Jennifer Lopez is getting some major backup on her upcoming Netflix project.
Variety has learned that Power star Omari Hardwick has joined the cast of Mother, Lopez’s new thriller that follows her as an assassin who comes out of hiding to protect her daughter. Hardwick joins Joseph Fiennes and Gael Garcia Bernal, who were also announced. He will play an FBI agent who is also an ally of Lopez’s character. A release date for Mother has yet to be announced.
In other news, Eddie Murphy is extending his relationship with Amazon Studios, Deadline reports. Following the success of Murphy’s film, Coming 2 America, which Amazon said was the “most-watched movie on Amazon Prime in its opening weekend” in March 2021, the studio has inked a three-picture first-look film deal with the actor. As part of the new pact, Murphy will star in three films for the studio and develop original film projects for Prime Video and Studios. There is no word yet on Murphy’s next project for Amazon.
Finally, ICYMI, John Boyega has joined the cast of Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s upcoming feature The Woman King. Boyega shared the news on Instagram, along with some details on his role and the film.
“I will be joining this incredible cast as King Ghezo,” Boyega wrote. “The Woman King is a historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states in West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries. The story follows Nanisca, General of the all-female military unit, and Nawi, an ambitious recruit, who together fought enemies who violated their honor, enslaved their people, and threatened to destroy everything they’ve lived for.”
Boyega joins Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu and Lashana Lynch, who were previously announced.
(UTAH) — The city of Moab, Utah, will launch an investigation into the Moab City Police Department’s handling of an incident involving Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie on Aug. 12.
The city said in a statement that the department’s police officers “have been both praised and criticized for their response and their resolution of the incident involving Ms. Petito and Mr. Laundrie.”
Cops had responded to a call to Grand County Dispatch about a possible domestic dispute between Petito and Laundrie. Body camera footage of that incident was later shared showing Petito visibly distraught.
“At this time, the City of Moab is unaware of any breach of Police Department policy during this incident. However, the City will conduct a formal investigation and, based on the results, will take any next steps that may be appropriate,” the city said in a statement to ABC News.
Moab City Police Chief Bret Edge said, “The police department will identify an unaffiliated law enforcement agency to conduct the formal investigation on our behalf.”
Moab city officials said, “we recognize how the death of Ms. Petito more than two weeks later in Wyoming might lead to speculation, in hindsight, about actions taken during the incident in Moab.”
The city said that the police department “has clear standards for officer conduct during a possible domestic dispute and our officers are trained to follow those standards and protocol.”
An outside party filed a request with the police department asking for a formal investigation into the Aug. 12 incident, Edge said in a statement.
Edge said the department welcomes the investigation and if the probe identifies areas for improvement, “we will take that information to heart, learn from it, and make changes if needed to ensure we are providing the best response and service to our community.”
Body camera images from the Aug. 12 incident show Petito and Laundrie talking to an officer after her 2012 Ford Transit was pulled over by Moab police. In one image, she appears to be crying while sitting in the back of a police vehicle.
The couple told police they were arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie, according to the police report. The couple also stated to police that Laundrie did not hit Petito.
In a statement earlier this week, Moab police said that “insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges” in that incident.
Petito told police she suffers from severe anxiety and other medical conditions, which were redacted from the police report, and that the couple’s argument had been building for days. Police labeled the incident as a “mental/emotional break” rather than a domestic assault, according to the police report.
The incident took place about two weeks before she last spoke with her family.
Petito, 22, disappeared during a cross-country trip with Laundrie and was reported missing by her parents on Sept. 11 after they hadn’t heard from her in two weeks.
Authorities confirmed Tuesday that a body discovered Sunday in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming belonged to Petito.
Now a search is underway for Laundrie, 23, around North Port, Florida. Investigators said he returned to his home on Sept. 1 without Petito but had her 2012 Ford Transit.
He has been named as a “person of interest” in the case. He hasn’t been seen since Tuesday, Sept. 14, police said.
After waiting more than a year for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, fans are finally getting closer to seeing the repeatedly pandemic-delayed film. To that end, Columbia Pictures have released two new posters for the movie, which hits theaters on November 19.
Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace, play, respectively, the grandson and granddaughter of the late Harold Ramis‘ Egon Spengler. As the trailer revealed, they uncover a trove of his old ghostbusting gear, just in time to fight a supernatural menace.
The first poster shows both teens armed with proton packs next to the Ecto-1, with two of their friends. Paul Rudd, who plays their science teacher, has a ghost trap in hand, as he and his younger co-stars stare up at an ominous blue-green storm cloud.
