(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed in Oakland Monday afternoon, her representatives tweeted.
“The assailant pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car. She is thankful that she was not seriously injured,” the tweet read.
The Oakland Police Department said in a statement to ABC News that it is investigating the incident, which took place around 1:15 p.m.
“The suspect forcefully took loss from the victim, and fled in a nearby waiting vehicle,” the police said in a statement.
Boxer, 80, served as California’s U.S. Senate representative from 1993 to 2017. She also served in the House of Representatives for a decade.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — American Katie Ledecky is looking to further cement her name in swim history with a race making its Olympic debut in Tokyo.
The 1,500-meter freestyle had previously only been available to men at the Olympics. But this year, as the Games became more gender-equal, the distance race was opened up to women.
Ledecky is a favorite to win the race. During qualifiers Monday, she set the official Olympic record at 15:35:35. That was about 15 seconds slower than the world record — which she set in 2018.
The 24-year-old has already medaled once in Tokyo, winning the silver in the 400-meter freestyle. Australian Ariarne Titmus took home that gold.
“I can’t be disappointed with that,” Ledecky said of that race, according to Team USA. “It was my second best swim ever, and I fought tooth and nail. That’s all you can ask for.”
As a distance freestyle swimmer, her bigger events are the 800- and 1,500-meter races.
The heavily decorated Olympian won one gold in 2012 and four golds and one silver in 2016 at the Games. In addition to the 1,500 and 400, she’ll look to add to her count with the 200-meter and 800-meter freestyle races.
The Olympics have made the competition more gender-equal by incorporating new events for women and more mixed-gender teams in various sports. This impacts athletes in sports like boxing, rowing and shooting, in addition to swim.
Tokyo marks a “turning point” for the elite international sporting competition as the most gender-equal Olympics in the Games’ history, organizers said, with women accounting for nearly 49% of the 11,090 athletes.
Foo Fighters have premiered the video for their cover of the Andy Gibb hit “Shadow Dancing.”
Much like the previously released clip for their version of the Bee Gees tune “You Should Be Dancing,” the “Shadow Dancing” visual finds Dave Grohl and company — here referred to as the Dee Gees — delivering a suitably funky version of the tune while surrounded by disco-era neon lights, as drummer Taylor Hawkins handles lead vocals.
You can watch the “Shadow Dancing” video streaming now on YouTube.
Both “Shadow Dancing” and “You Should Be Dancing” appear on the Foos’ new Dee Gees compilation Hail Satin, which was released on vinyl for this month’s Record Store Day. It’s also available via digital outlets.
David Bowie‘s estate has partnered with the LA Pop Art apparel company to launch a new collection of Bowie-themed shirts and other items featuring interesting hand-drawn “word art” designs.
The collection offers two different designs featured on long-sleeved and short-sleeved T-shirts, tank tops and sweatshirts for men, women and kids, as well as tote bags.
One design is Bowie’s classic lightning-bolt logo created by using titles of many of his best-known songs. The second design is based on the photo of David featured on his 1973 album Aladdin Sane, but with the image made up of the name Bowie written over and over again.
“There are Rock Stars, and there are Rock Gods — David Bowie is one of the few artists in history that’s both,” says LA Pop Art founder Joseph Leibovic. “We are so honored to put this collection out for his ever-growing fan base. The words that create our designs are used to add another layer of an emotional connection for the fans.”
The Bowie collection is available at LAPopArt.com, Macys.com, Amazon.com and other select retailers.
The LA Pop Art company previously has released apparel items with designs celebrating such other music artists as AC/DC and KISS.
Gabrielle Union is known to push the boundaries of fashion and beauty with her Flawless haircare brand and her jaw-dropping hairstyles on Instagram. And once again, the 48-year-old actress has proven she can rock any hairstyle — no matter how long or short.
Union debuted her latest hair transformation on Saturday, with a collage of photos revealing her empowering “Summer chop.”
“So, I did a thing. The movies always show women cutting their hair when all is lost, but I wanted to know the feeling of making a change when things are gravy,” Union wrote on Instagram. “It hits different, and it’s foreign to me, but I [love] this new new. #SummerChop #FlawlessChop #FlawlessCut.”
Union wore a bold red lipstick to model her new hairstyle and posed in a black and white polka dot dress, big hoop earrings, and a layer of two gold chains. Her hair was styled by her longtime stylist and friend, Larry Sims, who cut Union’s natural hair into a bob in 2018.
Mick Jagger turned 78 Monday and a couple of the Rolling Stones frontman’s band mates took to social media to share some birthday wishes with him.
Keith Richards wrote in a Twitter message, “[Wishing] you a Happy Birthday. See you very soon!!! One love, Keith,” along with a photo of him and Mick smiling and with their arms around each other.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Woodtweeted his own note to Jagger that reads, “Happy birthday Mick! Have an amazing day, love Ronnie x.” Wood also posted photos of two portraits that he painted of the legendary singer.
In other news, the release of Wood’s recently announced concert album, Mr. Luck — A Tribute to Jimmy Reed: Live at the Royal Albert Hall, has been pushed back from September 3 to September 17.
As previously reported, the album is the second in a trilogy of live albums Ronnie plans to issue saluting artists who have made a major impact on his own music, following 2019’s Mad Lad: A Live Tribute to Chuck Berry.
Mr. Luck documents a special 2013 concert Wood played at London’s Royal Albert Hall that paid homage to electric blues pioneer Jimmy Reed. The show, which was recorded in November 2013 during London’s BluesFest, features Ronnie performing with a backing group that included ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, plus appearances from guest singers Bobby Womack, Simply Red‘s Mick Hucknall and ex-Jam frontman Paul Weller.
