Tyla is ready to take over the world: “There's no way to stop me”

ABC/John Argueta

Tyla‘s goal is to become Africa’s first pop star, and she’s well on her way with a Grammy for Best African Music Performance, her global smash “Water” and her self-titled debut album. Though she had to postpone her planned tour due to an injury, she still has plans for world domination.

In addition to music, Tyla tells Billboard that she’d like to branch out into fashion, beauty and acting. “People are going to see me everywhere,” she says. “So if you don’t like me, I’m sorry.”

Even her injury isn’t going stop her from bringing her music to fans. “I’m really confident in what I’ve created. Now’s a time where I can showcase a performance style where I’m not really dancing as much,” she tells Billboard. “Maybe I strip back a little bit more and I’m just serving vocals.”

“But there’s no way to stop me,” she continues. “I’m always going to find a way.”

Right now, you can see Tyla showing off her dance moves in the spring campaign for GAP.

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Beyoncé’s 'Cowboy Carter' has left the stable

Blair Caldwell; Parkwood/Columbia

Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, is available worldwide now. 

The superstar already had a smash on her hands with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which made Beyoncé the first Black female artist to reach #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts with a country song.

The lead track, released along with “16 Carriages” on Sunday, February 11, also spent four weeks at the top of the U.K. music charts.

In a statement, Bey said of Cowboy Carter, “The joy of creating music is that there are no rules. The more I see the world evolving the more I felt a deeper connection to purity. With artificial intelligence and digital filters and programming, I wanted to go back to real instruments, and I used very old ones.”

The release, which blends the genres of country, blues, zydeco, and Black folk among others, also drew inspiration from films like Quentin Tarantino‘s Hateful Eight, The Coen Brothers‘ O Brother, Where Art Thou? and more. 

Queen Bey said, “I didn’t want some layers of instruments like strings, especially guitars, and organs perfectly in tune. I kept some songs raw and leaned into folk.”

She continued, “All the sounds were so organic and human, everyday things like the wind, snaps and even the sound of birds and chickens, the sounds of nature.”

Beyoncé revealed the album was five years in the making, and follows Renaissance. “I was initially going to put Cowboy Carter out first,” she explains, “but with the pandemic, there was too much heaviness in the world. We wanted to dance. We deserved to dance. But I had to trust God’s timing.” 

“I think people are going to be surprised because I don’t think this music is what everyone expects,” she says, “but it’s the best music I’ve ever made.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In Brief: Claire Danes back with 'Homeland' producer for Netflix thriller series, and more

FX has announced it has bumped the kickoff of the Emmy-winning Ryan Reynolds/Rob McElhenney docuseries Welcome to Wrexham from April 18 to May 2 at 10 p.m. ET. The series, which streams the next day on Hulu, will start its third season with the first two episodes of the eight-installment season. Subsequent episodes will roll out each following Thursday. The show, about the stars’ purchase of the beloved underdog Welsh football club, recently won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program …

Claire Danes is reuniting with her Homeland producer Howard Gordon for a Netflix series called The Beast in Me, Variety reports. According to the trade, Danes will play acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs, who “has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self” after the death of her son. “But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Sheldon, a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance.” The tease continues, “Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly” …

Heartstopper‘s Kit Connor, Shōgun‘s Cosmo Jarvis, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Will Poulter and True Detective: Night Country‘s Finn Bennett have been added to the cast of Warfare, the second project from Alex Garland and his Civil War collaborator Ray Mendoza, according to Deadline. They join previously announced D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Charles Melton and Joseph Quinn. Plot details have not been revealed …

Olivia Colman will not return for the third season of Netflix’s Heartstopper. “I couldn’t do number three. I couldn’t fit it in. I feel awful about that,” said Colman, who played Sarah Nelson, the mother of Kit Connor‘s Nick Nelson, to Forbes. “I feel like I was part of one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been part of,” she added. Series creator Alice Oseman explained on her Instagram Story that the show “tried absolutely everything we could” to get the Oscar and Emmy winner back for the role, and wished her “the absolute best” …

 

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US 'not willing to provide' some weapons Israel asks for because of American military readiness: General

Pentagon Press Secretary U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder. Via Joseph Clark/Department of Defense

(WASHINGTON) — The United States hasn’t given Israel every weapon it has asked for as it continues military operations against Hamas in Gaza, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters on Thursday.

