday.
Gallo is batting .223 with 25 home runs and 88 RBIs. His home runs rank sixth in the American League this season.
In the pic, released by MGM Studios and posted to Gaga’s socials, we see the singer as Patrizia Reggiani, the eventual ex-wife of fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci. She sports dark hair, an elegant fascinator with netting over her face, statement pearl jewelry and a bold red lip.
The poster, along with all the other character posters shared on the House of Gucci Instagram, is captioned “Stasera” — which means “tonight” in Italian. Could they be teasing a trailer drop, perhaps?
The Ridley Scott-directed House of Gucci, also starring Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons, hits theaters on November 24.
Henry Winkler is proving once again why he’s considered the nicest guy in Hollywood. The former Happy Days star-turned Barry Emmy winner reportedly called a former neighbor named Florence Keller on whom he reportedly had a crush as a child, for her 101st birthday.
Page Six reports that Keller’s granddaughter, Natalie Lebovits-Zaidenberg, reached out on a Facebook page frequented by showbiz publicists to see if anyone could get her in touch with Winkler’s reps so that he could contact her grandma for her big day.
Lebovits-Zaidenberg told the paper, “My grandmother has Alzheimer’s, but whenever she watches TV and he comes on, she goes, ‘It’s Henry,’ and gets very excited…Sometimes she doesn’t remember us, so it’s really special.”
Natalie explained that the now-75-year-old actor and her grandmother lived in the same New York City building decades ago. “He was about 10-ish and he had a big crush on her…That’s the story I heard growing up,” she said.
Her efforts on Facebook paid off: Winkler was notified by a family member, and set up a time to call Keller and her family.
“He called and…was lovely,” Lebovits-Zaidenberg told Page Six. “He just said he wished her a happy birthday, and said he appreciates that we have followed his career this whole time. They spoke for about five minutes. We were all excited.”
She added of the actor, “He’s ‘the Fonz.’ It was just so cool. It was a story I grew up with my whole life that was a great NYC story. But to see it be real was very special.”
Incidentally, one of the Facebook group’s members noted of Winkler, “He’s easily the nicest celebrity I ever worked with.”
That, for the record, is something ABC Audio can confirm.
(TOKYO) — Sunisa Lee won gold in the gymnastics all-around at the Tokyo Olympics, making her the fifth American female gymnast in a row to win the Olympic all-around title.
The Minnesota-based Lee, 18, went into the all-arounds with a medal already in her pocket, having been part of the U.S. team that won silver Tuesday.
Lee competed in the all-around competition Thursday alongside fellow American Jade Carey, who finished in eight place.
Lee and Carey’s teammates, including Simone Biles, who withdrew from the individual competition to focus on her mental health, were seen Thursday in the stands in Tokyo cheering on Lee and Carey.
Here are five things to know about Lee, America’s newest gold medal-winning gymnast.
1. Lee made history as a Hmong-American:
Lee is the first Hmong-American to compete for Team USA and the first to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
One of six children, Lee was born and raised in Minnesota, a state that has one of the largest Hmong populations in the nation.
The Hmong people lived in southwestern China for thousands of years and then migrated to countries including Laos and Thailand. During the Vietnam War, the Hmong living in Laos partnered with American forces, which led to them being retaliated against once the United States left in the early 1970s.
Many families eventually resettled in the U.S., including Lee’s father, John, who moved to Minnesota from Laos at the age of 7 with his 10 siblings and their parents, according to ESPN.
Lee told People magazine earlier this year that she knows making gymnastics history as a Hmong-American “means a lot to the Hmong community … and to just be an inspiration to other Hmong people [means] a lot to me too.”
2. Lee is the youngest competitor on the US gymnastics team:
Lee is the youngest person on this year’s team at 18 years old, but is no stranger to high-stakes competition. A first-time Olympian, Lee is the national bar champion and has taken gold for beam at several national championships and at the 2019 World Championships.
3. Lee’s family watched her compete from Minnesota:
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Lee’s family was not able to travel to Tokyo to watch her in person.
Instead, the family gathered in their home state of Minnesota to watch Lee win the gold.
Among the family members celebrating was Lee’s dad, who was paralyzed from the chest down after falling from a ladder while helping a neighbor cut a tree branch in 2019. The accident took place just days before Lee competed at the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.
It was Lee’s dad who helped her get her start in gymnastics by building a wooden balance beam that still sits in the family’s backyard.
“[He tells me] to go out there and do my best and to just do what I do,” Lee told People about her dad’s pep talks.
4. Lee survived a broken foot, family tragedy before the Olympics:
When the Olympics were postponed one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lee considered quitting the sport. But, with her family’s encouragement, continued her training, according to ESPN.
Then in June 2020 she broke her foot, and later over the summer, her aunt and uncle both contracted COVID-19 and died.
