Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (2024)

Table of Contents
Kirstie Alley, Emmy-winning 'Cheers' star, dies at 71 Photos: Kirstie Alley through the years (1951-2022) N.C. woman says she found out she had full-grown baby inside her 1 day before delivering. How? ‘There’s a baby in there’ Bob McGrath, 'Sesame Street' legend, dies at 90 Brad William Henke, 'Orange Is the New Black' actor and ex-NFL player, dies at 56 Photos: Notable Deaths in 2022 Angela Lansbury Loretta Lynn Queen Elizabeth II Olivia Newton-John Nichelle Nichols Bill Russell Sidney Poitier James Caan Naomi Judd Jerry Lee Lewis Bob Saget Leslie Jordan Anne Heche 2022: Meat Loaf Coolio Taylor Hawkins Robbie Coltrane Madeleine Albright Mikhail Gorbachev Ivana Trump Gilbert Gottfried Howard Hesseman Larry Storch Emilio Delgado Louie Anderson Estelle Harris Liz Sheridan Ray Liotta Paul Sorvino Tony Sirico Fred Ward Vin Scully Hilary Mantel Ash Carter Ken Starr Bernard Shaw Len Dawson David McCullough Pat Carroll Tony Dow Shinzo Abe Philip Baker Hall Sonny Barger Orrin Hatch Luicanne Goldberg Bob Lanier Mickey Gilley Ronnie Spector Bobby Rydell William Hurt Claes Oldenburg Tony Siragusa Scott Hall Mike Bossy Guy Lafleur André Leon Talley Peter Bogdanovich Ivan Reitman Vangelis John Clayton Bobbie Nelson Louise Fletcher Sacheen Littlefeather Eileen Ryan Jean-Luc Godard Art Laboe Judy Tenuta Pharoah Sanders James A. McDivitt Sally Kellerman Marilyn Bergman Manfred Thierry Mugler Gaspard Ulliel Dan Reeves Don Maynard Don Young Michael Lang Lawrence N. Brooks Charles McGee Tom Parker Shirley Spork Rayfield Wright Charley Taylor Tommy Davis Bill Fitch Robert Morse Dede Robertson Robert Krueger Johnnie A. Jones Sr. Gary Brooker Brent Renaud Ronnie Hawkins Andy Fletcher Ann Turner Cook Dwayne Hickman Mark Shields James Rado Bruton Smith Marlin Briscoe Vernon Winfrey William “Poogie” Hart David Warner Issey Miyake Bert Fields Melissa Bank Albert Woodfox Barbara Ehrenreich Aaron Carter John Aniston Gallagher Takeoff Julie Powell Jeff Cook Kevin Conroy Keke Palmer announces pregnancy on SNL, Kanye West alleges Kim Kardashian cheated, and more celeb news Keke Palmer drops pregnancy bombshell on Saturday Night Live Keke Palmer drops pregnancy bombshell on Saturday Night Live Kanye West claims he 'caught' Kim Kardashian with NBA player Chris Paul Kanye West claims he 'caught' ex-wife Kim Kardashian with NBA player Chris Paul Christine McVie was dreaming of rejoining 'Fleetwood Mac' Christine McVie was dreaming of rejoining 'Fleetwood Mac' before her death *** Get more recent celeb news here: Celeb news for the week of Nov. 28 Chloe Fineman: 'I get why Pete Davidson is so attractive to women' Shania Twain flattened breasts as teen to avoid stepfather's sexual abuse Dua Lipa thinks women have been blocked from exploring 'sexual and feminine' sides Leonardo DiCaprio keeps up party-hopping to celebrate Art Basel Miami's 20th year Pele insists he is 'full of energy' amid cancer fight Drake postpones New York shows for second time Sigourney Weaver channelled teenage self into new Avatar role Angelina Jolie slams Brad Pitt's 'frivolous' lawsuit Dame Helen Mirren was intimidated by Harrison Ford Kate Winslet doesn't 'spoil' her kids Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon's cosy dinner dates at his new pad Ellie Goulding's chronic anxiety so severe she needs to 'numb' herself Axl Rose ending 30-year microphone throwing stage stunt Duke of Sussex dressed as Spider-Man in Christmas video for bereaved military children Nick Cannon hospitalised with pneumonia Aerosmith axe Vegas gig due to Steven Tyler battling mysterious illness Bella Thorne praises Elon Musk for Kanye Twitter ban Taylor Swift fans sue Ticketmaster Ryan Reynolds: Superhero films are easier than musicals! King Charles hailed for his impressive work ethic Britney Spears posts loving message about estranged sister Sally Field names Burt Reynolds as 'worst' on-screen kiss. Cara Delevingne battles to be open about her sexuality Stormzy beats Sir Cliff Richard to land third No 1 album Rita Ora insists she's definitely not 'Becky with the good hair' William Shatner says trees are intelligent beings with feelings Britney Spears 'marries herself' in bizarre Instagram post Billy Porter receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame Ben Affleck takes aim at Netflix for 'assembly line process' of making films Adam Sandler doubts he will star in a film franchise Stranger Things star David Harbour cried at the script for his new movie Ashanti claims producer asked her to shower with him Naya Rivera confronted Heather Morris over eating disorder Title confirmed for Indiana Jones 5 Neil Gaiman to voice talking mongoose in Nandor Fodor Melanie C is friends with pop icon Billie Eilish Drew Barrymore is dating again Frank Vallelonga Jr found dead Keshia Knight Pulliam is pregnant Vince Vaughn has a 'fun idea' for Dodgeball sequel Home Alone voted UK's favourite Christmas film of all time Mel B: 'James Corden is one of biggest d***heads in showbiz' 'Squid Game' actor O Yeong-su to stand trial on indecent assault charges Elvis Presley's private plane up for auction Toby Keith looking to the future despite 'debilitating' cancer battle Brad William Henke dead at 56 Queen Elizabeth's former lady-in-waiting 'has offered to meet race row charity campaigner' Kanye West has 'love' for Hitler Hilaria Baldwin recalls screaming and crying when she suffered miscarriage at 16 weeks Shakira and ex Gerard Piqué formalise child custody agreement in court Tom Felton welcomes new addition to family Nobody gets out of bearing their cross, says Will Smith Trailer drops for Duke and Duchess of Sussex's docuseries Donald Trump’s company found guilty of tax fraud in scheme hatched by top executives Q&A: What's next for the Trump Organization? What were Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization accused of doing? Is Allen Weisselberg still the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization? Why did Allen Weisselberg decide to take a plea deal? What are the terms of Allen Weisselberg's plea deal? Will the Trump Organization also take a plea deal? What does the Trump organization actually do? What does this mean for Donald Trump? LGBTQ students wrestle with tensions at Christian colleges States that collect the most in property taxes 50 historical photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor 50 historical photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor Dems hold 51-49 Senate majority following Raphael Warnock's victory in Georgia runoff Warnock defeats Walker in Georgia runoff Meet the history-makers of the 2022 midterm elections Maura Healey Katie Britt Maxwell Frost Wes Moore Sarah Huckabee Sanders Becca Balint Alex Padilla Markwayne Mullin Robert Garcia Kathy Hochul Marcy Kaptur Summer Lee Shri Thanedar Leslie Rutledge Shirley Weber Rob Bonta Aruna Miller Anthony Brown Andrea Campbell Austin Davis Zelenskyy, spirit of Ukraine named 2022 TIME Person of the Year A look at every Time 'Person of the Year' since 1927 1927: Charles Lindbergh 1928: Walter Chrysler 1929: Owen D. Young 1930: Mahatma Gandhi 1931: Pierre Laval 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933: Hugh S. Johnson 1934: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1935: Haile Selassie 1936: Wallis Simpson 1937: Chiang Kai-shek Soong Mei-ling 1938: Adolf Hitler 1939: Joseph Stalin 1940: Winston Churchill 1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt 1942: Joseph Stalin 1943: George Marshall 1944: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1945: Harry S. Truman 1946: James F. Byrnes 1947: George Marshall 1948: Harry S. Truman 1949: Winston Churchill 1950: The American fighting-man 1951: Mohammed Mossadegh 1952: Queen Elizabeth II 1953: Konrad Adenauer 1954: John Foster Dulles 1955: Harlow H. Curtice 1956: The Hungarian freedom fighter 1957: Nikita Khrushchev 1958: Charles de Gaulle 1959: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1960: U.S. Scientists 1961: John F. Kennedy 1962: Pope John XXIII 1963: Martin Luther King Jr. 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson 1965: William C. Westmoreland 1966: 'The Inheritor' (Baby Boomers, who were anyone under 25 years old at the time) 1967: Lyndon B. Johnson 1968: The Apollo 8 astronauts 1969: The Middle Americans 1970: Willy Brandt 1971: Richard Nixon 1972: Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon 1973: John Sirica 1974: King Faisal 1975: American women 1976: Jimmy Carter 1977: Anwar Sadat 1978: Deng Xiaoping 1979: Ruhollah Khomeini 1980: Ronald Reagan 1981: Lech Walesa 1982: The Computer 1983: Yuri V. Andropov and Ronald Reagan 1984: Peter Ueberroth 1985: Deng Xiaoping 1986: Corazon Aquino 1987: Mikhail Gorbachev 1988: The Endangered Earth 1989: Mikhail Gorbachev 1990: George H. W. Bush 1991: Ted Turner 1992: Bill Clinton 1993: The Peacemakers 1994: Pope John Paul II 1995: Newt Gingrich 1996: David Ho 1997: Andrew Grove 1998: Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr 1999: Jeff Bezos 2000: George W. Bush 2001: Rudy Giuliani 2002: The Whistleblowers 2003: The American soldier 2004: George W. Bush 2005: The Good Samaritans 2006: You 2007: Vladimir Putin 2008: Barack Obama 2009: Ben Bernanke 2010: Mark Zuckerberg 2011: The Protester 2012: Barack Obama 2013: Pope Francis 2014: Ebola fighters 2015: Angela Merkel 2016: Donald Trump 2017: The Silence Breakers 2018: The Guardians 2019: Greta Thunberg 2020: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris 2021: Elon Musk 2022: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Supreme Court will keep student loan cancellation blocked for now, but agrees to hear case in early 2023 Related to this collection References

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more

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From the past week's loss of stars like Kirstie Alley and Bob McGrath, to a roundup of the year in photos, here are the top stories from the past week.

Kirstie Alley, Emmy-winning 'Cheers' star, dies at 71

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kirstie Alley, who won an Emmy for her role on "Cheers" and starred in films including "Look Who's Talking," died Monday. She was 71.

Alley died of cancer that was only recently discovered, her children True and Lillie Parker said in a post on Twitter. Alley's manager Donovan Daughtry confirmed the death in an email to The Associated Press.

Keep scrolling for a gallery of photos from the life of Kirstie Alley

"As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother," her children's statement said.

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She starred opposite Ted Danson as Rebecca Howe on "Cheers," the beloved NBC sitcom about a Boston bar, from 1987 to 1993. She joined the show at the height of its popularity after the departure of original star Shelley Long.

Alley would win an Emmy for best lead actress in a comedy series for the role in 1991. She would take a second Emmy for best lead actress in a miniseries or television movie in 1993 for playing the title role in the CBS TV movie "David's Mother."

She had her own sitcom on the network, "Veronica's Closet," from 1997 to 2000.

In the 1989 comedy "Look Who's Talking," which gave her a major career boost, she played the mother of a baby who's inner thoughts were voiced by Bruce Willis. She would also appear in the 1990 sequel "Look Who's Talking Too."

John Travolta, her co-star in both films, paid her tribute in an Instagram post.

"Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I've ever had," Travolta said, along with a photo of Alley. "I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again."

She would play a fictionalized version of herself in the 2005 Showtime series "Fat Actress," a show that drew comedy from her public and media treatment over her weight gain and loss.

And in recent years she appeared on several reality shows, including "Dancing With the Stars."

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Alley attended Kansas State University before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles.

Her first television appearances were as a game show contestant, on "The Match Game" in 1979 and Password" in 1980.

She made her film debut in 1982's "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan."

Photos: Kirstie Alley through the years (1951-2022)

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N.C. woman says she found out she had full-grown baby inside her 1 day before delivering. How?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It almost sounds like a riddle.

How is it possible for a 43-year-old woman to be sitting here in her living room holding a 1-month-old girl who came out of her womb — even though, just one month and one day ago, this same woman had no idea she’d been growing a tiny human inside of her?

We’re not talking about a preemie, either. We’re talking about a 7-pound, 20-inch-long infant, carried by Erin O’Malley of Charlotte, North Carolina, to a full-term, 40-week pregnancy.

All this in spite of the fact that, for most of her life, she believed she was unable to bear children.

“I really didn’t know,” Erin says, as the dark-brown-haired baby she named Lennox “Lenni” Mae cries up at her. Erin is reflecting on the blindsiding news she received on the morning of Oct. 12, roughly 18 hours before she gave birth via emergency C-section at Novant Health Matthews Medical Center. And, since she seems to feel like those four words are hard for others to swallow, she repeats them.

“I really didn’t know. I definitely was not trying to hide it in any kind of way. So it’s not like I was trying to keep it a secret so nobody knew — you know, I’m not a teenager. I’m relatively intelligent. I can accept a lot of things in my life,” she says, chuckling. “I just did not know. In any way.”

Which, once more, begs the question: How?

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Her younger sister, Amber Mengering, says Erin was born to be a mother.

As the oldest Mengering sibling, Erin helped take care of her two younger sisters and her younger brother for years. But also, Amber says, Erin “pretty much helped to raise every cousin, niece, nephew ... because she’s the oldest grandchild in our family. ... She helped with everybody. And she has been babysitting since she was 6 or 7 years old. So she’s always been a carer, taking care of others.”

And from a young age, Erin dreamed of being a mom. The universe, however, seemed to have other plans for her.

When she was 16 years old, Erin was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. More commonly known as PCOS, it’s a hormonal and metabolic disorder that is one of the most common causes of female infertility and affects 6% to 12% of women in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s also treatable, and women who suffer from PCOS can get pregnant — sometimes naturally, sometimes with assistance.

But Erin’s interpretation of her doctor’s diagnosis at the time was that it was highly unlikely for her.

Still, she tried. Before her husband died in 2010 due to complications related to sickle-cell anemia, Erin actually got pregnant twice. Both times, she miscarried very early on.

So she’s found her calling in other ways. For the past several years, she’s essentially made a living as a professional babysitter, providing child care for a number of Charlotte families out of her home. Then in 2019, Erin gained full custody of her nephew Mateo and her niece Eva (whom Erin calls Oona, which is Eva’s middle name). They were toddlers at the time, and Erin took on the responsibility of raising them in place of her sister Donna, who was fighting a years-long struggle with addiction, mental-health issues and run-ins with the law.

The small hole in her heart was still there, though. “I’ve raised kids, and I have kids,” Erin says, sighing. “But they’re not mine. And so it’s not the same thing. … That’s always been lacking.”

On Oct. 11 of last year, Donna lost that battle with her demons at the age of just 35.

As Erin worked her way through immense grief in late 2021 and early 2022, she says she came to fully accept her lot in life: “‘This is what you were meant to do. You were supposed to be there for them,’ and ... trying to accept that for myself. ‘This is as close to mothering as I’m going to get.’”

The idea of getting pregnant? She “let it go,” she says. “At this point, you know, 40-plus, it’s over. I didn’t think about it. I wasn’t considering it. I certainly wasn’t trying.”

That’s a big reason why — between the time she conceived, probably in early January, and the moment she found out, on Oct. 12 — Erin missed (or at least misinterpreted) every sign.

Other women in Erin’s family had gone through menopause early, so when she started missing her period, Erin just figured it was her turn. She chalked up the soreness in her breasts as a menopause symptom, too.

Because she didn’t have health insurance, she wasn’t in regular consultation with a doctor. But midway through this past spring, she called 911 and was transported to the hospital after suffering an allergy- and asthma-related coughing fit so bad, she says, that “I felt my stomach tear.”

She says the medical staff treated only her cough. Erin diagnosed herself, later, with a hernia, based on the feeling in her stomach and the fact that her belly button would periodically pop out. (Her mother, Karen Mengering, says both of her other daughters had had umbilical hernias, and the family figured it was genetic — and an umbilical hernia can, indeed, cause an “outie” belly button.)