“Although we’ve been supporting them with capability, they’ve not received everything they’ve asked for,” Gen. CQ Brown said at an event hosted by the Defense Writers Group,

That is partly “because they’ve asked for stuff that we’re — either don’t have the capacity [for] or not willing to provide, not right now, in particular,” said Brown, America’s top military officer.

He did not provide details about what weapons systems are not being given to Israel: “I don’t make those kinds of those decisions on what goes or doesn’t go.”

When asked if the U.S. has been withholding some aid to in order to get Israel to focus more on humanitarian aid or protecting civilians — something the White House has criticized Israeli forces for, though Israel maintains it takes such steps despite the high death toll in Gaza — Brown responded that the Israeli requests are seen through the same prism used for requests from other countries: how they could impact U.S. military readiness.

“It is a constant dialogue,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, wouldn’t elaborate on Brown’s comments during a separate briefing on Thursday, saying only that the U.S. remains committed to its “longstanding efforts to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge.”

A spokesperson for Brown subsequently issued a statement clarifying that his remarks about Israel were “solely in reference to a standard practice before providing military aid to any of our allies and partners.”

“We assess U.S. stockpiles and any possible impact on our own readiness to determine our ability to provide the requested aid,” said the spokesperson, Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey. “There is no change in U.S. policy. The United States continues to provide security assistance to our ally Israel as they defend themselves from Hamas.”

Earlier this week, Brown participated in Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s meeting at the Pentagon with Austin’s Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant. But Brown on Thursday declined to provide full details of that discussion.

He said that the Israelis had provided “broad concepts” of their operational plan for an expected incursion into the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza next to Egypt.

“We got a little more detail on some of the broad concepts of the humanitarian [plan] and moving civilians than we got on the operational piece,” Brown said. “So I’m anxious to hear both of those and how that all comes together.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to go into Rafah to target Hamas fighters, despite U.S. concerns about the potential civilian casualties, some six months into a war that was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.

Approximately 1.4 million Palestinians are thought to be taking refuge in the city.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a trip to the Middle East last week, said a major military operation in Rafah would be a “mistake” that would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

Netanyahu has said going into Rafah is crucial for victory over Hamas and to prevent future terror attacks. Israeli forces have also said they plan to push civilians toward “humanitarian islands” in the center of Gaza in advance of an offensive in Rafah.

Brown said on Thursday that he would like to hear more details of the Israeli plans that “will help tell us a bit more of the feasibility of their plan and how they’re going to execute.”

ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.

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Rise in homeowners vs. squatters incidents prompts action from lawmakers

Patti Peeples said that squatters were illegally living in her empty property. Via ABC

(NEW YORK) — Patti Peeples says she was taken by surprise last year when she discovered her unoccupied home in Jacksonville, Florida, wasn’t actually vacant.

A pair of squatters broke into one of her investment properties that was up for sale, changed the locks and caused damage to the house, Peeples alleged. To make matters worse, the squatters claimed that they were rightful tenants and produced a phony lease, according to a police report.

Peeples, 61, filmed a confrontation with the squatters; video shows the occupants of the home striking Peeples and demanding she leave the property. She told “Nightline” that her nightmare got worse after the police said they could not pursue criminal charges against the people who had moved into her residence.

“The police… gave me the really devastating news, [which] was that this was not a crime, that this had to be managed in civil court,” Peeples said.

Her ordeal is part of a rampant squatter crisis affecting homeowners throughout the United States that is prompting action from lawmakers and, in some cases, homeowners themselves.

Dionna Reynolds, a real estate attorney, told “Nightline” that current laws about squatting make it difficult for property owners to seek a quick solution to removing a squatter.

Anyone who is living in a property has what’s called “adverse possession,” where “they take that property on as their own and they do have certain legal rights,” she said.

“We would think it’s trespassing, but they have to be evicted through the court process,” said Reynolds, who added that the court process is very lengthy and costly.

Peeples said it took her 36 days to get the alleged squatters out of her property.

Other property owners across the country have reported similar problems.

Last week two suspected squatters were arrested on suspicion they killed a woman who walked in on them living in her late mother’s Manhattan apartment, police allege.

