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Kim Zolciak-Biermann is waving a white flag in her feud with Nene Leakes. After a tense confrontation between the longtime rivals on Sunday’s Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion show, the Don’t Be Tardy star, 39, issued an unexpected apology on social media. Get push notifications with news, features and more. “I am so sorry for what has happened,” she wrote on Instagram. “We both know the truth, we both know that if I wanted to, I could have a law suit for the lies you have spewed, tweeting out fake texts, implying I am racist, attacking me physically, claiming my daughter tweeted negative about you and your home, we both know these are lies.” Zolciak-Biermann vowed to no longer interact with Leakes online. “I have reacted to it publicly and for that I am sorry. I should have risen above it,” she continued. “I personally will no longer engage with you on social media and perpetuate the hate. I am asking you to do the same. We are grown women with families. Enough is enough. I want us to move on.” She concluded: “If you continue this, it will be because you are attempting to stay on the show and stay relevant and that’s on you.” Shortly after posting, the reality star received support from her daughter Ariana Biermann. “I love you!” Ariana, 16, wrote in the comments section. “Everyone knows the truth and knows the amazing women and mom you are!” RELATED VIDEO: Kim Zolciak Biermann ‘Is Done’ on RHOA, Says Andy Cohen Zolciak-Biermann and Leakes butted heads throughout the latest season, with their fights often spilling over to social media. The most explosive incident came when Zolciak-Biermann said Leakes was “sick and disgusting” and lived in a “roach nest,” which came to be known as #RoachGate. Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion Moses Robinson/Bravo Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion Leakes called Zolciak-Biermann “racist” and claimed she and her daughter Brielle “don’t like black people.” The Instagram post also comes just days after Zolciak-Biermann said she would “never, never” return to the Bravo series. She told TMZ the show caused “too much stress — unneeded stress.” Zolciak-Biermann was one of the original Atlanta Housewives when the show first premiered in October 2008, before deciding to leave RHOA halfway through season 5. Now, she and her family star in the spinoff Don’t Be Tardy.

(CNN) Gymnast McKayla Maroney said Larry Nassar's abuse -- or as he called it, "treatment" -- began when she was 13 or 14 years old. It continued through her gold medal-winning performance at the 2012 Olympics in London, and didn't stop until she left the sport completely. "As it turns out, much to my demise, Dr. Nassar was not a doctor, he in fact is, was, and forever shall be, a child molester, and a monster of a human being. End of story!" she wrote in a victim impact statement that was read aloud in court on Thursday as part of Nassar's sentencing on charges of criminal sexual conduct. "He abused my trust, he abused my body and he left scars on my psyche that may never go away," Maroney wrote. Maroney, now 22, is one of several prominent USA Gymnastics stars who have said Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor, sexually assaulted and abused athletes under the guise of providing medical treatment. Read More

Pippa Middleton knows what it’s like to have someone steal the spotlight at a wedding – in part, because she herself did exactly that at her own sister’s wedding. Lest some of you have forgotten, Pippa famously stole the thunder at Kate Middleton‘s wedding by wearing *that* dress, the one that all the tabloids and publications were talking about for weeks on end after the wedding was over. In fact, major publications spent more time covering Pippa’s dress than Kate’s actual wedding, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the royals or Kate. Since then, Pippa’s been taking a much more low-key role in her relationship with the media and publicity, with exceptions every now and then. But because of her history at thunder-stealing, she understands how easy it is for attention at weddings to drift to someone other than the bride – and in this particular circumstance, it’s almost a given that it will happen to her. According to recent reports, Pippa Middleton is worried that inviting Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s beau, to her wedding will shift the attention away from her wedding and onto Meghan. As we saw a few days ago, Meghan Markle attended Prince Harry’s friend’s wedding in Jamaica, and all anyone in the media cared about the next few days was Meghan. And unfortunately, Pippa Middleton is clearly a lot more attention-hungry than Harry’s friends (who are reportedly generally down-to-earth), which means that she’s much less likely to want Meghan at her wedding. Sources tell the Daily Mail that Pippa definitely noticed how events played out at the wedding in the Caribbean, explaining, “She saw how all eyes were on Meghan rather than Lara (the bride) last week. The situation was also stressful for Harry. Pippa and her mother Carole wonder whether Meghan’s presence could cause a great deal of unnecessary chaos.” According to the same source, Pippa is now employing a “no ring, no guest” policy which will ensure that the only people who attend her wedding will be guests and their married spouses – which would essentially eliminate Meghan. However, being that it’s Prince Harry we’re talking about, you think he wouldn’t make his own rules on who he could bring? Can you imagine him NOT bringing Meghan Markle to his own sister-in-law’s wedding, given that he took her to a friend’s wedding? What do you guys think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Image credit to Meghan Markle // via Instagram

Janet Jackson is doing her part to make a difference in Houston. In between kicking off her State of the World tour this weekend, the singer took time out of her busy schedule to visit victims of Hurricane Harvey. Janet and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner traveled to the George R. Brown Convention Center earlier today to meet with evacuees. The “All for You” singer along with brother Randy Jackson also spent time with evacuees housed at the NRG stadium. Janet’s good deeds come as the Grammy winner plans to dedicate her upcoming Houston concert to those affected by the hurricane by donating proceeds from the show to local flood relief charities.

By E! Online 108 pts It's North West's birthday today, and at 4-years-old, she's already proven to be way cooler than us...but that has a lot to do with who's helping raise her. Not only does...

The Image Direct Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady were suited up the night before the Met Gala. The couple was spotted having a twinning moment yesterday, as they sported matching suits and white tees in New York City. The supermodel opted for a tailored look with a cropped jacket, tapered trousers, heeled sandals and a circular clutch. Meanwhile, the Patriots quarterback added some unexpected texture to his outfit with a deep green velvet blazer over black jeans and boots. The duo will serve as co-chairs for tonight's Met Gala, along with Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams. Bundchen and Brady, who wed in 2009, made their first joint appearance at the ball in 2008. This year's gala will mark their 10th time attending together. After teaching us a lesson in couple's twinning over the weekend, let's see if they'll match again tonight on the red carpet.

That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that originally aired on Fox from August 23, 1998 to May 18, 2006. The series focused on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in fictional Point Place, Wisconsin from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979.[1] The main teenage cast members were Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama. The main adult cast members were Debra Jo Rupp, Kurtwood Smith, Don Stark, Tommy Chong and Tanya Roberts. Cast [ edit ] Teens [ edit ] Topher Grace as Eric Forman (seasons 1–7; uncredited special guest season 8): Eric is a nice guy, geeky, physically slight and somewhat clumsy. He is a smart-aleck with a fast wit and a deadpan sense of humor. He convinces his parents to let his best friend Steven Hyde move in with them, making Hyde like a brother. His father, Red, is always hard on him. For seven seasons Eric is in a relationship with his longtime love and neighbor Donna Pinciotti. He decides to become a teacher after high school and he leaves the series at the end of the seventh season to teach in Africa. Although mentioned in every episode, he does not appear during the final season until the end of the series finale. Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart: The youngest member of the group, Jackie starts the series as the pretty, spoiled rich, selfish, often times annoying immature girl. She likes to give thoughtless and superficial advice, which occasionally turns out to be correct. As the series progresses she becomes more genuine, after her father, a crooked politician, goes to jail and her fortunes take a reversal. Partly as a result of these changes, Donna and she become better friends. By the end of the series, Jackie had dated three of the four males of the group: Kelso, Hyde and Fez. Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso (seasons 1–7; special guest season 8): The dumb pretty boy of the group wants to coast through life on his good looks. Often referred to as "The King" in many episodes, he spends the first half of the series in a relationship with the equally vapid Jackie, but their relationship comes to an end when Laurie (Eric's older sister) reveals their affairs to Jackie. He fathers a baby girl named Betsy from a librarian named Brooke during the seventh season. He becomes a police officer but gets kicked off the force because he does just about everything wrong. He gets a job as a security guard at a Playboy Club in Chicago and leaves the series during the eighth and final season. Kelso, along with Eric, returns for the series finale. Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde: Eric's best friend and the anti-establishment member of the group. By the end of season one, the Formans allow Hyde to move in after he was abandoned by his mother, making him a foster brother to Eric. Hyde has a witty, blunt and sarcastic sense of humor and a rebellious personality. He is also smart and the other group members often ask for his advice. Although Hyde dates Jackie for three seasons, in the final season he marries an exotic dancer named Samantha. Hyde later discovers Samantha was married to another man when she married him. As Donna points out in "My Fairy King", that means Hyde and Samantha are not legally married. In the seventh season, Hyde meets his biological father (William Barnett, played by Tim Reid), a wealthy black businessman (making Hyde, who was presumed white, biracial). Barnett, who owns a chain of record stores, makes Hyde first an office worker, then a manager and later the owner of the Point Place record store. He also previously worked for Leo in a Photo Hut earlier in the series. Laura Prepon as Donna Pinciotti: Eric's longtime girlfriend (and briefly fiancée). Donna is tall, intelligent, good-looking. Although she does not agree with what Jackie represents in the beginning of the series, they become friends. Donna is in a relationship with Eric for seven seasons (despite their break-up during season 4). She has brief romances with Casey, Michael's brother and Randy during the final season and quickly ends it. She rekindles her relationship with Eric at the end of the show's finale. Wilmer Valderrama as Fez: The horny foreign exchange student of the group whose hormones are usually out of control. His country of origin is never named. He enjoys eating candy, drinking beer and looking at pornography. He constantly flirts with Jackie and Donna and often makes romantic advances toward them. Initially, he has trouble getting attention from girls, but during the eighth season he becomes a ladies' man. He is in love with Jackie throughout the series but his love is not reciprocated until the eighth season when they become a couple. Josh Meyers as Randy Pearson (season 8): Hyde's employee at the record store. He is introduced in the final season. Randy appears laid back, gentle, polite and a ladies' man, although many of his flaws surface later, encompassing parts of the departed Kelso and Eric's personalities and other attributes. Tall (like Kelso), he tends to spout witty one-liners (like Eric), and makes silly voices. He forms a friendship with Red after showing Red how good he is at fixing things. While Hyde, Jackie, Donna and Kelso embrace him as a new member of their group, Fez initially does not, but soon warms up to him. Randy dates Donna for the majority of season eight, but she later breaks up with him. The two end on good terms and remain friends. He makes a brief appearance in the series finale. Adults [ edit ] Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty Forman: Red's wife and mother of Eric and Laurie, and Hyde's informally adoptive mother, Kitty is a cheerful, doting mother, but can also be assertive when pushed. A nurse by profession, she drinks heavily and is a former smoker. Her major mood swings are usually attributed to menopause, although the lack of affection and attention from her daughter (Laurie) and her mother (Bea) is also partly to blame. She is also a nurturing mother figure to Eric's rather dysfunctional friends, especially Fez. Kurtwood Smith as Red Forman: Kitty's husband, father of Eric and Laurie, and Hyde's adoptive father. A conservative Navy combat veteran, he served in World War II and the Korean War. Despite his mean exterior, Red also displays a soft side. His hobbies include working with his power tools, drinking beer, watching television, reading the newspaper, hunting and fishing. Lisa Robin Kelly (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1; special appearance season 5) and Christina Moore (recurring season 6) as Laurie Forman : Eric's attractive but promiscuous, manipulative and dishonest older sister. She flunked out of college during the first season and moves back home with her parents. Laurie enjoys tormenting Eric and manipulating her parents. She is promiscuous, often seen with various men, mainly Eric's friend Kelso, who cheats on his girlfriend Jackie. Eric, Hyde and Donna often mock her promiscuity. She also has a strained relationship with her mother who thinks of her as a freeloader. She leaves the series during the third season, but returns in a recurring role during the fifth. In season five, she marries Fez to prevent him from getting deported. She leaves the series again during season 6 and is never seen again. During the seventh season, she is mentioned as having moved to Canada, where, as Eric puts it drolly, "bottomless dancing is legal". : Eric's attractive but promiscuous, manipulative and dishonest older sister. She flunked out of college during the first season and moves back home with her parents. Laurie enjoys tormenting Eric and manipulating her parents. She is promiscuous, often seen with various men, mainly Eric's friend Kelso, who cheats on his girlfriend Jackie. Eric, Hyde and Donna often mock her promiscuity. She also has a strained relationship with her mother who thinks of her as a freeloader. She leaves the series during the third season, but returns in a recurring role during the fifth. In season five, she marries Fez to prevent him from getting deported. She leaves the series again during season 6 and is never seen again. During the seventh season, she is mentioned as having moved to Canada, where, as Eric puts it drolly, "bottomless dancing is legal". Tanya Roberts as Midge Pinciotti (seasons 1–3; special guest appearance seasons 6–7): Bob's wife, Donna's mother, and Kitty's best friend, Midge is the sexy neighborhood mom about whom Eric and his male friends fantasized when coming of age. Although often dim-witted, she later adopts some feminist ideals. She is written out of the series in 2001 after the third season after leaving Bob and moving to California. She returns during the sixth and seventh seasons in a limited recurring role. She is temporarily replaced in Bob's heart by the aggressive, assertive Joanne (played by Mo Gaffney), tall like Midge but not as pretty. She and Bob meet in a supermarket. Red and Joanne almost immediately take a mutual dislike to each other. Don Stark as Bob Pinciotti: Midge's husband and Donna's father. Bob often brags about his service in the National Guard, which invariably irritates Red, a veteran of foreign wars. Bob is known for walking around his house with his robe wide open and no underwear. He eats constantly, even in bed. Bob is almost always in a good mood and is a ladies' man. His best friend is Red, who usually considers him to be a nuisance. He usually takes the brunt of Red's abuse in a jolly manner. Tommy Chong as Leo (seasons 4 & 8; special guest seasons 2–3 & 7): A hippie, and the owner of a Foto Hut at which Hyde once worked, Leo is an Army veteran who served in World War II, where he was awarded a Purple Heart. Leo often puts play before work and maintains an easy-going attitude in most things, business included. He disappears from the series after season four, but is later referenced in season five's "The Battle of Evermore" when the gang goes on a mission to find him, but with no luck. He returns in season seven and remains on the series until the show's end. In Season 8, he gets a new job working for Hyde at Grooves. Episodes [ edit ] Season Episodes Originally aired First aired Last aired 1 25 August 23, 1998 ( ) July 26, 1999 ( 1999-07-26 ) 2 26 September 28, 1999 ( ) May 22, 2000 ( 2000-05-22 ) 3 25 October 3, 2000 ( ) May 22, 2001 ( 2001-05-22 ) 4 27 September 25, 2001 ( ) May 21, 2002 ( 2002-05-21 ) 5 25 September 17, 2002 ( ) May 14, 2003 ( 2003-05-14 ) 6 25 October 29, 2003 ( ) May 19, 2004 ( 2004-05-19 ) 7 25 September 8, 2004 ( ) May 18, 2005 ( 2005-05-18 ) 8 22 November 2, 2005 ( ) May 18, 2006 ( 2006-05-18 ) Timeline [ edit ] The creators had wanted the show to have a 1970s "feel" from the beginning, so opted to set the series later in the decade, when trends and political ideologies had become firmly established and disseminated. The idea that the duration of the series would carry sociopolitical undertones also necessitated a chain of social events which could influence the characters. Thus, 1976 was chosen, which allowed episodes set within a short time frame to address streaking, the sexual revolution, the Equal Rights Amendment, the 1973 oil crisis, and the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, all of which were culturally influential events that occurred in the earlier years of the 1970s. The shift to 1977 during the last half of the first season also allowed the inclusion of the first Star Wars movie, which premiered in May 1977. Throughout the first two seasons, episodes opened with title cards showing the season/month and year (example: Late Spring, 1977 or June 1977). These, however, were largely abandoned after season 2, with few subsequent episodes using them. However, they were used again in the final episode, showing "December 31, 1979 10:45 a.m." From the premiere onward, the episode's year could be determined by the registration tags on Eric's Vista Cruiser at the end of the opening and closing credits. The final episode's closing credits showed an "80" year tag. The show was set in May 1976 in the August 23, 1998 premiere. After 12 episodes, the series transitioned to 1977. The 23rd episode, "Grandma's Dead", was also set in 1976, because it was supposed to be the season finale of season 1. The show remained in 1977 for the next two seasons. Near the end of the third season, the series transitioned to 1978 until early in the sixth season. The remaining episodes took place in 1979, and the series finale abruptly ends during a New Year's Eve party as the characters reach "one" during a countdown to January 1, 1980. The show's unexpected longevity (it was the only series to debut on Fox in 1998 to survive cancellation) combined with the first season jump to 1977 necessitated a slow-down of the series' timeline. Over time, this proved problematic from a narrative standpoint, as nearly every year featured a Thanksgiving and/or Christmas episode, and the teen-aged actors playing high-school student characters all aged into their mid-20s by the time their characters graduated from high school after five seasons (except Mila Kunis, who was not quite 20). As the series timeline sped up and slowed down with more rapidity near the series' climax, the timeline necessitated that several major events depicted as having occurred months apart would have in fact happened within weeks or even days of one another. The timeline issues experienced on the show were not unprecedented, as other period-specific TV series have had similar issues. Most notably, M*A*S*H aired for 11 seasons despite the Korean War only lasting three years. Additionally, many TV series over the years that take place in the present time have characters age faster than normal while other characters age naturally. Eighth season and series finale [ edit ] The character of Eric Forman was written out of the series at the end of the seventh season, as Topher Grace wanted to move on with his career.[2] Ashton Kutcher switched to a recurring guest role when he also chose to depart following the seventh season.[2] However, Kelso had not been written out yet, so to give better closure to the character, Kutcher appeared in the first four episodes of the eighth season (credited as a special guest star) and later returned for the finale. Tommy Chong (who began reappearing by late season 7 after a long absence) became a regular again to help fill Kelso's role as the dimwit of the group. Eric was originally supposed to be replaced by his new friend Charlie, played by Bret Harrison, as an "innocent character", who proved fairly popular with audiences, but the character was killed off after Harrison was offered a lead role in the series The Loop.[3] Another new character named Randy Pearson, played by Josh Meyers, was introduced to take the place of both Eric and, to a lesser extent, Charlie.[4] Another new character, Samantha, a stripper played by Jud Tylor, was added as Hyde's wife for nine episodes. The location of the show's introductory theme song was changed from the Vista Cruiser to the circle. Both Eric and Kelso returned for the series' final episode, although Topher Grace was uncredited. The eighth season was announced as the final season of the show on January 17, 2006,[5] and "That '70s Finale" was filmed a month later on February 17, 2006, first airing on May 18, 2006.[6] Production [ edit ] Title [ edit ] The working titles for the show were Teenage Wasteland (named after the lyric from "Baba O'Riley" by The Who), The Kids Are Alright (named after another song by The Who), Feelin' All Right, and Reeling in the Years (named after the song by Steely Dan). However, due to the denials of these three songs from the 1970s (including The Who's Pete Townshend's denial of using his two songs for each of the two titles), and Fox Network's decision that Feelin' All Right was not too memorable, co-creator Bonnie Turner suggested that the show should be titled That '70s Show, which ultimately became the official title for the show.[7] Opening [ edit ] Theme song [ edit ] The show usually opens with the theme song, "In the Street", written by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell of the band Big Star. The original version of the song appeared on Big Star's 1972 debut album #1 Record. In 2000, Chilton confirmed that he was paid $70 in royalties each time the show aired, an amount he thought ironic, given the show's title.[8] Big Star's original version of the song was not used on the show. Instead, a cover version sung by Todd Griffin was used as the theme song for the show's first season. Beginning in the second season, the theme song was performed by the band Cheap Trick. Unlike previous versions of the song, Cheap Trick ended the song with the repeated phrase "We're all alright!" quoting the ending of their 1978 hit song "Surrender".[9] Both versions of the song (Todd Griffin and Cheap Trick) used on the show end with somebody yelling "Hello, Wisconsin!" In Griffin's version, Masterson is the one yelling "Hello, Wisconsin!"[10] while it is unknown who yells it in Cheap Trick's version during the opening. On the soundtrack, That '70s Album (Rockin'), Cheap Trick's lead singer Robin Zander yells "Hello, Wisconsin!"[11] Alternate holiday versions of the theme song were arranged for Halloween and Christmas specials, using organ music and bells, respectively. Opening credits [ edit ] Opening credits for seasons 1–7 showed members of the cast driving in Eric's car singing the theme song together. At the conclusion of the opening, a shot of a 1970s-style Wisconsin license plate (black letters/numbers on a yellow background) is seen, showing the year in which the episode was taking place in the bottom right corner. During the first season's opening, a single shot of the group is used; beginning with season 2, numerous alternating shots were used of the cast in various groupings (including the adult cast members, who had not appeared in the first season's opening). After Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher left the series, the opening credits were reworked for season 8 to feature close-up shots of each of the actors singing (or mouthing) a line of the theme song in the Circle (for example, Mila Kunis "Hanging Out...;" Danny Masterson "Down the Street"). The only actors to not say or do anything in the new opening credits were Kurtwood Smith and Tommy Chong, with the exception of the first episode of season 8, when Chong sings the last "We're all alright". Smith looks at the camera frowning and rolls his eyes. Chong looks around the room, confused as he hears "Hello, Wisconsin!" The final episode omits most of the opening sequence and instead only shows the license plate shot. Elements of the show [ edit ] The 1970s [ edit ] The show addressed social issues of the 1970s such as sexism, sexual attitudes, generational conflict, the economic hardships of the 1970s recession, mistrust of the American government by blue-collar workers, and underage drinking, including teenage drug use. The series also highlighted developments in the entertainment industry, including the television remote ("the clicker"), reruns, VCR, and cable TV; the video games Pong and Space Invaders; the cassette tape and Disco; MAD magazine; and Eric's obsession with Star Wars.[12] The show has been compared to Happy Days, which was similarly set 20 years before the time in which it aired.[13] Beginning with the second season, the show focused less on the sociopolitical aspects of the story. For example, the dynamic of the relationship between Eric and Donna was altered in later seasons to more closely resemble the relationships of other "power couples" on teen dramas. Likewise, the first season of the show featured a recurring, more dramatic storyline in which the Formans were in danger of losing their home due to Red's hours being cut back at the auto parts plant where he worked. Storylines in later seasons were generally presented more comically and less dramatically. The show also featured guest-starring actors from 1970s TV shows, such as Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper and Betty White (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Tom Poston and Jack Riley (The Bob Newhart Show), Pamela Sue Martin (The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries), Tim Reid and Howard Hesseman (WKRP in Cincinnati), Eve Plumb, Barry Williams and Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch), Tom Bosley and Marion Ross (Happy Days), Monty Hall (Let's Make A Deal), Gavin MacLeod (The Love Boat and The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Don Knotts, Richard Kline and Jenilee Harrison (Three's Company), and Danny Bonaduce and Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family). Series recurring cast member Tanya Roberts also starred in a popular show in the 1970s (Charlie's Angels). Beginning with season 5, each episode in the series is named after a song by a rock band that was famous in the 1970s: Led Zeppelin (season 5), The Who (Season 6), The Rolling Stones (season 7), and Queen (season 8, except for the finale, titled "That '70s Finale").[14] Split screens [ edit ] One device in the show is to present a split screen in which two pairs of characters speak. One character is usually seeking advice on a problem with a character in the second pairing and the other character advises them. Although the conversations appear to mirror each other, notable differences often occur. It is most often used by the couples of the show, with each member of the couple being advised on the relationship. For example, in the episode "Who Wants It More?", Donna and Eric tell Jackie and Hyde that they have been holding out on each other sexually for three days and that maybe they should cave. Both Jackie and Hyde tell Donna and Eric not to cave or the "caver" will be owned by the other. Dream sequences [ edit ] The show includes character daydream sequences, some of which refer to or parody fads and films of the time, such as Star Wars, Rocky, and Grease. The character picturing the dream sometimes also narrates it, but regardless, the other characters present see the same dream. In the episode "Stone Cold Crazy", Jackie mentioned she liked the song playing in Fez's dream sequence. The sequences are usually introduced by a wobbling screen transition. Sometimes, the transition is absent when the characters who imagine the scene believe they are real (for example, Eric's dream about Donna in "Eric's Birthday" or Jackie's dream about Hyde proposing in "It's All Over Now"). In the 100th episode, "That '70s Musical", all singing scenes were Fez's dream sequences. The circle [ edit ] The circle illustrated the teens' marijuana use, usually in Eric's basement. The picture is of the final scene of the series. In the circle, a group of characters, usually the teenagers, sit in a circle (generally in Eric's basement, though occasionally elsewhere), as the camera pans, stopping at each character as he or she speaks. It was usually apparent that the characters are under the influence of marijuana. Thick clouds of smoke, frequent coughing and an extreme wide-angle lens added to the "drug-induced" feel, although the audience never saw anyone actually smoking the drug. Also, no visible drug-related paraphernalia were seen, such as bongs or joint papers. Characters never spoke the word "marijuana" while in the circle (except in one episode "Reefer Madness"), often referring to it as "stuff" or a "stash". In the episode "Bye-Bye Basement", Theo (Leo's cousin) refers to "weed"; in "The Relapse", Kelso tells Fez that the concrete wall behind the gym is used mostly for "smoking weed and beating up freshmen;" in "Ski Trip" Kitty asks Eric why he is taking so much oregano to Jackie's ski lodge; in "Eric's Burger Job", Kelso blames his "roach clip" when the water bed pops on which he is sitting at a party; in two episodes ("That Wrestling Show" and "Hyde Moves In") Eric and Hyde can be seen wearing shirts with the words "Cannabis Sativa" written on a Campbell's soup can; and in "The Pill" Red, referring to Kelso, exclaims, "That kid's on dope!" A gimmick related to the circle and the marijuana smoking was Eric watching the kitchen wall moving erratically, although this technique was also used to show that Eric was drunk. As the series progressed, the circle became one of the series' recurring features. The only four episodes where the whole gang is in the circle are "Class Picture", "I'm A Boy", "Substitute", and in the series finale. During the eighth and final season, the circle sans smoke replaced the Vista Cruiser as the setting of the opening credits. The stupid helmet [ edit ] The stupid helmet refers to a replica of a Green Bay Packers helmet that a character is forced to wear after having done or said something deemed stupid by the rest of the gang. Eric had to wear it when he said he wanted to propose to Donna and Fez wore it when he started banging his head on the table after trying to help Kelso keep Jackie. The helmet can be seen in the Forman basement on a shelf behind the cast. When the series concluded in 2006, the last one up the staircase had to call Red a "dumbass", something he always called the kids. Since Kelso was the last one up, he grabbed the helmet. The water tower [ edit ] In many episodes, the teenaged characters often hang out on a local water tower. At the end of several water tower segments, at least one character falls off (usually Kelso). When Charlie Richardson (played by Bret Harrison) fell off and died in season 8, the water tower was renamed in his honor. After Charlie's death, Kelso fell off again, but survived, leading him to believe he was "invincible". In the "Water Tower episode", the gang painted a marijuana leaf on the tower, but it looked more like a green hand giving the finger. In the episode "The Immigrant Song (a.k.a. Fez Gets Busted)" Kelso paints Jackie and his names on the tower to annoy Hyde just before falling and ending up in the hospital. During this episode, Fez paints his manhood on the tower but only gets as far as drawing a circle when the police arrive to arrest him. Kelso was known to fall off the water tower once in every grade since middle school. Jackie and Fez share their first official kiss on the tower in the show's finale. Scene transitions [ edit ] In the first season, scene transitions (also known as bumpers) consisted of animated smiley buttons[15] or still images of faces from the 1970s with only the mouth moving using Syncro-Vox, usually yelling, in a rock form, "Yeahhh!" or something similar (ex. Farrah Fawcett saying "Yeah!" or Richard Nixon saying "Are you ready to rock and roll?") The smiley buttons were removed for re-runs and home video, replaced with flowers likewise exploding, replicating, deflating or bouncing around. Sometimes they would be visuals of lava lamps with the show's logo plummeting to the bottom of the screen in front of it. Beginning in season 2, transitions featured the characters doing something in front of a colorful, psychedelic, lava lamp-like background. These transitions featured the most prominent characters of the episode usually dancing, falling or making facial expressions. The music accompanying these colorful sequences would match the tone of the episode and characters. By the show's final season, new transitions were created to accommodate cast changes (e.g. Donna's hair color, Leo continuing as a series regular and the insertion of Randy). "Nobody's Fault But Mine (2)" is the only episode where Laurie Forman is featured in a transition. Tanya Roberts is the only regular actor not to be featured in a transition. The Vista Cruiser [ edit ] Many of the show's episodes featured Eric and the rest of the kids in or around Eric's "Aztec Gold" 1969 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, handed down to Eric by Red. For the first seven seasons of the show, the show's introduction showed the cast inside the Vista Cruiser. The show's pronunciation of "Vista Cruiser", with emphasis on "Cruiser" conflicted with the pronunciation of author George Plimpton in the Oldsmobile television advertisement for the 1969 Vista Cruiser, where he pronounced the two words with the emphasis on "Vista".[16] That particular station wagon was bought by Wilmer Valderrama at the show's conclusion from Carsey-Werner for US$500.[17] In August 2009, the show's Vista Cruiser was named third-greatest television car ever by MSN Autos.[18] Running gags and catchphrases [ edit ] In one of the show's major running gags, Red often threatens to punish Eric with many variations of catchphrase, "kicking your ass". For example, in "Kitty and Eric's Night Out", Red mistakenly thinks Eric offended Kitty, so Red says, "I swear I'll kick his ass!" In "Eric's Hot Cousin", Eric tries to get out of something by claiming he's sleepwalking and Red says, "And I'm about to be sleep-kicking your ass", and, in "Prank Day", when Red gets covered in oatmeal, Eric tries to explain that it was just a prank that had gone "horribly, horribly wrong" Red says, "Well, I have a prank, too. One where my foot doesn't plow through your ass. Let's hope it doesn't go horribly, horribly wrong!" Several of the running gags were shown in edited clips for the series finale. Some other notable running gags and catchphrases are: Red's favorite insult is "dumbass", the origin of which is revealed in "Halloween". Ironically, Eric is the first character to say "dumbass" in "Eric's Burger Job" (season 1 episode 5). The insult is adopted by the whole gang and even occasionally by Kitty. Red regularly comes up with new choice insults such as "kettlehead" (which refers to Kelso). Fez's country of origin is never revealed. Sometimes, Fez is about to disclose where he is from, or at least hint at it, but something happens to prevent him from doing so, like someone entering the room as seen in "Stolen Car", or Fez rambling in "Love of My Life". [19] Fez's real name was also never revealed. Even Fez stood for FES, Foreign Exchange Student. [20] [21] Red often calls Fez by some exotic foreign name when he is speaking directly to him. Red often calls Fez by some exotic foreign name when he is speaking directly to him. Someone, usually Kelso, falls off the Water Tower. [22] The word "burn", a term used by a character after something bad or offensive happens at another character's expense, although it is more often used by Kelso. According to Kelso in "Dine and Dash", a good burn consists of two elements: "You didn't see it coming; parts of it really hurt." Hyde would usually give Kelso a punch in the arm for either his stupidity or bad behavior. Kelso yells "Ow, my eye!" when Hyde rough-houses with him. For example, in the episode "Class Picture", a series of flashbacks feature Hyde beating up Kelso. While the two are out of the immediate sight of the audience, Kelso yells, "Ow, my eye!" and the scene cuts to the next flashback. This gag is repeated several times throughout the series, although the only time Kelso appears with an injured eye is in "Jackie's Cheese Squeeze" after he was punched by Todd, Jackie's manager. On that occasion, Kelso did not yell, "Ow, my eye!" [23] Fez uses the phrase "Good day", followed by another cast member saying, "But Fez..." and Fez immediately interrupts with an exclamatory, "I said good day!" In some instances, the words vary, but the interaction is the same. Eric has a never-ending streak of quoting Star Wars . In several episodes, he relates things to Star Wars , or quotes the film. In times of trouble, he brings a toy light saber and his going-away present from Donna was her dressing up as Princess Leia. . In several episodes, he relates things to , or quotes the film. In times of trouble, he brings a toy light saber and his going-away present from Donna was her dressing up as Princess Leia. Everyone who calls Eric's action figures "dolls" is always loudly corrected by Eric: "They're action figures!" Kitty often uses alcohol or her use is mentioned, particularly after she starts menopause during the fifth season. Fez's sex life or usually lack thereof. Often Fez accidentally reveals some perverse behavior he performed, like hiding in Donna's room. [24] The best thing to do or the best solution can be found by "The Circle". [25] Eric's attempted "secret" money stash locations are known by everyone. [26] [27] Guest stars from 1970s sitcoms would often have an inside joke referring to their earlier series. Kitty will often laugh in situations she finds awkward. British remake [ edit ] In 1999, the show was remade by the ITV network in the United Kingdom as Days Like These using almost verbatim scripts with minor changes to cultural references.[28] Merchandise [ edit ] Home media [ edit ] That '70s Show was released on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment at an increment of two seasons per year between 2004 and 2008 and a complete series release on October 14, 2008. Mill Creek Entertainment released all eight seasons between 2011 and '13 and released a complete series set on May 14, 2013. On March 6, 2012, Mill Creek released the first season on Blu-ray and season two on October 16, 2012. On November 3, 2015, Mill Creek Entertainment released That '70s Show The Complete Series on Blu-ray 1080p, featuring all 200 episodes from the series, presented digitally remastered in High Definition from the original film negatives for optimum sound and video quality and for superior home entertainment Blu-ray presentation with remastered 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound and 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio.[29] Soundtracks [ edit ] Several prominent songs from the decade can be heard on the series, and two soundtracks were released in 1999. The first is a collection of funk, soul, and disco, called That '70s Album (Jammin'). The second is a collection of album-oriented rock songs, called That '70s Album (Rockin'). AllMusic gave both albums 3 out of 5 stars in their reviews.[30][31] Reception [ edit ] American ratings [ edit ] Over the course of its run, the series was a consistent performer for Fox, becoming one of their flagship shows. Its eight seasons, consisting of 200 episodes, made it Fox's second-longest-running live-action sitcom ever behind Married... with Children, though That '70s Show did not have the same ratings success. Season Episodes Timeslot Premiere Season finale Rank Viewers (in millions) 1 1998–99 25 Sunday 8:30 August 23, 1998 July 26, 1999 49[32] 11.7 2 1999–2000 26 Tuesday 8:30 September 28, 1999 May 22, 2000 86[33] 9.0 3 2000–01 25 Tuesday 8:00 October 3, 2000 May 22, 2001 65[34] 10.8 4 2001–02 27 September 25, 2001 May 21, 2002 67[35] 9.1 5 2002–03 25 Tuesday 8:00 (2002) Wednesday 8:00 (2003) September 17, 2002 May 14, 2003 52[36] 10.4 6 2003–04 25 Wednesday 8:00 October 29, 2003 May 19, 2004 49[37] 10.0 7 2004–05 25 September 8, 2004 May 18, 2005 85[38] 7.0 8 2005–06 22 Wednesday 8:00 (2005) Thursday 8:00 (2006) November 2, 2005 May 18, 2006 103[39] 5.8 Awards [ edit ] Over the course of its run, the series was nominated for a substantial number of awards, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards. The only win for the series at this event came in 1999, when Melina Root was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series for "That Disco Episode". Additionally, the show was nominated for a large number of Teen Choice Awards, with both Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderrama winning on three occasions. References [ edit ] Media related to That '70s Show at Wikimedia Commons

A trend #Singfo­rAdele was promin­ent on Twitte­r, with fans showin­g suppor­t and love to the 'Someon­e Like You' croone­r Adele fans showered their love and support for the singer in a beautiful way, after she reluctantly cancelled the two final shows of her tour due to an illness. In a descriptive and somber statement , the Hello hitmaker said that she would be unable to perform her last concerts at the Wembley Arena in London, because she had damaged her vocal cords. Adele hints at retirement from touring Her comments came days after at a previous show at the famous stadium. Adele said she planned on taking a break to focus on her son and also hinted she may never tour again. Following Adele’s concert cancellations, hundreds of fans flocked to Wembley Stadium on Saturday to take part in sing-alongs of her tracks. Other fans performed her songs in online videos to show their support. The trend #SingforAdele was prominent on Twitter, with fans showing support and love to the Someone Like You crooner. Who fancies throwing our own Karoke night for Adele? If she can't sing… we still can? Hyde park? #singforadele #adele — Eleanor McCready (@EleanorMccready) July 1, 2017 Heart warming videos of her fans crooning to her songs lit up across social media websites. @Adele, you blew me away. I sing for you today when your voice need rest and I want you know #WeLoveYouAdele forever w ever.#SingForAdele pic.twitter.com/ZRx5Rafrcx — Adele Ukraine (@AdeleUkraine) July 1, 2017 You couldn't perform for us, so we performed for you! We love you so much! ❤ @adele #singforadele #weloveyouadele A post shared by Privileged Daydreamers (@adelefie) on Jul 1, 2017 at 3:36pm PDT Have something to add in the story? Share it in the comments below. Read full story

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Weiner looked sombre as he left US Federal Court following his sentencing Ex-New York congressman Anthony Weiner burst into tears as he was sentenced to 21 months in jail for sending sexually explicit messages to an underage girl. He pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor and agreed not to appeal against a prison sentence of 27 months or less. Weiner, 53, quit Congress in 2011 over a sex scandal and was again exposed in his 2013 run for New York mayor. His lawyers had asked a US District Judge for probation instead of jail. But in sentencing Weiner, US District Judge Denise Cote said: "This is a serious crime that deserves serious punishment." She also said Weiner "has a disease. He has a compulsivity. Some say a sex addiction." Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption As a New York City mayoral candidate, Anthony Weiner confronts a heckler Acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon H Kim said in a statement that Weiner "asked a girl who he knew to be 15 years old to display her naked body and engage in sexually explicit behaviour for him online". "Justice demands that this type of conduct be prosecuted and punished with time in prison." In addition to jail time, Weiner was sentenced to three years of supervised release, according to a statement from the US Attorney's Office. Weiner's lawyers contended the former politician had acted out of the "depths of an uncontrolled sickness" and was now seeking treatment. In a letter to Judge Cote, Weiner said he felt "profound" regret for his crimes and that his misconduct had "crushed the aspirations" of his wife, Huma Abedin, and ruined their marriage. Ms Abedin filed for divorce on the same day as her husband was found guilty in May. She did not attend the sentencing, but asked for leniency on their son's behalf in a letter to the judge. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Anthony Weiner (L) and Huma Abedin split last year The FBI began investigating Weiner last September after the Daily Mail reported that he had exchanged obscene messages with a North Carolina teenager. The 15-year-old girl said he had asked her to undress on camera. A month earlier, Ms Abedin announced she was separating from her husband after it emerged he sent a photo of himself in his underpants with his toddler son nearby. The New York Post reported that Weiner had sent sexual messages along with the photo to an unidentified woman in 2015. Once a rising Democratic star, he stepped down from Congress in June 2011 after a graphic image sent from his Twitter account went public. Initially claiming his account was hacked, he eventually confessed to having lied. Weiner also admitted indulging in explicit online exchanges with at least six other women and pledged to seek therapy. He tried to revive his political career in 2013 by running for mayor of New York. But his campaign imploded amid reports of further graphic online messages. The investigation into Weiner's sexting case played a role in last year's 2016 presidential election, when authorities found emails on his laptop from Ms Abedin, who was a senior aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. A separate FBI investigation into Mrs Clinton's private use of email while she was secretary of state was closed after officials said nothing incriminating was found.

It is indisputable that This Is Us left its mark the TV landscape this past season, emerging as broadcast TV’s big new breakout. The facts — and oodles of social media comments — also have shown that this high-octane family dramedy has deeply affected fans, to the point of tears. On Monday, NBC has released its first teaser in anticipation of season 2 — there’s no new footage, as production on the new episodes hasn’t begun — and in the emotionally charged spot, real-life fans gush about the impact that the Pearson clan has had on them. (For example, one named her daughter after Chrissy Metz’s Kate.) But these viewers are in for another twist, as This Is Us stars Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Metz surprise them mid-testimonial. You can see the shock and awe that results from these encounters in the footage above. This Is Us returns this fall, but on a new night: Thursday. To read what Milo Ventimiglia had to say about the season 1 finale, click here.

The 'Veep' star opened up about her road to recovery, returning to work and using her platform to advocate for other breast cancer patients. Weeks after returning to the set of Veep for its seventh and final season, Julia Louis-Dreyfus is opening up about the breast cancer diagnosis that forced her to press pause on production of the hit HBO comedy. Speaking with InStyle for a profile published Tuesday, the 57-year-old actress explained how she's changed from her battle against the disease, which she was diagnosed with in September 2017. "I do feel different, but I can’t quite articulate how. I’ve come out the other side of this, and I’m still not exactly sure how to define the difference other than to say I’m grateful, of course, but it’s more than that," she told the magazine. "It’s bigger." Louis-Dreyfus also stressed that she's hopeful to close this chapter in her life, which included three rounds of chemotherapy. "I’m not someone who likes looking back. I look forward. That’s how I operate. We’ll finish an episode, and I am just ready for the next thing," she added. “I’m always just moving on, you know?" Part of the "next thing" for Louis-Dreyfus is advocating for other breast cancer patients. The Seinfeld alum has signed on to her first cancer awareness initiative, helping Carolina Herrera designer Wes Gordon design a T-shirt for Saks Fifth Avenue's 20th year raising money through its Key to the Cure program. "Saks Fifth Avenue asked if I wanted to be their Key to the Cure ambassador, and it seemed like a good fit and the timing worked out well," said Louis-Dreyfus, adding that the money raised will benefit the AiRS (Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery) Foundation, which offers financial support to breast cancer patients who can't afford reconstructive surgery. The limited-edition shirt will sell for $35 at Saks stores during the month of October. "There are plenty of women who decide not to get reconstruction, which is fine," said Louis-Dreyfus. "But if you want it and can’t afford it, that’s heartbreaking to me. The gap between the haves and the have-nots in our country — it’s a very wide divide right now. I’m lucky enough to be in a union where I get fabulous benefits. Not everyone is so lucky." Aside from helping others, the Emmy-winning star said in another interview with the Associated Press that she couldn't be happier to settle back into her character Selina Meyer's shoes on the set of Veep. "I feel good. I feel strong. I've got energy and, yeah, back to my old tricks," she said. "It feels like I never left." On Aug. 16, Louis-Dreyfus took to social media to share a touching moment before the first shot of season seven. "I really appreciate everyone coming back — working it out to come back. I'm very grateful, thank you very much," the actress said in a video, addressing her cast and crew. "So deeply grateful to be back together with all these superb people," she captioned the post. After Louis-Dreyfus announced her breast cancer diagnosis, the show catered its schedule around its star while she underwent treatment. Season six of Veep, which aired its finale in June 2017, ended with Meyer deciding to run for president again and rescinding her plan to settle into life as an ex-president. Veep is expected to return next spring.

Bad news, Brangelina fans—according to new reports, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's divorce is due to be finalized within the next few weeks. It truly is the end of an era. Recently, news broke that Jolie had been seeing a new man, amid rumors that Pitt has been dating new people too. A source revealed to Entertainment Tonight in March 2018 that, "Angie has told some friends she isn't ready to date, but she has been seeing a handsome, older-looking man who is a real estate agent." Advertisement - Continue Reading Below And now, the Daily Mail reports that the former couple has "agreed on terms" for their divorce, and that they "are believed to have finally made their relationship 'respectful' for the sake of their six children." Sadly, it looks like Pitt and Jolie are never, ever getting back together. Getty Images The Sun is also reporting that the divorce is imminent, and that the progress Jolie and Pitt have made is actually really positive: "It’s a huge turnaround from where the marriage ended, especially given the claims Angelina made against Brad, but they are now on pretty good terms." The pair are ready to co-parent their six kids, but move on romantically. The divorce news follows reports that Pitt has made some positive changes in his life since his dramatic split from Jolie. As People noted last month, "Brad seems to be in a better place. The separation was very dark for him, but lately he looks healthier and happier. He seems excited about life."

The Hollywood premiere of Wonder Woman on Thursday got a double dose of Diana Prince. Gal Gadot, who plays the titular heroine in Patty Jenkins’ film, joined original Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter on the red carpet. Carter, who starred on the beloved TV series in the 1970s, previously teamed up with Gadot at the United Nations last year, when Wonder Woman was named an honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. (The U.N. ultimately dropped that campaign two months later, after the initiative was met with criticism.) “In some magical and mystical way, there lies within each of us Wonder Woman,” Carter said at the time. “She is real. She lives and she breathes. I know this because she lives in me, and she lives in the stories that these women tell me, day in and day out. I see it in the letters and in the stories. I read it on social media. I see it in the tears that fall from the eyes of the women who say it saved them from some awful thing that they endured — because they saw that they could do something great.” Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Gadot slipped on the Amazonian gauntlets first for Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. She now headlines her own Wonder Woman movie, due in theaters June 2. Based on early reviews, the future looks bright for Diana. Gadot will also reprise the role on screen for Justice League. The two actresses were photographed bowing down to each other in front of the cameras and director Jenkins. “What a wonderful movie!! Gal Gadot is fabulous as Wonder Woman. I had so much fun at the premiere,” Carter tweeted on Friday. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Wonder Woman also stars Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Elena Anaya, and Lucy Davis.

Just one day after a report surfaced that Katy Perry and Robert Pattinson were spied making out, we’re now hearing that the hunky actor has been after her forever! If you’re anything like us, when reports first began circulating on Jan. 27 that Robert Pattinson, 31, and Katy Perry, 33, were spotted making out together you pretty much lost your mind! And you’ve got a good reason to! These 2 have been friends forever, they’re some of the hottest celebs in Hollywood and together they’d be the best couple ever! And now we’re now hearing that this reported bit of PDA didn’t come out of nowhere! According to our sources, Rob has been after Katy for a long time! Head here to take a look back at Katy and Rob’s friendship! “Rob has been majorly crushing on Katy for ages, but she was insistent on them being just friends,” an insider tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “Rob wasn’t going to take no for an answer though, and he was determined to win her over. Sure enough, after a prolonged charm offensive, Katy finally gave in, and they’ve been casually dating for a while now. It’s nothing serious at this point, although Rob would definitely love to take things to the next level— but he’s happy to go at Katy’s pace, for now. Rob is crazy about Katy, she’s pretty much his ideal woman—Strong, independent, creative, smart, and sexy—she’s the full package.” We wholeheartedly agree! As we previously reported, Rob and the pop songstress were seen kissing at the Taix French Restaurant in LA. “They were making out,” a witness told Wonderwall.com. Their onlooker also shared they were being cute and “totally a couple.” Wow! Now we’re dying to see photos of these 2 together! HollywoodLifers, are you loving these details as much as us?! Share your thoughts and responses in the comments section below!

American Idol fans were delighted to hear earlier this week that the singing-competition show will be returning to ABC for the 2017-2018 season. There's no official word on the host or judges, but original cast member Simon Cowell will definitely not take part. The music mogul, 57, was part of the show from 2002 through the mid-2010s, but told "Extra" on Thursday he doesn't have much "interest" in coming back, especially without the original lineup. "Randy [Jackson], Ryan [Seacrest] and Paula [Abdul]. You can’t recreate that,” he said. Cowell said he was asked but kindly replied, "No." He might have other obligations anyway, including judging duties on "America's Got Talent." When the announcement of the show's return made news on Tuesday, Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, said in a statement, "'American Idol' is a pop culture staple that left the air too soon ... We are thrilled viewers will once again share in these inspiring stories of people realizing their dreams." That news came one day after longtime “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest joined “Live With Kelly and Ryan." He'll be moving to New York during the week to film the morning show. No word on if he'll be coming back for "Idol." He did speak about a possible comeback in one of his first days on "Live." ABC News' Katie Kindelan contributed to this report.

Grant Park is being evacuated due to weather. Please make your way to the nearest exit. https://t.co/U5S24qzchL pic.twitter.com/lhGRsJGBW5 — Lollapalooza (@lollapalooza) August 4, 2017 Mass, soaking wet exodus from @lollapalooza as storm moves in over Grant Park @abc7chicago pic.twitter.com/EwuOyLnRAu — liz nagy (@liznagy) August 4, 2017 Lollapalooza organizers evacuated Grant Park just after 9 p.m. on the first day of the music festival due to weather, bringing the festival's first day of performances to a close early.Performances from headliners Lorde and Muse were already underway when the evacuation was ordered.Organizers said they decided to cut the performances short due to an approaching storm and warnings from the National Weather Service."We are disappointed to have to end today's performances early, however our first priority is the safety of our fans, staff and artists," said Sandee Fenton, Director of Publicity for C3 Presents, the promoter behind Lollapalooza.If there is severe weather or another emergency situation at Lollapalooza, there are shelter sites in underground parking garages around Grant Park.One of the shelters is at Grant Park North, located at 25 North Michigan Avenue between East Madison and East Washington streets. Another shelter is at Grant Park South, located at 325 South Michigan Avenue between East Jackson Boulevard and East Van Buren. Another shelter is at the Millennium Lakeside garage located at 5 South Columbus Drive, between East Monroe and East Randolph streets.There are signs to direct people to these locations. Safety officials will be available to give directions.More than 170 performers will hit eight stages at this year's four-day music fest. Wiz Kalifa, Lorde, Muse and Cage the Elephant were a few of Thursday's headliners. CLICK HERE for the full concert schedule.Gates opened at 11 a.m. Festival-goers will need wristbands to get in and will be subject to a security screening. Large bags are prohibited and all bags will be searched. Attendees can re-enter up to three times per day. CLICK HERE for additional information on allowed and prohibited items, as well as tips for attending Lollapalooza, click here.About 100,000 people are expected to attend Lollapalooza each day. Although general admission packages quickly sold out, there is an official ticket exchange where people can buy and sell tickets at lollapalooza.com "We have a plan of a schedule that we want to go see. But, you know, it falls to pieces and you really see whoever sounds good," said Blake Shreves, who arrived early for the music festival."The storms? Actually, I look forward to the storms. All the dirt on the inside turns into a mudslide. It's one big party. Love it," said Gavin Humfleet, who also arrived early for Lolla.Parking will be available, but public transportation is probably the best to get to Grant Park. Lollapalooza organizers arranged shuttles from several different suburban locations. Divvy will have special valet service at the Jackson and Michigan station for bike riders.

(Spoilers ahead for the final season of Netflix’s “House of Cards”) “House of Cards'” final season is here and now we know how the show wrote out Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood. The short story is: He’s dead, which we’ve known for a while without knowing any other meaningful details. When the season begins, its mentioned that he died in his sleep and we see photos of Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood, now president, looking at her dead husband’s casket. But here’s what happened, as far as we know: After Claire declined Frank’s phone call in the Oval Office (when Season 5 ended, she was supposed to pardon him for, well, all that stuff he did over the course of the series), she mentions to the camera it was the last time they spoke. Two months later, Frank storms into the White House, furious at Claire for not giving him the pardon she promises she would. Scared, Claire locked herself in her room and found Frank dead in his bed the next morning. She told the public they were both in that bed. And, privately, she believes he was murdered. Also Read: Here's Everything Coming to and Leaving Netflix in November An autopsy revealed he died from an overdose from his liver medication, which Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly) claims is something he wouldn’t do by accident. And, of course, it wasn’t an accident, though what exactly happened isn’t revealed until the very last scene of the series. It turned out that Frank was murdered by Doug, who mixed up the medication. Doug says that he killed Frank because Frank was going to murder Claire for not following through on her promise. As Doug explains it, “I had to protect the legacy from the man.” The idea here throughout the season is that Doug Stamper is obsessed with protecting Frank’s reputation above all else. While everybody else is scheming nonstop and jockeying for power, Doug is constantly switching sides as he tries to figure out which side will actually prevent Frank’s name from being dragged through the mud. Also Read: 'Sabrina': Biggest Differences Between Netflix Series' Premiere and Comics Issue #1 And he murdered Frank for exactly that reason. If Frank were to murder Claire there’s almost no way he would have been able to get away with it, and would thus would be remembered almost entirely for having done that. So Doug had to kill him. Spacey was fired from the Netflix series last December, following multiple accusations of sexual assault. Netflix also dropped Spacey’s film “Gore,” on famous writer Gore Vidal, in the wake of the accusations. Though he’s obviously never seen — even the photos of Clair looking at his casket don’t show his face, and Frank made audio diaries that are mentioned often but never heard — Frank Underwood’s presence as the show’s lead for the first five seasons is felt throughout the final season. In fact, much of what Claire has to deal with as president is weathering the fallout from all the political deals Frank made while president. This is especially apparent with the Shepherds (Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane), who serve as the season’s main antagonists after Claire won’t honor deals they made with Frank. The sixth and final season of “House of Cards” is now available on Netflix.

While we haven't seen Marc Daly on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kenya Moore's husband and his NYC eatery have definitely been a hot topic of discussion for the squad and viewers. And slowly, we're peeling back the layers on Kenya's camera-shy hubby. Last week, NeNe Leakes shed some insight on his Brooklyn restaurant, SoCo, telling The Daily Dish that while she has yet to make the pilgrimage to the hotspot, the buzz is positive: "I've heard that it's a good place." So when Kandi Burruss stopped by, we just had to learn more about the man in Kenya's life — and she definitely shined a new light on them as a couple, how Marc and Todd Tucker have bonded, and if the food at SoCo is really as tasty as the rumors suggest. Find out what she had to say in the video above. Marc's restaurant recently got some major accolades when Travel Noire magazine voted SoCo as one of the 50 best restaurants in the country, and also named a fan favorite as well as an editor's pick. Kenya and Marc surprised everyone when they married last June on the beach in St. Lucia. Below, you can hear more about their romance from Mrs. Daly herself.

Kevin Spacey Will Host the 2017 Tony Awards The Oscar and Tony winner will emcee the June 11 event. Oscar and Tony Award winner and House of Cards star Kevin Spacey is set to host the 71st annual Tony Awards, which will take place Sunday, June 11 at Radio City Music Hall. “I was their second choice for Usual Suspects, fourth choice for American Beauty and 15th choice to host this year's Tony Awards. I think my career is definitely going in the right direction,” said Spacey in a statement. “Maybe I can get shortlisted to host the Oscars if everyone else turns it down.” Nominations for this year's Tonys will be announced May 2 by two performers who received nods last year: Hamilton's Christopher Jackson and She Loves Me's Jane Krakowski. Read: CHRISOPHER JACKSON AND JANE KRAKOWSKI TO ANNOUNCE 2017 TONY NOMINATIONS “We're excited to be working with a witty and charming host who is not only a Tony-winning actor and fan of live theatre, he's also a president who is a true champion of the arts,” said Executive Producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner. Spacey won Academy Awards for his performances in American Beauty and The Usual Suspects. He currently stars as Frank Underwood on the Netflix drama House of Cards, for which he has received a Golden Globe Award and four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Read: TONY AWARDS ANNOUNCE OFFICIAL 2017 CALENDAR OF EVENTS In 1991, Spacey won a Tony Award for his role as Louie in Lost in Yonkers. He received a subsequent nomination for The Iceman Cometh, and last appeared on Broadway in A Moon for the Misbegotten. His additional stage credits include Long Day's Journey Into Night, Hurlyburly, and Ghosts. He also served as the artistic director of the Old Vic from 2003 to 2015, during which time he appeared in such productions as Richard II, Inherit the Wind and Richard III. Take a look at Spacey in Richard III in its New York engagement below. The 71st annual Tony Awards, presented by the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing, will air on CBS at 8 PM on June 11. LOVE BROADWAY? CHECK OUT THE NEW ARRIVALS AT THE PLAYBILL STORE!

Mexican telenovela actor William Levy currently leads a fascinating family life with his longtime girlfriend and kids, but despite being seen as an inspiration for fathers and lovers, the Cuidado con el angel star has his own dark history. William previously cheated on his wife-like partner multiple times and currently repents on his previous acts, but he still seems unable to make a lifetime commitment to his lover. Cheated On Longtime Girlfriend; Secretly Dating Mexican Actresses William's relationship with his model-girlfriend Elizabeth Gutiérrez goes way back to 2003. Crossing more than a decade together, the couple is currently the parents to two adorable kids; a son named Christoper and a daughter, Kailey. You May Also Like:- Cree Summer Gushes Over Keeper Husband - Kids Are Add-Ons To Happiness Considering their longtime dating, William and his wife-like-girlfriend are content with their relationship and children; however, this has not always been the case since William allegedly cheated on his girlfriend multiple times. William, along with partner Elizabeth and children, Christopher and Kailey in May 2018 (Photo: William Levy's Instagram) It was September 2014 when Ximena Navarrete, William's co-star from the Mexican telenovela La Tempestad, revealed that the two were secretly dating. Ximena reportedly confessed her relationship to some of her closest friends and mentioned that she was madly in love with William. The revelation followed the rumors of the Mexican actor cheating on his longtime partner that initiated after the photos of him and Ximena hanging out in a Miami hotel surfaced the media. Following the incident, Elizabeth broke up with her boyfriend in December 2014. Although the pair didn't reveal the reason for their split, it was apparent that the trigger was William's adultery. The couple eventually got back together and resumed their romance until 2017 when another incident of William's past infidelity was disclosed. But, that was hardly the end of William's cheating incident! Earlier in 2017, Mexican actress Jacqueline Bracamonte revealed that she had an affair with William after the starred together in a soap opera in 2009. She mentioned that William had lied to her about breaking up with Elizabeth and said that he was single at the time. Jacqueline added that once she found out that her partner was in a relationship and had even fathered a child, she immediately broke up with him. Even though Elizabeth was shocked with her boyfriend's infidelity, she didn't break up with him as it was a thing of the past and William had vowed never to commit these transgressions again. A Happy Family Of Four Currently, William is a total family man dedicating all his time and energy with his girlfriend and children. The sweet family of four often plans different activities together. Back in August 2017, William's children and partner showed their unconditional love for him when they prepared a surprise birthday party for William. Similarly, William also adores his kids and have flaunted his love for them through social media on several occasions. His first-born, Christopher is a prolific baseball player and may even take up a career in the sport. On 6 March 2017, William shared an Instagram post in which he mentioned that Christopher had won a baseball championship playing for a local team named Clutch Miami and even expressed his concerns as a proud father. Similarly, William's daughter, Kailey is the apple of his eye whom he considers to be his everything. On 6 March 2018, he posted a picture of his youngest kid and wished Kailey for her birthday. William Levy's daughter Kailey in 2018 (Photo: William Levy's Instagram) William shares a loving relationship with Elizabeth, but the two have not mentioned their intention of getting married. Although he proposed to her several years before in 2013 on Christmas Eve, the pair has not talked about their plans to getting married in the recent times. This has left many many wondering if William ever intends to make Elizabeth his wife. With some even accusing him of secretly being gay due to his lack of commitment. Open For Gay Roles; Gay In Real Life? William, who is often called the "Cuban Brad Pitt," revealed in a 2014 interview with Fox News Latino that he had grown tired of being portrayed as the muscular hunk and wanted to do some serious acting. He even mentioned that he was open to playing gay roles if the character was profound and inspirational. When asked if he would perform as a gay man in a movie, William answered, "I'll have to see. I'm not against that — not at all. But, it'll ultimately be up to the script and whether the character shows a depth of emotion and is inspirational." However, this doesn't mean that he is gay in real life. It would be absurd even to think that the who cheated on his partner with multiple women, would be secretly a gay man hiding in the closet.