As for her weight, Erin says she actually was losing it.

“Because I wasn’t really eating very much. I could only eat just a little bit at a time, because my stomach would swell,” she recalls. She attributed it, again, to the hernia she thought she had. Erin says she weighed about 230 pounds around the time she went to the hospital in the spring, and that she was at 226 when she walked into a local free medical clinic at the end of September hoping to get help with her stomach issue.

Long story short: A GI specialist referred her to a gynecologist, who referred her to Novant Health Matthews Medical Center for a CT scan and an ultrasound. They wanted her tested for uterine issues, such as tumors, particularly since Erin has a family history of cancer. Neither of the free clinic’s doctors thought to check to see whether she might be pregnant.

Erin and her sister Amber pulled up to the hospital for her 11 a.m. appointment on Oct. 12 thinking it would be quick enough that Amber could just wait in the car, and they could head out straight from there for a trip to Hobby Lobby and lunch.

They never made it to either place.

‘There’s a baby in there’

At first, Erin thought she was going to get the news that no one ever wants to get.

“They did their scouting image,” she recalls, and left suddenly. “I was in there (alone) for a long time. I started to fall asleep. Then finally everybody came back in and he’s like, ‘Ms. O’Malley, um — we found something on your scouting image.’ Which, immediately, my heart sunk.”

Oh, no, she thought. It really IS cancer. They found a tumor so big that they don’t even need the formal scan to see it.

Instead, the doctor said something about a hundred times more shocking: “There’s a baby in there.”

She looked at him as if he had two heads, maybe three, and just said: “No.”

“No, really. There really is,” he told her. “I can see one. It’s pretty clear.”

“No,” Erin repeated. “No, it’s impossible. It’s impossible. NO.”

“I was arguing with him,” she says now, laughing, “for like a good 10, 20 minutes. And everybody’s just standing there surrounding me, staring at me, and I’m like, ‘NOO. NO, NO, NO! It’s IMPOSSIBLE!’ ... I had to literally sit there and think, I conceived when?? Like, I don’t even remember what was going on in December and January.”

She was immediately sent to have the ultrasound, and at some point her mind flashed to it: the time last winter when she was with “somebody I have been very, very close to for years” — though she says a baby is “not something he would have given me on purpose.”

Meanwhile, a pair of nurses started doing the ultrasound. There seemed to be a lot going on, but they were saying virtually nothing.

“They weren’t showing me the picture,” Erin recalls. “Nobody’s telling me how far along I am. If everything’s OK. What’s going on. I was freaking out.”

Next thing she knew, she was upstairs in the hospital’s labor and delivery unit, which is where she was greeted by Novant obstetrician Greg Reynolds. In a figurative sense, she was still trying to pick herself up off the floor after being bowled over by the news; and then Dr. Reynolds knocked her right back onto it.

“I said, ‘Your blood pressure’s up, you’re full-term based on the ultrasound ... it’s time to deliver,’” Dr. Reynolds recalls. “So we admitted her to the hospital and I was like, ‘You’re having a baby!’”

Erin summoned Amber, who came in — and joined Erin in freaking out. Amber summoned their parents, Rex and Karen, who hurried over from their nearby home — and joined their daughters in freaking out.

“Until they actually took her out and I heard her cry, between 4:20 and 4:30 the next morning,” Erin says, “I kept thinking: No, this has gotta be a joke.”

For the 17th time, Erin swears that she didn’t know. Her sister Amber and her mom Karen, they swear it, too.

Dr. Reynolds believes them all.

“It certainly is rare,” says the doctor. “We see it more commonly where someone comes in 20-something weeks and didn’t know they were pregnant ... or someone’s having abdominal pain and goes to the bathroom and has a baby that’s pre-term. ... But I, yeah, certainly don’t recall (anyone) full-term coming in. Certainly not in labor."

Bob McGrath, 'Sesame Street' legend, dies at 90

Bob McGrath, an actor, musician and children's author widely known for his portrayal of one of the first regular characters on the children's show "Sesame Street" has died at the age of 90.

McGrath's passing was confirmed by his family who posted on his Facebook page on Sunday: "The McGrath family has some sad news to share. Our father Bob McGrath, passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family."

Sesame Workshop mourns the passing of Bob McGrath, a beloved member of the Sesame Street family for over 50 years.

1/4 pic.twitter.com/juhlmbHo23

— Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) December 5, 2022

Sesame Workshop tweeted Sunday evening that it "mourns the passing of Bob McGrath, a beloved member of the Sesame Street family for over 50 years."

McGrath was a founding cast member of "Sesame Street" when the show premiered in 1969, playing friendly neighbor Bob Johnson. He made his final appearance on the show in 2017, marking an almost five-decade-long figure in the "Sesame Street" world.

The actor grew up in Illinois and studied music at the University of Michigan and Manhattan School of Music. He also was a singer in the 60s series "Sing Along With Mitch" and launched a successful singing career overseas in Japan.

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"A revered performer worldwide, Bob's rich tenor filled airwaves and concert halls from Las Vegas to Saskatchewan to Tokyo many times over," Sesame Workshop said. "We will be forever grateful for his many years of passionate creative contributions to Sesame Street and honored that he shared so much of his life with us."

He is survived by his wife, Ann Logan Sperry, and their five children.

Brad William Henke, 'Orange Is the New Black' actor and ex-NFL player, dies at 56

Brad William Henke, a veteran character actor known for his work on "Orange Is the New Black" and other series, has died, according to his agent and manager. He was 56.

"Brad Henke was an incredibly kind man of joyous energy. A very talented actor, he loved being a part of this community....and we loved him back," his manager, Matt DelPiano, wrote in a statement shared on Instagram. "Our thoughts are with his wife and family."

Henke "died peacefully in his sleep" on Nov. 29, his agent, Sheree Cohen, told CNN in a statement.

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Born in Columbus, Nebraska, and raised in Littleton, Colorado, he earned a football scholarship to the University of Arizona.

A standout defensive lineman, team captain and All-Academic student journalist, Henke was drafted into the National Football League by the New York Giants in 1989 and eventually made it to the roster for the Denver Broncos and played in Super Bowl XXIV against the San Francisco 49ers.

Repeated injuries led to his retirement from the NFL in 1994.

Henke moved to Los Angeles hoping to break into coaching and instead found himself in front of the camera after he attended an open call for a commercial looking for "big guys."

He was as swift to find work in Hollywood as he was on the field, and he soon racked up dozens of appearances on television series, including "ER," "Silk Stalkings," "Arli$$" and more.

He also landed supporting roles in films like "Space Jam" and "Mr. Wrong."

But it was his breakout role in 2017 playing Desi Piscatella, a gay corrections officer at Litchfield Federal Penitentiary on the hit Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black," which earned him a SAG Award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.

He appeared in more than 40 films like "Bright, Fury," "Me and You and Everyone We Know" and "Choke," the latter of which won a Special Jury Prize for work by an ensemble cast at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Henke opened an acting studio in 2000 in Los Angeles where he helped to guide the careers of other actors.

His outreach to those in his profession also included producing showcases, helping his students land agents and lending his acting abilities to up-and-coming filmmakers, including "Short Term 12" and "Willy's Wonderland."

An avid NFL and UFC fan, he was also a devoted family man who "visited his mother frequently, loved taking his stepson to soccer games and gymnastics and adored his dog, Ruby" according to his agent.

Henke is survived by his mother Tammy, his sister Annette, his wife Sonja, his stepson Aaden, his stepdaughter Leasa and his grandchild Amirah.

Photos: Notable Deaths in 2022

Angela Lansbury

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Loretta Lynn

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Queen Elizabeth II

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Olivia Newton-John

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Nichelle Nichols

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Bill Russell

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Sidney Poitier

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James Caan

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Naomi Judd

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Jerry Lee Lewis

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Bob Saget

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Leslie Jordan

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Anne Heche

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2022: Meat Loaf

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Coolio

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Taylor Hawkins

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Robbie Coltrane

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Madeleine Albright

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Mikhail Gorbachev

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Ivana Trump

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Gilbert Gottfried

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Howard Hesseman

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Larry Storch

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Emilio Delgado

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Louie Anderson

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Estelle Harris

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Liz Sheridan

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Ray Liotta

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Paul Sorvino

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Tony Sirico

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Fred Ward

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Vin Scully

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Hilary Mantel

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Ash Carter

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Ken Starr

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Bernard Shaw

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Len Dawson

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David McCullough

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Pat Carroll

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Tony Dow

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Shinzo Abe

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Philip Baker Hall

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Sonny Barger

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Orrin Hatch

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Luicanne Goldberg

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Bob Lanier

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Keke Palmer announces pregnancy on SNL, Kanye West alleges Kim Kardashian cheated, and more celeb news

Keke Palmer drops pregnancy bombshell on Saturday Night Live

Keke Palmer is pregnant.

Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | Omny Studio

The 29-year-old actress "set the record straight" on speculation she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Darius Jackson by ripping open her jacket to show off her baby bump as she hosted 'Saturday Night Live' for the first time.

During her opening monologue, Keke said: "There's some rumours going around, people have been in my comments saying, 'Keke's having a baby, Keke's pregnant,' and I wanna set the record straight -- I am!

"I gotta say, though, it is bad when people on the internet spread rumours about you y'all, but it's even worse when they're correct..."

Read more here:

Keke Palmer drops pregnancy bombshell on Saturday Night Live

  • Bang Showbiz

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (135)

Kanye West claims he 'caught' Kim Kardashian with NBA player Chris Paul

Kanye West claims he once "caught" his ex-wife Kim Kardashian with NBA player Chris Paul.

During a Twitter outburst on Thursday night (01.12.22) the rapper, 45, whose account has since been suspended due to his anti-Semitism, admitted he wanted to break "one last window" before he left the platform.

He said: "Before we get outa here, I caught this guy with Kim. Goodnight."

Kanye's post was accompanied by an image of Chris, 37, who has been married since 2011 to Jada Crawley, with whom he shares son Christopher, 13, and 10-year-old daughter Camryn.

Read more here:

Kanye West claims he 'caught' ex-wife Kim Kardashian with NBA player Chris Paul

  • Bang Showbiz

Christine McVie was dreaming of rejoining 'Fleetwood Mac'

Christine McVie was dreaming of rejoining 'Fleetwood Mac' before her death.

The singer made the admission in a 2013 interview that has resurfaced after she passed away on Wednesday (30.11.22) aged 79 after a short illness.

Even though she said she had quit the band in 1998 to live a country life she said she had become "restless, isolated" and "a little lonely".

Christine told The Guardian newspaper about reuniting with the group: "If they were to ask me, I would probably be very delighted."

She had rejoined in 2014 for a one-off appearance at London's The O2 reignited her love of performing.

Read more here:

Christine McVie was dreaming of rejoining 'Fleetwood Mac' before her death

  • Bang Showbiz

***

Get more recent celeb news here:

Celeb news for the week of Nov. 28

Chloe Fineman: 'I get why Pete Davidson is so attractive to women'

Chloe Fineman understands why Pete Davidson is so attractive to women.

The 'Saturday Night Live' star, 34, told Page Six at the 2022 American Museum of Natural History Gala: "I've worked and chatted with him. I find him deeply charming. And I remember my first year (on 'Saturday Night Live'), going to all my girlfriends and being like, 'I get it.'"

Chloe added she has "friends who have dated" 29-year-old Pete who "report back nice things".

Pete's exes include Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian and he is said to be in the early stages of a romance with model Emily Ratajkowski.

Thursday's gala (01.12.22), hosted by Jimmy Fallon, included celebrity guests such as Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin and raised $2.5 million for the museum.

'Saturday Night Live' actor Mikey Day also told Page Six at the event Pete is "cool" and a "very smart dude."

He added: "I don't think people know how smart he is because he's (always like), 'Yo, what's up? I live with my mom. I'm smoking weed.'

"But he's a very intelligent, well-spoken, interesting dude. I love Pete. He's the best."

Shania Twain flattened breasts as teen to avoid stepfather's sexual abuse

Shania Twain flattened her breasts as a teenager to avoid her stepfather's sexual abuse.

The singer, 57, warned "you didn't want to be a girl in my house" as she opened up about her difficult childhood, growing up poor in Ontario with four siblings living with her mum Sharon and stepdad Jerry Twain, who legally adopted the children.

Shania told the Sunday Times (04.12.22) about her tactics to dodge his abuse: "I hid myself and I would flatten my boobs.

"I would wear bras that were too small for me, and I'd wear two, play it down until there was nothing girl about me. Make it easier to go unnoticed.

"Because, oh my gosh, it was terrible - you didn't want to be a girl in my house."

Shania added about her subsequent struggle on leaving the house: "But then you go into society and you're a girl and you're getting the normal other unpleasant stuff too, and that reinforces it.

"So then you think, 'Oh, I guess it's just s***** to be a girl. Oh, it's so s***** to have boobs.' I was ashamed of being a girl."

Shania has said she started to be abused at home when she was around 10, telling The Guardian in 2018: "I feel the sexual abuse goes hand in hand with the physical and psychological abuse when it's somebody you know. I learned to block it out.

"Abusers need to manipulate you, whether it's before or after, and what I said to myself is: "OK, there's something wrong with this person and that person is not well."

Shania did not know her biological father and her stepfather Jerry and mum Sharon were killed in a car crash in 1987.

Dua Lipa thinks women have been blocked from exploring 'sexual and feminine' sides

Dua Lipa thinks women have been blocked from exploring their "sexual and feminine" sides.

The 'New Rules' singer, 27, also told the Sun on Sunday (04.12.22) she wants women to have confidence to be themselves.

She said: "As women, we have been oppressed on how you are supposed to look or be.

"We have been pushed down for too long to truly feel who we really are and explore the sexual and feminine side of ourselves."

Dua added about women's place in the music business: "Maybe it has been looked down on.

"We are building our own castles but not necessarily getting the recognition we deserve."

But she has been inspired by seeing her brother Gjin, 16, and sister Rina, 21, act differently.

She said: "Younger generations have a really interesting look on life.

The way they think is so much more evolved.

"My brother is 16. He is so much more interested in the way things work in the world. The same with my sister.

"Maybe it is the Internet or the way we've evolved as people… it is really interesting and refreshing -- and inspiring as well."

Dua also told The Sun for the first time about being turned down by a London stage school, admitting: "I enrolled in a singing and drama school in London.

"I got turned down, and I appealed, and I got turned down again. I was like, 'Oh my God, why is this happening to me?'

"I just wanted to sing. I was like, 'I can play the cello, I can do this …'.

"They still didn't want me. I was like, 'F***, maybe this isn't for me.'"

Leonardo DiCaprio keeps up party-hopping to celebrate Art Basel Miami's 20th year

Leonardo DiCaprio has continued his party-hopping into the weekend to celebrate Art Basel Miami's 20th year.

He joined famous faces including Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams at Wayne and Cynthia Boich's exclusive party on Friday night, (02.12.22), after being seen partying in Miami the previous evening.

A source told Page Six about the event, which included an hour-long performance by 50 Cent at the Boichs' mansion: "Everyone who was anyone was there."

Leonardo, 48, arrived in his signature black baseball cap, face mask, jeans and trainers.

Page Six reported he enjoyed himself on the crowded dance floor with several models and close friend Tobey Maguire during 50 Cent's performance before they made their way to a VIP table.

Kim, 42, and her sister Khloé Kardashian, 38, were seen partying at their VIP table with Venus and Serena Williams.

Page Six said Venus, 42, was seen grabbing cocktails at one of the bars for the "normal attendees" before going to Kim's VIP section.

Cuba Gooding Jr. was spotted approaching striking up conversations with random guests and took the stage for a surprise karaoke set, while DJ duo Sofi Tukker got onstage, with Khloé and Sean 'Diddy' Combs seen salsa dancing inside the Boichs' living room.

A guest told Page Six: "It was honestly the most epic party of Art Basel," with the outlet adding more than1,000 people were turned away from the door.

Before the party, Wayne and Cynthia put on a private dinner with the likes of Shuttershock CEO Jon Oringer, Casamigos co-founder Rande Gerber and La Fête Wine Company owner Donae Burston.

Pele insists he is 'full of energy' amid cancer fight

Pele insists he is "full of energy".

The three-time World Cup winner, 82, broke his silence after it was reported on Saturday (03.12.22) he had been put on end-of-life care in hospital as he battles colon cancer.