Nadia Vitels’ body was found in a duffel bag, according to investigators. The investigation is ongoing.

In an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood, property owners who have been dealing with squatters said they fear such an escalation and have taken up a community watch, patrolling their streets and taking photos and videos of any suspected squatting.

Homeowners in Studio City, California, said they were recently shocked when a squatter allegedly took over an empty $3 million home.

“They’re around, they’re helping themselves to neighbors’ packages that get dropped off in the middle of the night from Amazon,” Lori Lowenthal, a member of the neighborhood watch, told “Nightline.” “I’ve lived here since 1991. It’s a very different vibe.”

Another Los Angeles resident has made it his mission to crack down on squatters.

Flash Shelton has been dubbed the “Squatter Hunter” for his viral videos showing him confronting alleged squatters in the city and getting them to leave the property.

Shelton, a former handyman who dealt with a squatter in the house his mother owned, talked to “Nightline” about one of his latest incidents with an alleged squatter.

“Yeah, I got in between him in the house. And I just said, you know, are you, I understand you’ve been squatting in this residence and he started telling me he had a lease,” he said. “I actually followed him in all the way in and we just sat down and I talked to him for like an hour and a half.”

But in Florida that is about to change.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Wednesday that puts criminal penalties on alleged squatters.

The law, which goes into effect in July, gives police the right to immediately arrest squatters and criminally charge any trespasser with a felony for any intentional damage and issues a misdemeanor charge for falsifying a lease.

The bill had bipartisan support in the state legislature and several victims of alleged squatting incidents, including Peeples, testified during its hearings. Other states are looking into similar legislation, which she said was the right move.

“The fight is absolutely not done yet,” Peeples said. “And if some sort of federal legislation can be crafted, I think that would be the best solution of all.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich marks 1 year in Russian prison

NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images

(LONDON) — Friday marks a year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia. The first American reporter to be imprisoned by Moscow since the Cold War, he remains trapped in jail while the United States struggles to find a deal with Russia to free him.

Gershkovich, 32, has now spent 12 months in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison on espionage charges that his newspaper, dozens of leading international media organizations and the U.S. government have denounced as false. He has pleaded not guilty.

The fight to free Gershkovich has become a cause championed by defenders of press freedom around the world, as well as a grueling personal battle for his family. His detention has also changed how international media cover Russia, with most leading outlets no longer basing correspondents in the country.

In an interview this week with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Gershkovich’s parents expressed hope that the Biden administration‘s efforts to have their son released, saying from prison he is also striving to keep their spirits up.

“I think if you let the pessimism in … the game is over,” Ella Millman, Gershkovich’s mother, told George Stephanopoulos in the interview. “And our saying in the family is we’re moving forward. Moving forward.”President Joe Biden has said bringing Gershkovich home is a top priority, and his administration has indicated it is continuing to negotiate with Russia to try to find a deal to release him.Gershkovich, who had worked as a journalist in Russia for several years and was accredited by the Russian foreign ministry, was detained by the FSB domestic intelligence agency last March while on a reporting trip in the city of Yekaterinburg. FSB officers seized him as he sat in a steak restaurant.

Since then, he has been kept mostly in a two-person cell in Lefortovo, a former KGB jail, awaiting trial. A court this week extended his pretrial detention for a fifth time. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

A native of New Jersey, Gershkovich worked for The New York Times as a news assistant before moving to Russia in 2017 to work first for The Moscow Times and later Agence France-Presse. His parents were Soviet Jewish émigrés, who left Russia in 1979, and Gershkovich grew up speaking Russian, later becoming fascinated with the country. He joined the Wall Street Journal in January 2022.

“Our main focus at the Journal has been to keep Evan’s story front and of mind, to remind people that an innocent journalist is behind bars, in prison of doing his job,” the Journal’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said in the “GMA” interview.

Gershkovich is one of several Americans seized by Russia in recent years — among them the WNBA star Brittney Griner — as part of an apparently intensifying campaign of hostage-taking. A former Marine, Paul Whelan, has been imprisoned since 2018 on espionage charges the U.S. and his family say are fabricated. Another U.S. journalist, Alsu Kurmasheva, working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, has been in detention since October, charged under a law used to censor criticism of Russia’s military. Press freedom groups have condemned her arrest and joined RFE/RL in calling for her release.

