Celebrity
Elton John, 75 Rocks Dodger Stadium For the Very Last Time
Elton John took the stage at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in a sequined-studded baseball uniform as the world’s biggest pop star 47 years ago on Sunday night, dressed in a bedazzled Dodgers bathrobe, a uniform more fitting for a 75-year-old man on the verge of retirement.
The crowd of more than 50,000 erupted, which occurred in the final minutes of John’s final North American tour.
He stated, “I want to spend time with my family because I’ll be 76 next year.” “I want to show you why I’m retiring by bringing them out.”
He embraced and kissed his husband, David Furnish, while his two sons, 11-year-old Zachary and 9-year-old Elijah, waved gleefully at the crowd in matching Dodgers jackets with “Elton” on the back.
The inevitable final song that gave the tour its name, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” was then performed by John.
The crowd, full of rocket men and rocket women, blue jean babies and LA ladies, many John’s age but plenty in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, swayed and sang along to songs like “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer” throughout the two-hour show. Some wiped away their tears.
Many were dressed up in sequins and spangles, sparkling spectacles, top hats, feather boas, and, in a few cases, Donald Duck suits, representing different eras of John’s 55-year career.
“Thank you all for dressing up,” John said, “it makes me so happy when you all wear the best costumes.”
When the last song finished, John removed his robe to reveal another retirement outfit, a green-and-red tracksuit, and climbed into a small, clear elevator that lifted him into a gap in the backdrop.
On a massive video screen, he could then be seen walking down a yellow brick road in the distance. Many others came to support Elton John on this special day.
Kiki Dee performed their duet “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”
“This woman was here with me in 1975, and we sang this song,” John explained as he brought out Dee. “I invited her to recreate that incredible moment.”
As his rehearsal piano player Adam Chester pounded the keys in his place, John jumped from his usual keyboard spot, grabbed a mic, and sang and danced with Dee.
In honour of the four bandmates who died during his career, John performed “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” After the first verse, he introduced another guest, shouting, “ladies and gentlemen, Brandi Carlile!”
The moment was an unspoken tribute to another late collaborator, George Michael, who performed the song with Elton John in the same way in 1991.
Carlile, who played an important role in Joni Mitchell’s recent return to the stage, was dressed in her Dodger-themed spangled suit. As John wrapped his arm around her and soaked in the applause, she belted out her verses and made a “can you believe this?!” face to the crowd.
A drum machine pounded as Dua Lipa, dressed in a black gown that contrasted with everyone else’s sparkles, took the stage for the first of the encores, “Cold Heart,” her 2021 hit with John.
“I can’t tell you how it feels to be 75 years old and have the world’s No. 1 record,” John said afterwards. “And 52 years ago, this was my very first hit.”
He began playing piano chords and sang, “It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside,” the opening line to “Your Song” from the 1970s.
“That was your song, Los Angeles!” Elton John exclaimed.
He explained the city’s significance to his music about two hours earlier, after taking the stage in a tuxedo with sequins that flared into a flame design and opening the concert with “Benny and the Jets.”
“All right, this is a very special, emotional night for me, and it’s been a long journey, and I first came here to America in 1970 to the City of Angels, Los Angeles, and I played a club called the Troubadour.”
The concert, live streamed on Disney+, was the last of three nights at the stadium (and his 103rd show in the LA area, he told the crowd). The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour kicked off in September 2018 with the first of over 300 planned dates. It was halted in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic but resumed in 2021.
John will travel to Australia and New Zealand in January, followed by the United Kingdom and Europe. He’s scheduled to finish in Sweden in July, but he’s made it clear that he’s only done travelling and not making music.
Many of those backing him up have been with him since the beginning, including Nigel Olsson, his drummer since 1969, and Davey Johnstone, his guitarist since 1971, who led the band through a ripping version of “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” at the age of 71.
John also gave a rare on-stage glimpse of an even more long-running collaborator, lyricist Bernie Taupin, who wrote most of the lyrics that the audience sang along with all night.
“We’ve been writing together since 1967,” John said as he hugged Taupin, who, with his bald head and plain, earth-toned coat, couldn’t be more dissimilar to his writing partner. “We still love each other more than we ever have.”
Washington — On Friday, “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill visited the White House with President Joe Biden, leaving with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a newfound respect for the job.
