Headed into 2020, Rascal Flatts made an announcement that left fans stunned: After 20 years together, they planned to call it quits.
The trio intended to go out on a high note and planned a massive farewell tour that was supposed to keep them busy through the year, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to cancel those dates, and at this point, they haven’t announced any plans to reschedule.
In a new interview with People, lead singer Gary LeVox admits he’s disappointed that the band’s final year together fizzled out the way it did. “I hate the way that it ended. I hate that we didn’t get to do this farewell tour. I can’t stand the fact that it just feels there’s no closure with something that we’ve been so blessed with,” he says.
But that’s not the only thing that upsets Gary about Rascal Flatts’ breakup, the singer goes on to say. When they first announced the split, the band mates presented a united front, saying that all three of them — Gary, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney — mutually agreed that it was time to pursue separate endeavors. Now, Gary reveals, things weren’t quite that simple.
“I wasn’t happy that Joe Don quit,” he states. “It kind of came out of nowhere. It was like, ‘Let me try to wrap my head around this.’”
In the wake of the split, Gary moved on. He’s since released music as a solo artist, including a faith-based EP called One on One. After adjusting to life without Rascal Flatts, the singer says he’s happy to be doing what he’s doing these days.
“I’m just going to stay on my path,” the singer says of his current career focus. “I know what I’m supposed to do, and I love it.”
Five kick-butt actresses join Sebastian Stan in the action-packed new trailer for The 355.
The title refers to the code-name of George Washington‘s female spy in the Revolutionary War — and also the name of the movie’s multinational group of female spies.
The movie’s conceit is that each woman is their country’s top agent — Jessica Chastain is American with the CIA; Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o reps the U.K.; Diane Kruger is German; Penelope Cruz represents Spain; and Bingbing Fan is the top Chinese operative — who all unite to save the world.
“They can start World War III from their keyboard” Chastain’s character explains, in a trailer that’s both heavy on action and Mission: Impossible-esque spycraft.
For his part, Lupita’s Marvel movie co-star Stan is Chastain’s CIA counterpart but despite his onscreen action chops, the women clearly run the show in the coming attraction.
(CODY, Wyo.) — After a video of her trying to photograph grizzly bears went viral, a woman from Illinois has been sentenced to four days in jail and banned from Yellowstone National Park for a year.
Samantha Dehring, 25, from Carol Stream, Illinois, was charged on Oct. 6 for disturbing wildlife at Roaring Mountain in the park on May 10 while attempting to get a close-up picture of a grizzly bear and her cubs. Dehring has to spend four days in custody, a year on unsupervised probation and faces up to $2,040 in fines and fees.
In an announcement on Thursday, acting U.S. attorney Bob Murray on behalf of the District of Wyoming said: “Approaching a sow grizzly with cubs is absolutely foolish. Here, pure luck is why Dehring is a criminal defendant and not a mauled tourist.”
Dehring appeared before a magistrate judge in Mammoth Hot Spring, Wyoming, on Wednesday, more than a month after she was slated to appear. She was also charged with another count of feeding, touching, teasing, frightening or intentionally disturbing wildlife, which was dismissed.
As per the National Park Service’s regulations: “willfully remaining near or approaching wildlife” is prohibited.
“The park is not a zoo where animals can be viewed within the safety of a fenced enclosure,” Murray said.
This news comes less than a month after Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced the state’s intention to ask the federal government to lift its protections for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area.
Less than a month away from her hit HBO series Insecure‘s final season, Yvonne Orji has confirmed a new show on the network.
HBO announced Friday that Orji will host the new dating reality series Your Mom, My Dad, which centers on a group of single parents “nominated by their college-age kids for a second chance at love.” The parents will move into a house together to find dates, while their adult children watch their every move from a house down the street. A release date for Your Mom, My Dad hasn’t been announced yet.
In other news, Jayme Lawson, Masali Baduza and Hero Fiennes Tiffin are the latest stars to be added to the Gina Prince-Bythewood-directed feature The Woman King, Deadline has learned. As previously noted, the film, which also stars Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu and John Boyega, is inspired by real events that took place in the powerful African state of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries. It centers on Nanisca, the general of an all-female military unit called the Amazons, and her daughter, Nawi, and their fight against the French and neighboring tribes who work to enslave their people. A release date for The Woman King has not been announced.
Finally, renowned choreographer Laurieann Gibson is taking her knowledge of dance to the streaming world. The Emmy-nominated director has signed a deal with fan-focused streaming aggregator Cinedigm to launch the Born Out of Passion Network — or BOP — a free, ad-supported VOD service. Described as a “definitive destination” for multigenerational and multicultural dance content, BOP’s slate will include licensed programming, scripted and unscripted original content, dance fitness workouts, and dance tutorials led by Gibson and other industry notables. Gibson will oversee the channel, which is slated to debut in 2022.
Today is Bruno Mars‘ 36th birthday, but he had a special gift for his fans: a release date for his Silk Sonic album.