Jeopardy redirects here. For other uses, see Jeopardy (disambiguation) Jeopardy! is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show features a quiz competition in which contestants are presented with general knowledge clues in the form of answers, and must phrase their responses in the form of questions. The original daytime version debuted on NBC on March 30, 1964, and aired until January 3, 1975. A weekly nighttime syndicated edition aired from September 1974 to September 1975, and a revival, The All-New Jeopardy!, ran on NBC from October 1978 to March 1979. The current version, a daily syndicated show produced by Sony Pictures Television, premiered on September 10, 1984. Both NBC versions and the weekly syndicated version were hosted by Art Fleming. Don Pardo served as announcer until 1975, and John Harlan announced for the 1978–1979 show. Since its inception, the daily syndicated version has featured Alex Trebek as host and Johnny Gilbert as announcer. With over 7,000 episodes aired,[3] the daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! has won a record 33 Daytime Emmy Awards as well as a Peabody Award. In 2013, the program was ranked No. 45 on TV Guide's list of the 60 greatest shows in American television history. Jeopardy! has also gained a worldwide following with regional adaptations in many other countries. The daily syndicated series' 35th season premiered on September 10, 2018.[4] Gameplay [ edit ] Three contestants each take their place behind a lectern, with the returning champion occupying the leftmost lectern (from the viewer's perspective). The contestants compete in a quiz game comprising three rounds: Jeopardy!, Double Jeopardy!, and Final Jeopardy!. The material for the clues covers a wide variety of topics, including history and current events, the sciences, the arts, popular culture, literature, and languages. Category titles often feature puns, wordplay, or shared themes, and the host will regularly remind contestants of topics or place emphasis on category themes before the start of the round. First two rounds [ edit ] Jeopardy! game board since November 26, 2001, showing the dollar values used in the first round The layout of thegame board since November 26, 2001, showing the dollar values used in the first round The Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! rounds each feature six categories, each of which contains five clues, which are ostensibly valued by difficulty. The dollar values of the clues increased over time. On the original Jeopardy! series, clue values in the first round ranged from $10 to $50. On The All-New Jeopardy!, they ranged from $25 to $125. The current series' first round originally ranged from $100 to $500, and were doubled to $200 to $1,000 on November 26, 2001.[8] On the Super Jeopardy! specials, clues were valued in points rather than in dollars, and ranged in the first round from 200 to 1,000 points. The Jeopardy! round begins when the returning champion selects any position on the game board. The underlying clue is revealed and read aloud by the host, after which any contestant may ring-in using a hand-held signaling device. The first contestant to ring-in successfully is prompted to provide a response to the clue, phrased in the form of a question. For example, if a contestant were to select "Presidents for $200", the resulting clue could be "This 'Father of Our Country' didn't really chop down a cherry tree", to which the correct response would be "Who is/was George Washington?" (Contestants are free to phrase the response in the form of any question; the traditional phrasing of "who is/are" for people or "what is/are" for things or words is almost always used.) If the contestant responds correctly, the clue's dollar value is added to the contestant's score, and they may select a new clue from the board. An incorrect response, or a failure to respond within five seconds, deducts the clue's value from the contestant's score and allows the other contestants the opportunity to ring-in and respond. If no contestant both rings-in and responds correctly, the host gives the correct response; the "last correct questioner" chooses the next clue.[9] Contestants are encouraged to select the clues in order from lowest to highest value, as the show's writers write the clues in each category to flow from one to the next, as is the case with game shows that ask questions in a linear string. Contestants are not required to do so unless the category requires clues to be taken in order; the "Forrest Bounce," a strategy in which contestants randomly pick clues to confuse opponents, has been used successfully by Arthur Chu and the strategy's namesake Chuck Forrest, despite Trebek noting that the strategy not only annoys him but staffers as well, since it also disrupts the rhythm that develops when revealing the clues and increases the potential for error.[10] From the premiere of the original Jeopardy! until the end of the first season of the current syndicated series, contestants were allowed to ring-in as soon as the clue was revealed. Since September 1985, contestants are required to wait until the clue is read before ringing-in. To accommodate the rule change, lights were added to the game board (unseen by home viewers) to signify when it is permissible for contestants to signal; attempting to signal before the light goes on locks the contestant out for half of a second. The change was made to allow the home audience to play along with the show more easily and to keep an extremely fast contestant from potentially dominating the game. In pre-1985 episodes, a buzzer would sound when a contestant signaled; according to Trebek, the buzzer was eliminated because it was "distracting to the viewers" and sometimes presented a problem when contestants rang in while Trebek was still reading the clue. Contestants who are visually impaired or blind are given a card with the category names printed in Braille before each round begins, and an audible tone is played after the clue has been read aloud. The second round, Double Jeopardy!, features six new categories of clues. Clue values are doubled from the Jeopardy! round (except in Super Jeopardy!, where Double Jeopardy! values ranged from 500 to 2,500 points). The contestant with the least amount of money at the end of the Jeopardy! round makes the first selection in Double Jeopardy!;[9] if there is a tie, the tied contestant standing at the leftmost lectern selects first. A "Daily Double" is hidden behind one clue in the Jeopardy! round, and two in Double Jeopardy! The name and inspiration were taken from a horse racing term. Only the contestant who uncovers a Daily Double may respond to that clue and need not use his/her signaling device to do so. Before the clue is revealed, the contestant must declare a wager, from a minimum of $5 to a maximum of his/her entire score (known as a "true Daily Double") or the highest clue value available in the round, whichever is greater.[9][14] A correct response adds the value of the wager to the contestant's score, while an incorrect response deducts it. Whether or not the contestant responds correctly, he or she chooses the next clue.[9] During the Jeopardy! round, except in response to the Daily Double clue, contestants are not penalized for forgetting to phrase their response in the form of a question, although the host will remind contestants to watch their phrasing in future responses. In the Double Jeopardy! round and in the Daily Double in the Jeopardy! round, the phrasing rule is followed more strictly, with a response not phrased in the form of a question counting as wrong if it is not re-phrased before the host or judges make a ruling.[14] If it is determined that a previous response was wrongly ruled to be correct or incorrect, the scores are adjusted at the first available opportunity. If, after a game is over, a ruling change is made that would have significantly altered the outcome of the game, the affected contestant(s) are invited back to compete on a future show. Contestants who finish Double Jeopardy! with $0 or a negative score are automatically eliminated from the game at that point and awarded the third place prize. On at least one episode hosted by Art Fleming, all three contestants finished Double Jeopardy! with $0 or less, and as a result, no Final Jeopardy! round was played. This rule is still in-place for the Trebek version, although staff has suggested that it is not set in stone and that executive producer Harry Friedman may decide to display the clue for home viewers' play if such a situation were ever to occur.[17] During Celebrity Jeopardy! games, contestants with a $0 or negative score are given $1,000 for the Final Jeopardy! round. Final Jeopardy! [ edit ] The Final Jeopardy! round features a single clue. At the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, the host announces the Final Jeopardy! category, and a commercial break follows. During the break, barriers are placed between the contestant lecterns, and each contestant makes a final wager between $0 and his/her entire score. Contestants write their wagers using a light pen to write on an electronic display on their lectern. After the break, the Final Jeopardy! clue is revealed and read by the host. The contestants have 30 seconds to write their responses on the electronic display, while the show's iconic "Think!" music plays in the background. In the event that either the display or the pen malfunctions, contestants can use an index card and a marker to manually write their response and wager. Visually impaired or blind contestants use a Braille keyboard to type in a wager and response. Contestants' responses are revealed in order of their pre-Final Jeopardy! scores from lowest to highest. A correct response adds the amount of the contestant's wager to his/her score, while a miss, failure to respond, or failure to phrase the response as a question (even if correct) deducts it.[9] The contestant with the highest score at the end of the round is that day's winner. If there is a tie for second place, consolation prizes are awarded based on the scores going into the Final Jeopardy! round. If all three contestants finish with $0, no one returns as champion for the next show, and based on scores going into the Final Jeopardy! round, the two contestants who were first and second will receive the second-place prize, and the contestant in third will receive the third-place prize. The strategy for wagering in Final Jeopardy! has been studied. If the leader's score is more than twice the second place contestant's score, the leader can guarantee victory by making a sufficiently small wager.[19]:269 Otherwise, according to Jeopardy! College Champion Keith Williams, the leader will usually wager such that he or she will have a dollar more than twice the second place contestant's score, guaranteeing a win with a correct response.[20] Writing about Jeopardy! wagering in the 1990s, Gilbert and Hatcher said that "most players wager aggressively".[19]:269 Winnings [ edit ] The top scorer(s) in each game retain the value of their winnings in cash, and return to play in the next match. Non-winners receive consolation prizes. Since May 16, 2002, consolation prizes have been $2,000 for the second-place contestant(s) and $1,000 for the third-place contestant.[21] Since the show does not generally provide airfare or lodging for contestants, cash consolation prizes alleviate contestants' financial burden. An exception is provided for returning champions who must make several flights to Los Angeles. Before 1984, all three contestants received their winnings in cash (contestants who finished with $0 or a negative score received consolation prizes). This was changed in order to make the game more competitive, and avoid the problem of contestants who would stop participating in the game, or avoid wagering in Final Jeopardy!, rather than risk losing the money they had already won. From 1984 to 2002, non-winning contestants on the Trebek version received vacation packages and merchandise, which were donated by manufacturers as promotional consideration. The current cash consolation prize is provided by Geico. Returning champions [ edit ] The winner of each episode returns to compete against two new contestants on the next episode. Originally, a contestant who won five consecutive days retired undefeated and was guaranteed a spot in the Tournament of Champions; the five-day limit was eliminated at the beginning of season 20 on September 8, 2003.[25] Since November 2014,[26] ties for first place following Final Jeopardy! are broken with a tie-breaker clue, resulting in only a single champion being named, keeping their winnings, and returning to compete in the next show. The tied contestants are given the single clue, and the contestant must give the correct question. A contestant cannot win by default if the opponent gives an incorrect question. That contestant must give a correct question to win the game. If neither player gives the correct question, another clue is given.[27] Previously, if two or all three contestants tied for first place, they were declared "co-champions", and each retained his or her winnings and (unless one was a five-time champion who retired prior to 2003) returned on the following episode. A tie occurred on the January 29, 2014, episode when Arthur Chu, leading at the end of Double Jeopardy!, wagered to tie challenger Carolyn Collins rather than winning; Chu followed Jeopardy! College Champion Keith Williams's advice to wager for the tie to increase the leader's chances of winning.[28][29] A three-way tie for first place has only occurred once on the Trebek version, on March 16, 2007, when Scott Weiss, Jamey Kirby, and Anders Martinson all ended the game with $16,000.[30] Until March 1, 2018,[26][31] no regular game had ended in a tie-breaker; numerous tournament games have ended with a tie-breaker clue. If no contestant finishes Final Jeopardy! with a positive total, there is no winner. This has happened on several episodes,[32][33] most recently on January 18, 2016.[34] Three new contestants appear on the next episode. A triple zero has also occurred twice in tournament play (1991 Seniors and 2013 Teen), and also once in a Celebrity Week episode in 1998.[35] All consolation prize money (regular play, with one $2,000 and two $1,000 prizes, and Celebrity play, prize money for charities) are based on standard rules (score after Double Jeopardy!). In tournament play, an additional high scoring non-winner will advance to the next round (but all three players with a zero score in that game are eligible for that position should the score for that non-winner be zero; all tie-breaker rules apply). A winner unable to return as champion because of a change in personal circumstances – for example, illness or a job offer – may be allowed to appear as a co-champion in a later episode.[36][37][38] Typically, the two challengers participate in a backstage draw to determine lectern positions. In all situations with three new contestants (most notably tournaments in the first round), the draw will also determine who will take the champion's position and select first to start the game. (The player scoring the highest in the preceding round will be given the chance to select first in the semifinal and finals.) Variations for tournament play [ edit ] Tournaments generally run for 10 consecutive episodes and feature 15 contestants. The first five episodes, the quarter-finals, feature three new contestants each day. The winners of these five games, and the four highest scoring non-winners ("wild cards"), advance to the semi-finals, which run for three days. The winners of these three games advance to play in a two-game final match, in which the scores from both games are combined to determine the overall standings. This format has been used since the first Tournament of Champions in 1985 and was devised by Trebek himself. To prevent later contestants from playing to beat the earlier wild card scores instead of playing to win, contestants are "completely isolated from the studio until it is their time to compete." If there is a tie for the final wild card position, the non-winner that advances will be based on the same regulations as two contestants who tie for second; the tie-breaker is the contestant's score after the Double Jeopardy! round, and if further tied, the score after the Jeopardy! round determines the contestant who advances as the wild card. If two or more contestants tie for the highest score (greater than zero) at the end of match (first round, semi-final game, or end of a two-game final), the standard tiebreaker is used. However, if two or more contestants tie for the highest score at the end of the first game of a two-game final, no tiebreaker is played. If none of the contestants in a quarter-final or semi-final game end with a positive score, no contestant automatically qualifies from that game, and an additional wild card contestant advances instead.[41] This occurred in the quarter-finals of the 1991 Seniors Tournament and the semi-finals of the 2013 Teen Tournament.[41] In the finals, contestants who finish Double Jeopardy! with a $0 or negative score on either day do not play Final Jeopardy! that day; their score for that leg is recorded as $0. Conception and development [ edit ] In a 1964 Associated Press profile released shortly before the original Jeopardy! series premiered, Merv Griffin offered the following account of how he created the quiz show: My wife Julann just came up with the idea one day when we were in a plane bringing us back to New York City from Duluth. I was mulling over game show ideas, when she noted that there had not been a successful "question and answer" game on the air since the quiz show scandals. Why not do a switch, and give the answers to the contestant and let them come up with the question? She fired a couple of answers to me: "5,280" – and the question of course was "How many feet in a mile?". Another was "79 Wistful Vista"; that was Fibber and Mollie McGee's address. I loved the idea, went straight to NBC with the idea, and they bought it without even looking at a pilot show.[42][43] Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not easily be shown on camera, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories. He originally intended the show to require grammatically correct phrasing (e.g., only accepting "Who is ..." for a person), but after finding that grammatical correction slowed the game down, he decided that the show should instead accept any correct response that was in question form. Griffin discarded his initial title for the show, What's the Question?, when skeptical network executive Ed Vane rejected his original concept of the game, claiming, "It doesn't have enough jeopardies." Jeopardy! was not the first game show to give contestants the answers and require the questions. That format had previously been used by the Gil Fates-hosted program CBS Television Quiz, which aired from July 1941 until May 1942. Personnel [ edit ] Hosts and announcers [ edit ] Art Fleming hosted the NBC and syndicated versions from 1964 to 1975, and again from 1978 to 1979. Alex Trebek has hosted the daily syndicated version since 1984. The first three versions of the show were hosted by Art Fleming. Don Pardo served as announcer for the original NBC version and weekly syndicated version, but when NBC's revival The All-New Jeopardy! launched in 1978, Pardo's announcing duties were taken over by John Harlan. Alex Trebek has served as host of the daily syndicated version since it premiered in 1984, except when he switched places with Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak as an April Fool's joke on the episode aired April 1, 1997.[50] His most recent contract renewal, from May 2017, takes his tenure through the 2019–2020 season.[51] In the daily syndicated version's first pilot, from 1983, Jay Stewart served as the show's announcer, but Johnny Gilbert took over the role when that version was picked up as a series and has held it since then. Trebek will be 80 at the time his contract with Jeopardy! expires in 2020. On a Fox News program, he said the odds of retirement in 2020 were 50/50 "and a little less". He added that he might continue if he's "not making too many mistakes" but would make an "intelligent decision" as to when he should give up the emcee role.[52] In November 2018, it was announced that he had renewed his contract as host through 2022.[53] Clue Crew [ edit ] The Jeopardy! Clue Crew, introduced on September 24, 2001, is a team of roving correspondents who appear in videos, recorded around the world, to narrate some clues.[54] Explaining why the Clue Crew was added to the show, executive producer Harry Friedman said, "TV is a visual medium, and the more visual we can make our clues, the more we think it will enhance the experience for the viewer."[55] Following the initial announcement of auditions for the team, over 5,000 people applied for Clue Crew posts.[55] The original Clue Crew members were Cheryl Farrell, Jimmy McGuire, Sofia Lidskog, and Sarah Whitcomb.[54] Lidskog departed the Clue Crew in 2004 to become an anchor on the high school news program Channel One News, and a search was held to replace her in early 2005.[56] The winners were Jon Cannon and Kelly Miyahara, who formally joined the crew starting in season 22, which premiered on September 12, 2005.[57] Farrell continued to record clues for episodes aired as late as October 2008,[58] and Cannon continued to appear until July 2009.[59] The Clue Crew has traveled to 280 cities worldwide, spanning all 50 of the United States and 44 other countries. In addition to appearing in Jeopardy! clue videos, the team's members also travel to meet fans of the show and future contestants. Occasionally, they visit schools to showcase the educational game Classroom Jeopardy![60] Miyahara also serves as announcer for the Sports Jeopardy! spin-off series.[61] Production staff [ edit ] Robert Rubin served as the producer of the original Jeopardy! series for most of its run, and later became its executive producer.[62] Following Rubin's promotion, the line producer was Lynette Williams.[62] Griffin was the daily syndicated version's executive producer until his retirement in 2000. Trebek served as producer as well as host until 1987, when he began hosting NBC's Classic Concentration for the next four years. At that time, he handed producer duties to George Vosburgh, who had formerly produced The All-New Jeopardy!. In the 1997–1998 season, Vosburgh was succeeded as producer by Harry Friedman, Lisa Finneran, and Rocky Schmidt. Beginning in 1999, Friedman became executive producer,[64] and Gary Johnson became the show's new third producer. In the 2006–2007 season, Deb Dittmann and Brett Schneider became the producers, and Finneran, Schmidt, and Johnson were promoted to supervising producers.[62] The original Jeopardy! series was directed at different times by Bob Hultgren, Eleanor Tarshis, and Jeff Goldstein.[62] Dick Schneider, who directed episodes of The All-New Jeopardy!, returned as director for the Trebek version's first eight seasons. From 1992 to 2018, the show was directed by Kevin McCarthy, who had previously served as associate director under Schneider. McCarthy announced his retirement after 26 years on June 26, 2018, and was succeeded as director by Clay Jacobsen.[65] The current version of Jeopardy! employs nine writers and five researchers to create and assemble the categories and clues.[66] Billy Wisse and Michele Loud, both longtime staff members, are the editorial producer and editorial supervisor, respectively.[67] Previous writing and editorial supervisors have included Jules Minton, Terrence McDonnell, Harry Eisenberg, and Gary Johnson.[62] The show's production designer is Naomi Slodki.[67] Previous art directors have included Henry Lickel, Dennis Roof, Bob Rang,[62] and Ed Flesh (who also designed sets for other game shows such as The $25,000 Pyramid, Name That Tune, and Wheel of Fortune).[69] Production [ edit ] The daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television (previously known as Columbia TriStar Television, the successor company to original producer Merv Griffin Enterprises).[70] The copyright holder is Jeopardy Productions, which, like SPT, operates as a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment.[71] The rights to distribute the program worldwide are owned by CBS Television Distribution, which absorbed original distributor King World Productions in 2007.[72] The original Jeopardy! series was taped in Studio 6A at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City,[73] and The All-New Jeopardy! was taped in Studio 3 at NBC's Burbank Studios at 3000 West Alameda Avenue in Burbank, California. The Trebek version was initially taped at Metromedia Stage 7, KTTV, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, but moved its production facilities to Hollywood Center Studios' Stage 9 in 1985. After the final shows of season 10 were recorded on February 15, 1994, the Jeopardy! production facilities were moved to Sony Pictures Studios' Stage 10 on Washington Boulevard in Culver City, California, where the show has been recorded ever since. Five episodes are taped each day, with two days of taping every other week.[74] Set [ edit ] Various sets used by the syndicated version over the years. From top to bottom: 1984–85, 1985–91, 1991–96, 1996–2002, 2002–09, and 2009–13. Various technological and aesthetic changes have been made to the Jeopardy! set over the years. The original game board was exposed from behind a curtain and featured clues printed on cardboard pull cards which were revealed as contestants selected them. The All-New Jeopardy!'s game board was exposed from behind double-slide panels and featured flipping panels with the dollar amount on one side and the clue on the other. When the Trebek version premiered in 1984, the game board used individual television monitors for each clue within categories. The original monitors were replaced with larger and sleeker ones in 1991. In 2006, these monitors were discarded in favor of a nearly seamless projection video wall,[76] which was replaced in 2009 with 36 high-definition flat-panel monitors manufactured by Sony Electronics.[77] From 1985 to 1997, the sets were designed to have a background color of blue for the Jeopardy! round and red for the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! rounds. At the beginning of season 8 in 1991, a brand new set was introduced that resembled a grid. On the episode aired November 11, 1996, two months after the start of season 13, Jeopardy! introduced the first of several sets designed by Naomi Slodki, who intended the set to resemble "the foyer of a very contemporary library, with wood and sandblasted glass and blue granite". Shortly after the start of season 19 in 2002, the show switched to yet another new set, which was given slight modifications when Jeopardy! and sister show Wheel of Fortune transitioned to high-definition broadcasting in 2006.[76] During this time, the show began to feature virtual tours of the set on its official web site.[80] The various HD improvements for Jeopardy! and Wheel represented a combined investment of approximately $4 million, 5,000 hours of labor, and 6 miles (9.7 km) of cable.[76] Both shows had been shot using HD cameras for several years before beginning to broadcast in HD. On standard-definition television broadcasts, the shows continue to be displayed with an aspect ratio of 4:3. In 2009, Jeopardy! updated its set once again. The new set debuted with special episodes taped at the 42nd annual International CES technology trade show, hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester (Las Vegas Valley), Nevada, and became the primary set for Jeopardy! when the show began taping its 26th season, which premiered on September 14, 2009.[77] It was significantly remodeled when season 30 premiered in September 2013.[81] Theme music [ edit ] Since the debut of Jeopardy! in 1964, several different songs and arrangements have served as the theme music for the show, most of which were composed by Griffin. The main theme for the original Jeopardy! series was "Take Ten",[82] composed by Griffin's wife Julann.[83] The All-New Jeopardy! opened with "January, February, March" and closed with "Frisco Disco", both of which were composed by Griffin himself.[84] The best-known theme song on Jeopardy! is "Think!", originally composed by Griffin under the title "A Time for Tony", as a lullaby for his son.[85] "Think!" has always been used for the 30-second period in Final Jeopardy! when the contestants write down their responses, and since the syndicated version debuted in 1984, a rendition of that tune has been used as the main theme song. "Think!" has become so popular that it has been used in many different contexts, from sporting events to weddings. Griffin estimated that the use of "Think!" had earned him royalties of over $70 million throughout his lifetime.[88] "Think!" led Griffin to win the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) President's Award in 2003,[89] and during GSN's 2009 Game Show Awards special, it was named "Best Game Show Theme Song".[90] In 1997, the main theme and Final Jeopardy! recordings of "Think!" were rearranged by Steve Kaplan, who served as the show's music director until his December 2003 death.[91] In 2008, Chris Bell Music and Sound Design overhauled the Jeopardy! music package for the show's 25th anniversary.[92] Audition process [ edit ] Prospective contestants of the original Jeopardy! series called the show's office in New York to arrange an appointment and to preliminarily determine eligibility. They were briefed and auditioned together in groups of ten to thirty individuals, participating in both a written test and mock games. Individuals who were successful at the audition were invited to appear on the program within approximately six weeks. Auditioning for the current version of the show begins with a written exam, comprising fifty questions in total. This exam is administered online periodically, as well as being offered at regional contestant search events. Since season 15 (1998–99), the show has used a Winnebago recreational vehicle called the "Jeopardy! Brain Bus" to conduct regional events throughout the United States and Canada. Participants who correctly answer at least 35 out of 50 questions advance in the audition process and are invited to compete in mock games. Those who are approved are notified at a later time and invited to appear on the show. Broadcast history [ edit ] The original Jeopardy! series premiered on NBC on March 30, 1964, and by the end of the 1960s was the second-highest-rated daytime game show, behind only The Hollywood Squares. The show was successful until 1974, when Lin Bolen, then NBC's Vice President of Daytime Programming, moved the show out of the noontime slot where it had been located for most of its run, as part of her effort to boost ratings among the 18–34 female demographic. After 2,753 episodes, the original Jeopardy! series ended on January 3, 1975; to compensate Griffin for its cancellation, NBC purchased Wheel of Fortune, another show that he had created, and premiered it the following Monday. A syndicated edition of Jeopardy!, distributed by Metromedia and featuring many contestants who were previously champions on the original series, aired in the primetime during the 1974–1975 season. The NBC daytime series was later revived as The All-New Jeopardy!, which premiered on October 2, 1978[98] and aired 108 episodes, ending on March 2, 1979;[99] this revival featured significant rule changes, such as progressive elimination of contestants over the course of the main game, and a bonus round instead of Final Jeopardy! The daily syndicated version debuted on September 10, 1984, and was launched in response to the success of the syndicated version of Wheel and the installation of electronic trivia games in pubs and bars. This version of the program has met with greater success than the previous incarnations; it has outlived 300 other game shows and become the second most popular game show in syndication (behind Wheel), averaging 25 million viewers per week. The show's most recent renewal, in May 2017, extends it through the 2019–2020 season.[51] Jeopardy! listed in yellow (the common Arabic-language version in light yellow) Countries with versions oflisted in yellow (the common Arabic-language version in light yellow) Jeopardy! has spawned versions in many foreign countries throughout the world, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Israel, and Australia. The American syndicated version of Jeopardy! is also broadcast throughout the world, with international distribution rights handled by CBS Studios International.[104] Three spin-off versions of Jeopardy! have been created. Rock & Roll Jeopardy! debuted on VH1 in 1998 and ran until 2001; the show centered around post-1950s popular music trivia and was hosted by Jeff Probst. Jep!, which aired on GSN during the 1998–1999 season, was a special children's version hosted by Bob Bergen and featured various rule changes from the original version. Sports Jeopardy!, a sports-themed version hosted by Dan Patrick, premiered in 2014 on the Crackle digital service and eventually moved to the cable sports network NBCSN in 2016.[107] Archived episodes [ edit ] Only a small number of episodes of the first three Jeopardy! versions survive. From the original NBC daytime version, archived episodes mostly consist of black-and-white kinescopes of the original color videotapes. Various episodes from 1967, 1971, 1973, and 1974 are listed among the holdings of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[109] The 1964 "test episode", Episode No. 2,000 (from February 21, 1972), and a June 1975 episode of the weekly syndicated edition exist at the Paley Center for Media.[110] Incomplete paper records of the NBC-era games exist on microfilm at the Library of Congress. GSN holds The All-New Jeopardy!'s premiere and finale in broadcast quality, and aired the latter on December 31, 1999, as part of its "Y2Play" marathon.[99] The UCLA Archive holds a copy of a pilot taped for CBS in 1977,[109] and the premiere exists among the Paley Center's holdings.[110] GSN, which, like Jeopardy!, is an affiliate of Sony Pictures Television, has rerun ten seasons since the channel's launch in 1994. Copies of 43 Trebek-hosted syndicated Jeopardy! episodes aired between 1989 and 2004 have been collected by the UCLA Archive,[109] and the premiere and various other episodes are included in the Paley Center's collection.[110] Reception [ edit ] Alex Trebek with the Peabody Award, 2012 By 1994 the press called Jeopardy! "an American icon".[111] It has won a record 33 Daytime Emmy Awards since 1984.[112] The show holds the record for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game/Audience Participation Show, with fifteen awards won in that category.[66] Another five awards have been won by Trebek for Outstanding Game Show Host.[66] Twelve other awards were won by the show's directors and writers in the respective categories of Outstanding Direction for a Game/Audience Participation Show and Outstanding Special Class Writing before these categories were removed in 2006. On June 17, 2011, Trebek shared the Lifetime Achievement Award with Sajak at the 38th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony.[113] The following year, the show was honored with a Peabody Award for its role in encouraging, celebrating, and rewarding knowledge.[114] In its April 17–23, 1993 issue, TV Guide named Jeopardy! the best game show of the 1970s as part of a celebration of its 40th anniversary.[115] In January 2001, the magazine ranked the show number 2 on its "50 Greatest Game Shows" list—second only to The Price Is Right.[116] It would later rank Jeopardy! number 45 on its list of the 60 Best TV Series of All Time, calling it "habit-forming" and saying that the program "always makes [its viewers] feel smarter".[117] Also in 2013, the show ranked number 1 on TV Guide's list of the 60 Greatest Game Shows.[118] In the summer of 2006, the show was ranked number 2 on GSN's list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, second only to Match Game.[119] A hall of fame honoring Jeopardy! was added to the Sony Pictures Studios tour on September 20, 2011. It features the show's Emmy Awards as well as retired set pieces, classic merchandise, video clips, photographs, and other memorabilia related to Jeopardy!'s history.[120] In 1989, Fleming expressed dissatisfaction with the daily syndicated Jeopardy! series in an essay published in Sports Illustrated. He confessed that he only watched the Trebek version infrequently, and then only for a handful of questions; and also criticized this new iteration mainly for its Hollywood setting. Fleming believed that, in contrast to New Yorkers who Fleming considered to be more intelligent and authentic, moving the show to Hollywood brought both an unrealistic glamour and a dumbing-down of the program that he disdained. He also disliked the decision to not award losing contestants their cash earnings (believing the parting gifts offered instead to be cheap) and expressed surprise that what he considered to be a parlor game had transformed into such a national phenomenon under Trebek.[121] Jeopardy!'s answer-and-question format has become widely entrenched: Fleming observed that other game shows would have contestants phrasing their answers in question form, leading hosts to remind them that they are not competing on Jeopardy! Tournaments and other events [ edit ] Regular events [ edit ] Starting in 1985, the show has held an annual Tournament of Champions featuring the top fifteen champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament. The top prize awarded to the winner was originally valued at $100,000, and increased to $250,000 in 2003.[123] Other regular tournaments include the Teen Tournament, with a $100,000 top prize;[104] the College Championship, in which undergraduate students from American colleges and universities compete for a $100,000 top prize; and the Teachers Tournament, where educators compete for a $100,000 top prize.[124] Each tournament runs for ten consecutive episodes in a format devised by Trebek himself, consisting of five quarter-final games, three semifinals, and a final consisting of two games with the scores totaled. Winners of the College Championship and Teachers Tournament are invited to participate in the Tournament of Champions. Non-tournament events held regularly on the show include Celebrity Jeopardy!, in which celebrities and other notable individuals compete for charitable organizations of their choice; and Kids Week, a special competition for school-age children aged 10 through 12.[126] Special events [ edit ] Three International Tournaments, held in 1996, 1997, and 2001, featured one-week competitions among champions from each of the international versions of Jeopardy!. Each of the countries that aired their own version of the show in those years could nominate a contestant. The format was identical to the semifinals and finals of other Jeopardy! tournaments. In 1996 and 1997, the winner received $25,000; in 2001, the top prize was doubled to $50,000. The 1997 tournament was recorded in Stockholm on the set of the Swedish version of Jeopardy!, and is significant for being the first week of Jeopardy! episodes to be taped in a foreign country. There have been a number of special tournaments featuring the greatest contestants in Jeopardy! history. The first of these "all-time best" tournaments, Super Jeopardy!, aired in the summer of 1990 on ABC, and featured 35 top contestants from the previous seasons of the Trebek version and one notable champion from the original Jeopardy! series competing for a top prize of $250,000. In 1993, that year's Tournament of Champions was followed by a Tenth Anniversary Tournament conducted over five episodes. In May 2002, to commemorate the Trebek version's 4,000th episode, the show invited fifteen champions to play for a $1 million prize in the Million Dollar Masters tournament, which took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Ultimate Tournament of Champions aired in 2005 and pitted 145 former Jeopardy! champions against each other, with two winners moving on to face Ken Jennings in a three-game final for $2,000,000, the largest prize in the show's history; overall, the tournament spanned 15 weeks and 76 episodes, starting on February 9 and ending on May 25.[129] In 2014, Jeopardy! commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Trebek version with a Battle of the Decades tournament, in which 15 champions apiece from the first, second, and third decades of Jeopardy!'s daily syndicated history competed for a grand prize of $1,000,000.[130] In November 1998, Jeopardy! traveled to Boston to reassemble 12 past Teen Tournament contestants for a special Teen Reunion Tournament. In 2008, the 25th season began with reuniting 15 contestants from the first two Kids Weeks to compete in a special reunion tournament of their own.[131] During the next season (2009–2010), a special edition of Celebrity Jeopardy!, called the Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational, was played in which twenty-seven contestants from past celebrity episodes competed for a grand prize of $1,000,000 for charity; the grand prize was won by Michael McKean.[132] The IBM Challenge aired February 14–16, 2011, and featured IBM's Watson computer facing off against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in a two-game match played over three shows.[133] This was the first man-vs.-machine competition in Jeopardy!'s history.[134] Watson won both the first game and the overall match to win the grand prize of $1 million, which IBM divided between two charities (World Vision International and World Community Grid).[135] Jennings, who won $300,000 for second place, and Rutter, who won the $200,000 third-place prize, both pledged to donate half of their winnings to charity.[136] The competition brought the show its highest ratings since the Ultimate Tournament of Champions.[137] Record holders [ edit ] Jeopardy!'s record for the longest winning streak is held by Ken Jennings, who competed on the show from June 2 through November 30, 2004, winning 74 matches before being defeated by Nancy Zerg in his 75th appearance. He amassed $2,520,700 over his 74 wins and a $2,000 second-place prize in his 75th appearance. At the time, he held the record as the highest money-winner ever on American game shows, and his winning streak increased the show's ratings and popularity to the point where it became TV's highest-rated syndicated program.[138] Jennings later won the $500,000 second-place prize in the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, the $300,000 second-place prize in the IBM Challenge, and the $100,000 second-place prize in the Battle of the Decades. The highest-earning all-time Jeopardy! contestant is Brad Rutter, who has won a cumulative total of $4,355,102.[139] He became an undefeated champion in 2000 and later won an unprecedented four Jeopardy! tournaments: the 2001 Tournament of Champions,[140] the 2002 Million Dollar Masters Tournament, the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions,[141] and the 2014 Battle of the Decades. Rutter broke Jennings's record for all-time game show winnings when he defeated Jennings and Jerome Vered in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions finals. Jennings regained the record through appearances on various other game shows, culminating in an appearance on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? on October 10, 2008. In 2014, Rutter regained the title after winning $1,000,000 in the Battle of the Decades, defeating Jennings and Roger Craig in the finals. Craig is the holder of the all-time record for single-day winnings on Jeopardy!. On the episode that aired September 14, 2010, he amassed a score of $47,000 after the game's first two rounds, then wagered and won an additional $30,000 in the Final Jeopardy! round, finishing with $77,000. The previous single-day record of $75,000 had been set by Jennings.[142] The record-holder among female contestants on Jeopardy!—in both number of games and total winnings—is Julia Collins, who amassed $429,100 over 21 games between April 21 and June 2, 2014. She won $428,100 in her 20 games as champion, plus $1,000 for finishing third in her twenty-first game.[143] Collins also achieved the second-longest winning streak on the show, behind Jennings. The streak, which was interrupted in May by the Battle of the Decades, was broken by Brian Loughnane.[144][145] The highest single-day winnings in a Celebrity Jeopardy! tournament was achieved by comedian Andy Richter during a first-round game of the 2009–2010 season's "Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational", in which he finished with $68,000 for his selected charity, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[146] Four contestants on the Trebek version have won a game with the lowest amount possible ($1). The first was U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Darryl Scott, on the episode that aired January 19, 1993;[147][148] the second was Benjamin Salisbury, on a Celebrity Jeopardy! episode that aired April 30, 1997;[149] the third was Brandi Chastain, on the Celebrity Jeopardy! episode that aired February 9, 2001;[150] and the fourth was U.S. Navy Lieutenant Manny Abell, on the episode that aired October 17, 2017.[148] Other media [ edit ] Portrayals and parodies [ edit ] Jeopardy! has been featured in a number of films, television shows and books over the years, mostly with one or more characters participating as contestants, or viewing and interacting with the game show from their own homes. Merchandise [ edit ] Over the years, the Jeopardy! brand has been licensed for various products. From 1964 through 1976, Milton Bradley issued annual board games based on the original Fleming version. The Trebek version has been adapted into board games released by Pressman Toy Corporation, Tyco Toys, and Parker Brothers.[165] In addition, Jeopardy! has been adapted into a number of video games released on various consoles and handhelds spanning multiple hardware generations, starting with a Nintendo Entertainment System game released in 1987.[166] The show has also been adapted for personal computers (starting in 1987 with Apple II, Commodore 64, and DOS versions[167]), Facebook,[168] Twitter, Android, and the Roku Channel Store.[169] A DVD titled Jeopardy!: An Inside Look at America's Favorite Quiz Show, released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on November 8, 2005, features five memorable episodes of the Trebek version (the 1984 premiere, Jennings' final game, and the three finals matches of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions)[170] and three featurettes discussing the show's history and question selection process.[171] Other products featuring the Jeopardy! brand include a collectible watch, a series of daily desktop calendars, and various slot machine games for casinos and the Internet. Internet [ edit ] Jeopardy!'s official website, active as early as 1998,[172] receives over 400,000 monthly visitors. The website features videos, photographs, and other information related to each week's contestants, as well as mini-sites promoting remote tapings and special tournaments. As the show changes its main title card and corresponding graphics with every passing season, the Jeopardy! website is re-skinned to reflect the changes, and the general content of the site (such as online tests and promotions, programming announcements, "spotlight" segments, photo galleries, and downloadable content) is regularly updated to align with producers' priorities for the show.[174] In its 2012 "Readers Choice Awards", About.com praised the official Jeopardy! website for featuring "everything [visitors] need to know about the show, as well as some fun interactive elements", and for having a humorous error page.[175] In November 2009, Jeopardy! launched a viewer loyalty program called the "Jeopardy! Premier Club", which allowed home viewers to identify Final Jeopardy! categories from episodes for a chance to earn points, and play a weekly Jeopardy! game featuring categories and clues from the previous week's episodes. Every three months, contestants were selected randomly to advance to one of three quarterly online tournaments; after these tournaments were played, the three highest scoring contestants would play one final online tournament for the chance to win $5,000 and a trip to Los Angeles to attend a taping of Jeopardy![176] The Premier Club was discontinued by July 2011.[177] There is an unofficial Jeopardy! fansite known as the "J! Archive" (j-archive.com), which transcribes games from throughout Jeopardy!'s daily syndicated history. In the archive, episodes are covered by Jeopardy!-style game boards with panels which, when hovered over with a mouse, reveal the correct response to their corresponding clues and the contestant who gave the correct response. The site makes use of a "wagering calculator" that helps potential contestants determine what amount is safest to bet during Final Jeopardy!, and an alternative scoring method called "Coryat scoring" that disregards wagering during Daily Doubles or Final Jeopardy! and gauges one's general strength at the game. The site's main founding archivist is Robert Knecht Schmidt, a student from Cleveland, Ohio,[178] who himself appeared as a Jeopardy! contestant in March 2010.[179] Before J! Archive, there was an earlier Jeopardy! fansite known as the "Jeoparchive", created by season 19 contestant Ronnie O'Rourke, who managed and updated the site until Jennings's run made her disillusioned with the show.[178] References [ edit ]

Stormi Webster already knows how to be the life of the party! The entire KarJenner clan gathered at the glamorous Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday to celebrate Kris Jenner’s mom Mary Jo “MJ” Shannon’s 84th birthday. During the bash, Kris got to spend some quality time with Kylie Jenner’s 5-month-old baby Stormi. In a video posted to Snapchat, Kris can be seen sweetly rocking her granddaughter, whose hair is still styled in the adorable ponytail Kylie debuted last week, and caressing her cheeks. Aunt Kendall Jenner, 22, was also spotted holding Stormi in a different clip with Kourtney Kardashian, 39, and her 6-year-old daughter Penelope Disick. Kris Jenner woth Stormi Instagram Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter. Of course, MJ did, however, receive a lot of love on her special day. Kim Kardashian, who was also at the party with her daughter North West, shared a throwback photo of herself as a child with MJ. “Happy 84th Birthday to my main idol, my grandma MJ! My grandma is the strongest person I know,” Kim captioned the Instagram post. Kendall Jenner and Stormi “I saw her be the provider of her family and run her own clothing store my whole life, she’s battled cancer and beat it twice, and she always gives me the realest best advice!” “She’s probably the only person on this planet that I still remember their home number by heart lol My grandma has a finsta so everyone leave nice comments wishing her a happy birthday,” Kim added. RELATED ARTICLE: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott Jet Off to Europe Without Baby Stormi MJ Instagram Khloe Kardashian, 34, also honored the family’s matriarch with a cute selfie captioned, “Happy Birthday my sweet MJ!!” The new mom to True Thompson then shared a video of herself gifting MJ a bottle of gluten-free Tito’s Vodka, really kicking off the party. Kourtney quickly followed behind with a clip of MJ posing with white roses with the words “Happy Birthday my life inspiration” written across the Instagram story.

Instagram Spending Thanksgiving with your boyfriend’s family for the first time can be nerve-wracking, especially if he’s got kids. Adding his ex-wife and her new husband to the mix just sounds like a holiday comedy of errors waiting to happen. But try telling that to Hollywood’s consciously uncoupled, who have turned splitting up, staying friends and welcoming new significant others into the fold into an art form. Though both have admitted that divorcing amicably a few years ago was not always an amicable experience, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martinhave since become the poster exes for an evolved post-split family life, the actress and the rock star spending time together regularly in service of their No. 1 objective, which is to co-parent their kids, Apple and Moses Martin, to the best of their ability. It’s one thing, though, to grin, bear it and eventually get used to the new normal when it’s just the two exes, as Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have been doing so admirably since they first separated in 2015. For all their enduring love, respect and friendship, Jen and Ben have not yet reached the “why don’t you bring your girlfriend to Thanksgiving” stage of their partnership. Not many exes have, or ever do. Gwyneth and Chris, however, are just one big, growing happy family. Photos Stars Celebrate Thanksgiving 2018 While they have spent Thanksgiving together in one form or another since their split, last year Paltrow’s then-rumored fiancé (and now husband) Brad Falchuk joined the party—and this year, Martin’s girlfriend, Dakota Johnson, made for another plate around the immaculately set table. Instagram “Gwyneth thinks she is lovely,” a source tells E! News. “She gets on very well with her and is happy for Chris…Especially on holidays, Gwyneth wants nothing more than to be one big happy family and for her kids to be able to celebrate with both of their parents.” That’s a far cry from the old trope of backbiting exes who can’t be in the same room together, let alone warmly embrace and break bread with the current person in their former person’s life. But don’t worry, in case you’re wondering why you’d rather tell your ex he can stuff if than share stuffing with his new girlfriend, it’s not as if these families arrived at this happy place overnight. It’s understandable that Paltrow—whose bread is buttered with gratitude and open-mindedness—might be more open to this scenario than some others, but going by her and other famous celebrity exes’ behavior when it comes to large gatherings, certain parameters do apply. Photos Friendly Celebrity Exes For instance, most parents don’t just bring anyone around their kids—or their exes, for that matter. Neither Garner nor Affleck, who will be spending at least part of the holidays together with their three kids in Montana, have been in a relationship that was serious enough to prompt a melding of the families. Affleck ex Lindsay Shookus, the only S.O. he dated for a significant amount of time, had a daughter of her own to spend time with, and Garner only recently started dating John Miller—whom she hopes to steal away with at some point next month. As yet, there’s been no talk of him participating in any Garner-Affleck Christmas traditions this year. “She’s excited to have some down time over the holidays and to have someone new to spend time with,” a source said of Garner’s promising-sounding romance. Photos Celeb Exes Who Worked Together After Breakups Jennifer Lawrence didn’t have a goop-approved Thanksgiving when she and Martin were dating, though Paltrow seemingly would have been open to it if it had come to that. The Coldplay singer is simply in a more serious place with Johnson, whom he’s been seeing for about a year now. There was no evidence that Paltrow ever met Lawrence, while she and Johnson have “spent a good amount of time together and have a very nice friendship,” a source told us. Mariah Carey‘s engagement to James Packer fizzled out, but back when she thought she’d be spending forever with him, obviously she wanted him to get along with her ex-husband Nick Cannon, the father of her twins, Monroe and Moroccan. Some months they all came together to celebrate one of Carey’s favorite holidays, Halloween, a source told E! News that Cannon felt that “as long as his kids are in good hands”, he would “support any decision Mariah makes” as far as future partners go. Read The Art of Living Near Your Ex: How Stars Navigate a Shared Neighborhood It understandably took Kourtney Kardashian a good long while before she was comfortable hanging out with Sofia Richie, Scott Disick‘s girlfriend. She finally had dinner earlier this month with the two of them at Nobu, once she was ready. (Nobu—a safe haven for the whole fam—is also where Scott took Sofia for her first public outing with his kids.) “Scott and Sofia are very serious and Scott felt it was important that Sofia and Kourtney interact and bond,” a source told E! News. “They have kept things separate for over a year now, and Kourtney is now more open and willing to have a surface level relationship with Sofia.” That being said, though the Kardashian-Jenner Thanksgiving is always a sprawling affair, Sofia did not make a cameo in any of Kourtney’s photos featuring her, Scott, Mason, Penelope and Reign. Baby steps, you know? REUTERS/Fred Prouser On the other hand, while the kids can be a reason why new significant others come into the picture at a glacial pace, they also tend to be the reason for all the cozy closeness once that level of comfort has been achieved. Even the seeming originators of the divorced-BFFs standard—Bruce Willis and Demi Moore—needed some time before life started resembling the beach in Turks and Caicos where Willis remarried, with his ex and her third husband among the guests. For starters, Moore and Willis (her second husband) split up in 2000, when their daughters were still quite young. Their eldest, Rumer Willis, was only 12. So it was imperative that they figured out the co-parenting thing, long before that term was in fashion (though it’s often used retroactively to describe what couples ranging from Bruce and Demi to Prince Charles and Princess Diana were already doing after their divorces). Read The Art of Avoiding—or Embracing—an Ex at the Met Gala Willis attended Moore and Ashton Kutcher‘s wedding in 2005, and those two returned the favor in 2009, when Willis married Emma Heming. All very civil, which has seemingly helped Rumer, Scout and Tallulah maintain close relationships with both parents. Moore and Kutcher split up in 2011 and, while they didn’t have children together, they did start a foundation, which would bring them back into each other’s orbit from time to time. Being only 10 years older than her, Kutcher has also reportedly maintained a friendship with former stepdaughter Rumer, but he and Mila Kunisdon’t generally hang out as a familiy with the evidence of his past life. But it’s Bruce and Demi who really set the bar for being able to expand the fam organically, the two of them and Heming showing up time and again in support of whatever the kids are up to, Rumer’s 30th birthday in August being yet another occasion for them to celebrate all together. “I have to say our daughters are incredibly well adjusted considering two of them are half Bruce Willis,” Moore said in poking fun at her ex during the Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis earlier this year. It would seem as if Bruce and Demi entered their “like siblings” phase awhile ago then. “He’s really like my brother,” Paltrow said of Martin, whom she was married to for 10 years, on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earlier this year. “We’re very familial. It’s nice, it’s great.” And when one’s brother wants to bring his girlfriend home for Thanksgiving, who is his sister to deny her a seat at the table? Source: Read Full Article

In this Nov. 8, 2017, photo, singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood attends the 51st annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Country singer Carrie Underwood is ready to say goodbye to 2017. Underwood broke her wrist following a hard fall outside the steps of her Nashville home in November. Now she's sharing more details about injuries she sustained. In a blog post to fans on New Year's Day, Underwood said she suffered a facial injury that required 40-50 stitches, and she's "still healing and not quite looking the same." She expressed her gratitude to the people who have been helping her heal and said she was grateful that it wasn't "much much worse." ‘Tonight’: #AllIWantForChristmas Hashtags Jimmy Fallon reads some of his favorite tweets with the hashtag #AllIWantForChristmas. (Published Friday, Dec. 21, 2018) However, she cautioned fans that she might not look the same when she's ready to be seen on camera again. "I'm hoping that, by then, the differences are minimal, but, again, I just don't know how it's all going to end up." Underwood said she'll be in the studio next week. Copyright Associated Press / NBC 7 San Diego

HERE Is WHAT WILL HAPPEN If The DEEP STATE TAKES DOWN PRESIDENT TRUMP & It’s NOT PRETTY … FOR THEM“The tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” – Thomas JeffersonELDER PATRIOT – Corrupt politicians ignore Jefferson’s directive to their own detriment. It’s no longer political, it’s personal.Americans have had their eyes opened by the ascension of Donald Trump and no amount of leftwing money can put the Freedom Movement genie back in the bottle.Conservative Senator Ted Cruz made that observation after reviewing the results of the 2016 elections and the expectations of the voters.Cruz, who had the most high profile personality clash with Donald Trump during the Republican primary process nevertheless embraced Trump’s America First agenda and said, “If we’re given the White House and both houses of Congress and we don’t deliver, I think there will be pitchforks and torches in the streets. And I think quite rightly.”Candidate Trump promised many things – border control, lower taxes, fairer trade relations, a balanced budget, healthcare that puts the people first not the government, safer communities, and – to the extent possible – an end to foreign wars. What, among those promises, should any Republican, nay any American, have a problem with?After four months without a single legislative achievement, Congressional and Senatorial Republicans – notably John McCain, Paul Ryan and Lindsey Graham – have joined the Democrats in investigating President Trump absent a single shred of evidence that an underlying crime has been committed.So, what gives?Well, there was one additional promise that Trump made on his way to the White House that has some Republicans joining with Democrats and quaking in their boots, Trump’s promise to “Drain the Swamp.”As we reported yesterday, “An F.B.I. agent with ‘intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Clinton case’ told us that they uncovered evidence of such massive corruption that the agents involved realized that damned near the entire government could be brought down.”The criminal co-conspirators in both parties realized almost immediately that the new sheriff wasn’t interested in joining them in the swamp so they launched, what can only be characterized as, a coup attempt.Democrats are well schooled in such things probably because of their close alliance with Marxist regimes that can only gain power by seizing it through bloody civil wars. It should be noted that the Democratic Party has already done this once before.One Hundred and Fifty-Seven years ago the Democrats waged a war against the First Republican President Abraham Lincoln for giving Blacks their freedom. That war came at a high price, as many as 700,000 Americans died fighting for what they believe in. To put that in perspective, these casualties exceed the nation’s loss in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam.Today, Americans are still prepared to fight and die to protect their children’s God-given freedoms. Despite what you are reading and hearing in the mainstream media, they aren’t the leftwing-funded rioters, the pussy hat-wearing feminists, or the cuck bois that cant handle a micro aggression. No, the Americans that back Donald Trump are well armed.Donald Trump’s presidency will move forward politically lest the sixty million patriots who voted for him, that are comprised of the large majority of military voters, police, and NRA members, move it forward by force.These patriots are armed, trained, prepared, and have proven their discipline. They have grown disgusted by the corruption in Washington and will do whatever is necessary to make sure Trump’s Freedom Agenda moves forward and under the direction of Donald Trump himself.No amount of fake news based on unsubstantiated charges by unnamed sources is going to change that. The battle lines have been drawn and no amount of finger pointing is going to convince these patriots to let anyone overturn the election results.So why are establishment politicians courting a bloodbath on the streets of America that will also threaten them personally when they could be part of Making America Great Again? It’s because they have been caught red-handed and up to their eyeballs in a worldwide criminal conspiracy that has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with defrauding the American taxpayers.And, now that they’ve been caught robbing the world’s largest bank – the U.S. treasury – they have chosen to go out in a blaze of glory rather than try to defend the indefensible at trial.Washington’s criminal elites have chosen to go to war to unseat our duly elected president. It’s time to make our voices heard before this turns very ugly. Buckle your chin strap, America is counting on you.EDITORS NOTE: THIS IS NOT A CALL TO ARMS BUT RATHER AN ANALYSIS OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE DEEP STATES OVERTURNS A DUELY ELECTED PRESIDENT.HERE IS A LIST OF EVERY SINGLE TIME OBAMA COMMITTED AN IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE THAT DEMS & MEDIA COVERED UP“Impeach!” It’s been more than eight years since Democrats uttered that word – long enough for anyone to wonder if it was still in their vocabulary, considering the deafening silence through the dozens of serious scandals during President Obama’s administration – but now that President Trump is the man in the White House, it’s back with a vengeance.Democrats everywhere are wildly slinging the “I” word, hoping to nail Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors after the New York Times claimed a memo written by former FBI Director James Comey said the president urged him to end the federal investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.Some members of Congress are getting in on the action. They include Reps. Maxine Water, D-Calif., and Al Green, D-Texas. Even a Republican, Rep. Justin Amash, claimed Wednesday there are grounds to impeach President Trump. House Oversign Committee Chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, asked for the alleged Comey memo and other documents. Chaffetz tweeted that he is prepared to subpoena the information. And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., invoked “Watergate.”Now the Democratic Party is reportedly poll testing impeachment as a 2018 election issue. More than 1 million people signed a petition calling on Congress to impeach Trump.Wasting no time Wednesday, the mainstream media sprang into action, enthusiastically echoing the left’s impeachment calls. MSNBC launched a Watergate ad implying Trump is America’s new Richard Nixon.“Watergate. We know its name because there were reporters who never stopped asking questions,” says MSNBC host Chris Hayes, who hinted that Trump is next on the impeachment chopping block. “Now, who knows where the questions will take us. But I know this: I’m not going to stop asking them.”Meanwhile, some overzealous members of the left plastered fliers around Washington, D.C., demanding all White House staffers resign Wednesday.The posters read: “If you work for this White House you are complicit in hate-mongering, lies, corrupt taking of Americans’ tax money via self-dealing and emoluments, and quite possibly federal crimes and treason. Also, any wars will be on your soul. … Resign now.”But constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley, who voted for President Obama, warned “impeachment” enthusiasts not to get ahead of themselves with President Trump. Why?At this time, there’s no evidence Trump actually committed a crime.“The criminal code demands more than what Comey reportedly describes in his memo,” Turley wrote in a May 17 opinion piece posted at the Hill. Turley explained:For the first time, the Comey memo pushes the litany of controversies surrounding Trump into the scope of the United States criminal code.However, if this is food for obstruction of justice, it is still an awfully thin soup. Some commentators seem to be alleging criminal conduct in office or calling for impeachment before Trump completed the words of his inaugural oath of office. Not surprising, within minutes of the New York Times report, the response was a chorus of breathless “gotcha” announcements. But this memo is neither the Pentagon Papers nor the Watergate tapes. Indeed, it raises as many questions for Comey as it does Trump in terms of the alleged underlying conduct.A good place to start would be with the federal law, specifically 18 U.S.C. 1503. The criminal code demands more than what Comey reportedly describes in his memo. There are dozens of different variations of obstruction charges ranging from threatening witnesses to influencing jurors. None would fit this case. That leaves the omnibus provision on attempts to interfere with the “due administration of justice.”However, that still leaves the need to show that the effort was to influence “corruptly” when Trump could say that he did little but express concern for a longtime associate. The term “corruptly” is actually defined differently under the various obstruction provisions, but it often involves a showing that someone acted “with the intent to secure an unlawful benefit for oneself or another.” Encouraging leniency or advocating for an associate is improper but not necessarily seeking an unlawful benefit for him.. Obama’s Iran nuke dealObama knew about Hillary’s private email serverObama IRS targets conservativesObama’s DOJ spies on AP reportersObamacare & Obama’s false promisesIllegal-alien amnesty by executive orderBenghazi-gateOperation Fast & Furious5 Taliban leaders for BergdahlExtortion 17‘Recess ‘ appointments – when Senate was in sessionAppointment of ‘czars’ without Senate approvalSuing Arizona for enforcing federal lawRefusal to defend Defense of Marriage ActIllegally conducting war against LibyaNSA: Spying on AmericansMuslim Brotherhood tiesMiriam CareyBirth certificateExecutive ordersSolyndra and the lost $535 millionEgyptCap & Trade: When in doubt, bypass CongressRefusal to prosecute New Black PanthersObama’s U.S. citizen ‘hit list’

John Cena and Nikki Bella had a lot of ups and downs in their six-year relationship, one of which was the time Bella revealed that she had been married before she met Cena. The secret was one of the biggest plot points of Total Divas season 2, which aired in 2014. Get push notifications with news, features and more. By that point, Cena, 40, and Bella, 34, had been dating for two years. She was even living with him, having signed his 75-page cohabitation agreement that forces her to move out all her belongings “as soon as possible” upon their separation. But Bella was still hiding her past nuptials. And it turns out, it was not just from Cena. During an emotional sit-down captured on camera, Bella told her family about her wedding for the first time — explaining to mom Kathy Colace, brother JJ Garcia and twin sister Brie (among others) that she was ashamed of her decision. “I got married when I was 20. And got divorced at 23, to my high school sweetheart,” Bella said. “Basically we got married by Elvis. We drove to Vegas, did it.” The union was something Bella regretted from the beginning. “Even when I started walking down the aisle, I knew this was a huge mistake and how can I get out of it and I couldn’t,” she recalled. “I tried to forget about it but now it’s starting to come up, and I figured you guys have to hear from me before you hear from anyone else. It’s crazy ’cause John doesn’t even know and here we talk about marriage and we never bring it up.” Want to keep up on the latest from PEOPLE? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get our best stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox. Her family were not happy, especially Colace, who wondered why Bella didn’t think she could come to her. But it was Garcia who showed the most anger, some of which was on behalf of Cena. “John’s gonna be pissed. I’d be pissed for him if you hadn’t told him. ‘Cause you talk about marriage all the time with him, don’t expect it to be easy,” Garcia said. “[These things] really don’t just happen. You don’t just run off and get married and not tell your family for 10 years. That doesn’t just happen. You do what you got to do and I hope you figure it all out with John.” It was Garcia who would accidentally spill the beans about the secret nuptial to Cena first, mentioning it at sister Brie’s 2014 wedding to her husband Daniel Bryan. “I heard you’re handling everything awesome,” he told Cena. “For her to tell you that she’s been married before and you had no problem with it, I have to give you kudos man. Cena look flabbergasted but kept the conversation moving. Later, Bella finally got the courage to say something to Cena herself. Luckily, having gone through a divorce (to ex-wife Elizabeth Huberdeau in 2012 after three years of marriage), Cena was more understanding than anything. Still, as the two had been fighting about marriage — with Cena reluctant to walk down the aisle again — he encouraged Bella to be more honest with him. “When the focus of most of our problems has to do with that particular topic, maybe I should know that stuff,” he told Bella. “I know how you feel. You’re a human being, so I know you want certain things. But I would especially know how you feel about it because you had a bad experience.” “I don’t care,” Cena added. “What you did before you met me is what you did before you met me, I don’t need to know everything about you. It’s just when you can tell other people and I kind of would like to be on that totem pole somewhere — I don’t have to be at the top … I just would like to be on it.” Gary Miller/FilmMagic Bella look relieved, though she said she did “feel bad” she didn’t tell Cena. “I’ve realized that I need to start having confidence in my relationship with John and that he accepts me for all my faults,” she told the camera. “I am so relieved that John and I have made up and I’m just happy to be here with my family… honestly, nothing can go wrong now. Everything is perfect.” RELATED VIDEO: John Cena and Nikki Bella End Engagement Weeks Before Destination Wedding Cena and Nikki announced that they called off their engagement Sunday, a year after he proposed during WrestleMania 33. The couple, who were together for six years, were supposed to marry May 5 during their planned destination wedding. An insider previously told PEOPLE she was the one who pulled the plug on their wedding. “John acted more and more like he was doing her a favor by somehow conceding to go ahead and marry her,” the insider said. “[Nikki] doesn’t need a pity proposal, a pity wedding, a pity husband. She’s a phenomenal, tremendous woman.”