He said on social media: "My friends, I want to keep everyone calm and positive.

"I'm strong, with a lot of hope and I follow my treatment as usual. I want to thank the entire medical and nursing team for all the care I have received.

"I have a lot of faith in God and every message of love I receive from you all over the world keeps me full of energy. And watch Brazil in the World Cup too!

"Thank you so much for everything."

Pele, who won the World Cup with Brazil from 1958 to 1970, signed off his message with a praying hands emoji.

He has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment since September 2021 and has been said to no longer be responding to the treatment.

Pele was taken into hospital on Tuesday and Folha in Sao Paulo stated he will no longer be subjected to invasive tests or treatment.

Pele's latest hospital admission is said to have been due to general swelling and reported heart failure.

But an update from his daughter Kely reassured fans there was "no cause for alarm".

The hospital said his condition was "stable", with doctors adding Pele would remain in hospital for the coming days for treatment.

The latest Folha report states that his chemotherapy has now been suspended at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo but Pele continues to receive pain relief.

Pele last year underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his colon in 2021 but this year was told the cancer cells had spread to his intestine, lung and liver.

In 2015, he had prostate surgery and had another urinary infection in 2019 and suffers with the long-term effects of a hip prosthesis while movement is difficult due to knee problems.

Pele scored 757 goals in 831 games during a glittering career from 1957 to 1977, but club Santos claim his tally was closer to 1,000.

Drake postpones New York shows for second time

Drake has postponed his live shows in New York for a second time.

The 'Hotline Bling' hitmaker had originally planned to perform at the Apollo Theater on 11 November but it was pushed back days before it was due to take place so the rapper could mourn his friend Takeoff - who was shot dead on 1 November - with the announcement also bringing news that the concert on 6 December would be followed by an additional performance the following evening.

However, in a joint statement from Drake, SiriusXM and Sound 42, it has now been confirmed the gigs won't take place until next year because of "production delays that are just out of our control".

They explained producers have been "working around the clock" to deliver "an experience our fans deserve", but it was ultimately decided it isn't currently possible to deliver what was planned.

The statement added: "After many difficult meetings and conversations trying to navigate these challenges, we are forced to make the unfortunate decision to push these shows out a little further to allow the necessary time for the work to be completed...

"These upcoming shows for SiriusXM are so incredibly special for us. If you are going to play the world famous Apollo Theater, it has to be a world-class production."

The sold-out gigs will now take place on the 21 and 22 January.

The statement added: "The Apollo has been so incredibly gracious throughout this process and we look forward to bringing a legendary show to this legendary stage."

Drake teased in March that he was planning to stage some "highly interactive" concerts.

He said: "I'm excited to let all my people know that we're working on something really special for you guys..

"They're gonna be something different, something that I've never done before. Gonna be a highly interactive experience.

"My brothers will be there, it's gonna be great to see y'all, hopefully get a chance to speak with you, [and] hopefully learn a little more about each other."

Sigourney Weaver channelled teenage self into new Avatar role

Sigourney Weaver channelled her teenage self into 'Avatar: The Way of Water'.

The 73-year-old actress portrays 14-year-old Kiri, a Na'Vi, in the long-awaited sequel to 2009's 'Avatar' and she used her memories of being "self-conscious" but imaginative at the same age to drive her performance.

She said: "I usually wore black turtlenecks and an olive-green suede jumper/tunic thing. It was kind of like a beatnik outfit, I guess.

"I think it's a great age, you know? Kids are so imaginative at that age - they're so sensitive, easily hurt, easily thrilled and they see things so clearly. I tried to allow that self-conscious, awkward energy [I had] to flow into the character."

Sigourney starred in the original 'Avatar' film but her character Grace, a scientist, was killed off towards the end and she had every confidence in director James Cameron when he pitched an idea for her to return to the franchise in a different way.

She told You magazine: "I thought, 'Well, Jim is smart. If he thinks I can do this, let's give it a whirl!'

"I don't think John Wayne was asked to play a 14 year old when he was in his 70s. It's something new."

A lot of the film is set underwater so the cast underwent a year of free-diving training with US Navy Seals and Sigourney can now hold her breath for six and a half minutes while submerged.

She laughed: "It does remind you a little bit of those great British adventurers like Captain Cook, who went on these amazing sailing ships to the other side of the world."

The 'Aliens' actress is very proud of her work, admitting she has had "exactly the career [she] wanted", although she insisted that doesn't mean she has "all the answers".

She said: "I think that it's OK to not have all the answers, you know? People look at me like I have answers to things. I don't. I'm just in the pond along with everybody else."

Angelina Jolie slams Brad Pitt's 'frivolous' lawsuit

Angelina Jolie has branded Brad Pitt's lawsuit against her "frivolous, malicious, and part of a problematic pattern".

The former couple have been locked in a dispute after the 'Maleficent' actress sold off a stake in their Chateau Miraval wine business to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group, prompting her ex-husband to take legal action after claiming they had an apparent understanding neither party would sell without the consent of the other.

And now, the 47-year-old actress - whose former company are countersuing Brad, rebutting his version of events - has insisted she didn't need the 'Bullet Train' star's approval to make the sale.

In newly-filed documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Brad's claims are branded "frivolous, malicious, and part of a problematic pattern."

The documents added: "Pitt's allegations that he and Ms. Jolie had a secret, unwritten, unspoken contract to a consent right on the sale of their interests in the property is directly contrary to the written record and, among other legal defects, violative of the Statute of Frauds and public policy."

The ongoing dispute hit the headlines in October when Angelina claimed in legal documents that her ex-husband had "choked" one of their children and "struck another in the face" during a flight from France to California in September 2016.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the 'Tomb Raider' actress - who has Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox with her former spouse - claimed negotiations to sell her share of the alcohol business to her ex-husband broke down over his demand that she sign "a nondisclosure agreement that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt's physical and emotional abuse of her and their children."

The filing goes onto describe an alleged outburst from Brad as the family flew from France to California in September 2016, which allegedly began when the 'Moneyball' star accused his then-wife of being "too deferential" to the children before yelling at her in the bathroom.

The 58-year-old star then allegedly lunged at one of his children when they came to defend their mother, prompting her to grab him from behind.

The documents continued: "To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane's seats injuring Jolie's back and elbow.

"The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop.

"At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children."

In September 2016, the 'Fight Club' actor was investigated by the FBI over the incident but they ultimately declined to pursue criminal charges.

However, in the new countersuit, Angelina's legal team insisted the agent who investigated the allegations had "probable cause to charge Pitt with a federal crime for his conduct that day."

Brad's attorney said he would "continue to respond in court" when it came to the allegations.

Dame Helen Mirren was intimidated by Harrison Ford

Dame Helen Mirren felt "very intimidated" by Harrison Ford when they first worked together.

The Oscar-winning actress was a "nobody" when she teamed up with the 'Star Wars' actor on 1986 movie 'The Mosquito Coast' and she was very nervous of working with the star, now 80, because he had made such a name for himself in both the space franchise and the 'Indiana Jones' films.

She admitted: "When we first worked together, he was a huge movie star and I was like nobody. I was very intimidated, very intimidated."

But the 77-year-old actress admitted she "learned a lot" from working with Harrison on the film and still carries some of his lessons with her now.

She continued: "But also, I learned a lot from him because I hadn't done a lot. I'd done a lot of theater at that point, I hadn't done a lot of movies. So I watched him, and he taught me a great deal about film acting that to this day [that] I'm still using."

The pair have now reteamed on 'Yellowstone' spin-off '1923' and Harrison is delighted to be working with 'The Queen' actress once again.

He told reporters at the show's premiere on Friday (02.12.22) evening: "I admire her work and her person [now], and I have all the same degree of admiration for her as I did then.

"She's wonderful, she's just a lovely person, and so it's been both a professional pleasure and a personal pleasure working with her again."

The pair signed up to play farming couple Jacob and Cara Dutton in the show because of the "extraordinary" writing of creator Taylor Sheridan.

Harrison said: "The writing and the ambition of the piece that's evident from the scope and scale of it, [drew me to the role]. And the precision of his language and dialogue, and the character."

Helen added: "To be a part of something that is so exciting within the American sort of entertainment world, but also to be a part of something that is investigating American history in this particular way [is great].

"You can't do it in two hours, you know, it's great to have that great sprawl, and I just thought earlier on, it's like a big Russian novel. It's like 'War and Peace', you know, that real sense of an enormous arc of history. And to be a character within that, it's very exciting."

Kate Winslet doesn't 'spoil' her kids

Kate Winslet doesn't "spoil" her kids.

The 'Titanic' star has Mia, 22, Bear, eight, and Joe, 18, and she admits she would never want her children to think having everything they could want in life is the norm.

She told OK! Magazine: "I don't want them ever, ever to think that travelling the world and wanting for nothing is normal.

"I used to be terrified that they would get spoilt but, actually, they are only spoilt if you spoil them - and I don't."

Kate and her eldest daughter, Mia, star alongside each other for the first time in the Channel 4 drama 'I Am Ruth', and the 'Holiday' star had to ignore her motherly "instinct" on set.

She said: "We are playing characters - these people aren't us and this isn't our story.

"But, for sure, one can't help but draw on personal experience here and there, whether that's your own stuff or something you've gone through with a friend or a family member.

"It was really staggering how alarmingly free Mia and I were able to be, which I hadn't imagined.

"My instinct to take care of her had to go away because I knew I had to let her be exposed and hurting, and struggling, and that was quite difficult."

The 47-year-old star admitted she never actually thought about Mia - whom she has with her first husband Jim Threapleton - taking on the role of her on-screen daughter in the episode of Dominic Savage's anthology series.

She recalled: "When Dominic and I started to creep towards this mother-daughter story, I didn't think about Mia playing Freya at all.

"I think because I wasn't sort of pushing for that or trying to manipulate that in any way, when Dominic said to me, 'Well, who should play Freya?'

"I suddenly went, 'Oh my gosh, well Mia could definitely do it, but you'd have to meet her and you'd have to talk with her and see if you feel she could.' "

Kate previously revealed she "always suspected" her daughter would follow in her footsteps.

She said: "Sure enough, a couple of years ago, she turned around and said, 'I think I would like to give it a go'.

"What's been really great for her is that she has a different surname so that initial job out of the gate [in 'Shadows'], she slipped right under the radar."

Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon's cosy dinner dates at his new pad

Brad Pitt and his new flame Ines de Ramon have been enjoying "cosy dinner dates" at his new coastal home.

The Hollywood hunk, 58, has a new pad in Carmel, California, where he has been wooing the 29-year-old social media influencer with his culinary skills and enjoy late-night skinny-dipping sessions in the sea.

A source told InTouch magazine: "She doesn't do the cooking - he does!

"And they'll eat dinner over candlelight.

"They go skinny dipping in the ocean [since Brad's mansion is right on the coastline].

"He hasn't felt this way in years.

"Ines is a handful - and he likes that."

The Oscar winner was spotted with fellow actor Paul Wesley's estranged wife and pals Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber at a Bono concert in Los Angeles last month, with the pair said to have looked "smitten".

They have been seeing each other for a little while now, and a source told PEOPLE "Brad is really into" Ines.

The Anita Ko employee split from her 'Vampire Diaries' star husband - who she got hitched to in 2019 - earlier this year.

A representative said at the time: "The decision to separate is mutual and occurred five months ago."

In September, Brad - who has Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Zahara, 17, Shiloh, 16, and 14-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox with ex-wife Angelina Jolie - was linked to Emily Ratajkowski, who has since been reported to be in the early stages of a romance with comedian Pete Davidson.

However, last month it was claimed the was "never really dating" the model.

Ellie Goulding's chronic anxiety so severe she needs to 'numb' herself

Ellie Goulding says her chronic anxiety is so severe she needs to "numb" herself.

The 35-year-old singer tells this week's issue of Stellar Magazine she is overjoyed by the occasions she isn't gripped by panic, but says she finds solace in music and exercise.

She said: "I get such chronic anxiety that in the rare moments I don't have anxiety, I feel so happy and full of joy that I'm not having it.

"If I am in an anxious state, I don't feel things. I numb myself to everything.

"But art can bring something positive out of you, especially if you rediscover an artist you love.

"Running (for fitness) was such a good way to... honestly, I owe it to that to staying sort of relatively sane, I suppose."

Ellie told in January on social media she has been struggling every day to control her anxiety after having her son Arthur Ever Winter in 2021 with husband Caspar, who she married in August 2019.

She said: "This year has also been the hardest of my life. I've struggled daily, nightly, hourly with a kind of panic I didn't even know existed.

"While the moments of being on stage in front of all of you have been some of the most exhilarating and calming, this year I have been struggling.

"If I was to really think about it, my anxiety has dictated quite a lot of my life and career, and I feel sad about that.

"But it has also made me who I am, and sometimes at my most terrified, when I feel there is no escape from the sheer panic and dread in my heart and brain, I remind myself that I can feel.

"I know so many of you reading this feel this same pain and at the same time so many of you won't have experienced it, but will most likely know someone who has struggled."

Axl Rose ending 30-year microphone throwing stage stunt

Axl Rose is ending his 30-year stage tradition of throwing his microphone to fans at the end of gigs.

His decision comes after a woman was last week left bloodied and bruised from the stunt after a Guns N' Roses concert in Adelaide, Australia.

Axl, 60, said online on Saturday (03.12.22) about the "public safety' move: "It's come to my attention that a fan may have been hurt at our show in Adelaide, Australia possibly being hit by the microphone at the end of the show when I traditionally toss the mic to the fans.

"If true obviously we don't want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in anyway hurt anyone at any of our show anywhere.

"Having tossed the mic at the end of our show for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of our performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic.

"Regardless in the interest of public safety from now on we'll refrain from tossing the mic or anything to fans during or at our performances.

"Unfortunately there are those that for their own reasons chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject in a more negative n' irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn't be farther from reality. We hope the public and of course fans get that sometimes happens.

"A BIG THANKS to everyone for understanding."

Footage showed the moment fans kept hurrying to grab Axl's microphone in Adelaide after it hit Rebecca Howe in the face.

She told the Adelaide Advertiser about her shock over their behaviour: "There was this huge kerfuffle as this man tried to get the microphone … he held it up like a victory, 'I got it, I got it', while I was trying to keep my composure.

"An off-duty police officer pulled me to the side because I was in shock and hyperventilating, my mind went, 'Oh my God, my face is caved in'. I had blood dripping down the front of me."

Photographs of Ms Howe since her injury show she was severe bruising under her eyes and two cuts across her nose.

Duke of Sussex dressed as Spider-Man in Christmas video for bereaved military children

The Duke of Sussex dressed as Spider-Man in a Christmas video message for bereaved military children.

He put on the outfit for the charity 'Scotty's Little Soldiers', in which he wished them a happy festive holiday.

The video was played to more than 100 young children who have experienced the death of a parent who had served in the British Armed Forces.

Without initially revealing his identity, ex-soldier Harry, 38, said: "Hey, 'Scotty's Little Soldiers'. Welcome to the Christmas Party.

He then asked the viewers to help save Christmas by defeating villains who had stolen Santa's presents, with the children completed challenges during a 'Heroes and Villains'-themed party.

Harry added: "I hear from Sharky and George that there are five villains that you guys need to stop from ruining Christmas. So, use your teamwork, your brains and your brawn to make sure that you do exactly that. Find them and don't let them ruin Christmas, okay.

"At the same time, Christmas is a time we will miss our loved ones really, really badly. And that's okay.

"But at the same time, it can be possible to feel guilty for having fun without our parents. But I am here to assure you that our parents always want us to have fun, okay?

"So don't feel guilty - you're allowed to have the best time ever, especially with this 'Scotty's Little Soldiers' community."

He lifted his mask in the middle of the sentence: "So, go out there and have the best time, and..." - before saying after he had revealed his face: "Merry Christmas."

The dad-of-two, who shares son Alfie, three, and 17-month-old Lilibet with wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 41, had partnered with the charity in November as he wrote to the children for Remembrance Day.

In 2019, he pulled on the Santa outfit, complete with a long white beard for the charity.

Nick Cannon hospitalised with pneumonia

Nick Cannon has been hospitalised with pneumonia.

'The Masked Singer' host, 42, who also battles lupus, posted two photos on Instagram on Friday (02.12.22) getting treatment.

