Scotty McCreery can sing and write songs, and apparently moonwalk as well. In a new video posted on social media, the American Idol alum reveals he can easily channel Michael Jackson, especially at a wedding.
“I am the world’s best wedding dancer,” Scotty boasts. “Yes, when they play ‘Billie Jean,’ my moonwalk comes out, and it’s amazing. It’s just a bring the house down type of moonwalk.”
Perhaps Scotty will show off his dance moves in the video for one of the songs on his upcoming Same Truck album. He just dropped a new track, “Carolina to Me,” which celebrates his love of his home state of North Carolina.
“To me, North Carolina is just a little piece of Heaven on Earth, and I hope when I get to Heaven, there’s a little bit of North Carolina in it,” Scotty says.
Jake Gyllenhaal gave the surprise of a lifetime to a cosplayer shooting some pictures of himself dressed as Jake’s Spider-Man: Far from Home villain Mysterio — and the fan didn’t even notice it.
The cosplayer was in Venice, where much of the film was set, and had suited up for some movie-accurate pictures of himself. But Jacopo Ludovico was so immersed in his character that he didn’t notice Gyllenhall himself, deliberately leaning against a post in the background.
Gyllenhaal posted his intentional photobomb on his Instagram. “Ran into an old friend in Venezia,” he captioned the snaps. One was a selfie with the cosplayer far in the background after the actor noticed him. The next shows Jake sidled into the background of his oblivious doppelganger’s shot.
“It is not every day you go to Venice in a Mysterio cosplay and meet @jakegyllenhaal,” Ludovico later noted. “And even less, it happens that he is the one to post you.”
Marilyn Manson has pleaded not guilty to charges of simple assault stemming from an incident at a New Hampshire music venue.
ABC affiliate WMUR reports that the musician’s lawyer entered the plea Wednesday to Laconia District Court.
This past May, the Gilford Police Department in New Hampshire announced that it had issued an arrest warrant for Manson, born Brian Warner, on two counts of Class A misdemeanor Simple Assault. Warner had been accused of purposefully spitting on a videographer who was filming him during a 2019 Marylin Manson concert at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion.
While Warner’s lawyer told Pitchfork that the claim was “ludicrous,” the rocker agreed to turn himself in over the charges to the Los Angeles Police Department, as part of an agreement with the Gilford PD. Warner posted bail in July.
News of the New Hampshire charges came as Warner’s been embroiled in accusations of abuse and sexual assault, which began in February after his ex-fiancée, Evan Rachel Wood, alleged that he “horrifically abused [her] for years.” Warner denied those claims as “horrible distortions of reality.”
Numerous women have since followed with their own allegations, including actor Esmé Bianco, model Ashley Morgan Smithline and Warner’s former assistant, Ashley Walters, all of whom filed lawsuits against him.
The CMT Artists of the Year special will return once again to Nashville, taking place at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in the heart of Music City. The event is returning to its original format, after honoring American heroes in 2020 who were serving on the front lines of the pandemic.
The CMT Artists of the Year ceremony will honor the top five country artists who had had massive success in country music over the past 12 months. While this year’s honorees have yet to be announced, previous artists honored include Kane Brown, Miranda Lambert, Loretta Lynn, Lady A, Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Thomas Rhett and more.
Special musical performances and collaborations will occur during the live broadcast as well. CMT Artists of the Year will take place on Wednesday, October 13, at 9 p.m. ET on CMT.
Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello‘s relationship is just too sweet for words.
Shawn posted a photo of himself kissing Camila on a hotel balcony ahead of Wednesday’s Miami red carpet premiere of Camila’s first movie, Cinderella, which hits Amazon Prime Video Friday. She’s wearing a huge Christian Siriano yellow tulle skirt and a sleeveless white crop top, while he’s sporting a sheer black top with a deep V-neck.
Shawn captioned the pic, “Congratulations my love, I’m so proud of you. I’ve never seen anybody work as hard as you did to show up everyday and be truly professional, kind and authentic. I admire you so much. Such a beautiful movie with a beautiful message…te amo mi vida.”
