In January, Keshasaid that when Demi Lovato was on her podcast, Kesha and the Creepies in 2020, Demi talked about contacting extraterrestrials — leading Kesha to pick up the hobby herself. Then, Demi got their own show on Peacock, Unidentified, which is all about aliens and UFOs. Now, Kesha’s landed her own streaming show about similarly supernatural phenomena.
Conjuring Kesha will premiere on discovery+ in 2022, and is currently set for six one-hour episodes. The show, which expands on the Kesha and the Creepies podcast, will feature the singer “checking off her creepy bucket list” by examining “all things unexplainable,” with help from celebrity pals and experts in the supernatural.
“On this new show, I will bring along my friends to some of the most mysterious paranormal hotspots to explore with me,” Kesha says in a statement. “We will explore life’s great mysteries and aim to catch something never-before seen on camera.”
“My hope is to show that supernatural isn’t just the thing of myths and fables. We’re embarking on a spiritual and cosmic exploration,” she adds.
On Instagram, Kesha says of the new project, “me n some of my bffs are road-tripping around the country in search of PROOF of something more. I am a supernatural and spiritual explorer, i want to SEE things that i can’t explain, I’m looking at YOU, universe, to expand my brain and beliefs !!!”
Kesha and her brother LaganSebert are executive-producing the series.
(CHICAGO) — Chicago’s police union chief is urging officers to defy the city’s requirement to report their COVID-19 vaccination status by Friday.
Under the mandate, all city employees must submit their vaccination status by the end of the workweek. Unvaccinated workers who refuse to submit to semiweekly testing will be placed on unpaid leave.
Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara said, “It’s safe to say that the city of Chicago will have a police force at 50% or less for this weekend coming up,” in a video shared on YouTube Tuesday.
He urged officers, “Do not fill out the portal information,” and to file for exemptions. Under the mandate employees can apply for medical or religious exemptions, which will be reviewed on a case by case basis, but they’ll still be required to undergo regular testing.
“I’ve made my status very clear as far as the vaccine, but I do not believe the city has the authority to mandate that to anybody, let alone that information about your medical history,” Catanzara said.
He threatened to take Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to court if she enforced the mandate.
The Chicago FOP did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
“I can guarantee you that no-pay status will not last more than 30 days,” Catanzara said. “There’s no way they’re going to be able to sustain a police department workforce at 50% capacity or less for more than seven days without something budging.”
There’s been a contentious back and forth between the police union and Lightfoot.
In a press conference Wednesday she said: “There’s all kinds of things that that guy will say, must of it untrue, patently false. We’re not trying to do anything other than create a safe workplace.”
“He’s threatening litigation, I say bring it. Because we’re going to create a safe workplace for all of our employees and by doing that, we create safety for members of the public as well,” she added.
When asked, “What will the city do if over 50% of cops go into work and get sent home this week?” she replied, “I don’t expect that to happen.”
Police have been hit hard by coronavirus.
Four Chicago police officers died of COVID-19 last year, Lightfoot noted. On Tuesday, the Chicago police union’s former president Dean Angelo, 67, died after a weekslong battle with COVID-19, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Nationally, at least 228 officers have died of COVID-19 this, and 245 died in 2020, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. The page said COVID-19 is the leading cause of death for law enforcement officers in both years.
San Francisco also announced a vaccine requirement for about 35,000 municipal workers in June and those who refuse and don’t get an exemption could be fired. New York announced the same requirement, which includes teachers and cops, which took effect mid-September, affecting some 340,000 city employees.
However, the Chicago police union isn’t the only one voicing opposition to the mandate.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he won’t enforce a mandate for LA County workers to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1 for his agency. The mandate allows for religious and medical exemptions.
“No, I am not forcing anyone,” Villanueva said during a town hall-style event on Facebook Live last week. “The issue has become so politicized there are entire groups of employees that are willing to be fired and laid off rather than get vaccinated. I don’t want to be in a position to lose 5, 10% of my workforce overnight on a vaccine mandate.”
In a statement on Oct. 8, Villanueva said, “The Department will continue requiring all of our employees to register with the Fulgent system but will only seek voluntary compliance and testing for the unvaccinated.”
Similarly, in New York City, last week the city’s largest police union, the Police Benevolent Association, shared a statement opposing the vaccine mandate for emergency responders.