He added in a caption: "Okay, so I guess I'm not Superman. I promised myself I would never be back at this place again… but this is a great lesson to take care of YOU or YOU won't be able to take care of everyone else.

"Don't trip though, I don't need any well wishes or prayers, just some solid rest and I will be back on the journey to becoming stronger than ever.

"It's just pneumonia, nothing I can't handle.

"Crazy thing is, last night we was just rocking a sold out crowd at Madison square garden in front of thousands of fans, now I'm all alone in a tiny hospital room.

"Life is definitely a rollercoaster! #LupusWarrior."

Nick first told how he was battling autoimmune disease lupus in 2012 after being hospitalized for mild kidney failure and blood clots in his lungs.

The dad of 11 told People at the time: "I feel blessed to be alive. If it wasn't discovered, I don't know (what would have happened.)"

Nick, who has a twelfth child on the way, last week poked fun at his large family in a 'Nick Cannon's Holiday Shopping' video, joking: "It's almost the holidays, and thanks to me, the world now has 8 billion people, but my job's not done."

Aerosmith axe Vegas gig due to Steven Tyler battling mysterious illness

Aerosmith axed their Las Vegas gig at the last minute on Friday evening due to Steven Tyler battling a mysterious illness.

The band said in a statement about the 74-year-old frontman's health woes causing them to pull out: "It is with great disappointment that we are forced to cancel tonight's show in Las Vegas due to Steven feeling unwell and unable to perform.

"We sincerely apologize for the last minute notice. Tickets purchased through Ticketmaster.com will be automatically refunded. All other refunds will be available at point of purchase."

Steven reposted the announcement on his Instagram Stories, but did not go into further details about his health.

Aerosmith earlier this year announced they were cancelling the first set of dates for their Las Vegas residency tour in June and July because Steven had checked himself into rehab.

A joint statement from the group said at the time: "As many of you know, our beloved brother Steven has worked on his sobriety for many years.

"After foot surgery to prepare for the stage and the necessity of pain management during the process, he has recently relapsed and voluntarily entered a treatment program to concentrate on his health and recovery."

Steven has been open about his issues with addiction for decades, while his Aerosmith bandmates Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford helped the rocker pursue sobriety with an intervention in 1988.

In July, Steven was released from his latest rehab stint and was reportedly doing "amazingly well."

A representative told Page Six: "Steven's doing extremely well and looking forward to being back on stage."

Bella Thorne praises Elon Musk for Kanye Twitter ban

Bella Thorne supports Elon Musk's decision to kick Kanye West off Twitter.

The 25-year-old actress is a close friend of the Twitter boss and said she agrees with him banning Kanye from the microblogging platform following a number of antisemitic posts.

She told TMZ: "Elon's a very cool and a very nice guy. I honestly think if that is what free speech is then f*** free speech. Nobody should have the right to say the s*** [Kanye's] posting right now. So I think f*** yeah Elon."

Kanye was recently banned from Twitter for the second time after he tweeted an image of a swastika blended with a star of David.

The post came less than two weeks after Elon reinstated him to the platform.

Musk tweeted: "I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended."

And, the tweet was posted on the same day that Kanye appeared alongside the white supremacist Nick Fuentes on 'Infowars' and praised Hitler.

He said: "I see good things about Hitler … Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler."

Host Alex Jones hit back: "The Nazis were thugs."

Kanye replied: "But they did good things too. We gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time. I love Jewish people. But I also love Nazis."

Jones said: "I don't think Hitler was a good guy," to which Kanye replied: "There's a lot of things that I love about Hitler. A lot of things."

Taylor Swift fans sue Ticketmaster

Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster for "price fixing" and "fraud".

Following the ticket-buying debacle for Swift's North American 'Eras' tour, which saw Ticketmaster cancel the general sale due to high demand and insufficient ticket inventory, a number of fans are now suing the company.

According to TMZ, the company is being sued for "'fraud, price fixing and antitrust violations", as well as "intentional deception", after scalpers scooped up a large number of tickets.

The lawsuit claims that because Ticketmaster is involved in both the primary ticket sale market as well as the secondary market, they were "eager to allow" scalpers into the presale event.

Meanwhile, Ticketmaster previously issued an apology to Taylor and her fans, following the pre-sale debacle.

The ticket sales and distribution company was slammed after announcing the cancellation of general sale tickets.

Ticketmaster said in a statement: "We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn't been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for Taylor Swift 'The Eras' Tour. First, we want to issue an apology to Taylor and all of her fans - especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets."

The apology came after Taylor revealed she was "p***** off" with how the sales had been handled.

She wrote in an Instagram message to fans: "I've brought so many elements of my career in-house. I've done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans' experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do. It's really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.

"There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I'm trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward. I'm not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could. It's truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really p***** me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them."

Ryan Reynolds: Superhero films are easier than musicals!

Ryan Reynolds won't make another musical in his career.

The 46-year-old actor has to sing and dance in his new film 'Spirited', and while he's comfortable with fight scenes in action movies, he admitted he struggled much more with the choreography of the by Apple TV+ festive flick.

Speaking to Big Issue magazine, the 'Deadpool' star said: "Training for a superhero movie is something I've been doing since I was 20 and I'm 46 now. It's second nature to me. Doing a fight sequence is in my bones. I memorise them very fast.

"I can make a mistake and use that mistake to my advantage in the moment.

"Whereas dancing, if I make one mistake, I completely fall apart. I don't know if I would [make a musical] again. I don't think so.

"They're such vastly different disciplines.

"When you haven't spent your life at a craft like song and dance, you're just always playing catch-up.

"Thank god we have 15, 20, 30, 50 takes to get it right!"

Although he struggled with his steps, Ryan really enjoyed watching the dancers at work on the film.

He said: "I loved watching the dancers and singers that were working on the movie. Getting a front row seat to their talent was one of the great privileges of my whole life. And I mean that. They're often overlooked.

"You'll find dancers clumped together in the credits of a movie, but they're pillars of the storytelling."

But the Canadian star teased he could incorporate a musical number into his hoped-for 'Deadpool' Christmas special.

He added: "I would love to see a song and dance number in a 'Deadpool' movie.

"Four years ago we wrote a Christmas movie starring Deadpool but it got lost in the shuffle of Disney acquiring Fox and it never got made. Maybe one day we'll get to make that movie."

King Charles hailed for his impressive work ethic

King Charles has been hailed for his impressive work ethic.

TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh - who was fortunate enough to be a guest at the British monarch's Sandringham Estate - was full of praise of Charles and his dedication to the country.

Speaking to My Weekly magazine, Alan said: "My wife and I have been lucky enough to stay with King Charles at Sandringham.

"He's a lovely man with a great sense of humour.

"I'm so impressed with his work ethic.

"Like me, he's passionate about looking after the landscape and the planet."

Earlier this week, Charles admitted he is "frightfully over-ambitious" and loves tackling "the most difficult challenges."

He made the declarations on a 60-minute television documentary that has been more than 10 years in the making, which tells of the monarch's plan to restore the 18th-century Dumfries House estate.

Charles started the project in 2007 when he led a consortium that paid £45 million for the run-down home to help regenerate the deprived local community and create jobs.

He said on 'A Royal Grand Design', which aired on ITV on November 30: "I wanted to try and make a difference to the local area. It had many of the worst indices of unemployment and ill health and everything else.

"I'm one of those people who rather likes taking on the most difficult challenges. I felt it was worth taking this appalling risk and taking out such a big loan.

"This area has been so battered and deprived, particularly since the loss of the mining industry and everything."

The king hinted at more restorations, adding: "That's my problem - I'm frightfully over ambitious. I long to use this model in other parts of the country where I know it can make a big impact on people's lives and livelihoods and their whole future and their families' futures, which is what matters to me.

"I hope there will be another project fairly soon somewhere, which could be quite large, and hopefully there will be other opportunities. We'll see. I haven't given up yet... watch this space, as they say."

Charles' restoration included reviving the garden - one of the largest in Europe - as well as adding a horticultural and education centre, cookery school, textiles centre and adventure playground.

The king revealed on the show, narrated by the actor Richard E. Grant, how he feared the 2,000-acre estate near Glasgow would have been turned into a golf club.

Britney Spears posts loving message about estranged sister

Britney Spears has posted a loving tribute to her sister on Instagram.

Despite previously blasting Jamie Lynn Spears, 31, for not supporting her while she was under a conservatorship, Britney took to Instagram on her 41st birthday to share a gushing message to her sibling.

She wrote: "It's my b-day but you're my heart so I'm thinking about you … congratulations on being so brave, inspiring, and showing guts and glory in your show !!! You ain't alone … if anybody knows what that feels like … I get it. My baby sister !!! I love you !!!"

Britney also posted a loving message to her estranged sons Jayden and Sean Preston - who she shares with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

She said: "To both of my boys … I love you … I would die for you !!! God speed my precious hearts !!! I would give anything just to touch your face !!! I send my love … Mamasita."

And, Britney revealed that her husband Sam Asghari. 28, surprised her with a cake and sweetly sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.

She shared a video and wrote: "My husband surprised me !!! I'm sick with the flu and he came downstairs … he was pretty f****** smooth !!!! I love you !!!! It's Mr. and Mrs. Asghari !!!

In the clip, Sam was seen putting candles on a white birthday cake, while a pink cake could be seen in the background.

Sally Field names Burt Reynolds as 'worst' on-screen kiss.

Sally Field has named Burt Reynolds as her "worst" on-screen kiss.

The Oscar-winner, 76, shamed the late actor, with whom she starred in 'Smokey and the Bandit' and who she dated, when a viewer of Thursday's episode (02.12.22) of 'Watch What Happens Live' asked her to describe her least favourite film smooch.

She asked: "Shall I really name names here?" before host Andy Cohen urged: "I think you should,."

Sally went on: "OK, this is gonna be a shocker. Hold on, folks. Burt Reynolds.

"It was just not something he really did very well. I could go into detail, but you don't want to hear it."

When Andy asked if 'Boogie Nights' actor Burt, who was killed by a heart attack aged 82 in September 2018, used too much "tongue" Sally clarified: "Just a lot of drooling was involved."

Sally was in a relationship with Burt from 1976 to 1982 has called their bond "indelible" and told Page Six after the Hollywood veteran's death: "There are times in your life that … never fade away.

"They stay alive, even 40 years later. My years with Burt never leave my mind.

"He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live. Rest, Buddy."

She also told 'Good Morning America' about their time together: "Four days felt like four years… we were sort of, you know, deeply entangled.

"That nature of it wasn't just, 'Oh, this is a love affair.'

"There was some ingredient between us having to do with my caretaking and him needing to be taken care of."

Cara Delevingne battles to be open about her sexuality

Cara Delevingne battles to be open about her sexuality and has experienced homophobia.

The supermodel, 30, who identifies as queer and gender fluid, said she was on a "very personal journey" into her sexuality during her new six-part BBC series, 'Planet Sex', in which she also said she has been prevented from living a "queer" life due to fighting her shame.

Talking about her sexuality in episode two, titled 'Out and Proud?', Cara says: "I'm on a very personal journey into my own sexuality. You may or may not know I have had relationships with both men and women.

"But I still struggle with being open - really open - about just how much I love women.

"I grew up with a lot of shame is thinking, this isn't normal, this isn't human.

"Sexuality is a spectrum and mine wavers, but I'm probably, definitely more on the side of women. I like having sex with men, I just don't date them. I might though, you never know."

Cara went on to explain that she doesn't like "labels" for her sexuality and said she doesn't think she has been able to live a "queer" life due to fighting her "internalised shame".

She added: "I've always believed in the no labels thing, but have then spent a lot of time saying, 'I'm bisexual, I'm pansexual'.

"I'm queer, I 100 per cent can tell you I'm queer - I don't know what else I can say other than that.

"I haven't been able to live a queer life, the internalised shame, the homophobia.

"I was never in the community. Yes, I came out but I never went to Pride, I never went to these parties, I never met these people. I never developed my queerness. I'm coming to it all very late. I have a lot more queer friends now."

Cara says in the fourth episode of her show she is a "she right now", but "I also like dressing up as a man and being a 'he'".

She added: "You don't have to put so much pressure on yourself about what you are, who you are. Whether it's masculine and feminine - it's just who I am."

'Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne' was shown on BBC3 at 10pm on Thursday and is available on BBC iPlayer.

Stormzy beats Sir Cliff Richard to land third No 1 album

Stormzy has beaten Sir Cliff Richard to land a third No 1 album.

After a nail-biting race to the top spot which saw Cliff close the gap midweek, he delivered a last-minute surge to reach the summit of the Official Albums Chart with his third studio record, 'This Is What I Mean', it was revealed on Friday evening. (02.12.22)

The singer, songwriter and rapper, 29, born Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr, previously topped the chart with 2017 debut 'Gang Signs and Prayer' and 2019 LP 'Heavy is the Head'.

Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company said: "Everyone loves a tight No 1 race, and this week's battle between Sir Cliff Richard and Stormzy has been an absolute classic, pitching two of our musical icons head-to-head.

"We at Official Charts are of course delighted to congratulate Stormzy on his big win, but it is also only right to doff our chart cap to Sir Cliff too.

"It takes two to make a classic chart race and that has certainly been the case this week. Great work, both!"

Cliff enjoyed a No 2 debut with his latest record 'Christmas with Cliff'.

His first dedicated Christmas release in 19 years since 2003's 'Cliff at Christmas', the record secured the crooner a 47th Top 10 solo album.

Andrea, Matteo and Virginia Bocelli's festive collection 'A Family Christmas' leads a number of yuletide releases making their ascent up the Official Albums Chart this week, jumping seven to a new peak in its sixth week on the charts.

The Cure's landmark ninth album 'Wish' returns to the Top 10 thanks to a 30th anniversary reissue featuring 24 previously unreleased tracks.

And Michael Bublé's holiday staple 'Christmas' lifted back into the Top 20 for the first time this year at 13, while Aled Jones and Russell Watson's 'Christmas with Aled and Russell' lifted back into the Top 40 at 29.

Following the death of Christine McVie at the age of 79, 'Fleetwood Mac' saw two records in the Top 40 this week.

Hits collection '50 Years - Don't Stop' is a non-mover at 23, while the group's seminal 1977 No 1 LP 'Rumours' lifts 18 spots, seeing a 2045% increase in digital downloads, and 56% increase in physical copies week-on-week.

Other records rebounding into the Top 40 this week are Luke Evans' 'A Song For You' at 32, The Beatles' 'Revolver' in the 37th spot and Arctic Monkeys' debut 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' at 38.

In the Official Singles Chart it's a sixth consecutive week at No 1 for Taylor Swift's 'Anti-Hero'.

Rita Ora insists she's definitely not 'Becky with the good hair'

Rita Ora has ended six years of speculation by insisting she's definitely not "Becky with the good hair".

The 32-year-old pop star has long been rumoured to be the mystery woman mention by Beyonce on her 2016 track 'Sorry' which was said to have been about someone her husband Jay Z cheated on her with. Rita later fuelled the gossip by sharing a picture of herself wearing a bra emblazoned with lemons - which many took as a cryptic reference to the title of Beyonce's 'Lemonade' album - and a necklace featuring the letter 'J'.

However, Rita insisted it was "pure coincidence" during an interview with filmmaker Louis Theroux in his new BBC series 'Louis Theroux Interviews ... '

The documentary-maker asked her: "When Beyonce had her album, there was a mysterious woman called who allegedly Jay Z had cheated with. Then at some point in 2016, with 'Lemonade' in the air, you posted a picture of yourself with lemons on your bra and a 'J' around your neck."

Rita responded: "Oh my God, it literally was a coincidence. I didn't even think about it, I swear. And it wasn't a J, it was an R. They flipped it [the picture] round and then it looked like a J."

The singer went on to insist the bra was from her collaboration with underwear brand Tezenis and had nothing to do with any gossip about fellow musicians.

She went on: "No, it had nothing [to do with it]. No, that was my own design with an underwear company called Tezenis that I was working with. This is what I mean, man - a pinch of salt - you've got to take things with a pinch of salt. And that's what's insane."

Rita then laughed about a "hilarious" present she got from her "good friend" Katy Perry, who gifted her a badge emblazoned with the words:"Not Becky."'

