After Donald Trump illegally used music from The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack for a 2020 campaign video, Warner Bros. had the video taken down for copyright infringement.
Now, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is pointing the finger at CNN’s connection to AT&T for the removal.
Parscale tweeted an image of the dead link with the caption, “Sad to see an @ATT owned company pull such a great video made by an every day American in good fun. AT&T now owns @CNN and is positioning themselves as a weapon of the left.”
CNN is owned by WarnerMedia News & Sports, which is owned by AT&T, which also owns the Warner Bros. entertainment company.
Sad to see an @ATT owned company pull such a great video made by an every day American in good fun. AT&T now owns @CNN and is positioning themselves as a weapon of the left. pic.twitter.com/jP9kM0Rx7p
Less than a month after a white supremacist loon shot up two mosques killing 50 people, New Zealand’s lawmakers have banned most automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
Additionally, components that modify existing weapons were prohibited as well.
The gun reform bill passed 119-1 after its final reading in Parliament. It must now receive royal assent from the governor general before it officially becomes law.
Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with 50 murder charges after the attack on two mosques on March 15.
Around 250,000 people in New Zealand own a total of about 1.5 million weapons.
BREAKING: New Zealand’s parliament voted 119-1 today to ban military-style semi-automatic weapons. The change comes less than one month after the Christchurch mosque shootings that left 50 people dead. pic.twitter.com/UHxFn7Vuez
He would then print out the story and give it to Donald Trump. After seeing the story, Trump would then “pick up the phone and blast (Homeland Secretary) Nielsen.
• FX has announced that the second season of Pose will premiere June 9 at 9pm. The network also confirmed that the second season will time jump to 1990 with vogueing about to the day Madonna released her music video for “Vogue,” causing the ball culture to “reevaluate their goals.”
Cynthia Erivo & Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon on ‘American Idol’
It was “Celebrity Duets” week on American Idol, and the talent competition saw 6 contestants eliminated as the show heads towards opening up the voting to the public next week.
Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, the openly gay son of a Maryland pastor, had the good fortune to be paired with Tony/Grammy/Emmy Award-winning actress (The Color Purple) Cynthia Erivo for a luscious, show stopping performance of Cyndi Lauper’s classic hit, “Time After Time.”
Side note: Erivo’s performance in the Broadway revival of Color Purple was a transformational experience – easily one of the most powerful star turns this writer has ever seen onstage. She deserved every accolade and honor for her gut-wrenching turn as “Miss Celie.”
And now, back to American Idol…
The song was an inspired choice that played to both singers’ strengths. With complicated runs, obvious chemistry and effortless high notes, the performance definitely impressed the judges.
Katy Perry: “It’s like you guys’ souls were singing to each other…It was a spiritual moment for me.”
Luke Bryan: “It was incredible. I’m sitting on the edge of my seat going, ‘Please go for the big note;’ and you did it, and you just knocked it outta the park. Great job.”
Lionel Richie: “That was glorious. Glorious…We just witnessed a masterful performance.”
In a recent interview with Out, Harmon shared that American Idol hasn’t quite told his story as honestly as he’d like.
Thus far, his narrative has been one of rejection by his family after he came out.
“I’ve never said that my parents have rejected me, or don’t accept me as me, their son,” Harmon told Out. “And that in combination with my parents not being able to make it to the first couple performances and [not being] featured on the show yet, you know, it’s easy for people to take that and run with it and say, ‘Oh, Jeremiah’s parents are these monstrous, abusive people,’ which in reality, they’re just trying to integrate this experience and they’re processing it in their own way.”
Racking up strong performances like “Time After Time,” plus previous turns with “Landslide” and an original song, “Heaven,” Harmon’s family will have more time to “process” the experience as Harmon advanced to the Top 14 and will continue his AI journey.
Watch Harmon and Erivo make musical magic with “Time After Time” below.
Murray Bartlett and Laura Linney in ‘Tales of the City’
Netflix’s highly anticipated revival of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City has released its first official teaser trailer.
Based on the serial novels by Maupin, Tales of the City chronicles the lives of a group of friends living at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco.
“When I first got off the bus years ago,” says Laura Linney’s character at the beginning of the trailer, “I had the strangest feeling that I’d come home.”
Before HBO’s Looking or Showtime’s Queer As Folk, Tales of the City developed a huge following due to the acclaimed PBS miniseries in 1993. That success spawned two sequels (More Tales of the City in 1998, Further Tales of the City in 2001) produced by Showtime.
More than 20 years later, original cast members Laura Linney and Olympia Dukakis are back, and they are joined by new cast members including Ellen Page, Charlie Barnett, Murray Bartlet, Daniela Vega and Molly Ringwald.
In the 10-episode series, Mary Ann Singleton (Laura Linney) returns to San Francisco after 20 years and is reunited with her ex-hubby Brian (Paul Gross) and daughter Shawna (Ellen Page).
Despite a “picture-perfect” life in Connecticut, a mid-life crisis sends Mary Ann back into the world of Anna Madrigal (Dukakis) and Maupin’s signature slate of eccentric San Francisco characters.
Look for RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, Bob the Drag Queen, in the mix along with more of the rich tapestry of community that is San Francisco.
Olympia Dukakis and Bob the Drag Queen (courtesy photo)
The series is scheduled to have its world premiere at the San Francisco Film Festival this Friday, April 10.
