TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8
NATIONAL HEADLINES:
U.S. OFFICIALS TO QUESTION AL QAEDA SUSPECT AT SEA
U.S. officials said yesterday that interrogators will question a suspected al Qaeda operative aboard an American warship. The suspect will not be read his rights. Abu Anas al-Libi was captured on the streets of Tripoli, Libya over the weekend. Officials said he will be held in military custody for the next few days, or maybe even weeks. His interrogation will be conducted aboard the USS San Antonio in the Mediterranean Sea by a team specializing in so-called high-value targets. Al-Libi will then be taken to the U.S. to stand trial in the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
SEAL TEAM SIX RAID TO CATCH KENYAN TERROR SUSPECT FAILS
A counterterrorism raid aimed at capturing a Kenyan terror suspect in Somalia failed over the weekend. The suspect, known by the name Ikrimah, is wanted in a plot to attack the parliament building and U.N. headquarters in Nairobi. The elite SEAL Team Six planned to nab him at his seaside compound, but were forced to abort the mission. The SEALs were spotted as they came out of the Indian Ocean in small boats and a firefight ensued. They lost their element of surprise and along with it the chance to take Ikrimah alive. The SEAL commander could have called in an airstrike, but decided against it because there were too many civilians, including children, in the compound. The team withdrew. None of the SEALs were killed, but one or two of Ikrimah's men were believed to have been killed or wounded.
OBAMA AND BOEHNER NO CLOSER TO REACHING A SOLUTION
President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner were no closer to reaching a compromise on a federal spending bill yesterday, as the government shutdown entered day seven. During a visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, Obama dispelled Boehner’s recent criticism that the president is blocking a path to a resolution. “I have said from the start of the year that I’m happy to talk to Republicans about anything related to the budget,” Obama said. “There is not a subject that I am not willing to engage in, work on, negotiate and come up with commonsense compromises on.” But, he added, he “cannot do that under the threat” of prolonged shutdown or default, which he said Republicans were using as leverage to “get a hundred percent of what they want.” He also challenged Boehner to put a government funding measure on the floor for a vote, with no strings attached.
STORM SNAGS TRAVEL IN NORTHEAST
A storm system caused major travel delays in the Northeast yesterday. The Federal Aviation Administration reported takeoff delays of about an hour at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in New York. After having dumped 4 feet of snow on the Plains, the storm system brought torrential rain and strong winds as it moved east. Tornado watches were issued for much of the region from Washington, D.C. to Vermont, but were lifted by 5 pm ET. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people were left without electricity in western South Dakotaafter the unseasonably early blizzard struck over the weekend.
STUDY: 9 PERCENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE ADMIT TO FORCED SEXUAL CONTACT
Researchers reported yesterday that nearly one in 10 young people, aged 14 to 21, has admitted to some kind of forced sexual contact. According to a report in the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics, 9 percent of youths said they have used tactics from guilt to threats to actual physical force in these encounters. Half blamed their victims. Even more troubling, four percent of the more than 1,000 young men and women surveyed admitted to having raped someone else. The study also revealed that youths who reported seeing more violent sex online, in magazines, on television or at the movies were more likely to commit violent sexual acts.
SHOWBIZ NEWS:
PRINCE HARRY MARRIAGE RUMORS
Sounds like we need to get ready for another royal wedding. According to the UK Telegraph Prince Harry will marry girlfriend Cressida Bonas. Sources tell the paper Cressida was wary about marrying into the Royal Family, but has since gotten over her issues. “Cressie is going to marry Harry,” claimed a friend. “Harry never stops talking about marriage and children, and she has now got used to the idea. The wedding is likely to take place next year.” Harry and Cressida were first linked together in summer, 2012. Before that he dated Chelsy Davy on and off for about five years.
HALLE ALLEGEDLY NAMES SON MACEO
Although Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez have yet to make any official announcements, TMZ reports the couple has named their newborn son Maceo Robert Martinez. According to the site, the name is of Spanish origin and means Gift of God. Robert is the first name of Olivier’s father. Little Maceo was born Saturday in Los Angeles. It is the first child for the couple, who married in July. Halle has a five-year-old daughter Nahla with ex-beau Gabriel Aubry.
SCARLETT IS ESQUIRE’S SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE
Scarlett Johansson has been named the Sexiest Woman Alive by Esquire magazine. This is the second time the 28-year-old has been given the honor; the first was in 2006. Scarlett recently got engaged to French journalist Romain Dauriac and she tells the mag that jealousy “comes with the territory” when you’re with a Frenchman. "I didn't think I was a jealous person," she says, "until I started dating my current, my one-and-only. I think maybe in the past I didn't have the same kind of investment. Not that I liked my partner less, I just wasn't capable of it or caring that much." This will be Scarlett’s second marriage. She was previously married to Ryan Reynolds.
CHARLIZE HAS NECK SURGERY
Oscar winner Charlize Theron has had surgery on her neck according to People magazine. A source says the 38-year-old had “a small procedure” to correct a vertebrae she broke several years ago and “is totally fine.”