It was Camila’s second premiere in a week. After the first one, in LA Camila wrote on Instagram, “love this film so much. And I love this cast so much….Wait till you see what [director] @kaykaycannon did when you see this movie: she’s a bada** woman who wrote and directed a movie about a bada** woman!”
Camila continued, “Spoiler alert! This is not a princess story like you’ve seen before. She’s a dreamer, honey.” Camila also thanked her co-stars Idina Menzel and Billy Porter, as well as her Prince Charming, Nicholas Galitzine.
“thank you for being the best person to make this movie with and making me laugh with your anchorman voice,” Camila wrote to Nicholas. “Mates 4 lyf and I love u!!!!!”
ABBA in 2021, in motion-capture suits/Credit: Baillie Walsh
All you dancing queens — and kings — get ready to feel the beat, because ABBA is officially back.
The group will release their first new album in 40 years, Voyage, November 5. Two songs from the record — “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down” — are available now.
The new music was created in tandem with a concert experience which will see digital avatars of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid performing digitally with a live 10-piece band, in a purpose-built, 3,000-person capacity arena in London. The video for “I Still Have Faith In You” gives you your first look at those avatars, which perform the song.
The digital avatars were created by months of motion capture of the four band members by an 850-person team at top special effects company Industrial Light & Magic.
The Voyage shows premiere May 27, 2022, with pre-registration for tickets starting at 6 p.m. tonight at ABBAVoyage.com. If you pre-register, you can get tickets starting at 10 a.m. September 6; the general public on sale date is 10 a.m. September 7.
ABBA’s Benny says of the concert experience, “We’re truly sailing in uncharted waters. With the help of our younger selves, we travel into the future. It’s not easy to explain but then it hasn’t been done before.” Of the new music, he says, “I think hearing Frida and Agnetha singing again is hard to beat.”
Anni-Frid, aka Frida, adds, “Such joy it was to work with the group again. I am so happy with what we have made, and I dearly hope our fans feel the same.”
Agnetha says, “I can hardly believe that finally, the moment has come to share this with the world!”
Björn declares, “The Voyage project has injected new life into us in more ways than one. So, again, thanks for waiting!…It’s not an exaggeration to say that we’re back.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden says he is launching a “whole-of-government effort” in response to the Supreme Court allowing the nation’s most restrictive abortion law to take effect in Texas, directing his Gender Policy Council and the White House legal team to tap federal agencies to ensure women maintain their constitutional right to an abortion.
“While the Chief Justice was clear to stress that the action by the Supreme Court is not a final ruling on the future of Roe, the impact of last night’s decision will be immediate and requires an immediate response,” Biden said in a statement on Thursday.
“Hence, I am directing that Council and the Office of the White House Counsel to launch a whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision, looking specifically to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to see what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe, and what legal tools we have to insulate women and providers from the impact of Texas’ bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties,” the statement said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland also said in a statement on Thursday that the Justice Department is “deeply concerned” about the Texas law, known as SB 8, and is “evaluating all options to protect the constitutional rights of women, including access to an abortion.”
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote Wednesday night formally rejected a request by Texas abortion providers to block the state’s severe new law restricting the procedure while legal challenges continue. Most abortions in Texas are now illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, and private citizens — who do not have to be Texas residents — are encouraged to sue a person they believe is providing an abortion outside the new parameters or assisting a woman in getting one, whether they are a rape counselor or an Uber driver taking a woman to a clinic.
Biden said the SCOTUS decision “unleashes constitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts” and that the law will now “significantly impair women’s access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes.”
“This law is so extreme it does not even allow for exceptions in the case of rape or incest. And it not only empowers complete strangers to inject themselves into the most private of decisions made by a woman—it actually incentivizes them to do so with the prospect of $10,000 if they win their case,” Biden’s statement said. “For the majority to do this without a hearing, without the benefit of an opinion from a court below, and without due consideration of the issues, insults the rule of law and the rights of all Americans to seek redress from our courts.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a briefing on Wednesday that the president would continue to call for the “codification of Roe” through Congress, but Biden’s statement did not make mention of that call.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi echoed Biden’s anger on Thursday, calling the court’s decision “cowardly” and vowing to bring up the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade, to a vote.