The 18-track collection, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available on CD, digitally and on vinyl.
The Rolling Stones kick off their 2021 No Filter Tour in St. Louis on September 26.
Marco PiracciniArchivio Marco PiracciniMondadori via Getty Images
After promising he’d act “aggressively and expeditiously” to remove Britney Spears‘ father, Jamie Spears, from her conservatorship, the singer’s new lawyer Matthew Rosengart has done so.
E! Online reports that Rosengart has filed a petition to replace Jamie Spears with a CPA and professional fiduciary named Jason Rubin. Currently, Mr. Spears is the conservator of his daughter’s estate, and controls all her financial decisions, as well as her $60 million fortune.
Rosengart is asking that Rubin be given the power to not only manage her business and investments, but “additional powers,” such as authorizing professional opportunities like performing, recording and touring — as long as her medical team approves.
However, this doesn’t mean Mr. Spears will be officially out anytime soon: Rosengart also indicated in his filing that the appointment of the new conservator will be addressed in court on December 13.
In her comments to a judge earlier this month, Britney said she wants her conservatorship, which has been in place for 13 years, ended. But if that’s not possible, she said she wanted her father removed and charged with “conservatorship abuse.” In June, she told that same judge that the conservatorship was “abusive” and that everyone involved should be in jail.
On July 17, Britney wrote on Instagram, “I’m not gonna be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think.”
To commemorate this month’s 10th anniversary of his breakthrough album, Chief,Eric Church is reflecting on the personal meaning behind the title.
Eric reveals that he earned the nickname “chief” while on tour. After frequently losing his contact lenses on stage, the singer started wearing sunglasses instead, accompanied by a hat to stop the sweat from pouring onto his face. Thus, the look on the album’s cover was born.
“We got in bigger venues, I tried to adjust that, but people in the crowds would have on hats and sunglasses and wouldn’t let me adjust that, so it just became this thing naturally. So show time, it was my uniform,” he explains. “The band starting joking with me, when I put the hat and sunglasses on, they go ‘all right, it’s Chief time, Chief’s here.’ But I laughed about it, it was a joke.”
But the nickname that started as a joke has sentimental value. Eric shares the nickname with his grandfather, who was the chief of police in his hometown of Granite Falls, North Carolina.
“My dad called him ‘Chief’ as his son-in-law, so it was very neat to me, that across generations, it became my nickname naturally and nobody knew about it being my grandpa’s nickname,” Eric continues. “So when it came time to title the record, because it felt live and because it was something I wanted to show this part of our live show, Chief was the right title from my point of view, but also because of my grandfather and what he meant to me.”
Released in July 2011, Chief features the #1 hits “Springsteen” and “Drink in My Hand.” It also was named Album of the Year at the CMA Awards and ACM Awards.
Ex-Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext is suing Allen Kovac, the CEO of his former band’s record label, Better Noise Music.
According to TMZ, Vext alleges that Kovac forced him out of Bad Wolves due to his political beliefs, including his support for former President Donald Trump and his criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement. He also accuses Kovac of using racial slurs in conversations with him.
Vext claims Kovac demanded radio stations and streaming services pull Bad Wolves music in an effort to get him to quit music altogether, all while attempting to stop him from posting more of his political opinions. Eventually, Vext says, Kovac set his sights on kicking him out of Bad Wolves.
“For several years I’ve poured all of my energy and passion into building Bad Wolves,” Vext tells TMZ. “We’ve toured the world several times and charted 6 Billboard number 1 singles. All the while I’ve had to endure disparaging, manipulative and at times racially charged misconduct from my former manager Allen Kova[c] and his record company Better Noise Music.”
“Allen has forced me out of my own band and is now attempting to slander and cancel me,” Vext adds. “After several failed attempts to settle amicably, I’m now forced to place this in the hands of the courts.”
In a statement, Kovac calls Vext’s claims “categorically false,” and alleges that he’s trying to “extort” Better Noise Music.
“In 40 years in the music business, I have never made any derogatory racist comments, been accused of doing so, or been sued by an artist,” Kovac says. “Tommy Vext, a self-proclaimed QAnon supporter, has dragged us into a ridiculous, unfounded narrative that falsely paints him as a victim.”
Bad Wolves members John Boecklin and Doc Coyle add, “In all our dealings with Allen Kovac, he has never used any derogatory racial slurs. Tommy is making all of this up. Period.”
Bad Wolves announced in January that they’d parted ways with Vext. He’s since been replaced by Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz.
Former star and co-producer of The Office, B.J. Novak, has unveiled a slew of stars joining his FX on Hulu anthology comedy series, The Premise.
Tracee Ellis Ross, Daniel Dae Kim, Jon Bernthal, O’Shea Jackson Jr., and Ed Asner have been named as players in the anthology, each episode of which tackles hot-button issues like gun control, “woke” culture, police brutality and more.
FX on Hulu calls The Premise a “fearlessly ambitious new series that uses comedy to engage with the biggest issues of our unprecedented modern era.”
The network says the series, which was created and will be hosted by Novak, “combines daring comedic premises with equally daring dramatic performances, creating a new tone for a new time.”
Other stars who will appear include George Wallace, Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever and Beau Bridges.
The series will premiere its first two episodes — “Social Justice Sex Tape” starring Ayo Edibiri and Ross, and “Moment of Silence” starring Bernthal and Boyd Holbrook — on Thursday, September 16 on FX on Hulu.
