On his latest podcast episode of Armchair Expert, the Parenthood alum revealed that he bulked up during lockdown as part of a dream he’s been chasing for a decade.
“In quarantine, I said to [my wife Kristen Bell,] ‘I’ve been waiting for 10 years for Marvel to call so that I’d have an excuse to get huge,” he explained. “And they’re not gonna call. That ship sailed. I’m 46, they’re not gonna call. So I just have to do it for my own amusement.”
Revealing that he now works out six days a week, Shepard proudly announced he’s gained 24 pounds in muscle. He also jokingly credited his gains to “lifting heavy, protein shakes, going bananas [and] heavy testosterone injections.”
Shepard , who’s 6’2″, says he now weighs 210 pounds.
“I spent my whole life as a medium boy, and now I’m a big boy and I like it,” he grinned. “Mentally, I love it because it makes me far more on fire to be alive.”
The actor also revealed he was “depressed” after he filmed the 2017 box offiice dud, CHiPs, and at the time thought his only path was “literally retiring.”
“All of a sudden I was on fire to work,” said Shepard of his new hobby. “This is the version I enjoy.”
Dax recently shared an adorable video on Instagram of him on a road trip with his eight-year-old daughter, Lincoln, as the two belt out Adele‘s 2015 hit “Hello.”
“Heaven is a place on a twisty two lane mountain pass where screaming @adele with your daughter is required,” the Bless This Mess star declared.
Shepard shares Lincoln and six-year-old Delta with Kristen Bell.
(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sticking with its guidance for now that only unvaccinated people need to wear masks to be safe, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters on Thursday.
Asked about The Washington Post report that administration officials are rethinking its messaging on masks, Walensky said “we are always looking at the data as the data come in.”
But she said the CDC guidance hasn’t changed and suggested that — for now — there’s no need.
“Fully vaccinated people are protected from severe illness, and we’ve always said that communities and individuals to make the decisions that are right for them based on what’s going on in their local areas,” she said.
She later added: “In areas that have high and low amounts of vaccination … if you’re unvaccinated, you should absolutely be wearing a mask. If you’re vaccinated, you have exceptional levels of protection from that vaccine, and you may choose to add an extra layer of protection by putting on your mask and that’s a very individual choice.”
Jeff Zients, the White House coordinator on COVID-19, said any public health guidance is up to the CDC.
Sabrina Elba revealed how she and her husband of three years, Idris Elba, successfully maintain a healthy marriage — by looking back at her own love story.
Sabrina told the Just the Sip! podcast that she and Idris met in 2017, with the former Miss Vancouver revealing that they met at “a jazz bar” when she was out celebrating a friend’s birthday. Sabrina said her friend clocked Idris first and wanted to chat him up, so Sabrina took on “wing man” duties. However, the Luther actor thought Sabrina was hitting on him, not testing the waters for her friend, so he turned on the charm.
“I’m like, ‘Nope, excuse me, that’s wrong! I’m trying to be a good friend,” she laughed, but admitted she was taken by her future husband’s advances.
“We had the best conversation,” she dished. “We talked all night, all the next day. We were inseparable after that.”
A year later, Idris proposed and they tied the knot in April 2019.
As for the secret of maintaining a strong relationship, said Sabrina, “Me and Idris just get along so well… Our values are connected, we have the same interests, we have the same comedy sense. Just so many things aligned.”
It also helps that her mother approves of her son-in-law. “Actually, my mom and Idris really get along” Sabrina grinned. “She loves him to bits!”
During the interview, the model also spilled about adding a new member to the family, hinting to the podcast, “Not yet, but I’m almost there.”
It would be her and Idris’ first child together. Idris has two children from two prior relationships: Isan, 19, and Winston, seven.
(NEW YORK) — Daimler has announced its brand Mercedes-Benz will go all-electric by 2030, where market conditions allow, and the company will invest over $45 billion between 2022 and 2030 for research and development into battery electric vehicle technology.
“The EV shift is picking up speed – especially in the luxury segment, where Mercedes-Benz belongs. The tipping point is getting closer and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade,” said Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, in a statement.
The company announced Mercedes-Benz will sell BEVs in all segments they serve by 2022. By 2025, all new cars will be all-electric in markets that have charging technology and customers will be able to purchase an electric version of every model the company makes.
In markets that cannot sustain a charging network, Mercedes-Benz could still sell internal combustion engines.
Daimler says they will launch three new Mercedes-Benz electric-vehicle architectures in 2025; the MB.EA, which will cover medium to full-sized passenger cars; the AMG.EA, which will cover performance cars, and the VAN.EA, which will cover vans and light commercial vehicles.
In addition, the company says it is developing the Vision EQXX, an electric vehicle, that will have a range of over 600 miles, which would be the longest range for an EV.
The announcement comes a week after the European Union adopted new climate proposals to limit greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. One of the proposals was reducing car emissions by 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2035, meaning all new cars purchased will have to be zero-emission.
