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Chrissy Teigen speaks out about being cancelled: “I feel lost and need to find my place again”

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Chrissy Teigen is offering up her honest thoughts about being cancelled. The media personality fell from grace after it was discovered she sent messages urging a then-teenaged Courtney Stodden to kill themselves.

The Cravings author released an extensive apology last month, but the fallout continued with Teigen losing endorsement deals, television opportunities and — overall — saw her brand tarnished.

Since then, the former model remained silent on social media, but on Wednesday, she addressed fans for the first time on Instagram and discussed what she’s learned in “Cancel club.”

“I don’t really know what to say here,” Teigen began, “just feels so weird to pretend nothing happened in this online world but feel like utter s*** in real life. Going outside sucks and doesn’t feel right, being at home alone with my mind makes my depressed head race.”

“I feel lost and need to find my place again, I need to snap out of this,” she continued. “I desperately wanna communicate with you guys instead of pretending everything is okay.”

Teigen, who is the wife of singer John Legend, added, “Cancel club is a fascinating thing and I have learned a [whole] lot.” She said the important takeaway is that she fully understands she had “clearly done something wrong.”

“It just sucks. There is no winning,” the Bring the Funny alum admitted. “I just needed an honest moment with you because I’m just…tired of being sick with myself all day. I don’t even know if it’s good to say any of this.”

Expressing concern that her latest admission will be “brutally picked apart,” Teigen said she can no longer remain silent.

She concluded, “If you or someone you know has also been cancelled please let me know if there is a cancel club reunion because I could use some time off my couch!”

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Massive Judas Priest box set with every album, plus unreleased live tracks, coming in October

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Judas Priest fans have another thing comin’: a massive box set that includes every official live and studio album the heavy metal icons ever released, plus 13 discs of unreleased material.

Judas Priest: 50 Heavy Metal Years, due out October 15, includes photos signed by band members Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill, Richie Faulkner and Scott Travis, as well as a numbered British Steel metal razor blade — which has been blunted, of course — plus replica tour programs and posters.

The albums span from 1974’s debut Rocka Rolla to 2018’s Firepower. Also included are the concert albums Unleashed in the East, Priest…Live!, ’98 Live Meltdown, Live in London and A Touch of Evil Live.

The unreleased material includes numerous newly restored live sets: Live in Atlanta ’82, Live in Houston ’86, Live at the Mudd Club ’79, Live in New Haven ’88, Los Angeles ’90, London ’81, Denver ’80 and Irvine ’91. Plus, there are two albums’ worth of demos and various live tracks recorded over the years. All in all, you’ll get 42 discs.

You can pre-order the set now at JudasPriestStore.com: It’ll set you back $480. If your pockets aren’t that deep, you can get Reflections –– a collection of highlights from the box — on vinyl for 40 bucks, or on CD for $12.

The set is being released as the band gears up to finally celebrate its 50th anniversary with a U.S. tour this fall. The metal god himself, Rob Halford, describes the project as “the ultimate treasure trove defining the bands unwavering commitment to keeping and defending the heavy metal faith.”

Here’s the track list for the Reflections highlights package:

“Let Us Prey/ Call for the Priest”
“You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise”
“Fever”
“Eat Me Alive”
“All Guns Blazing”
“Never the Heroes”
“Dissident Aggressor” (Live)
“Out in the Cold” (Live)
“Judas Priest – Running Wild” (Live)
“Victim of Changes” (Live) — May 9, 1978, Cleveland, OH, Agora Theatre*
“The Green Manalishi (with the Two Pronged Crown)” (Live) — Point of Entry Worldwide Blitz Tour, November 21, 1981, London, U.K., Foundations Forum – Hammersmith Odeon*
“Bloodstone” (Live) — Screaming for Vengeance World Vengeance Tour, December 11, 1982, Atlanta, GA, The Omni*
“The Ripper” (Live) — July 12, 1991, Irvine, CA, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre*
“Beyond the Realms of Death” (Live) — Killing Machine Hell Bent for Leather Tour, March 11, 1979, New York, NY, The Mudd Club*
“The Hellion/Electric Eye” (Live) — Turbo Fuel for Life Tour, June 21, 1986, Houston, TX, The Summit*
“Sinner” (Live) — Ram It Down Mercenaries of Metal Tour, August 7, 1988, New Haven, CT, New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum*

* = previously unreleased.