The world can finally enjoy the full project from Bruno and Anderson .Paak, An Evening with Silk Sonic, on November 12. The disc will feature the previously released hits “Skate” and “Leave the Door Open,” the latter of which won Best R&B Video at the MTV VMAs.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate narrowly averted fiscal calamity Thursday evening in a late-evening vote to raise the federal borrowing limit, but the short-term solution has set the stage for a fierce political showdown in December.
While no Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling, 11 Republicans voted with Democrats to break a Republican filibuster so that the measure could advance.
The kicked-can deal comes a little more than a week before Oct. 18 — the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pegged as when the U.S. may no longer be able to cover its debts.
But the short-term solution is still not yet totally secured. The House is expected to return to Washington from its recess on Tuesday to approve the measure, where it is expected to pass on party lines before heading to President Joe Biden’s desk.
When the $480 billion debt hike is exhausted, the political gamesmanship from both parties that made a short-term solution difficult to achieve will likely be on heightened display, as lawmakers aim to deal with the lapse of their short-term extension of federal government funding at the same time.
In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s vote, Senate leadership was locked in a political staring contest over which party ought to bear responsibility for raising the limit.
Republicans for months said that Democrats would need to act on their own to raise the debt limit because they have total control of Washington and are planning to pass a multi-trillion social and economic package with zero input from Republicans. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said repeatedly that Democrats should have to hike the debt limit because of the high cost of Biden’s proposed agenda.
But Democrats have argued raising the debt limit is a bipartisan responsibility, in part because it covers spending that already took place under the Trump administration with unified GOP support.
Republicans blocked an earlier effort by Democrats to suspend the limit partially because they want Democrats to be forced to raise the limit by a specific dollar amount using a fast-track budget process budget tool called reconciliation. It would allow the majority to break a filibuster to pass certain legislation, but use of this arcane process is cumbersome, could take weeks and opens up Democrats to a series of potentially politically painful votes.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer rejected the reconciliation option, arguing it would take too much time.
The stalemate was temporarily broken on Thursday when 11 Republicans, including McConnell, joined all Senate Democrats in casting a procedural vote to break a filibuster on the debt limit. Ten GOP votes were necessary to clear the way for a second, simple majority vote to raise the debt limit by $480 billion. No Republicans voted with Democrats in a subsequent vote on the debt hike.
McConnell offered the deal to allow Democrats additional time to use reconciliation to pass a more permanent debt limit fix without GOP support.
“This will moot Democrats’ excuses about the time crunch they created and give the unified Democratic government more than enough time to pass standalone debt limit legislation through reconciliation,” McConnell said in a statement Wednesday.
But Democrats have said they’re no more prepared to use reconciliation in December than they were this month.
“There’s not going to be reconciliation,” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters emphatically on Wednesday.
Following Thursday’s vote, Schumer took to the floor to lambast Republicans for holding the debt limit hostage, further committing that Democrats would not budge on reconciliation.
“Let me say that again. Today’s vote is proof positive that the debt limit can be addressed without going through the reconciliation process, just as Democrats have been saying for months,” Schumer said on the floor. “The solution is for Republicans to either join us in raising the debt limit or stay out of the way and let Democrats address the debt limit ourselves.”
Some Republicans, and a visibly frustrated Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., were miffed by Schumer’s victory lap.
“I was not in the chamber when he spoke, so I didn’t hear it first hand,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Thursday evening. “But I heard from others there was a fair amount of frustration.”
Republican Whip Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said he told Schumer personally he was frustrated with his tone, calling it “out of line” and an “incredibly partisan speech after we had just helped him solve a problem.”
Many rank-and-file Republicans were also frustrated with McConnell for even offering Democrats a way to kick the can down the road on dealing with the debt limit.
“I believe it was a mistake to offer this deal. Two days ago Republicans were unified, we were all on the same page, we were all standing together and making clear that Democrats had complete authority to raise the debt ceiling, and to take responsibility for the trillions of debt that they are irresponsibly adding to this country,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said. “We were winning that fight and Schumer was on the verge of surrender. And unfortunately, the deal that was put on the table was a lifeline for Schumer. And I disagree with that decision.”
Discontent with the deal was on full display Thursday, as McConnell stood on the floor and counted his Republican “yes” votes to ensure the necessary 10 votes to proceed would be cast.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., gave a dramatic thumbs down at his turn — just steps away from McConnell.
McConnell had arrived on the floor moments after the vote began — a rare, early appearance for the leader who usually waits until later in the vote series to cast his. But this time clearly wanted his presence known. Rather than giving a thumbs up on his vote, he gave a bellowing and affirmative “aye” and stood in the well with other “yes” voters as they amassed, leaning over the center table as votes rolled in.
Rankling in the lower ranks of the GOP all but assures there won’t be a similar compromise coming in December when the parties will almost certainly find themselves in a similar stare down.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the Senate’s action Thursday “welcome steps forward” on the debt limit but reiterated the Democratic view that it should be a “shared responsibility” to raise the limit in December.
“We cannot allow partisan politics to hold our economy hostage, and we can’t allow the routine process of paying our bills to turn into a confidence-shaking political showdown every two years or every two months,” Psaki said.
(NOTE LANGUAGE, CONTENT) “If this is what being canceled is about, I love it,” Dave Chappelle told a cheering crowd of more than 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl Thursday night, where his documentary Untitled screened.