Griner was released in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022.

In recent months, Russian officials have indicated that they view Gershkovich as a bargaining chip, hoping to exchange him for Russians held in Western countries. President Vladimir Putin, in an interview in February, said he wanted a deal with the U.S. to free Gershkovich. Putin signaled he may want to trade Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian man jailed in Germany as an FSB assassin.

The U.S. in December said Russia had rejected an offer that would have freed Gershkovich and Whelan.

President Biden has met with Gershkovich’s parents. He mentioned Gershkovich and Whelan in his State of the Union address in March, saying, “We’ll work around the clock to bring home Evan and Paul,” as Gershkovich’s parents sat in the audience.

“We were happy that both governments have expressed willingness to negotiate,” his father, Mikhail Gershkovich, told Stephanopoulos. “We are confident that [the White House is] doing everything they can, and we want them to continue to do that.”

The U.S. and the Kremlin have both indicated that talks about a deal are ongoing. Those close to the late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who died in prison last month, have claimed there were discussions for a possible trade that would have freed Navalny, as well as Gershkovich and Whelan, in exchange for the Russian assassin, Krasikov.

The Wall Street Journal this week reported Biden and Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz had discussed such a trade but that Navalny had died before it could be proposed to Putin. Navalny’s team has accused Putin of killing Navalny to prevent the trade.

Tucker, the Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief, this week expressed confidence that a deal can still be reached.

“Evan will be released, but it’s complicated to get there,” she said. “There are a lot of different people and governments involved. So I think, you know, we just have to be patient, and optimistic.”

The Wall Street Journal has been leading an international campaign among his colleagues and friends to keep attention on Gershkovich’s case, including holding runs for him and 24-hour “read-a-thons” of his work. Time Magazine this month put Gershkovich on its front page.

Gershkovich is able to send and receive letters from prison, keeping in contact with friends and family, who say he retains his characteristic humor. He has even been arranging via others to have gifts delivered for friends’ birthdays and other occasions. The Journal has encouraged people to send letters to Gershkovich via its site.

“He remembers his friends’ birthdays. We received flowers from him for International Women’s Day on March 8,” his mother told ABC News. “He really cares. He wants to thank people for their care about him, for keeping his story front and center.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

What to know about the deadly Rockford, Illinois, stabbing spree

Rockford community vigil March 28, 2024. Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images

(Rockford, IL) – A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing rampage Wednesday afternoon in Rockford, Illinois, that left four people dead in 20 minutes, including a U.S. postal worker and a teenage girl, and seven other victims injured, police said.

Following his arrest in the frenzied attack, the suspect, Christian Soto, waived his Miranda rights to remain silent and told investigators he was high on marijuana he claimed was given to him by one of the slaying victims that he believed was laced with a strong narcotic, Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley said at a news conference Thursday.

But Hanley said Soto was conscious throughout the entire rampage and recalled details of each attack in his interview with investigators.

“I don’t have a real answer for that,” Hanley said of the possible motive. “And I’m not sure we will.”

Soto faces four counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, as well as two counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon, Hanley said. Soto is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon.

Holding back tears, an emotional Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara identified those killed in the attacks: 15-year-old Jenna Newcomb, 49-year-old Jay Larson and 63-year-old Romona Schubach and her 23-year-old son, Jacob Schubach.

“Jenna’s mom wants the community to know that Jenna died saving her sister and her friend, and protecting them from further harm,” McNamara said.

Hanley said Newcomb was beaten to death with an aluminum softball bat after warning her sister and their friend that a man had broken into their home.

Officials said one of the seven survivors of the attack remained in critical condition Thursday, with four others in serious condition.

Ruth Mendonca, the inspector in charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago, identified Larson as the mail carrier who was killed in the attacks.

“A 25-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, letter carrier Jay Larson was taken from his family and from this community yesterday,” Mendonca said at the news conference. “This tragedy occurred while Jay was doing his job like many of us were at that exact time. Jay was doing what he loved, serving his community delivering mail to customers whom he has served for 25 years.”

Lawrence Steward, president of the local chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers, echoed Mendonca’s description of Larson, telling ABC News, “Jay was not just a coworker. Jay was not just a letter carrier. Jay is, was, and will always be a representative of the best of us.”