It was a very dark time for me, singer says Kelly Clarkson has spoken about depression, weight and body image in a new interview. The singer – who won the first season of American Idol in 2002 – recently spoke to Attitude about the “dark time” in her early career, saying: “When I was really skinny, I wanted to kill myself. I was miserable, like inside and out, for four years of my life. But no one cared, because aesthetically you make sense.” “It was a very dark time for me,” Clarkson added. “I thought the only way out was quitting. I like wrecked my knees and my feet because all I would do is put in headphones and run. I was at the gym all the time.” Clarkson went on to say that she realised things needed to change around the release of her third album ‘My December’ in 2007. “There’s a song on ‘My December’ called Sober. There’s this line ‘picked the weeds but kept the flowers’ and I just live my life by that because you are who you surround yourself with,” she said. “I was around some really negative people, and I got out of it because I had a lot of great people there too. It was a case of turning around, facing them and walking toward the light.” Clarkson has since taken to social media to clarify her comments. “Just to clear something up. I wasn’t ever miserable because I had to be thin. I said I was miserable & as a result I became thin,” she tweeted. “I’ve never contemplated suicide because of my weight.I said people had no idea I was unhappy oddly enough because I appeared healthy,” the singer added. Meanwhile, Clarkson recently revealed that she refused a writing credit because she didn’t want her name next to Dr Luke’s. The producer (real name Lukasz Gottwald) has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Kesha since October 2014, when the singer filed a lawsuit citing “mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault”. He denies the allegations. If you are experiencing problems, you can find help from suicide prevention charity SAVE. For more information and advice on eating disorders, visit BEAT.

Teen Mom’s Amber Portwood Reacts to Latest Cheating Allegations Surrounding Matt Baier Amber Portwood can’t seem to catch a break from the tabloid headlines. On Monday night’s all-new Teen Mom: OG, viewers watched as the reality star coped with new reports that Matt… http://ift.tt/2tmsKa5

John Mayer recently got super candid and revealed that his new song, ‘Still Feel Like Your Man,’ is all about his ex, Katy Perry. The emotional track makes it very clear that he’s missing his ex big time. So, is he going hard to get her back? Here’s what we know! Katy Perry, 32, and John Mayer, 39, had a very intense — and tumultuous — relationship. They dated on and off from August 2012 until they finally split for good in 2015. Katy moved on to Orlando Bloom, 40, and it seemed like John was history. But a source tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY that John has never given up on winning her back. “John was practically jumping for joy when he found out about her breakup with Orlando,” says our source. “Since then he’s been bombarding her with calls and flowers. He’s written her poetry and songs, getting her back is all her cares about these days.” So sweet! John has a history of going hot and cold on Katy so we’re not surprised that she hasn’t gone running straight back to him. But his new song ‘Still Feel Like Your Man’ has got to be pulling at her heart strings a little. With lyrics like “I still keep your shampoo in my shower, in case you want to wash your hair” and “Still think I’m never going to find another you,” the song is a serious tear jerker. But John isn’t stopping with love songs and flowers, he’s also started talking babies! The sexy singer just opened up to The New York Times and revealed that he’s ready to settle down and have a family. “That’s the final frontier, man,” he admitted. We love that John is finally growing up — but only time will tell if Katy’s willing to give him another chance. HollywoodLifers, do you think Katy should take John back? Or will he break her heart all over again? Let us know in the comments!

Aw, come on, Maddie, he says. "Aren't you gonna invite me in?" In the new season of Imposters, as Ezra (Rob Heaps), Richard (Parker Young) and Jules (Marianne Rendon) have begun to master the art of the con, unforeseen events send them off on a wild, unexpected adventure. With the stakes higher than ever, Maddie and the Bumblers must stay one step ahead in order to maintain their freedom. And it seems, their lives. Imposters returns Thursday, April 5 at 10 p.m. on Bravo. Be sure to catch more Bravo previews, including sneak peeks of The Real Housewives of Potomac, Southern Charm New Orleans and Your Husband Is Cheating on Us on Bravo's Spring Break Preview Special airing Monday, March 26 at 11:30 p.m. on, yep, Bravo. (E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Nick Cannon And Mariah Carey Bicker Back-And-Forth At Kids’ Choice Awards The other day we reported on the “family fun day” that Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon had with “dem babies” and the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. Welp, according to OKMagazine, looks can be very deceiving… Despite the smiles and laughs that the co-parents flashed on the red carpet, there was an ugly dispute taking place underneath. But, a source told OK! exclusively that Mariah and Nick, who put on a united front around the cameras, were not as happy once inside. The two “apparently had an argument of some sort while they were sitting in their seats.” And while it’s unclear what they disagreed on, it didn’t seem to blow over, as “she got up and left and Nick went over to her manager and grabbed his kids,” continued the insider. And Mariah didn’t return to her seat! What the hell could Nick and Mariah POSSIBLY be beefing about, in front of their children, at the Kids’ Choice Awards??? The obvious answer might seem to be the fugly orange outfits that Nick had Morrocan were rockin’, but chances are it was something much deeper. But was it really THAT bad that Nick had to take the kids away from a show that was for them? SMH. Image via Splash

Grey’s Anatomy star Caterina Scorsone has opened up about her character Amelia Shepherd and revealed she will have lighter experiences going forward! On the latest episode, Shepherd had a massive tumor removed from her brain and is on the road to recovery. Scorsone revealed that she thinks this trauma will allow Amelia to have a new perspective on life and start a new chapter. “I think, obviously, things are looking up for Amelia. They can’t get much more down,” Scorsone shared. “I know that this whole season, there’s been the emphasis on bringing some of the lighthearted humor back, infusing it into the show in the way that we had it a little earlier on… When Amelia was on Private Practice her voice was really quite comedic and humorous. I think that again, now that we’ve gotten through this very tragic story line, I’m anticipating and I’m starting to see there’s a lot of lightness in store.” Aside from the tumor, Scorsone also commented on her character’s on-and-off relationship with Owen. “People are complicated and relationships are complicated,” she explained matter-of-factly. “There’s so much love and there’s so much that they’ve shared, and yet there’s so much trauma and hurt and there’s just so much to wade through in terms of what was real and what wasn’t and what hurts and what was good.” She added, “So I’m sure the feelings are not straightforward for the two of them.” Grey’s Anatomy airs at 8 pm on Thursdays on ABC.

Sandra Bullock is hearing wedding bells! She’s so in love with photographer and model Bryan Randall that she’s headed for the altar, said pals. The marriage even has the blessing of her closest friend, actor George Clooney! “George is telling Sandra not to be scared to take the plunge again,” said a source. “He knows she’s gun-shy after her marriage to Jesse James exploded in a cheating scandal five years ago. “But he’s met Bryan and likes him — and he sees how happy he’s making Sandra!” George, 54, finally gave up his own single status last year when he wed international law and human rights attorney Amal Alamuddin. “He’s telling Sandra that if he can find true love again, so can she,” added the insider. Sandra, 51, and 49-year-old Bryan were secretly dating for months and only recently went public. T hings quickly heated up after she introduced him to close friends — including Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux — at a July 4 party at her home in Austin, Texas. A month later, Bryan was Sandra’s plus-one at Jennifer and Justin’s surprise wedding. Then he accompanied her to the L.A. premiere of her new movie, “Our Brand Is Crisis,” which co-stars George. Sandra and her man were also seen holding hands as they strolled the red carpet! “Sandra wouldn’t be willing to face public scrutiny if she wasn’t serious about this guy,” said an insider. Bryan is her first boyfriend in five years and, like her ex-husband, Jesse, he has a bad-boy past — with The ENQUIRER revealing how some of Sandra’s own close friends have warned her to be cautious! Bryan was picked up on a DUI in 1988, tore up a hotel room in 1990 — and had an order of protection levied against him by a neighbor who claimed Bryan menaced him in 2012! But both Sandra and Bryan have told pals this is the beginning of an exciting new chapter in their lives. Said a source: “He is a true family man, but he has an edge. That’s very appealing to Sandra. “She’s convinced she’s found the one!”

Kourtney Kardashian Sources told Us In December 2015 that Bieber was hooking up with Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Kourtney Kardashian after her split from longtime boyfriend Scott Disick. The two were seen hanging out together at various clubs throughout December.

The 75th Golden Globe Awards officially kick awards season, but this year, the red carpet may create as much conversation as the honors handed out during the ceremony itself. Last month, reports surfaced that some female actors planned to wear all-black looks on the Golden Globes red carpet to protest sexual misconduct in Hollywood. More recently, some men, including Dwayne Johnson, announced plans to join them. The protest comes after numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault against men in Hollywood and other industries, beginning with those against movie producer Harvey Weinstein in October. Stylist Cristina Ehrlich told TIME Friday that she would be joining the effort by dressing Penelope Cruz, Greta Gerwig and Laura Dern in black. “The red carpet is watched globally and is therefore an incredible platform for and the perfect place for this sort of demonstration. Where in the past the red carpet has been about glitz and glamour, this year it isn’t about standing out, it’s about standing together and speaking out,” she said. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now The sartorial choice is being positioned as a way to call attention to the effort to end sexual misconduct. It’s organized by Time’s Up, a new initiative to eradicate sexual harassment and gender inequality in the workplace, which includes the creation of a legal defense fund. Time’s Up, which has also provided pins to be worn on the red carpet, is backed by more than 300 women in the entertainment industry, including Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, and Meryl Streep. This is not the first time stars have used fashion to start a conversation. Take, for example, the blue ACLU ribbons Karlie Kloss and Barry Jenkins, among others, wore to last year’s Oscars, or the Planned Parenthood pin Emma Stone sported while picking up her Best Actress statuette at the same ceremony. TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers This year’s red-carpet protest has been subject to some criticism, with some suggesting that sporting a dress in solidarity feels like a superficial or passive way to address a problem. Actor Rose McGowan, one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, sounded off on the protest in a now-deleted tweet: “YOUR SILENCE is THE problem. You’ll accept a fake award breathlessly & affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy. Maybe you should all wear Marchesa.” (Marchesa is the high-end brand designed by Weinstein’s wife Georgina Chapman, who announced her separation from the producer shortly after the allegations came to light.) Activist April Reign, who created the viral #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, suggested that it might send a stronger message if the actors didn’t attend the Golden Globes at all. In response to the debate, Actor Rashida Jones told InStyle that the choice to wear black dresses on the red carpet is hardly, in her estimation, a “silent protest.” Instead, she said, it’s an opportunity to speak up and demand structural change. “I don’t think why we wear black is divisive as much as it is being discussed and debated without all the facts,” she said. “Many women on the red carpet will discuss what’s important to them about their choice to protest and wear black. We wear black to stand in solidarity with our sisters and to say time’s up on this imbalance of power and the abuses that come with it, regardless of what industry you work in. It’s time for every workplace to look more like our world, where women have equal representation.” Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com.

Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' Hits Hot 100's Top 10 for First Time, 'Perfect' Still No. 1 The holiday classic, released in 1994, dashes from No. 11 to No. 9. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé's "Perfect" leads for a second week and Migos, Nicki Minaj & Cardi B's "MotorSport" also zooms to the top 10. Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" hits the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 at last, jingling from No. 11 (its prior peak) to No. 9 on the chart dated Dec. 30. The modern yuletide classic reaches the top 10 for the first time 23 years after its 1994 release. Atop the Hot 100, Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé's "Perfect" reigns for a second week. Plus, Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's "MotorSport" accelerates 15-6 for its first week in the top 10 following the premiere of its official video. As we do every Monday, let's run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends all-genre streaming, airplay and sales data. All charts will update on Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 19). Let's start with a blizzard of chart stats about Carey's "Christmas." Streams, Sales & Plays: First, the numbers that result in "Christmas" (on Columbia/Legacy Records and co-written and co-produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff) hitting the Hot 100's top 10. The song gains by 4 percent to 25.2 million U.S. streams in the week ending Dec. 14, according to Nielsen Music; dips 8 percent to 19,000 downloads sold in the same tracking span; and lifts 28 percent to 34 million in airplay audience in the week ending Dec. 17. Those totals place "Christmas" at No. 7 on the Streaming Songs chart, No. 13 on Digital Song Sales and No. 36 on Radio Songs. Notably, streaming is the most prominent driver of the song, accounting for 70 percent of its chart points this week. Carey's 28th Top 10: Carey collects her 28th Hot 100 top 10. "Christmas" is her first since "Obsessed" reached No. 7 in 2009. She tallied 19 top 10s in the 1990s and eight in the 2000s. (Of those, 18 hit No. 1, the most among soloists; only The Beatles have more, with 20.) Carey ties Stevie Wonder for the fifth-most Hot 100 top 10s in the chart's history (which dates to its Aug. 4, 1958, inception): Most Top 10 Hot 100 Hits 38, Madonna 34, The Beatles 31, Rihanna 29, Michael Jackson 28, Mariah Carey 28, Stevie Wonder 27, Janet Jackson 27, Elton John Top 10s in the '90s, '00s & '10s: Carey joins an elite list of acts with Hot 100 top 10s in the '90s, '00s & '10s. Its previously-inducted members: Christina Aguilera, Dr. Dre, Whitney Houston, Enrique Iglesias, Michael Jackson, JAY-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears and Usher. Two of those acts boast streaks dating even further back than the '90s: Jackson ('70s-'10s) and Madonna ('80s-'10s). (As for Houston, she charted top 10s in the '80s, '90s and '00s and re-sent her 1992-93 No. 1 "I Will Always Love You" to No. 3 in 2012 following her passing that February. All the other acts above sent at least one song to the top 10 for the first time in each decade.) 'Christmas' in the Top 10: Perhaps surprisingly, Carey charts one of the few holiday top 10s in the Hot 100's history. "The Chipmunk Song" by The Chipmunks with David Seville led for four weeks beginning Dec. 22, 1958; Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne" reached No. 9 in February 1981 (after debuting in December 1980); and New Kids on the Block's "This One's for the Children" rose to No. 7 in the 1989-90 holiday season. No other such song reached the top 10 until Kenny G's "Auld Lang Syne" (No. 7, Jan. 8, 2000). Between that New Year's Eve anthem and Carey's "Christmas," Justin Bieber came closest to the top 10 with "Mistletoe," which hit No. 11 (Jan. 5, 2011). Carey's hit is, thus, the first Hot 100 top 10 with the word "Christmas" in its title. Notably, for several years in the Hot 100's history (1963-72; 1983-85, barring occasional exceptions), holiday songs were not eligible to chart, instead appearing on separate holiday rankings. Other classics fell just shy of the Hot 100's top 10, including The Harry Simeone Chorale's "Little Drummer Boy" (No. 13, 1958); Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" (No. 12, 1962, after it was originally released in 1942); Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (No. 14, 1960); Roy Orbison's "Pretty Paper" (No. 15, 1964); Eagles' "Please Come Home for Christmas" (No. 18, 1979); Band-Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" (No. 13, 1985); and Aguilera's "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (No. 18, 2000). (Honorable mention to Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song," the only holiday top 10 ever on the Radio Songs chart, which began in 1990. The track hit No. 10 on the tally in the 1995-96 season.) #Lambily get into the Christmas spirit with me and stream "All I Want For Christmas Is You" on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music! ------ #AIWFCIY #StreamMariah https://t.co/srzJxnNUS4 pic.twitter.com/kkAUlwQnl9 — Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 13, 2017 As for the Chart History of Carey's 'Christmas': So, what are the details behind a song from 1994 just hitting the Hot 100's top 10 now, for the first time? Upon its initial release, on Carey's album Merry Christmas (released on Nov. 1, 1994; coincidentally, that marked the 100th anniversary of the first Billboard magazine, dated Nov. 1, 1894), the song was not a commercially available single and, per rules at the time, was ineligible to chart on the Hot 100; it did reach No. 12 on the Radio Songs chart that season. In December 1998, album cuts became eligible for the Hot 100 and "Christmas" dented the chart for the first time on Jan. 8, 2000, spending a week at No. 83. Beginning in 2012, and coinciding with the addition of streaming to the Hot 100's formula, the song has hit the Hot 100 annually, as, per current rules, older songs are eligible to debut or return if ranking in the top 50 and are gaining in multiple metrics with a significant reason for their resurgences. In the 2015-16 holiday season, "Christmas" hit a prior No. 11 Hot 100 high, which it matched last week before hitting the top 10 at last this week. Again, with streaming contributing 70 percent of the song's Hot 100 chart points this week, the metric has clearly helped the track reach the top 10 at last. Meanwhile, "Christmas" is believed to be the first song to have taken as many as 23 years from its recording to reach the Hot 100's top 10. An Even Merrier 'Christmas': That two-decade-plus journey to the Hot 100's top 10 for Carey's "Christmas" has been aided by various offshoots of the song in recent years, including this year. The animated movie All I Want for Christmas Is You was released Nov. 14, four days after the arrival of its soundtrack, which includes the title song. The movie is based on a 2015 children's book of the same name, inspired by the song. A year earlier, in December 2014, Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You, a Night of Joy and Festivity, an annual residency at New York's Beacon Theatre, began and she's continued it each holiday season since; this year, the show expanded to include dates in Paris; Manchester, England; and Las Vegas. Even before this decade, "Christmas" benefited from adult contemporary radio's expansion to 24/7 yuletide music on many stations throughout the holiday season, a strategy that began around the early 2000s. Holiday 100 Chart Queen: Beyond its new Hot 100 honor, Carey's "Christmas" crowns the Holiday 100 chart, which ranks seasonal songs of all eras (using the same measurement metrics as the Hot 100), for a 29th week. No other song has led for more than two frames since the list's 2011 launch. Of course, there are nine other songs in the Hot 100's top 10 this week, including one that completes a much shorter trip to the tier than Carey's … Sheeran and Beyoncé's "Perfect" (on Atlantic Records) tops the Hot 100 for a second week. First released as a solo song by Sheeran on his album ÷ (Divide), which debuted atop the Billboard 200 dated March 25, the new duet version was released Nov. 30. In its second full tracking week, it sold 98,000 downloads (down 46 percent), as it spends a third week at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart. "Perfect" pushes 3-2 on Radio Songs (117 million in audience, up 13 percent, good for the Hot 100's top gain in airplay) and bullets at No. 3 on Streaming Songs (39.7 million U.S. streams, up 14 percent). The rest of the Hot 100's top five likewise remains in place, with Post Malone's "Rockstar," featuring 21 Savage, at No. 2 for a second week after eight weeks at No. 1. It tops Streaming Songs for a 12th week (43.9 million, down 12 percent) and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a 10th week each. Camila Cabello's "Havana," featuring Young Thug, holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, and tops Radio Songs for a second frame (132 million, up 5 percent); Lil Pump's "Gucci Gang" keeps at No. 4 after hitting No. 3; and Imagine Dragons' "Thunder" is steady at No. 5 after climbing to No. 4, while leading Hot Rock Songs for a seventh week. Migos, Nicki Minaj and Cardi B's "MotorSport" wheels 15-6 on the Hot 100 for its first week in the top 10, following the Dec. 7 arrival of its official video. The track charges 9-5 on Streaming Songs (31.7 million, up 40 percent) and 43-25 on Digital Song Sales (15,000, up 44 percent), as it posts the Hot 100's top gains in streaming and sales, and rises 37-34 on Radio Songs (35 million, up 10 percent). Migos earn their second Hot 100 top 10, following "Bad and Boujee" (featuring Lil Uzi Vert), which led for three weeks beginning Jan. 21; Minaj tallies her 15th Hot 100 top 10, extending her record for the most among female rappers; and Cardi B becomes the first female rapper to send her first three Hot 100 entries to the top 10, following her own "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)," which spent three weeks at No. 1 in October, and G-Eazy's "No Limit," on which she's featured with A$AP Rocky. The latter track dips to No. 10 from its No. 7 high. Above Carey's "Christmas" and G-Eazy's "Limit," Sam Smith's No. 4-peaking "Too Good at Goodbyes" slips 6-7 and Halsey's "Bad at Love" holds at its No. 8 Hot 100 peak to date. Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly "Hot 100 Chart Moves" column and by listening (and subscribing) to Billboard's Chart Beat Podcast and Pop Shop Podcast, all posting this week. And again, be sure to visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 19), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The 2017 year in music issue of Billboard magazine is on sale Friday (Dec. 22).

It’s only week 3, but the drama has already begun on Dancing with the Stars. After Tom Bergeron opened guilty pleasures night by dedicating the show to those affected by the Las Vegas shooting, cohost Erin Andrews informed the audience that pro dancer Maks Chmerkovskiy wouldn’t be taking the stage Monday. “Maks is dealing with a personal issue so Alan is stepping in and dancing with Vanessa tonight,” she said, referring to pro Alan Bersten, who got eliminated last week with partner Debbie Gibson. Craig Sjodin via Getty However, sources confirm to PEOPLE that Chmerkovskiy did not perform by choice because of ongoing conflict with Lachey. “There’s a big chemistry issue,” the insider says. “They both have big personalities and that’s not always the best recipe for a good partnership.” PEOPLE’s special issue 25 Seasons of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is on stands now. While the former Total Request Live host, 36, has called the Ukrainian dancer the “best coach,” the source adds, “They’ve been fighting a lot.” (Reps for Chmerkovskiy and Lachey could not immediately be reached for comment.) This isn’t the first time Chmerkovskiy, 37, has butted heads with his DWTS celebrity counterparts. In 2015, he told The Real of his season 13 partner, soccer star Hope Solo, “That’s literally the only person that I could dislike from my past, present or future.” On the other hand, Chmerkovskiy and Olympic skater Meryl Davis, who won season 18, brought out the best in each other. “I feel that I can really be myself with Maks,” she told PEOPLE in 2014. “He pushes me to stand up for myself, whether it’s in real life or on the dance floor. It’s cool.” He added at the time, “She lets me be creative. I’ve already done more on this season than I’ve done on Dancing with the Stars in 13 seasons.” RELATED VIDEO: Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy Welcome Son Shai Aleksander Andrews, now 39, has also raved about her experience working with the new dad on season 10. ““The reason why Maks and I worked out so well was because I come from a world where all I worked with was men, and pretty much I’m like a guy in a lot of ways,” the ESPN personality told PEOPLE in 2015. When it comes to Lachey, though, the insider says last week could’ve been her last performance with Chmerkovskiy: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Maks doesn’t return as her partner for the rest of the season.” However, a DWTS rep says Chmerkovskiy will compete next week. Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.

Ariana Grande won’t be taking the stage in Vietnam after all. The 24-year-old pop star was set to perform in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday night, but had to cancel the appearance for medical reasons. The “Side to Side” singer took to Instagram Stories to share the news with her fans, writing: “My babes in Vietnam, I apologize from the bottom of my heart but I’m really dealing with some health problems at the moment. I came here to Vietnam, so excited to perform, my doctor won’t allow me to do the show for you tonight. I’m so so sorry. There is nothing I hate to do more than to do this but I promise to make it up to you in the future. I love you and thank you for understanding.” WATCH: Manchester Arena to Reopen With Benefit Concert 4 Months After Bombing at Ariana Grande Show Instagram Stories Grande is next set to appear in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou Shi, China, through the end of August before traveling to New Zealand and Australia in September. She has been on the road with her Dangerous Woman tour for months, only briefly taking a break after the tragic bombing that took place in May following her concert in Manchester, England. The attack killed 22 people. MORE: Families of Victims at Ariana Grande Manchester Concert Will Receive $324,000 Each Grande raised money for the victims and their families shortly thereafter at the “One Love Manchester” benefit concert. The event made millions, with $324,000 going to each of the victims' families. For more from Grande, watch the clip below. Related Gallery

For Stephen Colbert and his “Late Night” staff, the best-selling spoof “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” essentially wrote itself. Because all of the words are by President Donald Trump, who is billed as the author “by accident.” The picture book’s title and contents were inspired by Trump’s disjointed response last September to Hurricane Florence, which struck North Carolina and South Carolina, where Colbert grew up. “If you love Trump, you’ll love this book because every word in it is exactly what he said,” Colbert, for whom the president has been prime comic material, said during a recent interview with The Associated Press. “And if you’re anti-Trump you’ll love this book because every word in it is exactly what he said.” “Whose Boat Is This Boat? Comments That Don’t Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane” has sold hundreds of thousands of copies and raised more than $1.25 million for such charities as Foundation for the Carolinas and World Central Kitchen. The contributions come from author proceeds and from the publisher, Simon & Schuster. Books can take years from conception to publication, but “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” was essentially written in 24 hours and within six weeks was already on shelves, physical and virtual. It began after Trump visited New Bern, North Carolina, and was preoccupied with a yacht that had landed in a resident’s backyard. “To see what we’re seeing — this boat. I don’t know what happened, but this boat just came here,” he said. Other comments included “At least you got a nice boat out of the deal” and “Have a good time!” “Late Show” staff writer Emmy Blotnick heard Trump’s remarks and said, “That sounds like a children’s book.” With illustrations by Audro Buneta and John Henry, “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” looks like a bedtime story, albeit one that ends with the message “There is no moral.” Defining it has proved challenging: On The New York Times best-seller charts, it appears under “Advice, How-to & Miscellaneous.” “We should be on the nonfiction list,” Colbert said. “I smell a rat.” According to a Times spokesperson, “The book was placed on the advice, how-to and miscellaneous list where many books that defy easy categorization have ranked. It’s a great achievement being on this highly competitive list for six weeks, including a week at No. 1, and we wish Stephen were happier about it.” Colbert said the book is for “children of all ages,” one that appeals to kids because it’s “pretty to look at, no nudity, no violence” and one that shows adults how “our president responds” to natural disasters. The book is billed as “an excellent teaching tool” that lets readers learn “about empathy by process of elimination.” “Whose Boat Is This Boat?” isn’t the first picture story to mock the Trump administration. “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” is a best-selling parody of “Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of a Vice President,” a tribute to the family’s pet bunny written by Mike Pence’s daughter, Charlotte Pence, and illustrated by his wife, Karen Pence. The vice president is known for his conservative social views; in Oliver’s book, Marlon Bundo has fallen for a fellow male bunny. Charlotte Pence herself bought a copy of the Oliver edition, noting that proceeds went to charity. Colbert senses he may have similar luck with Trump and his family. “What I’m hearing, from the voices inside my head, is that he enjoys it,” Colbert said, mimicking the president’s own fact-checking style. “Everybody is saying he likes it.”

The 33rd Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Saturday afternoon from a beach in Santa Monica ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards. “Call Me by Your Name” was up for six nominations, and won for best cinematography and best male lead for Timothee Chalamet. “Get Out” won two awards, including best feature and best director, and Frances McDormand took home the best female lead award for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” “Ingrid Goes West” won for best first feature, and Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani won best first screenplay for “The Big Sick.” Greta Gerwig took home the award for best screenplay for “Lady Bird.” BEST FEATURE “Call Me by Your Name” “The Florida Project” “Get Out” (WINNER) “Lady Bird” “The Rider” BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer) “Columbus” “Ingrid Goes West” (WINNER) “Menashe” “Oh Lucy!” “Patti Cake$” JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.) “Dayveon” “A Ghost Story” “Life and Nothing More” (WINNER) “Most Beautiful Island” “The Transfiguration” BEST DIRECTOR Sean Baker, “The Florida Project” Jonas Carpignano, “A Ciambra” Luca Guadagnino, “Call Me by Your Name” Jordan Peele, “Get Out” (WINNER) Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, “Good Time” Chloé Zhao, “The Rider” BEST SCREENPLAY Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird” (WINNER) Azazel Jacobs, “The Lovers” Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Jordan Peele, “Get Out” Mike White, “Beatriz at Dinner” BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Kris Avedisian, Story By: Kyle Espeleta, Jesse Wakeman, “Donald Cried” Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, “The Big Sick” (WINNER) Ingrid Jungermann, “Women Who Kill” Kogonada, “Columbus” David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer, “Ingrid Goes West” BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Thimios Bakatakis, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” Elisha Christian, “Columbus” Hélène Louvart, “Beach Rats” Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, “Call Me by Your Name” (WINNER) Joshua James Richards, “The Rider” BEST EDITING Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, “Good Time” Walter Fasano, “Call Me by Your Name” Alex O’Flinn, “The Rider” Gregory Plotkin, “Get Out” Tatiana S. Riegel, “I, Tonya” (WINNER) BEST FEMALE LEAD Salma Hayek, “Beatriz at Dinner” Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (WINNER) Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya” Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird” Shinobu Terajima, “Oh Lucy!” Regina Williams, “Life and Nothing More” BEST MALE LEAD Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name” (WINNER) Harris Dickinson, “Beach Rats” James Franco, “The Disaster Artist” Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out” Robert Pattinson, “Good Time” BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE Holly Hunter, “The Big Sick” Allison Janney, “I, Tonya” (WINNER) Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird” Lois Smith, “Marjorie Prime” Taliah Lennice Webster, “Good Time” BEST SUPPORTING MALE Nnamdi Asomugha, “Crown Heights” Armie Hammer ,”Call Me by Your Name” Barry Keoghan, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (WINNER) Benny Safdie, “Good Time” ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast “Mudbound” Director: Dee Rees Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer) ‘The Departure,” Lana Wilson “Faces Places,” directed by Agnés Varda, JR, produced by Rosalie Varda (WINNER) “Last Men in Aleppo,” directed by Feras Fayyad, produced by Kareem Abeed, Søeren Steen Jespersen, Stefan Kloos “Motherland,” directed by Ramona S. Diaz, produced by Rey Cuerdo “Quest,” directed by Jonathan Olshefski, produced by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director) “BPM (Beats Per Minute),” Robin Campillo, France “A Fantastic Woman,” Sebastián Lelio, Chile (WINNER) “I Am Not a Witch,” Rungano Nyoni, Zambia “Lady Macbeth,” William Oldroyd, U.K. “Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia BONNIE AWARD – The inaugural Bonnie Award will recognize a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant, sponsored by American Airlines. So Yong Kim Lynn Shelton Chloé Zhao (WINNER) JEEP TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 23rd annual Truer Than Fiction Award, funded by the Jeep brand, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. Shevaun Mizrahi, Director of “Distant Constellation” Jonathan Olshefski, Director of “Quest” (WINNER) Jeff Unay, Director of “The Cage Fighter” KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 24th annual Someone to Watch Award, funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. Amman Abbasi, Director of “Dayveon” Justin Chon, Director of “Gook” (WINNER) Kevin Phillips, Director of “Super Dark Times” PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 21st annual Producers Award, funded by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim Ben LeClair Summer Shelton

Chris Brown has a dream, the only problem is that his dream is most likely someone else’s nightmare. The hip-hop performer pitched the concept of going on a world tour with three powerhouses in the music industry: Beyonce, Bruno Mars and, get this, Rihanna. — Mathew Knowles says Beyoncé and Solange’s light complexions helped their music careers — “Just thinking…. A CRAZY WORLD TOUR would Beyoncé, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, CHRIS BROWN. ‘2 for 2’. And if y’all decide to do it without me… give me 10%,” Brown posted on Twitter. Of course, his mention of Rihanna didn’t go without notice considering their relationship ended with him viciously beating her in a car and leaving her with some very serious looking bruises. — WATCH: Sterling K. Brown and Omari Hardwick talking about how much they love their wives in PJ Morton’s new music video is giving us all the feels today — Just thinking…. A CRAZY WORLD TOUR would BEYONCE, RIHANNA, BRUNO MARS, CHRIS BROWN. “2 for 2”. And if y’all decide to do it without me… give me 10%. 😏 — Chris Brown (@chrisbrown) February 9, 2018 Others focused on the Bruno Mars angle, stating that Mars is already going on tour with Cardi B. Then there is Beyonce, the Queen is probably busy being well, awesome on her own. Chris Brown dropped his eighth album, titled Heartbreak on a Full Moon, last October. It has been three whole years since he last went on tour and that was with Trey Songz and Tyga for Between the Sheets. One could definitely argue that he is long overdue for some stage dates. The problem is his criminal record, it could, and almost definitely would, throw a wrench into a world tour as some countries would probably not let him past the border. — Rihanna slays THREE different covers of ‘Vogue Paris’ — In the past Brown has had trouble getting into both Canada and Australia so unless he can go back in time and not commit some of his crimes, he might just be out of luck for a true world tour. What do you think about Chris Brown’s idea of touring with the megastars on his list, including ex-girlfriend Rihanna? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

For the Kenyan holiday, see Obama Day Barack Obama Day President Obama Observed by Illinois Type Statewide Date August 4 Frequency annual Barack Obama Day refers to two days of recognition in the United States in honor of Barack Obama, who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. The State of Illinois celebrates the commemorative holiday every August 4, which is Obama's birthday, beginning in 2018. Obama was a member of the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004 and represented the state in the United States Senate from 2005 to 2008 before becoming president. Similar to other commemorative holidays, it is not a legal state holiday, meaning workplaces are not closed on the day.[1] Perry County, Alabama, has celebrated the second Monday of November as Barack Obama Day since 2009.[2] County offices and schools are closed for the holiday.[3] History [ edit ] Illinois [ edit ] In 2017, Illinois State Representatives André Thapedi and Sonya Harper introduced a bill to designate Barack Obama Day as a state holiday. The original measure would have closed schools and state offices for the day. It was rejected by the House in March 2017, citing expense and the lack of a holiday for other presidents from Illinois, such as Ronald Reagan.[4] That same year, State Senator Emil Jones III and others introduced Illinois Senate Bill 55, which designated August 4 as Barack Obama Day but did not make it an official state holiday. The bill passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly with no votes against, and was signed into law by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on August 4, 2017.[5] The bill amended the State Commemorative Dates Act to include a new section: Barack Obama Day. August 4th of each year is designated as Barack Obama Day, to be observed throughout the State as a day set apart to honor the 44th President of the United States of America who began his career serving the People of Illinois in both the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate, and dedicated his life to protecting the rights of Americans and building bridges across communities.[6] Legislative history [ edit ] Other recognition days [ edit ] Since the United States presidential election of 2008, Obama Day is celebrated annually on November 6 in Kenya, the country from which President Obama’s father originated.[7]

Kris Jenner says she trusts Khloe Kardashian with regard to her relationship with Tristan Thompson amid his cheating scandal, as her daughter continues to publicly support her man. In April, just before Khloe gave birth to her and Tristan's first child together, daughter True Thompson, photos and videos of the Cleveland Cavaliers player with other women were posted online. Neither Khloe nor Tristan commented on the scandal. A source recently told E! News that Khloe "is still trying to regain trust with Tristan and figure out how to keep the family together." Several weeks ago, another insider said Khloe's family members are very angry with Tristan, are "having a hard time coming to terms with Khloe trying to forgive him" and "don't trust him and feel he won't change." Kris talked about Tristan while speaking to E! News and other outlets at the Moschino Spring/Summer 19 Menswear and Women's Resort Collection fashion show, sponsored by Fiji Water, in Burbank, California on Friday. When asked if she is a fan of the NBA player, if they get along and if he blends in with the Kardashian-Jenner family, Kris said, "Tristan's, yeah, he's great." "I think you just have to be there for your kid and follow their lead," she added, when asked again about the Tristan situation. "I'm not in that relationship or in that situation, so I really trust Khloe. She's so smart and such a great girl and she'll figure it out."

Celeb-beloved Body By Simone founder Simone De La Rue and nutritionist-to-the-stars Kelly LeVeque collaborated on BBS, using artificial intelligence to customize fitness and nutrition programs for users. Leave it to two A-list wellness gurus to democratize customized fitness and nutrition programs for the world. The dream team of Body By Simone personal trainer Simone De La Rue and nutritionist Kelly LeVeque — whose client list includes the likes of Jennifer Garner, Emmy Rossum, Jessica Alba and Molly Sims — have just released an app that gives users access to their expertise for a very nominal monthly fee. But it’s not just an app stuffed with content — more than 900 minutes of video and hundreds of recipes — that leaves users to their own devices to navigate and motivate. For $19.99/month, the platform actually uses artificial intelligence software to create customized workout plans and nutrition programs for each individual, taking into consideration their specific goals. It tracks progress via measurements and weekly photos, and reminds users via push notifications to work out. “It is programmed to provide the customization of a personal workout with me,” says De La Rue, adding, “This has never been done before in a fitness app.” But while it may seem the app approach speaks only to the general population, De La Rue says hers and LeVeque’s celebrity clients are “very excited, especially as they are often on set or traveling. They can have their dream team in their pocket.” The impetus for the app was a desire to have a platform available to anyone in the world, since the Aussie trainer on E’s Revenge Body can’t be everywhere at once. For a more 360-degree approach, she wanted to include a nutritionist, and because of their several shared clients (Garner and Rossum among them) and complementary beliefs and philosophies, LeVeque was the ideal fit. When it comes to nutrition, protein and plants are at the core. Recipes run the gamut and might include Jen Garner’s Chocolate Blueberry #fab4smoothie, with collagen, almond butter, spinach, flax and other nutritious ingredients. Says LeVeque of their approach: “Protein ups collagen, muscle tone and metabolism. Fat benefits hormones, skin and cellular health and does not store as fat as simple carbs do. Fiber for gut microbiome proliferation and detoxification, and greens or veggies deep in color to fight inflammation.” These “fab four” foods are at the core of her recipes. The workouts mix up methodology to keep things interesting, and never use props so they can be done literally anywhere. De La Rue’s favorite currently: dance cardio. “It’s an incredible workout, burns calories, teaches you coordination, challenges your brain to learn choreography and it’s fun and joyous,” she says. The pair’s one-stop-shop app also doles out motivational words and advice, since that’s key to many people’s success with a new wellness plan. LeVeque suggests users get up and exercise first thing in the morning, since a fasted workout has the same benefits as intermittent fasting, which causes a surge in human growth hormone and testosterone to help burn fat. Additionally, she advocates for early dinners, before dark — which seems decidedly un-Hollywood but has very Hollywood ramifications. “An early dinner allows for the body to digest the meal, balance blood sugar and clear excess insulin before you head to bed,” says LeVeque, “so you can benefit from a fat-burning, belt-shrinking night of sleep!” We see why Garner and Rossum swear by these ladies.

Fans weren't the only ones shocked when Jamie Lynn Spears announced that she was pregnant in December 2007. Then 16, the Zoey 101 star retreated to her home state of Louisiana to raise Maddie, her daughter with ex-boyfriend Casey Aldridge. Now 22, Britney Spears' little sister opens up about her life as a mom and an aspiring country singer in an exclusive interview with E! News' Ken Baker. "I was riding around in my mom's little convertible and I had not been feeling well. I thought it was just stress with work and all kinds of different things. My friend was like, 'Why don't you just take a test?' I was like, 'Okay, I will.' We were filling up with gas, so I went in the gas station and took the test and it was positive," she recalls. "So that is the glamorous way that I found out I was going to have my little nugget!"

Kylie Jenner is starting to slowly return to public life, even if all she wants to do is stay home with her new baby, daughter Stormi Webster. Jenner – who welcomed her first child with boyfriend Travis Scott 11 days ago – took a brief break from mommy duties to attend her friend Heather Sanders‘ baby shower on Sunday. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Sanders’ and the 20-year-old star describe each other as “pregnant sisters”, so Jenner pulled herself away from her little one for only the second time since the baby arrived – Jenner stepped out on Saturday with BFF Jordyn Woods for the first time since giving birth in black bicycle shorts and a fanny pack. Kylie Jenner headed to Heather Sander's baby shower On Monday, the star shared her baby shower look, posting two pictures on her Instagram. For the shower, Jenner remained relatively covered up, wearing a red Gosha Rubchinskiy X Adidas tracksuit with white sneakers. Eagle-eyed fans spotted a ring on her left ring finger, though the star has been known to fake us out with different rings worn on that finger before. RELATED VIDEO: Selfies! Workouts! Modeling?! 5 Lessons Baby Stormi Can Learn From the Kar-Jenner Clan The Kylie Cosmetics mogul was snapped posing alongside Sanders and Woods at the baby shower and took a selfie with Woods and graphic designer Edgar Frausto while Stormi stayed at home. Kylie Jenner wore a Gosha Rubchinskiy X Adidas tracksuit Sanders and Jenner bonded over their simultaneous pregnancies, as we saw documented on Jenner’s baby announcement video she posted on YouTube. Looking for more style content? Click here to subscribe to the PeopleStyle Newsletter for amazing shopping discounts, can’t-live-without beauty products and more. “Me and Heather are four weeks apart. We used to talk about this as a joke, like, two years ago,” Jenner said in the video as she posed with Sanders at her own baby shower. “I was like, ‘Heather, your next baby, wait for me!'” After Jenner officially announced Stormi’s birth, Sanders shared a photo of herself and her friend at the baby shower cradling their stomachs with a heartfelt caption. RELATED PHOTOS: The Best Celeb Face Mask Selfies “Congratulations To The sweetest,Loving, Most Caring person on earth! So happy we got to share this experience together! Sleep together,Eat together, Workout etc Love Having you as my pregnant sister for 9 Months! You are going to be such an amazing Mom, and your beautiful baby is the luckiest girl in the world to have you as her mother💕 You Were Made For This! I Love You So Much! Can’t wait for Your Snap Back We Not Even Ready, The Most 🔥 Mama Ever!!” she said. Although Jenner hasn’t wanted to do anything except “hold her baby” since the birth of her daughter on Feb. 1, the star is enjoying slowly starting to get back out in public. “Kylie is doing great,” a source told PEOPLE. “She has left her baby at home a couple of times for short outings. She is very happy and looks great, too. Things with Travis are the same. He is great with the baby when he is around.” A source told PEOPLE that Jenner star loves being a mom so far and is “still over the moon” about it. “All she talks about is her baby girl,” the insider said. “She is surrounded by her and Travis’ family. Everyone is pitching in and helping Kylie so she can do things like shower. But all she wants to do is hold her baby.”

The former ABC Family cable network will air the star-studded benefit show live on Sunday for American audiences while a one-hour highlights special will air that night on ABC. Freeform and ABC stations will air Sunday's Ariana Grande benefit concert in Manchester, England in the U.S. ABC morning show Good Morning America said Friday morning that viewers could watch the concert on "many of our ABC stations after the NBA Finals and also on Freeform live," advising viewers to check their local listings. The star-studded One Love Manchester event will start on Sunday at 7 p.m. U.K. time/2 p.m. ET and raise money for the victims of the bomb attack. Grande will be joined by such big names as Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Niall Horan and Take That at Manchester's Old Trafford Cricket Grounds, less than two weeks after a bomber killed 22 people after a Grande concert in the city. Freeform is the network formerly known as ABC Family, which focuses on teenagers and young adults. Freeform and ABC are both part of the Walt Disney Co. Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family and also owned by ABC parent the Walt Disney Company, will air the full concert live at 2 p.m. ET/PT, while ABC will air a one-hour highlight special following the NBA Finals. TV coverage is being produced by the BBC, the host broadcaster that had previously announced TV and radio coverage in the U.K. BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, said that as of mid-day Friday U.K. time, networks in 38 countries across five continents had agreed to air the concert. “This Sunday, when Ariana Grande and her friends return to the stage, the world will stand united with families in Manchester and across the United Kingdom,” Disney ABC Television Group president and Disney Media Networks co-chairman Ben Sherwood said in a statement. "ABC and Freeform look forward to sharing the music community's message of love, hope and resilience." All net ticket proceeds from the show will go towards the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund set up by the Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross. In Canada, Bell Media will air Ariana Grande's benefit concert live and commercial-free from 1:55 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET on its CTV, Much and VRAK channels, using the BBC feed from Manchester. "We're proud to make this concert available on multiple platforms so that Canadians can pay their respects and support our friends in the United Kingdom," Randy Lennox, Bell Media president, said in a statement. Etan Vlessing contributed to this report. June 2, 7:08 a.m. PT This story has been updated with more details about Sunday's U.S. and Canadian TV coverage.