“The Supreme Court’s cowardly, dark-of-night decision to uphold a flagrantly unconstitutional assault on women’s rights and health is staggering,” she said in a statement. “Upon our return, the House will bring up Congresswoman Judy Chu’s Women’s Health Protection Act to enshrine into law reproductive health care for all women across America.”
The House is scheduled to return from recess on Sept. 20., but that vote will be symbolic given that Democrats don’t have 60 votes to pass the bill in the Senate or 51 votes to change Senate rules to allow its passage over GOP opposition.
The Supreme Court’s decision has prompted progressive Democrats to renew their calls for changes to the Senate’s filibuster rules — and legislation that would expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court.
“We need to restore balance to the court after Donald Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell blatantly stole the seats of Justice Scalise and Justice Ginsburg,” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a statement.
Advocates are also concerned about other states implementing laws similar to the one in Texas.
Nancy Northrop, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, told CNN on Wednesday she expects the Supreme Court decision will embolden states “to completely ignore Roe V. Wade.”
While the majority of state legislatures are not currently in session, about 70 bills attempting to ban all or most abortions were introduced this year, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks state-level sexual and reproductive health bills. Eight of those bills were enacted, including two in Texas (one of which was SB 8), as well as six others in Arkansas, Idaho, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
Seven other laws either haven’t gone into effect yet, including several that would ban abortions only if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, or have been temporarily blocked by the courts.
Florida, for example, is not in session, but at least one state representative, congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini, has promised to introduce the “exact same” bill as Texas’ in the Sunshine State.
He told ABC News on Thursday the bill is being drafted. Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson told WFLA News that the Florida legislature would take up a bill similar to the Texas law in the next session.
More than six in 10 Americans say they agree with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decisions establishing a woman’s right to an abortion, according to a national Quinnipiac poll from May, a view that has remained consistent in the nearly two decades Quinnipiac has polled on this issue, it said. In 2003, Americans agreed with the Roe decision 62-35%.
Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Women’s Health which operates four clinics in Texas, told ABC News her team is not giving up the fight to ensure women in Texas have access to reproductive health care.
“At this moment we are in an unprecedented and complicated situation,” she said, “but we are sure of one thing — our vales, our commitment and what we stand for has not changed.”
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer, Benjamin Siegel, Alex Mallin, Quinn Scanlan and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — So far in the Northeast, at least 21 deaths have been attributed to the storm.
A flash flood emergency was declared for the first time in New York City as subway stations were turned into waterfalls and Midtown streets became rivers. New York City also declared a state of emergency.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday morning the death toll in the Big Apple was nine. That number rose to 12 by afternoon after firefighters in Queens discovered three more bodies.
“We saw a horrifying storm last night. Unlike anything we’ve seen before,” De Blasio said. “Unfortunately the price paid by some New Yorkers, was horrible and tragic.”
President Joe Biden spoke on Ida’s damage in the Northeast Thursday afternoon, citing that New York recorded more rain Wednesday “than it usually sees the entire month of September.”
“People were trapped in the subways. But the heroic men and women of the New York Fire Department rescued all of them. They were trapped,” Biden said.
He said he’s made it clear to East Coast governors that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is “on the ground” and ready to provide assistance.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a Thursday morning briefing that the “Metro-North, LIRR and the New York City subway system are not fully functioning” and her focus will be on flood prevention.
“Before we worried about coastal areas, now it’s about what’s happening in the streets, the drainage systems that need to be enhanced,” Hochul said. “Because of climate change, unfortunately, this is something we’re going to have to deal with with great regularity.”
She said more than 100 people were rescued in Rockland and Westchester county alone.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said 8 of the 9 deaths took place in residential homes in basements. A sentiment echoed by New York officials in the briefing was improving flooding resilience in the city.