Jeff LaBar, Cinderella guitarist, dies at 58

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jeff LaBar, lead guitarist for the hair-metal band Cinderella, has died. He was 58.

His son, Sebastian, confirmed his father’s death on Instagram and shared a slew of family photos in the emotional tribute.

“So i just got the call… @jefflabar , my father, my hero, my idol, passed away today,” he wrote Wednesday. “I’m currently at a loss for words. I love you pop!”

Sebastian added, “If you could, please share pictures or video of all the fun times we all had with my dad. It would be greatly appreciated.”

Gaile LaBar-Bernhardt, LaBar’s ex wife, said in a separate statement to TMZ that LaBar was found deceased in his Nashville home. A cause of death has not been revealed.

According to LaBar-Bernhardt, she went to check on her ex-husband after no one heard from him in a few days.

LaBar’s Cinderella band mates — frontman Tom Keifer, bassist Eric Brittingham and drummer Fred Coury — issued joint statement paying homage to him.

“Heavy hearts cannot begin to describe the feeling of losing our brother Jeff,” the musicians say. “The bond between us over decades of creating music and touring the world is something that we as a band uniquely shared. Those memories with Jeff will be forever alive in our hearts. It’s unimaginable that one of our band brothers has left us. We’re sending his wife Debinique, his son Sebastian, family, and friends our deepest condolences.”

LaBar had served as Cinderella’s guitarist since 1985, replacing Michael Schermick, and assisted with their hits “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone),” “Somebody Save Me,” “Nobody’s Fool” and many others.

LaBar also toured with fellow rockers such as Bon Jovi, Poison, Quiet Riot and Skid Row. He also served as guitarist for Naked Beggars.

‘First Wives Club’: Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau tease the second season and why it “really matters”

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jill Scott and Michelle Buteau are once again tapping into their funny and spontaneous sides in the second season of the BET+ series First Wives Club.

Scott, who reprises her role as Hazel, an ambitious and often unpredictable singer, tells ABC Audio that the new season will bring the same old Hazel — but with plenty more drama.

“You know Hazel is nuts, right?,” Scott laughs. “She’s absolutely nuts and she is going to do whatever her heart moves her to do. She’s showing up to her friends with a little more excitement, and a new boo that her girlfriends [aren’t] necessarily feeling. But Hazel is going to do what Hazel wants to do.”

While Buteau’s character Bree is a bit more family-oriented, the comedian says that when it comes to important decisions, Bree’s a lot like Hazel — she always looks to her gal pals for guidance.

“This is probably the difference between between Bree and I,” Buteau explains. “Bree goes to her friends first and then figures out how to present it… And for me…I go to [my husband] first..”

Even though the characters they portray are mostly scripted, Scott and Buteau agree that the relationships they have on and off screen very “real.”

“The chemistry is on fire because we respect each other, we love each other, and we work well together,” Buteau shares. “We are actual friends. We check in with each other and that’s so important. You can’t just show up to set, especially during COVID and just say your lines and leave. No, we have done too much to get here safely. And we’re going to have fun and we’re going to make it count. And so this season really matters.”

The new season of First Wives Club is now available to stream on BET+.

Jussie Smollett appears in court again, related to his purported hate crime attack

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Former Empire star Jussie Smollett again appeared in a Chicago courtroom Wednesday on matters stemming from that 2019 incident in which he claims he was jumped by two white supporters of President Donald Trump in what he alleges was a hate crime.

The Chicago Tribune reports Wednesday’s proceedings centered on one of Smollett’s attorneys, Nenye Uche, having a potential conflict of interest in the case. Nigerian brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who claimed Smollett paid them $3,500 by check to help orchestrate and stage the crime, said Uche had previously reached out to represent them, something Uche denies.

Smollett was indicted for a second time in February of last year on six counts, including lying to investigators about the case. Prosecutors maintain he’d hired the brothers to stage the incident, and furnished as evidence the check the actor claimed was for “personal training.”