“In the PBA’s view, the COVID-19 vaccine is a medical decision that members must make in consultation with their own health care providers. We have pushed to make the vaccine available to all members who seek it, and we will continue to protect the rights of members who are not vaccinated,” President Patrick Lynch said in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — Luchiano Lewis was sentenced Thursday to the maximum of nine years to life in prison for his role in the murder of Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors.
Majors, 18, was stabbed to death on Dec. 11, 2019, in upper Manhattan’s Morningside Park, just off the campus of Columbia University.
Lewis, who was 14 at the time and charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree robbery last month.
The two other teens arrested in connection to the slaying were 16-year-old Rashaun Weaver, who has pleaded not guilty, and a 13-year-old juvenile who pleaded guilty and is serving his sentence.
Lewis said the three middle school friends plotted to rob people in the park and pinned the idea on Weaver. Prosecutors said Weaver wielded the knife.
In the last moments of her life, a security camera caught Majors trudging up a flight of steps in the park, dripping blood and struggling to breathe. As she reached the street she collapsed against a lamppost and died minutes later of stab wounds.
Majors’ father, Inman Majors, briefly exited the courtroom Thursday while the video of his daughter’s final moments was played.
As the prosecutor read a family statement, Inman Majors sobbed audibly.
“We still find words inadequate to describe the immeasurable pain, trauma, and suffering that our family has endured since her senseless murder,” Majors’ parents wrote in a statement.
“Tess was a brilliant student, a voracious reader, a poet and a fledgling journalist. She had big dreams. She loved everything about music. … She loved meeting new people with different ideas and beliefs than her own,” her parents said. “But mostly she loved her family and friends, her cats, and especially her younger brother. Her family misses her every moment of every day.”
“Our hearts ache as we watch Tess’s friends return to school, perform concerts, start new jobs, and experience all the things that our daughter never will,” they continued. “It is hard for many old friends to be around us. Our grief is too profound. We are too changed from the people we used to be. Our lives are forever changed, and not a day goes by that we don’t think about what could have been for Tess’s future.”
Lewis, now 16, apologized and said he felt ashamed, embarrassed and “sad in the role I played in destroying two families.”
When Lewis told Majors’ father “I’m deeply sorry for your loss,” he wept and covered his eyes with his hand.
Lewis broke down as he apologized to his father, who was seated alone in the courtroom. “Dad, I’m sorry I failed you,” Lewis said.
Judge Robert Mandelbaum appeared skeptical of Lewis’ sincerity, saying “sadly and troublingly the defendant has learned no lessons.”
The judge noted the “multiple violent acts” Lewis has been involved in while incarcerated, including the beating of another inmate with a piece of metal wrapped in a sock.
Mandelbaum said in handing down the sentence, “The defendant was and is extremely young. He has his whole life ahead of him but Tessa Majors does not.”
Though Lainey Wilson’s still a little in shock that she’s got a number-one country radio hit, the “Things a Man Oughta Know” star says she’s fired up to be a part of where country music is headed next.
“It feels like it couldn’t be a better time for me and my music. I’m proud, humbled, excited and ready to it again,” she tells CMT.
The singer goes on to say that now she’s had a taste of success, she’s “hungry for more,” and she’s hoping to achieve her goals by sticking to the authenticity and heart that helped her create “Things a Man Oughta Know.”
“I’m going to keep saying what people are thinking with my music,” she adds. “If I stay extremely honest and continue to tell it like it is, I believe I’ll remain successful.”
“Things a Man Oughta Know” hit the top of the charts last month. Lainey wrote the song with collaborators Jason Nix and Jonathan Singleton. It’s a track from her freshman project, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’.
Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland and Tiffany Haddish were just some of the stars that showed up and showed out at Netflix’s The Harder They Fall special screening in Los Angeles.
Held on Wednesday night at The Shrine, the event included an impressive group of A-list film and music talent that came out to support singer-songwriter Jeymes Samuel‘s directorial debut. Additional attendees included cast members Jonathan Majors, Regina King, and Deon Cole, as well as stars Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Seal, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, John David Washington, among others. As previously noted, the film follows Majors as outlaw Nat Love, a man set on revenge after he learns that the man who killed his parents is being released from prison. The Harder They Fall hits select theaters October 22 and debuts on Netflix November 3.
