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Prince Harry, Meghan and royal family making ‘very little progress’ at reconciliation, author claims

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — More than one year after stepping down from their royal roles and moving to America, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are “thriving,” according to Omid Scobie, co-author of Finding Freedom, a book about the Sussexes’ life together.

The couple, however, has not managed to heal the well-publicized rift between Harry and his family, particularly his father, Prince Charles, and brother, Prince William, according to Scobie.

“When we speak to sources close to the couple and also sources close to the royal family, there is this feeling that very little progress is being made,” Scobie told Good Morning America. “However, some feelings have subsided because time has done its things, so the door is very much open for those conversations to happen at some point.”

The last time Harry and William were seen together publicly was in July, when Harry traveled to the U.K. for the unveiling of a statue of their late mom, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday.

The reportedly estranged brothers lost their mom 24 years ago Tuesday after a car crash in the Pont D’Alma Bridge in Paris. William and Harry were 15 and 12, respectively, at the time.

Describing what will need to happen for the family relationships to be repaired, Scobie added, “I think one thing was clear from both sides is that everyone feels that some accountability and ownership in each other’s roles in all of this has to be taken for people to move forward. Whether that happens, we shall see.”

Scobie, an ABC News contributor, and his co-author, Carolyn Durand, a former ABC News producer, have released a new paperback version of their book, Finding Freedom, which takes a close look at how life has changed for Harry and Meghan since they left royal life and moved to California.

“Who can forget Meghan saying, ‘It’s not enough to survive, you have to thrive,’ and I think this is that time where they’re thriving and they want to show the world how they’re doing it,” said Scobie, who describes Harry and Meghan as “very much in control” of their lives today.

“It’s not that they want to disappear or not be seen,” Scobie added, reflecting on Harry and Meghan’s desire for privacy. “It’s simply that they want to choose what they keep private and what they share with the world.”

Prince Harry and Meghan famously spilled the details of their exit from royal life last spring in a blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The Sussexes — who spoke candidly in the interview about mental health struggles, family tensions and alleged racism they faced — were “desperate to get their story out there,” according to Scobie.

“It was the one thing they weren’t allowed to do, you know, that never complain, never explain mentality, or the mantra of the royal family, applied to them as well,” said Scobie. “So any time that they wanted to speak up, whether it’s to correct the story in the tabloids or to simply put their feelings and thoughts out there, the answer was always no.”

Once Harry and Meghan were on their own, “it was very much the time being now for them to actually speak up and try and speak to some of those moments that many of us perhaps didn’t understand over the last couple of years,” explained Scobie.

“There was this feeling that the couple had walked away from the monarchy because they just wanted more. They wanted to earn money in a different way,” he said. “But actually what we heard was a story that helped us understand why they were so unhappy within that space as well, not only dealing with racism, but having their mental health suppressed or ignored by certain quarters of the institution.”

“Those are things that are untenable for anyone, but we just didn’t know at the time it was happening [that’s what] was going on behind palace walls,” Scobie added.

In Finding Freedom, the authors say it was the courtiers who were fiercely protective of the royal institution and who mishandled Meghan and Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne.

“Those that work for the institution of the monarchy have one job, and that is to sort of uphold the values of the crown and maintain the image of the crown,” said Scobie. “The focus is always going to be on the crown, and Harry and Meghan found themselves victim to that many times over because, ultimately, they are not the crown.”

Harry and Meghan, already parents to a son, Archie, welcomed their second child, a daughter named Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, in June.

The family of four lives near Santa Barbara, California, where Harry and Meghan have continued to grow their production company and charitable organization, Archewell.

“One thing that was said to me very early on when the couple met was this is a couple that want to change the world in whatever way they can, they just need to figure out how,” said Scobie. “And I think what we’re seeing right now is them having figured it out.”

“The Sussexes are clearly in a new chapter. I feel like we’ve told as much as this story as we can, and they’re clearly in control of their narrative,” he added. “Now I think that when and if we hear more of their journey towards healing these family relations and the issues that they’ve faced, it’s going to be from them themselves.”

Spot the sonic Easter eggs in Duran Duran’s new track, “Anniversary”

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Duran Duran has released another track from their upcoming album Future Past, and the title is quite apropos.

This year, the legendary New Wave group is celebrating their 40th anniversary, and their new track is called, yes, “Anniversary.” The upbeat track is reminiscent of the group’s classic ’80s sound. Bass player John Taylor says that’s intentional.

