Jennifer Hudson won a Daytime Emmy Award on Thursday, and now she is just one award away from one of the most prestigious accomplishments in entertainment, the EGOT: that is an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
The Respect star, who turns 30 years old this Sunday, September 12, won her Emmy for her role as executive producer and voice talent on the VR animated film Baby Yaga. The project was chosen Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to lend my voice to a character and executive produce alongside this innovative team,” Hudson wrote in an Instagram post celebrating her win. “You all inspired me doing what you do best. Receiving an Emmy for this special project is truly the icing on the cake!”
Hudson won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for Dreamgirls. She received a Grammy in 2009 for Best R&B Album for her self-titled debut album, and a second Grammy in 2017, for the Best Musical Theater Album for The Color Purple.
Now she has an EGO — Emmy, Grammy and Oscar — and has a golden ring with those three letters.
“Wow God wow !!!!!!! I’ve had this ring for quite some time! For me it always represented this day, the day I would say I have an EGO! Emmy, Grammy and Oscar,” she continued on Instagram. “What a early bday gift ! U can’t limit God !!!! It’s only a story God could write and heights only God can top! U will always see me try! And I hope u will too!”
John Legend became one of the 17 EGOT winners when he received a a Daytime Emmy in 2018 for Outstanding Variety Special for his starring role in Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.
James Blunt has released his new song, “Love Under Pressure,” one of four new tracks appearing on his upcoming greatest hits album The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021).
Against a piano-driven dance beat, James sings about a strained relationship. He co-wrote the song with fellow singer/songwriter Jack Savoretti.
“Earlier this year during lockdown, I was lucky enough to have a Zoom writing session with the very talented Jack Savoretti,” James says in a statement. “We had never worked together before, but our managers thought it might be a good idea to get us together to do some writing. I’m very pleased we did. Not only is Jack a great guy, but we wrote a banger of a single!”
The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021), featuring well-known tracks like “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover,” comes out November 19. James is set to kick off a nine-stop U.K. arena tour in February 2022.
In some ways, Carrie Underwood is just like everyone else, especially when it comes to her children. The country music superstar shared a video of her son, Isaiah, making his baseball debut, revealing that she was incredibly anxious about his performance.
“Isaiah made his baseball debut tonight!” Carrie captioned the sweet video. “I got more nervous watching him than I used to get when I watched his daddy play hockey!”
Carrie and her husband, Mike Fisher, are proud parents to two sons, six-year-old Isaiah and Jacob, who is two. Mike played hockey for both the Ottawa Senators and the Nashville Predators before retiring for good in 2018.
Isaiah also made his album debut last year, joining his mom on “The Little Drummer Boy” from her holiday My Gift album. Three new songs will be added to her upcoming My Gift (Special Edition) album, out on September 24.
Before he found fame as an actor, Steve Buscemi was a New York City fireman, and after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, he volunteered to help recovery efforts on what first responders called “The Pile,” the ruins of the World Trade Center.
In an emotional conversation on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, Buscemi revealed that he suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time there.
Buscemi recalled reuniting with his old Engine 55 crew at the site that became known as Ground Zero.
“I asked if I could join them,” the now-63-year-old actor told Maron. “I could tell they were a little suspicious at first, but I worked with them that day.”
He added, “I was so grateful.”
All told, the eventual Emmy winner worked multiple 12-hour shifts on The Pile, as firemen pulled the bodies of their comrades and other victims from the rubble.
Working there exposed thousands of first-responders to debris that caused cancer and other ailments. Buscemi revealed, “I haven’t experienced any health issues, and I get myself checked out — but…post-traumatic stress? Absolutely.”
The actor continued, “I was only there for like five days, but when I stopped going and…tried to just live my life again, it was really, really hard. I was depressed, I was anxious, I couldn’t make a simple decision.”
Buscemi said the experience is “still with me. There are times when I talk about 9/11 and I’m right back there. I start to get choked up.”
Saturday’s 20th anniversary is “a trigger,” he admitted.
Buscemi recently executive-produced the documentary Dust: The Lingering Legacy of 9/11, about the battle for health coverage for those still suffering and dying from 9/11-related diseases — a fight he’s been involved with for years.
Rebel Wilson celebrated her 41st birthday in March, but she just got a chance to party with some of her Pitch Perfect co-stars to mark the occasion.
Rebel recently uploaded a snap to her Instagram of her and her friends, including fellow Bellas Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow, on the beach in Tahiti. “Bellas be ballin'” Rebel captioned the pic, adding, “could not love these ladies more! 10 years since we met and instantly harmonized,” complete with a musical emoji.
The gang wore ’80s-throwback beach attire, complete with day-glo colors and sunglasses. Rebel, for her part, wore a hot pink shirt reading “Let’s get physical.”