“I love the merch,” he added, removing his glasses briefly at the White House daily press briefing following his meeting with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, joked with reporters that he’d answer a few questions as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he told reporters. He’d been to the White House previously, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never seen the Oval Office, which he described as impressive. According to Hamill, Biden displayed photographs and other memorabilia from the Oval Office.
Hamill claimed Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill responded with an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”
“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also portrayed the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Both Mark and the White House were hazy about the cause for his visit. But Mark, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a sizable social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.
“May 1 Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he tweeted on May 1.
On Friday, he wrote, “May 3 be absurd that the guy who tried to steal a fair election is allowed to run again,” referring to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
May 4 is unofficially known as “Star Wars” Day, partly due to the famous Jedi line “May the Force Be With You.” The pun is “May 4 be with you.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Mark also provided his voice for “Air Alert,” a downloadable program linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice warns citizens to take cover if Russia launches another aerial strike on Ukraine.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
LONDON — Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning actor, has denied new charges of inappropriate behavior by men who will appear in a British television documentary airing next week.
In an online interview with journalist Dan Wootton, Spacey stated that he has never done anything unlawful and has struggled to return to work since being convicted of criminal charges in a London court last year.
“I can’t go through this again, allowing myself to be baselessly attacked without defending myself,” he said in the “Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply” interview, which aired late Friday on Wootton’s YouTube channel.
AP – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Last July, a London jury cleared Spacey of sexual assault charges stemming from 20-year-old allegations made by four men. The court triumph was his second since defending himself against a $40 million lawsuit filed in New York in 2022 by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp.
The documentary “Spacey Unmasked” will be shown on Channel 4 in Britain on May 6 and 7 and on Max in the United States.
“I take full responsibility for my past behaviour and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me,” said Spacey, who received Academy Award nominations for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty.”
“I’ve never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, never,” he said.
Rolling Stone – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Spacey, the creative director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, said that he was a “flirt” with men in their twenties and occasionally made “clumsy” advances.
“I’ve clearly hooked up with some men who thought they might get ahead in their careers by having a relationship with me,” he went on to say. But there was no conversation with me. It was all part of their plan, a plan that was always destined to fail because I wasn’t in on the deal.”
The actor also stated on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to reply to the claims brought against him in their program.
Spacey said that the network turned down his request “on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.”
ABC – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Spacey said he had struggled to return to work since being acquitted of all criminal charges, characterizing the experience as a “life sentence.”
His acting career had suffered since 2017 when he was publicly accused of inappropriate behavior at the start of the #MeToo movement. He then lost his starring role as Frank Underwood in the Netflix thriller “House of Cards”.
SOURCE – (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO — The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an auditing firm hired by Trump Media and Technology Group only 37 days ago with “massive fraud” on Friday, but not for any work done for former President Donald Trump’s media company.
The SEC accused the accounting firm BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, of “deliberate and systematic failures” in over 1,500 audits.
CNN – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
The charges include failing to follow accounting regulations, falsifying documents to conceal flaws, and falsely claiming in audit reports that its work fulfilled audit criteria.
To settle SEC accusations, BF Borgers agreed to pay a $12 million fine, while its owner consented to pay a $2 million fine, according to the SEC. Benjamin Borgers did not immediately return a phone for comment.
BF Borgers and Benjamin Borgers both agreed to permanent sanctions, which will take effect immediately and prevent them from handling SEC-related matters as accountants.
According to the company’s most recent annual report filing, Trump Media appointed BF Borgers as its auditor on March 28. The business acknowledged that BF Borgers had similarly addressed its audits before its public offering by combining with a cash-rich shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.
The company had already hired at least two other auditors, one who resigned from the account in July 2023 and another who was fired by the board in March, just as it was rehiring BF Borgers.
Trump Media “looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order.”
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
The SEC discovered that BF Borgers’ shortcuts included:
- Copying audit documents from the prior year.
- Changing the pertinent dates.
- Passing it off as current documentation.
In addition to inaccurately recording work that was never completed, the fake documentation detailed planning meetings with clients that never took place and “falsely represented” that both Benjamin Borgers and another reviewer had authorized the audit work.
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
“Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets,” stated Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement director. “Thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down.”
SOURCE – (AP)
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
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