Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida in early August, family attorney says: Live updates

Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida in early August, family attorney says: Live updates
Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida in early August, family attorney says: Live updates
AlessandroPhoto/iStock

(NEW YORK) — A massive search is continuing in Florida for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman who went missing on a cross-country trip and who authorities confirmed as the body discovered in the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming.

The search for the 23-year-old Laundrie is centered around North Port, Florida, where investigators said Laundrie returned to his home on Sept. 1 without Petito but driving her 2012 Ford Transit.

Laundrie has been named by police as a “person of interest” in Petito’s disappearance. Laundrie has refused to speak to the police and has not been seen since Tuesday, Sept. 14, according to law enforcement officials.

The search for Laundrie is the latest twist in the case that has grabbed national attention as he and Petito had been traveling across the country since June, documenting the trip on social media.

Petito’s parents, who live in Long Island, New York, reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not hearing from her for two weeks.

Here are the latest developments. All times Eastern:

Oct 06, 6:42 pm
Authorities to allow Laundrie’s father to assist with search, attorney says

Steven Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, told ABC News Wednesday that authorities are going to allow Chris Laundrie, Brian Laundrie’s father, to assist with the search at the Carlton Reserve.

Investigators don’t currently have more details on when he will join the search.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News they provided aerial support Wednesday for a search of the area.

-ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd and Alondra Valle

Oct 05, 11:11 pm
Brian Laundrie left parents’ home to hike day earlier than parents originally told investigators

Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino confirmed to ABC News Tuesday night that the family now believes Brian Laundrie left to hike the Carlton Reserve on Monday, Sept. 13. Previously, they had told investigators he left on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

“The Laundries were basing the date Brian left on their recollection of certain events. Upon further communication with the FBI and confirmation of the Mustang being at the Laundrie residence on Wednesday September 15, we now believe the day Brian left to hike in the preserve was Monday September 13,” Bertolino said.

Oct 05, 4:50 pm
Brian Laundrie flew home to Florida in early August: Family attorney

An attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that the wanted fugitive flew home to Florida from Salt Lake City on Aug. 17 and flew back to Utah six days later to rejoin his girlfriend, Gabby Petito, on their cross-country road trip.

Steven Bertolino said Laundrie flew home to “obtain some items and empty and close the (couple’s) storage unit to save money as they contemplated extending the road trip.” Bertolino said the couple paid for the flights together as they were sharing expenses.

Laundrie’s trip back to the Tampa area came five days after he and Petito were stopped by police in Moab, Utah, when witnesses reported the couple was engaged in a domestic violence incident in Moab.

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Dolly Parton’s got a crush on Jimmy Fallon: “I think he is precious”

Dolly Parton’s got a crush on Jimmy Fallon: “I think he is precious”
Dolly Parton’s got a crush on Jimmy Fallon: “I think he is precious”
Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Dolly Parton has been happily married to her husband, Carl Dean, for more than 50 years, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to the occasional celebrity crush.

In fact, in a new cover story interview with W Magazine, the country superstar admits that she’s always been something of a flirt. “I love boys. I still do,” she chuckles.

Dolly’s latest love interest? None other than late-night host Jimmy Fallon, who’s also the singer’s duet partner on her version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which appears on her 2020 holiday project, A Holly Dolly Christmas.

“Well, I have a crush on Jimmy Fallon, but I’m big now. I can’t excuse myself on that,” Dolly jokes. “I think he is precious. He’s so funny. We get along so good, and sometimes you never know who you’re gonna connect with.”

Still, the singer admits, late-night talk-show hosts might just be her type.

“I’ve always had really good luck with late-night guys. I always had a nice relationship, you know, with David Letterman and Johnny Carson,” she continues. “I guess it’s something about late-night people that kind of hits my fancy, and I hit theirs, somehow. It’s just because you feel like you can be more free late at night. You don’t have to worry about what you say.”

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Pharrell Williams may pull his Something in the Water festival from Virginia Beach following fatal police shooting of his cousin

Pharrell Williams may pull his Something in the Water festival from Virginia Beach following fatal police shooting of his cousin
Pharrell Williams may pull his Something in the Water festival from Virginia Beach following fatal police shooting of his cousin
Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Something in the Water

Pharrell Williams may not host his Something in the Water festival again in his hometown, Virginia Beach, because of the fatal police shooting of his cousin earlier this year.