With all striking a pose, flanking the birthday girl, Rebel noted, “Love you ladies! ps love that I’m the tall one amongst you shorties!” adding “#RebelIsland” and “#Bellas4Life.”
The first Pitch Perfect film debuted on September 28, 2012, and the hit spawned two sequels, released in 2015 and 2017.
Halsey is getting candid about their post-baby body struggles.
The singer opened up Thursday night on Twitter about how they are dealing with their new body since the birth of their first child, Ender, back in July.
“My pregnancy has changed my body so much,” Halsey wrote. “Learning how to have a personal sense of style when you’re not used to your new shapes has become a real struggle. To all the mommas (or really just anyone going thru something similar) I feeeel you.”
Halsey, who stepped out for a New York Fashion Week event Wednesday night with partner Alev Aydin, added that the expectation to look a certain way has been weighing on them.
“The pressure to look ‘androgynous’ as a means of gender non-confirming expression (as a big t**** breastfeeding mom) coupled with expectation to have a perfect body right after birth is a cocktail of confusion,” the 26-year-old wrote. “I’m patiently reminding myself to do me in any way that feels good.”
“It’s all bulls*** and we are all doing our best,” Halsey concluded. “Anyways, just some vulnerable thoughts. If you relate you’re not alone.”
Rihanna has reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with her father after filing a lawsuit accusing him of illegally using her name for his own profit.
Radarreports that the nine-time Grammy winner dropped the lawsuit against Ronald Fenty before they were due to go to trial on September 22.
In 2019, RiRi sued her father and his company, Fenty Entertainment. Court documents state, “Although Mr. Fenty is Rihanna’s father, he does not have, and never has had, authority to act on Rihanna’s behalf.”
Rihanna said that her dad, who is not her agent, booked a $15 million overseas tour without her approval. She also claims that he attempted to trademark the phrase “Fenty” to open a chain of hotels.
Now the “Umbrella” singer is focused on hosting an after party for the Met Ball Gala on Monday in New York City. She will also present her annual Savage X Fentyfashion show on September 24. It will stream in over 240 countries and territories on Amazon Prime Video, and will “combine fashion, dance, music, and iconic architecture.” Last year’s presentation at the Los Angeles Convention Center featured appearances by Normani, Roddy Ricch, Miguel, Ella Mai and Mustard.
Last month, Forbes declared Rihanna’s fashion/music empire is now worth $1.7 billion, making her the wealthiest female musician in the world, and second to Oprah Winfrey as the richest female entertainer.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 654,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 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.
Just 62.5% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Sep 10, 1:48 pm
Florida governor’s school mask mandate ban is reinstated
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ school mask mandate ban was reinstated by an appeals court Friday.
This overrules a Tallahassee judge’s decision on Wednesday to lift the stay, preventing the state from enforcing the ban. (The appeals court still needs to rule on the legality of the order, but the reinstatement of the stay means that until then, the state can continue sanctioning school districts.)
DeSantis has struggled to rein in the state’s largest school systems as they implement mask mandates in defiance of state law. At least 13 districts, including Florida’s six largest, have mask requirements in place. The Florida Department of Education has threatened to withhold the salaries of school board members in most of these districts and has begun doing so in at least two cases.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Sep 10, 1:00 pm
CDC studies: Vaccines still dramatically reduce risk of hospitalization, death amid delta
The unvaccinated “are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said at Friday’s White House COVID briefing.
Three new studies from the CDC show vaccines still dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death amid the delta surge.
A study of U.S. veterans fully vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna found no real change in vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization pre-delta to post-delta. A second study of all three vaccines across nine states found vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization was 86% for all age groups. A third study of all three vaccines across 13 jurisdictions found vaccines performed roughly equally well protecting against hospitalization and death during the delta surge compared to pre-delta.
Across the studies, vaccines remained 86-87% effective against preventing hospitalizations.
But effectiveness dropped more for people ages 65 and older in recent months compared to before delta, likely due a combination of vaccine effectiveness fading over time and the slight impact of the delta variant on vaccine efficacy.
Vaccines are losing some of their effectiveness when it comes to preventing mild infections among the vaccinated.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Sep 10, 11:28 am
Kentucky deploys more National Guard members to help strained hospitals
In hard-hit Kentucky, over 300 more National Guard members will be sent to help at 21 strained hospitals, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
More than 300 additional @KentuckyGuard members will be deployed to 21 strained hospitals. This is the largest deployment of the Guard for a health crisis in our history. We’ve asked a lot of these heroes, but every time we’ve asked, they’ve stepped up and served us proudly. pic.twitter.com/gu4rBO4Whw
Kentucky’s positivity rate was above 14% Thursday as the state set new records for hospitalizations and patients on ventilators, the governor said.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Sep 10, 9:54 am
FDA says it won’t cut corners for vaccine for young kids
While awaiting Pfizer trial data for kids ages 5 to 11, the Food and Drug Administration is vowing not to cut corners.