45th President of the United States Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is the 45th and current President of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality. Trump was born and raised in the New York City borough of Queens, and received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He took charge of his family's real estate business in 1971, renamed it to The Trump Organization, and expanded it into Manhattan. The company built or renovated skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. Trump later started various side ventures, including licensing his name for real estate and consumer products. He managed the company until his 2017 inauguration. He co-authored several books, including The Art of the Deal. He owned the Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015, and he produced and hosted the reality television show The Apprentice from 2003 to 2015. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $3.1 billion. Trump entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican and defeated sixteen opponents in the primaries. Commentators described his political positions as populist, protectionist, and nationalist. His campaign received extensive free media coverage; many of his public statements were controversial or false. Trump was elected president in a surprise victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. He became the oldest and wealthiest person ever to assume the presidency, the first without prior military or government service, and the fifth to have won the election while losing the popular vote. His election and policies have sparked numerous protests. Many of his comments and actions have been perceived as racially charged. During his presidency, Trump ordered a travel ban on citizens from several Muslim-majority countries, citing security concerns; after several legal challenges, the Supreme Court upheld the policy's third revision. He signed tax cut legislation which also rescinded the individual insurance mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act and opened the Arctic Refuge for oil drilling. He enacted a partial repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act that had imposed stricter constraints on banks in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. He pursued his America First agenda in foreign policy, withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and imposed import tariffs on various goods, triggering a trade war with China. After Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey, the Justice Department appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate "any links and/or coordination" between the Trump campaign and the Russian government in its election interference. Trump has repeatedly denied accusations of collusion and obstruction of justice, calling the investigation a politically motivated "witch hunt". Family and personal life Ancestry and parents Trump's ancestors originated from the German village of Kallstadt in the Palatinate on his father's side, and from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland on his mother's side. All of his grandparents and his mother were born in Europe. Trump's paternal grandfather, Frederick Trump, first immigrated to the United States in 1885 at the age of 16 and became a citizen in 1892.[2] He amassed a fortune operating boomtown restaurants and boarding houses in the Seattle area and the Klondike region of Canada during its gold rush.[2] On a visit to Kallstadt, he met Elisabeth Christ and married her in 1902. The couple permanently settled in New York in 1905. Frederick died from influenza during the 1918 pandemic. Trump as a child Trump's father Fred was born in 1905 in the Bronx. Fred started working with his mother in real estate when he was 15, shortly after his father's death. Their company, "E. Trump & Son",[nb 2] founded in 1923,[9] was primarily active in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Fred eventually built and sold thousands of houses, barracks, and apartments.[10] In 1971, Donald Trump was made president of the company, which was later renamed the Trump Organization. In spite of his German ancestry, "Fred Trump sought to pass himself off as Swedish amid anti-German sentiment sparked by World War II."[12] Donald propagated this myth in The Art of the Deal.[12][13][14] Trump's mother Mary Anne MacLeod was born in Tong, Lewis, Scotland. At age 18 in 1930, she immigrated to New York, where she worked as a maid.[15] Fred and Mary were married in 1936 and raised their family in Queens.[15][16] Early life and education Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Queens, New York City, the fourth of five children.[19] Trump grew up in Jamaica, Queens, and attended the Kew-Forest School from kindergarten through seventh grade. At age 13, he was enrolled in the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, after his parents discovered that he had made frequent trips into Manhattan without their permission.[21] In 1964, Trump enrolled at Fordham University.[22] After two years, he transferred to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[22] While at Wharton, he worked at the family business, Elizabeth Trump & Son.[24] He graduated in May 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.[22][25][26] While in college from 1964 to 1968, Trump obtained four student deferments from serving in the military.[27][28] In 1966, he was deemed fit for service based upon a medical examination and in July 1968, after graduating from college, was briefly classified as eligible to serve by a local draft board. In October 1968, he was given a medical deferment which he later attributed to spurs in both heels, and classified as 1-Y, "unqualified for duty except in the case of a national emergency."[29] In the December 1969 draft lottery, Trump's birthday, June 14, received a high number which would have given him a low probability to be called to military service even without the 1-Y.[29][30][31] In 1972, he was reclassified as 4-F, disqualifying him for service.[30][32] Family Trump grew up with three elder siblings—Maryanne, Fred Jr., and Elizabeth—as well as a younger brother named Robert. Maryanne is an inactive Federal Appeals Court judge on the Third Circuit.[33] Trump has five children by three marriages, as well as nine grandchildren.[34][35] His first two marriages ended in widely publicized divorces.[36] In 1977, Trump married Czech model Ivana Zelníčková at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, in a ceremony performed by the Reverend Norman Vincent Peale.[37][38] They had three children: Donald Jr. (born 1977), Ivanka (born 1981), and Eric (born 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988.[39] The couple divorced in 1992, following Trump's affair with actress Marla Maples.[40] In October 1993, Maples gave birth to Trump's daughter, who was named Tiffany in honor of high-end retailer Tiffany & Company.[41] Maples and Trump were married two months later in December 1993.[42] They divorced in 1999,[43] and Tiffany was raised by Marla in California.[44] In 2005, Trump married his third wife, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida.[45] In 2006, Melania became a United States citizen[46] and gave birth to a son, Barron.[47][48] Melania became First Lady when Trump became president in January 2017.[49] Upon his inauguration as president, Trump delegated the management of his real estate business to his two adult sons, Eric and Don Jr.[50] His daughter Ivanka resigned from the Trump Organization and moved to Washington, D.C., with her husband Jared Kushner. She serves as an assistant to the president,[51] and he is a Senior Advisor in the White House.[52] Religion Trump is Presbyterian.[53][54][55] His ancestors were Lutheran on his paternal grandfather's side in Germany and Presbyterian on his mother's side in Scotland.[57] His parents married in a Manhattan Presbyterian church in 1936. As a child, he attended the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, where he had his confirmation.[38] In the 1970s, his family joined the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan.[59] The pastor, Norman Vincent Peale, ministered to Trump's family and mentored him until Peale's death in 1993.[59] Trump has cited Peale and his works during interviews when asked about the role of religion in his personal life.[59] Trump says while he's "not sure" if he's asked God for forgiveness, he takes Holy Communion as often as possible, believing it to be a form of 'cleansing'.[53] While campaigning, Trump referred to The Art of the Deal as his second favorite book after the Bible, saying, "Nothing beats the Bible."[61] The New York Times reported that evangelical Christians nationwide thought "that his heart was in the right place, that his intentions for the country were pure".[62] Trump has associations with a number of Christian spiritual leaders, including Florida pastor Paula White, who has been called his "closest spiritual confidant".[63] In 2015, he released a list of religious advisers, including James Dobson, Jerry Falwell Jr., Ralph Reed, Michele Bachmann, Robert Jeffress, and others.[64][65] Health Trump does not drink alcohol except occasional wine, such as at communion.[66][53] This decision arose in part from watching his older brother Fred Jr. suffer from alcoholism that contributed to his early death in 1981.[67][68] He also said that he has never smoked cigarettes or consumed drugs, including marijuana.[69] In December 2015, Trump's personal physician, Harold Bornstein, released a superlative-laden letter of health praising Trump for "extraordinary physical strength and stamina".[70] Bornstein later said that Trump himself had dictated the contents.[71] A followup medical report showed Trump's blood pressure, liver and thyroid functions to be in normal ranges, and that he takes a statin.[72][73] In January 2018, Trump was examined by White House physician Ronny Jackson, who stated that he was in excellent health, although his weight and cholesterol level were higher than recommended,[66] and that his cardiac assessment revealed no medical issues.[74] Several outside cardiologists commented that Trump's weight, lifestyle and LDL cholesterol ought to have raised serious concerns about his cardiac health.[75] Wealth Trump is the beneficiary of several trust funds set up by his father and paternal grandmother beginning in 1949.[77] In 1976, Fred Trump set up trust funds of $1 million (equivalent to $4.3 million in 2017) for each of his five children and three grandchildren; Donald Trump received annual payments from his trust fund, for example, $90,000 in 1980 and $214,605 in 1981.[77] By 1993, when Trump took two loans totaling $30 million from his siblings, their anticipated shares of Fred's fortune were $35 million each.[78][77] Upon Fred Trump's death in 1999, his will divided $20 million after taxes (equivalent to $29.38 million in 2017) among his surviving children.[77][79][80] Trump said that he began his career with "a small loan of one million dollars" from his father.[81] He appeared on the initial Forbes 400 list of richest Americans in 1982 with an estimated $200 million fortune shared with his father.[82] Former Forbes reporter Jonathan Greenberg stated in 2018 that during the 1980s Trump had deceived him about his actual net worth and his share of the family assets in order to appear on the list.[83][84] Trump made the Forbes World's Billionaires list for the first time in 1989,[85] but he was dropped from the Forbes 400 from 1990 to 1995 following business losses.[82] In 2005, Deutsche Bank loan documents pegged Trump's net worth at $788 million, while Forbes quoted $2.6 billion and journalist Tim O'Brien gave a range of $150 million to $250 million.[85] In its 2018 billionaires ranking, Forbes estimated Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion[nb 1] (766th in the world, 248th in the U.S.)[88] making him one of the richest politicians in American history. When he filed mandatory financial disclosure forms with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in July 2015, Trump claimed a net worth of about $10 billion;[89] however FEC figures cannot corroborate this estimate because they only show each of his largest buildings as being worth "over $50 million", yielding total assets worth more than $1.4 billion and debt over $265 million.[90] Trump reported a yearly income of $362 million for 2014[89] and $611 million from January 2015 to May 2016.[91] A 2016 analysis of Trump's business career by The Economist concluded that his performance since 1985 had been "mediocre compared with the stock market and property in New York".[92] A subsequent analysis by The Washington Post concluded that "Trump is a mix of braggadocio, business failures, and real success".[93] Business career Real estate In 1968, Trump began his career at his father Fred's real estate development company, E. Trump & Son, which, among other interests, owned middle-class rental housing in New York City's outer boroughs.[95] Trump worked for his father to revitalize the Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio, which the elder Trump had bought in 1964.[96][97] The management of the property was sued for racial discrimination in 1969; the suit "was quietly settled at Fred Trump's direction."[97] The Trumps sold the property in 1972, with vacancy on the rise.[97] When his father became chairman of the board in 1971, Trump was promoted to president of the company and renamed it The Trump Organization.[98] In 1973, he and his father drew wider attention when the Justice Department contended in a lawsuit that their company systematically discriminated against African Americans who wished to rent apartments. The Department alleged that the Trump Organization had screened out people based on race and not low income as the Trumps had stated. Under an agreement reached in 1975, the Trumps made no admission of wrongdoing and made the Urban League an intermediary for qualified minority applicants.[99][100] Trump's attorney at the time was Roy Cohn, who valued both positive and negative publicity, and responded to attacks with forceful counterattacks; Trump later emulated Cohn's style. Manhattan developments In 1978, Trump launched his Manhattan real estate business by purchasing a 50 percent stake in the derelict Commodore Hotel, located next to Grand Central Terminal. The purchase was funded largely by a $70 million construction loan that was guaranteed jointly by Fred Trump and the Hyatt hotel chain.[77] When the remodeling was finished, the hotel reopened in 1980 as the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The same year, Trump obtained the rights to develop Trump Tower, a 58-story, 664-foot-high (202 m) skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan.[104][105] To make way for the new building, a crew of undocumented Polish workers demolished the historic Bonwit Teller store, including art deco features that had initially been marked for preservation. The building was completed in 1983 and houses both the primary penthouse condominium residence of Trump and the headquarters of The Trump Organization.[107][108] Architectural critic Paul Goldberger said in 1983 that he was surprised to find the tower's atrium was "the most pleasant interior public space to be completed in New York in some years".[110] In 1980, repairs began on Central Park's Wollman Rink, with an anticipated two-and-a-half year construction time frame. Because of flaws in the design and numerous problems during construction, the project remained unfinished by May 1986 and was estimated to require another 18 months and $2 million to $3 million to complete.[111][112] Trump was awarded a contract as the general contractor in June 1986 to finish the repairs by December 15 with a cost ceiling of $3 million, with the actual costs to be reimbursed by the city.[112] Trump hired an architect, a construction company, and a Canadian ice-rink manufacturer and completed the work in four months, $775,000 under budget.[112] He operated the rink for a year and gave some of the profits to charity and public works projects[113] in exchange for the rink's concession rights.[114][112] Trump managed the rink from 1987 to 1995. He received another contract in 2001 which was extended until 2021.[115][116] According to journalist Joyce Purnick, Trump's "Wollman success was also the stuff of a carefully crafted, self-promotional legend."[115] While the work was in progress, Trump called numerous press conferences, for example for the completion of the laying of the pipes and the pouring of the cement.[117] In 1987, he also unsuccessfully tried to get the city to rename the landmark after him; the Trump logo is prominently displayed on the railing encircling the rink, on the Zamboni,[115] on the rental skates,[116] and on the rink's website.[116][118] In 1988 Trump acquired the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan for $407 million and appointed his wife Ivana to manage its operation. Trump invested $50 million to restore the building, which he called "the Mona Lisa". According to hotel expert Thomas McConnell, the Trumps boosted it from a three-star to a four-star ranking. They sold it in 1995, by which time Ivana was no longer involved in the hotel's day-to-day operations.[121] In 1994, Trump's company refurbished the Gulf and Western Building on Columbus Circle with design and structural enhancements turning it into a 44-story luxury residential and hotel property[122][123] known as Trump International Hotel and Tower. In 1996, Trump acquired the Bank of Manhattan Trust Building, which was a vacant seventy-one story skyscraper on Wall Street. After an extensive renovation, the high-rise was renamed the Trump Building at 40 Wall Street. In 1997, he began construction on Riverside South, which he dubbed Trump Place, a multi-building development along the Hudson River. He and the other investors in the project ultimately sold their interest for $1.8 billion in 2005 in what was then the biggest residential sale in the history of New York City.[126] From 1994 to 2002, Trump owned a 50 percent share of the Empire State Building. He intended to rename it "Trump Empire State Building Tower Apartments" if he had been able to boost his share.[127] In 2001, Trump completed Trump World Tower.[129] In 2002, Trump acquired the former Hotel Delmonico, which was renovated and reopened in 2004 as the Trump Park Avenue; the building consisted of 35 stories of luxury condominiums. Palm Beach estate Mar-a-Lago in 2009 In 1985, Trump acquired the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, for $10 million, $7 million for the real estate and $3 million for the furnishings.[131][132] His initial offer of $28 million had been rejected, and he was able to obtain the property for the lower price after a real-estate market "slump".[133] The home was built in the 1920s by heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post.[134] After her death, her heirs unsuccessfully tried to donate the property to the government before putting it up for sale.[134][135] In addition to using a wing of the estate as a home, Trump turned Mar-a-Lago into a private club. In order to join, prospective members had to pay an initiation fee[136] and annual dues. The initiation fee was $100,000 until 2016; it was doubled to $200,000 in January 2017.[138][139] Atlantic City casinos After New Jersey legalized casino gambling in 1977, Trump went to Atlantic City to explore new business opportunities. Seven years later, he opened Harrah's at Trump Plaza hotel and casino; the project was built by Trump with financing from the Holiday Corporation who also managed its operation. It was renamed "Trump Plaza" soon after it opened. The casino's poor financial results exacerbated disagreements between Trump and Holiday Corp., which led to Trump's paying $70 million in May 1986 to buy out their interest in the property.[142][143] Trump also acquired a partially completed building in Atlantic City from the Hilton Corporation for $320 million; when completed in 1985, that hotel and casino became Trump Castle, and Trump's wife Ivana managed that property until 1988. Trump acquired his third casino in Atlantic City, the Taj Mahal, in 1988 while it was under construction, through a complex transaction with Merv Griffin and Resorts International.[146] It was completed at a cost of $1.1 billion and opened in April 1990.[147][148] The project was financed with $675 million in junk bonds[149] and was a major gamble by Trump. The project underwent debt restructuring the following year,[151] leaving Trump with 50 percent ownership.[152] Facing "enormous debt", he sold his airline, Trump Shuttle, and his 282-foot (86 m) megayacht, the Trump Princess, which had been indefinitely docked in Atlantic City while leased to his casinos for use by wealthy gamblers.[153][154] In 1995, Trump founded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts (THCR), which assumed ownership of Trump Plaza, Trump Castle, and the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana.[156] THCR purchased Taj Mahal in 1996 and underwent bankruptcy restructuring in 2004 and 2009, leaving Trump with 10 percent ownership in the Trump Taj Mahal and other Trump casino properties.[157] Trump remained chairman of THCR until 2009.[158] Golf courses As of December 2016 , the Trump Organization owns or operates 18 golf course and golf resorts in the United States and abroad.[159] According to his FEC personal financial disclosure, his 2015 golf and resort revenue amounted to $382 million,[160][91] while his three European golf courses did not show a profit.[161] Trump began acquiring and constructing golf courses in 1999; his first property was the Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach in Florida.[162] By 2007, Trump owned 4 courses around the US.[162] Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Trump began purchasing existing golf courses and re-designing them.[163] Trump's use of these courses during his presidency was controversial. Despite frequently criticizing his predecessor Barack Obama for his numerous golf outings, Trump golfed 11 times during his first eight weeks in office.[164] According to CNN, Trump visited Trump-owned golf courses 91 times in 2017, although the White House does not disclose whether or not the president actually played on each of those visits.[165] Branding and licensing The Trump Organization expanded its business into branding and management by licensing the Trump name for a large number of building projects that are owned and operated by other people and companies. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, The Trump Organization expanded its footprint beyond New York with the branding and management of various developers' hotel towers around the world. These included projects in Chicago, Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Panama City, Toronto, and Vancouver. There are also Trump-branded buildings in Dubai, Honolulu, Istanbul, Manila, Mumbai, and Indonesia.[166] The Trump name has also been licensed for various consumer products and services, including foodstuffs, apparel, adult learning courses, and home furnishings. These ventures met with mixed success for Trump, his partners, and investors in the projects.[citation needed] In 2011, Forbes' financial experts estimated the value of the Trump brand at $200 million. Trump disputed this valuation, saying his brand was worth about $3 billion.[167] According to an analysis by The Washington Post, there are more than 50 licensing or management deals involving Trump's name, which have generated at least $59 million in yearly revenue for his companies.[168] Lawsuits and bankruptcies As of April 2018 , Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 state and federal legal actions, according to a running tally by USA Today.[169] As of 2016 , he or one of his companies had been the plaintiff in 1,900 cases and the defendant in 1,450. With Trump or his company as plaintiff, more than half the cases have been against gamblers at his casinos who had failed to pay off their debts. With Trump or his company as a defendant, the most common type of case involved personal injury cases at his hotels. In cases where there was a clear resolution, Trump's side won 451 times and lost 38.[170][171] Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy, but his hotel and casino businesses have been declared bankrupt six times between 1991 and 2009 in order to re-negotiate debt with banks and owners of stock and bonds.[172][173] Because the businesses used Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they were allowed to operate while negotiations proceeded. Trump was quoted by Newsweek in 2011 saying, "I do play with the bankruptcy laws – they're very good for me" as a tool for trimming debt.[174][175] The six bankruptcies were the result of over-leveraged hotel and casino businesses in Atlantic City and New York: Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (1992), Plaza Hotel (1992), Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992), Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009).[176][177] Side ventures After Trump took over the family real estate firm in 1971 and renamed it The Trump Organization, he expanded its real estate operations and ventured into other business activities. The company eventually became the umbrella organization for several hundred individual business ventures and partnerships.[178] Sports In September 1983, Trump purchased the New Jersey Generals—an American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL). After the 1985 season, the league folded largely due to Trump's strategy of moving games to a fall schedule where they competed with the NFL for audience, and trying to force a merger with the NFL by bringing an antitrust lawsuit against the organization.[179][180] Trump operated golf courses in several countries.[179] He hosted several boxing matches at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, including Mike Tyson's 1988 heavyweight championship fight against Michael Spinks.[181] He also acted as a financial advisor to Mike Tyson.[182] In 1989 and 1990, Trump lent his name to the Tour de Trump cycling stage race, which was an attempt to create an American equivalent of European races such as the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia.[183] Miss Universe From 1996 to 2015, Trump owned part or all of the Miss Universe pageants.[184][185] The pageants include Miss USA and Miss Teen USA. His management of this business involved his family members—daughter Ivanka once hosted Miss Teen USA. He became dissatisfied with how CBS scheduled the pageants, and took both Miss Universe and Miss USA to NBC in 2002.[187][188] In 2007, Trump received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work as producer of Miss Universe.[189] Following Trump's controversial statements about illegal Mexican immigrants during his 2015 presidential campaign kickoff speech, NBC ended its business relationship with him, stating that it would no longer air the Miss Universe or Miss USA pageants on its networks.[190] In September 2015, Trump bought NBC's share of the Miss Universe Organization and then sold the entire company to the WME/IMG talent agency.[191] Trump University Trump University was a for-profit education company that was founded by Trump and his associates, Michael Sexton and Jonathan Spitalny. The company ran a real estate training program and charged between $1,500 and $35,000 per course.[192][193][194] In 2005, New York State authorities notified the operation that its use of the word "university" was misleading and violated state law. After a second such notification in 2010, the name of the company was changed to the "Trump Entrepreneurial Institute".[195] Trump was also found personally liable for failing to obtain a business license for the operation.[196] Ronald Schneckenberg, a sales manager for Trump University, said in a testimony that he was reprimanded for not trying harder to sell a $35,000 real estate class to a couple who could not afford it.[197] Schneckenberg said that he believed "Trump University was a fraudulent scheme" which "preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money."[197] In 2013, New York State filed a $40 million civil suit against Trump University; the suit alleged that the company made false statements and defrauded consumers.[195][198] In addition, two class-action civil lawsuits were filed in federal court relating to Trump University; they named Trump personally as well as his companies.[199] During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized presiding Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, alleging bias in his rulings because of his Mexican heritage.[200][201] Shortly after Trump won the presidency, the parties agreed to a settlement of all three pending cases, whereby Trump paid a total of $25 million and denied any wrongdoing.[202][203] Foundation The Donald J. Trump Foundation is a U.S.-based private foundation[204] that was established in 1988 for the initial purpose of giving away proceeds from the book Trump: The Art of the Deal.[205][206] The foundation's funds have mostly come from donors other than Trump,[207] who has not given personally to the charity since 2008.[207] The foundation's tax returns show that it has given to health care and sports-related charities, as well as conservative groups.[208] In 2009, for example, the foundation gave $926,750 to about 40 groups, with the biggest donations going to the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation ($100,000), the New York–Presbyterian Hospital ($125,000), the Police Athletic League ($156,000), and the Clinton Foundation ($100,000).[209][210] From 2004 to 2014, the top donors to the foundation were Vince and Linda McMahon of WWE, who donated $5 million to the foundation after Trump appeared at WrestleMania in 2007.[207] Trump later named Linda McMahon as Administrator of the Small Business Administration.[211] In 2016, The Washington Post reported that the charity had committed several potential legal and ethical violations, including alleged self-dealing and possible tax evasion.[212] Also in 2016, the New York State Attorney General's office notified the Trump Foundation that the foundation appeared to be in violation of New York laws regarding charities, ordering it to immediately cease its fundraising activities in New York.[213][214][215] A Trump spokesman called the Attorney General's investigation a "partisan hit job".[213] In response to mounting complaints, Trump's team announced in late December 2016 that the Trump Foundation would be dissolved to remove "even the appearance of any conflict with [his] role as President."[216] According to an IRS filing in November 2017, the foundation intended to shut down and distribute its assets (about $970,000) to other charities. However, the New York Attorney General's office had to complete their ongoing investigation before the foundation could legally shut down,[217] and in June 2018 they filed a civil suit against the foundation for $2.8 million in restitution and additional penalties.[218] The suit names Trump himself as well as his adult children Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka.[219] Conflicts of interest Before being inaugurated as president, Trump moved his businesses into a revocable trust run by his eldest sons and a business associate.[220][221] According to ethics experts, as long as Trump continues to profit from his businesses, the measures taken by Trump do not help to avoid conflicts of interest.[222] Because Trump would have knowledge of how his administration's policies would affect his businesses, ethics experts recommend that Trump sell off his businesses.[221] Multiple lawsuits have been filed alleging that Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the United States Constitution due to his business interests; they argue that these interests allow foreign governments to influence him.[222][223] Previous presidents in the modern era have either divested their holdings or put them in blind trusts,[220] and he is the first president to be sued over the emoluments clause.[223] Media career Books Trump has published numerous books. His first published book in 1987 was Trump: The Art of the Deal, in which Trump is credited as co-author with Tony Schwartz, who has stated that he did all the writing for the book.[224][225][226] It reached number 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, stayed there for 13 weeks, and altogether held a position on the list for 48 weeks.[225] According to The New Yorker, "The book expanded Trump's renown far beyond New York City, promoting an image of himself as a successful dealmaker and tycoon."[225] Trump's published writings shifted post-2000 from stylized memoirs to financial tips and political opinion.[227] Film and television Wrestling In 1988 and 1989, Trump hosted WrestleMania IV and V at Boardwalk Hall, and he has been an active participant in several World Wrestling shows.[228] In 2013, he was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden for his contributions to the promotion.[229] The Apprentice In 2003, Trump became the executive producer and host of the NBC reality show The Apprentice, in which contestants competed for a one-year management job with the Trump Organization; applicants were successively eliminated from the game with the catchphrase "You're fired".[230][224][231] He went on to be co-host of The Celebrity Apprentice, in which celebrities compete to win money for their charities.[230][231][232] In February 2015, Trump stated that he was "not ready" to sign on for another season of the show because of the possibility of a presidential run.[233] Despite this, NBC announced they were going ahead with production of a 15th season.[234] In June, after widespread negative reaction stemming from Trump's campaign announcement speech, NBC released a statement saying, "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump."[235] In 2011, Trump was given a weekly unpaid guest commentator spot on Fox & Friends that continued for years.[236][237][238] Acting Trump has made cameo appearances in 12 films and 14 television series,[239] including a cameo as one of the characters' father in The Little Rascals.[240][241] He performed a song with Megan Mullally at the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2005.[242][243] Trump receives a pension as a member of the Screen Actors Guild.[244] His financial disclosure forms mentioned an annual pension of $110,000 in 2016 and $85,000 in 2017.[244][245][246] Public profile Approval ratings Presidential approval polls taken during the first ten months of Trump's term have shown him to be the least popular U.S. president in the history of modern opinion polls.[247][248][249] A Pew Research Center global poll conducted in July 2017, found "a median of just 22 percent has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when it comes to international affairs". This compares to a median of 64 percent rate of confidence for his predecessor Barack Obama. Trump received a higher rating in only two countries: Russia and Israel.[250] An August 2017 POLITICO/Morning consult poll found on some measures "that majorities of voters have low opinions of his character and competence".[251] Trump is the only elected president who did not place first on Gallup's poll of men Americans most admired in his first year in office, coming in second behind Barack Obama.[252][253] False statements As president, Trump has frequently made false statements in public speeches and remarks.[254][255][256][257] Trump uttered "at least one false or misleading claim per day on 91 of his first 99 days" in office according to The New York Times,[254] and 1,318 total in his first 263 days in office according to the "Fact Checker" political analysis column of The Washington Post,[258] which also wrote, "President Trump is the most fact-challenged politician that The Fact Checker has ever encountered ... the pace and volume of the president's misstatements means that we cannot possibly keep up."[255] After 558 days in office, the tally was at 4,229 false or misleading claims, and it had risen to an average of 7.6 per day from 4.9 during Trump's first 100 days in office.[259] According to one study, the rate of false statements has increased, with the percentage of his words that are part of a false claim rising over the course of his presidency.[257] In general, news organizations have been hesitant to label these statements as "lies".[260][261][257] Racial views Trump has a history of making racially controversial remarks and taking actions that are perceived as racially motivated.[262] In 1975, he settled a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit that alleged housing discrimination against black renters.[95][263][264] He was accused of racism for insisting that a group of black and Latino teenagers were guilty of raping a white woman in the 1989 Central Park jogger attack, even after they were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2002. He continued to maintain this position as late as 2016.[265] Starting in 2011, Trump was a major proponent of "birther" conspiracy theories alleging that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, and questioned his eligibility to serve as president.[266][267] Trump later took credit for pushing the White House to release the "long-form" birth certificate from Hawaii,[268][269][270] and he stated during his presidential campaign that his stance had made him "very popular".[271] In September 2016, he publicly acknowledged that Obama was born in the United States,[272] and falsely claimed that the rumors had been started by Hillary Clinton during her 2008 campaign.[273] Trump makes a statement (begins at 07:20 into the video) on the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville published by the White House Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign with a speech in which he stated: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people."[274][275][276][277] Later, his attacks on a Mexican-American judge were criticized as racist.[278] His comments following a 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, were seen as implying a moral equivalence between white supremacist marchers and those who protested them.[279] In a January 2018 Oval Office meeting to discuss immigration legislation with Congressional leaders, Trump reportedly referred to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African countries as "shitholes".[280] His remarks were condemned as racist worldwide, as well as by many members of Congress.[281][282][283] Trump has denied accusations of racism multiple times, saying he is the "least racist person".[284][285] Trump's racially insensitive statements[263] have been condemned by many observers in the U.S. and around the world,[286][287] but accepted by his supporters either as a rejection of political correctness[288][289] or because they harbor similar racial sentiments.[290][291] Several studies and surveys have stated that racist attitudes and racial resentment have fueled Trump's political ascendance, and have become more significant than economic factors in determining party allegiance of voters.[291][292] According to an October 2017 Politico/Morning Consult poll, 45 percent of American voters viewed Trump as racist and 40 percent did not.[293] In a June 2018 Quinnipiac University poll, 49 percent of respondents believed that Trump is racist while 47 percent believed he is not. Additionally, 55 percent said he "has emboldened people who hold racist beliefs to express those beliefs publicly."[294][295] Relationship with the press President Trump talking to the press, March 2017 Throughout his career, Trump has sought media attention. His interactions with the press turned into what some sources called a "love-hate" relationship.[296][297][298] According to biographer Michael D'Antonio, Trump began promoting himself in the press in the 1970s.[299] During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump accused the press of intentionally misinterpreting his words and of being biased, although he[300][301] benefited from a record amount of free media coverage, elevating his standing in the Republican primaries.[302] According to journalist Lesley Stahl, after Trump won the 2016 presidential election, he had told her that he kept attacking the media to "demean" and "discredit", "so when you write negative stories about me no one will believe you".[303] Into his presidency, much of the press coverage of Trump and his administration was negative.[304][305] Trump has often referred to the press as "fake news media" and "the enemy of the people".[306] He has privately and publicly mused about taking away critical reporters' White House press credentials (despite, during his campaign, promising not to do so once he became president).[307] On his first day in office, Trump falsely accused journalists of understating the size of the crowd at his inauguration, and called the media "among the most dishonest human beings on earth". The relationship between Trump, the media, and fake news has been studied. One study found that between October 7 and November 14, 2016, while one in four Americans visited a fake news website, "Trump supporters visited the most fake news websites, which were overwhelmingly pro-Trump" and "almost 6 in 10 visits to fake news websites came from the 10 percent of people with the most conservative online information diets".[308][309] Brendan Nyhan, one of the authors of the study by researchers from Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Exeter, stated in an interview on NBC News: "People got vastly more misinformation from Donald Trump than they did from fake news websites".[310] Popular culture Trump has been the subject of comedians, flash cartoon artists, and online caricature artists. He has been parodied regularly on Saturday Night Live by Phil Hartman, Darrell Hammond, and Alec Baldwin, and in South Park as Mr. Garrison. The Simpsons episode "Bart to the Future", written during his 2000 campaign for the Reform party, anticipated a future Trump presidency. A dedicated parody series called The President Show debuted in April 2017 on Comedy Central, while another one called Our Cartoon President debuted on Showtime in February 2018.[311] Starting in the 1990s, Trump was a guest about 24 times on the nationally syndicated Howard Stern Show on talk radio. Trump also had his own daily talk radio program called Trumped!, from 2004 to 2008.[314][315] Trump's wealth and lifestyle had been a fixture of hip hop lyrics since the 1980s, as he was named in hundreds of songs, most often in a positive tone.[316][317] Mentions of Trump turned negative and pejorative after he ran for office in 2015.[316][318][319] Social media Trump's presence on social media has attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in March 2009. He communicated heavily on Twitter during the 2016 election campaign, and has continued to use this channel during his presidency. The attention on Trump's Twitter activity has significantly increased since he was sworn in as president. He uses Twitter as a direct means of communication with the public, sidelining the press.[320] Many of the assertions he tweeted have been proven false.[321][322][323] Recognitions In December 2016, Time named Trump as its "Person of the Year".[324] In an interview on The Today Show, he said he was honored by the award, but he took issue with the magazine for referring to him as the "President of the Divided States of America."[325][326] In the same month, he was named Financial Times Person of the Year.[327] In December 2016, Forbes ranked Trump the second most powerful person in the world, after Vladimir Putin and before Angela Merkel.[328] In 2015, Robert Gordon University revoked the honorary Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) it had granted Trump in 2010, stating that "Mr. Trump has made a number of statements that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university."[329] Political career Political activities up to 2015 Trump's political party affiliation has changed numerous times over the years. He was a Democrat prior to 1987, when he registered as a Republican in Manhattan.[330] He switched to Independent in 1999, Democrat in 2001, and back to Republican in 2009.[330] In 1987 Trump spent almost $100,000 (equivalent to $215,407 in 2017) to place full-page advertisements in three major newspapers, proclaiming that "America should stop paying to defend countries that can afford to defend themselves".[331] The advertisements also advocated for "reducing the budget deficit, working for peace in Central America, and speeding up nuclear disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union."[332] After rumors of a presidential run, Trump was invited by Democratic senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas, and Arkansas congressman Beryl Anthony Jr., to host a fundraising dinner for Democratic Congressional candidates and to switch parties. Anthony told The New York Times that "the message Trump has been preaching is a Democratic message". Asked whether the rumors were true, Trump denied being a candidate, but said, "I believe that if I did run for President, I'd win."[332] According to a Gallup poll in December 1988, Trump was the tenth most admired man in America, behind Ted Kennedy and Bill Cosby. 2000 presidential campaign In 1999, Trump filed an exploratory committee to seek the nomination of the Reform Party for the 2000 presidential election.[335][336] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[337] Trump eventually dropped out of the race, but still went on to win the Reform Party primaries in California and Michigan.[338][339] After his run, Trump left the party due to the involvement of David Duke, Pat Buchanan, and Lenora Fulani.[335] Trump also considered running for president in 2004.[340] In 2005, Trump said that he voted for George W. Bush.[341] In 2008, he endorsed Republican John McCain for president.[342] 2012 presidential speculation Trump publicly speculated about running for president in the 2012 election, and made his first speaking appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February 2011. The speech is credited for helping kick-start his political career within the Republican Party.[343] On May 16, 2011, Trump announced he would not run for president in the 2012 election.[344] In February 2012, Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president.[345] Trump's presidential ambitions were generally not taken seriously at the time.[346] Trump's moves were interpreted by some media as possible promotional tools for his reality show The Apprentice.[344][347][348] Before the 2016 election, The New York Times speculated that Trump "accelerated his ferocious efforts to gain stature within the political world" after Obama lampooned him at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in April 2011.[349] 2013–2015 In 2013, Trump was a featured CPAC speaker.[350] In a sparsely-attended speech, he railed against illegal immigration while seeming to encourage immigration from Europe, bemoaned Obama's "unprecedented media protection", advised against harming Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and suggested that the government "take" Iraq's oil and use the proceeds to pay a million dollars each to families of dead soldiers.[351][352] He spent over $1 million that year to research a possible 2016 candidacy.[353] In October 2013, New York Republicans circulated a memo suggesting Trump should run for governor of the state in 2014 against Andrew Cuomo. Trump responded that while New York had problems and its taxes were too high, he was not interested in the governorship.[354] A February 2014 Quinnipiac poll had shown Trump losing to the more popular Cuomo by 37 points in a hypothetical election.[355] In February 2015, Trump told NBC that he was not prepared to sign on for another season of The Apprentice, as he mulled his political future.[356] 2016 Republican presidential primaries On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States at Trump Tower in Manhattan. In the speech, Trump discussed illegal immigration, offshoring of American jobs, the U.S. national debt, and Islamic terrorism, which all remained large priorities during the campaign. He also announced his campaign slogan: "Make America Great Again".[275][274] Trump said his wealth would make him immune to pressure from campaign donors.[357] He declared that he was funding his own campaign,[358] but according to The Atlantic, "Trump's claims of self-funding have always been dubious at best and actively misleading at worst."[359] In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, Trump entered a field of 17 major candidates who were vying for the 2016 Republican nomination; this was the largest presidential field in American history.[360] Trump's campaign was initially not taken seriously by political analysts, but he quickly rose to the top of opinion polls.[361] On Super Tuesday, Trump won the plurality of the vote, and he remained the front-runner throughout the remainder of the primaries. By March 2016, Trump became poised to win the Republican nomination.[362] After a landslide win in Indiana on May 3, 2016—which prompted the remaining candidates Cruz and John Kasich to suspend their presidential campaigns—RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared Trump the presumptive Republican nominee.[363] 2016 general election campaign After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump shifted his focus to the general election. Trump began campaigning against Hillary Clinton, who became the presumptive Democratic nominee on June 6, 2016. Clinton had established a significant lead over Trump in national polls throughout most of 2016. In early July, Clinton's lead narrowed in national polling averages following the FBI's re-opening of its investigation into her ongoing email controversy.[364][365][366] On July 15, 2016, Trump announced his selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate.[367] Four days later on July 19, Trump and Pence were officially nominated by the Republican Party at the Republican National Convention.[368] The list of convention speakers and attendees included former presidential nominee Bob Dole, but the other prior nominees did not attend.[369][370] Two days later, Trump officially accepted the nomination in a 76-minute speech. The historically long speech received mixed reviews, with net negative viewer reactions according to CNN and Gallup polls.[371][372][373] On September 26, 2016, Trump and Clinton faced off in their first presidential debate, which was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, and moderated by NBC News anchor Lester Holt.[374] The TV broadcast was the most watched presidential debate in United States history.[375] The second presidential debate was held at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. The beginning of that debate was dominated by references to a recently leaked tape of Trump making sexually explicit comments, which Trump countered by referring to alleged sexual misconduct on the part of Bill Clinton. Prior to the debate, Trump had invited four women who had accused Clinton of impropriety to a press conference. The final presidential debate was held on October 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Trump's refusal to say whether he would accept the result of the election, regardless of the outcome, drew particular attention, with some saying it undermined democracy.[376][377] Political positions Trump's campaign platform emphasized renegotiating U.S.–China relations and free trade agreements such as NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, strongly enforcing immigration laws, and building a new wall along the U.S.–Mexico border. His other campaign positions included pursuing energy independence while opposing climate change regulations such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Agreement, modernizing and expediting services for veterans, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, abolishing Common Core education standards, investing in infrastructure, simplifying the tax code while reducing taxes for all economic classes, and imposing tariffs on imports by companies that offshore jobs. During the campaign, he also advocated a largely non-interventionist approach to foreign policy while increasing military spending, extreme vetting or banning immigrants from Muslim-majority countries[378] to pre-empt domestic Islamic terrorism, and aggressive military action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. His political positions have been described as populist,[379][380][381] and some of his views cross party lines. For example, his economic campaign plan calls for large reductions in income taxes and deregulation,[382] consistent with Republican Party policies, along with significant infrastructure investment,[383] usually considered a Democratic Party policy.[384][385] According to political writer Jack Shafer, Trump may be a "fairly conventional American populist when it comes to his policy views", but he attracts free media attention, sometimes by making outrageous comments.[386] Trump has supported or leaned toward varying political positions over time.[388][389][390] Politico has described his positions as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory",[390] while NBC News counted "141 distinct shifts on 23 major issues" during his campaign.[391] Campaign rhetoric In his campaign, Trump said that he disdained political correctness; he also stated that the media had intentionally misinterpreted his words, and he made other claims of adverse media bias.[300][392][301] In part due to his fame, and due to his willingness to say things other candidates would not, and because a candidate who is gaining ground automatically provides a compelling news story, Trump received an unprecedented amount of free media coverage during his run for the presidency, which elevated his standing in the Republican primaries.[302] Fact-checking organizations have denounced Trump for making a record number of false statements compared to other candidates.[393][394][395] At least four major publications—Politico, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times—have pointed out lies or falsehoods in his campaign statements, with the Los Angeles Times saying that "Never in modern presidential politics has a major candidate made false statements as routinely as Trump has".[396] NPR said that Trump's campaign statements were often opaque or suggestive.[397] Trump's penchant for hyperbole is believed to have roots in the New York real estate scene, where Trump established his wealth and where puffery abounds.[398] Trump has called his public speaking style "truthful hyperbole", an effective political tactic that may, however, backfire for overpromising.[398] White supremacist support Acts of populism that proved successful for Trump included recognition of some Americans who felt "anger" towards cultural changes, sexual liberty and the potential of white Americans–especially white Protestants–becoming a minority group in the United States.[379] According to Michael Barkun, the Trump campaign was remarkable for bringing fringe ideas, beliefs, and organizations into the mainstream.[399] During his presidential campaign, Trump was accused of pandering to white supremacists.[400][401][402] He retweeted open racists,[403][404] and repeatedly refused to condemn David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan or white supremacists, in an interview on CNN's State of the Union, saying that he would first need to "do research" because he knew nothing about Duke or white supremacists.[405][406] Trump has said that he disavowed David Duke and the KKK on multiple occasions.[407][408][409] Duke himself was an enthusiastic supporter of Trump throughout the 2016 primary and election, and has stated that he and like-minded people voted for Trump because of his promises to "take our country back".[410] In a tweet he reminded Trump that "it was White Americans who put you in the presidency".[411] The alt-right movement coalesced around Trump's candidacy,[412] due in part to its opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[413][414][415] Members of the alt-right enthusiastically supported Trump's campaign.[416] In August 2016, he appointed Steve Bannon—the executive chairman of Breitbart News—as his campaign CEO; Bannon described Breitbart News as "the platform for the alt-right."[417] Trump personally condemned the alt-right in an interview after the election.[418] Financial disclosures As a presidential candidate, Trump disclosed details of his companies, assets, and revenue sources to the extent required by the FEC. His 2015 report listed assets above $1.4 billion and outstanding debts of at least $265 million.[90][419] The 2016 form showed little change.[91] Trump did not release his tax returns during his presidential campaign or afterward,[420][421] contrary to usual practice by every candidate since Gerald Ford in 1976 and to his promise in 2014 to do so if he ran for office.[422][423][424] Trump's refusal led to speculation that he was hiding something.[425] He said that his tax returns were being audited, and his lawyers had advised him against releasing them.[426][427] Trump has told the press that his tax rate was none of their business, and that he tries to pay "as little tax as possible".[428][429][430] In October 2016, portions of Trump's state filings for 1995 were leaked to a reporter from The New York Times. They show that Trump declared a loss of $916 million that year, which could have let him avoid taxes for up to 18 years. During the second presidential debate, Trump acknowledged using the deduction, but declined to provide details such as the specific years it was applied.[431] He said that he did use the tax code to avoid paying taxes.[432][433][434] On March 14, 2017, the first two pages of Trump's 2005 federal income tax returns were leaked to Rachel Maddow and shown on MSNBC. The document states that Trump had a gross adjusted income of $150 million and paid $38 million in federal taxes. The White House confirmed the authenticity of these documents and stated: "Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns."[435][436] Sexual misconduct allegations A total of 19 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct as of December 2017 .[437] Trump and his campaign have denied as of October 2016 all of the sexual misconduct accusations, which Trump has called "false smears", and alleged a conspiracy against him.[438][439][440] Two days before the second presidential debate, a 2005 recording surfaced in which Trump was heard bragging about forcibly kissing and groping women.[441][442][443] The hot mic recording was captured on a studio bus in which Trump and Billy Bush were preparing to film an episode of Access Hollywood. In the tape, Trump said: "I just start kissing them ... I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it, you can do anything ... grab 'em by the pussy."[444] During the recording, Trump also spoke of his efforts to seduce a married woman, saying he "moved on her very heavily".[444] Trump's language on the tape was described by the media as "vulgar", "sexist", and descriptive of sexual assault. The incident prompted him to make his first public apology during the campaign,[445][446] and caused outrage across the political spectrum,[447][448] with many Republicans withdrawing their endorsements of his candidacy and some urging him to quit the race.[449] Subsequently, at least 15 women[450] came forward with new accusations of sexual misconduct, including unwanted kissing and groping, resulting in widespread media coverage.[451][452] In his two public statements in response to the controversy, Trump alleged that former president Bill Clinton had "abused women" and that Hillary had bullied her husband's victims.[453] Election to the presidency 2016 electoral vote results On November 8, 2016, Trump received 306 pledged electoral votes versus 232 for Clinton. The official counts were 304 and 227 respectively, after defections on both sides.[454] Trump received a smaller share of the popular vote than Clinton, which made him the fifth person to be elected president while losing the popular vote.[455][nb 3] Clinton was ahead nationwide by 2.1 percentage points, with 65,853,514 votes (7001481800000000000♠48.18%) to 62,984,828 votes (7001460900000000000♠46.09%); neither candidate reached a majority.[458] Trump's victory was considered a stunning political upset by most observers, as polls had consistently showed Hillary Clinton with a nationwide—though diminishing—lead, as well as a favorable advantage in most of the competitive states. Trump's support had been modestly underestimated throughout his campaign,[459] and many observers blamed errors in polls, partially attributed to pollsters overestimating Clinton's support among well-educated and nonwhite voters, while underestimating Trump's support among white working-class voters.[460] Actually, the polls were relatively accurate,[461] but media outlets and pundits alike showed overconfidence in a Clinton victory despite a large number of undecided voters and a favorable concentration of Trump's core constituencies in competitive states.[462] Trump won 30 states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which had been called a blue wall of Democratic strongholds since the 1990s. Clinton won 20 states and the District of Columbia. Trump's victory marked the return of a Republican White House combined with control of both chambers of Congress. Trump is the wealthiest president in U.S. history, even after adjusting for inflation.[463] He is also the first president without prior government or military service.[464][465][466] Of the 43[nb 4] previous presidents, 38 had held prior elective office, two had not held elective office but had served in the Cabinet, and three had never held public office but had been commanding generals.[466] Protests Women's March in Washington on January 21, 2017, a day after the inauguration Some rallies during the primary season were accompanied by protests or violence, including attacks on Trump supporters and vice versa both inside and outside the venues.[468][469][470] Trump's election victory sparked protests across the United States, in opposition to his policies and his inflammatory statements. Trump initially said on Twitter that these were "professional protesters, incited by the media", and were "unfair", but he later tweeted, "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country."[471][472] In the weeks following Trump's inauguration, massive anti-Trump demonstrations took place, such as the Women Marches, which gathered 2,600,000 people worldwide,[473] including 500,000 in Washington alone.[474] Moreover, marches against his travel ban began across the country on January 29, 2017, just 9 days after his inauguration.[475] Other legal affairs Adult film actress Stormy Daniels has alleged that she and Trump had an affair in 2006,[476] which Trump denied.[477] Just before the 2016 presidential election Daniels was paid $130,000 by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen as part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA); Cohen said he paid her with his own money.[478] In February 2018, Daniels sued Cohen's company asking to be released from the NDA and be allowed to tell her story. Cohen obtained a restraining order to keep her from discussing the case.[479][480] In March, Daniels claimed in court that the NDA never came into effect because Trump did not sign it personally.[481] In April, Trump said that he did not know about Cohen paying Daniels, why Cohen had made the payment or where Cohen got the money from.[482] In May, Trump's annual financial disclosure revealed that he reimbursed Cohen in 2017 for payments related to Daniels.[483] In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws, admitting to paying hush money of $130,000 to Daniels and $150,000 indirectly to Playboy model Karen McDougal, and said that he did it at the direction of Trump,[484][485] with the aim of influencing the presidential election.[486] In response, Trump said that he only knew about the payments "later on", and that he paid back Cohen personally, not out of campaign funds.[487] Cohen also said he would cooperate fully with the Special Counsel investigation into collusion with Russia.[488] Presidency Early actions Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on January 20, 2017. During his first week in office, he signed six executive orders: interim procedures in anticipation of repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, re-instatement of the Mexico City Policy, unlocking the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline construction projects, reinforcing border security, and beginning the planning and design process to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.[489] On January 31, Trump nominated U.S. Appeals Court judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat on the Supreme Court previous held by Justice Antonin Scalia until his death in 2016.[490] Domestic policy Trade tariffs Trump has been described as a protectionist[491][492][493] because he criticized NAFTA,[494][495] cancelled negotiations towards the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),[496] imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum,[497][498] and proposed to significantly raise tariffs on Chinese and Mexican exports to the United States.[499][500] He has also been critical of the World Trade Organization, threatening to leave unless his proposed tariffs are accepted.[501][502] In March 2018, Trump signed an order imposing import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, with exemptions for Canada, Mexico, and possibly other countries.[503] In response, the EU imposed retaliatory tariffs targeting $3.4 billion in U.S. exports.[504][505] In July, China retaliated with a $34 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods.[506][507] Trump had signaled that he might impose an additional $200 billion in tariffs if China imposed their own tariffs, with the potential for a further $200 billion, in an escalating trade war[508] that analysts say could impact $2 trillion in global trade.[509][510] Economy Trump speaking to automobile workers in Michigan, March 2017 In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, lowered personal tax brackets, increased child tax credit, doubled the estate tax threshold to $11.2 million, and limited the state and local tax deduction to $10,000.[511] The reduction in individual tax rates ends in 2025. While people would generally get a tax cut, those with higher incomes would see the most benefit.[512][513] Households in the lower or middle class would also see a small tax increase after the tax cuts expire. The bill is estimated to increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.[514][515] Energy and climate While campaigning Trump's energy policy advocated domestic support for both fossil and renewable energy sources in order to curb reliance on Middle-Eastern oil and possibly turn the U.S. into a net energy exporter.[516] However following his election his "America First Energy Plan" did not mention renewable energy and instead focused on fossil fuels.[517] Environmentalists have expressed concerns because he has announced plans to make large budget cuts in programs that research renewable energy and to roll back Obama-era policies directed at curbing climate change and limiting environmental pollution.[518] Trump rejects the scientific consensus on climate change[519][520] and his former Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, does not believe that carbon emissions are the main cause of global warming. While admitting that the climate is warming, Pruitt believes that warming is not necessarily harmful and could be beneficial.[521] Based on numerous studies, climate experts disagree with his position.[522] On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. the only nation in the world to not ratify the agreement.[523][524][525] Government size and deregulation Trump's early policies have favored rollback and dismantling of government regulations. He signed a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution, the first in 16 years and second overall.[526] During his first six weeks in office, he abolished ninety federal regulations.[527][528] On January 23, 2017, Trump ordered a temporary government-wide hiring freeze, except for those working in certain areas.[529][530] The Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office told a House committee that hiring freezes have not proven to be effective in reducing costs.[531] Unlike some past freezes, the current freeze bars agencies from adding contractors to make up for employees leaving.[531] A week later Trump signed Executive Order 13771, which directed administrative agencies to repeal two existing regulations for every new regulation they issue.[532][533] Agency defenders expressed opposition to Trump's criticisms, saying that the bureaucracy exists to protect people against well-organized, well-funded interest groups.[534] Health care In 1999, Trump told Larry King Live: "I believe in universal healthcare."[535] Trump's 2000 book, The America We Deserve, argued strongly for a single-payer healthcare system based on the Canadian model,[536] and he has voiced admiration for the Scottish National Health Service.[535][537][538] During his campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare.[539][540] Shortly after taking office, he urged Congress to repeal and replace it. In May of that year, the United States House of Representatives voted to repeal the ACA.[541] Over the course of several months' effort, however, the Senate was unable to pass any version of a repeal bill.[542] Trump has expressed a desire to "let Obamacare fail", and the Trump administration has cut the ACA enrollment period in half and drastically reduced funding for advertising and other ways to encourage enrollment.[543][544][545] The tax reform Trump signed into law at the end of his first year in office effectively repealed the individual health insurance mandate that was a major element of the Obamacare health insurance system; this repeal is scheduled to be implemented in 2019.[546][547][548] Social issues Trump favored changing the 2016 Republican platform to affirm women's right to abortion in the three exceptional cases of rape, incest, and circumstances endangering the health of the mother.[549] He has said that he is committed to appointing pro-life justices.[550] He personally supports "traditional marriage"[551] but considers the nationwide legality of same-sex marriage a "settled" issue.[550] Trump supports a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment and says he is opposed to gun control in general,[552][553] although his views have shifted over time.[554] Trump opposes legalizing recreational marijuana but supports legalizing medical marijuana.[555] He favors capital punishment,[556][557] as well as the use of waterboarding and "a hell of a lot worse" methods.[558][559] Immigration Trump conferring with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly , January 25, 2017 Trump's proposed immigration policies were a topic of bitter and contentious debate during the campaign. He promised to build a more substantial wall on the Mexico–United States border to keep out illegal immigrants and vowed that Mexico would pay for it.[560] He pledged to massively deport illegal immigrants residing in the United States,[561] and criticized birthright citizenship for creating "anchor babies".[562] He said that deportation would focus on criminals, visa overstays, and security threats.[563] Travel ban Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, Trump made a controversial proposal to ban Muslim foreigners from entering the United States until stronger vetting systems could be implemented.[564][565][566] He later reframed the proposed ban to apply to countries with a "proven history of terrorism".[567][568][569] On January 27, 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, which suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns. The order was imposed without warning and took effect immediately.[570] Confusion and protests caused chaos at airports.[571][572] The administration then clarified that visitors with a green card were exempt from the ban.[573][574] On January 30, Sally Yates, the acting Attorney General, directed Justice Department lawyers not to defend the executive order, which she deemed unenforceable and unconstitutional;[575] Trump immediately dismissed her.[576][577] Multiple legal challenges were filed against the order, and on February 5 a federal judge in Seattle blocked its implementation.[578][579] On March 6, Trump issued a revised order, which excluded Iraq, gave specific exemptions for permanent residents, and removed priorities for Christian minorities.[580][570] Again federal judges in three states blocked its implementation.[581] On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban could be enforced on visitors who lack a "credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States."[582] The temporary order was replaced by Presidential Proclamation 9645 on September 24, 2017, which permanently restricts travel from the originally targeted countries except Iraq and Sudan, and further bans travelers from North Korea and Chad, and certain Venezuelan officials.[583] After lower courts partially blocked the new restrictions with injunctions, the Supreme Court allowed the September version to go into full effect on December 4.[584] In January 2018, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear a challenge to the travel ban.[585] The Court heard oral arguments on April 25,[586][585] and ultimately upheld the travel ban in a June ruling.[587] DACA While running for president, Trump said that he intended to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on "day one" of his presidency. The program, introduced in 2012, allowed people who had either entered or remained in the United States illegally as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and be eligible for a work permit.[588] In September 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DACA program would be repealed after six months.[589] Trump argued that "top legal experts" believed that DACA was unconstitutional, and called on Congress to use the six-month delay to pass legislation solving the "Dreamers" issue permanently.[590] As of March 2018 , when the delay expired, no legislation had been agreed on DACA.[591] Several states immediately challenged the DACA rescission in court.[592] Two injunctions in January and February 2018 allowed renewals of applications and stopped the rolling back of DACA, and in April 2018 a federal judge ordered the acceptance of new applications; this would go into effect in 90 days.[593] Family separation at border In April 2018, Trump enacted a "zero tolerance" immigration policy that took adults irregularly entering the U.S. into custody for criminal prosecution and forcibly separated children from parents, eliminating the policy of previous administrations that made exceptions for families with children.[594][595] By mid-June, more than 2,300 children had been placed in shelters, including "tender age" shelters for babies and toddlers,[596] culminating in demands from Democrats, Republicans, Trump allies, and religious groups that the policy be rescinded.[597] Trump falsely asserted that his administration was merely following the law.[598][599][600] On June 20, Trump signed an executive order to end family separations at the U.S. border.[601] On June 26 a federal judge in San Diego issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Trump administration to stop detaining immigrants parents separately from their minor children, and to reunite family groups that had been separated at the border.[602] Foreign policy President Trump together with other leaders at the 43rd G7 summit in Italy Trump has been described as a non-interventionist[603][604] and as an American Nationalist.[605] He has repeatedly stated that he supports his foreign policy "America First".[606] He supports increasing United States military defense spending,[605] but favors decreasing United States spending on NATO and in the Pacific region.[607] He says America should look inward, stop "nation building", and re-orient its resources toward domestic needs.[604] In order to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Trump in 2015 called for seizing the oil in ISIS-occupied areas, using U.S. air power and ground troops.[608] In 2016, Trump advocated sending 20,000 to 30,000 U.S. troops to the region,[609] a position he later retracted.[610] Trump has praised China's President Xi Jinping,[611] Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte,[612] Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,[613] Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,[614] King Salman of Saudi Arabia[615] and Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.[616] On April 7, 2017, Trump ordered a missile strike against a Syrian airfield in retaliation for the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.[617] On April 13, 2018, he announced missile strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, following a suspected chemical attack near Damascus.[618] Trump actively supported the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis and signed a $110 billion agreement to sell arms to Saudi Arabia.[619][620][621] In November 2017, the Trump administration tightened the rules on trade with Cuba and individual visits to the county, undoing the Obama administration's loosening of restrictions. According to an administration official, the new rules were intended to hinder trade with businesses with ties to the Cuban military, intelligence and security services.[622] U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan increased from 8,500 to 14,000, as of January 2017 .[623] reversing Trump's pre-election position critical of further involvement in Afghanistan.[624] U.S. officials said then that they aimed to "force the Taliban to negotiate a political settlement"; in January 2018, however, Trump spoke against talks with the Taliban.[625] Iran During the campaign Trump maintained that "Iran is now the dominant Islamic power in the Middle East and on the road to nuclear weapons."[626] He opposed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or "Iran nuclear deal") that was negotiated with the United States, Iran, and five other world powers in 2015, calling it "terrible" and saying that the Obama administration negotiated the agreement "from desperation."[627] At one point he said that despite opposing the content of the deal, he would attempt to enforce it rather than abrogate it.[628] However, in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in March 2016, Trump said that his "number-one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran."[629] Shortly after taking office, Trump put Iran 'on notice' following their ballistic missile tests on January 29, 2017.[630] In February 2018, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iran's 25 individuals and entities, which it said were but "initial steps", with Trump's National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn adding that "the days of turning a blind eye to Iran's hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world community are over."[631][632][633] Trump reportedly lobbied "dozens" of European officials against doing business with Iran during the May 2017 Brussels summit; this likely violated the terms of the JCPOA, under which the U.S. may not pursue "any policy specifically intended to directly and adversely affect the normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran." The Trump administration certified in July 2017 that Iran had upheld its end of the agreement.[634] On May 18, 2018, Trump announced the United States' unilateral departure from the JCPOA.[635] Israel Regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Trump has stated the importance of being a neutral party during potential negotiations, while also having stated that he is "a big fan of Israel".[636] During the campaign he said he would relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from its current location, Tel Aviv.[637] On May 22, 2017, Trump was the first U.S. president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, during his first foreign trip, which included Israel, Italy, the Vatican, and Belgium.[638][639] Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on December 6, 2017, despite criticism and warnings from world leaders. Trump added that he would initiate the process of establishing a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem,[640] which was later opened on May 14, 2018.[641] The United Nations General Assembly condemned the move, adopting a resolution that "calls upon all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem" in an emergency session on December 21, 2017.[642][643] NATO As a candidate Trump questioned whether he, as president, would automatically extend security guarantees to NATO members,[644] and suggested that he might leave NATO unless changes are made to the alliance.[645] As president, he reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO in March 2017.[646] However, he has repeatedly accused fellow NATO members of paying less than their fair share of the expenses of the alliance.[647] North Korea During the campaign and the early months of his presidency, Trump said he hoped that China would help to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions and missile tests.[648] However, North Korea accelerated their missile and nuclear tests leading to increased tension.[648] In July, the country tested two long-range missiles identified by Western observers as intercontinental ballistic missiles, potentially capable of reaching Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland.[649][650] In August, Trump dramatically escalated his rhetoric against North Korea, warning that further provocation against the U.S. would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen."[651] North Korean leader Kim Jong-un then threatened to direct the country's next missile test toward Guam.[652] On June 12, 2018, after several rounds of preliminary staff-level meetings, Trump and Kim held a bilateral summit in Singapore.[653] In a joint declaration, both countries vowed to "join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula", while North Korea repeated its April 2018 promise to "work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."[654][655] Russia During his campaign and as president, Trump repeatedly said that he wants better relations with Russia,[656][657] and he has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strong leader.[658][659] Trump had pledged to hold a summit meeting with Putin,[660] stating that Russia could help the U.S. in fighting ISIS.[661] According to Putin and some political experts and diplomats, the U.S.–Russian relations, which were already at the lowest level since the end of the Cold War, have further deteriorated since Trump took office in January 2017.[662][663][664] Trump and Putin met in a 2018 Russia–United States summit in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Trump drew harsh bipartisan criticism in the United States for appearing to side with Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, rather than accepting the findings of the United States intelligence community.[665][666] His comments were strongly criticized by many congressional Republicans and most media commentators, even those who normally support him.[667][668] Personnel The Trump administration has been characterized by high turnover, particularly among White House staff. By the end of Trump's first year in office, 34 percent of his original staff had resigned, been fired, or been reassigned.[669] As of early July 2018 , 61 percent of Trump's senior aides had left[670] and 141 staffers had left in the past year.[671] Both figures set a record for recent presidents—more change in the first 13 months than his four immediate predecessors saw in their first two years.[672] Notable early departures included National Security Advisor Mike Flynn (after just 25 days in office), Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, replaced by retired Marine General John F. Kelly on July 28, 2017,[673] and Press Secretary Sean Spicer.[672] Close personal aides to Trump such as Steve Bannon, Hope Hicks, John McEntee and Keith Schiller, have quit or been forced out.[674] Trump has been slow to appoint second-tier officials in the executive branch, saying that many of the positions are unnecessary. As of October 2017 , there were hundreds of sub-cabinet positions vacant.[675] At the end of his first year in office, CBS News reported that "of the roughly 600 key executive branch positions, just 241 have been filled, 135 nominated candidates await confirmation while 244 slots have no nominee at all."[676][needs update] Cabinet Cabinet meeting, March 2017 Trump's cabinet nominations included U.S. Senator from Alabama Jeff Sessions as Attorney General,[677] financier Steve Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury,[678] retired Marine Corps General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense,[679] and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.[680] Trump also brought on board politicians who had opposed him during the presidential campaign, such as neurosurgeon Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,[681] and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations.[682] While most of Trump's nominees were approved by the GOP majority in the Senate, the confirmation of education reform activist Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education[683] required Vice President Pence to cast a rare tie-breaking vote, the first in a Cabinet nominee's Senate confirmation.[684] Two of Trump's 15 original cabinet members were gone within 15 months: Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign in September 2017 due to excessive use of private charter jets and military aircraft, and Trump replaced Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Mike Pompeo in March 2018 over disagreements on foreign policy.[685][674] EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned in July 2018 amidst multiple investigations into his conduct.[686] Investigations Russian interference In January 2017, American intelligence agencies—the CIA, the FBI, and the NSA, represented by the Director of National Intelligence—jointly stated with "high confidence" that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election to favor the election of Trump.[687][688] In March 2017, FBI Director James Comey told Congress that "the FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. That includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts."[689] Later, in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, he affirmed he has "no doubt" that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, adding "they did it with purpose and sophistication".[690] Trump's connections to Russia have been widely reported by the press.[691][692] One of Trump's campaign managers, Paul Manafort, had worked for several years to help pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovich win the Ukrainian presidency.[693] Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn and political consultant Roger Stone, have been connected to Russian officials.[694][695] Russian agents were overheard during the campaign saying they could use Manafort and Flynn to influence Trump.[696] Members of Trump's campaign and later his White House staff, particularly Flynn, were in contact with Russian officials both before and after the November election.[697] On December 29, 2016, Flynn talked with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak about sanctions that had been imposed the same day; Trump later fired Flynn for falsely claiming he had not discussed the sanctions.[698] Dismissal of James Comey On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey. He attributed the action to recommendations from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein,[699] which criticized Comey's conduct in the investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails.[700] On May 11, Trump stated that he was concerned with the ongoing "Russia thing"[701] and that he had intended to fire Comey earlier.[702] According to a Comey memo of a private conversation on February 14, 2017, Trump said he "hoped" Comey would drop the investigation into Michael Flynn.[703] In March and April, Trump had told Comey that the ongoing suspicions formed a "cloud" impairing his presidency,[704] and asked him to publicly state that he was not personally under investigation.[705] He also asked intelligence chiefs Dan Coats and Michael Rogers to issue statements saying there was no evidence that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.[706] Both refused, considering this an inappropriate request, although not illegal.[707] Comey eventually testified on June 8 that while he was director, the FBI investigations did not target Trump himself.[704][708] In a statement on Twitter Trump implied that he had "tapes" of conversations with Comey, before later stating that he did not in fact have such tapes.[709] Special counsel On May 17, 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller, a former Director of the FBI, to serve as special counsel for the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). In this capacity, Mueller oversees the investigation into "any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation".[710] Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.[711] Mueller is also investigating the Trump campaign's possible ties to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, and China.[712][713] The Washington Post reported that days after Comey's dismissal the special counsel started investigating whether Trump had obstructed justice.[714] Trump's lawyer Jay Sekulow stated that he had not been notified of any such investigation.[715][716] ABC News later reported that the special counsel was gathering preliminary information about possible obstruction of justice but had not launched a full-scale investigation.[717] In January 2018, The New York Times reported that Trump had ordered Mueller to be fired in June, after learning that Mueller was investigating possible obstruction of justice, but backed down after White House Counsel Don McGahn said he would quit;[718] Trump called the report "fake news".[719][720] The New York Times reported in April 2018 that Trump had again wanted the investigation shut down in early December 2017, but stopped after learning the news reports he based his decision on were incorrect.[721] In April 2018, following an FBI raid on the office and home of Trump's private attorney Michael Cohen, Trump mused aloud about firing Mueller.[722] In January 2018, The Washington Post reported that Mueller wants to interview Trump about the removal of Michael Flynn and James Comey.[723] Trump has expressed a willingness to do the interview; according to The New York Times, some of his lawyers have warned against doing so. Mueller can subpoena Trump to testify if Trump refuses.[724] As of March 2018 , Trump is reportedly a "subject" of the investigation, meaning his conduct is being looked at, but not a "target" which would indicate the likelihood of criminal charges.[725] In August 2018, Trump wrote that Attorney General Jeff Sessions "should stop" the special counsel investigation "right now"; he also referred to it as a "rigged witch hunt".[726][727][728] Impeachment efforts Congressman Al Green delivers a speech calling for impeachment of President Trump, June 2017. Formal efforts to start the process of impeachment against Trump, who took office in January 2017, have been initiated by Representatives Al Green and Brad Sherman, both Democrats.[729][730] Other people and groups have asserted that Trump has engaged in impeachable activity during his presidency.[731][732] Talk of impeachment began before Trump took office.[733][734] Serious proposals to impeach Trump for obstruction of justice were made in May 2017, after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey[735][736][737] and allegations surfaced that Trump had asked Comey to drop the investigation against Michael Flynn.[738] A December 2017 resolution of impeachment failed in the House by a 58–364 margin.[739] Since the Republicans control both the House and the Senate, the likelihood of impeachment during the 2017–2019 115th Congress is considered remote.[740][741] Independently of impeachment, some commentators have speculated that Trump could be stripped of his powers and duties for incapacity under the 25th Amendment of the Constitution.[742][743][744] 2020 presidential campaign Trump signaled his intention to run for a second term by filing with the FEC within hours of assuming the presidency.[745] This transformed his 2016 election committee into a 2020 reelection one.[746] Trump marked the official start of the campaign with a rally in Melbourne, Florida, on February 18, 2017, less than a month after taking office.[747] By January 2018, Trump's reelection committee had $22 million in hand[748] and it had raised a total amount exceeding $50 million towards the 2020 campaign as of July 2018 .[749] Notes References

Excuse me for a moment...I have to sneeze.

Mario Batali is under criminal investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct. The New York Police Department tells 60 Minutes that it has an ongoing investigation into the celebrity chef for potentially criminal behavior. NYPD tells Eater that it’s looking at the assault allegations raised in the 60 Minutes report. Update: The Daily News reports that police are also looking into another, similar incident. The 60 Minutes segment on Sunday took a look at several allegations against Batali, which first became public in a December Eater investigation. Anderson Cooper speaks with women who worked at the Spotted Pig, where Batali was an investor and allegedly groped staffers as a diner there. The CBS newsmagazine show also spoke with an anonymous former Babbo employee who alleges Batali assaulted her in 2005 — claiming that she woke up after a party at the Spotted Pig with a “very deeply wounded” leg and something that looked like semen on her skirt. She later called a crisis hotline and went to a hospital to be examined, but ultimately, she chose not to file a police report. Batali denied the incident. Police are also investigating another case after the victim reported the crime in March, according to the Daily News. She told NYPD that she had been drinking at Babbo in January 2004 and then blacked out; when she awakened, Batali was having sex with her, the complain said. She believes she was drugged. That investigation is also ongoing. Batali stepped away from his Italian restaurant empire in late 2017 after allegations that he inappropriately touched women over the course of his decades-long career. At the time, he admitted that “much of the behavior described does, in fact, match up with ways I have acted.” Batali and Bastianich Hospitality Group issued a statement saying that the other partners did not know about the allegations made public on Sunday night, calling them “chilling and deeply disturbing.” The company also noted that the terms of Batali’s divestment from two dozen restaurants across the country will finalize on July 1. This post has been updated to include a statement from B&B, new information from NYPD, and a newly reported incident.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday urged Congress to hike the hourly minimum wage dramatically.Noting that Wall Street this week is trading at record-high levels, the California Democrat said those gains have done nothing to benefit middle-class workers, and called on Congress to close the gap."This week, we saw something quite remarkable, the stock market soaring to record heights. At the same time, we see productivity keeping pace," Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. "But we don't see income for America's middle class rising. In fact, it's been about the same as since the end of the Clinton years."ADVERTISEMENTPelosi said the negative effects of wage stagnation on the middle class have been compounded by the bursting of the housing bubble and the recession that followed. She urged Congress to take up legislation — sponsored by Sen.(D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) — to hike the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 over three years, while indexing future increases to inflation."If we are going to honor our commitment to the middle class," she said, "we have to reflect that intention in our public policy."The Democrats' bill goes much further than President Obama advocated in his February State of the Union address, in which he urged an increase to $9 per hour. Harkin said recently that Obama "missed the mark" with the lower figure.Pelosi's comments came in a week when the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 14,200 for the first time in history even as wages, as a percentage of the economy, are at an historic low (43.5 percent of GDP last year) and the nation's unemployment rate has hung stubbornly near 8 percent for roughly six months.Economists say several factors can explain why corporate profits are not trickling down to benefit the working class, including the ever-rising productivity of the nation's workforce and a reluctance among companies to hire in a still-volatile economy.Congress last approved a minimum-wage hike in 2007 as a rider to a must-pass bill providing funds to the troops in the Iraq War. The wage hike was conditioned on the inclusion of $5 billion in business tax breaks. The package was signed into law by then-President George W. Bush.With the business lobby warning that a minimum-wage hike wold cripple hiring amid a jobs crisis, the Harkin-Miller bill has little chance of moving through the GOP-controlled House. But Pelosi and the Democrats are hoping the combination of soaring Wall Street gains and middle-class wage stagnation will resonate with voters."When we increased it in 2007 ... it was the first time it had been increased in 11 years," Pelosi said. "It's time for it to be increased again."

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s 20-plus years of marriage have outlasted many Hollywood relationships since the pair exchanged vows in 1997. The couple seem as though they’ve figured out the magic formula to keeping the spark alive — even if they had to address rumors throughout their two decades together. Scroll through to see what they’ve said about their marriage!