“It was…fun to build a track with hints of previous Duran hits,” says John in a statement. “They’re like Easter eggs, for the fans to find.”

He continues, “‘Anniversary’ is a special song for us. Obviously we were conscious of our own impending 40th anniversary of making music together, but we wanted the song’s meaning to be inclusive in the broadest possible way.”

He adds, “After playing and working together for so long, we very much appreciate what ‘being together’ and ‘staying together’ can really mean. It’s not something we would have thought song-worthy 40 years ago but we do today!”

Future Past is out October 22. Ahead of that, Duran Duran will headline this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival on October 3 and 10. This month, they’ll perform at the worldwide Global Citizen LIVE event on September 25.

New technology aims to prevent child hot car deaths

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(New York) — This year, 17 children have already died after being left in hot cars. Since 1990, more than a thousand children have lost their lives. But a new technology on the market is aiming to prevent these tragedies.

The potentially life-saving innovation is an alarm in the 2022 Genesis GV70 that, according to the manufacturer, sounds as quickly as 10 seconds. Hidden inside the roof above the back seat is a radar that Genesis says can detect a child even if the only movement is a soft breath.

Dr. Emily Thomas, an automotive safety engineer with Consumer Reports, showed ABC News how the child detection system works with her own 4-year-old son, Micah.

“You want something that is more fine-tuned and able to detect even those small motions that we’re making just by being a human, by breathing and our chest moving,” Thomas said.

She instructed her son Micah to stay as still as he could in his car seat, started the car as if driving away and then turned it off as if she’s reached her destination. She then got out of the vehicle, closed the door and locked it.

Even with Micah staying still and wearing a mask, the alarm went off in 20 seconds.

The system will also send the driver a notification on their phone if they have the Genesis app downloaded.

But it doesn’t come without drawbacks.

“The biggest shortcoming is that the system only works once the vehicle has been locked,” Thomas said.

Other manufacturers like GM and Ford have also unveiled occupant alert systems, but the rear door has to be opened at some point during the trip to activate it.

The infrastructure bill before Congress would make hot car alert systems mandatory in all new cars.

“That is really what is needed to put an end to these terrible and unthinkable tragedies,” Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsandCars.Org, told ABC News. “Cars can now be made with a technology that’s only $10 to $20 and it will save lives.”

Thomas explained that even if you don’t have a new car that has these systems, that there are things you can do now as a parent or caregiver to prevent these deaths.

“If I could tell parents and caregivers three things that they could do right now, even without this kind of technology, it would be first, create a routine where every single car ride, even if your child’s not with you, you check the backseat,” she said.

She recommends placing an object of yours in the back seat such as a phone, wallet or jacket — anything that you will need at the end of your trip.

“If you create that routine, you’re teaching your brain to always check the back, regardless of whether your child is there or not,” Thomas said.

Secondly, she says to create a visual reminder in the front seat when your child’s with you by putting a toy or a pacifier near you.

“We might think that we don’t need that,” she explained. “But our brains work very efficiently and at the base level, it recognizes routine. It puts us into muscle memory mode. And we just do the thing that we’re going to be doing and we always do. So changes in routine are often the cases where these situations happen.”

Her last tip is to always keep your vehicle locked at home and your keys out of reach.

“This helps to prevent that gained access scenario,” Thomas said. “And even if you don’t have kids, be a good neighbor, keep your vehicles locked and your keys out of reach. The kids in your neighborhood can get trapped inside your car.”

Producers of ‘MJ’ Broadway musical launch nationwide search for “young Michael Jackson”

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

If your kid has dreams of starring Broadway and can belt out Jackson 5 numbers like nobody’s business, then listen up.

The producers of MJ, the Broadway musical inspired by the life of Michael Jackson, are launching a nationwide search for an actor to play “Young Michael Jackson” in the production. Time’s running out to find the actor, though, because performances begin on December 6; the official opening is February 1, 2022.

The producers are looking for someone that looks 10-12 years old, with an “unchanged” singing voice. You can be older or younger than 10 to audition, but you have to be able to sing in Young Michael’s range.

Here’s how to apply:

1. Make a video of the kid singing a Michael Jackson song, such as “Rockin’ Robin,” “ABC,” “The Love You Save” or “I’ll Be There.”

2. In the video, have the kid say their name, age, height, where they’re from and how they heard about the opportunity.

3. Email a link of the video to audition@mjthemusical.com by September 20 to be considered.

MJ features Michael Jackson’s music, and a book written by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage.