After they were seen on surveillance footage near the crime scene, the brothers told police Smollett concocted the assault after he became upset that a threatening letter sent to him did not get enough attention, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Smollett continues to insist the attack wasn’t staged.

Dan Webb, the special prosecutor tapped to investigate the case after the charges were initially dropped, said in February of 2020 that the actor made “numerous false statements to Chicago Police Department officers on multiple occasions, reporting a heinous hate crime he, in fact, knew had not occurred.”

That letter itself, which contained a white powder later found to be a pain reliever, is the center of a separate federal investigation. At the time, former Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson claimed the letter was also phony, but the investigation is apparently still ongoing.

Days after avid runner mysteriously vanishes in California, police ‘scaling down’ search

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Days after an avid long-distance runner mysteriously vanished in Northern California, police are “further scaling down operations” to find him, they announced Wednesday evening.

Philip Kreycik, 37, drove to the Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park at about 11 a.m. Saturday, parking at the Moller Trail staging area, to go for an 8-mile run, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

The Berkeley resident told his wife he’d be gone for an hour, police said. He has been missing ever since.

“Philip is an endurance athlete and is in top physical condition. He is also well versed on rural terrain and outdoor environments,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said in a statement Tuesday. “Temperatures that day on the ridge were about 106 degrees but were not a deterrent for Phillip who thrives in extreme environments.”

“This is a very bright man who went to Harvard and MIT, a man that’s analytical in his thinking, a guy that runs ultramarathons,” Kelly told ABC San Francisco station KGO-TV.

Wednesday marked “the last fully operational day” of the “exhaustive” five-day search, Pleasanton Police Department said, announcing that the department and aiding agencies are “further scaling down operations” to find him.

The search included more than a dozen agencies from across the state and nearly 300 volunteers, police said. Dogs, drones, helicopters and an airplane with advanced thermal imagery were also deployed, the sheriff’s office said.

Kreycik is the father of a 3-year-old and 10-month-old with his wife, Jen Yao.

“I know in my heart of hearts he’s out there,” Yao told KGO. “He’s out there and he’s alive and he’s waiting for us. And maybe he’s dehydrated, maybe injured, delirious.”

Police said Kreycik is described as white with a thin build, brown hair and brown eyes. He has no known health conditions.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pleasanton Police Department at (925) 931-5107.

Pitbull calls on Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to “step up” and help Cuba

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Pitbull is the latest celebrity to speak out about the ongoing crisis in Cuba. In an emotionally charged message to fans on Wednesday, he called upon Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to “step up” and help.

“This is a message for the world,” the Cuban-American singer addressed via Instagram. “We need to stand up, step up — but if you don’t understand what’s going on — you need to wake the f*** up.”

Cuba, which is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, is experiencing one of its largest anti-government demonstrations in recent history, with thousands protesting rising prices, food and medicine shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and persistent blackouts.

Cuba’s government stoked tensions further by deploying armed forces into the streets.

“This isn’t about politics — this is about saving lives… bottom line, this is about taking action,” the Grammy winner said before revealing he is unable to send aid to his home country.

“It frustrates me… Being a Cuban American and having a platform to speak to the world and not being able to help my own people. Not being able to get them food, not being able to get them water, not being able to get them medicine,” he said, explaining that he is most frustrated that he can’t give Cubans what they deserve, which he says is “freedom.”

Pitbull then issued a call to action on global businesses to get involved and raise awareness before he singled out Bezos, who has Cuban ties.

“Jeff Bezos, Cuban-American, graduated from a high school in Miami, built one of the biggest companies in the world. The richest man in the world. He’s somebody that can get involved and really help us,” the rapper said.

He closed out his video telling his fellow Cubans to “keep the fight up.”

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Foo Fighters postpone LA Concert Due to “confirmed COVID-19 case” in their camp

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Foo Fighters announced on Wednesday that they’re postponing Saturday’s show at the Forum in Los Angeles due to a confirmed case of COVID-19 “within the Foo Fighters organization.”

The announcement, shared on the band’s official Twitter page, notes they came to the decision “out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of the band, crew and most of all the fans.”