Ellen DeGeneres is desperate to save her marriage to Portia de Rossi. That’s why Ellen’s been urging her to attend counseling sessions with her, according to a new report. They’ve hit a rough patch in their relationship and apparently Ellen wants them to get back on track before they head towards a divorce. Things have gotten so bad between Ellen and Portia that they’ve been fighting non-stop, both at home and in public. In fact, one insider said that Ellen and Portia often get into heated arguments on the set of her daytime talk show. To make matters worse, Ellen hates it when other people gossip about her personal problems. That’s why she’s been pushing Portia to attend counseling sessions with her as one last effort to save their crumbling marriage. One source close to the situation told Life & Style Weekly, “Ellen has been in counseling, both solo and with Portia. Part of their therapy is to go on more date nights. That’s why they’ve been seen out and more together lately. It’s all about spending quality time together, but still giving each other space during the workday.” Yet, the last time Ellen and Portia were spotted together was back on February 25th during a pre-Oscars party in Los Angeles. Since then, Portia has been keeping her distance from Ellen, or at least in public. One of the reasons why Portia is looking for a way out is because she’s tired of having to constantly listen to Ellen and her demands. Previous reports even indicated that Portia was fed up with Ellen’s controlling behavior. Insiders say that Portia is fed up with Ellen calling all the shots at home. She feels like she lives in a golden cage with Ellen. If that weren’t enough, Ellen likes to have the last say, especially when it comes to her career, personal and even day-to-day choices. Of course, time will only tell if Ellen and Portia’s counseling will save their marriage. Tell us, do you think Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are having marital issues? Could that be the reason why they haven’t been spotted in public together for several weeks now? Ellen herself has not made any comments about her personal life. Let us know your thoughts by dropping us a line in our comments section below. Also, check back with CDL for all the latest news and updates on Ellen DeGeneres right here! Image credit to Portia de Rossi // via Instagram

The next 48 hours leading up to the cast announcement are likely to be pretty hectic, so I thought I better get this posted sooner rather than later. Here’s the list of all the cast rumors we’ve heard/reported on for season 24 – as always, they’re divided into categories. Legitimate possibilities are rumors that we think have some validity, based on who is reporting them; long shots are rumors from a source that we don’t necessarily trust, but it’s possible they could be valid; pure randomness is general observations/weird stuff we’ve noticed that may or may not indicate anything, but is interesting nonetheless; wannabes/campaigners are celebs that have expressed interest in doing the show, but we have no reason to believe they’ve actually been asked to do the show; and the definite “no’s” are celebs that have specifically said they won’t do the show. If anything new crops up between now & the announcement, I’ll do my best to update…but no guarantees. Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, and I’ve got hella king cakes to get ready 😎 Legitimate possibilities : Normani Kordei Simone Biles Mr. T Chris Kattan Erika Jayne Nancy Kerrigan Nick Viall Heather Morris Charo Bonner Bolton Rashad Jennings Longshots : Someone from Pretty Little Liars/Ashley Benson Someone from Property Brothers/Jonathan Scott Someone from Storage Wars/Barry Weiss Rachel Lindsay Russell Brand Usher Billy Bush Pure Randomness : Shemar Moore Victor Cruz Gracie Gold Ricky Schroeder Jose Medina Wannabes/Campaigners : Mary Lou Retton Stassi Schroeder Dina Parise The Definite No’s : Hugh Grant Ashlee Simpson Michelle Obama Hillary Clinton

The fifth season of the television comedy series Arrested Development premiered on Netflix on May 29, 2018.[1] The season will consist of 16 episodes, split into two eight-episode parts; with the second half premiering later in 2018.[2] This is the second revival season after the series was canceled by Fox in 2006; the fourth season premiered in 2013. The show's storyline centers on the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family, and the show incorporates hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos, and historical footage. One central storyline of season five is a "whodunit" regarding the mysterious disappearance of Lucille Austero in the very midst of her congressional campaign. The season also features the cast together more frequently, as season four primarily had the cast separated due to scheduling difficulties.[3] Development and production [ edit ] On July 12, 2013, Netflix was in discussions for a fifth season.[4] In August 2014, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos stated in an interview with USA Today that there is a strong possibility of a fifth season. "It's just a matter of when."[5] In April 2015, executive producer Brian Grazer confirmed that a fifth season was in development and would consist of 17 episodes.[6] Jason Bateman contradicted this in February 2016, however, and said regarding a fifth season, "There is no plan. I haven't heard of anything solid going forward."[7] However, in January 2017, Grazer again confirmed a fifth season plan, stating that all of the original series actors are on board for a new season, with an official deal expected to be made "within a couple of weeks".[8] Netflix confirmed on May 17, 2017, that a fifth season, featuring the full cast from the show, had been ordered and would be expected to be released on their service in 2018.[9] Production began in August 2017, with 17 episodes planned for the fifth season.[10] Filming wrapped in November 2017.[11] Tambor had been subject of sexual misconduct allegations in November 2017 which led to him being taken off Transparent; however, the allegations did not impact his inclusion within season 5, and the show's team has stood in support of Tambor since then.[12] On May 7, 2018, it was announced that the fifth season would premiere on May 29, 2018, and the season's trailer was released. To promote the fifth season, two versions of the Bluth Real Estate Stair car, featuring the hashtag #AD5 and the website voteBLUTH.com, were driven around New York City and Los Angeles.[13] Portia de Rossi, who has retired from acting, only appears in five episodes from the fifth season.[14] Cast [ edit ] Episodes [ edit ] No. overall No. in season Title Directed by Written by Original release date Prod. code Part 1 69 1 "Family Leave" Troy Miller Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely May 29, 2018 ( ) 5AJD01 After Gob forced Michael to take a Forget-Me-Now on Cinco de Cuatro, Michael sleeps for two whole days, after which he goes to break up with Rebel, only to encounter his son George-Michael, who punches him after discovering Michael knew George-Michael was dating the same woman. Michael then returns to the penthouse, while attempting to avoid Lucille 2, whom he does not know is missing. Michael is met by Lt. Toddler of the Newport Beach PD, who questions him about the whereabouts of Lucille, Lucille 2, and the red-haired woman from the penthouse the day prior (George Sr. in a wig). As a way to get back at his family, Michael schemes to get Buster, who is hiding after being named a suspect in Lucille 2's disappearance, declared a missing person. Meanwhile, George-Michael regrets punching Michael, and confides this in Maeby, who is trying to flee after being discovered as a (accidental) sex-offender, and Lucille persuades Tobias to break her out of Austerity with Lucille 2 missing, and the two flee to a beachside cottage. 70 2 "Self-Deportation" Troy Miller Richard Day May 29, 2018 ( ) 5AJD02 Maeby and George-Michael go down to Mexico, where Maeby joins a group of Mexican volunteers, while George-Michael joins a group of fellow University of California, Irvine students who are living in Mexico for an intensive language course. Michael, after getting Buster to agree to the scheme, attempts to flee to Mexico in the mapping car, but he is located by the search engine company he is driving for. Michael is taken back to the company's campus, where he begins to work and live. A month later, Michael returns to the model home for a scuba suit, where he finds a letter from Lucille 2, who has forgiven Michael's $700,000 debt. He goes to the penthouse, which he finds empty, but upon entering Lucille 2's penthouse to thank her, Michael finds Lucille, George Sr, Lindsay, Gob, Tobias, and Maeby all there. 71 3 "Everyone Gets Atrophy" Troy Miller Mitchell Hurwitz May 29, 2018 ( ) 5AJD03 Michael learns that Lindsay is running for Congress, filling Herbert Love's spot, with Lucille calling the family together so they can accept the Family of the Year award, which is awarded by the Austero-Bluth Company, in order to give Lindsay a boost in the polls. George-Michael returns to Newport Beach, where he is called by Maeby, who is working as Lindsay's campaign manager. Maeby explains that she has been trying to make Lindsay say offensive things to sabotage her campaign, but her efforts have backfired; she wants George-Michael and her to kiss to sabotage Lindsay's campaign further. Buster is arrested after being found by the police and being identified in the security footage on the night of Cinco de Cuatro. 72 4 "An Old Start" Troy Miller Jim Vallely May 29, 2018 ( ) 5AJD04 With Lucille 2 not around, Gob is named president of the Austero-Bluth Company. George-Michael meets Maeby at a senior living community where she is squatting in a room owned by Lucille Austero for trysts with Stan Sitwell. They discuss George-Michael and Michael's ended relationships with Rebel and George-Michael's relationship with Michael. Michael returns to the family cottage where his wife died, finding Lucille there, learning that, contrary to Michael's belief, Lucille and George Sr. did not sell the cottage after his wife's death, per Michael's wishes. 73 5 "Sinking Feelings" Troy Miller Jim Vallely & Mitchell Hurwitz May 29, 2018 ( ) 5AJD05 The Bluths prepare to receive their award in a ceremony by the Banana Stand, even though the Banana Stand is missing. George-Michael goes to break up with Rebel, but the circumstances prevent him from doing so. George-Michael catches Michael before Michael's scuba diving trip, and the two reconcile. The award ceremony goes awry, with Gob giving an awkward speech and Lindsay walking out after realizing Lucille does not truly care for her. George Sr. winds up in the ocean, but Michael and George-Michael save him. Michael discovers that Buster is in prison, revealing this and his scheme to Lucille and George Sr., after which Lucille punches Michael. Michael meets with Buster in jail, learning that Buster attempted to wipe the footage of him with Lucille's body from Cinco. Michael calls Barry Zuckerkorn, the family attorney, to pay off Buster's bail. Tobias reveals an actor the family had paid to actually be his bastard son, Murphy-Brown. At a welcome home party, the Bluths discover that Michael bailed out Barry, who was also in jail, and not Buster. 74 6 "Emotional Baggage" Troy Miller Evan Mann & Gareth Reynolds May 29, 2018 ( ) 5AJD06 Gob attempts to get the rights to Buster back from Kitty, but is unable to do so. George-Michael is invited by Rebel to a Howard family barbecue, and has Maeby dye his hair pink to make a bad impression. However, the dye is left in too long, leaving his hair "Howard Red", making a strong impression on Ron. Michael sneaks into the barbecue to get the rights from Ron, but is also unable to do so. After learning from Bryce Dallas Howard that Rebel is using George-Michael, and after a conversation with Rance Howard about keeping an eye on your son, Michael allows the Bluth project to move forward as a streaming, true crime series. Ron sets up an interview with Buster, but after remembering a conversation with George Sr., Buster attacks Ron, believing him to be a skinhead. 75 7 "Rom-Traum" Troy Miller Maggie Rowe May 29, 2018 ( ) 5ADJ07 Michael theorizes that Lucille might know the location of Lucille 2, and he, Barry, and Buster plan to make her believe the district attorney is on to Lucille. This backfires, with Lucille, realizing the scheme. Barry shows Lucille the evidence picture of the stair car, and she tasks him with locating it. George Sr. leaves the cottage, with a suspicious Michael following him. George-Michael, who after a speculative comment from Maeby that Michael may have been with Rebel in Mexico during the two months she was shooting a movie, becomes suspicious of Michael and follows him. Barry also follows, in order to search for Lucille 2 with George Sr. Michael meets with George Sr., where they learn from Tobias, who was searching for Lindsay, that George's lack of sex drive was due to Lucille tricking him into taking estrogen pills. After seeing Lucille 2's car (which George-Michael drives, unbeknownst to Michael), Michael and Tobias chase after George-Michael, with George Sr. and Barry following behind. All three vehicles hit spike strips, after which the five in the vehicles being confronted by a group of cowboys, who now own the land due to Tobias, who was impersonating George Sr, signing ownership to them. 76 8 "Premature Independence" Troy Miller Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely May 29, 2018 ( ) 5ADJ08 On the night of the Second of July Parade (a local holiday), Lindsay has yet to be found, a situation which Sally Sitwell, who has taken Lucille 2's place in the congressional race, tries to exploit. Michael discovers the evidence picture, which shows Lucille 2 and Oscar in the stair car. However, George-Michael discovers the picture, revealing it was actually him and Maeby in the picture, taken when they went down to Mexico earlier. At the parade, Michael shows the picture to Lottie Dottie, the district attorney. George-Michael then arrives to show Michael the picture, where Michael realizes his mistake. Gob and Tony Wonder perform on a float for a closet company, where they discuss their relationship; however, the conversation abruptly ends when Tony is suddenly and mysteriously cased into his closet on the float with cement. Tobias, unable to find Lindsay, enlists his old flame DeBrie to impersonate Lindsay. George Sr. arrives at the parade, telling Lucille that the cowboys now own the land. Lucille and George both recognize that this prevents their plan to build a wall across the Mexican-American Border no longer works, and they need Lindsay to lose the election; luckily for Lucille, DeBrie, shy, hides under a sheet, which the public takes to be a show of anti-Muslim sentiments. Buster, who is in a parade float, is broken out by Oscar, who escapes in Sally's new stair car, despite the fact that Buster only has eight days left in prison. Reception [ edit ] Many critics said the season was more in line with the original Fox episodes and that having the ensemble back together after previously separating them benefited the season.[18] On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 65% with an average score of 5.34/10, based on 40 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Arrested Development finds itself back in familiar form, recapturing much of the cast's chemistry and comedic brilliance — though it still doesn't quite live up to its own past."[19] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave it a positive review with a "B" grade, calling it a big improvement over season four. He wrote, "With the cast reunited and a better understanding of what made the characters lovable lunkheads to begin with, the new season can be effortlessly enjoyable; a pleasure to watch instead of something you have to dig through to find the parts you love."[21] Sonya Saraiya of Vanity Fair praised it for returning to "the show you remember," claiming it to be far superior to the fourth season. She singles out Arnett's performance in particular, praising him as "magnificent."[18] Caroline Framke of Variety also praised the new season for acknowledging and correcting some of the mistakes of the fourth season instead of ignoring them, while also highlighting the ability of the show to engage in character development after 15 years with regards to Cera and Shawkat's characters. She too praised Arnett as the standout of the cast.[22] Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter argued that the second Netflix season was "much, much better," than the first, believing that once the show "hits its stride, it evokes its glory days," overall being a "welcome return to form".[23]

Less than one week after kicking out White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and continuing to harass her family, “Red Hen” owner Stephanie Wilkinson finally received a bitter taste of her own intolerant medicine.When conservatives encounter someone with whom they disagree, they try to engage in meaningful debate. With liberals, there is only resistance. Instead of inviting civil discourse, leftist ideologues are resorting to suppression, harassment, and even physical violence in response to “problematic” ideas. Of course, they’re quickly discovering that their juvenile and fascist actions have consequences.On Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her extended family members, many of whom are liberals, were forced out of the Red Hen eatery in Lexington, Virginia, by co-owner Stephanie Wilkinson. Although the party politely obliged the indignant staffers, Wilkinson proceeded to gather her comrades and stalk Sanders’ family at another restaurant, screaming insults and demanding they leave. Now that word of her behavior is national news, Wilkinson is being forced to live by her own principles.Red Hen co-owner Stephanie Wilkinson has not only been forced to step down as executive director of Main Street Lexington, according to Fox News, she’s also placed herself in the center of what could turn into a massive lawsuit for damages concerning the effect her discrimination against Sarah Huckabee Sanders has had on Red Hen establishments across the country. Along with her resignation from the organization, Wilkinson’s bigotry has caused unaffiliated Red Hen restaurants across the U.S. to suffer protests, negative reviews, and boycotts, CBS News reports.Main Street Lexington president Elizabeth Outland Branner offered a short response in reference to Wilkinson’s resignation, which is undoubtedly a move toward damage control for the group, which represents many local businesses.“Considering the events of the past weekend, Stephanie felt it best that for the continued success of Main Street Lexington, she should step aside,” Branner wrote in an email.Wilkinson has caused such severe damage to other like-named establishments that business owners are desperately addressing the public outrage by disavowing the disgraced liberal feminist and declaring that it is illegal to refuse service to customers based on their political leanings.More than 4,300 replied, including multiple tweets calling on the restaurant to condone Sanders and the Trump administration’s actions. The Red Hen answered the threats by defining “unaffiliated” as well as an explanation that it is illegal for businesses in the District of Columbia to discriminate against people because of their political views.Another Red Hen restaurant, this one in Swedesboro, New Jersey, also faced a slew of angry calls and social media posts for refusing to serve a woman who’d never stepped through their door.“Kindly check your facts before you erroneously defame an innocent victim on Facebook,” said a post on the family-owned restaurant’s Facebook page.The manager of a New Jersey-based restaurant with the same name lamented that their location’s rating has plummetted from “4.8 stars to three-point-something.” An owner in Saybrook, Connecticut, attempted to prevent this same damage by adding a pop-up box stating that their restaurant has “absolutely no affiliation with any other Red Hen restaurant anywhere else.”Wilkinson has defended her discriminatory actions, ironically claiming that she doesn’t enjoy “confrontation” but feels a moral duty to harass political figures and their innocent family members.“I’m not a huge fan of confrontation,” Wilkinson told The Post. “I have a business, and I want the business to thrive.” But, she went on to say, “This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals.”When the mainstream media propagates that those with certain political views are “Nazis,” they incite hatred and violence in those prone to carry out such extremist beliefs. If conservatives are indeed Nazis, progressives have a moral obligation to not only oppose them but physically stop them.However, conservatives are not Nazis. In fact, the right has consistently stood up for the liberties of all, including far-leftists, to express their beliefs in a peaceful and unhindered manner. Such is the opposite of Nazism. In fact, it is those screaming “Nazi!” who are acting as the new Third Reich, shouting ideological chants, forcing out those with whom they disagree, discriminating against certain demographics, attempting to take away our Constitutional rights, and inciting physical violence.Stephanie Wilkinson is getting exactly what she has demanded — a backlash from the political opposition. Turnabout is fair play. While conservatives aren’t going to wield the government as a weapon to force intolerant ideologues like her to serve those they don’t want to serve, as the left does, they’re learning that injecting their political views into their non-political professions might not be the best business decision.

I, at least, struggle to understand her career. Her performance as a junkie in “The Town” features the “Bride Wars” of Boston accents. Her performance in “The Age of Adaline” — as a woman “cursed” to stay 30 forever — was like watching a mermaid ride a bike. She tries. But her acting hasn’t yet caught up to her algorithm-generated beauty. Alas, there may be no algorithmic solution for that. So I was less than psyched at the prospect of seeing her shiver on a buoy, stitch her own wounds, talk to animals or play a Nancy. And, as refreshing as it is watching her stand on a surfboard, it’s refreshment that provides some perspective. While some actors make sense on movie screens, there are others who might make better sense on a can of something — beer, beans, air. I can hear you, Hudson skeptics. And all I can say is that the heart wants what the heart wants. I’d actually buy whatever Ms. Hudson was on the can of. There might be no appreciable industrial difference between what a Kate Hudson can do versus your Blake Livelys. I don’t think they’re interchangeable, but sometimes the movies beg to differ, and the market corrects itself. Don’t fall in love with Mark Harmon, because here comes Kevin Costner. And sell your Brad Rowe stock, because he’s just going to be replaced by Brad Pitt. (In the late 1990s, that pretty much happened.) But there are continuums, too. Channing Tatum, for instance, is a more elastic, hip-hop-era Brendan Fraser upgrade. Lots of parts that have gone to Ms. Lively feel as if Ms. Hudson could have played them. But something happened, and suddenly it was someone else’s turn to be “it.” (It’s always someone else’s turn.) And part of what annoys me about the lack of Kate Hudson in my life and the surfeit of Ms. Lively is the same thing that makes me angry when a perfectly good piece of software gets a superfluous update, or a zealous waiter takes my plate at a restaurant: I wasn’t done with that.

Puerto Rican born and raised, Colonel Michael A. Valle (”Torch”), Commander, 101st Air and Space Operations Group, and Director of the Joint Air Component Coordination Element, 1st Air Force, responsible for Hurricane Maria relief efforts, has the following comment:…They have the generators, water, food, medicine, and fuel on the ground, yet the supplies are not moving across the island as quickly as they’re needed.“It’s a lack of drivers for the transport trucks, the 18 wheelers. Supplies we have. Trucks we have. There are ships full of supplies, backed up in the ports, waiting to have a vehicle to unload into. However, only 20% of the truck drivers show up to work. These are private citizens in Puerto Rico, paid by companies that are contracted by the government”.. (link)

The set of The Voice is filled with superstar singers, but an insider told RadarOnline.com that Celine Dion set a new record for diva behavior when she guest-starred as Gwen Stefani’s mentor. “Celine acted like she was a superstar the moment she walked on set to tape her episodes,” a show insider told Radar. “She was extremely entitled and was just not friendly or welcoming to the production crew at all!” PHOTOS: Celine Dion Pays Tribute To Late Husband On His 1-Year Death Anniversary “She got the royal treatment and, of course, brought an entire entourage of people with her,” the source claimed. “She had to do several retakes and complained about everything from her hair and make-up, to the outfit that was chosen for her.” But as Radar reported, Dion and Stefani pairing up was a perfect match, as Blake Shelton’s blonde lady love is also acting like a diva this season, an insider claimed. PHOTOS: Celebs’ Not So Humble Homes — Tour The Most Lavish A-Lister’s Hollywood Homes “Gwen used to be everyone’s favorite and now a lot of people can’t stand her because sometimes she acts like she owns the show and they are lucky to have her,” an insider previously told Radar. The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC. Are you surprised that Celine Dion acted like a diva while taping ‘The Voice’? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below. We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night.

Lindsey Vonn's phone has been hacked--and now she's fighting back. Multiple photos and one video of the Olympic skier were stolen from her personal cell phone and later leaked... ...

READ Who is Dan Osborne, has the CBB 2018 star split from EastEnders actress and wife Jacqueline Jossa and did he cheat on his wife with Gabby?

Black - Panther - Star - Dinner - Portion (Excerpt) Read more at: E! Online Wake Up To Breaking News! SUBMIT Sorry, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. There's a new royal couple in town—at least that's what Mindy Kaling wants you to think.During her guest appearance on Wednesday's episode of The Tonight Show, the Champions star talked about the 2018 Met Gala and how she tried to convince attendees that she and Chadwick Boseman were together.Kaling sat next to the Black Panther star during the dinner portion of the May 6 event. While both celebrities attended the event solo, Kaling tried to give the impression they were...

Reverend Swadley – the local wedding priest and friend of the Pitt family – has confirmed to friends that the A-list couple recently spent a week with Brad’s family, discussing detailed plans for a wedding. It’s believed the loved-up stars had flown to Missouri because Jen was desperate to reconnect with Brad’s mum, Jane, who she’d developed a very close bond with throughout the time of their first marriage. During the seven-day visit, it’s been revealed that Jane orchestrated a meeting with the family priest Reverend Swadley – hoping it would be the gentle push Brad and Jen would need to make their reignited relationship official once again. ‘Reverend Swadley met Jen recently at a family function that Brad’s mum, Jane, threw at their family home in Missouri,’ a close friend of the pastor’s told New Idea exclusively. ‘Jen accompanied Brad home on the trip and attended church services with the family as well as joining Brad at meetings at the now-retired reverend’s home, who Brad reconnected with after he decided to find himself and renew his faith, following his split from Ange. ‘He remarked at how at ease Jen was with his family, who clearly adore her, and how everyone said how much she’s been missed and how happy they all were to have her back in Brad’s – and their – lives.’ The source goes on to reveal that Reverend Swadley spoke at length with Brad and Jen about getting married as soon as possible, in Missouri, in a small ceremony, with just local friends and family present. ‘Reverend Swadley revealed how in love Brad and Jen were and how they planned to officially wed as soon as their divorces were finalised, with him agreeing to conduct the ceremony and welcome them both back into the church,’ the friend of the pastor told New Idea. Reverend Swadley revealed to our source that it was clear Jen loved seeing Brad’s family again, spending long days talking and laughing for the first time since their 2005 divorce. ‘Jen spent five days reconnecting with Brad’s parents, brother and sister and many of his childhood friends who he remains close to,’ a friend of the pastor reveals. Brad Pitt's parents are nothing but supportive Getty ‘He said Jen kept saying how grateful she was that they’d been brought back together. And how they’ll both be baptised later this year before they officially wed – with Jen’s father, John, vowing to be at her side for the service and give her away again at their wedding, which will hopefully take place shortly after and be far more low-key than their original star-studded nuptials in Malibu.’ It’s the latest chapter in the pair’s rekindled romance since Jen announced her split from estranged husband Justin Theroux in February. She has wasted no time in rebuilding her relationship with ex-husband Brad, spending time with his six children, and developing a unique and special bond with his 11-year-old daughter Shiloh. It’s that close relationship between Jen and his kids that has prompted Brad to want to marry Jen as soon as soon as possible. ‘Brad’s mum Jane was all over them to get married as soon as possible, but the truth is Brad needs no convincing,’ says a source close to Brad. ‘They still want to keep this relationship close to their chest and out of the public eye, but behind closed doors they couldn’t be happier. ‘And for Brad, seeing how much his children – especially Shiloh – love Jen has just made his heart soar. He knows he wants Jen to be his wife again. ‘We’re pretty sure they’ll be married in Missouri before the end of the year, Brad and Jen are both keen to push through their divorces as soon as possible so they can walk down the aisle together. That’s all that they want.’ For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea - out now!

Get celebs updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra have released pictures from their wedding - and it looked like a week of fun and decadence for all the family. The pair became engaged in London on July 18, 2018, Priyanka's birthday, before they headed to Mumbair to celebrate their engagement. Now, they have celebrated their fairytale wedding in style and married at Umaid Phawan Palace in Jodhpur, India, after a week of amazing celebrations. Things kicked off on November 26 with a dinner party in Mumbai, before Priyanka's mother, Dr Madhu Chopra, invited the wedding party to their home for a traditional puja ceremony. This is a celebration of the impending nuptials to take place later that week, and Priyanka shared an image of the whole family on celebrating together. Nick's family also turned up, with Joe Jonas and his fiance, Sophie Turner, joining in as she wore an Indian dress for the occasion. The bride, in contrast, wore a cream suit which was covered in embellishments, while Nick wpore a pink kurta and cream trousers, the former of which being a type of shirt. After this, the group flew over to Jodhpur, and Priyanka got some last minute fittings at the JW Marriott hotel ahead of the marriage ceremony, with designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee landing shortly after the happy couple, sparking speculation that he may have designed some garments. At the palace on Friday, both sides of the families performed songs and dances for the couple in the Sangeet, in an incredible performance which lit up the entire area, though Priyanka joked it was a "fierce competition" for the families. She said: "It all began as a fierce song & dance competition between the families but ended, as always, as a huge celebration of love. Nick and I were looking forward to the Sangeet (musical evening), another pre wedding ritual.. and to see what each side had put together. "And what a performance it was. Each family telling our stories through song and dance, filled with lots of laughter and love. We were both filled with gratitude for the effort, the love and the laughter and will carry the memories of this special evning fod th rest of our lives. "It is an amazing start to a lifetime of togetherness for our families and friends...#grateful @nickjonas @calebjordanlee @josevilla @josephradhik" Parineeti Chopra, Priyanka's cousin, also shared a post about their Bollywood-style performance, though they shared the trophy with the Jonas family, who had a more tradition American style. Next was the mehendi, the applying of henna before the wedding, and Priyanka shared her happiness over this, saying: "One of the most special things that our relationship has given us is a merging of families who love and respect each other’s faiths and cultures. "And so planning our wedding with an amalgamation of both was so so amazing." She added they "made it our own" and they both dreamed of kicking off their celebrations as they did. Nick wore a beige, plain Indian suit while Priyanka amazed the group with a brightly coloured dress, and Sophie wore a black and gold sari. After this, the pair had a Christian ceremony, officiated by Nick's father Paul Kevin Jonas Sr, for which Priyanka wore a Ralph Lauren gown covered in Swarovski, mother of pearl and crystal seed beading, and was kitted out with a 75ft tulle veil. Nick wore the same designer as he wore a double-breasted black tuxedo with a purple lapel, which had a lace from the bride's dress sewn into it with the Urdu words "my jaan," meaning "my life." The pair finished off the ceremonial section with a Hindu ceremony, for which Priyanka wore a red lehenga, designed by Mukherji, which had a Chopard 16-carat, oval diamond headpiece and carats of diamonds set in white gold for the necklace. Nick, sporting the traditional dress, wore a cream, silk turban and long, cream outfit with gold shoes. The newlyweds then flew out to Delhi for another wedding reception, and another reception for mates in the industry is still being planned. So there is still more to come!

Follow Us on Twitter Sunday marked a big night for “Hello, Dolly!” and “Dear Evan Hansen” at the 71st annual Tony Awards. “Dear Evan Hansen” won the big prize for best musical, with star Ben Platt winning for lead actor — and giving a passionate and touching speech in the process. Not to be outdone, Bette Midler and “Hello, Dolly!” won lead actress and best revival of a musical, respectively, with Midler giving a memorable speech herself. Other big winners includes “Oslo” for best play and “August Wilson’s Jitney” for best revival of a play. Kevin Spacey hosted the ceremony, which aired live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall in New York. See a full winner’s list below. Best Play: “Oslo” (WINNER) “A Doll’s House, Part 2” “Indecent” “Sweat” Best Musical: “Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER) “Come From Away” “Groundhog Day The Musical” “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Best Book of a Musical: “Dear Evan Hansen” — Steven Levenson (WINNER) “Come From Away” — Irene Sankoff and David Hein “Groundhog Day The Musical” — Danny Rubin “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” — Dave Malloy Related Tony Award Nominees Support ACLU, Planned Parenthood With Ribbons Best Original Score: “Dear Evan Hansen” — Music & Lyrics: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (WINNER) “Come From Away” — Music & Lyrics: Irene Sankoff and David Hein “Groundhog Day The Musical” — Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” — Music & Lyrics: Dave Malloy Best Revival of a Play: “August Wilson’s Jitney” (WINNER) “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” “Present Laughter” “Six Degrees of Separation” Best Revival of a Musical: “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER) “Falsettos” “Miss Saigon” Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Kevin Kline, “Present Laughter” (WINNER) Denis Arndt, “Heisenberg” Chris Cooper, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” Corey Hawkins, “Six Degrees of Separation” Jefferson Mays, “Oslo” Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Laurie Metcalf, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” (WINNER) Cate Blanchett, “The Present” Jennifer Ehle, “Oslo” Sally Field, “The Glass Menagerie” Laura Linney, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Ben Platt, “Dear Evan Hansen”(WINNER) Christian Borle, “Falsettos” Josh Groban, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Andy Karl, “Groundhog Day The Musical” David Hyde Pierce, “Hello, Dolly!” Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Bette Midler, “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER) Denee Benton, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Christine Ebersole, “War Paint” Patti LuPone, “War Paint” Eva Noblezada, “Miss Saigon” Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Michael Aronov, “Oslo” (WINNER) Danny DeVito, “Arthur Miller’s The Price” Nathan Lane, “The Front Page” Richard Thomas, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” John Douglas Thompson, “August Wilson’s Jitney” Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Cynthia Nixon, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” (WINNER) Johanna Day, “Sweat” Jayne Houdyshell, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” Condola Rashad, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” Michelle Wilson, “Sweat” Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Gavin Creel, “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER) Mike Faist, “Dear Evan Hansen” Andrew Rannells, “Falsettos” Lucas Steele, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Brandon Uranowitz, “Falsettos” Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Rachel Bay Jones, “Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER) Kate Baldwin, “Hello, Dolly!” Stephanie J. Block, “Falsettos” Jenn Colella, “Come From Away” Mary Beth Peil, “Anastasia” Best Scenic Design of a Play: Nigel Hook, “The Play That Goes Wrong” (WINNER) David Gallo, “August Wilson’s Jitney” Douglas W. Schmidt, “The Front Page” Michael Yeargan, “Oslo” Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Mimi Lien, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” (WINNER) Rob Howell, “Groundhog Day The Musical” David Korins, “War Paint” Santo Loquasto, “Hello, Dolly!” Best Costume Design of a Play: Jane Greenwood, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” (WINNER) Susan Hilferty, “Present Laughter” Toni-Leslie James, “August Wilson’s Jitney” David Zinn, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” Best Costume Design of a Musical: Santo Loquasto, “Hello, Dolly!” (WINNER) Linda Cho, “Anastasia” Paloma Young, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Catherine Zuber, “War Paint” Best Lighting Design of a Play: Christopher Akerlind, “Indecent” (WINNER) Jane Cox, “August Wilson’s Jitney” Donald Holder, “Oslo” Jennifer Tipton, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Bradley King, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” (WINNER) Howell Binkley, “Come From Away” Natasha Katz, “Hello, Dolly!” Japhy Weideman, “Dear Evan Hansen” Best Direction of a Play: Rebecca Taichman, “Indecent” (WINNER) Sam Gold, “A Doll’s House, Part 2” Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “August Wilson’s Jitney” Bartlett Sher, “Oslo” Daniel Sullivan, “Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes” Best Direction of a Musical: Christopher Ashley, “Come From Away” (WINNER) Rachel Chavkin, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Michael Greif, “Dear Evan Hansen” Matthew Warchus, “Groundhog Day The Musical” Jerry Zaks, “Hello, Dolly!” Best Choreography: Andy Blankenbuehler, “Bandstand” (WINNER) Peter Darling and Ellen Kane, “Groundhog Day The Musical” Kelly Devine, “Come From Away” Denis Jones, “Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical” Sam Pinkleton, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Best Orchestrations: Alex Lacamoire, “Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER) Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, “Bandstand” Larry Hochman, “Hello, Dolly!” Dave Malloy, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: James Earl Jones Special Tony Award: Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, sound designers for “The Encounter” Regional Theatre Tony Award: Dallas Theater Center in Dallas, Texas Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Baayork Lee Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: Nina Lannan and Alan Wasser

In among the typical recording detritus of New York’s Jungle City Studios – boxes of foam ear plugs, rolls of tape, untouched buttons on a soundboard the size of a London studio flat – sits a Febreze candle, its lime-green wax emitting a scent like sweetened detergent. It’s the first thing Katy Perry notices as she suddenly appears behind me. “It’s so chic,” she says drolly, her immaculately constructed outfit of orange mesh top, cropped tartan trousers and Adidas sliders topped off by a shiny black pore strip stretched tight across the bridge of her nose. “At some point I’m going to give myself the pleasure of peeling this off,” she laughs, smoothing it down over her bulky nose ring. Suddenly the mise-en-scene makes perfect sense: surface glamour underpinned by a hint of down-to-earth realness is very much Katy Perry’s MO, and has been since she emerged almost a decade ago with the global hit I Kissed a Girl. Perry is the girl-next-door-turned-megastar you want to hang out with, have a laugh with, possibly talk about blackheads with. If, on the superstar scale, Beyoncé is almost superhuman then Perry prides herself on being, as she puts it later, “super human; like, really human”. She recognises me from a previous interview we did three years ago in Belfast, one in which she was hampered by a cold so violent I lost track of the amount of snot I saw her wipe on her sleeve. Today she apologises for being an hour late, and thanks me for pushing my flight back after our initial interview date was postponed by 24 hours. Her tardiness is understandable; she’s just announced details of her fifth album, Witness, her first since 2013’s Prism, a world tour of the same name, and has been busy preparing for that evening’s (we meet in late May) performances on Saturday Night Live. She’s keen to make it clear nothing is off limits: “I’m going to give you everything and more,” she beams. But before we start, she shows me her iPhone, which is already recording. “We all know that tone and context are everything, so this might be one of my last print interviews,” she says, setting her phone down next to my Dictaphone. “Because. People. Do. Not. Get. It. These. Days,” she adds, each word punctuated by a handclap. She settles into her chair, grey cardigan resting on crossed legs. While her persona in TV interviews and music videos is often hyperactive, goofy older sister, this afternoon she’s earnest, bordering on businesslike. “This is my disclaimer: my intention is so pure these days,” she states. “I know nothing. All the thoughts and opinions I express are my own. Period, end of story.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Don’t let them win’: Perry performing at the One Love Manchester benefit concert at Old Trafford on 4 June. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/One Love Manchester Like all the best pop superstars, Katy Perry seemed to emerge fully formed – a riot of cartoonish exaggeration – when she bulldozed into the public consciousness in 2008. I Kissed a Girl – a stone-cold pop classic – expertly positioned her in the middle of a perfect storm of tabloid-baiting playfulness, knowing kitsch and just enough relatable charm to keep things family friendly (in 2015 she described her appeal as “soft-serve sexiness”). Alongside the more self-consciously outre Lady Gaga, who emerged the same year, and Single Ladies-era Beyoncé, Perry started to dominate the female-led pop landscape, following I Kissed a Girl with a clutch of sugar-coated hits, before enjoying a purple patch of record-breaking success with 2010’s Teenage Dream. It was an album that defined the two sides of her musical personality – from the candyfloss swirl of California Gurls to the self-help sloganeering of Firework. By the summer of 2011, Perry had become the first woman in US chart history to have five No 1 singles from one album, equalling a record previously held by Michael Jackson in his 80s pomp. She also started dominating a more modern popularity metric, becoming the most followed person on Twitter in 2016 (her follower count is steadily creeping towards 100m). In February 2015, in the middle of a gruelling world tour in support of the Prism album, which added Roar and Dark Horse to her growing pop canon, she performed at the Super Bowl halftime show with a stage set that included a gargantuan gold-plated mechanical lion and a beach scene complete with meme-ready dancing sharks. The 12-minute extravaganza garnered the highest Super Bowl ratings of all time, with 118 million people tuning in for Perry (4 million more than for the sports bit either side of it). Hopefully there’s a real change coming. We have to change. We have to shake some things up With astute awareness of her position in the pop cosmos, Perry has always understood the power of reinvention, moving from vintage pin-up (One of the Boys) to kitsch vamp (Teenage Dream), to pick-yourself-up-and-carry-on warrior (the more spiritually minded Prism, released after her divorce from Russell Brand). Her current, more politicised iteration feels the boldest. Witness’s first single, February’s disco-pop confection Chained to the Rhythm, heralded what Perry – a long-term supporter of Hillary Clinton – referred to as the arrival of “purposeful pop”, and was written in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory. The lyric, rapped by Skip Marley, calls on people to wake up to the world’s troubles: “Break down the walls to connect, inspire / Ay, up in your high place, liars / Time is ticking for the empire.” During her performance of the song at that month’s Brit awards, she was joined on stage by giant skeletal effigies of Donald Trump and Theresa May. The song’s intention, it seemed, was to connect the dots to her newly updated Twitter bio that read “Artist. Activist. Conscious” (it’s recently been changed to “I know nothing”). So how does she feel about the election result now? “Listen, there’s a time of mourning. I think with Hillary, it was something bigger than her, and she had to be the person to pull the sword out of the stone and wake up this movement, which is really important. What I started to realise was that it’s not about one person: it’s about the kingdom, it’s not about the king. It’s about us. We write the rules as a community, and so I’m so grateful that Hillary was strong enough to withstand everything and also wake the sleeping giant. We are the sleeping giant.” She starts to pick at the pore strip, which ends up flapping at half-mast. “I’m a realist but I’m definitely an optimist, and so hopefully there’s a real change coming, there isn’t just complacency coming. We have to change. We have to shake some things up.” She is keen to include those who voted for Donald Trump in her broad church. “That’s something I’m going to do on tour – I can’t wait to meet those people. I just want to hear what they have to say, and hope they can hear what I have to say.” In April, Chained to the Rhythm was followed by Bon Appétit, an innuendo-heavy, nudge-nudge wink-wink ode to oral sex (“got me spread like a buffet”) that featured Migos, the Georgia rap trio recently accused of homophobia following a Rolling Stone interview in which they expressed surprise at the support shown to recently out rapper iLoveMakonnen. That same week an Instagram livestream showed an apparently upset Perry, resulting in fans starting a WeLoveYouKaty hashtag. “They tried to make me out to be a victim,” she says. “I am not a victim. I never cried.” On the day Bon Appétit entered the US chart at a lower-than-expected 76, Perry went on holiday. Again, in the hyper-scrutinised world of pop, fans picked up on it. “I went on a vacation that I had planned weeks and weeks ago with my girlfriends. Everybody calm down. Why don’t people ask me what my story is?” Perry’s story is a unique take on the American dream. Born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson 32 years ago in Santa Barbara, California, she is the self-confessed “black sheep” daughter of two born-again Christians, both Pentecostal pastors. It was a restrictive, regimented childhood dominated by censorship: secular music was banned (along with her family, she picketed concerts by both Marilyn Manson and Madonna); Lucky Charms cereal was verboten because luck was linked to the devil (devilled eggs became angel eggs), and Perry spent summers at youth groups, some of which, she said recently, were in favour of gay conversion camps. Singing became a form of escapism, both in church and alone with an acoustic guitar she was given at age 13. That same year she persuaded her parents to take her to Nashville to record a gospel album, and, two years later, aged 15, she discovered Queen, an epiphany that broadened her pop horizons. “That was my first perspective on that world, and I just loved it. I felt so free and accepted,” she told Vogue last month. At 17 she left school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career. In 2001 an independently released gospel album sold roughly 200 copies, while subsequent record deals with Island and Columbia both came to nothing. “People saw me as damaged goods,” she has said of that time. By 2006, having had a pop/rock album she’d been recording for years shelved, she found herself working for an independent A&R company and singing at open mic nights. A year later, however, those songs ended up with the head of Capitol Records, who promptly signed her. After swapping Hudson for her mother’s maiden name, Katy Perry, the multi-platinum-selling (she’s shifted around 81m singles globally), award-winning, apparently unstoppable hit machine was born. Part of Perry’s early appeal was a sense of fantasy. The larger-than-life character she’d created – sort of Betty Boop meets LA party girl with a heart – felt like the perfect encapsulation of every young girl’s pop star dreams, with the determined, never-give-up-on-yourself backstory chiming with every TV talent show. (To bring it full circle, Perry has just signed up to be a judge on the returning American Idol.) I’m not going to please everyone, and I’m not trying to. If you run around pleasing everyone, you’re done The reality of Perry’s construction, she says now, was more prosaic. “A lot of people are living in fear from something that happened in their childhood, or some form of PTSD they picked up along the way, and I created this wonderful character called Katy Perry that I very much am, and can step into all the time, but I created that character out of protection,” she says. “I was scared that if you saw me, Katheryn Hudson, the girl wearing the Bioré strip on my nose, you’d be like, ‘that’s not glamorous’. It was me going, ‘OK, I’ve been upset my whole childhood so I’m going to show the world I am something, that I am going to do something and that I am enough’. I didn’t want to be Katheryn Hudson. I hated that, it was too scary for me, so I decided to be someone else.” Finally, she yanks the gloopy strip clean off her nose. She looks at it and sighs. “It didn’t really take enough stuff out.” The disadvantage of creating a character with such a broad appeal is that it can be difficult to remain all things to all people, especially when, as she puts it, “liberating [yourself] from everything”. Chained to the Rhythm, though painted with broad brushstrokes, was Perry’s statement of intent, and one with implications, both personally and professionally. She’s respectful of her Republican parents’ political views but keen to engage them in debate. “If you can have patience and don’t flip the table, then a healthy discourse is so important,” she says. Did she worry about the commercial risks involved? “I’m not going to please everyone, and I’m not trying to. If you run around pleasing everyone, you’re done. If you stand for nothing then you’re done.” Her words suddenly become more pointed. “I think it’s actually quite selfish: if you’re all about ‘the people’ but you don’t want to help ‘the people’, because you don’t want to say things when things get tough, then what are you about? Protecting your brand? Making sure you don’t lose zeros in your bank account?” Have you lost money from speaking out? “Some people said, ‘look we can’t do this thing with you any more because we’ve gotten letters’. Basically, corporations are like, ‘don’t have an opinion’, and I’m like, ‘so if I was vocalising for the other side, you’d still get letters, you know that right’. What they’re asking me to do is not to speak at all. So, God bless you on your journey.” She unleashes a huge grin. Given purposeful pop’s statement of intent, there was a palpable sense of disappointment from some of Perry’s fanbase in April when Bon Appétit returned to Carry On-style kitsch with its awkward buffet-based sexual metaphors. “[Bon Appétit] is full-on sexual liberation!” Perry insists, visibly annoyed. “Liberation doesn’t just come in the form of talking about politics. Some people will get turned on by it – I’ve seen it happen.” Obviously me and her [Taylor Swift] have our stuff, and I have offered it up to her to work out We talk about Migos, and how some of her gay fanbase were disappointed at their inclusion. “First and foremost, I didn’t know about [the Rolling Stone interview] when I met them. I didn’t do a background check. Some people don’t say the things you want them to say, because they don’t know how to say them,” she continues. “There’s also a double standard – no one said anything about Frank Ocean, who worked with them on a track, or Liam Payne, who uses [Migos’s] Quavo [on his new single]. Nobody’s talking about that.” The conversation quickly escalates into a broader monologue about the dangers of online tribe wars. “The problem is that these fan groups think that everybody is in competition, and everybody needs to stop with that shit,” she says. “Everybody’s trying to pit everyone against each other, especially with all this bullshit about women hating women. I am so disgusted by it and done with it. You can ask me that question, I can’t speak for [Migos], but anything I do – let me reiterate – my intentions are pure. I don’t know everything, and I’m going to fumble, but don’t fucking double standard me.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Perry with former husband Russell Brand at an event in Beverly Hills, 2010. Photograph: John Shearer/WireImage Even when angry, Perry’s words are often delivered with a measured, Zen-like calm, something she ascribes partly to a new maturity (“I left my 20s, I’ve embraced and surrendered to my 30s, and I love it. I wouldn’t go back at all”) and partly to her passion for transcendental meditation. “TM changed my life,” she says. “I studied it five years ago in India during my wedding [to Brand], and it was an incredible thing that I received from that time. Some people get very nervous about the spiritual connotations of things, but TM is very medical and scientific. This [she prods at her mobile] is the new form of sugar. It’s the new dopamine, the new stimulant, and everybody has 20 minutes once a day to turn it off and meditate. When I do it, I can feel the cobwebs lifting and can feel this halo. I think that TM is a beautiful way to find real stillness. You should do it.” Its calming influence is on display when talk turns to Taylor Swift and their fractured relationship, said to be the subject of Swift’s song Bad Blood, although neither star is on record as to exactly how the feud began. Swish Swish, Witness’ third single, has reopened old wounds. “You’re calculated, I got your number,” sings Perry over 90s-inspired house, before adding: “Don’t you come for me, no, not today.” Does that song feel like exorcising some demons from your past, I ask. “No, I think the trolls come hard at me all the time,” she says. So it’s not about Taylor Swift? “It’s a message to all of the people who have tried to tear me down. All the haters, the trolls, the negativity. It’s liberation from all of the negativity. It could be liberation from” – she pauses and lowers her voice to a whisper – “the biggest troll that’s in office right now. Why is it one thing?” Before I can answer, she adds: “Obviously me and her have our stuff, and I have offered it up to her to work out. In person. Over the phone. The whole bit. When she’s ready to do that, then I’m ready to do it. I’m ready to just let that all go. We need to have a conversation about it, totally, and I love her, I really do. But this is something that’s different.” You can see her point. It feels like a contradiction to, on the one hand, dismiss the constant pitting of women against each other (“it’s the spawn of Satan”, she says), and then on the other to keep stoking the fires of an ongoing feud. Perry surrounds herself with a lot of women – does she prefer female energy right now? “I love the female energy. Females in general are so beautiful and powerful. They’re the ones that have enough power to bring life into this world. I’m not saying they’re better, because everyone plays their role, and a good man is so beautiful. What I’m saying is that women should really know their power and that’s what power is about. It’s about ‘when did you decide to give away your power?’” We chat about Perry’s imminent Glastonbury debut; she’s excited about bringing “the bells and whistles and the authenticity in between” to Worthy Farm. “I’ve only been to the luxury of Coachella,” she laughs, referring to the California desert-based festival, which this year hosted an afternoon brunch to help Perry launch her new shoe range. Given the curious decision to have her warming up on the Pyramid stage for beardy alt-rockers the National and default festival fodder Foo Fighters, would she like to one day come back and headline? “Sure, if they’ll have me.” She shrugs. “I’m happy with where I’m at. The thing is, don’t cry for me. I’m all right. I’m happy.” At one point, as the interview starts to unspool and our time together comes to an end, we get into a surreal discussion about ice-cream flavours, and an off-the-cuff comment about a song being “too vanilla” leads to raised voices and dodgy accents. “Do you know what real, homemade Italian vanilla tastes like, with vanilla bean? It’s the most luxurious taste in the world.” I just see vanilla as a bit basic, I confess. “People like vanilla!” she screams in mock anger, her springy office chair bouncing up and down. “That’s why it’s one of the top three Neapolitan flavours, motherfucker! It’s strawberry, chocolate and vanilla!” The word vanilla starts to roll around her mouth with a slight New York-Italian twang. “Who the fuck said vanilla is the barometer for basic? People like vanilla!” The conversation ricochets back to Witness. “There are 15 flavours on the record!” she says. “Get your Rocky Road, get your vanilla, get your chocolate, get your strawberry, get your mint and chip – they’re all there.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Gloriously anarchic’: Katy Perry poses with fans as she leaves her intimate gig at the the Water Rats in King’s Cross last month. Photograph: Ricky Vigil/GC Images Five days later, and those various flavours are being road-tested in the unlikeliest of environments. Nine years after she made her UK live debut at the Water Rats, a dingy, shoebox pub venue in London’s King’s Cross, Perry’s back there, performing at the launch of the new Capital Breakfast show. It’s a gloriously anarchic, hit-stuffed hour that starts with Perry trying to connect to the internet so she can livestream the show to the millions who couldn’t make it. “You know me, always doing the most, always trying to do it all,” she laughs. At one point she gives her phone to a guy in the front row so he can film it, before kissing a female fan full on the lips during I Kissed a Girl. “I love this because there’s no format for tonight,” she beams. “It could be anything!” Later, before a stripped-back version of 2012’s plaintive Part of Me, she refers to the Manchester terrorist attack, and the unifying power of music (she will go on to play at the One Love fundraiser alongside Ariana Grande, Liam Gallagher and Justin Bieber, among others). “Whatever you can do to help, you should – and if you can’t do anything, that’s fine,” she says through tears. “But what you should do is not let them win.” It’s a powerful moment, and one that seems to amplify the gig’s back-to-basics catharsis for Perry. “When I come to the UK, I’m going to do a ton of these types of shows,” she says later, eyebrow slightly raised as she adds the inevitable, “I want to get intimate with you.” Before the closing self-empowerment treaty of Roar, the super-fans pressed at the front launch into an impromptu rendition of Fingerprints from 2008’s One of the Boys, a rallying cry to overcome people’s expectations. By the time the assembled chorus gets to “I’m leaving you my legacy, I got to make my mark,” Perry joins in, screaming the lyrics she wrote all those years ago when she was still unknown. “I got to run it hard,” she sings, a huge grin smeared across her face, “I want you to remember me.” Katy Perry’s Witness is out now (on Capitol). She plays Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage on 24 June, returning to the UK on her world tour in June 2018

Police in Vernal Heights, Florida, arrested 3-practicing cannibals who claim eating human flesh cures both type-1 and type-2 diabetes and depression.According to Vernal Heights Chief of Police, Gregory Moore, the 3-men were arrested when officers responded to what they assumed would be a routine noise complaint.Police arrived at 3845 Toolson Lane (the home of William Provost) at approximately 7:45 PM on Sunday evening in response to a neighbor complaining of strange sounds coming from the home.Responding officers told reporters that they assumed their visit to the house would be a quick one and that they would simply be asking the residents to keep the noise down.When the officers arrived at 3845 Toolson Lane, they repeatedly knocked on the door and rang the doorbell, however, nothing could be heard over the sound a stereo inside the house repeatedly playing the same song, which was later identified as – Enya’s ‘Who Can Say’.After attempting to get the attention of the homeowner via knocking and ringing the doorbell for approximately 5-minutes, police entered the home through an unlocked door located at the rear of the house.The responding officers told reporters that the house had been extremely dark, cluttered, and an overwhelming smell (which was later identified as decomposing flesh) filled the home. Upon clearing the first-floor of the home, the responding officers realized that the blaring music was coming from the home’s basement.According to the officers, a bizarre crime scene was quickly uncovered upon entering the basement. Three men, which have since been identified as 62-year-old William Provost, 51-year-old Dennis Ratcliff, and 36-year-old Michael Dore were sitting in a circle on the basement’s concrete floor and ritualistically chanting while eating what police initially believed was an animal carcass, but was later identified as human remains.William Provost, who police believe to be the group’s ringleader, admitted to practicing cannibalism and told arresting officers:“I find human flesh to be the only thing that cures my type-2 diabetes and chronic depression. If expensive pharmaceutical drugs helped, I would figure out a way to obtain them, but they don’t, so I stick to what works for me”.Upon searching the home’s basement, police made several startling discoveries including a large room that appears to contain nothing more than decades worth of clutter, but upon further inspection, police discovered human remains hidden throughout the old wooden furniture and broken appliances.Police also discovered a kitchen style refrigerator located in a small room in the corner of the basement that contained the limbs, organs, and miscellaneous remains of what police believe to be upwards of 7-8 different individuals.In addition to the refrigerator, the small room in the basement also housed a make-shift ‘tool wall’ that contained a myriad of tools that police believe were used to dismember several victims.Upon their initial investigation, police believe the 3-men have been practicing cannibalism for the past 3-4 years and largely remained under the radar due to their practice of targeting and befriending homeless drifters they met at small dive-bars located upwards of 100-miles from their Vernal Heights residence.Vernal Heights Chief of Police, Gregory Moore, spoke to reporters during a brief press-conference this morning.“Though modern-day cannibalism is extremely rare, it does unfortunately exist. That said -treating diabetes and or depression has to be the most bizarre reason for practicing cannibalism that I’ve ever heard.”Provost’s accomplices, 51-year-old Dennis Ratcliff, and 36-year-old Michael Dore, also admitted to cannibalizing human flesh because they believed it would cure depression and told arresting officer’s that Provost took them under his wing in late-2012.As of Tuesday afternoon, police and detectives are still conducting a search at the residence located at 3845 Toolson Lane.All three men are currently being held without bail at the Vernal Heights Municipal Jail.

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Drew Barrymore is grateful for her female friendships, especially with her long-time pal, Cameron Diaz. "We're like more than best friends, she's my sister," the actress and beauty mogul told ET's Lauren Zima at Beautycon Festival LA, where she was celebrating new products from her makeup line, Flower Beauty. She continued, "We have much more of that kind of relationship, we're very honest with each other. We push each other. And we've had the majority of our lives spent side by side, really going through what real life is, which is an everyday high and low and we just have each other's backs." The BFFs gave everyone friendship goals when they recently posted a makeup free selfie together, both looking glowy and happy. Barrymore admitted that sometimes it's easier to go bare. "I love makeup so much, but it's like we don't have the time or energy to do it all the time, so I'm really into real life," she said about the selfie. But the 43-year-old added makeup can be a powerful game changer. "The tiniest little bit of concealer and a lip can make such a difference in your self confidence that it's like, you do it and you think, 'Why would I never not do this?' But I'm a mom, I'm busy and we forget to put a little bit into ourselves. Even one minute, 30 seconds can just sort of boost yourself, and it's important to remember to take that time to do that," Barrymore said. As for the planned reboot of Charlie's Angels, set to be directed by Elizabeth Banks and rumored to star Kristen Stewart and Lupita Nyong'o, Barrymore was supportive of the idea. "I'm just excited for them," the Santa Clarita Diet star said. "Because every generation that brings Charlie's Angels out into the world is about the power of three women and what they can do, while loving men and wanting to date them or working side by side with them. But there's just something about Charlie's Angels that make men and women so happy." "And it's so positive. So if they keep that alive in this new iteration, it's just going to be great," she added. For more on Barrymore, watch the video below! RELATED CONTENT: Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz Go Makeup-Free for Girls' Day Out -- See the Pic Kristen Stewart 'Would Love' to Star in Elizabeth Banks' Upcoming 'Charlie's Angels' Reboot (Exclusive) Drew Barrymore Talks Possibility of 'E.T.' Sequel, Reuniting With Adam Sandler Related Gallery

Whereas demonstrating the glamour anticipated of an award-winning singer, Miranda Lambert‘s make-up routine is surprisingly relatable. Sporting a purple scorching George Chakras robe to the 2018 Academy of Nation Music Awards, the “Over You” singer opted for glowing pores and skin and the proper nude pout, making her magnificence a supporting function to her total look. “With Miranda’s wealthy alternative in shade for her purple carpet gown and equipment, we determined to maintain her make-up paired down and easily refined with a attractive wholesome pores and skin focus,” superstar make-up artist Moani Lee confirmed to E! Information. Thus, prepping her pores and skin for the occasion was essential. To begin, the sweetness professional utilized hydrating merchandise to make sure a easy floor for make-up software. Surprisingly, one in every of them is a traditional $2 drugstore product.