The Hollywood Reporter noted a galaxy of stars in the audience, including Brad Pitt, and Tiffany Haddish, while Chappelle was joined onstage by more, including Steve Wonder, Snoop, Talib Kweli, Lizzo and Jon Hamm.
Untitled untracks Chappelle’s series of comedy concerts he staged to help his Ohio hometown get back on its feed amid the pandemic.
“I don’t know what to tell you, except I’m a bad motherf*****,” Chappelle said to cheers, in statements that referenced recent controversy about The Closer, his final in a series of Netflix comedy specials. “F*** Twitter,” he added. “This is real life.”
Chappelle noted he was starting a “kindness conspiracy” to combat cancel culture, a theme Stevie Wonder highlighted in his on-stage comments. “What we need to cancel is hate,” the legendary performer said. “What we need to cancel is fear…”
Wonder added, “I want us to cancel the idea of feeling that we don’t want anyone to laugh because if we don’t laugh, we cry. And I don’t believe that was God’s intention — ever.”
The love fest for Mark Twain Award winner Chappelle comes after The Closer took flak on Twitter for jokes some claimed were transphobic. Former Dear White People showrunner Jaclyn Moore, who recently transitioned, took to Twitter to say she was done with Netflix, “as long as they continue to put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content,” referring to Chappelle’s Untitled.
GLAAD also flamed what the organization called Chappelle’s “brand of ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities.”
The entire London Theatre performance, which featured Taylor joining Mitchell for the second half of the show, is one of a few full-length concerts that will be included on Joni’s forthcoming archival box set Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), due out on November 12.
Taylor, who was dating Mitchell at the time of the London concert, had recently written “You Can Close Your Eyes” for Joni. He wound up recording his own version of the tune, which appeared on his classic 1971 album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon.
Mitchell’s Paris Theatre show originally was broadcast in December 1970 on the BBC Radio program In Concert, which was hosted by famed British DJ John Peel.
In an interview with Cameron Crowe that appears in the Archives Vol. 2 liner notes. Joni reflected on performing with James in London. “That’s when we were dating,” she recalled. “He really locked up to my dulcimer, playing great with his guitar. Those two instruments together sound great. It sounded like one instrument. Musically, we were a great couple.”
As previously reported, Joni Mitchell: Archives Vol. 2, which you can pre-order now, is available as a five-CD set and a limited-edition 10-LP vinyl collection that features previously unreleased live, studio and demo recordings from Mitchell’s early career, leading up to the release of 1971’s Blue.
Netflix is prepping a spin-off of the hit Fox series That ’70s Show with a Gen-X twist, ABC Audio has confirmed.
That ’90s Show already has snagged ’70s vets Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith, who played, respectively, Kitty and Red Forman, the parents of Topher Grace‘s Eric, for a show that will follow them into the ’90s as they tend to their visiting granddaughter.
The streaming giant notes, “It’s 1995 and Leia Forman, daughter of Eric and Donna, is visiting her grandparents for the summer where she bonds with a new generation of Point Place kids under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red. Sex, drugs and rock ’n roll never dies, it just changes clothes.”
Original series creators Bonnie and Terry Turner are returning for the new show, and the thought is that some other familiar faces from the original series could appear.
That 70s Show, which also starred Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderrama, ran for eight seasons for Fox, wrapping up in 2006. Its 2002 spin-off That 80s Show lasted only one season.
Recently, Rupp appeared in Disney+’s WandaVision, and Smith will be seen in the Hulu series The Drop Out, about the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos scandal.
(NEW YORK) — The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the mental health of the nation, according to a new study published in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly journal, MMWR.
The CDC said that social isolation, coronavirus-related deaths and stress weighed heavy on Americans, forcing many to confront new mental health challenges.
Researchers noted that anxiety and depression scores fluctuated throughout the pandemic and reflected changes in COVID-19 cases. Throughout the study, they found that the more average daily COVID-19 cases there were, the more people experienced anxiety and depression symptoms.
From August 2020 to December 2020, there was a 13% increase nationwide in anxiety-related symptoms and a 14.8% increase in depression-related symptoms.
“We were really thinking about life or death,” said Dr. Panagiota Korenis, associate professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “The pandemic has certainly identified the need to not just take physical health in isolation and really needing to emphasize also people’s mental well-being.”
As the COVID vaccine has rolled out, from December 2020 to June 2021, anxiety-related symptoms decreased by 26.8% and depression-related symptoms fell by 24.8%.
However, the severity scores for both illnesses remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“As this is drawing out, we’re seeing the aftermath of a lot of burnout. … I do very much believe that we are in it for the long haul,” Korenis said. “If people take the time to self-reflect, and they’re open to getting help, getting treatment, and taking time to do things that bring them joy, I think that’s really critical.”
Researchers said this study emphasized the need to make mental health resources readily and easily accessible during the pandemic.
The study included more than 1.5 million adults, and took into account 19 different waves of COVID-19 to assess anxiety and depression symptoms with questionnaires and surveys.
Dr. Adela Wu, a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit, contributed to this report.