As reported by Norfolk ABC affiliate WVEC-TV, the 13-time Grammy winner wrote a letter in response to city manager Patrick Duhaney, who had written to Pharrell saying he wanted to discuss having the event return.

Pharrell wrote that the goal of the festival was “to ease racial tension, to unify the region, bring about economic development opportunities, and broaden the horizons of the local business community. We achieved those things!”

“I wish the same energy I’ve felt from Virginia Beach leadership upon losing the festival would have been similarly channeled following the loss of my relative’s life,” Williams continued.

In the letter, Pharrell went on to say that he loves the city of Virginia Beach but for “far too long it has been run by, and with toxic energy.”

Pharrell ended his letter, writing, “I don’t have any problems with the city, but I realize that city hasn’t valued my proposed solutions, either.”

His cousin, Donovon Lynch, was shot and killed by a Virginia Beach police officer on March 26, 2021, and following his death, Pharrell called for a federal investigation.

The Something in the Water festival last took place in 2019. It was originally scheduled to return on April 22-24, 2022, but now, the future of the festival remains uncertain.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Nicki Minaj can’t believe Lil Wayne’s birthday gifts for her one-year-old son

Nicki Minaj can’t believe Lil Wayne’s birthday gifts for her one-year-old son
Nicki Minaj can’t believe Lil Wayne’s birthday gifts for her one-year-old son
Paras Griffin/WireImage

Nicki Minaj just celebrated the first birthday of her baby boy with a huge party, and she was amazed by the gifts from her mentor, Lil Wayne.

Weezy sent over a dozen presents, and Minaj was nearly speechless. On her Instagram Story, as captured by The Shade Room, Minaj highlighted her son’s room full of gifts and was in disbelief. She tagged her longtime friend and wrote, “I just opened the bags & I’m shock… this is insane. I love you so much. This is A LOT OF STUFF. OMG.”

Last week, Wayne celebrated his 39th birthday in Miami, and surprisingly, Nicki was not invited. Young Money Entertainment president Mack Maine quickly apologized to the “Motorsport” rapper for the oversight.

Minaj posted her party photos Tuesday on Instagram, saying to her son, “Mama is so proud of you, PapaBear. You’re the best boy in the whole wide world. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but God bless you, son. Mommy & Daddy will never stop loving you. #KungFuPanda”

Meanwhile, Brandy wrote, “Thank you for inviting us. Wish we could have been there. Happy Birthday Papa Bear.”

The party was a child’s fantasy come true, with a bouncy house, face painting, a photo booth, water slides, and many more activities. Nicki and her family were having so much, they didn’t realize that they forgot to cut the cake until their guests had left.

“I had to bring my baby out in his pajamas. Boy u gon get this bday song whether u like it or not,” she commented. “To everyone who sent a gift, he hasn’t opened gifts yet but thank you, love you. Happy 1st bday My world, my everything.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Barbie (@nickiminaj)

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Jamie Lee Curtis decries plastic surgery, calls social media “cancer”

Jamie Lee Curtis decries plastic surgery, calls social media “cancer”
Jamie Lee Curtis decries plastic surgery, calls social media “cancer”
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

“Once you mess with your face, you can’t get it back.” 

That’s a message from 62-year-old Halloween Kills star and producer Jamie Lee Curtis, in a new Fast Company article about her longevity and how she’s entering the busiest years of her career in her sixth decade on the planet.

Curtis was asked about why she’s been critical of plastic surgery in the past, which is becoming not only common in Hollywood, but in younger and younger people, thanks to social media.

“I tried plastic surgery and it didn’t work,” Curtis notes, speaking of getting fillers and liposuction years ago.

“It got me addicted to Vicodin. I’m 22 years sober now,” she says. 

“The current trend of fillers and procedures, and this obsession with filtering, and the things that we do to adjust our appearance on Zoom are wiping out generations of beauty,” Curtis explains. 

While she’s active on Instagram, Curtis says she keeps it at arm’s length, noting, “I use social media to sell things and amplify things I care about. Period. The rest is cancer.”

While Curtis admits she’s “by nature a super-friendly person,” she adds, “I also have a very clear boundary of what is appropriate and inappropriate for me to share.”