Overview (4) Born May 6, 1961 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA Birth Name George Timothy Clooney Nickname Gorgeous George Height 5' 11" (1.8 m) Mini Bio (1) Spouse (2) Trade Mark (6) Often plays scoundrels that are likable and have redeeming qualities His movies often reflect his liberal political beliefs Silver/grey hair Smooth, resonant voice Often works with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon Frequently works with Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Trivia (126) Best man at the wedding of Richard Kind Tried out for a position on the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. During the 1990s, Clooney often publicly asserted that he would never get remarried or have any children, but Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman both bet $10,000 each that he would be a father before he turned 40. They were both wrong, and each sent him a check. He returned the money, betting double or nothing that he wouldn't have kids by age 50. At age 53, he broke his vows to never marry again when he wed human rights lawyer Amal Clooney (née Alamuddin) in 2014. In early 2017, news broke that the couple were pregnant with twins. Waged war against the paparazzi by boycotting Entertainment Tonight (1981), the sister show of Hard Copy (1989), which had filmed Clooney without his permission. Was voted "Sexiest Man Alive" by People Magazine. [1997] Was voted "Best Dressed Male Television Star." [1997] Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World." [1996] Uncle is the late actor José Ferrer Educated at Northern Kentucky University. Owned a pet pig named Max, given to him by Kelly Preston , for eighteen years. Max died on December 1, 2006. Studied acting at The Beverly Hills Playhouse. Coincidentally, his first steady TV role was in the medical sitcom E/R (1984) that was based in Chicago and co-starred Elliott Gould Mary McDonnell and Jason Alexander . Ten years later it would take another TV series ER (1994) (also based in Chicago) to finally launch him into the galaxy of superstardom. Committed to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) before even reading a script, because of his wish to work with the Coen brothers. He even accepted a significantly lower salary than usual. Reportedly got into a fistfight with Three Kings (1999) director David O. Russell on the set. Russell had yelled and derided a few extras out of frustration and Clooney didn't appreciate it. Russell has since said, "I wouldn't make another George Clooney movie if they paid me $20 million." Has stated in several interviews that he has suffered from bleeding stomach ulcers and is still on medication for stomach pain. Ranked #27 on Premiere's 2002 Power 100 List. First cousin once removed of Gabi Ferrer One of People Magazine's "Top 50 Bachelors" (2002). Was a pallbearer at the funeral of his late aunt, Rosemary Clooney He got his start in a movie starring his cousin, Miguel Ferrer . Later, after Clooney had established himself on ER (1994), Ferrer made a guest appearance on the very first show. George's aunt, Rosemary Clooney , made guest appearances on two shows the first month ER (1994) aired. Ranked #29 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. Is the sixth actor to play Batman. No. 3 of 10 Top Sexiest Men in People magazine. (2003) His voice was dubbed for the singing moments in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Heads his own film and television production company, Maysville Pictures. Shared an apartment with actor Thom Mathews during the early 1980s. Was the second man, after Richard Gere , to make an appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine. Ranked #16 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties." Rode a bicycle to get to auditions as a struggling actor. Son of actor and AMC host Nick Clooney and Nina Warren Clooney. He loves the show South Park (1997). He got a hold of Trey Parker , the creator of the series, and asked for a part in an episode. He was given the role of "Sparky," the gay dog, which involved little more than panting and yelping. However, when it was time for South Park to go to the big screen, Clooney got a full speaking part, as an ER surgeon. He has Irish, English, German, and smaller amounts (to varying degrees) of Scots-Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, and French Huguenot, roots. At 43, he was voted sexiest male celebrity in a 'Naughty Forties' poll conducted for UK television station FX. Shared an L.A. home with Kelly Preston when both were struggling actors. Born 2:48 AM, EST. He loves beer. He does voiceovers for Budweiser TV commercials and allegedly had a beer keg installed in his dressing room during filming of Ocean's Eleven (2001). Lived in a friend's closet while struggling as an actor in L.A., early in his career. Is a Dallas Mavericks fan. Received the first "Spirit of Independence Award" of the Los Angeles Film Festival and Find Independent (FIND). [June, 2005] Appears on the cover of the first Men's Vogue. (2005) In October 2005, after an accident on the set of his movie Syriana (2005), he suffered from back pain, bad headaches, and memory loss. After several spine surgeries, he fully recovered. Sought the role of Jack in Sideways (2004). However, the film's director, Alexander Payne , felt that he was too big a star, and turned him down in favor of Thomas Haden Church Owns a villa in Laglio at Lake Como, Italy, where he lives several months of the year. In winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Syriana (2005), he becomes the second generation of his family to win an Oscar. His uncle, José Ferrer , won a Best Actor Oscar for playing in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950). Also appearing in Syriana (2005) was Christopher Plummer , who once played Christian to Ferrer's Cyrano in a subsequent production, and later succeeded Ferrer as Cyrano as well. Ranked #21 on Premiere's 2006 "Power 50" list. Had ranked #43 in 2005. As of 2006, he is the only regular cast member from ER (1994) to win an Oscar (for Best Supporting Actor in Syriana (2005)). In August 2006, he and his producing partner Steven Soderbergh decided to close down their Section Eight production company after a 6-year working partnership. He and Grant Heslov founded production company Smoke House after his production company Section Eight closed down. He auditioned for the role of Mr. Blonde/Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs (1992), but was turned down. In 2006, voted People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive". From 1996 through 2003, stuntman Brad Martin served as Clooney's personal stunt double. His famed "Roman haircut" was actually an accident. While filming From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), he wanted to make his character Seth Gecko look really crazy with a chopped off hairstyle. But the haircut became popular and turned into a positive. Suffered from Bell's palsy for a time while he was in high school. In December 2006, he traveled to China and Egypt to make a personal plea to Chinese and Egyptian officials to use their ties with the Sudanese government to help stop the violence in the Darfur region. Was considered for the part of Reed Richards in Fantastic Four (2005). His The Peacemaker (1997) co-star Nicole Kidman presented him his Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2006. In 2001 was voted Most Eligible Bachelor by People Magazine. Clooney grew up working in tobacco fields. In his late teens, he took up smoking and continued to do so through his late 20's. A decision he regrets and has discussed in numerous interviews. He finally decided to quit when his favorite Uncle died after a long battle with lung cancer. Clooney's parents were non-smokers, although many of his Aunts and Uncles smoked. In September 2006 he addressed the United Nations Security Council, urging it to act over Darfur. Helped celebrate a plan to rebuild a hospital in hurricane-devastated Louisiana alongside former President George Bush . The pair appeared outside the courthouse in Cameron Parish, the only surviving building in the town following Hurricane Rita. Bush presented local officials with a check for $2 million from the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund. The money will help run South Cameron Memorial Hospital once it has been rebuilt. Former ER (1994) star Clooney quipped, "There is good news in all of this, which is that when the hospital gets up and running, I will not be doing any of the medical procedures" (20 December 2006). In 2007, he was ranked #13 on Entertainment Weekly's 'The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood'. In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $25 million. Supported Senator Barack Obama 's bid to win the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election. He and his girlfriend, Sarah Larson , had an accident in 2007 while riding a motorcycle. She broke some toes, and Clooney broke a rib. Merited a place in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" (Artists & Entertainers section) with a tribute written by Roseanne Barr (Issue May 12, 2008). His palatial estate "Villa Oleandra" overlooking Italy's Lake Como comprises 15 rooms, a wine cellar, and a master bedroom suite atop three floors. In his garage, Clooney keeps his collection of Piaggio motorbikes. Docked at his pier is a Colombo classic powerboat. Previously owned by philanthropist Drue Heinz, the former mother-in-law of Teresa Heinz Kerry , wife of US Secretary of State John Kerry , Clooney discovered the property when the was tossed from his Harley-Davidson motorcycle near the gates of the villa while touring the region in 2001. Quit the WGA in April 2008 after the union turned down his wish to be credited as a co-writer for Leatherheads (2008). He felt that he was let down by the union. His favorite song is "Destination Moon" by Dinah Washington On the DVD commentary for Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), George Clooney says that shortly after he met Grant Heslov in 1982, Heslov loaned Clooney $200.00 to buy his first set of headshots, and they have been friends ever since (and later writing and producing partners). His production company, Section 8 Productions, is named after Jamie Farr 's M*A*S*H (1972) character "Maxwell Q Klinger" (Klinger tried to get out of the army via a section 8). Lives in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his self-mocking sense of humor. The creators of South Park (1997) spoofed his Oscar acceptance speech in a South Park episode, and his political views in Team America: World Police (2004). Clooney commented that he would have been really disappointed, had he not been spoofed in the latter. Has an older sister named Adelia "Ada" Clooney Zeidler. She married the late Norman Monroe Zeidler, an artist and U.S. Army captain, who died of a heart attack in 2004. They have two children, Allison and Nick, who (until the 2017 birth of Amal and George Clooney's twins) were the only grandchildren of Nina and Nick Clooney Appeared on the cover of GQ magazine four times: March '95, October '97, November '98 (with Harrison Ford and Chris Rock ) and January '03. Was in a 2-year relationship with Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis (2009-2011). During the 2012 Newsweek Magazine Oscar roundtable, Clooney told a story about working for the women's shoe department of a Cincinnati, Ohio, department store in 1979. He said that it was fashionable at that time for some women to have their fourth toe surgically removed so that they could more easily fit into tight pumps and heels. He came to know which women had had this procedure done, and he always tried to pass those customers of onto his coworkers, since he found the sight of the deliberately missing toe so disturbing. He and his father, Nick Clooney , were arrested, on March 16, 2012, for participating in a staged protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. Is supporting President Barack Obama 's 2012 reelection campaign, and hosted a fundraiser for the President at his home on May 10, 2012. A record $15 million in contributions was raised. Has been friends with Sandra Bullock for around 25 years. They appear in a movie together for the first time in Gravity (2013). Suffers from a form of malaria that surfaces from time to time; he has to live with it for the rest of his life. In Amsterdam (Netherlands) filming for Ocean's Twelve (2004). [May 2004] Appointed a U.N. "Messenger of Peace". [January 2008] In 2002, he made a controversial joke about Charlton Heston getting Alzheimer's disease; for which he refused to apologize. In the process of setting the mood at his home for his marriage proposal to fiancée Amal, George programmed a playlist of his legendary aunt Rosemary Clooney 's records including the apt, "Why Shouldn't?" (first verse: Why shouldn't I take a chance when romance passes by? / Why shouldn't I know of love? / Why wait around when each age has a sage who has sung / That upon this earth love is all that is really worth thinking of?). Is very closely related to the noted Republican president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's aunt is George Clooney's great-great-great-great grandmother. Which also makes him a distant cousin of Tom Hanks , via Lincoln's mother Nancy Hanks. He gained 30 pounds for his Oscar winning role as Bob Barnes in Syriana (2005). His wedding to Amal Clooney (Amal Alamuddin) cost an estimated $4.6 million. Continues to be good friends with Charlotte Rae Expecting twins with his wife, Amal Clooney [February 2017]. Is the only person to have been nominated for an Oscar in 6 different categories. Best Picture for Argo (2013), Best Actor for The Descendents (2011), Up In The Air (2009) and Michael Clayton (2007), Best Adapted Screenplay for The Ides Of March (2011), Best Supporting Actor for Syriana (2005), and finally Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Good Night And Good Luck (2005). Co-founded the popular drink brand "Casamigos Tequila" (house of friends) with friend and business partner Rande Gerber in 2013. At 8 weeks he unknowingly and accidentally broke the "12 week pregnancy rule" when he told friend Matt Damon that he and his wife were expecting twins. Announced that he will co produce with John Madden, who will direct, Gates of Fire, based on the epic Greek Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC when 300 Spartan warriors held back rampaging soldiers from the Persian Empire for six days before being slaughtered. Played two unrelated movie characters with the last name Gates. Portrayed Lee Gates in "Money Monster" (2016) and Archie Gates in "Three Kings" (1999). George and Amal Clooney welcomed 2 babies on 6th June 2017, Girl and boy Ella and Alexander Clooney. A renowned practical joker, of whom Brad Pitt is often a target, George Clooney revealed on The Graham Norton Show, that he had replaced the license plate frame on Brad Pitt's car with one that said, "Fuck Cops." Of course, Pitt was pulled over by the LAPD. With his partners sold their tequila brand Casamigos to Diageo Plc, a British multinational alcoholic beverages company for $1 Billion. [June 2017] He is the only actor to have played Batman who hasn't also played a figure from The Bible. He is close friends with Ben Affleck. Both have played Batman in live-action films. Friends with Julianna Margulies, Richard Kind, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, Tina Fey, Cindy Crawford, Billy Murray, John Krasinski, Angelina Jolie, Jimmy Kimmel, Howard Stern, Steven Soderbergh, Victoria Beckham, Bill Clinton, Mark Wahlberg, Renee Zellweger, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Robert De Niro, Guy Ritchie, Anthony Edwards, Tate Donovan, Leslie Moonves, John Wells, Grant Heslov and Tommy Hinkley. Good friends with Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, David Beckham, Barack Obama, Nicole Kidman, Don Cheadle, Eva Longoria, Noah Wyle, Michelle Pfeiffer and Ben Affleck. Personal Quotes (78) [discussing casting choices Mel Gibson and Nicolas Cage for Three Kings (1999) before he had signed] Luckily, both those guys were tied and gagged in my apartment, and that was a problem for the casting department. I don't like to share my personal life... it wouldn't be personal if I shared it. [on the fact he had nothing to do with the breakup of Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt ] I was too busy breaking up Tom and Nicole's marriage. [speaking about the 2003 start to the Iraq war] You can't beat your enemy anymore through wars; instead you create an entire generation of people revenge-seeking. These days it only matters who's in charge. Right now that's us -for a while, at least. Our opponents are going to resort to car bombs and suicide attacks because they have no other way to win. . . . I believe [Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ] thinks this is a war that can be won, but there is no such thing anymore. We can't beat anyone anymore. It's not about an opening weekend. It's about a career, building a set of films you're proud of. Period. Ninety percent of films are pretty mediocre, but they have a built-in audience and open on 3,000 screens. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) bombed. But I can take it. Most of the films I've done haven't done particularly well. I'm surprised I'm continuing to work. Directing is really exciting. In the end, it's more fun to be the painter than the paint. I don't believe in happy endings, but I do believe in happy travels, because ultimately...you die at a very young age, or you live long enough to watch your friends die. It's a mean thing, life. We've been trying to push our involvement within the studio system, sort of push the things that we've learned from foreign and independent films through the '80s and push those things back into the studio system. Like Out of Sight (1998) isn't your standard studio film by any means; Three Kings (1999) wasn't the standard Warner Bros. kind of film. Directors are the captains of the ship, and it's your job as the lead actor to make sure that the rest of the cast understand that by doing whatever he says. See, the first thing about actors is, you're just trying to get a job; and you audition and audition and you finally get them. And you still consider yourself an auditioning actor. I auditioned for One Fine Day (1996), I wasn't offered that. So you're still in that 'Hey, I'm just trying to get a job' thing. Then, you get to the point where, if you decide to do it, then they'll make the film. That's a different kind of responsibility, and it usually takes a couple of films to catch up. And then you have to actually pay attention to the kind of films that you're making. You got to think of things at their worst, not at their best. And Out of Sight (1998) was the first time where I had a say, and it was the first good screenplay that I'd read where I just went, 'That's it.'And even though it didn't do really well box office-wise-we sort of tanked again-it was a really good film. And I realized from that point on that it was strictly screenplay first. And then it becomes easier, because once you eliminate the idea of doing a vehicle. . . believe me, there's nobody who's encouraging us to make these films, not agents, not . . . we're not getting paid for these things, and it's not like we're going to make a mint. [on making Ocean's Eleven (2001)] It was the easiest shoot ever for any actor, and we all knew it when we were doing it. We were like, it's never going to be better than this. He [director Steven Soderbergh ] was in hell because it was a really complicated film to put together. We were like, we're in Las Vegas, we go to work at one in the afternoon, and we gotta be done by six at night. Six hours of work. Steven was editing all night. I'm a hybrid. I succeed in both worlds. I hope that selling out on Ocean's Eleven (2001) is not such a bad deal. The trade-off is, I get to go make something uncommercial that will probably lose money. Steven [ Steven Soderbergh ] and I have a great relationship inside the studio system. We make the kinds of films we want and commercial films at the same time. Steven and I have lost a lot of money. We are way in the hole. But this is not a day job. I've got some cash. I have a nice house in Italy. I do OK. It's true information is harder to get these days. When I was growing up there were three networks - three news shows, delivering the same information. You took that information into your home and you formed your own opinions. Now we have 130 channels. You go to the channel that plays to your belief pattern. We start with different sets of facts, it's more polarizing. [on Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)] I'm not a snob, I like entertaining films as well. But when you do a film like this, or like Three Kings (1999) - films that get you in a bit of trouble - it's fun to open up a debate. [Responding to media reports that he had contemplated suicide following surgery] I think, if you listen to the piece, I certainly did not talk about wanting to kill myself. I was talking about the idea of living for years in that kind of pain. Please don't use my words out of context. An acting career usually has about a shelf life of ten years before people get sick of seeing you. It's a good thing to have a job to fall back on and I really do enjoy directing. I doubt anybody gets taken seriously for very long. I'll be on some reality show in about six years going, Hey, I had a great year in 2006. People thought I was Tom and Nicole's bodyguard. They'd come up and go, "Is it okay if I go up and ask for an autograph?' It was good. I'd charge 'em three bucks a person. Yeah, you gotta make some money off of that. I'm the flavor of the month. Run for office? No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties. I know what my limitations are as an actor, but my strength is putting myself into a well-written part. When I get in trouble is when I have to fix it, or when I have to carry it on personality. Here is my theory in debunking photographs in magazines. You know, the paparazzi photographs. I want to spend every single night for three months going out with a different famous actress. You know, Halle Berry one night, Salma Hayek the next, and then walk on the beach holding hands with Leonardo DiCaprio . People would still buy the magazines, they'd still buy the pictures, but they would always go, 'I don't know if these guys are putting us on or not.' You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk. I don't live at full tilt the way I used to. You begin to hate waking up with the kind of hangover you get from going on huge benders with your buddies. Also, since my neck surgeries, I've been forced to take things easier and not beat up my body the way I used to. I'm more cautious. The idea that every time you do a film you're supposed to be tortured confuses me. I mean, guys who say "Oh, it's really tough, my character is really suffering" - come on. For us, even in the rotten ones, we've had a good time. I don't think you have to suffer. We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered. And we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. This academy - this group of people - gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch. You can only get so far without discernible talent - then you either work, or use cheap publicity tricks to keep the public's attention. Paris (Hilton) has no reason to complain if she is on the end of bad publicity. [on what makes a man stylish] For me, a sense of humor is number one. It's certainly what's most attractive. It's not the first thing you notice at 21, but it's the first thing you notice now. If celebrity is a credit card, I'm using my credit. My job is to try and find ways of talking about issues that move us forward. I don't make policy, but I can shine a light on faulty or good policy. The Not On Our Watch launch reached more than 9 million people. We need to focus global attention on the plight of the 2.5 million civilians who have fled their homes. Rather than talk about who I'm dating, let's talk about saving lives. [on celebrity activism] You don't want to be a spokesperson unless you are absolutely committed to a cause because you can hurt it. I've been asked to help represent environmental groups. I'm a big proponent of cleaning up the environment. I have two electric cars. But I also have a big weak spot because I've flown on private jets. However, I welcome any of these dumb pundits who make celebrities out to be bad guys to a discussion about Darfur. Because I've been there and I've met all the players, and I guarantee you the pundits haven't. [on who will win the Best Actor Oscar in 2008] If you want my honest opinion, I think it's going to be Daniel Day-Lewis [for There Will Be Blood (2007)]. He sort of irritates all of us because he's so good. I'll tell you right now, I don't like him! [on films made between 1964 and 1976] It's 12 years and you could find ten films a year that are masterpieces. They don't make those films anymore. You couldn't come near making those films. Had I not got the Thursday night ten o'clock slot at ER (1994), if they'd put us on Friday night, then I wouldn't have a film career. That's luck, not my own genius, though I like to think it was. I'm protected as an actor by a really good screenplay, number one; and then a really good director, number two; and then really good actors, number three - but first and foremost a good screenplay. You cannot make a good film out of a bad script. You can make a bad film out of a good script - easily. I've seen that happen before, but you can't do it the other way around; it always has to be the screenplay. I didn't become really successful until I was in my thirties. I can still remember sitting on the closet floor of my buddy's house, completely broke. My friends would want to go out to dinner, to get a hamburger, and I couldn't afford to go. They had the money to pay, but I didn't want them to pay. That happened a lot. At one point, I remember my buddy Brad loaning me a hundred dollars. He's now running our production company. I'm still paying that debt off, you know? Here's your options: Live long enough to watch your friends die, or die young. Now, I'm not pessimistic at all. I'm just saying I realize that's true. I don't want to see any of my buddies die, and I don't have any interest in dying young, either. But I had to come to terms with what I'm not going to do. I never thought Batman & Robin (1997) was going to be a great film. I thought it was a great opportunity for me. And suddenly we're filming. The script isn't together. I'm just miserable in the suit, trying to make scenes work. That's not the way to make a movie. The thing is, it took "Batman & Robin" to get to the point where I am now. When I got in a position to greenlight a picture and get the picture made, I really had to adjust my thinking. Because when you're an actor, you're thinking about getting good roles. You go, "That's a great part!" And you sign on to make the movie. Only now, those movies are being greenlit because you're doing them, and when the reviews come out, you're being held responsible not just for what you did in the film, but for the entire film. From here on in, I realised, it's my responsibility. If I'm going to blow it, if I'm going to bomb, it's going to be on my taste. So I started out doing Out of Sight (1998) and Three Kings (1999) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and making only films I'd go see. Now, that doesn't always end well. Sometimes a movie doesn't work. But the lesson of "Batman & Robin" was a great one. I'd rather have a rectal examination on live TV by a fellow with cold hands than have a Facebook page! If the movie makes money, I make money. If I don't, I've still made the movie I wanted to make. I never wear makeup for movies and now it's starting to show. It's funny, because most male actors work with actresses who are considerably younger. But earlier in my career I was working with a lot of actresses who were my age or older so people always thought I was older anyway; and now I'm going through this thing with people thinking I'm about 60. But I'm kind of comfortable with getting older because it's better than the other option, which is being dead. So I'll take getting older. [on the paranormal] I'm not a big believer in much of that. Everybody goes through déjà vu and things like that, but I don't really go for that stuff. I find it mostly to be coincidence. [on his friends keeping him grounded] I've got eight buddies: The Boys. They've been my friends for 20 years. Every Sunday we ride motorcycles and play basketball together. For Christmas this year, the boys came out and there were new bikes sitting out there-new Indians for each of them. The best part of having money is sharing it with your buddies. I lived on their closet floors when I was broke and they had money and were working. They've been through this whole ride with me. So now, when someone comes up to me and says, "You're so brilliant," they look over at me and go, "Man, can you believe that shit?" I met them when I first moved out here, in acting classes. Richard Kind , who's on Spin City (1996), is one of them. When his father died of a heart attack, Richard called and said he was going to Trenton for the funeral. All the boys were immersed in work at that point and had no time, but I called them up and told them what happened. There were no commercial flights available, so I chartered a jet. We didn't tell him we were coming. We sat in the back of the synagogue and Richard was in front with his back to us. When he got up and started to talk about his dad, he saw us and started sobbing. He said, "I'm sorry, but I just saw my best friends back there." There was this amazing feeling that every one of these guys had dropped everything just to be there. That's what it's like. People like that keep you sane. [2000] The truth is, most actors I know aren't assholes. They often get that reputation because people around them are assholes. The people around you can treat people like shit and pretend they are doing it to protect you. Once, my assistant was rude to someone. I said, "You know, you represent me when you talk to people." So you have to be careful. And that's not to say people don't treat people badly in this business. I once had lunch with a movie producer who was completely dismissive and rude to our waiter, which told me all I needed to know about him. I know that someone like that will be nice to me right now - I'm in a position where he wants to be nice to me, since he needs something from me. But what happens if I'm not in that position anymore? If he treats everyone else dismissively, he'll treat me dismissively. He isn't the type of person you want to work with. [2000] [n the downside of fame] In Los Angeles, there are a million famous people around, so you are left alone. They see Mel Gibson at the grocery store, so they're not impressed with me. But if you go to any other town and walk into a bar, you can never have a normal experience. Once people have a few drinks, they get brave. All of a sudden, there is a crowd of guys going, "Dude!" and hanging on to me. They want to buy me a drink and sit down and talk. But I've got my friends, see. I don't want a bunch of guys coming over to buy me drinks. The funny part is what I end up doing: I'm polite and I sit and talk to them. I wind up doing the things a girl would do in the same sort of situation at a bar. [2000] I'm different from a lot of guys. I don't go up to girls I don't know in a bar and ask them to dance. I never have. Never. I've never gone up to somebody I don't know and asked them out. I just won't do it and never did, because I never wanted to take my ego, as fragile as any guy's, and hand it to some girl so that she could demolish it. To me it has always seemed like a stupid thing to do. So in terms of, like, "Hey, you want to go out?" I don't do it. [2000] [on fame] Here's an example of how it works. I had never been to the Playboy Mansion and really wanted to go. When I finally did, it was for one of the Mansion's pajama parties, where I was hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jim Carrey . We were all sort of protecting one another; you don't want to seem like you're desperate. I grew up with the magazine, so naturally I wanted to see the Grotto. When I got there, I was cornered by about 15 people, most of them pretty girls. But it's not like you might imagine. Instead, they all wanted to have their picture taken with me. When that happens, it's like you're a cardboard cutout for people to stand next to. It's not like talking to a girl and getting to know her. At the height of it, when there were people pulling at me from every direction and it was at its most embarrassing, some guy comes over and says, "Look at this shit, man! You got it made! Chicks are all over you." Meanwhile, I was thinking how much easier it was before this. Then it was just about being a guy talking to a girl and all the other stuff that's so interesting about dating-that dance you do. You see somebody at a party and lock eyes and eventually get closer and closer to each other. Somehow you find a way to talk and maybe-all that stuff. That's a turn-on. That has been taken away from me. If you were to ask what I miss about the anonymity that I used to have, it's that experience, that slow and natural getting to know someone - that kind of electricity. [2000] I'm a 39-year-old man. In the way I was raised, this is the time when you make your mark. In your 20s, you figure out what it is you're going to be. You do a lot of different jobs. By your late 20s, you sort of have some idea of what it is. Then you spend your 30s and a lot of your 40s making your mark. You spend your 50s being able to reap the benefits of the work that you've done. [2000] In college, I basically partied a lot. You gotta understand. We're a very strict Catholic family. Curfew was at nine p.m. when I was a senior in high school. So I got out of the house and thought, Oh my God! People don't ever really like to talk about this anymore, but there was a period of time when blow was considered OK, like it won't hurt you at all. It was almost mainstream. All the designer drugs were OK-Quaaludes and blow. So that was the time in college for me: Drugs and chasing girls. I came from a town of 1500 people to Cincinnati. I would visit class every once in a while and stop by and go, "How's everybody doing?" I was still a responsible kid, but I didn't take school seriously. I had jobs. I sold men's suits and shoes and worked in stockrooms of department stores, and I cut tobacco when it was the season. I was paying for my thing along the way. But I quit school. [on a part he wished he had gotten] The part that Brad Pitt played in Thelma & Louise (1991). It was down to three actors, including Brad and me, at one time. I read about five times with Geena Davis . I thought I was going to get it, but Brad did. The part catapulted him. I didn't watch the movie for a couple of years and then rented it on tape one night. I watched it and, of course, he's perfect in the role, better than I would have been. [2000] [on working with David O. Russell on Three Kings (1999)] He'd throw off his headset and scream, "Today the sound department fucked me!" For me, it came to a head a couple of times. Once, he went after a camera-car driver who I knew from high school. I had nothing to do with his getting his job, but David began yelling and screaming at him and embarrassing him in front of everybody. I told him, "You can yell and scream and even fire him, but what you can't do is humiliate him in front of people. Not on my set, if I have any say about it". Another time, he screamed at the script supervisor and made her cry. I wrote him a letter and said, "Look, I don't know why you do this. You've written a brilliant script, and I think you're a good director. Let's not have a set like this. I don't like it and I don't work well like this". I'm not one of those actors who likes things in disarray. He read the letter and we started all over again. But later, we were three weeks behind schedule, which puts some pressure on you, and he was in a bad mood. These army kids, who were working as extras, were supposed to tackle us. There were three helicopters in the air and 300 extras on the set. It was a tense time, and a little dangerous, too. David wanted one of the extras to grab me and throw me down. This kid was a little nervous about it, and David walked up to him and grabbed him. He pushed him onto the ground. He kicked him and screamed, "Do you want to be in this fucking movie? Then throw him to the fucking ground!" The second assistant director came up and said, "You don't do that, David. You want them to do something, you tell me". David grabbed his walkie-talkie and threw it on the ground. He screamed, "Shut the fuck up! Fuck you", and the AD goes, "Fuck you! I quit". He walked off. It was a dangerous time. I'd sent him this letter. I was trying to make things work, so I went over and put my arm around him. I said, "David, it's a big day. But you can't shove, push or humiliate people who aren't allowed to defend themselves". He turned on me and said, "Why don't you just worry about your fucked-up act? You're being a dick. You want to hit me? You want to hit me? Come on, pussy, hit me". I'm looking at him like he's out of his mind. Then, he started banging me on the head with his head. He goes, "Hit me, you pussy. Hit me". Then, he got me by the throat and I went nuts. Waldo, my buddy, one of the boys, grabbed me by the waist to get me to let go of him. I had him by the throat. I was going to kill him. Kill him. Finally, he apologized, but I walked away. By then, the Warner Bros. guys were freaking out. David sort of pouted through the rest of the shoot and we finished the movie, but it was truly, without exception, the worst experience of my life. When I first started out in television, I took any job that came along. It was, 'Let's just get a job, any job'. I fought to get ER (1994) and I got it and it changed my life. Then, when I started doing movies, the same thing happened. At first, I did anything that I could get. But I learned. In TV, I learned to focus on the script, but I didn't apply that lesson to movies. But the cliché is true: You can take a good script and make a bad movie. But you can't take a bad script and make a good movie. [2000] I love Spencer Tracy . Love him. He's a hero of mine. I heard he never wore makeup, so I've never worn makeup, ever. I won't put it on in any movie. I'm dark complexioned, so I can get away with it. I cut my own hair. It's sort of still being scrappy. It makes you feel like a guy still. I still can take my motorcycle apart and put it back together again. It keeps you feeling like you're still a guy. You have to fight for that. What happens when you're famous is that you get a flat tire and come back and your assistants have fixed it for you. You'll come into a bar and it's really fun and exciting and a guy comes over and says, "Mr. Clooney, come with us", and they take you to a private room in the back. You're thinking, I don't want to be in here. I want to be out there. What the fuck am I doing in here? So you have to fight it as much as you can. It's possible to be a guy with your friends. You get on your motorcycles, you head out on the road. It's as good as it gets. [2000, Playboy Magazine] [on The Ides of March (2011)] It's not a bad thing to hold a mirror up and look at some of the things we're doing [politically]. Everybody makes moral choices that better themselves and hurt someone else. And then we look at whether the means justify the ends. So The Ides of March could've been literally set in Wall Street. That ego issue, which is always an interesting thing. What happens is, you get a modicum of success, and then it becomes about the strangest shit you've ever seen. I am from Kentucky, okay? We try not to live in trailers. That is not something that...we don't brag about being in a double wide, or the largest trailer. And all of a sudden, somebody will come up on the set--and I've had this happen, where it's like, they're upset because their trailer isn't the same size. And you go, 'take my trailer,' because, honestly, that's not what I would consider something to brag about. And it becomes about certain things, and oftentimes it is people who haven't experienced it for a period of time, or people who are trying to hold on to something...being in a trailer is not fun. [2012, Newsweek Magazine Oscars Roundtable] [on Paul Newman 's performance in The Verdict (1982)] That was the first time I was very aware of good acting. [on his support for President Obama's reelection] I fund raised for him [in 2008] I didn't do any campaigning. I really don't think it helps to have well-known, famous people campaigning for you, but you can do fund raisers. I'm a Democrat, I'm a believer in him, I feel like he's done a wonderful job and I think he's having a tough time in a very difficult environment. So I root for him, I root for the President of the United States. [on working with the Coen Brothers] There's rarely a re-write on a Coen brother movie. The script they write is what we shoot. And it's great. I'm trying to make movies in my life... that last longer than opening weekend. That's it, that's my whole goal. I don't have to make money; I do films for scale and then, you know, I go do coffee commercials overseas, and I make a lot of money so I get to live in a nice house. ... And I don't give a shit. And people will go, 'Oh that's a sellout.' And you know what? Fuck you. [on funding a spy satellite to monitor the activities of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir] I want the war criminal to have the same amount of attention that I get. It's hard when you get thumped. I've been proficient at failure. But the only thing you can do is say, "Here's what I won't do next time." I was a baseball player in school. I had a good arm, I could catch anything, but I was having trouble hitting. I would be like, "I wonder if I'll hit it; just let me hit the ball." And then I went away for the fall, learned how to hit, and by my sophomore year I'd come to the plate and think, "I wonder *where* I want to hit the ball, to the left or right?" Just that little bit of skill and confidence changed everything. Well, I had to treat acting like that. I had to stop going to auditions thinking, "Oh, I hope they like me." I had to go in thinking I was the answer to their problem. You could feel the difference in the room immediately. The greatest lesson I learned was that sometimes you have to fake it. And you have to be willing to fail. I did not attend a private boys' school, I worked in tobacco fields and in stock rooms, and construction sites. I've been broke more of my life than I have been successful, and I understand the meaning of being an employee and how difficult it is to make ends meet. When you're young you believe it when people tell you how good you are. And that's the danger, you inhale. Everyone will tell you you're a genius, which you are not, and if you understand that, you win. I watch Batman & Robin (1997) from time to time. It's the worst movie I ever made, so it's a good lesson in humility. [on Britain's Daily Mail] The worst kind of tabloid. One that makes up its facts to the detriment of its readers and to all the publications that blindly reprint them. [on his marriage to Amal Clooney ] I have someone who I can talk to about anything and someone who I care more about than I've cared about anybody, so it's really nice. [his response to the question asked by a student on Inside the Actors Studio (1994): "When you first started out and you were getting rejected what did you find was the most effective method for you to prove that you were the right person for the role?"] That's the funny thing, you can't prove you are the right person for the role, that's one thing actors can never understand and I couldn't either what you have to remember about this is: the product you're selling is "you", this is the difference to any other business we're all salesmen the product you're selling is extremely and completely personal, it's you, if you're selling vacuum cleaners, you can say "I have another one here if you don't like that one" or if you're selling suits you'd say, "if you don't like that suit here's another suit", so when they say "they don't want you", it literally means they don't want "you" personally, and it hurts and it costs you something every time, the reason why actors are celebrated when they become celebrities is because they're taking risks that other people wouldn't take because it's embarrassing and humiliation is one of the greatest fears in the world actors risk humiliation every time they audition so you're going to have a tough thick skin and keep telling yourself "I still think I'm on the right track and I'm going the right way", you'll succeed as long as you're confident because you're also selling your coincidence, so good luck. [describing his work ethic] When I make a movie, it,s four months out of my life. If I'm directing, it's a year or two out of my life. I'm going to enjoy what I do for a living first and foremost: I want to make a good film, secondly, I'm not going to work on a set where people are yelling, screaming and unhappy, thirdly, I am in the luckiest business in the world I'm very aware of "catching the brass ring". I'm very aware of the fact that if not for a Thursday night time slot on ER, I would't have this career, I'm very aware of that so I'm going to enjoy it to push the limits as much as I can, in terms of the kind of work I can do, the kind of films I can make. I always apologize for Batman! [2016, when Bernie Sanders supporters protested outside his fundraiser for Hillary Clinton ] Their T-shirts said, you know, 'You sucked as Batman.' And I was like, 'Well, you kind of got me on that one.' At 52 I found the love of my life, I've never been happier in a relationship by any stretch of the imagination. Oftentimes, I feel like an idiot talking to my own wife. Over the last week photographers from Voici magazine scaled our fence, climbed our tree and illegally took pictures of our infants inside our home. Make no mistake the photographers, the agency and the magazine will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The safety of our children demands it.[July 2017] [on being criticized as 'Hollywood elite' by Donald J. Trump and his supporters] Here's the thing: I grew up in Kentucky. I sold insurance door-to-door. I sold ladies' shoes. I worked at an all-night liquor store. I would buy suits that were too big and too long and cut the bottom of the pants off to make ties so I'd have a tie to go on job interviews. I grew up understanding what it was like to not have health insurance for eight years. So this idea that I'm somehow the 'Hollywood elite' and this guy [Trump] who takes a s--- in a gold toilet is somehow the man of the people is laughable. People in Hollywood, for the most part, are people from the Midwest who moved to Hollywood to have a career. So this idea of 'coastal elites' living in a bubble is ridiculous. Who lives in a bigger bubble? He [Trump] lives in a gold tower and has 12 people in his company. He doesn't run a corporation of hundreds of thousands of people he employs and takes care of. He ran a company of 12 people! When you direct a film you have seven different unions all wanting different things, you have to find consensus with all of them, and you have to get them moving in the same direction. He's never had to do any of that kind of stuff. I just look at it and I laugh when I see him say 'Hollywood elite.' Hollywood elite? I don't have a star on Hollywood Boulevard, Donald Trump has a star on Hollywood Boulevard! [Sept. 2017] [2012] My grandparents back in Kentucky owned a tobacco farm. So to make money in the summer we could cut and chop and top and house and strip the tobacco. It sure made you not want to smoke. [Norman Lear: You never smoked?] No, never. You know I had 10 great aunts and uncles on my father's side, and six of them died of lung cancer. Rosemary [Clooney's aunt] died of lung cancer, too, and she has emphysema. Both of my grandparents died of lung cancer. So I got quite a lesson in the payback later in life of smoking, and if you keep it up how bad it can be. There's not going to be a President Donald Trump. Fear is not going to drive our country. We're not afraid of Muslims or immigrants or women. We're not going to be afraid of anything. Salary (19)