Beyonce's track 'Sorry' - which featured on her 'Lemonade' album - sparked speculation her husband Jay Z had cheated with her with someone she referred to as Becky as she sang: "You only want me when I'm not there/You better call Becky with the good hair."

As well as Rita, another woman rumoured to have been Becky was fashion designer Rachel Roy - the ex-wife of Jay Z's business partner Damon Dash - after she posted a tweet about having "good hair".

She was later flooded with online abuse and posted a subsequent message which appeared to hit back at the trolls. It read: "I respect love, marriages, families and strength. What shouldn't be tolerated by anyone, no matter what, is bullying, of any kind."

William Shatner says trees are intelligent beings with feelings

William Shatner is convinced trees are intelligent beings with feelings.

The 'Star Trek' veteran became fascinated with the subject of botany since being hired to voice a character called Phil The Plant in 2018 sci-fi comedy 'Aliens Ate My Homework' and his research led him to believe the link between humans and trees is closer than first thought.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, Shatner said: "We have discovered that trees are alive, we've discovered that trees have DNA not dissimilar to us. They're sending out electrochemical signals among the mausoleum of fungi.

"They are sending electrochemical signals along the pathway. Our brains are sending electrochemical signals along dendrites. How dissimilar is that?"

In a 2018 interview with Cinemablend.com, Shatner explained his new outlook on trees came from reading a book on the subject as part of his research for the film and he became hooked on the romantic idea of trees being similar to humans.

He told the website: "There's all kinds of communication between trees and each other. They send out roots to help young trees and trees that had been felled, they send out help.There's really a life force going on in them, that, since their DNA is not dissimilar to ours, I think it's 50 per cent, they're living things.

"Now that has nothing to do with the voice, but the intrigue ...is a tree is alive, and what would it sound like if it were a voice? So I had to imagine that and came up with whatever it was I came up with."

Britney Spears 'marries herself' in bizarre Instagram post

Britney Spears posed in a wedding veil and declare she has married herself in a bizarre Instagram post.

The 40-year-old pop superstar - who wed her partner Sam Asghari in June - posed in a bridal-style white gown with a lace veil on her head in a series of pictures posted on social media on Thursday night (01.12.22) and in the caption the star joked she had tied the knot for a second time this year.

She wrote: "Yeah … I married myself. I got bored, liked my veil and said IS THIS CRAZY ??? OR IS THERE SOMETHING TO IT???"

However, she went on to clarify she is still married to Sam, adding: "Psss yes but I'm still married to hubby too!!!"

Britney's latest update came shortly after she sparked an online mystery by hitting out at an unnamed celebrity - calling them a "piece of s***" in a candid Instagram message.

The 'Toxic' singer - who has become estranged from her family since a conservatorship that was governed by them was terminated in 2021 - took to Instagram on Sunday (27.11.22) to "finally" express her feelings. Alongside an image of a mystery woman wearing dark glasses, she wrote on Instagram: "SUP BIRDS !!! Come on b****, clap back at me for two minutes … My own party !!! Smartest one … VERY GOOD !!! You're such a classy famous person you piece of s*** … I finally said it !!! Shade!!! I'm only human … what can I say F***YOU !!! [sic]"

Britney did not name the person she was referring to in the post.

Billy Porter receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Billy Porter's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame "came out of nowhere".

The 'Pose' actor was honoured with the accolade during a ceremony on Thursday (01.12.22) and he admitted it was a "beautiful" moment for him because it wasn't something he had ever expected.

He told 'Entertainment Tonight': "You know, I have to say, with as huge as the dreams have been for me, I wasn't thinking about a star.

"It just wasn't a part of the conversation, it's so magical and it just came out of nowhere and that's what makes it so beautiful and it's just such a surprise."

Billy was joined at the ceremony by his husband Adam Smith and several family members, including his sister Martha Mary Ford, who gave a speech in honour of the 53-year-old star in place of their mother, who was unable to attend.

The actor told 'Entertainment Tonight': "I feel like this star is a representation of a body of work, a life's work and she's been in my life the whole time. She's the one that can speak the most truth of my life in this moment on my behalf. It's really special to have her here and I love that we're so close."

The 'Anything's Possible' filmmaker credits a piece of advice he was given early in his career for his success.

He said: "Just be raw, be authentic. And let the chips fall where they may."

Billy already has Tony, Emmy and Grammy Awards to his name, and joked he's "working on" winning an Oscar to achieve EGOT status.

He quipped: "I'm working. I have movies coming out. We'll see … I'm working on it."

And it's not just movies keeping the star busy.

He said: "I'm working on my music. I'm continuing to be creative and just doing the due."

Ben Affleck takes aim at Netflix for 'assembly line process' of making films

Ben Affleck has criticised Netflix for their "assembly line process" of film production.

The 50-year-old actor has launched the production company Artists Equity with his friend Matt Damon and has revealed that he wants to focus on smaller dramas rather than action blockbusters as he questioned the streaming giant for focusing on "quantity" over quality.

Speaking at the New York Times' Dealbook Summit, Ben said: "If you ask (Netflix co-CEO and chairman) Reed Hastings... he'd say, 'Hey, we went for quantity to establish a footprint.'

"I'm sure there's wisdom in that and I'm sure they had a great strategy, but I would have said, 'How are we going to make 50 great movies? How is that possible?' There's no committee big enough. There aren't enough - you just can't do it."

The 'Deep Water' star continued: "It's a thing that requires attention and dedication and work and resists the assembly line process.

"(Netflix's head of original films) Scott Stuber is a really talented, smart guy who I really like... but it's an impossible job."

Ben explained that a big motivation of his is to make the audience "care" about what they are watching on screen.

He said: "There's bigger audience for action movies than there is for small dramas. I get that. Certain genres play more broadly and you can't not be mindful of that. But let's do a good one, let's surprise the audience, let's make them care about it."

Ben and Matt unveiled plans for Artists Equity last month and are looking to create "entrepreneurial partnerships" with filmmakers.

Affleck, who will be CEO of the company, said: "Artists Equity was conceived from Matt's and my longtime passion for the art of storytelling and our shared desire to help creators deliver on their vision, as we have been fortunate to do throughout our careers.

"The entertainment industry is defined by great partnerships - writers, directors, producers, crew, actors - and throughout my career I have learned that collaboration is what drives success. Our goal with Artists Equity is to build a creator-focused studio that can optimise the production process with shared participation in the commercial success of projects."

Adam Sandler doubts he will star in a film franchise

Adam Sandler doubts that he will ever star in a big movie franchise.

The 56-year-old actor was quizzed on whether he would consider being a part of a major tent-pole such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) but doesn't think that the opportunity will come.

Adam told the Happy Sad Confused podcast: "I've never thought about it, maybe because no one has ever asked me. I don't know. I'm very into, I love that stuff.

"I see that stuff and go wow, these amazing movies, but no it hasn't happened and probably won't happen."

The 'Happy Gilmore' star has explained that he tries not to get "too shook up" by negative responses to his films but wishes that his family and friends didn't have to read some of the harsh reviews.

Asked if critical comments sting, Adam said: "Sometimes. Mostly because I invite all these amazing people I care about to make movies with me, and I wish they didn't have to read s*** about whatever we've made.

"But I don't get too shook up."

Sandler recalled his father advising him that not everybody will "like him" and that he will "fail" at times during life.

He said: "I always remember something my father said. He was a tough b******.

"He went through ups and downs in his life, like not having work for a year or two and not telling us.

"I recall one time that something didn't go right for me. I bombed onstage or didn't get an audition. I was upset and probably embarrassed. And he said, 'Adam, you can't always be happy. People aren't always going to like you. You're going to fail.'"

Stranger Things star David Harbour cried at the script for his new movie

David Harbour "teared up" at the script for his new Christmas movie.

The 47-year-old actor - who is known for playing the role of Jim Hopper in the Netflix hit series 'Stranger Things - is now starring in festive action-comedy 'Violent Night' as Santa Claus and explained that even though the movie was "really hard to get right", it turned out to be "very special" in the end.

He said: "I thought that was really special, really unique. And when I read it in the script, it made me tear up at the end and I thought, "Wow, that's special." Because, a lot of scripts, it's hard enough to get through them. This one I got through, and at the end in those scenes with him and her where he's saying, "I better get going now," it made me tear up and I was like, 'Oh, this could be really special if we get it right.' But I still, at that time, thought it was a big swing, and it was going to be real hard. We had to go to work real hard on it, and we did. But that was what made me want to do it, that it was so unique, and even though it was a big action movie, I got emotional at the end."

The film - which sees mercenaries take a wealthy family hostage in their home but encounter resistance when St Nick arrives - required the 'Black Sidow' star to learn to wrestle for its action scenes and he went on to explain that the training took "three or four hours" at a time.

He told Collider: " We had a month of training in Winnipeg, and then we went home for Christmas, and then we came back in January, [and] had another month of prep to train. But for that month in December, I was already eating because I wanted him to be big, so I was eating a lot and I showed up at these training rehearsals with these guys. We were doing wrestling, mainly jui-jitsu and wrestling, and I don't know if you've ever wrestled, I never had.

"You do this thing called pummeling in wrestling. Basically just grabbing a guy, and he grabs you, and you just do this for hours. And it is the most tiring and exhausting thing I have ever.... I've never been that tired in my life. We trained for about three or four hours a day, and then I would just go pass out and sleep like 16 hours and wake up in the morning and do it again. It was so exhausting. And these guys are so skilled, and they also make you look so good because they're doing the reactions. So you're just trying to keep up with their choreography. But they also were so sweet, they had endless energy and I was just exhausted.

But being able, at this age, to be paid to learn new disciplines and learn new things in life is such a gift."

'Violent Night' is in cinemas now.

Ashanti claims producer asked her to shower with him

Ashanti claims a music producer demanded she shower with him or face a hefty bill.

The 42-year-old singer explained she had a "crazy situation with one producer" she had worked with for several weeks who then ordered her to get naked with him or face paying him $40,000 for each track he recorded with her.

Speaking on the 'Breakfast Club' radio show, she explained: "We did two records together, he was like, 'Okay, I'm not gonna charge you, you know you my homie'.

"When it came time to put it on the album, he was like, 'Well, let's take a shower together'. I thought he was joking, and then he was like, 'Nah, I'm dead serious. Let's go out, or let's take a shower together, and I'll give you the records. If not, I need 40 racks per record'."

Host Charlamagne tha God was horrified by the story and remarked: "Jesus Christ," before Ashanti went on to reveal that after the proposition she made sure the situation was "handled".

She added: "I thought he was joking, because we had been working together for a couple weeks. But it turns out that he was serious. I had to make some phone calls and stuff was handled. It was wild."

Ashanti did not name the man involved but previously spoke out about the same incident back in 2018 when she revealed she turned down a producer who had "a little crush" on her and "all of a sudden the track became $45K".

She said her family stepped in and the man apologised by giving her "three records for free", adding: "And I got two of them mixed and mastered for free."

Naya Rivera confronted Heather Morris over eating disorder

Heather Morris was confronted about her eating disorder by Naya Rivera.

The former 'Glee' actress told how her struggles escalated when the success of the musical TV series led to a concert tour and her late co-star - who died in a boating accident in July 2020 - soon noticed she wasn't eating any of the food being served to the cast on the road.

Appearing on the 'And That's What You REALLY Missed' podcast, Heather told former 'Glee' co-stars Jenna Ushkowitz and Kevin McHale: "I had developed an eating disorder. I stopped getting my period. I was so in my head about food and what it was doing for me..

"I can't remember exactly what [Naya] was saying, but she was approaching me about my eating disorder because I know she herself had eating disorders, and she was very open about it in her book. So, she of course was the first to speak up about it."

But although Heather knew her friend had good intentions, she "blew it off" and told her pal she was OK, and the pair never discussed the topic again.

Heather said: "That's who she was. She was just always ready to talk about it."

Jenna agreed: "To face things head on."

In July 2021, Heather marked the first anniversary of Naya's death with a tattoo tribute featuring a quote from one of her pal's final Twitter posts.

It reads: "Tomorrow is not promised."

Naya's full tweet was: "No matter the year, circumstance, or strifes everyday you're alive is a blessing. make the most of today and every day you are given. tomorrow is not promised. (sic)"

Alongside a series of snaps of the actress, her new arm inking, and a video of her being tattooed by L Garza of Iron Ink Los Angeles, Heather wrote on Instagram: "It hasn't gotten easier to write a caption. You are the brightest star in my eyes, Naya Rivera. I'm so grateful GOD LAYED A HAND and brought us together as best friends, mom friends, scene partners, and everything in between.

"Your legacy lives on in kindness and being 'that sassy queen' in my eyes. I love you forever bebe girl (sic)"

Title confirmed for Indiana Jones 5

The new 'Indiana Jones' movie has been given a title.

The fifth installment in the action adventure franchise will be called 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'.

Disney have unveiled the first official trailer for the movie which features flashbacks that de-age Harrison Ford and the return of classic characters such as Sallah (John Rhys-Davies).

The film - which will be Harrison Ford's final outing as Indy and is being released in June 2023 - is set in 1969 and the plot centres on Indy suspecting that some of the Nazi scientists brought to the US to help out in the Space Race could be secretly sabotaging the country.

Indy's suspicions are proven right because former Nazi and current NASA scientist Voller (Mads Mikkelsen) is plotting to use the moon landing to reset the world as he sees fit.

Harrison has promised that the new movie will be his final film as Indy and has teased a "really human story".

The 80-year-old star said earlier this year: "We have a really human story to tell, as well as a movie that will kick your ass.

"This is it! I will not fall down for you again."

James Mangold has taken over from Steven Spielberg behind the camera on the movie and explained his bold creative choice to de-age Ford for the flick's opening sequence.

He said: "I wanted the chance to dive into this kind of full-on George-and-Steven (Lucas and Spielberg) old picture and give the audience an adrenaline blast.

"And then we fall out, and you find yourself in 1969. So that the audience doesn't experience the change between the 40s and 60s as an intellectual conceit, but literally experiences the buccaneering spirit of those early days... and then the beginning of now."

Neil Gaiman to voice talking mongoose in Nandor Fodor

Neil Gaiman will voice a talking mongoose in the dark comedy 'Nandor Fodor'.

'The Sandman' writer is the latest addition to the flick being directed by Adam Sigal from his own script and joins an ensemble that includes Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver and Christopher Lloyd.

The movie is based on true events and follows British-American psychoanalyst Nandor Fondor (Peg) on his search to discover the real Talking Mongoose Gef.

Gaiman is voicing the mongoose with Driver starring as Fodor's assistant Anne who accompanies him into uncharted territory.

Tim Downie, Ruth Connell, Paul Kaye, Gary Beadle and Drew Moerlin round out the cast.

Sasha Yelaun and Dominic Burns are producing alongside Karl Hall under Future Artists Entertainment and Jack Christian of Filmology Finance.

Neil said: "I first read about Gef, the mysterious talking mongoose, when I was at school in a book of true-life ghost stories.

"I never thought I'd find myself narrating a film about his exploits, or indeed, providing his voice. But the chance to work with old friends like Simon Pegg and Minnie Driver was irresistible, and I hope very much I have managed to do the mysterious mongoose justice."

Co-producer Clare Bateman-King added: "Neil is one-of-a-kind and his creativity is unlimited.

"This is such an integral part to the film and we truly needed somebody who could bring an impactful and effective energy to the voice of the mongoose. It's been such a fun time getting Neil involved and we're so excited for the moment audiences hear his take on the fabled mongoose Gef."

Gaiman's other work includes 'American Gods', 'Coraline' and 'Good Omens', all of which have been adapted for the big or small screen.

Melanie C is friends with pop icon Billie Eilish

Melanie C has a strong "friendship" with Billie Eilish with the pair bonding over the "pressures" of fame.

The Spice Girls singer went from being a fan of the 20-year-old pop star to being pals with her, and Billie has been grateful to receive advice from the 48-year-old music legend.

The 'Wannabe' hitmaker said: "I just felt like I had such a connection to Billie. That's been something that we've really shared, bonded and have a friendship over.

"I've spoken to Billie about the pressures. I often think when I speak to younger artists, they're gonna be like, 'Oh, yeah, shut up, grandma!' But Billie's taking it on board and has talked about it too.