The rest of the world will have to wait until the June 7 debut on Netflix.
Check out the new teaser trailer for Tales of the City below.
International recording artist Taylor Swift has donated $113,000 to the Tennessee Equality Project to aid in its attempts to stop state lawmakers from passing a slew of legislation that has been labeled as a “slate of hate.”
Chris Sanders, of Tennessee Equality Project, announced the donation.
“She sees our struggle in Tennessee and continues to add her voice with so many good people, including religious leaders, who are speaking out for love in the face of fear,” Sanders said on Facebook.
Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee on budget matters, Attorney General William P. Barr said he will be releasing a redacted version of the Mueller report within a week.
Attorney General William P. Barr said he will deliver the Mueller report to Congress and the public within a week, reiterating his earlier promise to release it by mid-April.
Testifying before lawmakers, Mr. Barr said he would be transparent about redactions in the report. But he demurred when asked whether he has briefed the White House on it.
“My original timetable of being able to release this by mid-April stands,” says Attorney General Barr, referring to the Mueller report.
“By within a week, I will be in a position to release the report to the public.”
Bill Barr reveals that Mueller team DID NOT have a role in drafting his letter to Hill outlining the top-line conclusions of Mueller report. Mueller team was offered a chance to review it but declined
With a stroke of his pen, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has signed a bill into law banning the harmful practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for minors in his state.
That brings the total number of states to prohibit the medically discredited practice to 16.
Massachusetts joins New Jersey, California, Oregon, Illinois, Vermont, New Mexico, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Nevada, Washington, Hawaii, Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New York, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Good news!! Thank you Massachusetts. Only 34 more states to go to ban conversion therapy, a form of child abuse. https://t.co/XfAaJ8QYxW
Great news that Massachusetts will finally put an end to the horrific & illegitimate practice of conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors. But conversion therapy for minors is shockingly still permissible in 34 states. We must abolish this practice nationwide.https://t.co/pRXRv4SJLj
Former Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman will plead guilty in the recent college admissions scandal.
According to Variety, Huffman was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The criminal complaint alleges she paid $15,000 to a college admissions consultant, William Singer, to improve her daughter’s SAT score.
Huffman arranged to have her daughter take the SAT at the West Hollywood Test Center, which Singer controlled.
Huffman was also able to obtain extra time for her daughter to take the test. Singer admitted to hiring a proctor to correct answers on students’ exams.
Huffman’s daughter got a 1420 on the test, a 400 point improvement on her PSAT result.
The Oscar-nominated actress issued a statement about the guilty plea:
“I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions.
“I am ashamed of the pain I have caused my daughter, my family, my friends, my colleagues and the educational community. I want to apologize to them and, especially, I want to apologize to the students who work hard every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”
“My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her. This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life. My desire to help my daughter is no excuse to break the law or engage in dishonesty.”
JUST IN: Statement from Felicity Huffman: “I am in full acceptance of my guilt…My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her.” https://t.co/HKQ9XinwiZpic.twitter.com/90egA9cmGW
It was quite the heady weekend for White House hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.
He began his Sunday on the front page of the Washington Post. That was followed with a full Meet The Presssegment with NBC News’ Chuck Todd.
From there, he went straight to a fundraising brunch for the LGBTQ Victory Fund which supports – who else? – LGBTQ candidates.
Speaking to the audience, Buttigieg shared that his dream as a child was to explore space. Clearly, things took a different direction.
“As a kid I was hoping one day I’d be an astronaut,” he shared, “but no way would I have believed that one fine day in the spring of 2019 I would be standing in a ballroom in Washington, 37 years old, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, in my eighth year as mayor of my hometown, a couple hours after going on Meet The Press as a credible contender for the American presidency, with my husband looking on from his table!”
Funny how that happens, no?
The 37-year-old mayor confided that he wasn’t always so comfortable being open about his sexuality. In fact, he says he would have “done anything” to change that part of himself.
When I was younger, I would have done anything to not be gay. When I began to halfway realize what it meant, it launched in me something I can only describe as a kind of war. And if the war had been settled on the terms that I would have wished for when I was 15 or 20 or, frankly, even 25 I would not be standing here. If you had offered me a pill to make me straight, I would’ve swallowed it before you had time to give me a sip of water.
Mayor Pete added, “Thank God, there was no pill.”
The military veteran also spoke eloquently about his marriage to his husband, Chasten. In doing so, he referenced Vice President Mike Pence, who has a long history of anti-LGBTQ positions including opposing same-sex marriage.
“Being married to Chasten has made me a better human being because it has made me more compassionate, more understanding, more self-aware and more decent,” he said at the fundraising brunch.
“My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man. And yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God,” he added.
The two-term mayor also told the crowd that if Pence and others have a “problem” with him being gay, then their problem is not with Buttigieg but with his “creator.”
“Speaking only for myself, I can tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade,” Buttigieg said.
“And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand,” he continued. “If you’ve got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator.”
Buttigieg has announced an “event” for Sunday, April 14, where he is expected to officially announce his entry into the 2020 presidential race.
His team has announced he raised over $7 million in the first quarter and has surpassed the 65,000 donor threshold in order to qualify for the first two Democratic debates scheduled for this summer.