This is the transcript of the debate between Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on February 21, 2008 at the University of Texas in Austin.Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton face off in a high-stakes debate, Thursday night. more photos »CNN's CAMPBELL BROWN: And the candidates have taken their seats. We are ready to get started. On behalf of CNN, Univision and the candidates, we want to thank our hosts, the University of Texas and the LBJ School and Library.And now I want to give you an idea of what to expect over the next 90 minutes or so. We want to have a real conversation between these two candidates on the issues important to Texas and the entire nation, so we won't have any hard and fast rules for them to follow. We simply ask the candidates to keep their answers to a reasonable length and to stay on point.And we have given the candidates the opportunity to make opening statements. The order was determined by a draw. Senator Obama won the draw and elected to go second.So please go ahead, Senator Clinton.SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: Well, thank you.And I am just delighted to be back here in Austin. You know, nearly 36 years ago I came to Austin for my very first political job, and that was registering voters in south Texas. And I had the great privilege of living for a while in Austin and in San Antonio, and meeting people and making friends that have stayed with me for a lifetime.And I found that we had a lot in common, a lot of shared values, a belief that hard work is important, that self-reliance and individual responsibility count for a lot.CLINTON: And among the people whom I got to know, who became not only friends, but heroes, were Barbara Jordan, who taught me a lot about courage, and today...(APPLAUSE)...would actually be her birthday. I remember all the time about how she got up every single morning, facing almost insurmountable odds, to do what she did.And another was my great friend Ann Richards, who taught me so much...(APPLAUSE)... about determination. Ann was a great champion for the people of Texas. She also reminded us that every so often it is good to have a laugh about what it is we're engaged in.And as I think back on those years and the work that I've done ever since, you know, for me politics is about making real differences in people's lives. I am very, very proud that over these years I have been able to make a difference in the lives of people in Texas, Ohio and elsewhere.CLINTON: You know, 350,000 children in Texas get health care every month because I helped to start the Children's Health Insurance Program.(APPLAUSE)And 21,000 National Guard and Reserve members get access to health care because I went across the party line and joined up with a Republican senator to make that happen.So there's a lot that we've already done. But there's so much more to do.I want to take on the tough issues that face us now. I want to stop the health insurance companies from discriminating against people because they're sick. You know, it's unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of race or gender or ethnic origin or religion, but it's OK to discriminate against sick people.And we're going to end that, because it's time we said no more.(APPLAUSE)And I want to continue the work that I've done in the Senate to take care of our veterans.CLINTON: It was shocking and shameful, what happened, that we discovered about a year ago at Walter Reed. We can do so much better, to take care of the people who've taken care of us.And there is a lot of work ahead. I offer a lifetime of experience and proven results. And I know that, if we work together, we can take on the special interests, transfer $55 billion of all those giveaways and subsidies that President Bush has given them, back to the middle class, to create jobs and provide health care and make college affordable.(APPLAUSE)And I ask you -- I ask you to join in my campaign. It's now up to the people of Texas, Ohio, and the other states ahead.So, if you'll be part of this campaign, which is your really your campaign, about your futures, your families, your jobs and your health care, we'll continue to make a difference for America.Thank you all very much.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Clinton, thank you.BROWN: Senator Obama?(APPLAUSE)SEN. BARACK OBAMA: First of all, thank you so much to the University of Texas for hosting us, and it's a great honor to share the stage once again with Senator Clinton. I've said before that we've been friends before this campaign started; we'll be friends afterwards, unified to bring about changes in this country.You know, we are at a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war, and our economy is increasingly in shambles. And the families of Texas and all across America are feeling the brunt of that failing economy.This week, I met a couple in San Antonio, who -- as a consequence of entering into a predatory loan -- are on the brink of foreclosure and are actually seeing them having to cut back on their medical expenses, because their mortgage doubled in two weeks.OBAMA: I've met a young woman who gets three hours of sleep a night because she has to work the night shift even as she's going to school full time, and still can't afford to provide the health care for her sister who's ill.In Youngstown, Ohio, talked to workers who have seen their plants shipped overseas as a consequence of bad trade deals like NAFTA, literally seeing equipment unbolted from the floors of factories and shipped to China, resulting in devastating job losses and communities completely falling apart.And all across America I'm meeting not just veterans, but also the parents of those who have fallen.One mother in Green Bay gave me this bracelet in memory of a 20- year-old son who had been killed in a roadside bomb, as a consequence of a war that I believe should have never been authorized and should have never been waged and has cost us billions of dollars that could have been invested here in the United States in roads and bridges and infrastructure and making sure that young people can go to college and that those who need health care actually get it.OBAMA: Now, Senator Clinton...(APPLAUSE)... Senator Clinton and I have been talking about these issues for the last 13 months. We both offer detailed proposals to try to deal with them. Some of them are the same. Some we have differences of opinion.But I think we both recognize that these problems have to be dealt with and that we have seen an administration over the last seven years that has failed to address them and -- in many ways -- has made them worse.But understand that what is lacking right now is not good ideas.OBAMA: The problem we have is that Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die. They go to die because the lobbyists...(APPLAUSE)They go to die because lobbyists and special interests have a strangle-hold on the agenda in Washington. They go to die in Washington because too many politicians are interested in scoring political points rather than bridging differences in order to get things done.And so the central premise of this campaign is that we can bring this country together, that we can push against the special interests that have come to dominate the agenda in Washington, that we can be straight with the American people about how we're going to solve these problems and enlist them in taking back their government.You know, Senator Clinton mentioned Barbara Jordan, somebody who was an inspiration to me and so many people throughout the country. And she said that what the American people want is very simple: They want an America that is as good as its promise.OBAMA: I'm running for president because I want to help America be as good as its promise.Thank you very much.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right, Senator Obama, thank you, and let's begin with questions.Jorge Ramos?UNIVISION's JORGE RAMOS: Thank you very much (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).Thank you so much for being with us, and let me start with a little news. After nearly half a century in office, Fidel Castro resigned as the head of the Cuban government. Ninety miles off the coast of the United States, we might have a new opportunity.The question for you, Senator Clinton: Would you be willing to sit down with Raul Castro, or whoever leads the Cuban dictatorship when you take office at least just once, to get a measure of the man?CLINTON: Well, Jorge, I hope we have an opportunity. The people of Cuba deserve to have a democracy. And this gives the Cuban government, under Raul Castro, a chance to change direction from the one that was set for 50 years by his brother.I'm going to be looking for some of those changes: releasing political prisoner, ending some of the oppressive practices on the press, opening up the economy.Of course the United States stands ready. And, as president, I would be ready to reach out and work with a new Cuban government, once it demonstrated that it truly was going to change that direction.I want to bring the region together, our European allies who have influence with Cuba, to try to push for some of those changes, and to make it very clear that, if Cuba moves toward democracy and freedom for its people, the United States will welcome that.CLINTON: And as president, I would look for opportunities to try to make that happen and to create the momentum that might eventually lead to a presidential visit.But there has to be evidence that indeed the changes are real; that they are taking place; and that the Cuban people will finally be given an opportunity to have their future determined by themselves.RAMOS: Very simply, would you meet with him or not, with Raul Castro?CLINTON: I would not meet with him until there was evidence that change was happening, because I think it's important that they demonstrate clearly that they are committed to change the direction. Then I think, you know, something like diplomatic encounters and negotiations over specifics could take place.But we've had this conversation before, Senator Obama and myself, and I believe that we should have full diplomatic engagement where appropriate. But a presidential visit should not be offered and given without some evidence that it will demonstrate the kind of progress that is in our interest, and in this case, in the interests of the Cuban people.BROWN: Senator Obama, just to follow up, you had said in a previous CNN debate that you would meet with the leaders of Cuban, Iran, North Korea, among others, so presumably you would be willing to meet with the new leader of Cuba.OBAMA: That's correct. Now, keep in mind that the starting point for our policy in Cuba should be the liberty of the Cuban people. And I think we recognize that that liberty has not existed throughout the Castro regime. And we now have an opportunity to potentially change the relationship between the United States and Cuba after over half a century.I would meet without preconditions, although Senator Clinton is right that there has to be preparation. It is very important for us to make sure that there was an agenda, and on that agenda was human rights, releasing of political prisoners, opening up the press. And that preparation might take some time.But I do think that it's important for the United States not just to talk to its friends, but also to talk to its enemies. In fact, that's where diplomacy makes the biggest difference.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: One other thing that I've said, as a show of good faith that we're interested in pursuing potentially a new relationship, what I've called for is a loosening of the restrictions on remittances from family members to the people of Cuba, as well as travel restrictions for family members who want to visit their family members in Cuba.And I think that initiating that change in policy as a start and then suggesting that an agenda get set up is something that could be useful, but I would not normalize relations until we started seeing some of the progress that Senator Clinton was talking about.BROWN: But that's different from your position back in 2003. You called U.S. policy toward Cuba a miserable failure, and you supported normalizing relations.BROWN: So you've backtracked now...OBAMA: I support the eventual normalization. And it's absolutely true that I think our policy has been a failure. I mean, the fact is, is that during my entire lifetime, and Senator Clinton's entire lifetime, you essentially have seen a Cuba that has been isolated, but has not made progress when it comes to the issues of political rights and personal freedoms that are so important to the people of Cuba.So I think that we have to shift policy. I think our goal has to be ultimately normalization. But that's going to happen in steps. And the first step, as I said, is changing our rules with respect to remittances and with respect to travel.And then I think it is important for us to have the direct contact, not just in Cuba, but I think this principle applies generally. I recall what John F. Kennedy once said, that we should never negotiate out of fear, but we should never fear to negotiate. And this moment, this opportunity when Fidel Castro has finally stepped down, I think, is one that we should try to take advantage of.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Clinton, do you want a quick response?CLINTON: Well, I agree, absolutely, that we should be willing to have diplomatic negotiations and processes with anyone. I've been a strong advocate of opening up such a diplomatic process with Iran, for a number of years.Because I think we should look for ways that we can possibly move countries that are adversarial to us, you know, toward the world community. It's in our interests. It's in the interests of the people in countries that, frankly, are oppressed, like Cuba, like Iran.But there has been this difference between us over when and whether the president should offer a meeting, without preconditions, with those with whom we do not have diplomatic relations. And it should be part of a process, but I don't think it should be offered in the beginning. Because I think that undermines the capacity for us to actually take the measure of somebody like Raul Castro or Ahmadinejad and others.CLINTON: And, as President Kennedy said, he wouldn't be afraid to negotiate, but he would expect there to be a lot of preparatory work done, to find out exactly what we would get out of it.And therefore, I do think we should be eliminating the policy of the Bush administration, which has been very narrowly defined, and frankly against our interests, because we have failed to reach out to countries, we have alienated our friends, and we have emboldened our enemies.So I would get back to very vigorous diplomacy, and I would use bipartisan diplomacy. I would ask emissaries from both political parties to represent me and our country, because I want to send a very clear message to the rest of the world that the era of unilateralism, preemption and arrogance of the Bush administration is over and we're going to...(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Very briefly and then we're going to move on.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: I think, as I said before, preparation is actually absolutely critical in any meeting. And I think it is absolutely true that either of us would step back from some of the Bush unilateralism that's caused so much damage.But I do think it is important precisely because the Bush administration has done so much damage to American foreign relations that the president take a more active role in diplomacy than might have been true 20 or 30 years ago.Because the problem is, if we think that meeting with the president is a privilege that has to be earned, I think that reinforces the sense that we stand above the rest of the world at this point in time. And I think that it's important for us in undoing the damage that has been done over the last seven years, for the president to be willing to take that extra step.OBAMA: That is the kind of step that I would like to take as president of the United States.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: A question now on the economy.John King?CNN's JOHN KING: Campbell, Senators, good evening, first.I want to bring the conversation back home. You know from your travels -- you don't need to look at the polls or anything else -- that the economy is by far now the dominant issue that voters want to hear about from the candidates.For some, that is a question about: What should we do about an economy that is at the edge or perhaps in the early stages of a recession? For some, it is more focused. Maybe it is: Will you raise the minimum wage? Maybe it's about trade deals that they think leave them on the raw end, as you mentioned in your opening statement, Senator Obama.But when we ask Democrats, "How are these two candidates different?," they even think they don't know.Senator Obama, beginning with you, tell us as specifically as you can, how would a President Obama be different than a President Clinton in managing the nation's economy?OBAMA: Well, first of all, let me emphasize the point that you just made, which is: You don't need an economist or the Federal Reserve to tell the American people that the economy's in trouble, because they've been experiencing it for years now.Everywhere you go, you meet people who are working harder for less, wages and incomes have flatlined, people are seeing escalating costs of everything from health care to gas at the pump.And so people have been struggling for a long time. In some communities, they have been struggling for decades now. So this has to be a priority of the next president.Now, what I've said is that we have to restore a sense of fairness and balance to our economy, and that means a couple of things.Number one, with our tax code: We've got to stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas and invest those tax breaks in companies that are investing here in the United States of America.(APPLAUSE)We have to end the Bush tax cuts to the wealthy...(APPLAUSE)... and to provide tax breaks to middle-class Americans and working Americans who need them.OBAMA: So I've said that if you are making $75,000 a year or less, I want to give an offset to your payroll tax that will mean $1,000 extra in the pockets of ordinary Americans. Senior citizens making less than $50,000, you shouldn't have to pay income tax on your Social Security.We pay for these by closing tax loopholes and tax havens that are being manipulated.(APPLAUSE)On our trade deals, I think it is absolutely critical that we engaged in trade, but it has to be viewed not just through the lens of Wall Street, but also Main Street, which means we've got strong labor standards and strong environmental standards and safety standards, so we don't have toys being shipped in the United States with lead paint on them.(APPLAUSE)So these are all issues that I've talked about repeatedly, and I think there are also opportunities in our economy around creating a green economy. We send $1 billion to foreign countries every day because of our addiction to foreign oil.OBAMA: And for us to move rapidly to cap greenhouse gases, generate billions of dollars that we can reinvest in solar and wind and biodiesel -- that can put people back to work. So...(APPLAUSE)Now, I don't want to take too much time. And I'm sure we'll be spend more time discussing this.Senator Clinton and I, I think, both agree on many of these issues. And I think it's a credit to the Democratic Party as a whole that the other candidates who were involved earlier on agreed with us on many of these issues.I think that there is a real, solid agenda for moving change forward in the next presidency.The question people are going to have to ask is: How do we get it done?And it is my strong belief that the changes are only going to come about if we're able to form a working coalition for change. Because people who were benefiting from the current tax code are going to resist. The special interests and lobbyists are going to resist.And I think it has to be a priority for whoever the next president is to be able to overcome the dominance of the special interests in Washington, to bring about the kinds of economic changes that I'm talking about.OBAMA: And that's an area where Senator Clinton and I may have a slight difference. But I'm happy to let her speak first and then can pick up on anything that's been left out.KING: Let's give Senator Clinton that opportunity then.(APPLAUSE)As you have campaigned, Senator, on this issue and others, but specifically on this issue, you have said, "I am ready on day one to take charge of the economy."The clear implication, since you have one opponent at the moment, is that you're ready; he's not.What would you do differently on day one than a President Obama would when it comes to managing the nation's economy?CLINTON: Well, I would agree with a lot that Senator Obama just said, because it is the Democratic agenda.CLINTON: We are going to rid the tax code of these loopholes and giveaways.We're going to stop giving a penny of your money to anybody who ships a job out of Texas, Ohio or anywhere else to another country.We're certainly going to begin to get the tax code to reflect what the needs of middle class families are so we can rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class.You know, the wealthy and the well-connected have had a president the last seven years, and I think it's time that the rest of America had a president to work for you every single day.(APPLAUSE)We will also have a different approach toward trade.We're going to start having trade agreements that not only have strong environmental and labor standards, but I want to have a trade time-out. We're going to look and see what's working and what's not working, and I'd like to have a trade prosecutor to actually enforce the trade agreements that we have before we enter into any others.We're also going to put much tougher standards in place so that people cannot import toys with lead paint, contaminated pet food, contaminated drugs into our market. We're going to have much more vigorous enforcement of safety standards.CLINTON: Now, in addition, there are steps I would take immediately. One is on this foreclosure crisis. I have been saying for nearly a year we had to crack down on the abusive practices of the lenders. But we also need a moratorium on home foreclosures.Everywhere I go, I meet people who either have been or about to lose their home. 85,000 homes in foreclosure in Texas; 90,000 in Ohio. I've met the families: the hairdresser, the single mom who's going to lose her home, the postal worker who got really hoodwinked into an agreement that wasn't fair to him.So I would put a moratorium for 90 days, to give us time to work out a way for people to stay in their homes, and I would freeze interest rates for five years. Because these adjustable-rate mortgages, if they keep going up, millions of Americans are going to be homeless. And vacant homes will be across the neighborhoods of Texas and America.(APPLAUSE)CLINTON: Now, in addition, there are three ways we need to jump start the economy.Clean green jobs; I've been promoting this. I wanted it to be part of the stimulus package. I thought a $5 billion investment in clean green jobs would put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work helping to create our future.We also need to invest in our infrastructure. We don't have enough roads to take care of the congestion, we have crumbling bridges and tunnels. We need to rebuild America, and that will also put people to work.And, finally, we need to end George Bush's war on science, which has been waged against scientists and researchers...(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Thank you, Senator. And we've got a lot of ground to cover...CLINTON: This is about how we fund the future. We've got to get back to being the innovation nation. Think of everything that goes on at this great university to create the new economy...(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right. Senator Clinton, thank you very much.BROWN: And, as I was saying, we've got a lot to get through. So I do want to shift gears and go on to another topic especially important here in Texas, which is immigration.And, Jorge, you have a question.RAMOS: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH) Federal raids by immigration enforcement officials on homes and businesses have generated a great deal of fear and anxiety in the Hispanic community and have divided the family of some of the 3 million U.S.-born children who have at least one undocumented parent.Would you consider stopping these raids once you take office until comprehensive immigration reform can be passed?CLINTON: I would consider that, except in egregious situations where it would be appropriate to take the actions you're referring to.But when we see what's been happening, with literally babies being left with no one to take care of them, children coming home from school, no responsible adult left, that is not the America that I know.(APPLAUSE)CLINTON: That is against American values. And it is...(APPLAUSE)And it is a stark admission of failure by the federal government. We need comprehensive immigration reform. I have been for this. I signed onto the first comprehensive bill back in 2004. I've been advocating for it: tougher, more secure borders, of course, but let's do it the right way, cracking down on employers, especially once we get to comprehensive immigration reform, who exploit undocumented workers and drive down wages for everyone else.I'd like to see more federal help for communities like Austin and others like Laredo, where I was this morning, that absorb the health care, education, and law enforcement costs.And I personally, as president, would work with our neighbors to the south, to help them create more jobs for their own people.Finally, we need a path to legalization, to bring the immigrants out of the shadows, give them the conditions that we expect them to meet, paying a fine for coming here illegally, trying to pay back taxes, over time, and learning English.If they had a committed a crime in our country or the country they came from, then they should be deported. But for everyone else, there must be a path to legalization. I would introduce that in the first 100 days of my presidency.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Obama, is your position the same as Hillary Clinton's?OBAMA: There are a couple of things I would add. Comprehensive immigration reform is something that I have worked on extensively.Two years ago, we were able to get a bill out of the Senate. I was one of the group of senators that helped to move it through, but it died in the House this year. Because it was used as a political football instead of a way of solving a problem, nothing happened.And so there are a couple of things that I would just add to what Senator Clinton said.Number one, it is absolutely critical that we tone down the rhetoric when it comes to the immigration debate, because there has been an undertone that has been ugly.Oftentimes, it has been directed at the Hispanic community. We have seen hate crimes skyrocket in the wake of the immigration debate as it has been conducted in Washington, and that is unacceptable.We are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants, and we can reconcile those two things. So we need comprehensive reform...(APPLAUSE)... we need comprehensive reform, and that means stronger border security. It means that we are cracking down on employers that are taking advantage of undocumented workers because they can't complain if they're not paid a minimum wage.OBAMA: They can't complain if they're not getting overtime. Worker safety laws are not being observed.We have to crack down on those employers, although we also have to make sure that we do it in a way that doesn't lead to people with Spanish surnames being discriminated against, so there's got to be a safeguard there.We have to require that undocumented workers, who are provided a pathway to citizenship, not only learn English, pay back taxes and pay a significant fine, but also that they're going to the back of the line, so that they are not getting citizenship before those who have applied legally, which raises two last points.Number one, it is important that we fix the legal immigration system, because right now we've got a backlog that means years for people to apply legally.(APPLAUSE)And what's worse is, we keep on increasing the fees, so that if you've got a hard working immigrant family, they've got to hire a lawyer; they've got to pay thousands of dollars in fees. They just can't afford it. And it's discriminatory against people who have good character, we should want in this country, but don't have the money. So we've got to fix that.OBAMA: So we've got to fix that.The second thing is, we have to improve our relationship with Mexico and work with the Mexican government so that their economy is producing jobs on that side of the border.And the problem that we have...(APPLAUSE)The problem that we have is that we have had an administration that came in promising all sorts of leadership on creating a U.S.- Mexican relationship. And, frankly, President Bush dropped the ball. He has been so obsessed with Iraq that we have not seen the kinds of outreach and cooperative work that would ensure that the Mexican economy is working not just for the very wealthy in Mexico, but for all people. And that's as policy that I'm going to change when I'm president of the United States.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right, Senator Obama.We're going to stay with this topic. I want to have John King ask another question.Go ahead, John.KING: I want to stay on the issue, but move to a controversial item that was not held up when the immigration debate collapsed in Washington, and that is the border fence.KING: To many Americans, it is a simple question of sovereignty and security. America should be able to keep people out that it doesn't want in.But, as you know in this state, especially if you go to the south of here, along the border, and in other border states, to many people it's a much more personal question. It could be a question of their livelihood. It could be a question of cross-border trade. It might be an issue to a rancher of property rights. It might be a simple question of whether someone can take a walk or a short drive to see their family members.Senator, back in 2006, you voted for the construction of that fence. As you know, progress has been slow.As president of the United States, would you commit tonight that you would finish the fence and speed up the construction, or do you think it's time for a president of the United States to raise his or her hand and say, "You know what? Wait a minute. Let's think about this again. Do we really want to do this?"CLINTON: Well, I think both Senator Obama and I voted for that as part of the immigration debate.CLINTON: And having been along the border for the last week or so -- in fact, last night I was at the University of Texas at Brownsville -- and this is how absurd this has become under the Bush administration. Because, you know, there is a smart way to protect our borders, and there is a dumb way to protect our borders.(APPLAUSE)And what I learned last night when I was there with Congressman Ortiz is that the University of Texas at Brownsville would have part of its campus cut off.This is the kind of absurdity that we're getting from this administration. I know it because I've been fighting with them about the northern border. Their imposition of passports and other kinds of burdens are separating people from families, interfering with business and commerce, the movement of goods and people.So what I've said is that I would say, wait a minute, we need to review this. There may be places where a physical barrier is appropriate.I think when both of us voted for this, we were voting for the possibility that where it was appropriate and made sense, it would be considered. But as with so much, the Bush administration has gone off the deep end, and they are unfortunately coming up with a plan that I think is counterproductive.CLINTON: So I would have a review. I would listen to the people who live along the border, who understand...(APPLAUSE)... what it is we need to be doing to protect our country.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Let me go on, again -- John?KING: Does that mean that you think your vote was wrong, or the implementation of it was wrong?Because, as you know, when they first built the fence in the San Diego area, it only went so far. And what it did was it sopped the people coming straight up the path of where that was built, and they simply moved. And California's problem became Arizona's problem.(LAUGHTER)CLINTON: But, you know, John, there is -- there's a lot we've learned about technology and smart fencing. You know, there is technology that can be used instead of a physical barrier.CLINTON: It requires us having enough personnel along the border so that people can be supervising a certain limited amount of space and will be able to be responsive in the event of people attempting to cross illegally.I think that the way that the Bush administration is going about this, filing eminent domain actions against landowners and municipalities, makes no sense.So what I have said is, yes, there are places when after a careful review, again listening to the people who live along the border, there may be limited places where it would work. But let's deploy more technology and personnel, instead of the physical barrier.I frankly think that will work better and it will give us an opportunity to secure our borders without interfering with family relations, business relations, recreation and so much else that makes living along the border, you know, wonderful.BROWN: All right.CLINTON: And the people who live there need to have a president who understands it, will listen to them and be responsive.BROWN: All right, Senator Clinton.(APPLAUSE)Senator Obama, go ahead please.OBAMA: Well, this is an area where Senator Clinton and I almost entirely agree. I think that the key is to consult with local communities, whether it's on the commercial interests or the environmental stakes of creating any kind of barrier.And the Bush administration is not real good at listening. That's not what they do well.(LAUGHTER)And so I will reverse that policy. As Senator Clinton indicated, there may be areas where it makes sense to have some fencing. But for the most part, having border patrolled, surveillance, deploying effective technology, that's going to be the better approach.The one thing I do have to say, though, about this issue is, it is very important for us, I think, to deal with this problem in terms of thousands of -- hundreds of thousands of people coming over the borders on a regular basis if we want to also provide opportunity for the 12 million undocumented workers who are here.OBAMA: Senator Clinton and I have both campaigned in places like Iowa and Ohio and my home state of Illinois, and I think that the American people want fairness, want justice. I think they recognize that the idea that you're going to deport 12 million people is ridiculous, that we're not going to be devoting all our law enforcement resources...(APPLAUSE)... to sending people back.But what they do also want is some order to the process. And so, we're not going to be able to do these things in isolation. We're not going to be able to deal with the 12 million people who are living in the shadows and give them a way of getting out of the shadows if we don't also deal with the problem of this constant influx of undocumented workers.And that's why I think comprehensive reform is so important. That's the kind of leadership that I've shown in the past; that's the kind of leadership that I'll show in the future.One last point I want to make on the immigration issue because we may be moving to different topics: Something that we can do immediately that I think is very important is to pass the Dream Act, which allows children who through no fault of their own are here but have essentially grown up as Americans, allow them the opportunity for higher education.OBAMA: I do not want two classes of citizens in this country.(APPLAUSE)I want everybody to prosper. That's going to be a top priority.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: OK, we've got one last question on immigration.Jorge, go ahead.RAMOS: (SPEAKING SPANISH) Right now, there are more than 30 million people in this country who speak Spanish.(APPLAUSE)Many of them are right here. By the year 2050, there will be 120 million Hispanics in the United States. Now, is there any downside, Senator Clinton, to the United States becoming (SPEAKING SPANISH) becoming a bilingual nation? Is there a limit?CLINTON: Well, I think it's important for as many Americans as possible to do what I have never been able to do, and that is learn another language and try to be bilingual because that connects us to the rest of the world.I think it is important, though, that English remain our common unifying language because that brings our country together in a way that we have seen generations of immigrants coming to our shores be able to be part of the American experience and pursue the American dream.You know, I have been adamantly against the efforts by some to make English the official language. That I do not believe is appropriate, and I have voted against it and spoken against it.CLINTON: I represent New York. We have 170 languages in New York City alone. And I do not think that we should be, in any way, discriminating against people who do not speak English, who use facilities like hospitals or have to go to court to enforce their rights.But I do think that English does remain an important part of the American experience. So I encourage people to become bilingual. But I also want to see English remain the common, unifying language of our country.(APPLAUSE)RAMOS: Senator Obama, is there any down side to the United States becoming a bilingual nation?OBAMA: Well, I think it is important that everyone learns English and that we have that process of binding ourselves together as a country. I think that's very important.I also think that every student should be learning a second language, because...(APPLAUSE)... you know, so, when you start getting into a debate about bilingual education, for example, now, I want to make sure that children who are coming out of Spanish-speaking households had the opportunity to learn and are not falling behind.OBAMA: If bilingual education helps them do that, I want to give them the opportunity.But I also want to make sure that English-speaking children are getting foreign languages because this world is becoming more interdependent and part of the process of America's continued leadership in the world is going to be our capacity to communicate across boundaries, across borders, and that's something frankly where we've fallen behind.One of the failures of No Child Left Behind, a law that I think a lot of local and state officials have been troubled by, is that it is so narrowly focused on standardized tests that it has pushed out a lot of important learning that needs to take place.(APPLAUSE)And foreign languages is one of those areas that I think has been neglected. I want to put more resources into it.BROWN: All right.We're going to take a quick break. We've got to go to a commercial. We'll be back with a lot more. There is also a debate we should mention raging online right now. Go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com, and join in. The debate here at the University of Texas in Austin continues right after this.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)BROWN: And we are back. We're here in Austin, Texas, the capital city. Welcome back to the Texas Democratic debate at the University of Texas, Austin.The first question now goes to John King.KING: Senator, as I'm sitting here, we're about 45 minutes into the discussion tonight, and I'm having what I like to call one of those parallel universe moments.I've been watching each of you give speeches in arenas not unlike this one individually. And the tone is often quite different than the very polite, substantive discourse we've had tonight.(LAUGHTER)(APPLAUSE)And so, I want to ask you about that. There are times when each of you seems to call into question the other one's credibility or truthfulness.And, Senator Clinton, I want to talk specifically about some words you've spoken here in the state of Texas over the past couple of days.You've said, quote, "My opponent gives speeches; I offer solutions."You said the choice for Democrats in this campaign is, quote, "talk versus action."Now, in a campaign that some of us are old enough to remember, maybe not many of the students here, this would be called the "Where's the beef?" question.But, since we're in Texas, I'd like to borrow a phrase that they often use here and you've used yourself in the context of President Bush. Are you saying that your opponent is all hat and no cattle, and can you say that after the last 45 minutes?CLINTON: Well, I have said that about President Bush, and I think our next president needs to be a lot less hat and a lot more cattle.(APPLAUSE)You know, I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes, you know, Senator Obama and I have a lot in common. We both care passionately about our country. We are devoted to public service. We care deeply about the future, and we have run a very vigorous and contested primary campaign, which has been by most standards, I think, very positive and extremely civil.CLINTON: But there are differences between us. And I think, in our efforts to draw those contrasts and comparisons, we obviously try to let voters know how we see the world differently.And I do offer solutions. That's what I believe in and what I have done. And it's what I offer to voters because it's part of my life, over the last 35 years, working to get kids health care, working to expand legal services for the poor, working to register voters, working to make a difference. Because I think that this country has given me so much.And there are differences between our records and our accomplishments. I have to confess, I was somewhat amused, the other night, when, on one of the TV shows, one of Senator Obama's supporters couldn't.So I know that there are comparisons and contrasts to be drawn between us. And it's important that voters get that information. So, yes, I do think that words are important and words matter, but actions speak louder than words. And I offer...(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Obama, go ahead.BROWN: Senator Obama, do you want to respond?OBAMA: Well, I think actions do speak louder than words, which is why over the 20 years of my public service I have acted a lot to provide health care to people who didn't have it, to provide tax breaks to families that needed it, to reform a criminal justice system that had resulted in wrongful convictions, to open up our government and to pass the toughest ethics reform legislation since Watergate, to make sure that we create transparency...(APPLAUSE)... to make sure that we create transparency in our government so that we know where federal spending is going and it's not going to a bunch of boondoggles and earmarks that are wasting taxpayer money that could be spent on things like early childhood education.You know, I think if you talk to those wounded warriors at Walter Reed who, prior to me getting to the Senate, were having to pay for their meals and have to pay for their phone calls to their family while they're recovering from amputations, I think they've said that I've engaged not just in talk, but in action.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: Now, I think that Senator Clinton has a fine record and I don't want to denigrate that record. I do think there is a fundamental difference between us in terms of how change comes about. Senator Clinton of late has said: Let's get real. The implication is that the people who've been voting for me or involved in my campaign are somehow delusional.(LAUGHTER)And that, you know, the 20 million people who've been paying attention to 19 debates and the editorial boards all across the country at newspapers who have given me endorsements, including every major newspaper here in the state of Texas.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: You know, the thinking is that somehow, they're being duped, and eventually they're going to see the reality of things.Well, I think they perceive reality of what's going on in Washington very clearly. What they see is that if we don't bring the country together, stop the endless bickering, actually focus on solutions and reduce the special interests that have dominated Washington, then we will not get anything done. And the reason that this campaign has done so well...(APPLAUSE)The reason that this campaign has done so well is because people understand that it is not just a matter of putting forward policy positions.OBAMA: Senator Clinton and I share a lot of policy positions. But if we can't inspire the American people to get involved in their government and if we can't inspire them to go beyond the racial divisions and the religious divisions and the regional divisions that have plagued our politics for so long, then we will continue to see the kind of gridlock and nonperformance in Washington that is resulting in families suffering in very real ways.I'm running for president to start doing something about that suffering, and so are the people who are behind my campaign.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: I think one of the points -- I think one of the points that John King was alluding to in talking about some of Senator Clinton's comments is there has been a lot of attention lately on some of your speeches, that they are very similar to some of the speeches by your friend and supporter Deval Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts, and Senator Clinton's campaign has made a big issue of this. To be blunt, they've accused you of plagiarism.OBAMA: Right.BROWN: How do you respond?OBAMA: Well, look, the -- first of all, it's not a lot of speeches. There are two lines in speeches that I've been giving over the last couple of weeks.I've been campaigning now for the last two years. Deval is a national co-chairman of my campaign, and suggested an argument that I share, that words are important. Words matter. And the implication that they don't I think diminishes how important it is to speak to the American people directly about making America as good as its promise. Barbara Jordan understood this as well as anybody.OBAMA: And the notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who was one of my national co-chairs...(APPLAUSE)... who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think, is silly, and...(APPLAUSE)... you know, this is where we start getting into silly season, in politics, and I think people start getting discouraged about it...(LAUGHTER)... and they don't want...(APPLAUSE)What they want is, how are we going to create good jobs and good wages?How are we going to provide health care to the American people?How are we going to make sure that college is affordable?So what I've been talking about, in this speeches -- and I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good.(APPLAUSE)What I've been talking about is not just hope and not just inspiration. It's a $4,000 tuition credit for every student, every year, in exchange for national service...(APPLAUSE)... so that college becomes more affordable.OBAMA: I've been talking about making sure that we change our tax code so that working families actually get relief. I have been talking about making sure that we bring an end to this war in Iraq so that we can start bringing our troops home and invest money here in the United States.(APPLAUSE)So just to finish up, these are very specific, concrete, detailed proposals, many of them which I have been working on for years now. Senator Clinton has a fine record. So do I. I'm happy to have a debate on the issues, but what we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Clinton, is it the silly season?CLINTON: Well, I think that if your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words. That's, I think, a very simple proposition.(APPLAUSE)And, you know, lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox. And I just don't think...OBAMA: Come on.(CROSSTALK)CLINTON: No, but, you know, but, Barack, it is.Because, you know, if you look -- if you look -- if you look at the YouTube of these videos, it does raise questions.Now, there is no doubt that you are a passionate, eloquent speaker, and I applaud you for that. But when you look at what we face in this country, we do need to unite the country, but we have to unite it for a purpose around very specific goals.CLINTON: It is not enough to say, "Let's come together." We know we're going to have to work hard to overcome the opposition of those who do not want the changes to get to universal health care.You know, when I proposed a universal health care plan, as did Senator Edwards, we took a big risk, because we know it's politically controversial to say we're going to cover everyone.And you chose not to do that. You chose to put forth a health care plan that will leave out at least 15 million people. That's a big difference.When I said we should put a moratorium on home foreclosures, basically your response was, well, that wouldn't work.And, you know, in the last week, even President Bush has said we have to do something like that.I just believe that we've got to look hard at the difficult challenges we face, especially after George Bush leaves the White House.CLINTON: The world will breathe a sigh of relief once he is gone. We all know that.(APPLAUSE)But then we've got to do the hard work of not just bringing the country together, but overcoming a lot of the entrenched opposition to the very ideas that both of us believe in, and for some of us have been fighting for, for a very long time. You know, when I took on...(APPLAUSE)When I took on universal health care back in '93 and '94, it was against a firestorm of special interest opposition. I was more than happy to do that, because I believe passionately in getting quality affordable health care to every American.I don't want to leave anybody out. I see the results of leaving people out. I am tired of health insurance companies deciding who will live or die in America.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right, Senator Clinton, thank you.Senator Obama, please respond.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: Well, I think that Senator Clinton mentioned two specific issue areas where we've got some differences. I'm happy to debate those, which is what I think should be the focus of this campaign. We both want universal health care.When I released my plan a few months later, we were in a debate and Senator Clinton said we all want universal health care. Of course, I was down 20 points in the polls at the time, and so my plan was pretty good. It's not as good now, but my plan hasn't changed. The politics have changed a little bit.We both -- 95 percent of our plans are similar. We both want to set up a system in which any person is going to be able to get coverage that is as good as we have as members of Congress. And we are going to subsidize those who can't afford it.OBAMA: We're going to make sure that we reduce costs by emphasizing prevention. And I want to make sure that we're applying technology to improve quality, cut bureaucracy.Now, I also want to make sure that we're reducing costs for those who already have health insurance. So we put in place a catastrophic reinsurance plan that would reduce costs by $2,500 per family per year.So we've got a lot of similarities in our plan. We've got a philosophical difference, which we've debated repeatedly, and that is that Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it.And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it.And so I emphasize reducing costs.(APPLAUSE)And as has been noted by many observers, including Bill Clinton's former secretary of labor, my plan does more than anybody to reduce costs, and there is nobody out there who wants health insurance who can't have it.OBAMA: Now, there are legitimate arguments for why Senator Clinton and others have called for a mandate, and I'm happy to have that debate.But the notion that I am leaving 15 million people out somehow implies that we are different in our goals of providing coverage to all Americans, and that is simply not true. We think that there's going to be a different way of getting there.One last point I want to make on the health care front. I admire the fact that Senator Clinton tried to bring about health care reform back in 1993. She deserves credit for that.(APPLAUSE)But I said before, I think she did it in the wrong way, because it wasn't just the fact that the insurance companies, the drug companies were battling here, and no doubt they were. It was also that Senator Clinton and the administration went behind closed doors, excluded the participation even of Democratic members of Congress who had slightly different ideas than the ones that Senator Clinton had put forward.And, as a consequence, it was much more difficult to get Congress to cooperate.OBAMA: And I've said that I'm going to do things differently. I think we have to open up the process. Everybody has to have a seat at the table. And most importantly, the American people have to be involved and educated about how this change is going to be brought about.The point is this, you know, we can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen, and we're going to be four years from now debating once again how we're going to bring universal health care to this country.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right, we've got some time constraints here, so we've got to take another real quick break. Stay with us. We've got a lot more ahead.You can compare the candidates on the issues any time; just go to our Web site, Cnnpolitics.com. A lot more ahead here at the University of Texas. We'll be right back.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(APPLAUSE)BROWN: An enthusiastic crowd here at the University of Texas.Welcome back to the Texas Democratic debate. Let's get right to it. Jorge Ramos with the next question.RAMOS: Senator Clinton, yesterday you said, and I'm quoting, "One of us is ready to be commander in chief."Are you saying that Senator Obama is not ready and not qualified to be commander in chief?CLINTON: Well, I believe that I am ready and I am prepared. And I will leave that to the voters to decide.But I want to get back to health care, because I didn't get a chance to respond after Senator Obama finished. No, let me finish, Jorge...RAMOS: But I would like to come back...CLINTON: This is a significant difference. You know, Senator Obama has said it's a philosophical difference. I think it's a substantive difference.He has a mandate for parents to be sure to ensure their children. I agree with that. I just know that if we don't go and require everyone to have health insurance, the health insurance industry will still game the system. Everyone of us with insurance will pay the hidden tax of approximately $900 a year to make up for the lack of insurance.(APPLAUSE)And you know, in one of our earlier debates, John Edwards made a great point. It would be as though Social Security were voluntary. Medicare, one of the great accomplishments of President Johnson, was voluntary.(APPLAUSE)I do not believe that is going to work. So it's not just a philosophical difference.CLINTON: You look at what will work and what will not work. If you do not have a plan that starts out attempting to achieve universal health care, you will be nibbled to death, and we will be back here with more and more people uninsured and rising costs.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right. We appreciate that you want to make a point, Senator Obama. We have limited time, so I would like Jorge to move on to another subject or we're going to be out of time.(CROSSTALK)OBAMA: Well, I understand. But I think that Senator Clinton made a...(LAUGHTER)You know, she's making a point, and I think I should have the opportunity to respond very briefly. And I'll try to make...BROWN: Very briefly, absolutely.OBAMA: Number one, understand that when Senator Clinton says a mandate, it's not a mandate on government to provide health insurance, it's a mandate on individuals to purchase it. And Senator Clinton is right; we have to find out what works.OBAMA: Now, Massachusetts has a mandate right now. They have exempted 20 percent of the uninsured because they have concluded that that 20 percent can't afford it.In some cases, there are people who are paying fines and still can't afford it, so now they're worse off than they were. They don't have health insurance and they're paying a fine.(APPLAUSE)In order for you to force people to get health insurance, you've got to have a very harsh penalty, and Senator Clinton has said that we won't go after their wages. Now, this is a substantive difference. But understand that both of us seek to get universal health care. I have a substantive difference with Senator Clinton on how to get there.BROWN: All right, Senator Clinton?CLINTON: Wait a minute, no, this is too important. This is the number one issue that people talk to me about. You know, when a mother grabs my arm and says, "I can't get the operation my son needs because I don't have health insurance," it is personal for me.CLINTON: And I just fundamentally disagree.You know, Senator Obama's plan has a mandate on parents and a fine if parents do not...OBAMA: That's right.CLINTON: ... insure their children.OBAMA: That's right.CLINTON: Because he recognizes that unless we have some kind of restriction, we will not get there.OBAMA: There's a reason.CLINTON: He's also said that if people show up at a hospital sick, without health insurance, well, maybe at that point you can fine them.We would not have a social compact with Social Security and Medicare if everyone did not have to participate. I want a universal health care plan.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: Now, that's -- that mother -- that mother who is desperate to get health care for her child, will be able to get that health care under my plan. Point number one.Point number two, the reason a mandate for children can be effective is we've got an ability to make affordable health care available to that child, right now.OBAMA: There are no excuses. If a parent is not providing health care for that child, it's because the parent's not being responsible, under my plan. And those children don't have a choice. But I think that adults are going to be able to see that they can afford it, under my plan; they will get it, under my plan.And it is true that, if it turns out that some are gaming the system, then we can impose, potentially, some penalties on them for gaming the system.But the notion that, somehow, I am interested in leaving out 15 million people, without health insurance, is simply not true.BROWN: All right. Jorge...CLINTON: We disagree on that.BROWN: OK. Jorge -- let's let Jorge re-ask his question, because I don't think anyone remembers that one.(LAUGHTER)RAMOS: Let me try again, and not in Spanish, OK?(LAUGHTER)Here we go again. Because we also believe the war in Iraq is very important.And here's the question. Are you suggesting that Senator Obama is not ready; he doesn't have the experience to be commander in chief? That's a question of: What did you mean by that phrase?CLINTON: What I mean is that, you know, for more than 15 years, I've been honored to represent our country in more than 80 countries to negotiate on matters such as opening borders for refugees during the war in Kosovo, to stand up for women's rights as human rights around the world. I've served on the Senate...(APPLAUSE)I've served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and I have worked as one of the leaders in the Congress on behalf of Homeland Security in the very difficult challenges we face.You know, just this week, it's a good example. We had elections in Pakistan, we had change in government in Cuba -- or at least the leadership. We've had the elections that, you know, should have happened that haven't happened and just changed the leader the way they do in Cuba. We've had Kosovo declaring independence, and we have had our embassy set on fire in Serbia.So we have serious problems that pose a real question about presidential leadership, and also some great opportunities. You know, we now have opportunities perhaps with Cuba, I hope with President Musharraf, for him to do the right thing.CLINTON: I supported the independence of Kosovo because I think it is imperative that in the heart of Europe we continue to promote independence and democracy. And I would be moving very aggressively to hold the Serbian government responsible with their security forces to protect our embassy. Under international law, they should be doing that.So when you think about everything that is going to happen, what we can predict and what we cannot predict, I believe that I am prepared and ready on day one to be commander in chief, to be the president, to turn our economy around, and to begin making a lot of these very difficult decisions that we will inherit from George Bush. And that is what I am putting forth to the voters.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Obama?OBAMA: I wouldn't be running if I didn't think I was prepared to be commander-in-chief.(APPLAUSE)My number one job as president will be to keep the American people safe. I will do whatever is required to accomplish that. I will not hesitate to act against those that would do America harm.Now, that involves maintaining the strongest military on earth, which means that we are training our troops properly and equipping them properly, and putting them on proper rotations. And there are an awful lot of families here in Texas who have been burdened under two and three and four tours because of the poor planning of the current commander-in-chief, and that will end when I am president.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: But it also means using our military wisely. And on what I believe was the single most important foreign policy decision of this generation, whether or not to go to war in Iraq, I believe I showed the judgment of a commander in chief. And I think that Senator Clinton was wrong in her judgments on that.(APPLAUSE)Now, that has consequences -- that has significant consequences, because it has diverted attention from Afghanistan where al Qaeda, that killed 3,000 Americans, are stronger now than at any time since 2001.You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon -- supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq.OBAMA: And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief.Now, that's a consequence of bad judgment. And you know, the question is, on the critical issues that we face right now, who's going to show the judgment to lead? And I think that on every critical issue that we've seen in foreign policy over the last several years -- going into Iraq originally, I didn't just oppose it for the sake of opposing it.I said this is going to distract us from Afghanistan; this is going to fan the flames of anti-American sentiment; it's going to cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives and overstretch our military. And I was right.On the question of Pakistan, which Senator Clinton just raised -- we just had an election there. But I've said very clearly that we have put all our eggs in the Musharraf basket. That was a mistake. We should be going after al Qaeda and making sure that Pakistan is serious about hunting down terrorists, as well as expanding democracy. And I was right about that.On the issues that have come up that a commander in chief is going to have to make decisions on, I have shown the judgment to lead. That is the leadership that I want to show when I'm president of the United States.OBAMA: On the issues that have come up, that a commander in chief is going to have to make decisions on, I have shown the judgment to lead. That is the leadership that I want to show when I'm president of the United States.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right. We're going to stay with this and stay on Iraq.John King?KING: I want to continue in this vein, and hone in on the very point you just made. Because one of you, unless this remarkable campaign here takes another wacky, unpredictable turn, is going to be running against a decorated war hero, who is going to say that you don't have the experience to be commander in chief.And you have both said, it's not about that type of experience; it's about judgment.You both had to make a judgment, a short time ago, in your job in the United States Senate, about whether to support the surge. And as that was going on, Senator Clinton, you had the commanding general in Iraq before you. And you said, "I think that the reports provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief" -- your words to General Petraeus.KING: I want you to look at Iraq now and listen to those who say the security situation is better. Ideal, no, but better -- some say significantly, in recent days, even some steps toward a political reconciliation.Is Iraq today better off than it was six months or a year ago because of the surge?CLINTON: Well, John, I think you forget a very important premise of the surge. The rationale of the surge was to create the space and time for the Iraqi government to make the decisions that only it can make.Now, there is no doubt, given the skill and the commitment of our young men and women in uniform that putting more of them in will give us a tactical advantage and will provide security in some places, and that has occurred.CLINTON: But the fact is that the purpose of it has not been fulfilled. The Iraqi government has slowly inched toward making a few of the decisions in a less than complete way, but it hasn't taken advantage of the sacrifice and the losses of life and billions of dollars that have occurred since the surge began.That is why I have said, upon taking office I would ask the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and my security advisers to give me a plan so that I could begin withdrawing our troops within 60 days.And I would begin that with...(APPLAUSE)... with a very clear message to the Iraqis that they no longer had a blank check, as they had been given by President Bush, that as we withdraw our troops, probably one to two brigades a month, they would have to step up and make these decisions.CLINTON: I believe that is in the best interest of our military, which has been stretched thin.Last night in Brownsville, you know, a woman grabbed my hand and said, "Please, my husband's there for the third time. Bring him home."And I told her privately what I have said publicly many times -- I will bring him home because I do not think it is in the interest of America or of the Iraqis that we continue to be there. It is up to the Iraqis to decide the kind of future they will have.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Obama, in the same vein, you were also opposed to the surge from the beginning. Were you wrong?OBAMA: Well, I think it is indisputable that we've seen violence reduced in Iraq. And that's a credit to our brave men and women in uniform.In fact, you know, the 1st Cavalry, out of Fort Hood, played an enormous role in pushing back al Qaeda out of Baghdad.(APPLAUSE)OBAMA: And, you know, we honor their service.But this is a tactical victory imposed upon a huge strategic blunder.(LAUGHTER)And I think that, when we're having a debate with John McCain, it is going to be much easier for the candidate who was opposed to the concept of invading Iraq in the first place to have a debate about the wisdom of that decision...(APPLAUSE)... than having to argue about the tactics subsequent to the decision.(LAUGHTER)Because, ultimately, that's what's at stake. Understand, not only have we been diverted from Afghanistan. We've been diverted from focusing on Latin America.We contribute -- our entire foreign aid to Latin America is $2.7 billion, approximately what we spend in Iraq in a week.OBAMA: And it is any surprise, then, that you've seen people like Hugo Chavez and countries like China move into the void, because we've been neglectful of that.Iran is the single biggest strategic beneficiary of us having invaded Iraq, and that is something that I think John McCain has to come to terms with.So that is a debate that I'm happy to have.One last point I want to make on this, and that is, the incredible burden that has been placed on the American people, starting with military families, and the fact that we still are not doing right by our veterans, that we still don't honor their service, that there are still homeless veterans, that we still don't screen properly for post-traumatic stress disorder and make sure that they're getting mental services that they need, that we are still...(APPLAUSE)... having veterans in south Texas have to drive 250 miles to access a veterans hospital.OBAMA: That's unacceptable. But we talked about the economy earlier, the fact that we're spending $12 billion every month in Iraq means that we can't engage in the kind of infrastructure improvements that are going to make us more competitive. It means that we can't deliver on the kinds of health care reforms that both Senator Clinton and I are looking for.And that is also an argument that we have to have with John McCain because he has said that he is willing to have these troops over there for 100 years. The notion that we would sustain that kind of effort and neglect not only making us more secure here at home, more competitive here at home, allow our economy to sink. As John McCain says, he doesn't really understand the economy that well. It is clear from his embrace of George Bush's policies that he doesn't, and that's what I intend to change when I am president of the United States of America.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right. We've got to take another quick break. We've got a lot more ahead. Stay with us. We'll be right back.(COMMERCIAL BREAK)BROWN: Welcome back to the Texas Democratic debate.Stay with us after the debate. Anderson Cooper and the best political team on television will have lots of analysis.But back to the debate.John King?KING: Thank you.Both of you have been harshly critical of the Bush administration for its secrecy, what you consider overuse of secrecy and executive power.Tonight, Senator Obama, you've talked about more transparency. You also at one point criticized earmarks.And yet, a recent report came out that identified you -- lower on the list in terms how much money senators seek and sneak into the budget for these pork barrel spending projects, but it still said you were responsible for $91 million in earmarks.And you have refused to say where the money went, what it's for. Why?OBAMA: No, that's not true. We've actually disclosed, John, all our earmarks. And so, you know, we'll be happy to provide you with that information, because I believe very strongly in transparency.OBAMA: As I indicated earlier, one of the things that I did last year was to pass a bill with Tom Coburn, very conservative Republican but a sincere fiscal conservative. And we got together and created what we call Google for Government. It's a searchable database, where every single dollar of federal spending is posted on the Internet, so that ordinary voters can take a look. And if they see a bridge to nowhere being built, they know where it's going and who sponsored it. And if they see a no-bid contract going to Halliburton, they can check that out, too.And you know, the idea is that we open up the process so that the American people can make judgments about whether or not government is doing what it's supposed to be doing with its taxpayer money. And I've been consistently in favor of more disclosure around earmarks.OBAMA: Now, keep in mind, a lot of these are worthy projects in our states. I have actively pursued projects that I think are important. But I want to make sure that they're not done in the dark of night, that they're not done in committee, that everybody stands up and says, "this is the kind of spending that I think is important."I have consistently supported those efforts. I will push for those as president of the United States of America.KING: Senator Clinton, as you know, I think your number was about $342 million. You say they're worthy projects, as Senator Obama did, for your state and that's part of your job, to get money for worthy projects back in your state.Senator McCain, as you know, is proud of going around the country earmark.On the specific issue of pork barrel spending, fiscal accountability by the government at a time when many Americans frankly think, whether it is the House or the Senate, that you all waste money on things that aren't important to them, don't affect their daily lives, does he have a better case to make to the American people that, "I have done this my entire career; I will do it as president," on the issue of on the issue of wasteful pork barrel spending?CLINTON: Well, no, not at all. Because he supported the wasteful tax cuts of the Bush administration and the Iraq war, with the billions of dollars...(APPLAUSE)... that have been spent, and wants it to continue.You know, when President Bush came into office, he inherited a balanced budget and a surplus. And it is gone. And we now are looking at a projected deficit of $400 billion, under the new Bush budget, and a $9 trillion debt.We borrow money from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis. That is not a winning strategy for America.(APPLAUSE)I will get us back to fiscal responsibility. And I will make it clear that the Bush tax cuts on the upper income, those making more than $250,000 a year, will be allowed to expire.CLINTON: Middle-class tax cuts and support for the middle class, to make college affordable, retirement security possible, health insurance affordable: Those will be my priorities.And I think it's important that we look at where the money has gone under President Bush -- no-bid contracts, cronyism, outsourcing the government in ways that haven't saved us money and have reduced accountability.So the larger question is, who really is going to move us toward fiscal responsibility, and I believe that we can get back on the path we were on. It was working well. It was one of the reasons why the economy was booming.I've got that, you know, clearly in my economic blueprint, which is something that I've published the last few days, because it's part of what we have to do again. And I think that I will be very comfortable and effective in taking on Senator McCain over the fiscal irresponsibility of the Republican Party that he's been a part of.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right.An issue relating to the current election.Jorge?RAMOS: As we can see, this has been an extremely close nomination battle that will come down to superdelegates. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest ranking Democrat in government, said recently, and I'm quoting, "It would be a problem" -- and this is a question for you, Senator Clinton -- "it would be a problem for the party if the verdict would be something different than the public has decided."Do you agree?CLINTON: Well, you know, these are the rules that are followed, and you know, I think that it will sort itself out. I'm not worried about that. We will have a nominee, and we will have a unified Democratic Party, and we will go on to victory in November.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Obama, go ahead. Do you have a response to Senator Clinton?OBAMA: Well, I think it is important, given how hard Senator Clinton and I have been working, that these primaries and caucuses count for something. And so my belief is that...(APPLAUSE)... the will of the voters, expressed in this long election process, is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be.OBAMA: But understand what I think is most important to the voters, and that is that we have a government that is listening to them again. They feel as if they've been shut out.You know, when I meet mothers who are trying to figure out how to get health care for their kids, it's not just the desperation of that single mom. It's also that when they try to find some help, oftentimes they're hitting a brick wall.And they don't get a sense that the debates that are happening in Washington right now relate to them at all. And what they believe is that people are trying to get on TV and they're trying to score points and they're trying to win elections, and that they're not interested in knocking down the barriers that stand between the American people and their dreams.And I have no doubt that the Democratic Party at its best can summon a sense of common purpose again and higher purpose for the American people.OBAMA: And I think that the next nominee going into the November election is going to have a lot to talk about because the American people are tired of politics that is dominated by the powerful, by the connected. They want their government back, and that's what I intend to provide them when I'm nominated for president of the United States.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: We have time for just one final question, and we thought we would sort of end on a more philosophical question. You've both spent a lot of time talking about leadership, about who's ready and who has the right judgment to lead if elected president.A leader's judgment is most tested at times of crisis. I'm wondering if both of you will describe what was the moment that tested you the most, that moment of crisis.BROWN: Senator Obama?OBAMA: Well, you know, I wouldn't point to a single moment. But what I look at is the trajectory of my life because, you know, I was raised by a single mom. My father left when I was two, and I was raised by my mother and my grandparents.And, you know, there were rocky periods during my youth, when I made mistakes and was off course. And what was most important, in my life, was learning to take responsibility for my own actions, learning to take responsibility for not only my own actions but how I can bring people together to actually have an impact on the world.And so, working as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago, with ordinary people, bringing them together and organizing them to provide jobs and health care, economic security to people who didn't have it, then working as a civil rights attorney and rejecting the jobs on Wall Street to fight for those who were being discriminated against on the job -- that cumulative experience, I think, is the judgment that I now bring.OBAMA: It's the reason that I have the capacity to bring people together, and it's the reason why I am determined to make sure that the American people get a government that is worthy of their decency and their generosity.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: Senator Clinton?CLINTON: Well, I think everybody here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life. And...(APPLAUSE)And I am grateful for the support and the prayers of countless Americans.But people often ask me, "How do you do it?" You know, "How do you keep going?" And I just have to shake my head in wonderment, because with all of the challenges that I've had, they are nothing compared to what I see happening in the lives of Americans every single day. along with Senator McCain, as the only two elected officials, to speak at the opening at the Intrepid Center at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, a center designed to take care of and provide rehabilitation for our brave young men and women who have been injured in war.And I remember sitting up there and watching them come in. Those who could walk were walking. Those who had lost limbs were trying with great courage to get themselves in without the help of others. Some were in wheelchairs and some were on gurneys. And the speaker representing these wounded warriors had had most of his face disfigured by the results of fire from a roadside bomb.CLINTON: You know, the hits I've taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country.And I resolved at a very young age that I'd been blessed and that I was called by my faith and by my upbringing to do what I could to give others the same opportunities and blessings that I took for granted.That's what gets me up in the morning. That's what motivates me in this campaign.(APPLAUSE)And, you know, no matter what happens in this contest -- and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honored.(APPLAUSE)CLINTON: Whatever happens, we're going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that's what this election should be about.(APPLAUSE)BROWN: All right, a standing ovation here in Austin, Texas. Our thanks to Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. We appreciate your time tonight.(APPLAUSE)And to John and Jorge as well.We also want to thank our debate partners, the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Democratic Party, the LBJ Library as well, and the city of Austin.END E-mail to a friend

Roll down the windows and turn up the music. It's time for the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. Sin City's T-Mobile Arena is home to one of music's biggest evenings, as your favorite recording artists across all genres come together to toast their chart-topping achievements, With nearly 60 awards to present and more than a dozen live performances: Tonight, expect the unexpected. Here are five things to know about the 2017 BBMA's: ‘Tonight’: #AllIWantForChristmas Hashtags Jimmy Fallon reads some of his favorite tweets with the hashtag #AllIWantForChristmas. (Published Friday, Dec. 21, 2018) 1997 Billboard Music Awards 1. Pop Divas Unite: Talk about iconic. Both Cher and Celine Dion will perform at the the Billboard Music Awards. Dion will sing the powerful ballad "My Heart Will Go On" to mark "Titanic's" 20-year anniversary. Likewise, Cher will perform her hit song "Believe" before receiving this year's Icon Award, an occasion that marks the 71-year-old's first award show performance in 15 years. 2. Co-Hostsess With the Mostess: Ludacris returns to the BBMA's for a fourth consecutive year, but this time Vanessa Hudgens joins the festivities as the rapper's co-host. E! News spoke to both hosts before the big show. "It's always good to have different dynamics just to keep the show exciting and keep people on their toes by having different women [hosts] as well, because you have that ying and that yang," Ludacris said. "Every time it's going to be different so it's not like you're doing the same thing every time." ‘Tonight’: Miley Cyrus Updates 'Santa Baby' for 2018 Miley Cyrus changes some questionable lyrics to the holiday classic "Santa Baby" to better represent 2018, while Jimmy Fallon and Mark Ronson try to keep up. (Published Friday, Dec. 21, 2018) Craziest Billboard Awards Outfits Ever 3. Nicki's Time to Shine: Nicki Minaj will kick the 2017 Billboard Music Awards off with a major bang, as the hip-hop MC will open the show with a nine-minute medley of her greatest hits. Jason Derulo, David Guetta and Lil Wayne will also join Minaj onstage. 4. Party in the U.S.A.: Fresh off her release of "Malibu," Miley Cyrus continues her buzzed-about return to the music world with her first televised performance of the summertime single. We've already seen a much more subdued version of the typically wild pop star, and her Billboard Music Awards appearance should follow suit. Other previously announced performers include Camila Cabello, The Chainsmokers, Drake, Florida Georgia Line, Halsey, Sam Hunt, Imagine Dragons, John Legend, Lorde, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran. 'Late Night’: Lin-Manuel Miranda Says Emily Blunt Is Human Sunshine Lin-Manuel Miranda and Seth Meyers talk about the resurrection of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," the differences between filming a musical and performing one live and working with Emily Blunt on "Mary Poppins Returns." (Published Friday, Dec. 21, 2018) 5. Who Will Win?: Unforgettable performances and hilarious sketches aside, this night undoubtedly belongs to the winners. The Chainsmokers and Drake lead the nomination pack with 22 categories each (breaking a record for most yearly nominations ever), followed by Twenty One Pillots with 17 nods and Rihanna with four. © Copyright E! Online

9.6k SHARES Share Tweet ShareDe Soto, Missouri – Parents of a three-month old baby were horrified to discover their babysitter had turned into a crystal meth-smoking cannibal when they found the remains of their child cooked in the microwave.According to police report, the young parents, were out at the movies before they came back home to find a confused babysitter under the influence of alcohol and crystal meth who had lost consciousness and was covered in blood in the family’s living room.Moments later, the parents made the gruesome discovery when the young mother saw something moving in microwave.The 16-year-old babysitter named ‘Anna Ritchie’, claims she had brought some crystal meth and only took a few hits before she became hungry and eventually lost consciousness.“I just took a few hits because I was bored and wanted to stay awake,” she told Officer Robert. “All I remember is that I started getting really hungry, ate some chicken wings and passed out” recalls the police officer, visibly traumatized by the latest events.The 3-month-old child was found in the microwave, covered in barbecue sauce, and was rushed to Springfield’s Mercy Hospital where doctors do not fear for his life.“Apparently, the baby sitter tried to cook the baby in the microwave oven but she was unable to do so, and was probably disoriented and lost consciousness moments later,” explained Sheriff Deputy Anderson James of the Jefferson County Police Department. “Teeth marks were found on the baby’s arms and legs but luckily he is unharmed” he acknowledged, visibly distraught by the whole affair.The state of Missouri has led, for more than a decade, the nation in methamphetamine busts. A recent 2015 state-wide study revealed that more than 60% of adults aged 21 and higher have tried crystal meth at least once and close to 40% of respondents believed crystal meth should be decriminalized as a schedule 2 drug for medical use in treatment.

andare ready to a start a family together even though she’s 47! Sources tell Star that their dream is have a child in addition to Gwen’s three sons with her ex. Keep clicking through to see what other celebrity gossip you need to know!

Khloé Kardashian has already made it clear that she's standing by her man, Tristan Thompson in spite of his many infidelities. She's even working OT to make sure the Cleveland Cavaliers star doesn't stray away from home again. A source close to the couple revealed that the new mom is "doing great" after their April 2018 cheating scandal. "She seems happier and happier everyday." Despite her optimism and decision to take Thompson back after he was caught creeping, Kardashian isn't being naive. "She wants her family to be together... She keeps Tristan on a short leash. He has been very apologetic," the source revealed. Putting the past behind her, Kardashian is reportedly ready to take the next step with Thompson. "Khloé wants to get married eventually, but there are no serious wedding talks yet...She does talk about a future with Tristan, though. She believes they can figure things out and have a happy life together." Written by BET Staff

Happy anniversary Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi! Nine years ago on Wednesday, the couple tied the knot. And in celebration of their anniversary, DeGeneres, 59, shared a loving tribute to Instagram! “@PortiadeRossi and I got married 9 years ago today,” the Ellen DeGeneres Show host captioned a smiling, black-and-white photo of the pair on their wedding day. “Being her wife is the greatest thing I am.” Singer Joshua Radin, who performed at the couple’s wedding, also took to the photo and video-sharing app to celebrate their union. “Nine years ago today, these two incredible women got married and asked me to sing some of my songs to them while they were celebrating their most special day. It’s still one of the most fun things I’ve ever done,” Radin wrote. “Happy anniversary @theellenshow and @portiaderossi.” During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, de Rossi recalled about falling for DeGeneres. “We actually met socially and I just felt that immediate draw,” she said. “We did talk a little bit and then over those three years, we saw each other at parties or at various things, but the one time that was the most significant was during a photoshoot actually.” She continued: “I just walked over to say hello to her, and I couldn’t believe it, but she turned around and it was like an arrow was shot through my heart. I felt weak at the knees and I was overwhelmed with how I felt, but then it took me about 10 months to get the courage up to actually do anything about it.” FROM PEN: Jada Pinkett Smith Talks Celebrating 20 Years with Will Smith In a 2008 episode of her talk show, DeGeneres announced her plans to wed de Rossi; the reveal followed the news that the California Supreme Court had struck down a law banning same-sex marriage. The happy couple later showed off their engagement bling on the Daytime Emmys red carpet that same year. That August, the couple tied the knot with an intimate ceremony in their L.A. home. (To see more of their cute moments from throughout the years, click here). “Portia and I constantly say to each other, ‘We are so lucky.’ Sometimes it’s lying in bed at night before I go to sleep, and I just say thank you to whatever, whoever is out there,” DeGeneres told PEOPLE in her 2016 cover story. “I’ve gotten to a place where I really am just settled. Really. I know that I’m not going anywhere. She’s not going anywhere. I’m not saying the relationship took a while; I’m saying in my life, it took a while to find this.”

The actor was admitted to hospital last week to have a catheter valve replaced, and after complications with the procedure, an emergency team of doctors were forced to perform emergency surgery on the star. LONDON - Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to return home following his emergency open heart surgery last week. The 70-year-old actor was admitted to hospital last week to have a catheter valve replaced, and after complications with the procedure, an emergency team of doctors were forced to perform emergency surgery on the star. And after spending time in hospital recovering, the actor is finally heading home. His representative Daniel Ketchell wrote on Twitter: Update: @Schwarzenegger is headed home! (sic)” It isn’t the first time Daniel has shared an update on the Terminator actor’s condition, as he previously posted a note which described what had happened since the actor went to a hospital. It read: “Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger underwent a planned procedure at Cedars-Sinai to replace a pulmonic valve that was originally replaced due to a congenital heart defect in 1997. “That 1997 replacement valve was never meant to be permanent, and has outlived its life expectancy, so he chose to replace it yesterday through a less-invasive catheter valve replacement. “During that procedure, an open-heart surgery team was prepared, as they frequently are in these circumstances, in case the catheter procedure was unable to be performed. “Governor Schwarzenegger’s pulmonic valve was successfully replaced and he is currently recovering from the surgery and in a stable condition. We want to thank the entire medical team for their tireless efforts.” And the rep then took to Twitter again a few hours later to let fans know the ‘Predator’ actor was awake and in “good spirits”. He tweeted: “Update: @Schwarzenegger is awake and his first words were actually “I’m back”, so he is in good spirits. (sic)” Earlier this week, Schwarzenegger shared an update of his own on Twitter when he let fans know he was “thankful” to be awake and in good health. He said: “It’s true: I’m back! I went to sleep expecting to wake up with a small incision and woke up with a big one - but guess what? I woke up, and that’s something to be thankful for. Thank you to the doctors & nurses. And I’m truly filled with gratitude for all of the kind messages. (sic)”

Button-Up With Jeans Laid-back button-ups are Gigi's specialty, which is great for anyone trying to steal her style. Dupe this look with cropped jeans of your own – and if you don't have any, just chop those old flares you never wear.

Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter / Source: TODAY By Shane Lou Olivia Newton-John has announced she is postponing June dates on her North American tour due to another battle with breast cancer. A statement was posted Tuesday on the official website and Facebook page for the 68-year-old singer-actress. “The back pain that initially caused her to postpone the first half of her concert tour, has turned out to be breast cancer that has metastasized to the sacrum,” the statement reads. “In addition to natural wellness therapies, Olivia will complete a short course of photon radiation therapy and is confident she will be back later in the year, better than ever, to celebrate her shows.” The statement includes a quote from Newton-John: “I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists and the medical team at my Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia.” Newton-John performing in the U.K. in January. Ross Gilmore / Redferns/Getty Images Newton-John previously postponed some shows earlier in May for what she described at the time as “a long running issue with sciatica” that was causing her back pain. The “Grease” star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, on the same weekend her father died of cancer. She lost her sister, Rona Newton-John, to brain cancer in 2013. Last fall Newton-John released an album with Amy Sky and Beth Nielsen Chapman, “Liv On,” that was inspired by their experiences with loss and illness, including the death of Newton-John's sister. “It’s to help people through grief and through healing, whatever time it takes you,” she told Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford in October. Tuesday’s statement noted that Newton-John will reschedule her postponed concert dates in the coming weeks. RELATED

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Olympic gold medalist and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner on Wednesday slammed President Trump’s call to ban transgender people from serving in the military, asking what happened to his promise to fight for the LGBT community. “There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them?” Jenner tweeted. Jenner quoted a June 2016 Trump tweet where he thanked the LGBT community and said he will “fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.” There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? https://t.co/WzjypVC8Sr — Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) July 26, 2017 ADVERTISEMENT Trump on Wednesday tweeted that he would ban transgender people from any military service. He said he made the decision after consulting with “generals and military experts.” Last year, the Obama administration lifted the previous ban, allowing transgender troops to serve openly. “After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump tweeted. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you," he added. Jenner, who voted for President Trump, has previously said that though she backs the GOP, she will “come after” anyone who does not support LGBT rights.

The U.S. Open was a family affair for Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas! On Tuesday, the engaged couple enjoyed a double date with Joe Jonas and his fiancée Sophie Turner at the tennis tournament during which they watched Rafael Nadal defeat Dominic Thiem. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Chopra, 36, shared a sweet selfie with Nick, 25, Joe, 29, and Turner, 22, on Instagram, writing, “It’s a #famjam at #usopen.” “Priyanka put her head on Nick’s shoulder — they looked so cute,” a source told PEOPLE of the pair, who was joined by her mother Madhu. RELATED: Where in the World Are Nick Jonas & Priyanka Chopra? All the Places the Couple Has Visited Together The adorable family outing comes days after Chopra and Jonas’ Labor Day weekend vacation. The duo spent the holiday at one of his favorite getaways: Mammoth Mountain, California. In the photo, which he captioned “A man and the mountains. @priyankachopra,” Nick held a can of beer in his hand while admiring a beautiful view of the mountains in the background. RELATED VIDEO: Priyanka Chopra’s Family ‘Loves’ Nick Jonas: ‘What More Can a Mother Want!’ Says Her Mom “Magical,” Chopra captioned her snapshot from their getaway home. Last month, Nick and Chopra confirmed their engagement by posting a photo from their engagement party in Mumbai, India. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas Nick Jonas/Instagram “Future Mrs. Jonas. My heart. My love,” Nick captioned the photo, which shows Chopra lovingly gazing into his eyes with her hand placed on his chest. “Taken… With all my heart and soul,” Chopra captioned her photo. At their engagement party, Chopra and Nick’s families met for the first time. RELATED: Sophie Turner Raves About ‘Future Sister-in-Law’ Priyanka Chopra: ‘Beautiful, Inside and Out’ Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra, Madhu Chopra, Kevin Jonas Sr. and Denise Miller-Jonas Nick Jonas/Instagram Love just got a partner. @priyankachopra just found her man- @nickjonas They now are engaged to each other. The smile in her eyes tells a story…Yes, love stories still are alive & blushing red these 2 loverbirds confirm that for me. Happiness was the chief guest of the day!😍 pic.twitter.com/KHrLdENdmc — Mushtaq Shiekh (@shiekhspear) August 18, 2018 RELATED: Dream Big Sweepstakes: Enter for a Chance to Win $10,000 Cash to Spend Like an A-Lister Chopra shared several other photos from the gathering including a group picture of herself and Nick as well as his parents Denise and Kevin Sr. “The only way to do this… with Family and God,” Chopra wrote. For the celebration, Chopra wore a bright yellow Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla Couture suit. Nick also dressed in traditional Indian apparel for the party. PEOPLE confirmed Jonas proposed to Chopra on her 36th birthday while the lovebirds were vacationing in London.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York. She married John F. Kennedy in 1953. When she became first lady in 1961, she worked to restore the White House to its original elegance and to protect its holdings. After JFK's assassination in 1963, she moved to New York City. She married Aristotle Onassis in 1968. She died of cancer in 1994. Early Life Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York. Her father, John Bouvier, was a wealthy New York stockbroker of French Catholic descent, and her mother, Janet, was an accomplished equestrienne of Irish Catholic heritage. Onassis was a bright, curious and occasionally mischievous child. One of her elementary school teachers described her as "a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil." Another teacher, less charmed by young Jacqueline, wrote admonishingly that "her disturbing conduct in geography class made it necessary to exclude her from the room." ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Onassis enjoyed a privileged childhood of ballet lessons at the Metropolitan Opera House and French lessons beginning at age of 12. Like her mother, Onassis loved riding and was highly skilled on horseback. In 1940, at the age of 11, she won a national junior horsemanship competition. The New York Times reported, "Jacqueline Bouvier, an eleven-year-old equestrienne from East Hampton, Long Island, scored a double victory in the horsemanship competition. Miss Bouvier achieved a rare distinction. The occasions are few when the same rider wins both competitions in the same show." Onassis attended Miss Porter's School, a prestigious boarding school in Farmington, Connecticut; in addition to its rigorous academics, the school also emphasized proper manners and the art of conversation. There she excelled as a student, writing frequent essays and poems for the school newspaper and winning the award as the school's top literature student in her senior year. Also during her senior year, in 1947, Onassis was named "Debutante of the Year" by a local newspaper. However, Onassis had greater ambitions than being recognized for her beauty and popularity. She wrote in the yearbook that her life ambition was "not to be a housewife." Upon graduating from Miss Porter's School Onassis enrolled at Vassar College in New York to study history, literature, art and French. She spent her junior year studying abroad in Paris. "I loved it more than any year of my life," Onassis later wrote about her time there. "Being away from home gave me a chance to look at myself with a jaundiced eye. I learned not to be ashamed of a real hunger for knowledge, something that I had always tried to hide, and I came home glad to start in here again but with a love for Europe that I am afraid will never leave me." Upon returning from Paris, Onassis transferred to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and graduated with a B.A. in French literature in 1951. After graduating from college in 1951, Onassis landed a job as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" for the Washington Times-Herald newspaper. Her job was to photograph and interview various Washington residents, and then weave their pictures and responses together in her column. Among her most notable stories were an interview with Richard Nixon, coverage of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's inauguration and a report on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. U.S. First Lady It was at a dinner party in 1952 that Onassis met a dashing young congressman and senator-elect from Massachusetts named John F. Kennedy; he "leaned across the asparagus and asked her for a date." They were married a year later, on September 12, 1953. Onassis gave birth to her first child, Caroline Kennedy, in 1957. That same year, she encouraged Kennedy to write and, subsequently, helped him edit Profiles in Courage, his famous book about U.S. senators who had risked their careers to stand for causes they believed in. In January 1960, John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency. Although Onassis was pregnant at the time and thus unable to join him on the campaign trail, she campaigned tirelessly from home. She answered letters, gave interviews, taped commercials and wrote a weekly syndicated newspaper column called "Campaign Wife." On November 8, 1960, Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon by a razor-thin margin to become the 35th president of the United States; less three weeks later, Onassis gave birth to their second child, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. The couple had a third child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy born prematurely on August 7, 1963, but lost the child two days later. Onassis's first mission as first lady was to transform the White House into a museum of American history and culture that would inspire patriotism and public service in those who visited. "Every boy who comes here should see things that develop his sense of history," she once said. Onassis went to extraordinary lengths to procure art and furniture owned by past presidents—including artifacts owned by George Washington, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln—as well as pieces she considered representative of various periods of American culture. "Everything in the White House must have a reason for being there," she insisted. "It would be sacrilege merely to 'redecorate' it—a word I hate. It must be restored—and that has nothing to do with decoration. That is a question of scholarship." As the culmination of her project, Onassis gave a tour of the restored White House on national television on February 14, 1962. A record 56 million viewers watched her televised special, and Onassis won an honorary Emmy Award for her performance. As first lady, Onassis was also a great patron of the arts. In addition to the officials, diplomats and statesman who typically populated state dinners, Onassis also invited the nation's leading writers, artists, musicians and scientists to mingle with its top politicians. The great violinist Isaac Stern wrote to Onassis after one such dinner, "It would be difficult to tell you how refreshing, how heartening it is to find such serious attention and respect for the arts in the White House. To many of us it is one of the most exciting developments on the present American cultural scene." Additionally, Onassis frequently traveled abroad, both with the president and alone, and her deep knowledge of foreign cultures and languages (she spoke fluent French, Spanish and Italian) helped garner goodwill toward America. She was so adoringly received in France that President Kennedy introduced himself as "the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris." Presidential advisor Clark Clifford wrote to Onassis, "Once in a great while, an individual will capture the imagination of people all over the world. You have done this; and what is more important, through your graciousness and tact, you have transformed this rare accomplishment into an incredibly important asset to this nation."

A Carpool Karaoke first! For the latest installment of the Late Late Show hit segment, Kelly Clarkson belted out the lyrics of her hit songs riding in the passenger seat with host James Corden. But the singer also moved to the backseat where she enjoyed a romantic date night with husband Brandon Blackstock as Corden played chauffeur for the couple. Get push notifications with news, features and more. “It’s difficult because I work a lot and I’m a mom but we try,” Clarkson said of spending time with her husband away from work when he’s not also being her manager. “Is this intervention?” the mother of two said before being surprised by her husband with sparkling apple cider, a rose, chocolate covered strawberries and a violinist. “I feel like we’re making a porn,” Blackstock joked. CBS RELATED: Kelly Clarkson ‘Never Felt Sexually Attracted to Anybody’ Before Husband Brandon Blackstock The pair, who married in 2013, first met at a rehearsal for the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2006 where Clarkson was performing a duet with Rascal Flatts on their tune “What Hurts the Most.” (Blackstock, who is the former stepson of Reba McEntire, was the country group’s tour manager at the time.) And fast forward to the present, Clarkson shares four kids with Blackstock, including 16-year-old stepdaughter Savannah, 10-year-old stepson Seth, 3-year-old daughter River Rose and 19-month-old son Remington “Remy” Alexander. RELATED VIDEO: Kelly Clarkson ‘Can’t Stop Crying’ Over ‘Voice’ Contestant’s Powerful Rendition of ‘Piece by Piece’ When she wasn’t wooing her husband of four years, Clarkson was singing her singles “Since You’ve Been Gone,” “Love So Soft,” “Stronger,” “Because of You,” and “Whole Lotta Woman” with Corden. In addition, the American Idol champion sang the lyrics to “So This Is Love” from Disney’s Cinderella, which she sings to her youngest child as a lullaby. The Late Late Show airs nightly at 12:37 a.m. ET/PT.