With Facebook testifying before Congress this week about the impact social media has on young people, Curtis’ thoughts from the interview last month seem eerily prescient.

“It’s like giving a chainsaw to a toddler. We just don’t know the longitudinal effect, mentally, spiritually, and physically, on a generation of young people who are in agony because of social media, because of the comparisons to others,” Curtis insists. “All of us who are old enough know that it’s all a lie. It’s a real danger to young people.”

Halloween Kills opens October 15.

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James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich reflect on Jason Newsted leaving Metallica: “We weren’t equipped”

James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich reflect on Jason Newsted leaving Metallica: “We weren’t equipped”
James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich reflect on Jason Newsted leaving Metallica: “We weren’t equipped”
ABC/Randy Holmes

James Heftfield and Lars Ulrich feel they “weren’t equipped” to handle bassist Jason Newsted leaving Metallica.

Newsted, of course, exited the legendary metal outfit in 2001 in part to work on other projects. His departure was a sore spot for Hetfield and Ulrich, who felt Newsted releasing his own music was a betrayal of Metallica. The bad blood was explored in great detail in the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster.

In an interview Wednesday with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Hetfield and Ulrich expressed regret about how they handled Newsted leaving.

“Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly,” Ulrich says. “That in itself is a statistic. And the resentment from James and I was just so…You can’t do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave. And then we weren’t equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving.”

The drummer continued, “You can see 20 years later, it makes complete sense. We write the songs. We make the decisions. We do all of it. You have no creative outlet in this band. You have no creative voice. Then when you go and do something that gives you satisfaction in a way for you to express yourself to the rest of the world, then we get p***ed at you. Then that resentment then goes to you leaving the band.”

If something similar happened with Metallica today, Hetfield feels he’d handle it differently.

“If it was like that right now, say, [current bassist] Robert [Trujillo] comes and says, ‘Hey, I’m done here’…I would fight for him,” he said. “I didn’t know about the fight back then.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Camila Cabello on how Shawn Mendes supports her mental health: “We’re very transparent with each other”

Camila Cabello on how Shawn Mendes supports her mental health: “We’re very transparent with each other”
Camila Cabello on how Shawn Mendes supports her mental health: “We’re very transparent with each other”
Christine Hahn/Glamour

Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes have both been open about their struggles with mental health and anxiety, and they say that kind of honesty is what keeps their relationship going strong.

In a new cover story with Glamour, Camila talks about how the two both go to therapy separately and how they are both supportive of each other’s mental health journey.

“For better, for worse, we’re very transparent with each other. I think that’s why we can trust each other so much, because it’s a very 3D human relationship,” she says, adding, “I think even just the language of being like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry that I’ve been distant with you or snappy with you. I’m just struggling and I’m feeling kind of anxious.’ That level of transparency really helps a lot.”

Shawn agrees, telling the mag via email, “Camila and I give each other an extreme amount of patience and understanding. I think the truth is that when you’re struggling with mental health, it turns you sometimes into the version of yourself that you don’t like to be — and kind of loving and accepting your person through that, and being there for them through that, is life-changing.”

Camila admits that when she gets anxious, she tends to eat a lot — or “zombie-eat,” as she calls it. When she found herself doing that at a recent VMAs party, Shawn helped her get through it.

“It’s important to be on top of not just what’s making you sad or anxious, but also what’s giving you joy,” she says. “I want to be happy and enjoy my life. That’s kind of it.”

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Larenz Tate promoted to series regular on ‘Power Book II’; Blair Underwood to return to ‘L.A. Law’ sequel

Larenz Tate promoted to series regular on ‘Power Book II’; Blair Underwood to return to ‘L.A. Law’ sequel
Larenz Tate promoted to series regular on ‘Power Book II’; Blair Underwood to return to ‘L.A. Law’ sequel
Courtesy of Starz

Power fans are going to see a lot more of Larenz Tate on Power Book II: Ghost.

Starz announced on Wednesday that Tate has been upped to a series regular role for the second season of the Power spinoff. As you may recall, Tate, who was part of Power‘s original cast and recurred on season one of Power Book II, plays embattled New York City Councilman Rashad Tate. He joins previously announced cast Michael Rainey Jr., Mary J. Blige, Cliff “Method Man” Smith and Woody McClain, among others. Season two of Power Book II: Ghost premieres November 21 on Starz.