"I think what's been a wonderful thing I've seen changing in the industry is - and I still think there's a way to go - that some labels and management teams are taking the mental health and physical health of their artists more seriously. There is more support now that didn't exist in the '90s. We're seeing artists pulling shows because of their mental or physical health. You know, that wasn't an option. I had to get on with it."

One motivation for Melanie to write her book 'Who I Am: My Story' was to share her experiences of living with an eating disorder and struggling with depression to let people know that it is OK to openly discuss your mental health issues.

Mel - also known as Sporty Spice - said: "Part of the reason that I wrote my book is because I have experienced these things, and been through a lot of pain. And if people can maybe avoid some of the pitfalls by my experiences, then that feels good. You know, it feels like it wasn't in vain."

Drew Barrymore is dating again

Drew Barrymore is dating again.

The 47-year-old actress has been single since divorcing Will Kopelman - the father of her daughters Olive, 10, and eight-year-old Frankie - in 2016 but she's now looking for love after growing "worried" she had got "too good" at being by herself.

Speaking to guest Whoopi Goldberg on her 'Drew Barrymore Show', the host said: "The last time you were here, we both were single. You weren't dating. Are you dating now? I am.

"Because it had been so many years, I started to get a little worried, like I'm too good at being alone."

'The View' co-host was then asked if she'd consider dating again but the 67-year-old star replied: "For good, no."

She then offered Drew some advice about being back on the market.

She said: "Maybe a hit-and-run is a better way to go, for now, until you say to yourself, 'Now I really want someone to just be part of this.'

"Right now, that may not be what you're looking for, which is probably why you're doing fine."

The '50 First Dates' star admitted in October she hasn't been "intimate" with anyone since her marriage ended.

Reflecting on how her attitude to sex has changed over the years, she wrote: "At nearly 48 I have very different feelings about intimacy than I did growing up.

"I did not have role model parents and I engaged with people in grown up ways since a tender age! I was looking for companionship! validation! excitement! pleasure! hedonism! fun! And adventures!!

"Now, because I can't get in the time machine and change my history. So I now choose to look at it through a positive lens, which is that I lived! I lived a very rich full life.

"However, after two kids and a separation from their father that has made me cautious, I have had the pleasure of shifting my focus when it comes to love for myself and my two daughters. I know that does not include a man nor has it for a while."

Drew insisted it has been a "pleasure" to take the time to focus on herself and her children.

She continued: "And since entering life as a single mom, I have not been able to have an intimate relationship. I have had the honour and a pleasure to actually work on myself and learn what parenting is, again something I was not exactly clear on growing up and I've had many learning curves thrown my way. I've been intimidated. I've been triumphant. I've been asked to be educated in every way I can be."

Frank Vallelonga Jr found dead

Frank Vallelonga Jr. has been found dead.

The body of the 60-year-old actor - who was known for playing his real-life uncle Rudy Vallelonga in 'Green Book' - was found outside of a building in the Bronx area of New York earlier this week, it has been confirmed.

His manager, Melissa Prophet, simply said in a statement: "I can sadly confirm this is true."

A cause of death has not been released but 35-year-old Steven Smith has been arrested and charged with concealment of a human corpse.

The NYPD said: "The investigation remains ongoing at this time."

Officers were alerted to an "unconscious male" at 3.50am on Monday (28.11.22) and discovered the actor "unconscious and unresponsive, on the ground at the location".

The following day, Smith was arrested, with a spokesperson telling the New York Post newspaper that he was allegedly seen on surveillance video dumping the body from a car outside a sheet-metal manufacturing factory.

He is said to have confessed while being interrogated about another case that is currently under investigation.

However, Smith denied any involvement in the actor's death, reportedly insisting he had never met him before and that: "That dude was dead already."

While Frank's body showed no signs of obvious trauma and the medical examiner is still working to establish a cause of death, sources told the outlet preliminary findings suggested an overdose.

At the time of his death, Frank was believed to be working with his brother Nick Vallelonga - who also starred in 'Green Book' and co-wrote and produced the film - on a new movie called 'That's Amore'.

Keshia Knight Pulliam is pregnant

Keshia Knight Pulliam is pregnant.

The former 'Cosby Show' actress - who already has five-year-old daughter Ella with former partner Edgerton Hartwell - is expecting her first child with husband Brad James, she revealed on Thursday (01.12.22).

Keshia, 43, shared a Boomerang of herself and her husband, showing off her bump in a purple and red clingy sweater dress ahead of her appearance on 'The Tamron Hall Show'.

She captioned her post: "Oh Baby Baby!! Baby James coming 2023!! [love emojis] (sic)"

Keshia later explained she and Brad had decided to wait to announce their news publicly because of her previous miscarriage but it "felt so good" to finally share.

She told Tamron : "Not that I've been trying to hide it, but when you've had a miscarriage, when you've gone through this journey, you want to just enjoy this moment and want to make sure that everything is OK," she told Hall, adding that she "feels so good" their secret is finally out.

The 'New Orleans Noel' star said her daughter is "so excited to be a big sister" and "talks to the baby regularly", but she's also been anxious because she has been "on this journey too".

Keshia recalled Ella asked: "Mommy, is the baby going to stay with us this time? Is it going to stay?"

And she said the youngster is "so happy" to know "everything is going well" with her pregnancy.

The actress - who married Brad in September 2021 - recently spoke of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her plans to have another baby.

She said: "I was 41 at the time and knew that I wanted another kid, but I knew that it wasn't right now.

"I began the process of freezing my eggs, and then literally the day that I was supposed to start my meds is when, as a result of the pandemic, they shut down all elective medical procedures. So, I was unable to continue.

"I think a lot of people didn't realise that, with the world shutting down in the pandemic, it didn't just affect your ability to go to the mall, or to do sporting events the way you want to, but it definitely affected a lot of people from a medical standpoint.

"People were unable to get mammograms and cancer surgery [which] were very much needed.

"It's crazy that preserving your right and your ability to have a baby is considered elective. It shouldn't. It should be an option that's given to all women."

Vince Vaughn has a 'fun idea' for Dodgeball sequel

Vince Vaughn has a "fun idea" for a 'Dodgeball' sequel but he will only move forward with the project if it feels "right".

The actor has opened up about plans for a potential follow-up to his 2004 movie and admitted his co-star Ben Stiller is "in the same boat" when it comes to plotting a return - insisting they won't make the film unless it's "funny".

He told The Hollywood Reporter: " They've always talked about these things forever and I had an idea that was fun and the studio likes it, so we'll see where it goes.

"I think Ben [Stiller] is open to doing it, I think he's in the same boat as me actually which is if it's a really fun and great idea then that's fun, but if it's just something to go do it again then why?

"I think for all of us if it feels right and it's funny, it would be something to go back to, and if it's not, it's just another idea getting kicked around."

Vince went on to explain he's been cautious about signing up to sequels of his hit movies as he doesn't want to revive films just for the sake of it.

He added: "I've had so many movies that I've been fortunate with and I never jumped into the sequels for that reason. Because I always felt like if you're just doing it because you think it's a way to get an audience, the problem is you're not going to feel good on the other side of it. So we've waited and I'm sure one of them will make sense, there's some continuation that will work."

It comes after Vince's co-star Justin Long gave his thoughts on the sequel plans and revealed he was worried Stiller might be having reservations about it.

He told ComicBook.com: "So I had just been around Vince a lot, and Vince had been telling me that he has this great idea for a sequel. "I don't know if he had yet pitched it to Ben, but I kind of set up the pitch, I felt like I should facilitate the pitch. "Of course I would love to do it and I hope that it ends up happening, but I think Ben is a little, what he told me on that podcast was that he's a little trepidatious about doing a sequel to something so beloved, something that people enjoy so much that. "It's very risky, you don't wanna s*** on the original, you want something just as good. "So I think [Ben is] a little wary of that, of trying to recreate something that was very specific to that time, but I hope he comes around on it."

Home Alone voted UK's favourite Christmas film of all time

'Home Alone' has been voted as the UK's favourite Christmas movie of all time.

The 1990 movie took 19 per cent of the vote in a nationwide study carried out by Showcase Cinemas ahead of the festive period and beat out competition from Will Ferrell's classic comedy 'Elf' (14 per cent) and 'Love Actually' (13 per cent).

In a closely fought race to be named the UK's favourite film character from a Christmas movie, Will Ferrell's performance as Buddy the Elf saw him land top spot with one in five choosing the elf as their character of choice.

Macaulay Culkin's performance as Kevin McCallister (17 per cent) in 'Home Alone' landed in second place while 'Die Hard' action hero John McClane (15 per cent) rounded out the top three.

In terms of actors playing Santa Claus, the late Richard Attenborough's portrayal in the 1994 remake of 'Miracle on 34th Street' was chosen as Britain's favourite - taking over a quarter of the vote (26 per cent).

Kurt Russell (20 per cent) finished in second place after playing Santa in the 2018 film 'The Christmas Chronicles' while Tom Hanks (18 per cent) was third after voicing Father Christmas in animated flick 'The Polar Express'.

In the survey's most controversial finding, more than one in five participants claim that 'Die Hard' is not a Christmas film.

To celebrate the Christmas period, Showcase Cinemas will be screening a range of festive favourites at cinemas across the UK.

A Showcase Cinemas spokesperson said: "Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year when it comes to the cinema. There are so many iconic films and moments from festive films throughout the years and 'Home Alone' is a deserving winner in our nationwide poll.

"Our survey revealed that watching Christmas movies is one of the UK's favourite things at this time of year, so we're delighted to be screening a few festive flashbacks on our screens across the country.

"Whether its family favourites such as 'The Polar Express' or the evergreen 'Die Hard', guests can come along and get in the Christmas spirit with a classic film screening in the lead up to the big day."

Mel B: 'James Corden is one of biggest d***heads in showbiz'

Mel B says James Corden is one of the biggest "d***heads" in showbusiness.

The Spice Girl, 47, also named bandmate Geri Halliwell, singer Jessie J - and herself - in a list of the the worst celebrities she knows.

She makes the admission on 'The Big Narstie Show', which will be shown on Friday night (02.11.22) on Channel 4.

Big Narstie's co-host Mo Gilligan asks Mel: "Who is the biggest d***head celebrity you've ever met?"

The singer replies: "So, there's a few. James Corden, Geri Halliwell, Jessie J and me!"

When Mo asks: "But Geri, she's your bandmate?" Mel responds: "I know, I love her to bits but she's really f****** annoying."

Narstie chips in: "You said James Corden - what did he do?"

Mel tells him: "I think you always have to be nice to the people that you work with whether it be production, camera guys, sound, lighting - we all work for the same thing. So you should always be nice and he hasn't been very nice."

It appears she was referring to James' recent restaurant row.

The presenter admitted he had been "ungracious" during an incident at New York restaurant Balthazar that led to the TV presenter being banned from the venue, with its owner Keith McNally claiming he had been "extremely nasty" to staff on two different occasions.

Mel also talks about her recent alleged interaction with MP Conor Burns, who has denied he met the singer after she suggested they had a conversation in a lift.

When asked on Narstie's show about her tweet about the politician, Mel said: "Let's just put it this way, he should have been fired a long time ago."

Mo added the MP claims to have never met Mel, with the singer replying: "He probably didn't recognise me, maybe - because Spice Girls are probably not at his front of knowing."

The MP had told the PA news agency: "I believe I have never met Mel" after he was removed from government and lost the Tory whip over a claim of "serious misconduct".

It is understood a third party made a complaint about his behaviour towards a man at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, with the BBC reporting an eyewitness saw the MP touching a young man's thigh at a hotel bar.

Mr Burns said he had not been told the nature of the allegations and accused his party of a "rush to judgement".

He said: "I will fully cooperate with the party's enquiry and look forward to clearing my name."

Mel, who was at the Tory conference to campaign for domestic abuse survivors, tweeted the MP in response to his statement, saying: "Really?? You're shocked about this complaint??? Let me remind you what you said me in lift..... ."

Mel still has not clarified what she meant.

'The Big Narstie Show' is on Channel 4 at 11.05pm, also featuring guests Jordan Stephens, comedian Nabil Abdulrashid and Billy Billingham from 'SAS: Who Dares Wins'.

'Squid Game' actor O Yeong-su to stand trial on indecent assault charges

'Squid Game' actor O Yeong-su will stand trial in February on indecent assault charges.

The award-winning screen veteran, 78, was indicted late in November on an allegation of sexual misconduct in Korea after he allegedly touched a woman inappropriately.

She filed a complaint against him in December 2021 but the case was closed in April with no charges filed against Yeong-su, according to Yonhap news agency.

But the prosecutor's office in Suwon reopened it and investigated the allegations, which Yeong-su has always denied.

The trial of the Golden Globe winner has now been set for February at the district court in the South Korean city of Seongnam, it emerged on Thursday. (01.12.22)

Specific details about the case could not be confirmed at this stage, Kim Myeong-un, an official in the district prosecutors' office said according to Sky News.

Best known for his role as Oh Il-name in Netflix's 'Squid Game', Yeong-su was released without detention after initially being accused of inappropriately touching a woman's body in 2017.

The actor last year told the local Yonhap media agency he had "held hands" with the woman "to show the way around a lake".

He apologised to the alleged victim, but insisted he had done so because the woman claimed she "wouldn't make a fuss about it".

Yeong-su also said an apology "doesn't mean that I admit the charges".

He won South Korea's first Golden Globe award in January for his role in 'Squid Game', which saw poverty-hit contestants play childhood games with fatal consequences in a bid to win 45.6 billion won.

He is seen as one of the greatest stage actors in South Korea, appearing in more than 200 stage productions since 1963 and winning a string of major awards.

The dystopian 'Squid Game' became Netflix's most popular series launch ever, drawing 111 million fans in less than four weeks after debuting in 2021.

It is still one of the most popular shows on the platform and is returning for a second series.

Elvis Presley's private plane up for auction

Elvis Presley's private plane is up for auction.

The singer's 1962 Lockheed 1329 Jetstar has sat in the 'aircraft graveyard' in Roswell, New Mexico, for more than 35 years and features nine original red velvet seats, an entertainment centre and microwave.

Mecum Auctions says in its listing for the battered craft: "Elvis and his effect on the music industry are known the world-over, and this opportunity for a new owner to acquire an extravagant piece of his aviation past is a momentous occasion with untold room for flights of rock 'n' roll fancy."

The jet was first auctioned in 2017 for around $430,000 but is again under the hammer.

It is one of three jets owned by Elvis when he bought it for $840,000 in 1976, a year before he died aged 42 on August 16, 1997, from heart failure after years of prescription drug abuse and binge eating.

The listing adds: "For decades, Lockheed's JetStar was the executive jet of choice for countless A-listers, recognized dignitaries and star-studded celebrities, and this 1962 Lockheed 1329 JetStar is no exception, as it was once owned by the king of rock 'n' roll: Elvis Presley. Presley acquired it from OMNI Aircraft Sales Inc on December 22, 1976 for the princely sum of $840,000.

"Lockheed introduced the popular model in September 1957--the same month RCA released Elvis' single 'Jailhouse Rock.' The vessel was extremely capable, boasting four engines that were contained in two pods mounted at the rear of the fuselage.

"They allowed for a max speed of around 565 MPH and a range of upwards of 2,500 miles, more than enough for active jetsetters focused on taking care of business. Inside, there was ample room for eight to 10 passengers to ride in style along with an onboard crew of three (two pilots and one cabin attendant.)

"When Elvis took ownership of this particular JetStar, registered with the FAA as N-20TF, the entertainer was no stranger to luxurious aviation acquisition. He had already amassed a modest fleet, which included a custom Convair 880 named the 'Lisa Marie' that went by the call sign of 'Hound Dog 1', along with a second JetStar identified by its call sign of 'Hound Dog 2'... this JetStar is one of several private jets owned by Elvis Presley, with two currently on display at Graceland."

Inside, the cabin features wood panelling and red velvet upholstery with a gold finish.

An onboard entertainment system is tucked in a media cabinet and features a television, RCA VCR player and audio cassette player, with headphone ports and audio controls at every seat.

The auction listing warns the aircraft "will require disassembly" if it needs to be shipped to a buyer.

Two other jets owned by Elvis are now on display at his Graceland home in Memphis, Tennessee.

Toby Keith looking to the future despite 'debilitating' cancer battle

Toby Keith is staying positive and looking to the future following his diagnosis with stomach cancer.

