Now that many artists have returned to the road following the lockdowns of 2020, ticket marketplace StubHub is able to once again announce who the most in-demand touring artists are this fall — and which of those stars fans are most looking forward to seeing in concert in 2022.
Based on StubHub ticket sales for concerts this month through December, among the veteran acts with the most in-demand tours of 2021 are The Rolling Stones at #3, The Eagles at #9 and Genesis at #10.
Pop star Harry Styles‘ Love on Tour trek is officially the most in-demand tour this year, garnering more ticket sales than any other artist this fall. By taking first place, he broke Elton John‘s two-year streak on top.
Speaking of Elton, he’s been declared the most in-demand artist of 2022, based on ticket sales for concerts next year, when even more artists will be back on the road. The pop-rock legend is slated to relaunch his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in ’22, his health permitting. Last week, John announced that he had to postpone his plans for a 2021 U.K. tour because of a hip injury.
Meanwhile, at #2 on StubHub’s list of artists fans can’t wait to see next year are hair-metal icons Mötley Crüe.
Check out the full lists of in-demand artists at StubHub.com.
Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr. is literally following in his father’s footsteps in the new Starz series Black Mafia Family.
In the new crime drama, Flenory Jr. plays his father Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, the eldest brother behind the Black Mafia Family, one of the most influential crime families during the 1980s. Flenory Jr. tells ABC Audio that having his mother watch him on set during production was an emotional experience.
“I swear she couldn’t hold her tears in. She started crying from the moment they said, ‘Action’ and I started doing my lines,” he says. “She said that I reminded her so much of my dad that [she] couldn’t even fathom it… it was just so surreal for her because my dad was taken away from me at 6 years old… [but] I grew his mannerisms and… it was blowing her mind.”
Flenory Jr.’s relatives also had the same reaction, including his grandma who says he and actor Da’Vinchi, who plays Flenory’s younger brother Terry, “really look like [her] sons.”
“And you know once she says that we know that it’s true,” Flenory Jr. says. “She couldn’t stop crying… Everybody’s… just blown away… It’s so authentic and natural that people [are] blown away.”
While Flenory Jr.’s father may not get the immediate opportunity to see his son on set like the rest of his family — since he’s currently serving out a 30-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering — Flenory Jr. says he knows his father definitely approves of his portrayal.
“He was just proud of what he’s seen from the… trailer. So I’m just happy… he’s proud,” he shares. “He loves it. He’s happy. So that’s all that matters.”
BMF premieres this Sunday, September 26, at 9 p.m. ET.
(NEW YORK) — Every year, many of us talk about doing our holiday shopping early. But this year, you may want to get started sooner rather than later.
That’s because experts are warning of possible shortages and delays on everything from toys to artificial Christmas trees due to COVID-related supply chain issues, as well as the record-breaking cargo surge reported by the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
“It’s a problem from the loading docks in China all the way to the retailers loading docks in the United States,” Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of The Toy Association, told ABC News. “The biggest part of it being ocean shipping being extraordinarily expensive and taking much longer than it ever has.”
Retail analyst Hitha Herzog told ABC News “the global supply chain is quite fractured.”
“We’re seeing a shortage of product that was initially meant to be shipped over. And we’re also seeing a delay in that product getting into stores,” she said.
Ports in Southern California responsible for nearly half of all U.S. imports have hit record high numbers of container ships waiting to unload, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.
ABC News Los Angeles station KABC shared a glimpse from helicopter footage above the port of Long Beach where more than 100 ships are anchored off the coast, waiting to get to the docks.
The shipping problem has been compounded by labor shortages at said docks as well as limited warehouse space and trucking issues.
“Smaller retailers have really in the past relied on a very fast supply chain. What’s different now is that the supply chain is limited and deliveries are also going to be limited,” Herzog explained. “So while they certainly have the ability to deliver the product, the product is going to be delayed.”
This has prompted some retailers to get proactive to make sure their shelves are stocked. Target shared in a blog that it chartered a container ship to make sure its merchandise arrives on time.
“We’ll continue to partner with our vendors to tackle supply chain challenges together this season and beyond to ensure we can deliver for our guests,” Target said in the post. Walmart and Home Depot have taken similar action.
Despite retailers’ efforts, Pasierb recommends picking up stocking stuffers as soon as you can.