In other news, Blair Underwood in set to reprise his role as attorney Jonathan Rollins in a forthcoming L.A. Law sequel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC has put in a pilot order for a follow-up to Steven Bochco‘s original courtroom drama that aired from 1986 to 1994. The sequel will find the law firm of McKenzie Brackman now transitioning to a litigation firm specializing in only the most high-profile, boundary-pushing and incendiary cases. No longer idealistic, Underwood’s Rollins is said to be “more conservative as he clashes with millennial JJ Freeman to decide the best path forward for the firm.” Additional casting and details have not yet been revealed.

Finally, TV One has announced production on its original movie Stalker is currently underway in Atlanta. The new thriller, starring Meta Golding, Christian Keyes, and Tationna Bosier, follows Golding as Hollywood actress Tanya Moore, a woman suddenly tormented by a stalker. Boiser plays her estranged younger sister, Shelly, and Keys takes on the role of Tanya’s high school boyfriend, Damon. TV One teases that the film will have an “unexpected plot twist.” Stalker is set to premiere in March 2022.

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Mickey Guyton admits making an album while pregnant was tough, but “God gives you exactly what you need”

Mickey Guyton admits making an album while pregnant was tough, but “God gives you exactly what you need”
Mickey Guyton admits making an album while pregnant was tough, but “God gives you exactly what you need”
Universal Music Group Nashville

Recording an album is difficult enough on its own, but Mickey Guyton made her full-length studio debut, Remember Her Name, while simultaneously at work on another creative process: She was pregnant with her first child, a son named Grayson.

“Pregnancy wasn’t in the plan!” Mickey admits during a recent CMT interview, adding that “God gives you exactly what you need at that exact moment.”

For Mickey, becoming a mom meant focusing less on the criticism and pressure she faced from the country music industry, not only as a new artist, but also as a Black woman. “I know that I needed this beautiful boy to take my mind off the industry’s pressure and put that energy into this precious human,” she explains.

In addition, the pregnancy brought logistical challenges to the album-making process. “Recording and singing with a baby in your belly is a lot!” the singer goes on to say. “When I first found out that I was pregnant, the first trimester was the hardest for recording.”

Early pregnancy symptoms like nausea made it difficult for Mickey to predict when she’d be able to work, and later on, as the baby grew, it became physically difficult for her to sing.

“Then, in the final trimester, I had to learn how to sing with a six-pound baby in my belly. While recording the song ‘All American,’ for instance, there was no room for my diaphragm, so I had to wait for certain times of the day to record,” she recounts. “If I had just eaten, I literally couldn’t sing ‘All American,’ because my voice couldn’t hit those notes…”

Also on the track list of Remember Her Name are songs like “Black Like Me” and “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Netflix ready to sleigh with huge holiday line-up

Netflix ready to sleigh with huge holiday line-up
Netflix ready to sleigh with huge holiday line-up
“A Boy Called Christmas” – Netflix

It’s not even Halloween yet, but Netflix is planting its flag for the holiday season, by announcing its 2021 slate, which includes 11 new holiday movies, six Christmas-themed series, and more — 28 new titles in all.

Here’s the full schedule of sleigh-time festivities from the streaming service:

November 1 — The Claus Family
November 5 — Love Hard
November 7 — Father Christmas Is Back
November 17 — Christmas Flow
November 18 — The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star
November 23 — Waffles + Mochi’s Holiday Feast
November 24 — Blown Away Christmas
                          A Boy Called Christmas
                          Robin Robin
November 26 — A Castle for Christmas
                          School of Chocolate
November 28 — Elves
November 30 — Charlie’s Colorfoms City: Snowy Stories

Coming in December:

December 2 — Single All The Way
December 3 — The Great British Baking Show: Holidays — Season 4
                     Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas
December 6 — David and the Elves
December 14 — Starbeam: Beaming in the New Year
December 16 — A California Christmas: City Lights
December 22 — A Grumpy Christmas
December 24 — 1000 Miles from Christmas

Also coming in December, dates TBA:

A Naija Christmas
How to Ruin Christmas: Season 2

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