Tickets for the show will be honored at a rescheduled date, which has yet to be announced.

Foo Fighters are set to head out on their 26th anniversary tour, which was rescheduled from their planned 25th anniversary tour for 2020.

Last month, the band headlined New York City’s Madison Square Garden, marking the famed arena’s first full-capacity in-person concert since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Important information about the July 17th Forum show. pic.twitter.com/9EwtDorRDx

— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) July 15, 2021

‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic to be resentenced following court order

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

An Oklahoma judge has ordered resentencing for Tiger King star Joe Exotic.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit handed down the order Wednesday in the case of Joseph Maldonado-Passage, the man known as “Joe Exotic” from the popular Netflix series Tiger King, ABC News affiliate KOCO in Oklahoma City reports. However, his conviction was affirmed.

In 2019, Maldonado-Passage was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison for violating wildlife laws in addition to the failed murder-for-hire plots against his nemesis, Carole Baskin. At the time, he asked that the judge combine the sentence for the two murder-for-hire counts, but was instead given an individual sentence for each.

“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Maldonado-Passage’s conviction but vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing,” the court documents state.

To sum it up, “Joe Exotic is not going free,” KOCO reporter Dillon Richards shared on Twitter.

“He was originally sentenced to 264 months (the lower end of the 262-327 month range) Now the judge will have to re-sentence, but this time his range will be 210-262 months instead,” Richards explained. “So essentially the likely effect is that this could knock a couple years off his 22-year sentence.”

Simone Biles says Team USA ‘ready for whatever they throw at us’ at Tokyo Olympics

July 15, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Simone Biles is off to Tokyo.

The four-time Olympic Gold medalist left for the 2021 Olympics Wednesday with the rest of Team USA and before jetting off, Biles sat down with ABC News’ Kaylee Hartung for her last one-on-one interview before the competition at United Airlines’ send off event for the team.

“It means the world to me. I did it in 2016 at various time for World Championships, so to have another opportunity, it’s just amazing,” Biles told ABC’s Good Morning America about representing the U.S. for a second time at the Summer Games.

However, this year will be different for Biles and many athletes coming back to the Olympics to take home the gold or reclaim their titles.

With many COVID protocols in place, there will be no spectators in the stands to feed off energy from during the games and athletes will have to follow a set of rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We’ve had a lot of calls because COVID protocols will be different for an Olympic Games, as we’ve seen in previous seasons of all different sports so far this year,” Biles said. “As for the crowd, that’ll be super weird because it’ll kind of be like training. We’ve never done that as well either. So it’ll be a different experience, but we’re ready for whatever they throw at us.”

For Biles, participating in the 2021 Olympic Games means competing and traveling solo for the first time without her family cheering her on in the stands.

“I honestly have never done a competition without my parents there, so I’m a little bit nervous, but I know they’ll be there in spirit,” she said. “My mom is like, ‘Please FaceTime me before.’ So I’m sure she’ll be calling me as we get ready because they’ll be up already and ready to watch.”

Though her parents won’t be there with her in Tokyo, Biles is in good company of her teammates, Sunisa Lee, 18, Grace McCallum, 18, MyKayla Skinner, 24, Jade Carey, 21, and Jordan Chiles, 20, who Biles has become close with over the past year.

“She’s doing so amazing right now,” said Biles about Chiles. “She’s like my little sister, so I’m really proud. I’m excited for her and I think she deserves this. People are finally seeing what she’s capable of.”

At 24 years old, Biles is attempting to become the first woman to win consecutive Olympic titles in more than 50 years. It’s a challenge she almost didn’t take on due to the ups and downs of 2020 overall and the uncertainty about competing.

“At the end of the day, it was the uncertainty. We knew that the games were postponed — we didn’t know for how long,” said Biles.

When she was given the news about how long the games were going to be postponed for, she thought about taking time off.

“Mentally and physically — it’s just so draining and we had been prepared. We were already on the rise, to go to the Olympic Games or to try to compete, so it’s just like, it was a whirlwind,” she said.

Despite the challenges over the past year, Biles is confident that the team is ready to compete.

“We’ll still bring the joy and we’ll bring back the medal,” she said.

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