“He constantly had a smile and a kind word,” Steward said. “He gave us all of his best all the time, in life and leading to his death. Jay gave us his best. We will always remember that about him.”

President Joe Biden released a statement Thursday afternoon saying that he and first lady Jill Biden were “horrified to learn of the brutal attack carried out in Rockford last night.”

“We are praying for the families of those who lost loved ones, and hoping that all those injured make a full recovery,” Biden said. “We are also grateful for the heroic actions of local law enforcement, who confronted the suspect and prevented the loss of more innocent life.
Federal law enforcement have offered all available assistance to local law enforcement as they investigate this heinous act. In the meantime, my Administration will do everything in its power to help the people of Rockford and the broader community recover from this traumatic event.”

Biden added, “Families across America want the same thing: the freedom to feel safe in their community. That is my priority and the reason we’ve made major investments to provide communities with resources and law enforcement officers to prevent and fight crime. This tragic event is a reminder that we must continue to ensure that our police and first responders have the support they need to do their jobs and keep us safe.
”

Police initially said there were nine victims of the attack, including the four who were killed. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday that two additional victims connected to the violence were subsequently located.

The attacks unfolded around 1:14 p.m., local time, in a residential neighborhood in southeast Rockford, which is about 88 miles northwest of Chicago, according to authorities, who noted this was a “multi-jurisdictional crime scene.”

Hanley said the killings started at the Schubachs’ home, where Soto was visiting his longtime friend, Jacob Schubach. Hanley said Soto allegedly told investigators that he and Jacob Schubach smoked marijuana that he believed was laced with an unknown narcotic.

“Soto said he became paranoid after the drug usage. He said he retrieved a knife from the kitchen at Jacob’s house and proceeded to stab Jacob and Romona to death,” Hanley said.

A witness told investigators he saw the suspect chasing Jacob Schubach out of the house and across the street, where he knocked the victim to the ground and began hitting or stabbing him with an object in his hands, Hanley said. The witness said the suspect got into his pickup truck and ran over Jacob Schubach, Hanley said.

Hanley said that, according to the witness, Schubach managed to get up and run back into his house and that the suspect stopped his truck, got out and went back into the home, where the Schubachs were later found dead from stab wounds.

“Soto stated that he then left the residence in his vehicle and he recalled ‘taking out the mailman,'” Hanley alleged.

The mail carrier, Larson, was attacked in the front yard of a home. Another witness said he heard a commotion going on in his front yard and saw the suspect on top of his mail carrier, punching him, according to Hanley.

The witness told investigators he saw the assailant allegedly go back to his truck, retrieve a knife with an orange handle and proceed to stab Larson repeatedly, Hanley said. He said Larson yelled out to the witness to call the police.

The witness said the suspect started to approach his front door, prompting him to close the door and lock it, Hanley said. The witness watched from his window as the suspect got back into his truck and allegedly ran over Larson before putting the vehicle in reverse and backing over Larson, Hanley said.

The prosecutor alleged Soto then got out of his truck and ran to a nearby home ,where he forced his way in and stabbed a woman and her two children, all of whom survived the attack with non-life-threatening injuries.

Hanley alleged Soto then went to another home nearby, where he fatally beat Jenna Newcomb with the softball bat and injured her her sister and their friend in the basement of the home.

After leaving the Newcomb home, Soto allegedly broke into yet another residence and attacked a homeowner, identified as Lindsey Craig, with a knife, Hanley said. He said Craig ran from the home, but Soto allegedly caught her in her front yard and continued stabbing her in an attack that was caught on a security camera.

As Craig was being attacked outside her house, a good Samaritan, Keith Fahreny, was driving by in his Jeep and stopped to help Craig “without hesitation” by placing himself between Soto and Craig, Hanley said.

Hanley said Soto stabbed Fahreny, inflicting multiple injuries, and attempted to steal the Jeep. Fahreny chased after Soto and was trying to pull him from the Jeep when a Winnebago County sheriff’s deputy arrived and intervened, Hanley said.

Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana said the deputy chased Soto on foot and arrested him after a brief struggle, in which the deputy sustained cuts to his hands.

Hanley said Soto was “covered in blood” at the time of his arrest at about 1:35 p.m. local time.