Sting makes an “excellent cameo” in Hulu’s new series ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ says Steve Martin

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

The new series Only Murders in the Building debuts Tuesday on Hulu. It stars Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short as neighbors who make a true crime podcast while investigating a murder in their apartment building. Randomly, Sting makes a cameo as another resident of the apartment building, and Steve Martin tells ABC Audio that the rocker was so perfect during his appearance that it was annoying.

Calling Sting’s cameo “excellent,” the legendary comic actor declares, “He came in completely prepared, knew all his lines, he sang, he was game, he was funny, [and] charming off the set.”

“He sat and did the English cryptic crossword puzzle…in the Financial Times, which no one can do, and was completely charming and game,” Martin adds, mock-complaining, “I kind of hope he‘s the murderer!”

Martin also jokes that he’s miffed that the one-time Police frontman ignored his offer to help him out musically. The comedian, who’s also a Grammy-winning banjo player — really! — tells ABC Audio, “I think he’s hard of hearing, ’cause I said to him, ‘Hey Sting! Want me to play banjo on your next record?’ And it was like he didn’t hear it!”

Sting appears briefly in the trailer for Only Murders in the Building, but how he fits into the plot is a mystery — for now.

(Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

Thandiwe Newton explains why her role in ‘Reminiscence’ “terrified” her: “I didn’t want the responsibility”

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Thandiwe Newton says she was “terrified” when asked to take on the role of Emily “Watts” Sanders, a military veteran and close friend of “mind P.I.” Nick Bannister, in director Lisa Joy‘s debut film, Reminiscence.

“Initially, I was terrified, because I love Lisa Joy,” Newton tells ABC Audio of her Westworld director. “I love her as a woman, as a friend, the mother that she is. She’s an extraordinary writer, collaborator. Westworld was life changing for me, continues to be… And I had full support for her movie.”

However, even as Joy’s supporter, Newton says that when the director offered her a role in the film, she wasn’t so sure.

“I was like, “No, no, no…Lisa, please don’t. Because I might let you down. And… I would die.’ Not even thinking about the fact that we already worked together…But I just…love her so much, I didn’t want the responsibility — I wanted someone else to carry that responsibility.”

Thandiwe continues, “But in the end, I trusted her…If she wants me to play that role, it’s because she knows that’s the right person for the role.”

Still, Thandiwe admits that she joined the project “almost without faith that I was the right person for it,” but says she eventually became more comfortable during “the process of doing it, getting to know Hugh [Jackman], and also just researching.”

“In a way I had internalized the stereotype of women, as opposed to real women,” Thandiwe says of her initial concerns. “Women in the military, come in all shapes and sizes, for goodness sake. It’s absolutely absurd. And then I thought to myself, ‘My goodness, I as a woman have internalized a stereotype of what a woman in the military should be like.'”

Reminiscence is in theaters and on HBO Max now.

Man testifies against R. Kelly in sex-trafficking trial

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

After several days of testimony from women claiming they were groomed and sexually abused by R. Kelly, a man took the witness stand at Kelly’s sex-trafficking trial in New York City on Monday to say the R&B star exploited him in the same way when he was a high school student.

The witness, testifying in federal court in Brooklyn without using his real name, told a jury how Kelly allegedly lured him to his Chicago-area home in 2007 with false offers of helping him with his fledgling music career.

Kelly asked the alleged victim, then 17, what he was willing to do for music, then proceeded to perform oral sex on him.

In a later episode, Kelly snapped his fingers to summon a naked girl from where she was hiding under a boxing ring to give Kelly and the witness oral sex, the man told the jury.

The witness testified as part of a cooperation agreement stemming from his guilty plea in a separate case, which alleges he was part of a botched scheme to bribe a woman to not testify against Kelly. No charges were brought against Kelly related to the scheme.

Earlier Monday, a woman testified that Kelly sexually assaulted her at age 17 following a performance in Miami in 1994.

Kelly, 54, whose birth name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces state and federal charges for sex trafficking, racketeering, coercion and other charges related to the alleged abuse and exploitation of six women — three of whom were underage at the time — over the course of 25 years. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello pleads for rescue of female guitar students trapped in Kabul

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Chris Cornell Estate

Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello is pleading on behalf of the female guitar students who are trapped in Afghanistan after the U.S. completed its withdrawal on Monday.

