Celebrity
Shane MacGowan, Lead Singer Of The Pogues And A Laureate Of Booze And Beauty, Dies At Age 65
LONDON, England – Shane MacGowan, The Pogues’ boisterous, rabble-rousing singer and lead composer who combined traditional Irish music with the intensity and spirit of punk, died Thursday, according to his family. He was 65.
MacGowan’s songwriting and persona established him as an iconic figure in contemporary Irish culture, and some of his compositions have become classics, most notably the bittersweet Christmas ballad “Fairytale of New York,” of which Irish President Michael D. Higgins stated that it “will be listened to every Christmas for the next century or more.”
“It is with deepest sorrow and heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our most beautiful, darling, and dearly beloved Shane MacGowan,” his wife Victoria Clarke, sister Siobhan, and father Maurice said in a statement.
According to the statement, the musician died peacefully with his family by his side.
After being diagnosed with viral encephalitis in late 2022, the musician was hospitalized in Dublin for several months. He was released last week, just in time for his forthcoming birthday on Christmas Day.
The Pogues fused Irish folk and rock ‘n’ roll into a unique, irresistible blend, though MacGowan became known for his slurred performances as much as his passionate compositions.
Shane MacGowan, Lead Singer Of The Pogues And A Laureate Of Booze And Beauty, Dies At Age 65
His lyrics mixed scabrous and romantic elements, ranging from carousing anthems to pictures of life in the gutter to sweet love songs. “Fairytale of New York,” The Pogues’ most famous song, is a tale about down-on-their-luck immigrant lovers that begins with the rather unfestive words: “It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank.” The duet between MacGowan’s scratchy voice and the silky tones of the late Kirsty MacColl is by far the most popular Pogues song in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Nick Cave, a singer-songwriter, described Shane MacGowan as “a true friend and the greatest songwriter of his generation.”
The Irish president, Michael D. Higgins, stated that “his songs capture within them, as Shane would put it, the measure of our dreams.”
“His words have connected Irish people all over the globe to their culture and history, encompassing so many human emotions in the most poetic of ways,” added Higgins.
According to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, MacGowan’s compositions “beautifully captured the Irish experience, especially the experience of being Irish abroad.”
According to Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald, “nobody told the Irish story like Shane — stories of emigration, heartache, dislocation, redemption, love, and joy.”
MacGowan was born on Christmas Day 1957 in England to Irish parents and spent his childhood in rural Ireland before returning to London. Ireland remained the everlasting focus of his imagination and longing. He grew up listening to Irish music from family and neighbors and rock, Motown, reggae, and jazz.
He was expelled from London’s renowned Westminster School and spent time in a psychiatric facility following a breakdown in his teens.
MacGowan welcomed the punk scene that erupted in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s. He played in a band called the Nipple Erectors as Shane O’Hooligan before forming The Pogues with musicians including Jem Finer and Spider Stacey.
Shane MacGowan, Lead Singer Of The Pogues And A Laureate Of Booze And Beauty, Dies At Age 65
The Pogues blended punk’s ferocious energy with traditional Irish tunes and instruments such as banjo, tin whistle, and accordion.
“It never occurred to me that you could play Irish music to a rock audience,” MacGowan said in his 2001 biography “A Drink with Shane MacGowan,” co-written with Clarke. “And then it clicked. Start an Irish band in London that plays Irish music with a rock and roll beat. The original plan was to simply blast out classic songs, but then I started writing.”
“Red Roses for Me,” the band’s first album, was released in 1984 and contained boisterous interpretations of Irish folk tunes among originals such as “Boys from County Hell,” “Dark Streets of London,” and “Streams of Whisky.”
The band gained a loyal following and accolades from music journalists and fellow performers ranging from Bono to Bob Dylan while performing in pubs and clubs throughout London and beyond.
The songs on the following two albums, “Rum, Sodomy and the Lash” (1985) and “If I Should Fall from Grace with God” (1988), by MacGowan, ranged from raucous rousers like the latter album’s title track to ballads like “A Pair of Brown Eyes” and “The Broad Majestic Shannon.”
The band also published an EP in 1986 called “Poguetry in Motion,” which included two of MacGowan’s best tunes, “A Rainy Night in Soho” and “The Body of an American.” The latter was featured frequently in the early-2000s TV show “The Wire,” when it was performed at the funerals of Baltimore police officers.
“I wanted to make pure music that could be from any time, to make time irrelevant, to make generations and decades irrelevant,” he wrote in his autobiographical book.
The Pogues momentarily ruled the world, with sold-out tours and appearances on American television, but the band’s output and appearances became more unpredictable, owing in part to MacGowan’s troubles with drink and narcotics. He was fired by the other band members in 1991 after a spate of no-shows, notably while The Pogues were opening for Dylan. Before disbanding, the band momentarily replaced MacGowan with Clash frontman Joe Strummer.