“Whatever becomes the hot toy of the season in the next month or two may not be there in huge quantities,” Pasierb said. “It’s really the holiday season now, from Labor Day into early October, it’s some of the best shopping, the best selection.”
And while online sales are expected to grow this year, you may want to be prepared to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, too, in order to find the best selection.
Garbage has delayed the release date for the band’s upcoming beautifulgarbage 20th anniversary reissue.
Originally due out October 1, the package is now set to arrive November 5 due to “recent vinyl production issues.”
“We apologize for the delay and any disappointment caused but deeply appreciate your patience,” Garbage says.
Following the alt rock hits of 1995’s Garbage and 1998’s Version 2.0, 2001’s beautifulgarbage took a more experimental approach, introducing more electronic and pop elements into the band’s sound. The reissue includes the original album remastered, along with various bonus B-sides, alternate versions and remixes.
Garbage just released a new album called No Gods No Masters in June.
Blake Shelton is back for Season 21 of The Voice, this time joining fellow returning coaches John Legend and Kelly Clarkson, along with newcomer, Ariana Grande. For this season, Blake has added a “win cam,” for contestants to pose with him when they choose him as their coach.
“If you watch this show, you know that I brag a little bit when somebody chooses me as their coach, and so I wanted a win cam,” Blake tells People. “It’s something I can put in people’s face, like, ‘This artist chose me.’ That’s really what keeps me coming back.”
Apparently, Blake didn’t need to look farther than his own ranch to find his new camera.
“It’s a nice piece of security equipment I tore off my house,” he jokes, adding that, “It’s been good for me, it’s been good luck. It brings bragging to a whole new level.”
(NEW YORK) — Debt issues plaguing Evergrande, one of China’s largest real estate developers, have sent shock waves of anxiety throughout global financial markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its biggest single-day drop since July on Monday, and the index closed even lower Tuesday, with many analysts attributing the precipitous fall to the Evergrande saga emanating from the nation with the second-largest gross domestic product. Jitters related to Evergrande have also been linked to a slide in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin trading 13% lower Tuesday evening compared to a week prior, as uncertainty drives investors away from riskier assets.
The Evergrande crisis has even been compared to the Lehman Brothers crash that is now synonymous with the onset of the Great Recession, though many economists have cautioned against panic and directly equating the two episodes. Still, there is a reason the embattled Chinese firm has become a household name on Main Street over the past few days, and Wall Street remains on high alert over what comes next as a repayment deadline looms on Thursday.
Here is what to know about the Evergrande debt crisis and its potential contagion to the global economy.
What is Evergrande?
Founded in 1996 in Guangzhou, Evergrande is one of the largest property development companies in China that specializes in building and selling residential apartments to the country’s rapidly growing middle and upper class, as well as building shopping malls and other commercial real estate projects.
The company has grown quickly and developed businesses in other sectors — including operating theme parks and manufacturing electric vehicles — but its primary source of revenue remains in property development, according to Shang-Jin Wei, a professor of Chinese business and economy at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.
The firm’s success has made its chairman, Hui Ka Yan, worth about $7.34 billion, according to Bloomberg’s real-time data. His net worth has fallen dramatically in recent months, however, as the company’s stock value plunged. In July 2020, Bloomberg estimated his net worth at nearly $40 billion.
Evergrande’s real estate arm owns more than 1,300 projects in more than 280 cities in China, according to its website. Evergrande Group says it employs 200,000 people total and its projects create more than 3.8 million jobs per year — leading some to suggest it has “too big to fail” status. The firm states it has some $350 billion in assets.
What is the issue and why is it impacting global stock markets?
Essentially, Evergrande’s rapid growth has been fueled in large part by borrowing. As demand in China’s once-exploding housing market wanes, fears that Evergrande could default on its estimated $300 billion in liabilities have come to a head.
“The problem in a nutshell is property development companies tend to use a lot of debt to finance their operations, and in response to rising housing prices, the Chinese government has said for quite a few years that they want to find ways to restrain the demand and restrain the housing price increases,” Wei, who formerly served as chief economist of the Asian Development Bank, told ABC News.