The second poster has the similar spooky sky, but shows the gang from behind, silhouetted by lighting-like bolts firing down from a hole in the cloud.
The action comedy, which will star original cast members Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver in their original roles, was co-written and directed by Jason Reitman, the son of director of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II director Ivan Reitman.
(TENNESSEE) — Police are responding to a shooting at a Kroger grocery store near Memphis, Tennessee.
Memphis police said its officers are helping secure the scene in Collierville, about 30 miles from Memphis.
Memphis Police Officers are on the scene of a shooting at Kroger located at 240 New Byhalia Road in Collierville, TN to support Collierville PD. MPD is assisting with securing the perimeter and scene.
(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 681,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.7 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The average number of daily deaths in the U.S. has risen about 20% in the last week, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The U.S. is continuing to sink on the list of global vaccination rates, currently ranking No. 45, according to data compiled by The Financial Times. Just 64% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 23, 3:21 pm
More than 26 million Americans potentially eligible for booster next week
Pending the CDC panel’s recommendations and the CDC director’s sign-off, more than 26 million Americans could soon be eligible for a third Pfizer dose. This includes 13.6 million adults 65 and older and 12.8 million adults ages 18 to 64 who completed their primary series at least six months ago. Of those 18 to 64, anyone who is considered “high risk” could be eligible for an additional dose.
To date, more than 220 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the U.S.
Sep 23, 12:40 pm
CDC advisory panel expected to vote on Pfizer booster within hours
The CDC’s independent advisory panel is set to vote around 3 p.m. ET on which Americans are eligible now for a Pfizer booster.
After the vote, CDC director Rochelle Walensky is expected to weigh in with her official endorsement. The CDC is not bound by the panel’s recommendations but usually follows it. State officials may also implement their own criteria.
The FDA granted authorization Wednesday to the following groups: Anyone 65 or older as well as people as young as 18 if they have a medical condition that puts them at risk of severe COVID-19 or if they work a frontline job that makes it more likely that they would get infected. After authorization Wednesday night, the FDA’s acting commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said some of the groups that could be classified as front-line workers are health care employees, teachers and grocery store staffers, as well as people in prisons and homeless shelters.
Sep 23, 10:49 am
West Virginia, Montana case rates doubled in last month as Alaska sees record highs
Alaska currently has the country’s highest case rate, followed by West Virginia, Wyoming, Kentucky, Montana and South Carolina, according to federal data.
West Virginia and Montana have seen their case rates double over the last month. In Alaska, case metrics are at record highs, according to federal data.
Hospital admissions are down by about 12.5% in the last week, with improvements in Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana, according to federal data.
Seven states, however, have less than 10% ICU availability: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas.
Even highly vaccinated states are experiencing shortages. One central Massachusetts health system, UMass Memorial Health, is running low on critical care beds following the admission of an influx of COVID-19 patients in recent weeks.
Sep 23, 8:21 am
Team USA to require COVID-19 vaccination at future Olympic and Paralympic Games
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it will require every member of its delegation to be vaccinated against COVID-19, starting this year.
According to a new policy posted on Team USA’s website, a COVID-19 vaccine mandate will take effect on Nov. 1 for “all employees, athletes, contractors and others,” unless they obtain a medical or religious exemption prior to accessing U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee facilities.
On Dec. 1, that mandate will “extend to all Team USA delegation members or hopefuls for future Games.” Individuals on the long list for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination by this date or have received an exemption in order to participate in the upcoming Games, according to the policy, which was dated Sept. 21.
“The health and well-being of our Olympic and Paralympic community continues to be a top priority,” Team USA says on a webpage detailing the new requirement. “This step will increase our ability to create a safe and productive environment for Team USA athletes and staff, and allow us to restore consistency in planning, preparation and optimal service to athletes.”
Sep 23, 6:38 am
COVID-19 hospitalizations reach another all-time high in Iowa for 2021
More people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa than at any other point
this year so far, according to weekly data released by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Wednesday.
The data shows that there are now 638 people hospitalized with the disease statewide, up from 578 last week. Although the figure is nowhere near Iowa’s peak of more than 1,500 in mid-November last year, it’s the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations that the Hawkeye State has recorded since December.
Sep 22, 7:48 pm
FDA authorizes Pfizer booster dose for those who are 65 and up, high-risk
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized a third booster dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for people who are 65 and older or at high risk of severe COVID-19, the agency announced Wednesday.
The dose is authorized to be administered at least six months after the second shot. High-risk recipients must be at least 18 years old.