Shane MacGowan, Lead Singer Of The Pogues And A Laureate Of Booze And Beauty, Dies At Age 65
MacGowan joined a new band, Shane MacGowan and the Popes, and released two albums: “The Snake” in 1995 and “The Crock Of Gold” in 1997. Despite his well-documented drinking problems and performances that frequently included slurred lyrics and at least one stage collapse, he reconnected with The Pogues in 2001 for a series of concerts and tours.
MacGowan struggled with health issues for years and relied on a wheelchair after breaking his pelvis a decade ago. He was well-known for his damaged, decaying teeth until he received a full set of implants in 2015 from a dental specialist who referred to the treatment as “the Everest of dentistry.”
On his 60th birthday, MacGowan got a lifetime achievement award from Ireland’s president. A celebratory concert featuring Bono, Nick Cave, Sinead O’Connor, and Johnny Depp took place at Dublin’s National Concert Hall to mark the occasion.
In an Instagram post, Clarke said, “There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world.”
“I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures,” she wrote in an email.
SOURCE – (AP)
Business
Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications
Los Angeles — Dan Schneider, a former Nickelodeon producer and writer, sued the makers of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” on Wednesday, claiming the documentary series falsely claimed that he sexually abused the child actors with whom he worked.
Schneider, a former teen actress, was a key figure in Nickelodeon’s dominance of youth culture in the 1990s and 2000s. She worked on sketch series “All That,” “The Amanda Show,” and “Kenan & Kel,” as well as as an executive producer on shows such as “Zoey 101,” “iCarly,” and “Victorious.”
The Sun – VOR News Image
Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications
He is also a prominent figure in “Quiet on Set,” which premiered on true crime cable channel ID in March. It has since been streamed on Max, creating a big splash among Nickelodeon’s former stars and fans. It includes cast and crew interviews to expose the show’s sexualization of young teens, as well as a poisonous and abusive work climate that many blamed Schneider for. It also contains accounts of sexual assault of young performers, including “The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell, by crew members who were eventually convicted.
Schneider, who left Nickelodeon in 2018, claimed in the lawsuit that the “Quiet on Set” trailer and episodes of the show purposefully mixed and juxtaposed images and mentions of him with criminal sexual abusers to imply he was complicit.
“The portrayal of Schneider in ‘Quiet on Set’ is a hit job,” according to the lawsuit. “While it is indisputable that two bona fide child sexual abusers worked on Nickelodeon shows, it is likewise indisputable that Schneider had no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in the abuse, condemned the abuse once it was discovered and, critically, was not a child sexual abuser himself.”
The lawsuit names Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of ID and Max, as defendants as well as the show’s producing firms, Sony Pictures Television and Maxine Productions.
Emails requesting comments from representatives of the three companies were not immediately replied.
The four-part series implies that Schneider’s shows had a tendency to place young women in funny situations with sexual connotations, and it portrays him as an angry and emotionally abusive boss.
Hollywood Reporter – VOR News Image
Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications
It includes direct charges of sexual harassment and gender discrimination from women who worked as writers for him on “All That.” They claimed he exhibited pornography on his computer in their presence in the writers’ room and asked for massages, joking that they would lead to the women’s sketches appearing on the show, which Schneider denies.
It also includes an interview with Bell, who claims “extensive” and “brutal” sexual assault at the hands of a dialogue coach when he was 15, as well as an interview with the mother of another girl who was sexually abused by one of the crew members.
The Associated Press normally does not identify persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Bell has.
Following the show’s release, Schneider apologized in a YouTube video for “past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret.”
However, the lawsuit claims that the show, particularly the trailer, unjustly implicates him in child sexual abuse by presenting photographs of him — including some with his arm around young actors — during discussions about an unsafe atmosphere for children.
The lawsuit seeks damages to be assessed at trial for “the destruction of Schneider’s reputation and legacy” caused by “false statements and implications.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/Dan-schneider-1-031424-1344a2cfe8104b3fa1120d11c23935b5.jpg "Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications")
People – VOR News Image
Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications
Nickelodeon, which is not involved in the lawsuit, stated in a statement about the series that it cannot “corroborate or negate” allegations made decades ago, but it investigates all formal complaints and has strict processes for working with minors.
“Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew but of all children,” a spokesperson for the network said in a statement. We have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
SOURCE – (AP)
Britney Spears and her on-again, off-again boyfriend reportedly got into a “major fight” at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles early Thursday morning, prompting the dispatch of an ambulance.
The singer is claimed to be healthy and was not brought to the hospital, but the incident has raised concerns about her health.