Court records reviewed by ABC affiliate station WTVO in Rockford show Soto listed at an address in a neighborhood near where the killings occurred.

Within minutes of the attacks, police, paramedics, and sheriff’s deputies responded to multiple crimes that spread from Rockford into an unincorporated area of Winnebago County, authorities said.

Police said they do not believe any other suspects are at large in the attack. Rockford Police Chief Redd said that federal agents, including U.S. Postal Service investigators, also are assisting in the probe.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

'Carol Doda Topless at the Condor' directors on the famous dancer's impact

Getty, © Picturehouse 2024

As March comes to a close, continue celebrating Women’s History Month by learning about someone who helped shape the sexual revolution of the 1960s: Carol Doda.

A new documentary about her life, Carol Doda Topless at the Condor, is playing in theaters now. Directors Jonathan Parker and Marlo McKenzie spoke to ABC Audio about Doda’s impact.

In 1964, Doda became the first dancer in the nation to perform topless. She wore fashion designer Rudi Gernreich‘s monokini swimsuit and danced on top of a white baby grand piano that descended from the ceiling of the Condor Club in San Fransisco’s North Beach.

Her act launched a heated debate around what constituted indecent exposure in a public setting. The ensuing arrests and trials paved the way for a sexual revolution.

“A lot of discussions can be started with her story,” Parker said. “I always just zero in on this moment in the movie where she’s asked if she thought of herself as a feminist pioneer. And she said, ‘No, I don’t think of myself as a feminist pioneer, but I was the first bra burner.’ … Right there you have this weird, ironic coming together of an action that can mean multiple things to different people.”

McKenzie agreed, saying she was drawn to telling the story of a woman in charge of her career when many were not afforded that opportunity.

“It was a time when women were very restricted, and we were just starting to think about what it might mean to be in the world,” McKenzie said. “Carol having this career … where she takes off her top, in that time was a really big deal. And so, I was drawn to her courage where she was totally being her authentic self in a time when that was not really accepted.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Get a peek into Steve Martin's wild and crazy life in 'Steve! (martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces'

Apple TV+

The life story of celebrated comedian, actor, author, musician and playwright Steve Martin gets the documentary treatment in the new Apple TV+ doc Steve! (martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces, out Friday, March 29. It’s from Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville, who talked to ABC Audio about why he wanted to profile the living legend.

“He’s somebody who does things that can be really silly and stupid or really smart,” Neville explains. “And I kind of love the fact that he does high culture and low culture and kind of can do it all.”

One thing Neville didn’t ever figure on Martin doing was agreeing to make a documentary about himself, since “Steve had turned down the idea of doing a documentary for years and years and years.”

But, says Neville, “I think maybe because of COVID and maybe because he’s happier now, word got out that he maybe would be willing to talk to a documentary filmmaker. And so I went to his house and we had lunch, and we talked about kids and art and New York and, and at the end of it, he was like, OK.”

Whether you know Martin from his standup or movies like The Jerk or Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Neville believes you’ll find the doc relatable, noting, “I feel like a lot of the film isn’t about the celebrity stuff, it’s just about the human stuff.”

“How to figure out your creative voice and how does it connect with the culture and what you’re trying to do, and how to stick to your guns about your originality. And then the emotional questions of like, you know, does success bring happiness? And how do you actually work through your issues with your parents?” he explains.

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Kelly Clarkson tells fans not to “sleep” on new Ariana Grande album

Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande in 2021; Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande were coaches on NBC’s The Voice at the same time, so it’s no wonder they’re pals. Now, Kelly has encouraged her fans to check out Ariana’s new album, eternal sunshine.

On March 28, Kelly posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Y’all don’t sleep on this album. It’s so good!” She added hashtags for three songs from the album: “#imperfectforyou,”#wecantbefriends” and “#yesand.”

Fans immediately responded by begging Kelly to cover the new Ariana songs during the Kellyoke segment of her talk show and to get Ariana to come on her talk show to discuss the record.

Kelly and Ariana have previously duetted on The Voice and on record: Ari made a guest appearance on the song “Santa Can’t You Hear Me” on Kelly’s 2021 album, When Christmas Comes Around

The two also have another thing in common: they both seem to really like the Jim Carrey movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Ariana, of course, named her album after the movie, and it inspired the plot of the video for “we can’t be friends.” And on Kelly’s latest album, chemistry, she mentions the movie in the lyrics of her song “mine.”