The announcement comes days after a similar recommendation from FDA advisers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory board is scheduled to vote on booster recommendations Thursday.
Sep 22, 6:04 pm
Florida letting parents choose whether to quarantine asymptomatic, close-contact children
The Florida Department of Health issued an emergency rule Wednesday that lets parents choose whether to quarantine their children if they are deemed a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
In such cases, parents can let their children “attend school, school-sponsored activities, or be on school property, without restrictions or disparate treatment, so long as the student remains asymptomatic,” the emergency rule stated.
The move is the state’s latest to empower parents when it comes to coronavirus measures in schools. In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order giving parents the choice of whether to send their kids to school with masks, setting off an intense back-and-forth between the state and districts that mandated masks in the weeks since.
DeSantis touted the new “symptoms-based approach” during a press briefing Wednesday.
“Quarantining healthy students is incredibly damaging to their educational advancement,” he said. “It’s also incredibly disruptive for families all throughout the state of Florida.”
At least one superintendent in Florida has spoken out against the new quarantine rule.
“I find it ironic that the new state rule begins with the phrase ‘Because of an increase in COVID-19 infections, largely due to the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant,'” Carlee Simon, superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, said in a statement posted to Twitter Wednesday.
“In fact, this rule is likely to promote the spread of COVID-19 by preventing schools from implementing the common-sense masking and quarantine policies recommended by the vast majority of health care professionals, including those here in Alachua County,” she added.
(FLORIDA) — A state legislator in Florida has introduced an abortion restriction bill similar to a controversial law that took effect in Texas earlier this month.
The new bill, HB 167, introduced Wednesday in the Florida House of Representatives by Rep. Webster Barnaby, would ban most abortions in the state and would allow people to file civil lawsuits against doctors who violate the law.
Specifically, HB 167 would require physicians to test for a “fetal heartbeat” on a pregnant person seeking an abortion.
Under the proposed legislation, a physician may not perform an abortion if there is a “detectable fetal heartbeat.”
The bill also puts the enforcement of the law on private citizens, versus the state, in allowing people to bring lawsuits against physicians. It calls for damages of at least $10,000 per abortion for the physician who performs the procedure and any defendants that “aided or abetted” the procedure.
People would have up to six years after an illegal abortion is performed to file a lawsuit.
The Texas law, Senate Bill 8, bans nearly all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, specifically once the rhythmic contracting of fetal cardiac tissue can be detected.
Similar to the newly introduced bill in Florida, the Texas law is unusual in that it prohibits the state from enforcing the ban but allows anyone to sue a person they believe is providing an abortion or assisting someone in getting an abortion after six weeks.
People who successfully sue an abortion provider under this law could be awarded at least $10,000.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the so-called “heartbeat ban” on May 19 and it went into effect on Sept. 1.
The heartbeat bill is now LAW in the Lone Star State.
This bill ensures the life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion.
Like the Texas law, the Florida legislation does not include exceptions for pregnancies that occur from rape or incest, but makes an exception if a physician believes a “medical emergency” exists.
The bill’s language about “fetal heartbeat” is controversial because many medical experts say that early-stage cardiac activity isn’t a heartbeat.
Cardiac activity is typically first detected five to six weeks into pregnancy, or three to four weeks after the embryo starts developing.
Most of the abortions performed nationwide are after six weeks of pregnancy.
When a person is six weeks pregnant, it typically means the embryo started developing about four weeks prior, based on the formula doctors use to figure out when a person will give birth. People don’t often realize they are pregnant until after the six-week mark.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Sept. 1 to allow SB8 to take effect on procedural grounds, despite what the majority acknowledged as “serious questions” about constitutionality. The justices did not address those questions.
Texas is one of 13 states that have passed laws banning abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy; legal challenges have so far prevented all from taking effect.
Since Texas’s abortion ban went into effect, lawmakers in 11 states, including Florida, have announced intentions or plans to model legislation after the state’s law, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said the new proposed abortion legislation in his state will be reviewed, according to The Associated Press.
“Governor DeSantis is pro-life. The Governor’s office is aware that the bill was filed today and like all legislation, we will be monitoring it as it moves through the legislative process in the coming months,” DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske said in an email to the AP.
Democratic leaders in Florida have vowed to fight the legislation.
“This bill is dangerous, radical, and unconstitutional. The hypocrisy of this attempt by Governor (Ron) DeSantis and Republicans in the state legislature to take away our rights while at the same time preaching ’my body, my choice’ when it comes to wearing masks is absolutely disgusting,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, also a Democratic candidate for governor, said in a statement, according to the AP.