The 61-year-old country singer went public with his health crisis back in June revealing he was diagnosed with the illness in autumn 2021 and planned to step away from music to focus on undergoing surgery as well as rounds of chemo and radiation therapy.

He's now given his first interview since sharing his cancer news and insisted he's doing well. Speaking on the CMT Hot 20 Countdown, he explained: "I'm thinking about getting back into fighting shape. I need a little bit of time to just rest up and heal up.

"It's pretty debilitating to have to go through all that, but as long as everything stays hunky-dory, then we'll look at something good in the future."

The interview comes a month after the singer returned to performing by making a surprise appearance at Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Lexington, Kentucky to belt out songs including 'I Love This Bar' and Lynyrd Skynard classic 'Sweet Home Alabama'.

Days later he was honoured with the BMI Icon Award at the 2022 BMI Awards.

In a statement released over the summer, Toby revealed he'd been undergoing treatment for six months. He announced on his Twitter and Instagram accounts: "I've spent the last six months receiving chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. "So far, so good. I need time to breathe, recover and relax. I am looking forward to spending this time with my family."

He cancelled a number of shows during the year to give himself time to focus on his health battle.

Brad William Henke dead at 56

Brad William Henke has died.

The 'Orange Is the New Black' actor - who was best known for his portrayal of corrections officer Desi Piscatella in the prison drama series - passed away in his sleep at the age of 56 on Tuesday (29.11.22), his family have confirmed, but not details as to a cause of death have been given.

His manager, Matt DelPiano, told TMZ: "Brad was an incredibly kind man of joyous energy. A very talented actor, he loved being a part of this community…. and we loved him back. Our thoughts are with his wife and family."

The former NFL player is survived by wife Sonja, stepson Aaden, stepdaughter Leasa, grandchild Amirah, mother Tammy, and sister Annette.

Brad was drafted by the New York Giants in 1989 but cut during training camp and moved to the Denver Broncos, joining the team at the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers before retiring from the sport in 1994 due to injury.

He then made the move into acting, appearing in movies including 'Space Jam, 'Gone in 60 Seconds' 'World Trade Center', 'Pacific Rim' and 'Split'.

Brad also appeared in various TV shows such as 'Chicago Hope', 'Lost', 'Criminal Minds', 'Shameless', 'The Office', and 'MacGyver', and in 2017, he and the 'OITNB' cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series'.

He previously reflected on how "fortunate" he was to have found a new career after his sporting dreams came to an end.

He said: "I'm fortunate I've found something I love to do a million times more than playing football.

"I was kind of lost for a while after my football career ended, and I'm so glad I found this. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with the best of my life already behind me."

Queen Elizabeth's former lady-in-waiting 'has offered to meet race row charity campaigner'

Queen Elizabeth's former lady-in-waiting has reportedly offered to meet the charity campaigner who accused her of racist abuse.

Lady Susan Hussey, 83, has told friends she wants to personally apologise directly to Ngozi Fulani, Mail Online reported on Thursday night. (01.12.22)

Sources also claimed Palace officials had "reached out" to Ngozi to express "profound" regret for "unacceptable" comments.

Ngozi says she felt "violated" after Lady Susan - Prince William's godmother and who served as the late Queen's right-hand woman for 62 years - "interrogated" her about her background at a Palace reception on Tuesday.

She also accused Lady Susan of moving her hair so she could look at her name badge, and allegedly asked her: "What part of Africa are you from?" when Ngozi replied she hailed from Hackney.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace announced Lady Susan was resigning her honorary post as a 'Lady of the Household' and expressed her profound apologies for the offence caused.

The Daily Mail said sources said "absolutely no malice was intended".

But an insider told the publication "she has immense loyalty to the King and Crown and did not want this to embarrass them further", so stepped aside from her role.

Another friend added: "Lady Susan is 100 per cent being looked after. She is being personally supported in reflection of her age and loyal service. It has been hugely distressing for all concerned and I know the Palace is grateful for the way that she has dealt with this very upsetting situation. She continues to be helped by the unwavering support of her family."

Kanye West has 'love' for Hitler

Kanye West has "love" for Hitler.

The 45-year-old rapper made the declaration while wearing a black fabric mask that covered his entire face during a Thursday morning (01.12.22) appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' podcast 'Infowars'.

He said: "I see good things about Hitler... every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler."

Kanye, who has been dumped by brands including GAP, Adidas and Balenciaga following a series of anti-Semitic outbursts, later added: "I do love Hitler, I do love the Zionists - I love everyone."

When Alex - ordered by a court in November to pay more than $1.4 billion in damages to people who suffered from his false claim the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax - told Kanye: "You're not Hitler, you're not a Nazi, so you don't deserve to be demonised."

But the rapper brushed off his comments with more remarks about Jews and Hitler, adding: "The Jews... I love everyone, and the Jewish people are not going to tell me, 'You can love us and you can love what we are doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we are pushing with the pornography', but this guy that invented highways, invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can't say out loud that this person ever did anything good and I am done with that.

"I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler."

When Alex added Kanye had a "Hitler fetish" and told him that he did not really like Nazis or Hitler, it prompted Kanye to say: "I like Hitler... they (the Nazis) did good things too, we've got to stop dissing the Nazis all the time... the Jewish media has made us feel like the Nazis and Hitler have never offered anything of value to the world."

Kanye also brought out a net and a bottle of Yoohoo chocolate milk in an apparent attempt to mock Israeli Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu.

When Alex encouraged Kanye to remove his mask and tried to calm him down by asking him to talk about the name of his website, Kanye exclaimed: "My website is the Bible!"

The rapper also spoke of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, 42, saying about her sex tape with rapper Ray J and her recent relationship with comic Pete Davidson: "She was pushed into the sex tape, she was pushed into saying she had sex with Pete Davidson in front of a fireplace.

"Hulu doesn't love you, Kim. Disney does not love you, Kim. Come home, Kim. Come home to Christ. Go to God. Go to Jesus. Go marry Tom Brady, but get married and use your platform as an influence to keep families together."

After the interview, a Twitter account for the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee deleted a tweet that said: "Kanye. Elon. Trump."

The message was posted in October, and the account had been under pressure to remove the tweet amid Kanye's anti-Semitism scandal.

Among the celebrities who condemned Kanye's interview were actor Josh Gadd, who is Jewish.

He said on Twitter: "It's not what Kanye West says that scares me. It's that he has 30 million followers who listen to his insanity on top of a cheerleader in the form of the current owner of this platform.

"No one who says 'I love Hitler' should be allowed any oxygen on any social platform (period)."

Hilaria Baldwin recalls screaming and crying when she suffered miscarriage at 16 weeks

Hilaria Baldwin has recalled screaming and crying when she suffered a miscarriage at 16 weeks pregnant.

She also told the 'Witches Anonymous' podcast about the 2019 trauma she immediately called her husband Alec Baldwin who was on a public bus at the time.

Hilaria, 38, said: "I started to scream. I just didn't know what to do. I walked many, many, many blocks. I was just crying and walking."

Revealing how she had a "weird feeling" while going to an ultrasound appointment the day of her miscarriage, she said: "(The ultrasound tech) puts the wand on my belly, and the baby (was) not moving. She was dead."

Hilaria - who has children Carmen, nine, Rafael, seven, Leonardo, six, Romeo, four, Eduardo, two, Lucia, 21 months, and Ilaria, two months - with Alec, 64, had publicly announced she was pregnant so said she felt the need to immediately update fans on her miscarriage, which she did via a video with daughter Carmen.

She said: "I couldn't handle people congratulating me, and people write me all the time congratulating me.

"I told my daughter. I hope it wasn't throwing too much on her plate. But she had to know the truth."

Hilaria had a separate miscarriage in 2019, which she said led to her decision to have daughter Lucia via a surrogate as she feared she would "kill" the baby.

She added: "I (hought) if I put (the embryo) inside of me, it's going to be a death sentence.

"I was going to try to house her, just like I tried to house the babies I conceived naturally, and I was going to kill her."

Hilaria ended up giving birth to son Eduardo five months before Lucia arrived in February 2021.

She recently said "time will tell" when it comes to adding to her brood, telling Us Weekly: "I would have said before (that I'm) definitely done. Seven kids in, I feel like I am. But it's Alec and me."

Shakira and ex Gerard Piqué formalise child custody agreement in court

Shakira and her estranged partner Gerard Piqué have formalised their child custody agreement in court.

The former couple signed off on the deal in Barcelona after a 12-hour meeting with lawyers, entering and exiting court separately on Thursday (01.12.22) flanked by their legal teams.

They also agreed to sell their £12 million five-storey Barcelona property following their split in June after 11 years together.

Shakira, 45, and Gerard, 35, said in a joint statement after the agreement was formalised their children Sasha, seven, and Milan, nine, were their main priority.

It read: "Our sole objective is to provide them with the utmost security and protection, and we trust that their privacy will be respected.

"We appreciate the interest shown and hope that the children can continue with their lives with the necessary privacy in a safe and calm environment."

The pair were in court to ratify the child custody agreement they signed last month, which will see Shakira moving to Miami with their kids.

She and the ex-footballer arrived at Barcelona's family court No 18 separately at around 9.30am, with neither making any statement to reporters outside the building.

It was reported Shakira entered the building and signed first before her ex-boyfriend, and the next step is to repeat the procedure in America.

Gerard - who retired from football last week after he was sent off as a substitute for Barcelona - is living in a penthouse apartment with his new girlfriend, 23-year-old Clara Chia.

He and Shakira, born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, announced in May they had broken up following unconfirmed claims Gerard was cheating on her with a younger woman.

Meanwhile, Shakira said last month she feels "violated" by the Spanish tax authorities accusing her of a £12 million fraud.

The singer and her legal team hit out in statements ahead of a trial that could see her sentenced to eight years in jail if found guilty.

She said: "It is unacceptable that in its accusation the tax authorities are not respecting the legal certainty that must be guaranteed to any taxpayer, not my fundamental rights.

"As well as that they are trying to damage a reputation earned with the work of many years... in my case they have violated my right to privacy and the presumption of innocence, basic rights of any citizen."

Shakira is accused of pretending to live abroad and using an offshore corporate accounts structure to avoid meeting tax obligations from 2012 to 2014 and faces trail on six different charges.

Tom Felton welcomes new addition to family

Tom Felton has got a new puppy.

The former 'Harry Potter' actor - who is dating Roxanne Danya - took to Instagram earlier this week to introduce his followers to a golden labrador pooch he has named Forrest.

Showing a photo of the dog sitting on his hand, he wrote: "It gives me great pleasure to introduce Forrest. Welcome to the family mate xx #herewegoagain (sic)"

Tom already has his hand full with his furry friends because the day before he introduced Forrest to his followers, he shared a photo of the chaos his black Labrador Willow had caused, with cabling all over the room and a toy duck ripped to pieces while the pooch curled up contentedly on a cushion.

He captioned the post: "Ducky tripped over the cable , panicked then ripped his own voice box out. That's my story and I'm sticking to it - Willow."

The 35-year-old star had cryptically hinted at the new arrival last week when he shared a photo of Willow enjoying a walk outside.

He'd captioned that post: "Morning Wills - big week this one! x (sic)"

Meanwhile, fans are currently able to interact with Tom as Guy Fawkes when visiting 'The Gunpowder Plot', London's biggest new attraction, which is currently running at Tower Vaults at the Tower of London.

The multi-sensory adventure mixes live actors and digital stars in a theatrical adventure, where visitors step back in time to 1605 to infiltrate the inner circle of Fawkes and his conspirators and learn more about the conspiracy against the Houses of Parliament. For tickets, visit https://gunpowderimmersive.com/.

Nobody gets out of bearing their cross, says Will Smith

Will Smith believes that "nobody gets out of bearing their cross".

The 54-year-old actor plays a slave who makes his way to freedom in his new movie 'Emancipation', and Will admits that the role has really resonated with him.

The Hollywood star told 'Entertainment Tonight': "Peter has been in my heart in a beautiful way.

"The recognition of the relationship between suffering and salvation, the realization that nobody gets out of bearing their cross. It's just been a really beautiful, beautiful transformation."

Will found shooting the movie to be a "rough, rugged and raw" experience.

The actor vividly remembers connecting with his character when he was "testing the neck chains".

He explained: "They had old school replicas. And he put the key in and it didn't work, and he couldn't get it off.

"And I was locked in it for about 15 minutes, for real. They're scrambling around and my mind is going crazy with these chains locked on, and all of the sudden I understood. I got it. I got a taste of what it must have felt like."

Meanwhile, Will attracted widespread criticism earlier this year after he hit Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony.

The actor subsequently described his behavior as "shocking, painful, and inexcusable".

Will - who resigned from the Oscars Academy after the controversial clash - said: "My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable.

"The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home. I betrayed the trust of the Academy.

"I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.

"I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film."

Trailer drops for Duke and Duchess of Sussex's docuseries

Prince Harry wanted to show "what's happening behind closed doors" with his new documentary series.

Netflix have released the trailer for 'Harry and Meghan', the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's long-awaited fly-on-the-wall programme - which is expected to be released on 8 December - and the one-minute preview features previously-unseen black and white photos of the couple set to music.

In the clip, the couple are asked: "Why did you want to make this documentary?"

Harry replied: "No one sees what's happening behind closed doors."

He later added: "I had to do everything I could to protect my family."

His wife Meghan can be heard at the end of the trailer as she says: "When the stakes are this high, doesn't it make more sense to hear our story from us?"

Among the images flashed on screen are the couple with Harry's brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law Catherine, Princess of Wales, at the Commonwealth Day service in 2020, their final appearance as working royals, the pair dancing at their wedding, cuddling in a photobooth and Meghan cradling her baby bump.

But not all of the footage is celebratory as the former 'Suits' actress - who has Archie, three, and 17-month-old Lili with her spouse - is also seen wiping away tears and sitting with her hands covering her face while on the phone.

The documentary - which is directed by Liz Garbus - has been described by Netflix as a "global event" which "explores the clandestine days of their early courtship and the challenges that led to them feeling forced to step back from their full-time roles in the institution".

As well as footage of the couple, there will also be commentary from friends, family, and royal experts.

Netflix said: "The series does more than illuminate one couple's love story, it paints a picture of our world and how we treat each other."

Donald Trump’s company found guilty of tax fraud in scheme hatched by top executives

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s company was convicted of tax fraud on Tuesday in a case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney, a significant repudiation of financial practices at the former president’s business.

The guilty verdict came on the second day of deliberations following a trial in which the Trump Organization was accused of being complicit in a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on job perks such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars.

The conviction is a validation for New York prosecutors, who have spent three years investigating the former president and his businesses, though the penalties aren’t expected to be severe enough to jeopardize the future of Trump’s company.

As punishment, the Trump Organization could be fined up to $1.6 million — a relatively small amount for a company of its size, though the conviction might make some of its future deals more complicated.

Read the rest of the story here:

Q&A: What's next for the Trump Organization?

What were Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization accused of doing?

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Is Allen Weisselberg still the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization?

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Why did Allen Weisselberg decide to take a plea deal?

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What are the terms of Allen Weisselberg's plea deal?

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Will the Trump Organization also take a plea deal?

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What does the Trump organization actually do?

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What does this mean for Donald Trump?

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LGBTQ students wrestle with tensions at Christian colleges

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — As monks chanted evening prayers in the dimly lit Saint John's University church, members of the student LGBTQ organization, QPLUS, were meeting in a dedicated, Pride flag-lined lounge at the institution's sister Benedictine college, a few miles away across Minnesota farmland.

To Sean Fisher, a senior who identifies as non-binary and helps lead QPLUS, its official recognition and funding by Saint John's and the College of Saint Benedict is welcome proof of the Catholic schools' "acknowledging queer students exist."

But tensions endure here and at many of the hundreds of U.S. Catholic and Protestant universities. The Christian teachings they ascribe to are different from wider societal values over gender identity and sexual orientation, because they assert that God created humans in unchangeable male and female identities, and sex should only happen within the marriage of a man and a woman.

Keep scrolling for a ranking of the most conservative colleges in America

"The ambivalence toward genuine care is clouded by Jesus-y attitudes. Like 'Love your neighbor' has an asterisk," Fisher said that late fall evening.