(CALHOUN, Ga.) — A Georgia family is mourning the loss of their 5-year-old son who they say died after contracting COVID-19.
Wyatt Gibson, 5, died on July 16 after suffering a stroke, according to a statement written by his grandmother, Andrea Mitchell, and shared with ABC News.
Mitchell described Wyatt, of Calhoun, Georgia, as a “typical healthy, happy boy” who became sick last week with what the family originally thought was food poisoning.
After two days of symptoms, including vomiting, no appetite and lethargy, Wyatt’s parents took him to a local hospital. He was then transferred to a children’s hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was diagnosed with strep and staph infections and COVID-19, according to Mitchell. Viral respiratory infection, such as COVID-19, can pre-dispose a person to secondary bacterial infections such as bacterial pneumonia or meningitis.
Days later, Wyatt suffered a stroke and died, according to Mitchell. It is unclear which infection caused the stroke. The official cause of death is unknown and hospital officials declined to comment citing federal privacy laws.
“All we know is a bright light has left. He left rainbows everywhere for us to see. We’ll be constantly reminded, saddened, then maybe in time, make peace with it,” she wrote. “For there was so much life in this 5-year-old boy. So much joy. So maybe it’s not the quantity of life that we will miss. But the quality of life. That was pure bliss.”
Wyatt’s father, Wes Gibson, was also diagnosed with COVID-19 at the same time as his son, according to Mitchell. It is unclear whether any of Wyatt’s family members were fully vaccinated.
Gibson, a local law enforcement officer, and his wife Alexis, who also share a daughter, declined to be interviewed.
The number of young children diagnosed with COVID-19 is also increasing. There were more than 23,000 new pediatric cases diagnosed in the U.S. last week, twice as many as the end of June, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Children under the age of 12 are currently not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Public health experts have stressed the importance of parents and caregivers being fully vaccinated to help protect those who are not yet eligible for the vaccine.
People who are fully vaccinated, a term used to describe a person two weeks after their last shot, are still considered safe from serious illness or death, even if they are exposed to the delta variant, which is quickly becoming the dominant variant spread in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 99.5% of hospitalizations are people who weren’t immunized.
Wednesday night on BET Presents the Encore,Kiely Williams of 3LW finally came clean about allegedly throwing a plate of chicken at ex-group member Naturi Naughton.
Cast members on the show were overwhelmed with laughter after Williams explained what happened with a bucket of KFC.
“My entire life has turned into…” the singer began before Fallon King of Cherish jokingly finished, “…a friend chicken meme.”
During her confessional, Williams said, “I didn’t throw chicken at anybody. The chicken was in my hand, but if you call my mother a b****, I’m throwing whatever.”
“Everybody laughed at first, and that sucks because that’s kind of what I wanted to let go of,” she continued. “That joke and the fact that when I brought out the chicken, everybody laughed was kind of reaffirming everything that I had been scared about. All of that kills me because it was so much more than that. Unfortunately, we were at a fast-food restaurant. I can’t change that.”
King, LeMisha Grinstead of 702 and Shamari DeVoe of Blaque continued laughing and making jokes about whether Williams threw KFC “original or crispy” chicken at Naughton. Regardless, Williams says there are no limits to her retaliation when it comes to someone talking about her mother.
“Throwing hands and whatever is in [me] over my mother. She is a saint,” Williams tweeted after the show. “If my phone was in my hand and not my dinner, she would’ve gotten that. And none of you would’ve done any different. #betpresentstheencore.”
Back in August of 2008, Glen Campbell took the stage at West Hollywood venue the Troubadour, the stage known for career-transforming performances from rockers, country stars, comedians and more since its opening in the late 1950s.
Glen’s fourteen-song set at that show included many of the crossover star’s enduring hits, including “Galveston,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Gentle on My Mind” and “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
Now, more than a decade after that show took place, fans can revisit the singer’s performance with a new live album called Glen Campbell Live from the Troubadour. The collection arrives on Friday, July 23 from Surfdog Records/Big Machine Records.
An Arkansas native who toed the line between country and pop stardom while also enjoying a storied acting career, Glen died in 2017 at the age of 81 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He announced in 2011 that he’d been diagnosed with the disease. That same year, he was the subject of a documentary titled Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, which chronicled his last years on the road as he grappled with how his illness affected his abilities as a performer.
Live Nation is celebrating the return of concerts with $20 tickets to shows this summer.
The promotion, dubbed Return to Live, will let you see artists including Greta VanFleet, Kings of Leon, Slipknot, Judas Priest, The Black Crowes, 311, Evanescence, Dead & Company, KISS and Rise Against at various outdoor Live Nation venues across the U.S. for just two $10 bills, taxes and fees included.
Other participating artists include 3 Doors Down, AJR, Alanis Morissette, Alice Cooper, Black Pumas, Bleachers, Coheed and Cambria, Korn, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Megadeth, Primus and The Doobie Brothers.