Four residents of the Oakwood Plaza apartment complex in Elizabeth, New Jersey, were found dead in the aftermath of the flooding, Mayor Chris Bollwage said in a press conference Thursday morning.
The victims included a 72-year-old wife, a 71-year-old husband, a 38-year-old son and a 33-year-old female who was their neighbor, officials said.
Rescuers have been checking the rent roll and going door-to-door though the entire complex to make sure no other bodies are found, a spokesperson for the Mayor told ABC News. The complex is across from the Elizabeth Fire Department headquarters, which was inundated with 8 feet of water.
At least one person also died due to the flooding in Passaic, New Jersey, Mayor Hector Carlos Lora confirmed on Facebook Thursday morning.
Early Thursday in Queens, the New York Police Department said that after responding to a flooding condition at a partially collapsed building, they found two people — a 43-year-old female and a 22-year-old male — unconscious and unresponsive inside. The man was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman was taken to the local hospital, where she later died. “The investigation is ongoing and the Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The identification of the deceased is pending family notification,” they said.
At a second flooded location in Queens, the NYPD said they found a 50-year-old male, a 48-year-old female and a 2-year-old male, unconscious and unresponsive, within the residence. They were all pronounced dead at the scene.
Also in Queens, police responded to a 911 call of a flooding condition and discovered a 48-year-old female, unconscious and unresponsive, within the residence. “The aided female was removed by EMS to Forest Hills Hospital where she was pronounced deceased,” they said. An 86-year-old woman also died in her Queens apartment due to flooding, police said.
After responding to a similar flooding incident in Brooklyn, the NYPD said officers found “a 66-year-old male, unresponsive and unconscious, within the residence.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Thursday afternoon, the landlord at an apartment in Flushing, Queens, called 911 to say there were three bodies submerged in a flooded basement, according to the FDNY.
“FDNY members rescued hundreds of people citywide during the storm, removing occupants from trapped vehicles on flooded roadways and removing New Yorkers from subway stations,” department spokesman Frank Dwyer told ABC News.
A 19-year-old male was found dead due to flooding at the Rockville Apartments in Montgomery County, Maryland, police said in a news release. Officials received multiple calls for flooding at the home at 3:50 a.m. and 150 residents were displaced by flood waters.
In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, three storm-related fatalities were reported, Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh said in a press briefing Thursday morning.
One of those was an unnamed woman who died when a tree fell onto a home in Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania, local ABC Philadelphia affiliate WPVI reported.
The inundating rainfall Wednesday evening broke records. Central Park reported a record of 3.15 inches of rain in one hour from 8:51 p.m. to 9:51 p.m., the National Weather Service reported.
New York issued a citywide travel ban just before 1 a.m. ET Thursday until 5 a.m.
“All non-emergency vehicles must be off NYC streets and highways,” the city said.
Due to severe weather, there is a travel ban in effect beginning now until 5:00 AM on 9/2. All non-emergency vehicles must be off NYC streets and highways.
Every subway line in the city was suspended, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, due to so many flooded stations. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told ABC station WABC that people were being evacuated from subway cars stuck underground.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also declared a state of emergency to “help New Yorkers.”
“Earlier tonight I declared a State of Emergency in New York State within the counties of Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester in response to major flooding due to Tropical Depression Ida,” she said in a statement, also encouraging New Yorkers to “please pay attention to local weather reports, stay off the roads and avoid all unnecessary travel during this time.”
I am declaring a state of emergency to help New Yorkers affected by tonight’s storm.
Please stay off the roads and avoid all unnecessary travel.
In Passaic, New Jersey, Mayor Lora said Thursday on the confirmed fatality that the person was trapped inside their car, which was “overtaken by water.”
The mayor — who declared a state of emergency in the city — also said that two other residents are reported to have been swept away by the water. The search continues for them.
“We continue to receive reports of incidents that have occurred throughout the city. Vehicles can be repaired, property can be replaced, but loss of life we cannot bring that back,” Lora said.