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Most of the 200 Catholic institutions serving nearly 900,000 students have made efforts to be welcoming while staying true to their mission as Catholic ministries, said the Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.

Among Protestant institutions, a few are pushing the envelope, and most are hoping to stay out of the messiness, said John Hawthorne, a retired Christian college sociology professor and administrator.

"Denominations won't budge, so colleges will need to lead the way," Hawthorne added. Otherwise, they might not survive, because students are used to values far different from churches' teachings, as highlighted by last week's Senate passage of legislation to protect same-sex marriage.

"Today's college freshman was born in 2004, the year Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage," Hawthorne said, suggesting there might not be enough conservative students in the future for some of the universities to survive.

The consequences extend beyond the experiences of current students, many of whom enroll not because of faith but academics, athletics or scholarships. Some will likely become church leaders in an already divided society, where the recent shooting at an LGBTQ club in Colorado was only the latest reminder of the threats against that community.

The majority of Christian colleges and universities list "sexual orientation" in their nondiscrimination statements, and half also include "gender identity" – far more than did so in 2013, said Jonathan Coley, a sociologist at Oklahoma State University who maintains a Christian higher education database of policies toward LGBTQ students.

But translating that into practice creates tensions affecting most campus life, including enrollment at single-gender institutions, housing, restroom design and pronoun use.

Backlash follows from opposing corners: At some conservative schools, some students and faculty have filed discrimination complaints, while at more affirming institutions, some parents and clergy argue that approach doesn't align with their mission.

"We have to learn to live with this tension," said the Rev. Donal Godfrey, chaplain at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit institution in a city with a history of LGBTQ rights advocacy and a conservative Catholic archbishop opposed to same-sex marriage.

New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBTQ Catholics, keeps a list of over 130 Catholic colleges it considers LGBTQ-friendly because they provide public affirmation, including courses and clubs, said its director, Francis DeBernardo.

"Catholic colleges and universities were … and still are the most LGBTQ-friendly places in the church in the United States," DeBernardo added.

The Cardinal Newman Society, which advocates for fidelity to church teachings on all Catholic education issues, maintains its own list of recommended schools, a little more than a dozen the organization considers "faithful."

"For these colleges, being 'Catholic' is not a watered-down brand or historical tradition," Newman president Patrick Reilly said via email.

Other campus leaders see tension in Catholic teachings, which tend to skew conservative on human sexuality but progressive on social justice.

Even Pope Francis, who seemed to nod toward change when he remarked "who am I to judge?" about gay priests, more recently approved the refusal of blessings for same-sex unions.

"It's kind of a tightrope," said John Scarano, campus ministry director at John Carroll University, a Jesuit school near Cleveland with "safe zone trainings" as part of its ministry to LGBTQ students.

When parents and prospective students come to him undecided between John Carroll and Franciscan University, 100 miles away in Steubenville, Ohio, Scarano tells them, "Here, your Catholicism is going to be challenged" by different perspectives.

At the Franciscan-run school, "we don't move away from the truth of the human person as discovered in Scripture, the tradition of the Church, and the teaching authority of the Church -- this is our mooring, and we believe that to follow Christ is to be faithful to the Church's teachings," said the Rev. Jonathan St. Andre, a senior university leader.

The Steubenville institution strives to develop students' "healthy sense of the gift of their human sexuality," he added via email – but with no tolerance for harassment of those who disagree.

Students' safety is a priority, said Mary Geller, the associate provost who oversees student affairs for the 3,000 undergraduates at Saint John's and Saint Benedict, the single-sex institutions in Minnesota.

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"We're set up in the binary, but we know there are people coming to us who don't live in the binary," Geller said. They now admit students based on the gender they identify with, and consider transfers for those who transition.

That has enraged a few parents, like a father complaining "that we have students with male body parts in a female dorm," Geller recalled. "I just said, 'Sir, I don't check body parts.'"

With the help of legal advocates, some students at evangelical and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints schools are suing.

Last year, 33 LGBTQ students or former students at federally funded Christian schools filed a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, claiming the department's religious exemption allows schools that receive federal dollars to unconstitutionally discriminate against LGBTQ students. The plaintiffs have grown to more than 40.

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In May, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights launched a separate investigation for alleged violations of the rights of LGBTQ students at six Christian universities — including Liberty University.

The independent evangelical university is one of several that have greatly expanded their rules prohibiting students from identifying as LGBTQ or advocating for such identities.

Liberty forbids LGBTQ affinity clubs, same-sex displays of affection, and use of pronouns, restrooms and changing facilities not corresponding to a person's birth sex. As of this year, its student handbook, called "The Liberty Way," bans statements and behaviors associated with what it calls "LGBT states of mind."

"Liberty is very anti-gay," said Sydney Windsor, a senior there who first decided to attend Liberty to quash her sexual attraction for women and now identifies as pansexual. "I found friendships ending and me getting bad grades because of differing opinions or things I said or posted. It's years of irreversible trauma."

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At some evangelical schools, the argument has now moved from fighting over student's sexual and gender equality to fighting for LGBTQ diversity in faculty and staff hiring.

This year, Eastern University, located in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, and affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA, amended its policies to allow for the hiring of faculty in same-sex marriages — one of only a handful of evangelical schools to do so.

"If we can get faculty to come out and to have queer people openly represented on campus, that would be really big," said Faith Jeanette Millender, an Eastern University student who identifies as bisexual or queer and is active in the school's LGBTQ group.

A high-stakes clash between students, faculty and the school's board of trustees over hiring LGBTQ faculty is unfolding at Seattle Pacific University, a 131-year-old school affiliated with the Free Methodist Church.

The faculty held a vote of no-confidence in the board, one-third of which is appointed by the denomination, because it insists on keeping the policy barring people in same-sex relationships from full-time positions. Faculty and students have also sued the board in Washington State Superior Court for breaching its fiduciary duty, arguing the policy threatens to harm SPU's reputation, worsen an already shrinking enrollment and possibly jeopardize its future.

"This entrenchment around human sexuality feels so incongruent with the on-campus experience and what we teach our students," said Lynnette Bikos, professor and chair of SPU's clinical psychology department and a plaintiff in the suit against the board.

Chloe Guillot, a 22-year-old graduate student at SPU who is one of 16 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the school, said it was a matter of social justice.

"I'm wrestling with my own identity and I know how much Christianity has brought harm to communities, whether its people of color, women, or LGBTQ people," Guillot said. "I have a responsibility to step into those spaces and be willing to fight back. As someone who is a Christian we need to hold ourselves accountable."

In late November, a group of students and faculty decorated several campus buildings with rainbow-colored Christmas lights.

The administration has responded to one of the suits in a court filing saying that it expects students and faculty to "affirm the University's statement of faith, and to abide by its lifestyle expectations, which together shape the vision and mission of the institution."

Kathryn Lee, who came out as lesbian last year, while still a professor at Whitworth University, an evangelical school in Spokane, Washington, said debates over LGBTQ issues will persist for years.

"What's unfortunate in my view is that in some people's minds how do you define Christian education and it will be, 'Oh, where are they on LGBTQ?'" she said. "I find that tragic."

To students like Fisher in Minnesota, concrete actions will show if LGBTQ people can truly be welcomed on Christian campuses.

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There are still too many incidents. Ryan Imm, a Saint John's University junior and QPLUS leader who identifies as gay, recalled an anti-LGBTQ slur used on his residential floor. Sitting together in the QPLUS lounge, both students pointed to signs of hope -- like the popular drag show at Saint Benedict.

"It's almost like people forget there's dissonance," Imm said.

States that collect the most in property taxes

Real estate platformZeroDownlooked at Census Bureau data to see how much revenues states collect in property taxes each year.

2022 in review: The year in photos

The AP's top photos of 2022 capture a planet bursting at the seams. Scroll through 150 unforgettable images that defined the year that was.

50 historical photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor

To commemorate the 81st anniversary, here's a look back at a collection of Associated Press photos of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Warning: Some photos contain graphic content.

50 historical photos of the attack on Pearl Harbor

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Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (197)

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (198)

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (199)

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (200)

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (201)

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (202)

Dems hold 51-49 Senate majority following Raphael Warnock's victory in Georgia runoff

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a runoff election in Georgia.

The victory by the state's first Black senator ensures Democrats an outright majority in the chamber for the rest of President Joe Biden's term. That means the party won't have to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Republicans and Vice President Kamala Harris won't be called on as much to break tie votes.

Warnock's win solidifies Georgia's place as a Deep South battleground: Voters here returned the Democrat to the Senate in the same cycle they reelected Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and chose an all-GOP slate of statewide constitutional officers.

Walker, a football legend who first gained fame at the University of Georgia and later in the NFL in the 1980s, was unable to overcome a bevy of damaging allegations, including claims that he paid for two former girlfriends' abortions.

Walker's defeat bookends the GOP's struggles this year to win with flawed candidates cast from Donald Trump's mold, a blow to the former president as he builds his third White House bid.

National

Warnock defeats Walker in Georgia runoff

  • BILL BARROW and JEFF AMYAssociated Press

Meet the history-makers of the 2022 midterm elections

Maura Healey

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (204)

Katie Britt

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Maxwell Frost

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Wes Moore

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (207)

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (208)

Becca Balint

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (209)

Alex Padilla

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Markwayne Mullin

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Robert Garcia

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (212)

Kathy Hochul

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Marcy Kaptur

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Summer Lee

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Shri Thanedar

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Leslie Rutledge

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Shirley Weber

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (218)

Rob Bonta

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Aruna Miller

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Anthony Brown

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (221)

Andrea Campbell

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (222)

Austin Davis

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (223)

Zelenskyy, spirit of Ukraine named 2022 TIME Person of the Year

TIME magazine has named Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader whose attempt to fight off Russia's invasion of his country has won widespread acclaim, as its person of the year, alongside "the spirit of Ukraine."

"Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, Volodymyr Zelensky galvanized the world in a way we haven't seen in decades," Edward Felsenthal, editor-in-chief of TIME explained Wednesday.

TIME's 2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine #TIMEPOY https://t.co/06Y5fuc0fG pic.twitter.com/i8ZT3d5GDa

— TIME (@TIME) December 7, 2022

"In the weeks after Russian bombs began falling on Feb. 24, his decision not to flee Kyiv but to stay and rally support was fateful. From his first 40-second Instagram post on Feb. 25 -- showing that his Cabinetand civil society were intact and in place -- to daily speeches delivered remotely to the likes of houses of Parliament, the World Bank, and the Grammy Awards, Ukraine's President was everywhere," Felsenthal added.

Zelensky's unlikely career path has taken him from comic actor to wartime president in the space of only a few years. He became president of Ukraine in April 2019, at the age of 41, having spent his previous years as a performer, starring in romantic comedies and co-founding a successful TV production company.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, he gained new fame as an international audience watched his impassioned video addresses from the streets of the shell-damaged capital, Kyiv, where he stayed, despite intelligence indicating he was a key target for the Russian invaders and a US offer of evacuation.

"The fight is here; I need ammunition, nota ride," he told the US, according to Ukraine's embassy in Britain.

Felsenthal said "the spirit of Ukraine was embodied by countless individuals inside and outside the country."

"For proving that courage can be as contagious as fear, forstirring people and nations to come together in defense of freedom, for reminding the world of the fragility of democracy -- and of peace -- Volodymyr Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine are TIME's 2022 Person of the Year," Felsenthal said.

Zelensky follows Elon Musk as TIME person of the year for 2021. Russian President Vladimir Putin was TIME person of the year in 2007.

The title is not necessarily awarded as an honor, but indicates that the winner had influence on the world's events.

A look at every Time 'Person of the Year' since 1927

1927: Charles Lindbergh

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (224)

1928: Walter Chrysler

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (225)

1929: Owen D. Young

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (226)

1930: Mahatma Gandhi

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (227)

1931: Pierre Laval

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1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (229)

1933: Hugh S. Johnson

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (230)

1934: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (231)

1935: Haile Selassie

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (232)

1936: Wallis Simpson

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (233)

1937: Chiang Kai-shek Soong Mei-ling

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1938: Adolf Hitler

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (235)

1939: Joseph Stalin

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (236)

1940: Winston Churchill

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (237)

1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (238)

1942: Joseph Stalin

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (239)

1943: George Marshall

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (240)

1944: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (241)

1945: Harry S. Truman

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (242)

1946: James F. Byrnes

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (243)

1947: George Marshall

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (244)

1948: Harry S. Truman

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (245)

1949: Winston Churchill

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (246)

1950: The American fighting-man

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (247)

1951: Mohammed Mossadegh

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (248)

1952: Queen Elizabeth II

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (249)

1953: Konrad Adenauer

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (250)

1954: John Foster Dulles

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1955: Harlow H. Curtice

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (252)

1956: The Hungarian freedom fighter

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (253)

1957: Nikita Khrushchev

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (254)

1958: Charles de Gaulle

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (255)

1959: Dwight D. Eisenhower

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (256)

1960: U.S. Scientists

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (257)

1961: John F. Kennedy

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (258)

1962: Pope John XXIII

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (259)

1963: Martin Luther King Jr.

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (260)

1964: Lyndon B. Johnson

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (261)

1965: William C. Westmoreland

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (262)

1966: 'The Inheritor' (Baby Boomers, who were anyone under 25 years old at the time)

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (263)

1967: Lyndon B. Johnson

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (264)

1968: The Apollo 8 astronauts

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (265)

1969: The Middle Americans

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (266)

1970: Willy Brandt

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1971: Richard Nixon

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1972: Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon

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1973: John Sirica

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (270)

1974: King Faisal

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (271)

1975: American women

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (272)

1976: Jimmy Carter

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (273)

1977: Anwar Sadat

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (274)

1978: Deng Xiaoping

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (275)

1979: Ruhollah Khomeini

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (276)

1980: Ronald Reagan

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (277)

1981: Lech Walesa

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (278)

1982: The Computer

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (279)

1983: Yuri V. Andropov and Ronald Reagan

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (280)

1984: Peter Ueberroth

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (281)

1985: Deng Xiaoping

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (282)

1986: Corazon Aquino

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (283)

1987: Mikhail Gorbachev

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (284)

1988: The Endangered Earth

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1989: Mikhail Gorbachev

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (286)

1990: George H. W. Bush

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1991: Ted Turner

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1992: Bill Clinton

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1993: The Peacemakers

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1994: Pope John Paul II

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1995: Newt Gingrich

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1996: David Ho

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (293)

1997: Andrew Grove

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1998: Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr

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1999: Jeff Bezos

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (296)

2000: George W. Bush

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (297)

2001: Rudy Giuliani

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (298)

2002: The Whistleblowers

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2003: The American soldier

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2004: George W. Bush

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2005: The Good Samaritans

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2006: You

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2007: Vladimir Putin

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2008: Barack Obama

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (305)

2009: Ben Bernanke

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2010: Mark Zuckerberg

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2011: The Protester

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2012: Barack Obama

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2013: Pope Francis

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (310)

2014: Ebola fighters

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (311)

2015: Angela Merkel

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (312)

2016: Donald Trump

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2017: The Silence Breakers

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (314)

2018: The Guardians

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (315)

2019: Greta Thunberg

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (316)

2020: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (317)

2021: Elon Musk

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (318)

2022: Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Top national stories from the week: Stars we've lost, 2022 in photos, and more (319)

Supreme Court will keep student loan cancellation blocked for now, but agrees to hear case in early 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Biden administration program to cancel student loans will remain blocked for now, but the justices agreed to take up the case in late winter.

The court's decision to hear arguments relatively quickly means it is likely to determine whether the widespread loan cancellations are legal by late June.

That's about two months before the newly extended pause on loan repayments is set to expire.

The administration had wanted a court order that would have allowed the program to take effect even as court challenges proceed. But as a fallback, it suggested the high court hold arguments and decide the issue.

Biden's plan promises $10,000 in federal student debt forgiveness to those with incomes of less than $125,000, or households earning less than $250,000. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, are eligible for an additional $10,000 in relief.

The Congressional Budget Office has said the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades.

More than 26 million people already applied for the relief, with 16 million approved, but the Education Department stopped processing applications last month after a federal judge in Texas struck down the plan.

The Texas case is one of two in which federal judges have forbidden the administration from implementing the loan cancellations.

In a separate lawsuit filed by six states, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis also put the plan on hold, and that case before the Supreme Court.

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