“Previous attempts by the government have not been very successful, and I guess Evergrande decided that the same will happen this time,” Wei added. “So the last few years, while some of the property development companies have scaled down their operations, Evergrande was still charging ahead. And recently, a change in government policies has reduced demand for residential apartments quite a bit, so the company is having trouble selling apartments fast enough to meet their debt obligations.”
Wei said that the commercial housing market in China largely did not exist before 1990, when most households lived in government-assigned apartments. China’s meteoric economic growth since the ’90s led to a boom in demand for housing, a wave Evergrande rode for years — in some cases selling properties and using the funds to pay for construction costs before they were even built — until recent policy changes by the Chinese Communist Party clamped down on such practices.
Evergrande borrowed from a combination of banks and non-bank financial institutions, and issued bonds to finance its recent endeavors, according to Wei.
“When the apartments are selling well that’s not a problem for them, but anytime that apartment sales slow down, the company could run into trouble to meet its debt obligation and that’s what we are seeing now,” Wei said.
It’s not immediately clear how much debt Evergrande has accrued because parts of the business are not publicly traded or required to disclose financial details, Wei said, but economists estimate its liabilities are around $300 billion. While it has assets such as land and under-construction apartment complexes, Wei said it’s unclear if selling these could even generate enough liquidity to pay its debts.
“One of the reasons that stock markets reacted so strongly to that one firm’s news is uncertainty, lack of clarity,” Wei said. “So even though the $300 billion is the best guess, people are not exactly sure whether they undisclosed or under-disclosed the debt obligation.”
Why now?
A deadline for Evergrande’s debt payments looms this week. In a report released earlier this week, S&P Global Ratings warned that Evergrande is “on the brink of defaulting.” The agency noted that the company is scheduled to make a number of interest payments on its public debt starting on Thursday, reiterating again that, “a default is likely.”
For those paying close attention, the issues have been brewing for months. Evergrande’s stock, listed on the Hong Kong exchange, has shed some 80% since the beginning of the year.
“Clearly people who invest in the company understand the company was undergoing financial difficulty and there’s a chance that they couldn’t meet their obligations,” Wei said. Recent policy changes in China to rein in the housing market — as well as corporate debt — have also led to Evergrande’s woes culminating in recent days.
While it is common for property developers to take on debt as part of their business model, S&P Global warned in its report that Evergrande’s contracted sales have fallen more rapidly than other players in the sector — in part because of its heavy use of of supplier commercial bills as a way to access capital. These commercial bills have a more rigid repayment date, according to S&P Global, and suppliers and contractors that have gone unpaid have filed suits against Evergrande that have ultimately resulted in halts in project construction.
“Financial institutions also appear to be quickly cutting Evergrande’s financing, likely as a reaction to the frequent negative news about the borrower,” the report states. “Without sufficient project financing, it makes even harder to sustain construction and salable resources. This is shutting down Evergrande’s most important source of cash flow: contracted sales of its property projects.”
Is this a ‘Lehman Brothers moment’?
The concern for many in China and beyond is whether Evergrande’s failure could have a spillover effect to other firms doing business with them as well as financial markets around the globe.
“China is the second-largest economy and second-largest importer of the world. If the Chinese economy is going south, it will reduce the demand of Chinese firms for other countries’ products,” Wei said. China’s economy is also intertwined with many others in the region, he added, meaning a financial or banking crisis could easily have negative impacts beyond its borders.
“These are the reason for why the U.S. and elsewhere we’ve see our stock market respond to news about a Chinese company,” he added. “Now is this response justified or is it an overreaction? That depends on two things — one is does Evergrande actually constitute a systematic risk for the Chinese economy? And two is, if it does, can the Chinese government manage to contain the risk?”
S&P Global stated in its report that it does not expect “government actions to help Evergrande unless systemic stability is at risk.”
“A government bailout would undermine the campaign to instill greater financial discipline in the property sector,” the researchers stated. “Government support to prevent a default is only likely if contagion risks cause other large developers to fail.”
The agency said it believes a hit to the financial system from Evergrande alone will be “manageable” and that Beijing’s focus would be to “ease Evergrande through an orderly debt restructuring or bankruptcy process that maximizes the value of its substantial assets.” Rather than a “bailout,” it foresees the government facilitating negotiations to ensure individual investors and homebuyers are protected.