Are you one of those people who sees or thinks in colors when they hear music? Well, that’s technically called “synesthesia,” but it’s also apparently the theme of a new ad campaign that teams Katy Perry with BEHR paints and Spotify.
The idea of the “Music In Color” campaign is that every song suggests a specific color — a BEHR paint color, natch. If you go to BehrMusicInColor.com and type in any song on Spotify — let’s say it’s Katy’s hit “Teenage Dream” — it’ll analyze it and tell you, “This song is in the key of…” and then it’ll display a BEHR paint color. For “Teenage Dream,” it’s a light-blue color called “Sea of Tranquility.”
If you plug in, say, Harry Styles‘ “Watermelon Sugar,” you find out its color is “Joyful Orange.” A classic like Journey‘s “Don’t Stop Believin'”? It’s a greenish shade called “Beta Fish.” Fun, right?
However, it should be noted that all the colors you’ll see are chosen from the 12 in what BEHR calls its Katy Palette. In a one-minute short film, Katy shows off the palette by literally dialing up her hits. As she does so, she and the white room she’s in are automatically transformed into a different color. “Never Really Over” is yellow, “Waking Up in Vegas” is red, and so on.
“When I write a song, I almost always have a simultaneous sense of the accompanying visual — whether that’s a strong music video idea or just a color palette vibe. It was amazing to see my colors come to life with the Behr Music In Color,” says Katy in a statement.
So, if you want your bedroom to have the vibe of, let’s say, Nirvana‘s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” you can now use this tool and find out that it’s…light green?
Jennifer Nettles is returning to Broadway! The singer-songwriter, who previously played Roxie in the musical Chicago, will show off her acting skills in the lead role of Jenna in Waitress. The role is currently being played by pop star and Waitress creator Sara Bareilles, with Jennifer set to begin her run on October 19, and starring in the musical through November 24.
“It is an absolute dream,” Jennifer tells People of performing in the musical. “There are so many layers to Waitress that make it so meaningful to me. It is heart-warming, heart-breaking at times, and absolutely heart-inspiring. I’m thrilled to be able to finally get to wear the apron.”
Waitress is scheduled to run through January 9, 2022 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Jennifer’s latest solo album, Always Like New, was released in June. The record includes covers of Broadway classics, from musicals like My Fair Lady,Hamilton,Oklahoma!,Annie and more. “She Used to Be Mine,” from Waitress, appears on the deluxe version of the record.
Dan Reynolds finally revealed how he decides which songs make it onto Imagine Dragons‘ albums, and credits his family for being the masterminds behind the process.
“I play music for them every day. I write [music] every day and, between them and my wife…they’re the ones who pick what goes in an Imagine Dragons record,” Reynolds told Kelly Clarksonon her daytime talk show. “I play them the songs and if they wanna hear it again, I’m like ‘Okay, there’s something here.’ If they don’t, then it doesn’t make the record.”
Adds the “Follow You” singer, “You can thank my four-year-olds for putting together the record.”
Imagine Dragons released their fifth studio album, Mercury — Act 1, earlier this month. It debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200.
Reynolds is the father of four children with wife Aja Volkman: Arrow, nine, Coco, four, Gia, four, and Valentine, who is one. He and Volkman have been married since 2011 and celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in March.
Ringo Starr took part in a Zoom press event this week to promote his forthcoming EP, Change the World. During the virtual Q&A, the former Beatles drummer shared a humorous memory involving The Rolling Stones‘ Charlie Watts and another famous late drummer, Led Zeppelin‘s John Bonham.
Ringo said he’d hang out with Watts from time to time, particularly when they used to live near each other in London, and he recalled an incident at a party he threw at his place during the 1970s that Charlie and Bonzo attended.
“I had a drum kit up in the attic…And Charlie came and so did John Bonham. And so, we’ve got three drummers just hanging out,” Starr remembered. “And Bonham got on the kit, but because it [wasn’t nailed down],…as he was playing and the bass drum was hopping away from him, you had Charlie Watts and Ringo holding the bass drum for him as he played.”
Reflecting on the comical scene, Ringo added, “[T]hat would have been a great little video or TikTok, or a photo would’ve gone worldwide, you know what I mean? But in the ’70s, I had parties and you’ll never find any photos, because I wouldn’t let you take photos…you know, in my house.”
Starr said of Watts, who died last month at age 80, “Charlie was a great guy. He was a lot of fun, and he had a harder band than I did to keep together…[W]e will miss Charlie. He was a beautiful human being.”