The Return to Live tickets go on sale beginning next Wednesday, July 28, at noon ET. For the full list of participating artists and venues, visit LiveNation.com.
William Shatner took his 90th trip around the sun last March, but that’s not stopping the Star Trek star.
He recorded albums and shot his History Channel show The UnXplained during the pandemic, swam with sharks in the Bahamas with adventurer Josh Gates in Discovery’s Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek, and just launched his new RT America series I Don’t Understand. The series has Shatner exploring myriad mysteries ranging from why people lie, to what to do about space junk polluting Earth’s orbit.
“‘Are you 90?!’ I get that all the time,” Shatner tells ABC Audio. “I used to get ‘Are you Captain Kirk?’ and now it’s ‘Are you 90?!’ No!, I’m Captain Kirk,” he says with a laugh.
You know, it’s weird, Shatner admits. “I’m dancing with sharks. I’m underwater with 50, 60 feet of sharks…and I’m in genuine peril. And I’m 90 years old! I don’t get it.”
“The 90-year-olds I know,” Shatner continues, “You can tell how old they are by the amount of dribble on their shirt. If it’s a clean shirt, you’re 50 years old and younger. One dribble every 10 years: if you have three dribbles, you’re 80 years old — and that‘s young according to my point of view. Gee whiz, man!”
The trouble with dribbles aside, Shatner’s excited about I Don’t Understand. “It is a show that reflects my natural curiosity about everything,” he explains. “The older I’ve gotten, I’ve tried to simplify: ‘What is all this?’…What is the kernel of truth behind all this razzmatazz involving language…behind all the masks? And isn’t it a joy…to share that moment of truth…in a simple conversation? And that’s what I’m after.”
I Don’t Understand is now streaming on various platforms and RT America’s website.
(IOWA) — Democrat Abby Finkenauer, a one-term congresswoman who represented Iowa’s 1st Congressional District until she was unseated by a Republican in 2020, announced Thursday she’s running for Senate.
In her announcement video, Finkenauer, who is also a former state representative, shares the news with an intimate group of Iowans, calling out longtime fixtures of the Senate for how “obsessed” they are with maintaining power, citing their response to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“The politicians who’ve been there for decades … [t]hey think they own democracy, and they were silent when it was attacked. You see it’s politicians like Senator Grassley and Mitch McConnell, who should know better, but are so obsessed with power that they oppose anything that moves us forward. Since the Capitol was attacked, they’ve turned their backs on democracy, and on us,” she says. “They made their choice, and I’m making mine. I’m running for the United States Senate.”
The seat Finkenauer is seeking has been held by Republican Chuck Grassley for 40 years. First elected in 1980 when Republican Ronald Reagan ascended to the White House and defeating incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter, Grassley is the longest serving senator to ever represent the Hawkeye State.
The 87-year-old has been fundraising, earning nearly $2 million in contributions so far this cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission filing for his campaign committee submitted a week ago. But Grassley has not made his reelection bid official yet, despite the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s chairman persistently “bugging” the senator to make an announcement.
However, Sen. Rick Scott, the NRSC’s chairman, indicated in a podcast interview Tuesday he feels good about Grassley seeking another term, citing a fundraiser he recently held for him in Florida.
“If he flies all the way from Iowa down to Naples, Florida, I think he’s gonna run,” Scott said.
The Republican Party of Iowa was quick to blast Finkenauer after her announcement.
“Let me be as clear as possible – Abby Finkenauer will never represent the state of Iowa in the U.S. Senate,” Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement. “Iowans know Finkenauer and her disastrous record, it’s why they rejected her last November. No matter how she tries to reinvent herself, Iowans will see that her values and priorities are just the same as AOC’s and Chuck Schumer’s. Finkenauer will fall in line with Democrat leadership every chance she gets in hopes to gain media notoriety. … I look forward to seeing even more Iowans reject Finkenauer once again.”
When Finkenauer won in 2018, she became one of the youngest members of Congress along with New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. At only 32 years old, Grassley was already serving his second Senate term when she was born.
After flipping her district from red to blue in the 2018 blue wave, the Democrat narrowly lost reelection in 2020 to Republican Ashley Hinson. Hinson won about 10,700 more votes than Finkenauer, giving her a 2.6-point lead over Finkenauer. Across the country in 2020, Republicans picked up 14 seats, not including Republican-turned independent Justin Amash’s district, giving Democrats the slimmest House majority since the early 2000s.
Based on the 2020 election, Democrats are facing an uphill battle to win statewide in Iowa. The Republican in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, also won her election, flipping an open seat from blue to red as well. Republican Joni Ernst fended off a challenge from Democrat Theresa Greenfield, winning reelection by a 6.6-point margin. Former President Donald Trump’s margin against President Joe Biden was even bigger, 8.2 points.
But if Grassley chooses to forgo a bid, an open race could be much more competitive.