Tommy Wu, an economist with Oxford Economics, similarly stated in a Tuesday report, “While we think the government doesn’t want to be seen as engineering a bail out, we expect it to step in to conduct a managed restructuring of the firm’s debt to prevent disorderly debt recovery efforts, reduce systemic risk, and contain economic disruption.”
If this restructuring plan works, Wu writes that they expect the implications for overall economic policy and outlook to “remain contained,” though the property sector will likely remain tense for some time and some spillover into the wider financial sector is likely.
Brad McMillan, the chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, said Americans should not panic about a so-called “Lehman Brothers moment” just yet in a memo shared with ABC News on Tuesday.
“Despite the worry, so far this looks like a corporate bankruptcy and not something worse,” McMillan said. “It’s a big one, to be sure, but one that can be handled within the system. Bondholders will lose money, other companies will be affected, and life will move on. So far, that situation is what we see and not something bigger.”
Even if it does evolve into something larger, McMillan noted that the Chinese government “has more money — and more legal powers — to contain the damage than the U.S. and western governments did back in 2008.” Moreover, McMillan argues the Chinese financial system and the rest of the world are less integrated than in 2008, meaning the “contagion possibilities are simply more limited.”
Ultimately, “the bus that you are watching is rarely the one that ends up hitting you,” McMillan adds.
“Both the U.S. government and regulators, and U.S. banks and financial institutions, are very aware of the situation in China, and they are at least thinking about how to minimize the risks,” he said. “That was not the case in 2008. Since this is not coming out of the blue, any damage will be contained — and likely much less than is now feared.”
Why is this impacting cryptocurrencies?
Cryptocurrencies have seen meteoric growth in recent years, and have emerged as especially popular among retail investors. Crypto markets have seen a dip in recent days amid the Evergrande headlines, but the digital currencies have also been notoriously volatile and prone to wide and seemingly sudden swings in prices.
“In opaque crises like the one now afflicting China’s Evergrande real estate conglomerate, it’s less ‘what you know’ than ‘what you know you don’t know’ that drives financial volatility,” Robert Hockett, a professor of law at Cornell University whose research focuses in part on financial and monetary law, told ABC News via email. “In these cases of opacity-fueled fear, assets described by the word ‘crypto’ can be expected to take the worst hits in the asset fire sales that accompany conflagration much as did those more euphemistically called ‘subprime’ 13 years ago.”
Bitcoin, Ethereum and others are “accordingly finding themselves hardest hit right now — even more than the more traditional speculative firms like Goldman,” he added.
“They are, in effect, the new canaries in the current financial coal mine,” Hockett said.
Chelsea Handler is “in love” and she wants everyone to know.
“Just sitting here in Mallorca thinking about how grateful I am to have so many people that I love in my life, to live the life I do and to be going on tour doing what I love,” the 46-year-old comedian captioned a photo of herself on Instagram, adding “And that I’m finally in love, with the best kind of guy there is.”
“There is hope for everyone! That kind of stuff,” the post concluded.
So who’s the lucky guy? Chelsea didn’t say, but a source tells the New York Post that it’s fellow comedian Jo Koy.
Koy, 50, is featured in several of Handler’s Instagram Stories, razzing her about her appearance.
“@jokoy this is my life now. Being called out all day long,” Handler captioned the series of videos.
Uma Thurman is protesting Texas’ restrictive new anti-abortion law by opening up for the first time about the abortion she obtained when she was a teenager.
In a Washington Postop-ed, the actress said the legislation fills her “with great sadness, and something akin to horror.”
“I am sharing my own experience,” Thurman, 51, continued, saying it was her “responsibility” to speak out and “stand up in their shoes.”
“In my late teens, I was accidentally impregnated by a much older man,” she disclosed, adding that she originally wanted to keep the pregnancy until her parents “warned me how difficult it would be to raise a baby as a teen on my own.”
“My childish fantasy of motherhood was soundly corrected as I weighed answers to their very precise questions. I was just starting out in my career and didn’t have the means to provide a stable home, even for myself,” Thurman admitted. “We decided as a family that I couldn’t go through with the pregnancy, and agreed that termination was the right choice. My heart was broken nonetheless.”
“There is so much pain in this story. It has been my darkest secret until now,” Thurman closed. “The abortion I had as a teenager was the hardest decision of my life, one that caused me anguish then and that saddens me even now, but it was the path to the life full of joy and love that I have experienced. Choosing not to keep that early pregnancy allowed me to grow up and become the mother I wanted and needed to be.”