The murder of Jason Hudson occurred on October 24, 2008, when 29-year-old Jason Hudson and his 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, were discovered shot to death inside Donerson's home in Chicago, Illinois.[1] The victims were the brother and mother of singer Jennifer Hudson. Jennifer's seven-year-old nephew Julian King, the son of her elder sister Julia Hudson, was initially reported missing and an AMBER Alert was issued; Julian King's body was found on October 27 in Chicago's West Side area, in a parked car matching the AMBER Alert description.[2] Autopsy results indicated that Julian King's death was due to "multiple gunshot wounds."[3] A pistol found in a West Side vacant lot was confirmed as the murder weapon by Chicago police.[4] Investigation [ edit ] On the day that the bodies of Hudson's mother and brother were discovered, Chicago police took Julia Hudson's estranged husband William Balfour, 57, into custody but did not file charges against him.[5] Balfour was on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. The Illinois Department of Corrections' records reveal one of Balfour's addresses to be the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were murdered.[1] After the Chicago police had held Balfour for the maximum 48 hours allowable without charging him with a crime, he was held by the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation.[5] At the November 10, 2008 parole hearing, the prisoner review board was told by the Cook County State's Attorney's office that Balfour's current or former girlfriend told investigators she saw Balfour with a gun identical to the murder weapon several days before the murder occurred.[5] Board chairman Jorge Montes said that although Balfour may have violated other conditions of his parole, including failing to get anger management and substance abuse counseling, the gun allegation alone was sufficient to hold Balfour until a December 3 hearing before the full Illinois Prisoner Review Board.[5] Montes said that the allegations from the woman included that Balfour had admitted to her that he was involved in the murders, but those allegations were not part of the parole review hearing.[6] Balfour appeared at the hearing without an assigned attorney because he had not been charged with a crime.[5] Arrest and Conviction [ edit ] On December 1, 2008, Balfour was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Donerson, Jason Hudson and King, as well as one count of felony home invasion.[7] At a December 3 court hearing in which Balfour was denied bail, a prosecutor alleged that Balfour had committed the murders out of anger that his estranged wife was dating another man.[8] Balfour's attorney Joshua Kutnick said that his client maintained his innocence in the crimes.[7] Balfour was indicted on December 30.[9] On January 20, 2009, he pleaded not guilty to all charges.[10] He was convicted in May, 2012 and sentenced to 3 life sentences plus 120 years. Legacy [ edit ] In the aftermath of the deaths, Hudson's family announced the creation of the Hudson-King Foundation for Families of Slain Victims, a foundation "to care for the needs of families who have lost relatives to a violent crime," according to a statement released to the press.[11]

Lindsay Dee Lohan (born July 2, 1986)[2] is an American actress, businesswoman, fashion designer and singer. Born and raised in New York, Lohan was signed to Ford Models as a child. Having appeared as a regular on Another World at age 10, her breakthrough came in Disney Pictures' The Parent Trap (1998). The film's success led to appearances in a string of their televised films and the theatrical Freaky Friday (2003). Lohan's work won her childhood stardom, and the sleeper hit Mean Girls (2004) affirmed her status as a teen idol. She then starred in Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), and Just My Luck (2006). Lohan had become subjected to intensive media coverage following legal troubles and visits to rehabilitation facilities. Evidently, she chose to focus on more mature roles including ones in A Prairie Home Companion (2006), Bobby (2006) and Chapter 27 (2007). Continued legal troubles resulted in the loss of several roles and damage to her public image. In the 2010s, she appeared in films Machete (2010), Liz & Dick (2012) and The Canyons (2013), amongst others. Following a highly publicised interview with Oprah, Lohan was subject of the OWN docu-series, Lindsay (2014–15). In 2015, she made her stage debut in the London West End production of Speed-the-Plow. Alongside her acting career, Lohan is also a recording artist. Her deal with Casablanca resulted in commercial albums Speak (2004) and A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005), which were certified platinum and gold, respectively. Her musical endeavour saw her appearing on numerous soundtracks and releasing several radio singles including "Bossy", which peaked atop the Billboard Dance Chart. Lohan also dabbled in fashion, beginning a line of her own titled 6126 and briefly serving as artistic advisor for Emmanuel Ungaro in 2009. In 2018, Lohan returned to television with a recurring role on the Sky One series Sick Note. Early life Lindsay Lohan was born on July 2, 1986, in The Bronx borough of New York City,[2][3] and grew up in Merrick and Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island, New York.[4][5][dead link] She is the eldest child of Dina[6] and Michael Lohan.[7] Her father, a former Wall Street trader, has been in trouble with the law on several occasions,[8][9] while her mother is a former singer and dancer.[10] Lohan has three younger siblings, all of whom have been models or actors: Michael Jr., who appeared with Lohan in The Parent Trap, Aliana, known as "Ali," and Dakota "Cody" Lohan. Lohan is of Irish and Italian heritage, and she was raised as a Catholic.[5][dead link] Her maternal antecedents were "well known Irish Catholic stalwarts" and her great-grandfather, John L. Sullivan, was a co-founder of the Pro-life Party on Long Island.[11] Lohan attended Cold Spring Harbor High School and Sanford H. Calhoun High School, where she did well in science and mathematics, until grade 11, when she started homeschooling.[5][dead link][12] Lohan is a natural red head.[13] Lohan's parents have a turbulent history. They married in 1985, separated when Lindsay was three, and later reunited.[8][14] They separated again in 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2007.[15][16] Lohan began her career as a child model with Ford Models at the age of three.[17][18] She modeled for Calvin Klein Kids and Abercrombie, and appeared in over 60 television commercials for brands like Pizza Hut and Wendy's, as well as a Jell-O spot with Bill Cosby.[17][18] By the age of 10, when Lohan played Alexandra "Alli" Fowler in the television soap opera Another World, Soap Opera Magazine said she was already considered a show-business veteran.[17][18][19] Career 1990s Television roles and Disney films Lohan remained in her role on Another World for a year, before leaving to star in Disney's 1998 family comedy The Parent Trap, a remake of the 1961 movie. She played dual roles of twins, separated in infancy, who try to reunite their long-divorced parents, played by Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson.[5][17] The film earned $92 million worldwide, and received largely positive reviews.[20][21] Lohan received unanimous acclaim for her debut performance. Critic Kenneth Turan called Lohan "the soul of this film as much as Hayley Mills was of the original," going on to say that "she is more adept than her predecessor at creating two distinct personalities."[22] The film won Lohan a Young Artist Award for best performance in a feature film as well as a three-film contract with Disney.[17][18][23] At the age of 14, Lohan played Bette Midler's daughter in the pilot episode of the short-lived series Bette, but she resigned her role when the production moved from New York to Los Angeles.[5][24] She also starred in two Disney television movies: Life-Size alongside Tyra Banks in 2000, and Get a Clue in 2002.[17][18] Lohan in 2002 2000s Breakthrough and Mean Girls Next Lohan starred alongside Jamie Lee Curtis in the 2003 remake of Disney's family comedy Freaky Friday, playing a mother and daughter who switch bodies and have to take on each other's roles. At Lohan's initiative, her character was rewritten and changed from a Goth style to be more mainstream.[25] Her performance was once again met with significant praise. Critic Roger Ebert wrote that Lohan "has that Jodie Foster sort of seriousness and intent focus beneath her teenage persona."[26] Freaky Friday earned Lohan the award for Breakthrough Performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards and, as of 2015 , it remained her most commercially successful film, earning $160 million worldwide as well as an 88 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[27][28][29] In 2004, Lohan had two lead roles. The first film, Disney's teen comedy Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, earned a domestic box office total of $29 million, with Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo commenting that it was "well above expectations as it was strictly for young girls."[30] But the film did not meet with critical acclaim.[31] Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune wrote that "though still a promising star, Lohan will have to do a little penance before she's forgiven for Confessions."[32] Her second lead role that year, in the teen comedy Mean Girls, marked Lohan's first movie independent of Disney. Based in part on the non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes, the film stars Lohan as a previously homeschooled 16-year-old learning to navigate the social cliques of a public high school. It was a critical and commercial success, grossing $129 million worldwide and, according to Brandon Gray, "cementing her status as the new teen movie queen."[30][33][34] Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Lohan is sensitive and appealing, a solid locus for audience sympathy."[35] David Rooney from Variety said that "Lohan displays plenty of charm, verve and deft comic timing."[36] Lohan received four awards at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards for Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, including Breakout Movie Star.[37] Mean Girls also earned her two awards at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards.[38] With Mean Girls, Lohan's public profile was raised significantly. Vanity Fair described how she became a household name. Paparazzi began following her and her love life and partying became frequent targets of gossip sites and the tabloid media.[39][40] Following Mean Girls, which was scripted by former "Not Ready For Prime Time Actress" Tina Fey and featured several other veterans of Saturday Night Live's "Not Ready For Prime Time Company," Lohan hosted the show three times between 2004 and 2006.[17] In 2004, when Lohan was 17, she became the youngest host of the MTV Movie Awards and in 2006 she hosted the 2006 World Music Awards.[41][42] Lohan had planned on releasing an album in the summer of 2001, according to her official website, llrocks.com.[43] No album was released in 2001, but Lohan had begun recording demo tracks with Emilio Estefan. He and his wife, Gloria Estefan, signed Lohan to a five-album production deal in September 2002. "I am extremely excited to be working with Emilio. I am surrounded by a group of very talented people who have made me feel like part of their family," Lohan said to the press.[44] Also in September, Lohan landed the role as the daughter in Disney's remake, Freaky Friday, which required her to learn how to play the guitar and to sing. Lohan recorded a song for the film, "Ultimate," which was released to Radio Disney to help promote the film. The song peaked at #18 on Radio Disney's Top 30. Lohan announced that the song was separate from her singing career, since many teen idols such as Hilary Duff and Raven-Symoné were expanding their careers from acting to singing. In 2003, Lohan recorded four songs including a Radio Disney hit, "Drama Queen (That Girl)," that were released for the soundtrack to Lohan's film, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Lohan began writing the tracks on her album in April 2004. "I write a lot of lyrics and I'm involved in the producing process, because it's like, if I'm singing it, I want it to be something that I can relate to," Lohan said. "I'm just trying to feel it out and see where it goes. I'm playing guitar and I also love to dance, so [the music will be] somewhere along the lines of hip-hop and rock."[45] She had begun working with Diane Warren and Randy Jackson, who were going to help write and produce her album. Diane Warren wrote the song, "I Decide," for Lohan which was originally going to be on her album.[46] When Lohan decided not to collaborate with Warren and Jackson, "I Decide" was instead released on the soundtrack to the film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and on to Radio Disney. Lohan's debut album, Speak, was released in the United States on December 7, 2004. The album was the first high-seller from Casablanca Records in several years, selling 1,000,000 units in the United States. The album received mostly negative reviews, with critics commenting that Lohan "isn't a bad singer, but not an extraordinary singer either."[47] In the United States, the album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, selling 261,762 copies in its first week.[48] In Germany the album debuted at the #53 position and took four weeks to complete its chart run. The first two singles from Speak, "Rumors" and "Over," were both successes, with "Over" topping the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles where it stayed for three weeks. The song also did well internationally in countries such as Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. "Rumors" peaked at #6 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and also did well in Australia and Germany, where it reached #14. The music video for "Rumors" was nominated for "Best Pop Video" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. Both songs received heavy airplay on MTV's Total Request Live. The final single, "First," was released to help promote Lohan's film, Herbie: Fully Loaded. The song earned small success in Australia and Germany. Lohan promoted the album by performing the songs in a number of live appearances. A tour in Taiwan was planned, but later scrapped.[49] Lohan's second album, A Little More Personal (Raw), was released in December 2005. It peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was eventually certified Gold.[50][51] Lohan co-wrote most of the songs on the album, which received a mixed critical response.[52][53] Slant Magazine called it "contrived ... for all the so-called weighty subject matter, there's not much meat on these bones."[53] Lohan herself directed the music video for the album's only single, "Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)," which features her sister Ali Lohan.[54] The video is a dramatization of the pain Lohan said her family suffered at the hands of her father.[54] It was her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 57.[citation needed] Legal troubles Lohan returned to Disney in 2005, starring in the comedy Herbie: Fully Loaded, the fifth film in the series with the anthropomorphic car Herbie. Fully Loaded earned $144 million worldwide, but it received mixed reviews.[55][56] Stephen Holden of The New York Times called Lohan "a genuine star who ... seems completely at home on the screen", while James Berardinelli wrote that "as bright a starlet as she may be, Lohan ends up playing second fiddle to the car."[57][58] While shooting the film in 2004, Lohan was hospitalized with a kidney infection brought on by stress in her personal life and from recording her first album while the film was in production, prompting Vanity Fair to label it Lohan's "first disastrous shoot."[59] She also guest-starred in an episode of That '70s Show, of whose cast Wilmer Valderrama, her boyfriend at the time, was a regular member.[60] According to Vanity Fair, the breakup with Valderrama contributed to Lohan's issues during the Herbie shoot.[59] In 2005, Lohan became the first person to have a My Scene celebrity doll released by Mattel. She also voiced herself in the animated direct-to-DVD film My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie, based on the series of dolls.[61] Following Mean Girls, Lohan spent several years living out of hotels in Los Angeles, of which two years were spent at the infamous Chateau Marmont, where comedy actor John Belushi had died. In late 2007, after settling down in a more permanent residence, she explained that she "didn't want to be alone" but that "it wasn't a way of life ... not very consistent."[62][63][64] She had a series of car accidents that were widely reported, in August 2004, October 2005, and November 2006, when she suffered minor injuries because a paparazzo who was following her for a photograph hit her car.[65][66][67] Lohan's next widely released film, the romantic comedy Just My Luck, opened in May 2006 and, according to Variety, earned her over $7 million.[68] The opening weekend box office takings of $5.7 million "broke lead actress Lindsay Lohan's winning streak" according to Brandon Gray.[69] The film received poor reviews and earned Lohan her first Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Actress.[70][71] Following Just My Luck, Lohan focused on smaller roles in more mature, independent movies.[72] Robert Altman's ensemble comedy A Prairie Home Companion, based on humorist Garrison Keillor's works, in which Lohan co-stars with Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, had a limited release in June 2006. Peter Travers wrote for Rolling Stone that "Lohan rises to the occasion, delivering a rock-the-house version of 'Frankie and Johnny.'"[73] Co-star Streep said of Lohan's acting: "She's in command of the art form" and "completely, visibly living in front of the camera."[74] The Emilio Estevez ensemble drama Bobby, about the hours leading up to the Robert F. Kennedy assassination, was released in theaters in November 2006. Lohan received favorable comments for her performance, particularly a scene alongside Sharon Stone.[75][76] As part of the Bobby ensemble cast, Lohan was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.[77] In 2006, Lohan attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.[78] 2010s Independent films Lohan's next appearance was in Chapter 27 as a John Lennon fan who befriends Mark David Chapman, played by Jared Leto, on the day he murders Lennon. Filming finished in early 2006, but the film was not released until March 2008 due to difficulties in finding a distributor.[79][80][81] In May 2007, the drama Georgia Rule was released. In the film, Lohan portrays an out-of-control teenager whose mother (Felicity Huffman) brings her to the house of her own estranged mother (Jane Fonda). Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Lohan hits a true note of spiteful princess narcissism."[82] During filming in 2006, Lohan was hospitalized, her representative saying "she was overheated and dehydrated."[83] At the time Lohan was going through a breakup with Hard Rock Cafe heir Harry Morton, which contributed to her problems on the set, according to Allure.[84][85] In a letter that was made public, studio executive James G. Robinson called Lohan "irresponsible and unprofessional." He mentioned "various late arrivals and absences from the set" and said that "we are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so-called 'exhaustion.'"[86] In 2007, Lohan was cast in the film Poor Things.[87] But in May of that year, she was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI.)[88] The film's producers initially voiced support, and production was put on hold, as Lohan entered the Promises Treatment Center rehabilitation facility where she stayed for 45 days.[89][90][91][92][93] She ultimately lost the Poor Things part.[94] In July, less than two weeks out of rehab, Lohan was arrested a second time on charges of possession of cocaine, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.[95][96][97][98] In August, Lohan pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine use and driving under the influence and was sentenced to an alcohol education program, community service, one day in jail, and was given three years probation. Lohan released a statement in which she said "it is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs."[99] The same month she entered the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah for a third stint at rehabilitation, staying for three months until her discharge in October.[100] In November Lohan served 84 minutes in jail. A sheriff spokesman cited overcrowding and the nonviolent nature of the crime as reasons for the reduced sentence.[101] In early January 2007, production on the film I Know Who Killed Me was put on hold when Lohan underwent appendix surgery.[102][103][104] Lohan admitted herself to the Wonderland Center rehabilitation facility for a 30-day stay,[105][106] though she continued shooting the film, returning to the facility at night.[107][108] Shortly thereafter, Lohan withdrew from a film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance, her publicist stating that Lohan needed to "focus on getting better."[109][110] Lohan was replaced in The Edge of Love in April 2007, shortly before filming was to begin, with the director citing "insurance reasons" and Lohan later explaining that she "was going through a really bad time then."[111][112][113] In the wake of her second DUI arrest, Lohan withdrew from a scheduled appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in which she had been due to promote I Know Who Killed Me, a low-budget psychological horror-thriller in which she stars as a stripper with a dual personality.[114] The film premiered in July 2007 to what Entertainment Weekly called "an abysmal $3.5 million."[115] It earned Lohan dual Golden Raspberry awards for Worst Actress, with Lohan coming first and second, tying with herself.[116] Hollywood executives and industry insiders commented that it would be difficult for Lohan to find employment until she could prove that she was sober and reliable, citing possible issues with securing insurance.[117][118][119] Following a switch to Universal Motown, Lohan began working on a third album, tentatively titled Spirit in the Dark, in late 2007.[120][121][122] In May 2008, the single "Bossy" was released onto digital outlets, which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.[123][124] The single was meant to serve as the lead single from the album. Later that year, Lohan said that work on the album had stalled and that she wanted to avoid the stress of working on movies and music at the same time.[125] In May 2008, Lohan made her first screen appearance since I Know Who Killed Me, on ABC's television series Ugly Betty.[126] She guest starred in four episodes as Kimmie Keegan, an old schoolmate of the protagonist Betty Suarez.[127] Articles about Lohan have appeared in various men's magazines. She was voted No. 10 on the list of "100 Sexiest Women" by readers of FHM in 2005,[128] No.13 in 2006, No.30 in 2007, and No.41 in 2008,[129] while Maxim placed her third on its "Hot 100" list in 2006[130] and first in 2007.[131] Lohan has been the face of Jill Stuart, Miu Miu, and , as well as the 2008 Visa Swap British fashion campaign.[132][133] She was also the face of Italian clothing company Fornarina for its Spring/Summer 2009 campaign.[132] Lohan has a long-lasting fascination with Marilyn Monroe going back to when she saw Niagara during The Parent Trap shoot.[134] In the 2008 Spring Fashion edition of New York magazine, Lohan re-created Monroe's final photo shoot, known as The Last Sitting, including nudity, saying that the photo shoot was "an honor."[134] The New York Times critic Ginia Bellafante found it disturbing, saying "the pictures ask viewers to engage in a kind of mock necrophilia. ... [and] the photographs bear none of Monroe's fragility."[135] In the comedy Labor Pains, Lohan plays a woman who pretends to be pregnant. During the shoot, Lohan's manager worked with the paparazzi to encourage the media to show her working, as opposed to partying.[136] It was originally planned for a theatrical release, but instead appeared as a TV movie on the ABC Family cable channel in July 2009, "a setback for the star" according to Variety.[137] The premiere received 2.1 million viewers, "better-than-average" for the channel according to E! Online.[138] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote that "this is not a triumphant return of a prodigal child star. ... [Labor Pains] never shakes free of the heavy baggage Ms. Lohan brings to the role."[139] Lohan was a guest judge on US TV style contest Project Runway sixth-season premiere episode, which aired in August 2009.[140] In October 2009, Lohan's DUI probation was extended by an additional year, following several instances in which she failed to attend the court-ordered substance abuse treatment classes.[141] Lohan narrated and presented the British television documentary Lindsay Lohan's Indian Journey, about human trafficking in India. It was filmed during a week in India in December 2009, and transmitted on BBC Three in April 2010.[142][143] The BBC was criticized for having hired Lohan, and while reviewers called the documentary compelling, they also found Lohan's presence to be odd and distracting.[144][145][146] Lohan said: "I hope my presence in India will bring awareness to the really important issues raised in making this film."[147] In April 2010, Lohan was let go from the film The Other Side where she had been set to star, with the director saying she was "not bankable."[40][148][149] In May 2010, Lohan traveled to the Cannes Film Festival to promote the biographical drama Inferno. She was set to star as the lead, adult-film performer Linda Lovelace, but was later replaced while in court mandated rehab.[150][151] Because she was in Cannes, Lohan missed a mandatory DUI progress hearing. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest which was rescinded after she posted bail.[152][153] A judge determined that Lohan had violated the terms of her probation by missing several mandatory classes and meetings. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by 90 days of inpatient rehab treatment.[154][155] However, Lohan served only 14 days of the jail sentence, due to overcrowding.[156][157][158][159] She then entered an inpatient rehabilitation facility, from where she was released after only 23 days.[158][160][161][162] In June 2010, Lohan was the subject of a fashion shoot in the photographer docu-series Double Exposure on Bravo.[163] Robert Rodriguez's action exploitation film Machete opened in September 2010. In the film, Lohan's character takes drugs, is naked in much of her appearance, and later dons a nun's habit while toting a machine gun. Its critical reviews were mixed. The Washington Post described her character as "a campier, trampier version of herself – or at least her tabloid image."[164] Premiere.com said she was "terrible" while Variety called it "her best work in some time."[165][166] Because of her rehabilitation and legal engagements, Lohan did not participate in promotion of the movie.[167][168][169] Lohan filmed a sketch where she is dressed as Marilyn Monroe for Inappropriate Comedy in 2010. The film had issues finding a distributor and was not released until 2013, when it was met with poor box office and critical reception.[170][171][172] Lohan appeared on the October 2010 cover of Vanity Fair. She told the magazine: "I want my career back" and "I know that I'm a damn good actress."[40][170][173] In September 2010, Lohan's probation was revoked following a failed drug test.[174][175][176] She spent part of the day in jail before being released on bail.[176][177][178][179] A few days later, she entered the Betty Ford Center, a drug and alcohol treatment center, where she remained on court order for three months until early January 2011.[167][180][181][182][183] In February 2011, Lohan was charged with the theft of a necklace reported stolen from a jewelry store the month before.[184][185][186] She was sentenced to community service and 120 days in jail for misdemeanor theft and probation violation, to which she pleaded no contest.[187][188][189][190][191] Due to jail overcrowding, Lohan served the sentence under house confinement, wearing a tracking ankle monitor for 35 days.[192][193][194] In November, Lohan was found to have violated the terms of her probation by failing to perform the required community service.[195][196] She was sentenced to additional community service and 30 days in jail, of which she served less than 5 hours due to overcrowding.[197][198][199][200][201] Lohan at the Cynthia Rowley fashion show in 2011. Lohan appeared in the January/February 2012 issue of Playboy magazine, in a shoot inspired by a nude pictorial of Marilyn Monroe from the first issue of the magazine.[202][203] Editor Hugh Hefner said Lohan's issue was "breaking sales records."[204] Lohan had not appeared on Saturday Night Live since 2006, when she hosted the show for the fourth time in March 2012.[205] Her appearance received mixed to negative reviews. Critics appreciated the self-deprecating references to her personal troubles, but also commented that she largely played a supporting role.[206] The episode had the second highest ratings of the season with 7.4 million viewers.[207][208] In May 2012, Lohan appeared briefly, as a celebrity judge, on the television series Glee, in the episode "Nationals."[209] Lohan stars as a surfer in the art film First Point by artist Richard Phillips. It debuted at Art Basel in June 2012 and features a score by Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk. Comments from critics on Lohan's work were mixed.[210][211] Lohan starred as Elizabeth Taylor in the biographical made-for-TV movie Liz & Dick, which premiered on the Lifetime cable channel in November 2012. Reviews of Lohan's performance were largely, but not unanimously, negative. The Hollywood Reporter said she was "woeful" while Variety called her "adequate."[212][213] Entertainment Weekly described the premiere ratings of 3.5 millions as "a little soft."[214] On way to the Liz & Dick set in June 2012, Lohan was in a car accident, where she sustained minor injuries and which caused a delay in production.[215][216] During the production, paramedics were called to Lohan's hotel room, treating her for exhaustion and dehydration.[217][218][219] Return to television In March 2013, Lohan pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges stemming from the June 2012 car accident; reckless driving and providing false information to a police officer. She was sentenced to community service, psychotherapy and lockdown rehabilitation. Her probation was also extended for another two years.[220][221] Between May and July 2013 Lohan spent 90 days in rehabilitation.[222][223] In April 2013, the horror comedy Scary Movie 5 was released, where Lohan appears as herself alongside Charlie Sheen in the opening sketch. While the movie itself was panned by critics, a few reviewers found Lohan's and Sheen's to be one of the better scenes.[224][225][226] The same month Lohan guest-starred as herself in an episode of Sheen's comedy series Anger Management.[227] In August 2013, just days after Lohan left rehab, The Canyons was released, an independent erotic thriller directed by Paul Schrader and written by Bret Easton Ellis.[228][229] It was made on a low budget, most of which was gathered through online fund raiser Kickstarter. Lohan received $100 a day and a share of the profits, and she was also credited as a co-producer.[217] The New York Times Magazine described Lohan as difficult to work with, and the shoot as fraught with conflict between Lohan and Schrader.[217] Lohan and her co-star, adult-film actor James Deen, portray an actress and a producer in a volatile relationship. Reviews for the film were generally poor, but several critics praised Lohan's performance. The New Yorker said she was "overwrought and unfocused" while Variety called her "very affecting" and Salon described her as "almost incandescent."[230][231][232] The same month Lohan filled in for Chelsea Handler as host of the cable talk show Chelsea Lately. She received mostly positive reviews for her appearance and the show garnered its best ratings of the year.[233][234][235] The 8-part docu-series Lindsay was transmitted in March and April 2014 on Oprah Winfrey's OWN cable network. The series followed Lohan's life and work as she moved to New York City after leaving rehab. In the final episode, Lohan said that she had had a miscarriage which had interrupted filming of the series.[236] The premiere had 693,000 viewers, described as "so-so" by The Hollywood Reporter.[237] The ratings then slipped and the finale only had 406,000 viewers.[238][239] New York Daily News called the series "surprisingly routine," Variety described it as boring, while Liz Smith said it was "compelling" and "usually painful to watch."[240][241][242] In April 2014, Lohan guest-starred in an episode of the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls.[243][244] In July 2014, she filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games claiming elements in the video game Grand Theft Auto V were influenced by her image, voice and clothing line without permission.[245] Rockstar responded in court papers that sought a dismissal of the case, saying that the case was frivolous and filed for publicity purposes.[246] In 2018, Lohan again attempted to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto V, and lost the case.[247][248] Lohan made her stage debut in October 2014, starring in the London West End production of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, a satire about the movie business. She portrayed Karen, the secretary of a Hollywood executive, in a role originally played by Madonna. Reviews of Lohan's performance were mixed, with the Associated Press describing critical reception overall as "lukewarm."[249] The Stage said she was "out of her league" while The Times wrote that she "can act a bit" and The Guardian said she "holds the stage with ease."[250][251] In December 2014, the free-to-play video game app Lindsay Lohan's The Price of Fame was released for the iOS and Android operating systems.[252][253] Polygon said it was "funny, trashy and surprisingly self-aware" while Vulture called it "a crappy knockoff of Kim Kardashian: Hollywood."[253][254] In May 2015, a judge ended Lohan's probation after she completed the community service that resulted from her 2012 reckless driving, making it the first time in nearly 8 years that she was probation free.[255][256] In 2015, the English band Duran Duran announced that Lohan had been featured on the song "Dancephobia" from their upcoming fourteenth studio album, Paper Gods. In June 2016, Lohan confirmed her intentions for recording and releasing her third studio album during an online video chat with her fans. Lohan confirmed that she owed her record label one final album, as per her contract, and would only release music once it would not upset her younger sister, Ali, who is also pursuing her own music career.[257] In December 2016, Lohan opened Lohan Nightclub in Athens, Greece.[258] Lohan serves as a part-owner along with making bi-monthly promotional appearances. The second location, Lohan Beach House was opened in Mykonos[259] in May.[260] In June 2017, Lohan announced she was starting a lifestyle site called Preemium, which subscribers could access for $2.99 a month.[261] In 2018, Tyra Banks announced Lohan would reprise her role as Casey Stuart in the Life-Size sequel.[262] However, due to scheduling conflicts, Lohan would not appear in the film.[263] Upcoming projects She will appear as Katerina West for the second season of the UK comedy series Sick Note.[264] Lohan will star and produce Lohan Beach Club, a reality series focusing on her night club business, produced by Bunim/Murray Productions, set to air on MTV.[265] Fashion career Lohan has appeared in advertising campaigns for labels including Miu Miu, Jill Stuart, Dooney & Bourke and Philipp Plein. In 2008, Lohan launched a clothes line, whose name 6126 was designed to represent Monroe's birth date (June 1, 1926). The line started with leggings, before expanding to a full collection, covering 280 pieces as of April 2010 .[266][267][268]In January 2009, Lohan appeared as a guest judge on Project Runway. In September 2009, Lohan became an artistic adviser for the French fashion house Emanuel Ungaro.[269] A collection by designer Estrella Archs with Lohan as adviser was presented in October, receiving a "disastrous" reception, according to Entertainment Weekly and New York.[270][271] Lohan left the company in March 2010.[272] Business ventures Apart from her fashion brand, in Early 2018, Lohan announced plans on developing a makeup brand and stated that its still in early stages of development.[273] In 2016 Lohan revealed plans to launch a nightclub chain in Greece while vacationing in Athens. In October 2016 she opened her first nightclub, in collaboration with her ex business partner Dennis Papageorgiou, named "Lohan Nightclub".[274] In May 2018, she opened a resort in Greek island Mykonos, called "Lohan Beach House Mykonos" and later her second resort in Ialisos Beach, Rhodes, called "Lohan Beach House Rhodes".[275][276] In July 2018, People magazine revealed that Lohan had signed on to star in a MTV reality series focusing on the Mykonos Beach House and her future career and business ventures.[277] Personal life In July 2007, Lohan's home was burgled by the Bling Ring, a group of fashion-motivated burglars whose ringleader considered Lohan to be their ultimate conquest. Video surveillance of the burglary recorded at Lohan's home played a large role in breaking the case.[278] During the 2008 US presidential campaign, Lohan offered her services to Barack Obama's Democratic election effort, but was declined.[279] In a blog post, Lohan criticized the media and then Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin for not focusing on policy, and attacked Palin's positions on homosexuality, birth control and abortion.[280][281] Lohan had previously expressed an interest in going to Iraq, during the Iraq War in 2006, on a USO tour with Hillary Clinton.[72] In the 2012 presidential election, Lohan supported Republican candidate Mitt Romney, something that prompted ABC News to call her a "political turncoat".[282][283] Only weeks later, she tweeted words supportive of Obama.[284] Speaking about her sexual orientation, Lohan said that she was not a lesbian. When asked if she was bisexual in 2008, she responded "Maybe. Yeah," adding, "I don't want to classify myself."[285] However, in a 2013 interview, she said, "I know I'm straight. I have made out with girls before, and I had a relationship with a girl. ... I think I was looking for something different."[286] In April 2016, Lohan was studying Islam and considered converting.[287][288] In October 2017, Lohan received scrutiny for defending Harvey Weinstein, whom she worked with on several films, on Instagram and saying that his wife Georgina Chapman should stay with him.[289] Weinstein had been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Relationships and family Lohan began dating actor Wilmer Valderrama in 2004. She also guest-starred in an episode of That '70s Show, where Valderrama was a regular.[60] After their break-up, Lohan wrote her second single, "Over", about the experience. Lohan dated Hard Rock Cafe heir Harry Morton in 2006.[85] Lohan dated DJ Samantha Ronson in 2008 and 2009.[285][290] She co-hosted club events with Ronson and accompanied her when she was DJ-ing.[291][292] In April 2009, following her breakup with Ronson, Lohan appeared in a dating video spoof on the comedy website Funny or Die.[293] It was viewed 2.7 million times in the first week and received favorable comments from the media.[294][295] As of 2016, her love interest and fiancé was London based Russian millionaire Egor Tarabasov, a real estate agency owner, called Home House Estates and son of Dmitry Tarabasov.[296][297][298][299] They reportedly broke up in mid 2017 with Lindsay accusing Egor of abuse and him accusing her of stealing £24,000 worth of his belongings.[300][301] Lohan spoke about her turbulent childhood in 2007, the same year her parents finalised their divorce: "I feel like a second parent in the sense that I helped raise my family...I was put between my mother and father a lot."[16][84] Despite the conflicts, Lohan spoke very fondly of her family.[302][303] However, in 2007, 2008, and 2009 she admitted that she had cut off contact with her father, describing his behavior as unpredictable and hard to deal with.[304][305][306][307] Discography Studio albums Filmography See also References

They only romanced for a matter of months, but it didn’t stop Howard Stern from hoping their relationship could have been so much more. Speaking to Jake Gyllenhaal about his love affair with Taylor Swift on Wednesday, the shock jock said he wanted the actor to take it all the way to the altar. Speaking on his Sirius XM show Howard told Jake: ‘I feel—and this is me stepping in—you should have married Taylor Swift, and I'll tell you why…What a power couple!’ Scroll down for video Third degree: Jake Gyllenhaal was quizzed on his romance with Taylor Swift on Wednesday when he made an appearance on the Howard Stern XFM show The Southpaw actor, 34, responded: ‘Oh, that's the reason?’ Howard, 61, who was now in his stride, revealed he was ‘super attracted’ to Taylor and said if he had been friends with Jake when they were dating, he would have told him she was worth staying with long term. The Nightcrawler star, who dated the ‘Shake It Off’ singer for three months back in 2010 admitted: ‘She’s a beautiful girl.’ Romance: He dated the singer for three months in 2010 Jake joked: ‘Why didn't you have me on this show sooner?’ Howard, warming to his topic continued: ‘I would have said, “Jake, this is The One.” ‘Because to me, nothing is sexier than a woman who can play songs and write.’ Robin Quivers who co-hosts with Howard then brought up Taylor had written a song about her relationship with Jake – their break up is said to have inspired tracks on the Red album. To the altar: Howard pressed the actor for details and then said he thought they should have got hitched Jake, feigning ignorance said: ‘Do I?’ Howard chimed in asking which one it was. The actor replied: ‘I don't know...This is all Robin. She's looking it up right now. She's feverishly looking it up online.’ Howard then asked Jake if he was in love at the moment, who responded he wasn’t. When asked if he was upset about it, Jake replied: ‘Yeah. I love love, man. Are you kidding me?’ Howard then asked: ‘How many times in your life have you really been in love—really in love?’ Jake answered: ‘Three times but didn’t name any names. He then added: ‘Twice.’ Big love: Jake was asked if he had ever been in love - he said twice. It is thought he was referring to his relationship with Kirsten Dunst - they are pictured here at the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 2004 It is thought he may have been referring to his relationship with Kirsten Dunst, whom he dated from 2002 to 2004, and also Reese Witherspoon, whom he was with for three years from 2007 to 2009. When asked if something held him back from getting married he revealed it was him and said: ‘I think I probably just got scared.’ However he also said: 'There are a lot of beautiful women, there are opportunities, but I think at the same time, if you find the right person, I believe in monogamy I believe in when you meet somebody who is right it will be right and you will stay there.' Happy: It thought he was also referring to Reese Witherspoon, whom he was with for three years from 2007 to 2009 Howard also addressed Jakes appearance on Good Morning America on Tuesday, where Taylor’s song Bad Blood played in the background as the actor was being interviewed. It became an issue on social media as it was thought the show may have been attempting to make an association between the pair. Jake reiterated he was unaware of the music, saying: ‘First of all, I did not hear that...When I'm doing an interview when you're up at 5 a.m. and you can't really make sense of words, you're not thinking about the background music that's playing behind you.’ Oops! The star was also asked about his appearance on Good Morning America on Tuesday, where they played a Taylor Swift song when he came on set ‘So they aren't they sabotaging you in a sense?’ Howard asked. ‘Oh, please!’ the actor retorted. ‘Good Morning America?’ When asked if he would have recognised it was a song by Taylor Jake said adamantly he would. Howard pressed on: ‘You are not defined by dating Taylor Swift. But they are defining you with a Taylor Swift song.’ Jake joked: ‘There are dark things that happen on Good Morning America. That is not one of them.’

Destiny’s Child line up at one time consisted of LaTavia Roberson, LeToya Luckett, Kelly Rowland, and Beyonce Knowles (Picture: Everett/REX/Shutterstock) Question: tell me what you think about…this. A fan theory is doing the rounds online that we are so here for – we could have a Destiny’s Child reunion on our hands. Original members LaToya and LaTavia could well be teaming up with Bey, Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland, if this is all to be believed. The theory goes that Destiny’s Child are reuniting for Coachella 2018 and it would appear they have each been dropping hints to suggest it. AND WE ALL KNOW BEYONCE LOVES A HINT DROP. Example one: the album hint. Example two: The twins hint. Beyoncé told us in Dec. she was having twins 😩. She was holding up two fingers. Lordt it's like when she was smelling the lemon. #Beyonce pic.twitter.com/tbbQ3gH02P — Damedashbk (@DameDashBEYk) February 2, 2017 So here is the fan theory, discovered by Buzzfeed, encapsulated in one handy tweet and a quick explanation. Advertisement Advertisement Beyonce uploaded a snap of herself wearing an AC/DC top, but only showed the DC. DC = Destiny’s Child. Boom. Michelle Williams uploaded a snap of the outfit she wore when she last performed with Destiny’s Child at the Super Bowl, you know, just to remind us she was once in the group. Yes Yes Yes! (Picture: Kevin Mazur/WireImage) Original DC member LaTavia has piped up too, telling her fans ‘I have so much to tell you guys’… And lastly, other original LaToya shared a picture of the quartet together back in the day. What a strange time to suddenly do a flash back….or is it? THEY. ARE. COMING. COACHELLA IS ABOUT TO BE LEGENDARY. pic.twitter.com/5RMCahlvAS — Getaway Car 🐍 (@DaKingKK) December 12, 2017 Now it’s Kelly’s move. Coachella would be the ultimate place for a reunion, especially as Beyonce had to pull out last year, what with being pregnant with twins and all, and is now headlining for 2018. Could our Destiny’s Child dreams be coming true? Got a showbiz story? If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Beyonce and Jay-Z are over the infidelity drama in loved-up pics MORE: Ed Sheeran and Anne-Marie cover The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York and it’s a thing of beauty

Leslie Jones‘ trainer is still pushing her to the limit! The Saturday Night Live star, 47, put in two tough workouts over the weekend with her trainer, Thaddeus Harvey. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Jones shared photos and videos on Instagram from her sweaty time in the gym, which focused on “arms arms arms!” “Getting them arm yo!!!” she wrote, along with a video of her doing seated arm rows. Jones revealed in July that she dropped 40 lbs. in a year thanks to her hard workouts and a lighter diet — plus a little nudge from two people. “The first thing is for your doctor to tell you that you need to lose 40 lbs.,” she said on Live with Kelly. “I got rid of soda and juice, that was the first thing I did. That literally was 20 lbs. right there.” RELATED VIDEO: Funniest Confessions Ever! Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon Talk Cat Hair, Naked Binge-Watching and ‘Fashion Sweats’ Her interest in keeping up the health kick started to wane, but Jones’ SNL and Ghostbusters costar Kate McKinnon pushed her to lose the other 20 lbs. “Every time we went to dinner she would make me walk to dinner, we would walk after dinner,” Jones said. “And then it just started becoming — I would work out, I would do yoga, I really tried to watch what I eat. It’s not always easy because I do have a sweet tooth that’s a killer. But I do they best that I can.”

Olivia Wilde could have been in Wolf of Wall Street but she reportedly missed out on the role because she was "too old". Cue shocked faces all round. The 32-year-old went on The Howard Stern Show and was asked if she ever missed out on a part because she was too beautiful. "The funniest thing I heard recently was, I heard that I was too sophisticated [for the part]. I thought, 'oh, that sounds nice. I like that feedback. I didn't get the part but I'm a very sophisticated person.'" she continued. "And then I found out later they actually said old." Olivia insisted the woman who beat her out for the part did a great job: "I thought she kicked so much ass in that movie." She also had no trouble finding a silver lining about being passed over. "It shows that if you don't get something… it might lead to something else," she said. It's not confirmed whether it was Margot's role, but it certainly looks that way as there aren't that many female parts in the movie.

Kaley Cuoco is married and what a wedding! On Saturday night, the Big Bang Theory star wed fellow equestrian Karl Cook in a glamorous ceremony at Cook’s Pomponio horse ranch in Southern California. The bride wore a white sleeveless lace Reem Acra gown with a matching cape to the outdoor ceremony and a white lace plunging Tadashi Shoji jumpsuit to the reception, which was held indoors under a two-story tent and continued well into the early morning. “Their initials were painted on the lawn, on personal fans for each guest, on the food, on little bourbon bottles for guests and on the favors, which were tequila and shot glasses,” said of the guests. “They had horseshoes all over the place and they walked through the stables and by the horses to walk down the aisle.”

It is usually seen as a good thing when exes are able to remain amicable after their divorce, most notably Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who have been spotted together with their kids on many occasions after their split. Lindsay Shookus, his current girlfriend, doesn’t see their friendliness as a good thing as OK! has exclusively reported that she gave him an ultimatum about their relationship during a dramatic showdown in Hawaii recently. An insider claimed that Lindsay started to feel unsettled about their year-long relationship after she heard of a secret sleepover in early March between Ben and Jen at the California home they once shared with their children Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. Lindsay, who has a 5-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, “understands that Ben needs to be there for his children,” says the source, “but she found it strange that he went to the marital home and spent the night.” Even though she tried to brush off his overnight stay, she couldn’t shake the feeling that “every time things seem to be going well, something happens to remind her that Jen and the kids come first,” according to the source. Lindsay decided to move past Ben’s indiscretion by flying to Hawaii where he is filming the upcoming movie Triple Frontier. The two enjoyed some quality time together before Jen decided to show up with their children, which brought Lindsay right back to reality. “Jen and the kids stayed in a hotel, but when she showed up to Ben’s rental, Lindsay was furious,” the source claimed. “She ultimately blew up at Ben, telling him she’s confused about his intentions and yelling, ‘It’s either her or me!’” It seemed his response was not so reassuring. The source said that although Ben is not reconciling with his wife, he did indicate how proud he is of how hard they work at their relationship, and that he’ll always choose Jen’s wishes for their family over everything else. The source also claims that Ben is sober, healthy, and “in a really good place” minus the tension with Lindsay. For her part, the source adds, “Lindsay gets that there will be holidays and birthdays to share, but Ben and Jen’s friendship is unnerving.” Is Lindsay in the right here regarding Ben’s relationship with his ex, or is she overreacting? Sound off in the comments.

Independence Day director Roland Emmerich sent shockwaves through Hollywood when he declared that the film's star Will Smith was “too expensive and too much of a marquee name” to star in the sequel, scheduled to come out in 2015. Emmerich had previously declared that it would be impossible to do a sequel without Smith. The about-turn, announced while Emmerich was promoting his new film, White House Down, this week, is part of a changing of the guard in Hollywood that has seen Smith, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt lose some of their cachet. The announcement also comes just as Hollywood has seemingly deemed it no longer needs its three biggest male stars to launch blockbuster movies. The knives had been sharpened for Pitt when zombie thriller World War Z was being designated a megaflop even before it hit cinemas. With a budget rumoured to be in excess of $400m (£260m) including marketing, it was being touted as this year's John Carter. When the sci-fi adventure bombed last summer Disney boss Rich Ross resigned from his post; the film reputedly lost $200m. The worry was that Pitt's name alone could not sell the picture. In the end, the opening weekend saw the Pitt film take home more than $60m at the American box office and $117m worldwide. The dire pre-release predictions meant that what were in modern blockbuster terms quite ordinary numbers were painted as a success, with suggestions there might be a sequel. While on the surface the numbers looked good for Pitt they did not quite mask the new reality in Hollywood that views star-vehicle blockbusters as a risky commodity. Monsters University, an animation film from Pixar, beat World War Z to top spot in the box office. Other films released this year with production costs in the $200m budget range, such as Man of Steel and Iron Man, opened with weekends garnering well over $100m in the US alone. The mixed critical reaction of the zombie thriller could also see the WWZ box office plummet in the way that Man of Steel faltered in its second week. For now Pitt has at least avoided the box-office curse that afflicted his contemporaries earlier this year. It seems laughable to talk about the former Fresh Prince having to rebuild his castle because After Earth “only” took $27m on its opening weekend. But to film trade magazine Variety it was a “crash landing”. There were numerous reasons why, none of which looks good for Smith. Since the 1996 release of Independence Day, every Smith summer movie has debuted at No 1 at the American box office. But After Earth came third, behind Fast and Furious 6, on its second week of release and, even more surprisingly, Now You See Me, a heist movie starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Ruffalo. The number is also bad when comparing like with like. Of Smith's previous films, the gross is more in line with his low-budgeted dramas such as The Pursuit of Happyness than blockbuster titles Men in Black and Hancock. All this points to why financiers believing there is no upside in paying Smith a small fortune for the Independence Day sequel. Tom Cruise seemed to be back on track when Oblivion opened with a more than respectable $38m first weekend. That was the second highest opening for a Cruise vehicle outside of the Mission: Impossible franchise and followed years of diminishing returns from the likes of Jack Reacher, Rock of Ages, Valkyrie and Knight and Day. But that was where the good news ended. Word of mouth was bad and audiences tumbled to such an extent that Oblivion is yet another Cruise effort to not score blockbuster numbers in America. When not playing Ethan Hunt, the last Cruise-led film to break the $100m barrier was 2005's War of the Worlds. It's commonly asserted that the start of Cruise's demise was his couch-jumping proclamation of love for Katie Holmes on Oprah. Yet Cruise can argue that his box-office average has remained high since. But take away the Mission: Impossible franchise and the numbers are bleak. Before 2005 every Cruise film for a number of years made more than $100m. The fact is that these box-office figures for Oblivion, After Earth and World War Z would look amazing if the budgets for these movies were not north of $100m before marketing costs. Once you add the cut that cinema chains and home-video outlets take on revenue, movies need to make many times their budget to start being considered a success. Studios need a blockbuster film to pull in nearly $1bn theatrical, another $1bn on DVD and a good, multi-year sale on television for a $200m picture to be deemed a success. Indeed, the high cost of releasing films is making film-makers sweat at both ends of the budget scale. Steven Soderbergh said he had to make Behind the Candelabra for HBO as the budget of the film was $5m, but the marketing needed for an American release is a minimum of $70m – numbers that don't make sense. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, speaking recently at the University of Southern California, predicted that there would be an “implosion” in the film industry and only big-budget superhero movies would make it to the cinemas and cost $50 to see, while low-budget dramas would be made for ever smaller budgets and go straight to the small screen. Compounding the stars' misery is their ageing audience. Three-quarters of the spectators for Oblivion that first weekend were over 25. Younger audiences and families opted for Monsters University over World War Z. While Hollywood has increasingly been more forgiving about middle-aged male action stars there has always been a tipping point where it becomes far more of a stretch to believe that they are taking on the world single-handedly. Presently that tipping point seems to come at around 50. Cruise was born in Syracuse, New York in 1962. Oklahoma-born Brad Pitt will turn 50 this year. Will Smith, the youngest of the trio, is 44, but the Philadelphia native has nearly always banked on audiences buying into his youthful exuberance as a key selling factor. Pitt is the curiosity of the current trio fighting against the sands of time. His box office has never been of blockbuster proportions. The big franchise of his career has been the Oceans trilogy, which had numerous stars to share the burden. His stardom has come from public perception and high-profile relationships. But add up the American box office of his last three films, Killing Them Softly, Moneyball and The Tree of Life, and the total gross is less than what Benjamin Button took home. World War Z is his big attempt at venturing into blockbuster territory and, while the raw numbers gave Pitt his highest grossing opening weekend, they are not blockbuster and it seems that he has gambled a decade too late. The three are such big stars that they even run their own production companies – Pitt runs Plan B, Smith chairs Overbrook and Cruise founded Cruise/Wagner Productions. They call the shots on their movies, hiring directors, working on the scripts and picking projects. Pitt staked his star name that he could turn Max Brooks's novel into the start of a franchise. The jury is still out. Studios now have more control over their product when stars are not involved. This is especially true of superhero movies. The exception that proves the rule came recently when Robert Downey Jr caused a ripple by threatening to stop playing Iron Man. The studio dithered, no doubt knowing they could save a fortune by letting him go. Fans balked and the studio relented. A hefty payday will see him star in Avengers 2 and 3, a comic-book ensemble that doesn't need Downey Jr in it to guarantee bums on seats. A caveat is that the appeal of the stars seems to have not been so diminished in foreign markets, especially nascent territories such as China and Russia. There has been a big shift in Hollywood studios' attitudes in the last 10 years as the takings from foreign markets have started to dwarf those of domestic audiences. So while After Earth was deemed to have bombed in America, foreign takings a week later softened the crash landing. The reaction of Cruise and Smith to their box-office numbers suggest they are in consolidation mode. Cruise has abandoned plans to star in an adaptation of 60s TV show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and announced that he's making a 5th instalment of Mission: Impossible. There's also talk that he's considering turning Jerry Maguire into a TV show. Will Smith has been on American talk shows downplaying the weak opening of After Earth and, while talking about looking for more risks in his choices and moving away from blockbusters, he has also been rumoured to be preparing for sequels of Bad Boys, I, Robot and Hancock. Although his Men in Black franchise has seen each sequel make less money than predecessors. The stars are following the studios in relying on their best-known characters to sell their movies. What's intriguing is that there seem to be no successors to Cruise, Pitt and Smith. The recent huge blockbuster franchises have been superhero movies, Batman and Spider-Man, or ensembles based on books, Harry Potter, Twilight and Lord of the Rings. It's hard to imagine Christian Bale breaking box-office records outside of the bat-suit. The summer blockbusters have evolved away from being star vehicles as studios have hit on a formula where they can call the shots. That's bad news for the non-tights-wearing action star.

There were plenty of Heavenly Bodies at last night's Met Gala, but there was no divine intervention quite like Nicki Minaj and Cardi B joining forces and hanging out inside the event. After months and months of feud rumors and alleged shade, the female rappers shared a moment (and even snapped a few selfies) at last night's fashion event. Inside the Met, the two were photographed mid-conversation as Moschino designer Jeremy Scott (who was Cardi B's date) watched on like a proud dad. You can practically hear Cardi saying, "okurrrrrt?" through this photo: Getty Images Later in the night, Nicki and Cardi even posed together for a group selfie. Cardi B and Nicki Minaj seen catching up inside the #MetGala . pic.twitter.com/TSfDvUqg9F — Karen Civil (@KarenCivil) May 8, 2018 Of course, the internet completely lost it upon seeing the duo chatting at the Met Gala. Within minutes, Twitter was hard at work crafting the greatest comparisons of the rappers' conversation. One user pointed out that the meet-up was basically a recreation of the 1435 painting, "Visitation", by Jacques Daret. And well, he's not entirely wrong... Nicki Minaj, Jeremy Scott and Cardi B at the 2018 #MetGala / "Visitation", from Altarpiece of the Virgin (St Vaast Altarpiece) by Jacques Daret, c. 1435 pic.twitter.com/V5MKBYoxvu — rei (extra festive) (@thereimond) May 8, 2018 Another compared the moment to an iconic scene from the Disney movie, The Emperor's New Groove: This is tooooo accurate 😂😂 Nicki and Cardi I love you both ❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/dkr7BWJVAy — 🌻Nov🧡 (@Dangers_Place) May 8, 2018 And then, there was a long list of people who simply could not maintain their chill at the sight of the rappers together: Now all we need is a Nicki x Cardi collab track, please and thank you. Okurrrrt?

Get celebs updates directly to your inbox Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Kylie Jenner won't let being a mom stop her being sexy. The 20-year-old, who shares baby Stormi with boyfriend Travis Scott , proved once and for all that she's still got it as she posed up in nothing but a white swimsuit. In a pair of pictures she posted on Instagram, Kylie, who recently ditched her lip fillers, gives the camera a sultry gaze as she shows off her curves. "Good morning," the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star captioned the sexy snaps, and her fans couldn't get enough. (Image: Splash News) In the first picture, lip kit mogul Kylie lies on her side in the white swimsuit, which features mesh detailing on the body and mesh sleeves. She clasps her hands together, revealing a neutral shade on her famous talons, as she stares into the lens. Her lips are noticeably smaller after she got rid of her fillers and her brunette locks flop over onto the bed with her nude lips and brown eyeshadow giving her a much more natural look. In the second snap, Kylie lies on her back with her eyes closed and her hands placed on top of her head. "In love w/ you," one fan commented. While another said: "Ok these are hot babe " (Image: Instagram/kyliejenner) Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now "QUEEN," one dubbed her. And another said: "what a babe!! Loving this look" It comes after fans came up with some bizarre theories about why she decided to stop getting lip injections to plump up her pout. Some fans have a wild theory that she's got rid of her fillers and stopped using fake tan in order to look more 'Asian'. And some trolls think it's because there was some overlap in her relationship with Tyga, who is of Vietnamese descent, and her current boyfriend Travis. They think that Kylie is trying to make herself look more like Stormi in a bid to stop people questioning who her father is. (Image: Getty) (Image: kyliejenner/instagram) One troll wrote on Twitter: "EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT KYLIE 'S HALF ASIAN BABY IS BY TYGA, WHO IS HALF ASIAN..." Kylie's mum Kris Jenner was forced to swing into action after Tyga took to Snapchat when news of her pregnancy broke, alleging, "hell nah that's my kid." The couple split in April 2017 but were rumoured to have still been sleeping together around the time she fell pregnant. But the rumours were dismissed by the famous family as "silly". And soon afterwards, Tyga backtracked on it. "I didn’t comment on anything, I didn’t comment on anything, it was a fake story. It’s all a fake story," he told Metro.

David Cassidy, the teen heartthrob star of the hit "The Partridge Family" who went on to have a long show business career although he battled alcoholism later in life, is dead, his publicist said Tuesday. He was 67. Cassidy died surrounded by his family, his publicist said. Cassidy's nephew tweeted that he didn't think "I'm alone in saying that we will all miss him." My uncle David Cassidy has sadly passed away tonight... & in the process of mourning I can't help but thank God for the joy that he brought to countless millions of people! I don't think I'm alone in saying that we will all miss him. God Speed! — Jack Cassidy (@jackgcassidy) November 22, 2017 Cassidy said in February that he was suffering from dementia. "I was in denial, but a part of me always knew this was coming," he told People magazine about his diagnosis. His mother had suffered from the disease. Cassidy was born in 1950 to singer and actor Jack Cassidy and actress Evelyn Ward. His big break came at age 20 when he nabbed the role of Keith Partridge, one of the singing kids of "The Partridge Family," alongside his real-life stepmother Shirley Jones. The show centered around a widow and her five children who traveled the country in a psychedelically-painted school bus. It ran from 1970-74, providing a feel-good, family show as the country struggled to find its footing after the tumultuous 1960s. While "The Partridge Family" was never a huge hit in the ratings, the show excelled in tie-ins and producing hit songs. The theme song "Come On, Get Happy" became a hit, and the cast would later go on to make ten albums, all of which sold more than 1 million copies. This 1970 photo released by courtesy of Sony Pictures Television shows, back row, from left, cast members, Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, David Cassidy, Susan Dey, and front row, from left, Brian Forster, Danny Bonaduce and Suzanne Crough of the television series, "The Partridge Family." AP And Cassidy was the biggest star of them all. He went solo in 1971, with his song "Cherish," becoming a No. 1 hit. He had pop-star good looks and the 1970s trademark shaggy hair, helping fuel his teen idol status. He posed shirtless on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1972 with the headline "Naked Lunch Box." He tried to reject his "bubble-gum" image, talking about his drug use ("not smack, but grass and speed and psychedelics"). Cassidy sold out Madison Square Garden in one day and toured internationally. But at London's White City Stadium, a 14-year-old girl was killed in a stampede when the 35,000 crowd surged forward when he appeared on stage. One ambulance man said the scene reminded him of the Blitz, according to The Independent. By the end of 1974, "The Partridge Family" had ended and Cassidy quit touring, ending his days as a pop star. He eventually climbed back to the Top 40 with the 1990's "Lyin' to Myself." Singer David Cassidy and wife Susan attend Rolling Stone Magazine's 1000th cover celebration on May 4, 2006, in New York. Getty He continued to act, receiving an Emmy nomination for his role in "Police Story" in 1978. He starred in the short-lived series, "David Cassidy: Man Undercover" in 1978. He also took a turn at Broadway in a critically acclaimed role in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in 1982. He appeared as one of the contestants on "Celebrity Apprentice," although he was one of the first to be fired in 2011. Later in life, Cassidy struggled with alcoholism and money troubles. He said he began drinking in 2002, and he was arrested several times for DUIs and sent through several rehab stints. He told CNN in 2014 that he was an alcoholic. A month after his January 2014 arrest, his wife, Sue Shifrin-Cassidy, filed for divorce. He filed for bankruptcy in February 2015 and gave a bizarre interview on Britain's "This Morning" where he was accused of "delusion" and "rudeness." Eventually, he publicly announced he was suffering from dementia after he forgot the lyrics to some of his songs onstage. He said he wanted to focus on health and happiness for the remainder of his life. "I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I've been without any distractions," he told People. "I want to love. I want to enjoy life."

Forget that wide smile and friendly demeanor. RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively Ellen DeGeneres’ reputation as the “Queen of Nice” is total sham! “Ellen’s public image is that of a sweetie who’s nice to everyone and is a real pussycat,” a source spilled. “But when the cameras aren’t rolling, she treats staffers as if they are her peasants!” The talk show host, 59, allows only a few people to even speak to her, and staffers are expected to turn their backs when she walks by, dished an on-set spy. PHOTOS: Material Girl! 13 Of Madonna’s Behind-The-Scenes Diva Demands At ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ Revealed “No one is allowed to engage Ellen in conversation or even look her in the eye!” the insider revealed. “She doesn’t even brief the staff about the show anymore!” Insiders claim DeGeneres’ ego is so out of control that when one of her producers was recently asked if she’d support a charity, he said, “Ellen doesn’t work with charities. She IS a big charity!” The Finding Dory star — whose estimated net worth is a staggering $360 million — is also very manipulative, according to on-set insiders. “She picks and chooses people to be nice to when it’s to her advantage,” the insider spilled. “She’ll invite some staffers to fun outings and purposely exclude others to create tension, jealousy and hurt feelings.” PHOTOS: Pampered Pair! Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi Feather Their $40 Million L.A. Love Nest With A Luxe Indoor Spa Trouble in the talkers’ marriage to Aussie beauty Portia de Rossi, 44, can also trigger an eruption, sources said. “If she’s going through a rough spot with Portia, people really have to duck and cover,” an insider snitched. What’s more, DeGeneres is an absolute perfectionist who explodes over the tiniest things, according to another source. “One time, a loose thread was hanging off her slacks. Ellen noticed it when she was about to go on air and started screaming about how no one had told her,” said the source. “Then, instead of just tearing off the thread, Ellen demanded a whole new pair of slacks! PHOTOS: Ellen Degeneres Buys Brad Pitt’s Ocean Front Pad “Staffers never know what she’ll go off on, or who she’ll target. It’s like walking on eggshells.” Does the truth about Ellen surprise you? Let us know in the comments section. We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at 800-344-9598 any time, day or night.

Caitlyn Jenner is the queen of shocking fans and her latest announcement will certainly blow your mind. A new report claims that the reality star is planning on adopting a baby boy! Caitlyn Jenner, 66, is no doubt loving her new life, but something seems to be missing. The transgender reality star is reportedly expanding her family and is adopting a baby boy. That’s not all. She plans to bring the little one home with the help of another woman! “She is going to adopt and is leaning toward a little boy,” a source told In Touch. That’s not all. Caitlyn is looking to raise a little one with her bestie Candis Cayne, 44. “Caitlyn and Candis have thought about adopting an older child because there are a lot of trans kids whose parents have turned away, or who have run away from home. But the ideal scenario is a baby. Being a mom is Caitlyn’s dream.” Unfortunately, not everyone in her family is on board with this idea — especially Kris Jenner said the insider. “Caitlyn all of a sudden thinking she can be a mom is beyond belief. Everyone is scratching their heads over this one. Kris says Caitlyn adopting a baby is not only ridiculous but a shameful grab for attention — and Kris knows about getting attention.” To hear more about Caitlyn Jenner, head over to iTunes and download the latest HollywoodLife podcast for free! The source also revealed that “Kris is 60 and the last night she would ever want to do again is raise a child. Kris wonders how Caitlyn is going to raise a child now when she barely raised her own kids when she was Bruce — because Bruce wasn’t a hands-on dad unless it involved fun sports stuff.” Well, regardless, we hope Cait continues to help young kids who are struggling with their own transitions. Since coming out as transgender in 2015, Caitlyn has been deemed an important figure in the fight against LGBTQIA rights. HollywoodLifers — do you think Caitlyn is going to adopt a baby? Tell us below!

This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman was getting ready — brushing his teeth while listening to the nominations on his wife's cell phone — as he prepared to head back to work on episode two of the NBC drama's sophomore season when he learned of his show's multiple mentions. The time-jumping family drama scored 11 total nominations — including best drama series, the first time a broadcast series has cracked the category since 2011. "The emails are flying!" Fogelman told THR early Thursday. "We're so busy right now that there's not a lot of time to think … the feed was freezing and we didn't quite understand what was happening. People were texting us ahead of us understanding what was going on!" Fogelman noted that the way This Is Us is filmed — with members of the family working together in different scenes at any given time and not a lot of group scenes — will make getting the whole group together to celebrate complicated. "There hasn't been a lot of planning! I need to figure out how to get everyone together in some way — I've never done this before!" the first-time nominee enthused. The busy producer was on his way to film on location Thursday and planned to find a way to head to the show's L.A. set to celebrate properly with the production. One thing that wasn't lost on Fogelman: how challenging it is for programming that is both sentimental and heartfelt to cut through a cluttered landscape filled with dark dramas and anti-heroes. "Normally if you have a sentiment in your show it's not in the same conversation as darker fare, and if you have sentiment and comedy? That's even more dangerous," he said, crediting stars including fellow nominees Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown and Chrissy Metz, among others, for helping to elevate the content with serious performances. "You actually feel like you're watching something more weighty than it may be because the actors are so good. That's why our show was able to cut through multiple conversations: it's popular and critical." As for what to expect when the 18-episode second season returns in the fall, Fogelman and company plan to lean deeper into the family's drama. "The family has big stories this season. The first season laid out the logistics of the family and in the second season, we're able to dig deeper. We're doing heavy duty stuff to understand the separation between Chrissy and Mandy Moore's mother and daughter and why they feel so distant from each other. Each progressive season will be more intimate and explore more inside these relationships." — Lesley Goldberg