Kelly sings, “Go ahead and break my hеart, that’s fine/ eternal sunshine of thе spotless mind.”

And finally, here’s another thing Kelly and Ariana have in common: both of their albums, at least in part, document their respective divorces.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

House Republicans want Biden to testify at April impeachment hearing as White House slams probe

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Thursday officially invited President Joe Biden to testify before the panel as part of a Republican-led impeachment inquiry into allegations that Biden used his office to participate in and profit from his family’s foreign business dealings — which he has adamantly denied.

The committee proposed April 16 for the hearing, according to a letter from Comer, who claimed in a statement that the “the White House has taken a position hostile to the Committee’s investigation.”

The impeachment probe, launched unilaterally by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and then formalized months later by the House in a party-line vote, has yet to yield concrete evidence against the president.

Comer nonetheless contended in his statement on Thursday that there is a “yawning gap between” what Biden has said publicly and the committee’s work.

“As Chairman of the Committee, in addition to requesting that you answer the questions posed in this letter, I invite you to participate in a public hearing at which you will be afforded the opportunity to explain, under oath, your involvement with your family’s sources of income and the means it has used to generate it,” Comer said, addressing the president.

Speaker Mike Johnson echoed that in a statement of his own, saying, in part, that “there are significant outstanding questions that have emerged from our inquiry that the President can answer.”

The oversight chairman, a Kentucky Republican, said at the end of the most recent impeachment hearing that he planned to ask Biden to testify.

That hearing, earlier this month, focused on well-established allegations of Biden family impropriety by House Republicans, while Democrats sought to cast the probe as a political hit job.

“The Bidens sell Joe Biden. That is their business,” Comer claimed then.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, shot back at that hearing: “With any luck, today marks the end of perhaps the most spectacular failure in the history of congressional investigations: the effort to find a high crime or misdemeanor committed by Joe Biden and then to impeach him for it.”

Asked for comment on Thursday about Comer’s letter, the White House referred back to earlier statements by spokesman Ian Sams, who has repeatedly denounced the impeachment proceedings.

“This is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment,” Sams wrote on social media last week.

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Music notes: Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga and more

Mariah Carey is continuing to celebrate her 55th birthday — or anniversary, as she says. She posted several more photos to her Instagram of her wearing sparkly dresses to mark the occasion. “327 vibes,” she captioned photos of her lying on a sandy beach, while she also wrote “3.27 at dusk” to caption a photo of her lounging on a boat.

Speaking of birthdays, Lady Gaga celebrates another year around the sun on Thursday. She was photographed getting dinner with her boyfriend, Michael Polansky, on Wednesday night. The singer also dined with several friends and her manager, Bobby Campbell.

While promoting his new film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which releases the same day Taylor Swift‘s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT drops on April 19, Henry Cavill talked to E! News about his appreciation for the pop star. “I was never not a Swiftie. She’s magnificent,” Cavill said.

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Maroon 5 approves of Mick Jagger's dance to their hit song

Christopher Polk/Getty Images for A&M/Octone

On March 27, Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger posted a video of himself at an outdoor bar where the local band was playing — you guessed it — “Moves Like Jagger.” Maroon 5 has now reacted to the video.

In his post, Jagger, 80, busts some moves while laughing and smiling. He wrote in the caption, “Moves like who!” It appears the video was taken at one of the rock icon’s favorite island destinations, Mustique.

Maroon 5 has reposted Jagger’s video to their Instagram Story and captioned it with an animated “GOAT” — “Greatest of All Time” — graphic.

“Moves Like Jagger,” featuring Christina Aguilera, came out in 2011 and became Maroon 5’s second #1 hit, as well as one of the bestselling singles of all time. The video features footage of Mick as a young man, showing off his signature dance style.

Mick and the Rolling Stones will kick off their Hackney Diamonds tour April 28 in Houston, Texas. Maroon 5 resumes their Las Vegas residency at Park MGM on May 17.

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Win Brooke’s Bucks (3/28/24)

Have a knack for trivia? Well, so does Brooke… Try to answer as many questions right as you can in 30 seconds. If you answer more correctly than Brooke, you win 100 bucks! Good luck!

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