In other news, Netflix has released the first trailer for Halle Berry‘s directorial debut, Bruised. Written by Michelle Rosenfarb, the film stars Berry as disgraced MMA fighter Jackie Justice, who’s attempting to redeem herself. After her six-year-old son comes back into her life, Jackie decides to return to the ring to fight one of the “fiercest rising stars of the MMA world” and “become the mother” her son deserves. Bruised hits Netflix on November 24.
Finally, Starz has given a second-season renewal to their hit dramedy Blindspotting. As previously noted, the series, which is a spinoff of the 2018 indie film of the same name, follows Jasmine Cephas Jones‘ Ashley and her struggles moving in with her recently incarcerated boyfriend’s family. A season two release date for Blindspotting has yet to be announced.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 Presented by Amazon Prime Video
Madonna‘s oldest child, Lourdes Leon, is making her name for herself as a model right now, but she says she got some important advice from her mom that’s made her rethink what she wants out of that career path.
Speaking to Madonna’s good pal Debi Mazar for Interview magazine, Lourdes says that when she decided to start modeling, Madonna told her, “Proceed with caution and think about what you want to be known for.”
“My mom is very insistent on making me think about what I want to be known for beyond my looks,” she adds. “That’s not what I want people to remember me by. It’s not real…I want to create a world in which models have more agency over what they’re doing, and they’re not just silent clothing racks.”
Lourdes says Madonna also told her something recently that “really stuck with her,” which was, “It’s not about the money or your face or how hot you look. It’s about what you’re bringing into the world and what you’re going to leave behind.” Lourdes says, “That always shakes me awake when I get too caught up in everything.”
Lourdes, who turns 25 today, also says if she’s out somewhere and one of her mom’s songs comes on, “I don’t cringe.”
“I’m increasingly able to recognize how influential and amazing this woman is, and how empowering to other women and ahead of her time she has always been,” she says, adding, “She’s probably the hardest worker I’ve ever seen.”
And apparently, music runs in the family: “I can sing. I just don’t care about it,” Lourdes says. “Maybe it’s too close to home.”
Pop Evil has hit number one on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with its current single, “Survivor.”
The track gives the Michigan rockers their seventh leader on the ranking, which measure rock radio airplay.
“I don’t think there has been a song we have written ever that resonates quite like this song has,” Pop Evil says.
“This one is for all the ‘Survivors’ out there,” the band adds. “Thank you to all the Fans and our Friends at Radio for all the support on this song. This one means a lot, our 7th #1 of our career!”
“Survivor” appears on Pop Evil’s new album Versatile, which was released in May. The record’s previous single “Breathe Again” also reached number one on Mainstream Rock Airplay.
Neil Young has announced plans to release a new studio album titled Barn with his frequent backing band Crazy Horse, due out on December 10.
Young revealed the news in a post on NeilYoungArchives.com, while making available one of the album’s tracks, “Song of the Seasons,” exclusively to paid subscribers to the website.
According to information posted on the site, Barn was recorded “high in the Rockies” at Le Mobile Remote Recording Studio, with Crazy Horse’s current lineup — the founding rhythm section of bassist Billy Talbot and drummer Ralph Molina, and multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren, who rejoined the band in 2018 after previously playing with the group during the early 1970s.
Neil says “Song of the Seasons” is the oldest song on Barn, and was “written about this time last year.” According to the website, the track was recorded in June of this year.
Barn is a follow-up to Young and Crazy Horse’s 2019 album, Colorado.
In other news, Young recently announced that he’s preparing an expansive audio and video collection titled Harvest Time that will feature various outtakes and film footage recorded during the time he was making his classic 1972 album, Harvest. He notes that Harvest Time, which will include “[a]lmost two hours of Harvest rarities,” will arrive in 2022.
In a clever marketing gimmick, a company that helps customers get out of credit card debt has been slipping Squid Game cards underneath their doors.
For those few who haven’t seen Netflix’s biggest series launch of all time, getting one of those mysterious business cards — decorated only with a circle, a triangle and square — usually means that person is in debt, deep. In fact, according to the show, their only option is to participate in a deadly series of children’s games, with a fortune — and players’ lives — on the line.