Thurman is the mother of three children: Luna, nine, Levon, 19, and Maya, 23. She shares Maya and Levon with ex-husband Ethan Hawke and Luna with former fiancé Arpad Busson.
(NEW YORK) — Pfizer just released its first safety data about COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11, reassuring parents that a safe and effective vaccine soon could be available for those younger than 12.
A trial of 2,268 children showed that a smaller dose of Pfizer vaccine — one-third the amount given to adults and adolescents — provided robust and adequate immune responses among those ages 5 to 11.
If the FDA agrees with Pfizer’s assessment, finally those younger than 12 can get vaccinated — in this case, if authorized, with the smaller dosage.
But that smaller dosage has led some parents to question the vaccine’s effectiveness compared with a larger dose.
“You’ve got to have a cutoff point and do something that’s logistically feasible,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday, speaking on CNN. “Parents should not be confused or concerned about that.”
Other experts have stressed that size isn’t everything. Because the lower dose still mounts a strong and sufficient antibody response to COVID-19, even an 11-year-old who’s taller or weighs more than a kid over 12 should be protected.
And experts involved in the Pfizer trial strongly recommend adhering to available dosage data for 5-to-11-year-olds because clinical research shows doing so is safe and effective — a different dose would just be an educated guess.
“This is clearly an important — very important — first step,” said Dr. Evan Anderson, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and one of the principal investigators of the Pfizer trial for children.
At this point in the pandemic, more than 5 million American children — most not eligible for vaccination — have tested positive for COVID-19. Children make up 22.2% of the U.S. population but accounted for almost 30% of new COVID-19 cases in a single week, based on early September data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Prior clinical trials in adults and teens sought to identify a rough measure of vaccine efficacy, but because scientists already know vaccines are safe and effective, trials in younger children worked differently. Instead, this latest clinical trial focused on assessing children’s immune response based on analysis of their blood. These so-called immuno-bridging studies provide important information about the vaccine’s ability to mount immune responses for this group of children, none of whom could be vaccinated.
The Pfizer data showed that the smaller dose in younger children generated antibody levels comparable to 16-to-25 year-olds who received the standard 30-microgram doses.
“Despite the smaller dose, in the smaller children, the antibody response is as vigorous as what we find in older age groups. We’re seeing a robust antibody response meeting [a] protective threshold,” said Dr. Frank Esper, an infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.
In fact, researchers discovered that when 5-to-11-year-old children in the trial received the 30-microgram dose, they had more side effects. With the lower dosage, side effects mirrored those seen in teens and adults — pain at the injection site, headaches and fatigue.
Regardless of weight and size, children still should receive vaccine doses according to recommendations based on data, experts agreed, arguing it is better to stick to evidence rather than make an educated guess outside parameters of trials.
Dr. Robert Frenck, director of the Gamble Vaccine Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s and a principal investigator for the Pfizer trial, said the vaccine should not be given off-label with higher-than-recommended doses, citing the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
“I would stick with what the recommendation is for under 12 years of age,” he said. “I think it will be safe. I think it will be effective.”
Seventy Hollywood celebrities, including Anne Hathaway, Ciara and Debbie Allen, have signed an open letter to world leaders, urging them to help stymie the spread of COVID-19.
Other signatories include Jordana Brewster, Connie Britton, Yvette Nicole Brown, Peter Dinklage, Annie Lennox, Joel McHale, Idina Menzel, Debra Messing, Alyssa Milano, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Edward James Olmos and Michelle Williams.
The letter, published by model Iman‘s global nonprofit CARE on Tuesday, calls on global leaders “to make 7 billion vaccine doses available before the end of 2021, and an additional 7 billion doses by mid-2022 to fully vaccinate 70% of the world by next summer.”
“To get this done,” suggests the letter, “the world community must also invest in last-mile delivery systems, public education and frontline health care workers to get vaccines from tarmacs into arms. Millions of doses could go to waste because low-income countries don’t have the support they need to get vaccines to vulnerable people.”
“We can save millions of lives — and trillions in further economic damage — by meeting this moment with the resources and political will needed to end COVID-19 for everyone, everywhere. Because none of us are safe until all of us are safe,” the letter concludes.