Multiple media agencies published photos of Spears on Thursday, showing her barefoot and clutching a pillow next to Paul Richard Soliz, with whom she has been linked since late summer, while emergency responders appear to transport her possessions on a stretcher.
It’s unclear what transpired in the hours preceding the Los Angeles Fire Department call. Spears addressed “fake” news in a social media post shortly after the photos were released, claiming she “twisted” her ankle.
An LAFD representative confirmed that an ambulance was dispatched to an address that corresponds to the renowned Los Angeles hotel.
“The LAFD received a 911 call at around 12:42 a.m. this morning [Thursday] requesting aid for an injured adult female at [Chateau Marmont], but the caller did not offer any specifics regarding the injury,” Brian Humphrey said in a statement to Yahoo News.
“One LAFD paramedic ambulance responded to the scene. At this point, it is unclear whether the paramedics encountered the injured person or provided any medical aid. The paramedic ambulance left the scene at 1:17 a.m. without taking anyone to the hospital.”
Ambulance Called for Britney Spears: Yahoo Image
Reps for Britney Spears did not respond to Yahoo News request for comment.
An eyewitness told Entertainment Tonight, “Britney went out with Paul Richard Soliz and others. Someone handed her a blanket to throw over, and a cushion covered her front.
She moved a few feet, turned around, and returned without getting into the stretcher they had brought out.” According to the site, a member of Spears’ entourage spoke with paramedics.
Police responded earlier this evening to a probable assault with a deadly weapon.
The Los Angeles Police Department said that officers arrived at Chateau Marmont “around 10:30 [p.m. on Wednesday] for a possible ADW suspect.”
“It was secondhand information from the caller stating the suspect was threatening people at the location,” according to a press release. “When officers arrived, all parties had left, including the caller. Officers were unable to identify whether a crime had happened.
Brittney Spears is home safely.
As previously stated, the superstar did not travel by ambulance. CNN quotes a source close to the singer as saying she is “home and safe” after a “major fight” with Soliz.
Who is aul Richard Soliz?
Spears has been seeing her former housekeeper since the breakdown of her marriage to Sam Asghari in August 2023. According to reports from September, Spears and Soliz broke their relationship weeks after it began, due in part to his criminal history. They eventually reconciled, though.
“She’s a phenomenal woman,” he told US Weekly in September. “She’s a very good, positive person… “She is a good person.”
Spears claimed on social media that she “twisted my ankle last night” and called out paramedics who “showed up at my door illegally.”
“Just to let people know… the news is fake!!!” the caption said. “I would like respect at this time so that people understand I am growing stronger every day!!! Truth stinks, so can someone teach me how to lie?
Goddesses out there, I’m reaching my higher power, and I hope you are too!!! … I also twisted my ankle last night, and paramedics arrived at my door illegally. They never came into my room, but I felt completely harassed.
Celebrity
Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion After Hitting Price Benchmarks
Washington — Former President Donald Trump has purchased an extra $1.8 billion in shares of Trump Media, according to a regulatory filing this week.
Trump was granted an additional 36 million shares in the firm that controls his social media network, Truth Social, in exchange for the company’s stock meeting specific price targets. Based on Wednesday morning’s market price, this takes his overall holding to more than 114 million shares, valued at $5.7 billion.
CNN – VOR News Image
Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion After Hitting Price Benchmarks
Trump, the probable Republican presidential nominee, now owns almost two-thirds of the company’s outstanding shares.
Trump Media & Technology Group shares have risen sharply recently, closing Tuesday at $49.93. To get the new shares, Trump merely needs the stock to trade over $17.50 for 20 consecutive trading days.
Trump Media joined the Nasdaq after merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). These mergers provide emerging companies with a faster and easier path to publicly listing their shares.
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion After Hitting Price Benchmarks
On March 26, the first day of trading following Trump Media’s merger with Digital World Acquisition, shares of the newly combined business reached nearly $80 apiece in intraday trading before closing at $57.99.
Less than a week after its glitzy stock market debut, Trump Media revealed that it lost roughly $58.2 million last year, sending its stock down more than 21%. The $50.5 million profit the company reported in 2022 was significantly lower than the 2023 losses, according to a regulatory filing.
Mashable – VOR News Image
Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion After Hitting Price Benchmarks
The company’s shares fell to roughly $22 in the following weeks before recovering in mid-April.Truth Social was created in February 2022, one year after Trump was barred from major social media platforms such as Facebook and X, previously Twitter, following the January 6 revolt at the US Capitol. He has been reinstated to both but has remained with Truth Social.
Trump Media’s stock sank 8.6% to $45.64 in morning trading on Wednesday.
SOURCE – (AP)
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Miami Dolphins Agree To Sign Odell Beckham Jr. To A 1-Year Contract
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