“It’s been a tough year, but I’m super proud of myself,” Lee told ESPN earlier this month. “After COVID and quarantine, I was unmotivated because we had so much time off and I felt I wasn’t good enough anymore. But now I’ve been a lot better mentally and you can see it in my gymnastics.”
5. Lee’s next stop post-Olympics is college:
After the Olympics, Lee plans to attend Auburn University in Alabama.
ABC News’ Alexandra Svokos and Aryana Azari contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Trevor Milton, the billionaire founder of electric truck manufacturer Nikola, was hit with securities fraud charges from federal prosecutors in New York City on Thursday.
In a nearly 50-page indictment, prosecutors accused Milton of preying on vulnerable retail investors who had turned to trading after losing income due to the pandemic. In some cases, these victims lost their retirement savings, authorities said, as they outlined his web of false promises related to an electric truck that was never operable.
“Milton’s scheme targeted individual, non-professional investors — so-called retail investors — by making false and misleading statements,” the indictment said.
Milton is in custody and due to appear later Thursday.
Authorities had been investigating Milton and Nikola for more than a year after short seller Hindenburg Research called the firm an “intricate fraud” in a September report.
The company subsequently conceded video of its electric truck gave a misleading impression it was actually drivable. The company also said Milton had made inaccurate statements about the technology behind the vehicle. Federal prosecutors agreed.
The false promotional video for the semi-truck prototype known as Nikola One was referenced heavily in the indictment. The concept included a shot of the Nikola One coming to a stop in front of a stop sign, according to the indictment.
“In order to accomplish this feat with a vehicle that could not drive, the Nikola One was towed to the top of hill, at which point the ‘driver’ released the brakes, and the truck rolled down the hill until being brought to a stop in front of the stop sign,” prosecutors wrote. “For additional takes, the truck was towed to the top of the hill and rolled down the hill twice more.”
Moreover, the door had to be taped to the vehicle during the shoot “to prevent it from falling off,” prosecutors wrote. Batteries were also entirely removed from the vehicle during the shoot, which was attended by Milton. According to prosecutors, this was to “mitigate the risk of fire, explosion, or damage.”
Phoenix-based Nikola planned to build battery- and hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered heavy trucks for long-haul trucking and the company had been valued at more than $12 billion dollars. The doubts raised by short sellers and regulators have tanked the stock price and scuttled a deal with General Motors to take a stake in the company.
Prosecutors said Milton lied at every turn about the company’s ability to produce its electric truck.
According to the indictment, Milton made false and misleading statements about the company’s success in creating a fully-functioning Nikola One prototype when he knew that the prototype was inoperable. He also made false statements about an electric and hydrogen powered pickup truck known as the Badger using Nikola’s parts and technology when he knew that was not true, the indictment claimed.
“Among the retail investors who ultimately invested in Nikola were investors who had no prior experience in the stock market and had begun trading during the COVID-19 pandemic to replace or supplement lost income or to occupy their time while in lockdown,” prosecutors wrote.
When it emerged that Milton’s statements were false and misleading, the value of Nikola’s stock plummeted.
“As a result, some of the retail investors that Milton’s fraudulent scheme targeted suffered tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, including, in certain cases, the loss of their retirement savings or funds that they had borrowed to invest in Nikola,” the indictment added.
Rihanna is expanding her Fenty empire into the world of fragrance.
The announcement came Wednesday, with both the singer and the brand sharing the news with their followers on social media.
For her part, Ri posted two black-and-white snapshots of herself wearing an off-the-shoulder leather jacket and rocking straight hair.
“#FENTYPARFUM COMING SOON [eyes emoji],” she teased in the caption of the post.
Over on Fenty Beauty’s Instagram, the upcoming scent was promoted with a short clip that gives fans a glimpse at the perfume’s bottle design, which appears to be amber in color.
“Something sensual, confident yet sexxy [sic] coming your way very soon,” the caption reads.
In a second video post, the brand features tweets from fans praising RiRi’s latest endeavor and expressing their desire to smell like her.
“The smell good y’all have been waiting for!” Fenty raved in the caption.
An official release date for Fenty Parfum has not been announced. However, fans can get a free sample by using the code “FENTY” when making a purchase of $40 or more on fentybeauty.com. The offer ends on August 8.
It’s hard to believe it’s taken this long, but Rick Astley‘s 1987 video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” has finally hit one billion YouTube views.
The cheese-tastic clip for Astley’s number-one hit earned a second life online starting in 2007 thanks to the popular RickRolling meme, where you’re directed to click on a link but instead of getting what you expect to see, you get Astley’s video instead.
This year alone, the clip received 2.3 million daily views on April Fool’s Day.
This makes “Never Gonna Give You Up” only the fourth music video of the ’80s to join the Billion Views Club, following Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, a-ha’s “Take on Me,” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