At the same time, he said, 60 residents are receiving temporary shelter in City Hall.
“We have too many areas where the flooding has gotten so bad that cars are stuck and we have bodies underwater,” Lora said in a video posted to Facebook. “We are now retrieving bodies.”
In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy quickly declared an emergency with 3 to 5 inches of rain falling per hour in some locations across the tristate area.
“We will use every resource at our disposal to ensure the safety of New Jerseyans,” Murphy tweeted. “Stay off the roads, stay home, and stay safe.”
He was not specific about how many people may have been killed or injured in the floods.
At Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, a baggage area was flooded and flights were grounded.
“We’re experiencing severe flooding due to tonight’s storm,” the airport’s account tweeted. “All flight activity is currently suspended & travelers are strongly advised to contact their airline for the latest flight & service resumption information. Passengers are being diverted from ground-level flooded areas.”
The U.S. Open, taking place in Queens, New York, had to pause one tennis match as the court was flooded — despite there being a roof over the court — due to rain coming in the side of the stadium.
Several homes were damaged in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, across from Philadelphia, after warnings went out about possible tornadoes.
“Gloucester County has experienced devastating storm damage,” the county said in a statement. “It is likely that multiple tornadoes have touched down within our communities. Our Emergency Operations Center is fully activated with multiple local, county, state, and regional partners assessing damages and deploying resources.”
In Gloucester County, 20-25 homes were “completely devastated,” and roughly 100 more sustained some damage, when a tornado ripped through Harrison Township, Wednesday, the mayor of the Harrison Township told ABC News.
Mayor Lou Manzo said the community is “blessed” that no one died and only one person had to go to the hospital, but the damage to property across the township is “extensive,” he said.
Fire and emergency personnel made “a few rescues” of people who became trapped after sheltering in their basement, according to the mayor.
There was also a “confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado” located near Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, at about 6:30 p.m. and another “confirmed large and destructive tornado” over Beverly, near Trenton, at 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Early Thursday there were 101,652 customers without power in Pennsylvania, 73,348 in New Jersey, 51,931 in New York and 34,449 in Connecticut, according to poweroutage.us.
The Schuylkill River in Philadelphia is rising into major flood stage early Thursday morning and is forecast to rise a few additional feet before cresting around 9 a.m.. The National Weather Service has increased their predicted water level for the river to 17.2 feet, which would be greater than the highest recorded total of 17 feet. The rain has stopped, but flood risk continues, the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management wrote on Twitter.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
Bastille has premiered a new video for “Thelma + Louise,” the band’s latest single.
The clip finds frontman Dan Smith joining another person, played by British actress Remmie Milner, in a virtual reality adventure using a device similar to the one in the “USS Callister” episode of Black Mirror.
“The four of us in Bastille and Remmie had our heads and bodies scanned to make the digital avatars that you see,” Smith says. “We’re massively excited for people to watch this mad little two-minute film that takes you right into how the innerverse could work. It totally captures the sense of escape and endless possibility.”
You can watch the “Thelma + Louise” video now streaming on YouTube.
“Thelma + Louise” premiered in August. It’s one of three new singles from Bastille this year, along with “Distorted Light Beam” and “Give Me the Future.”
Bastille has also been working on a new album, the follow-up to 2019’s Doom Days.
The jury’s still out in the U.S., but in the U.K., Olivia Rodrigo has officially captured the title of “Song of the Summer 2021.”
The song in question is “Good 4 U,” which has sold 834,000 units during the U.K.’s Official Charts Company’s summer tracking period, which ran from the first week of June to the last week of August. The song narrowly beat Ed Sheeran‘s “Bad Habits” for the title: That song sold 812,000 units.
“Good 4 U” is Olivia’s second British number one and spent five weeks on top of the chart. That’s the longest reign for a rock or rock-influenced song in 18 years.
Coming in at number three is “Save Your Tears” by The Weeknd.
In the U.S., Billboard’s official Song of the Summer will almost certainly be BTS‘ “Butter.”