However, for the 10,000 people who received them in New York and Miami, the debt app Relief was trying to get the word out about the dangers of credit card debt. The guerilla marketing campaign was the brainchild of the Canadian ad agency Wunder, according to Adweek.
“We thought if we could strike with something quick enough and relevant to the situation, we could create a surprising brand interaction and start the conversation around debt,” the company’s Stephen Flynn told industry trade.
Relief noted that credit card debt in America is at a record high of $930 billion, and with tens of millions out of work thanks to COVID-19 job losses, it’s only going to get worse.
What’s more, millennials and Gen Z — arguably Squid Game‘s biggest audience — have the highest rates of credit card debt delinquency.
(WASHINGTON) — Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, has called on Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin to publicly condemn attendees of a GOP rally who pledged allegiance to an American flag said to have been flown at the Jan. 6 rally near the Capitol prior to the insurrection.
“They really brought a flag up there and they did pledge of allegiance to a flag that was used to bring down the democracy that that American flag symbolizes,” McAuliffe told reporters Thursday morning. “I’m just asking Glenn Youngkin to issue a statement or go before the cameras today… and say, it was not appropriate to pledge allegiance to a flag… that tried to destroy the democracy.”
The Youngkin campaign has not responded to ABC News’ requests for comment about the “Take Back Virginia Rally” to support the statewide GOP ticket and hasn’t said whether he condemns anything said or done at the event held in Glen Allen, Virginia, Wednesday evening.
At the start of the event, which was livestreamed on the right-wing platform Real America’s Voice, the emcee called up a woman with an American flag, which the emcee said “was carried at the peaceful rally with Donald J. Trump on Jan. 6.”
Five people died during or after the riot on Jan. 6. A comprehensive review of police officer bodycam footage found roughly 1,000 instances of assault against members of law enforcement who were trying to protect the building, according to legal filings by the Justice Department.
Approximately 140 police officers were assaulted at the Capitol, including about 80 U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department. And nearly 650 people have been arrested and charged with federal crimes in connection to the events of Jan. 6, with more than 100 having already pleaded guilty.
Youngkin did not speak at or attend the Virginia rally on Wednesday, but former President Donald Trump called in to urge attendees to vote for the Republican nominee.
“I’ll tell you what, Glenn Youngkin is a great gentleman, truly successful. … I know Terry McAuliffe very well, and Terry was a lousy governor with raising taxes — that’s all they knew how to do,” Trump said in brief remarks. “You have a chance to get one of the most successful business people in the country … he’ll straighten out Virginia. He’ll lower taxes, do all of the things that we want a governor to do.”
Trump, who didn’t pick a favorite candidate during the primary campaign, endorsed Youngkin after he secured the Republican nomination in May. While he wasn’t on the ground for the event, this marked the first time he attended an event, albeit via phone, to support the GOP ticket in the state.
Another Republican vying for statewide office, Winsome Sears, the nominee for lieutenant governor, was scheduled to speak at the rally, according to the event advisory, but she ultimately did not. ABC News has reached out to her campaign and to the John Fredericks Media Network, which held the rally, to ask about the cancellation but has not heard back.
Steve Bannon, the former White House adviser to Trump who was subpoenaed to appear for a deposition with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack Thursday, also spoke at the end of the rally. Bannon has rebuffed the House select committee’s subpoena, and the committee’s chairman and vice chairwoman said last week they will “swiftly consider” holding Bannon in contempt of Congress.
Virginia voters rejected Trump twice, and by nearly double the margin in 2020 as in 2016. McAuliffe has tied Youngkin to Trump, branding him a “Trump wannabe” and frequently highlighting Youngkin’s plans and statements about “election integrity.”
But with less than three weeks until the Nov. 2 election, the race is neck and neck. McAuliffe only leads Youngkin by 2.5 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average.
The fallout over the last general election, which Trump continues to falsely claim was stolen from him, has been a cloud over Youngkin’s campaign as he attempts to fend off McAuliffe’s attacks without alienating ardent Trump voters, many of whom wrongly believe President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election.
But both candidates went on the record during the first debate pledging to “absolutely” accept the results of the election if they lose, even narrowly.
In-person early voting has been underway since mid-September and ends Oct. 30. About 345,000 ballots have been cast so far, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
ABC News’ Alex Mallin and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