The FDA said, “it’s critical that thorough and robust clinical trials of adequate size are completed to evaluate the safety and the immune response.”
“Children are not small adults — and issues that may be addressed in pediatric vaccine trials can include whether there is a need for different doses or different strength formulations of vaccines already used for adults,” the FDA said.
When the FDA receives a completed emergency use authorization request, “the agency will carefully, thoroughly and independently examine the data to evaluate benefits and risks and be prepared to complete its review as quickly as possible, likely in a matter of weeks rather than months.”
“However, the agency’s ability to review these submissions rapidly will depend in part on the quality and timeliness of the submissions by manufacturers,” the FDA added.
Sep 10, 5:43 am
Milwaukee Public Schools to require COVID-19 vaccination for staff
All employees of Milwaukee Public Schools must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Nov. 1, unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption, school board members voted unanimously on Thursday night.
The board also decided that staff who qualify for an exemption must take COVID-19 tests twice weekly. Anyone who does not comply with the new vaccine mandate or is not exempt would be placed on unpaid leave and ultimately could lose their job.
Students are not required to get vaccinated, but the board approved monetary incentives of $100 for those who are 12 and older and can provide proof of vaccination by the Nov. 1 deadline.
Sep 09, 7:33 pm
LA school district to mandate vaccine for students
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education unanimously voted Thursday to require the COVID-19 vaccine for all eligible students.
All students ages 12 and up will be required to be fully vaccinated by Jan. 10, 2022, unless they have a “medical or other exemption,” said the district, which is the second-largest in the nation with over 600,000 students.
All teachers and staff are already required to be vaccinated by Oct. 15.
“Today’s decision furthers our longstanding commitment to ensure the safety of our students, families, and staff,” Board President Kelly Gonez said in a statement. “The vaccine is the single best way to protect students and schools from COVID-19.”
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — When Cathey Stoner gave birth to a baby boy last month, it was a miracle years in the making.
Stoner delivered the child after serving as a surrogate for her twin sister, Sarah Sharp, who could not carry a pregnancy after being diagnosed with choriocarcinoma, a rare and fast-growing cancer that occurs in a woman’s uterus.
The newborn baby, named John Ryder Sharp and born on Aug. 18, is the biological child of Sharp and her husband, Richard.
“Her offering that to me was the biggest act of love that anyone’s ever extended to me or my family,” Sharp, 33, said of her sister carrying her child. “Surrogacy is a beautiful gift that you can give somebody and I will forever be grateful.”
Sharp, who, like her sister, lives in the Nashville area, was diagnosed with choriocarcinoma in 2018, about one year after she gave birth to her now 4-year-old daughter Charlotte.
She underwent seven rounds of chemotherapy in an attempt to beat the cancer while also saving her uterus. She was declared cancer free in December 2018, but by her first checkup, in January, the cancer had returned.
She began a new course of chemotherapy and also underwent a hysterectomy, which successfully removed the cancer but left her without the hope of giving birth to another child.
Just before Sharp underwent the hysterectomy, Stoner told her sister for the second time in her cancer battle that she would carry any future children for her.
“We kind of laughed a little bit again but for me, in the back of my mind, it was something to hold onto,” Sharp told “Good Morning America” in June. “It was something to help me move myself forward mentally. It was hope and grace and the future all in one.”
Once Sharp finished her cancer treatments, she prepared to become a mom again, and turned to her sister for help.
Stoner, mom to a 4-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter, said she had no hesitation about helping her sister expand her family in any way she could.
“We decided to knock on the doors and see if they opened,” Stoner told “GMA” in June. “There was a lot of waiting, but it went really smooth.”
By the end of 2020, the two sisters, whose story is featured in the new issue of People magazine, were celebrating the news that Stoner was pregnant.
“From the beginning I’ve felt differently in this pregnancy because I know it’s my nephew and not my son, and I have loved every step of the way,” said Stoner, who was the baby’s gestational carrier. “I tell people, ‘I’m just carrying my nephew.'”
“To be able to go to the doctor for such a happy reason is really healing for all of us,” she added, noting that her sister was with her at every doctor’s appointment during the pregnancy.
Bullet for My Valentine has released a new song called “Shatter,” a track off the band’s upcoming self-titled album.
“It’s one of our personal favorites and we’re pretty sure it’ll be one of yours,” Bullet says of “Shatter.” “It’s an absolute sledgehammer of a track with riffs for days. Let the head banging commence!”
You can download “Shatter” now via digital outlets. Its accompanying video is streaming now on YouTube.
“Shatter” is the third track to be released from Bullet for My Valentine, following “Knives” and “Parasite.” The whole album is set to arrive October 22.