Billboard obtained a copy of the open letter Morello penned as U.S. withdrawal efforts came to a close, with him begging for the rescue of those enrolled in the Girl with a Guitar program, which was kick-started by friend Lanny Cordola and teaches close to 200 students.

“I’m writing on behalf of some very special girls in Afghanistan who are in grave danger,” Morello penned. “[Girl with a Guitar] takes in street orphans and other girls that have endured significant trauma and uses music as a rehabilitation tool and means of working through their problems, their histories, and their hopes.”

“I’ve had the honor of collaborating with these wonderful kids. Since the Taliban takeover their school has been destroyed and the girls are in hiding. They are at extreme risk because they are widely known to have performed Western music and have been educated by a male American teacher,” Morello pleaded. “Anything you could do to help save their lives would be much appreciated.”

The students enrolled in the Girl with a Guitar program have remotely recorded with a variety of artists, including Morello, Sammy Hagar, Brian Wilson, Blake Shelton and many others. With Morello, the girls assisted in his and Kathy Valentine‘s cover of Eurythmics‘ “Sweet Dreams.”

Cordola, who’s is currently in Pakistan, is working to extract the rest of his students, 12 in all, their families and his driver from the country, saying “their lives are in peril.”

Donations can be made on Cordola’s Miraculous Love Kids website.

Camila Cabello recalls being “completely in love” with Shawn Mendes during 2015 ‘Late Late Show’ appearance

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Terence Patrick ©2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Six years ago, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden and awkwardly dodged questions on whether they were dating in real life. On Monday night, Camila returned to Corden and admitted that back then she totally had feelings for Shawn, who’s now her boyfriend of two years.

“I was completely in love with him,” she says of the fateful late show appearance in 2015. “And he was the one I thought didn’t love me back.”

Camila says she was taken by surprise when Shawn seemed to indicate on the show that he was the one who liked her and she didn’t like him back. “I remember backstage after our interview, I was like, ‘Why did you say that? ‘Cause you know that I like you!’” Camila recounts. “…And look at us now.”

Camila also celebrated the Los Angeles premiere of her new film Cinderella on Monday. The film hits Amazon Prime September 3.

Naomi Osaka shares a new mental health approach we can all learn from

August 31, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Tennis star Naomi Osaka has opened up recently about her mental health struggles and now she is sharing a new strategy to help her cope.

Osaka, 23, said on Twitter that she realized she is “extremely self-deprecating” and always thinks she is “never good enough.”

“I’ve never told myself that I’ve done a good job but I do know I constantly tell myself that I suck or could do better,” she wrote, adding, “Every time a new opportunity arises my first though is, ‘wow, why me?'”

In hopes of turning a new page and better protecting her mental health, the reigning U.S. Open champion said now she plans to celebrate even her small wins.

“I’m gonna try to celebrate myself and my accomplishments more,” Osaka wrote. “I think we all should.”

Giving examples of the seemingly small wins worth celebrating, Osaka continued, “You got up in the morning and didn’t procrastinate on something? Champion. Figured something out at work that’s been bugging you for a while? Absolute legend.”

Osaka’s tweet prompted a reply from Ted Lasso, the fictional American football coach turned English football manager known for his positive attitude.

“I agree with every bit of this,” Lasso’s Twitter account posted Sunday. “The thing about small victories is that they’re easier to carry with you. I’m calling myself the champion of popping every single kernel of popcorn in the microwave last night.”

Osaka, who is currently defending her title at the U.S. Open in New York, faced a summer of setbacks due to what she has said are her mental health struggles.

She withdrew from the French Open in June after being fined $15,000 for missing a post-match press conference.

Osaka had announced at the start of the tournament she would not participate in the mandatory post-match news conferences in order to preserve her mental health.

Osaka also withdrew from Wimbledon this summer, with her agent explaining at the time that she was “taking some personal time with friends and family.”

The Japan native competed in the Tokyo Olympics in her home country but lost in the third round and left without a medal.

“I’m disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others,” Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, said after the match, according to ESPN.

Osaka said she is focusing on this new approach to her mental health as a way to unburden herself from outsiders’ expectations.

“Your life is your own and you shouldn’t value yourself on other people’s standards,” she wrote. “I know I give my heart to everything I can and if that’s not good enough for some then my apologies but I can’t burden myself with those expectations anymore.”

“Seeing everything that’s going on in the world I feel like if I wake up in the morning that’s a win,” Osaka continued. “That’s how I’m coming.”

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