JUDD RUSHES TO ESTRANGED HUBBY’S BEDSIDE
They may have separated in January, but Ashley Judd still rushed to her estranged hubby Dario Franchitti’s side after his horrific car accident Sunday during Houston’s Grand Prix. "Thank you for the prayers for Dario, I have only clothes on my back & the dogs but that's all that we need & we are on our way," she tweeted. Franchitti suffered a concussion, broken right ankle and two fractured vertebrae in the accident. Thirteen fans were injured when debris from the accident flew into the stands.
LOHAN WANTS TO OPEN HER OWN REHAB
It’s no doubt Lindsay Lohan knows a lot about rehab, so now she wants to pass on her expertise to other people. Radaronline claims the 27-year-old, who has been in and out of facilities six times, wants to open her own treatment center and name it after herself. “Lindsay really wants to help other people and she’s talked to some of her wealthy friends who are sober about the prospect of opening up a rehab center,” the insider revealed. “She loves the idea and really believes that if her name is attached to it, it will help draw attention to sobriety.” The Mean Girls star reportedly wants the center to be based in New York City. “Lindsay is telling friends that she knows what works and doesn’t work when it comes to treatment,” the source added. “She feels that she’s in the right frame of mind now to give advice to other young people who have their own problems.”. A rep for the actress tells Gossip Cop the story is “not true.”
MILEY THINKS SEX STOPS AFTER 40
We forget just how young Miley Cyrus is. During an appearance on Today yesterday, host Matt Lauer wondered whether the 20-year-old “Wrecking Ball” singer’s new sexualized image was just a phase, and asked her when she thought it would end, to which she replied, “I hear when you turn 40, things start to go a little less sexual so probably around 40. I hear people don’t have sex anymore, so I guess maybe around then.” Lauer then asked Miley how old she thought he was, and when she said 40, he told her, “I love you,” explaining he was 55. She then teased, “Oh then you’re really definitely not sexual.”
CASEY’S KIDS GO TO COURT
Casey Kasem’s kids have made good on their threat to fight their father’s wife in order to visit him. Casey’s three adult children, Julie, 38, Kerri, 41 and Mike, 40, say Casey’s wife Jean has kept them from seeing him for the past three months. Yesterday they filed legal documents in an attempt to get a conservatorship over the ailing Casey. They are asking that Julie receive the power to make decisions for Casey regarding his healthcare. The former radio DJ is reportedly battling advance Parkinson’s Disease. Sources say it’s unlikely they’ll win their battle. The kids insist the fight has nothing to do with money. They simply want to see their dad.
AGRON LEFT OUT OF GLEE’S MONTEITH TRIBUTE
Dianna Agron will be absent from Glee’s Cory Monteith tribute episode Thursday, and Radaronline claims it’s because her co-stars didn’t want her there. Agron, who played Quinn, is not a full-time cast member anymore, but the site claims several other former castmembers were asked to appear in the episode. Apparently Monteith’s girlfriend Lea Michele and co-creator Ryan Murphy didn’t want Dianna back because they “intensely dislike” her. Said the source, “They never saw her as a team player. They simply did not want her sharing the glory of this very special episode.”
POMPEO TALKS HEIGL’S GREY’S DEPARTURE
Ellen Pompeo has opened up about Katherine Heigl and Isaiah Washington’s dramatic departures from Grey’s Anatomy. "Hurt feelings, combined with instant success and huge paychecks started things spinning out of control," she told the New York Post. "The crazier things got, as I watched all the tumult with Isaiah and then the Katie thing, I started to focus on the work." Pompeo admits that Heigl’s departure was “tough.” "You could understand why she wanted to go — when you're offered $12 million a movie and you're only 26," she said. "But Katie's problem is that she should not have renewed her contract. She re-upped, took a big raise and then tried to get off the show. And then her movie career did not take off."
FORMER GREY’S STAR WEDS
Former Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight wed longtime boyfriend Patrick Friday in an intimate ceremony, witnessed by family and friends, including his former Grey’s co-star Katherine Heigl.
BOREANAZ READY TO LEAVE BONES
The future of Fox’s Bones may be in doubt. Although the show’s main characters Booth (David Boreanaz) and Dr. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) are set to finally wed this season, we may not see their happily ever after. According to sources, Boreanaz is planning to leave the show when the season, and his contract, ends in May. While Deschanel is reportedly willing to go on without Boreanaz, sources say producers and the network may just “throw in the towel” if he doesn’t extend his contract.
JAIME KING WELCOMES SON
Hart of Dixie star Jaime King is a mom. The actress and hubby Kyle Newman welcomed a baby boy, James Knight Newman, Sunday. Newman announced the baby’s birth on Instagram, writing, "Nice to meet you! #FATHER #IMADAD #BABYTIME @jaime_king is doing amazing! The most incredible feeling,” along with a shot of the baby’s fingers. King later tweeted “Baby’s First Picture, along with a pic of The Lion King’s Rafiki, holding up Simba.
THE LATEST THEATER NEWS
Doctor Who’s Matt Smith will star in the London production of the American Psycho musical. The musical thriller, based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel, opens December 12th and runs through January 25th, 2014.
Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston is coming to Broadway. The actor is currently in Cambridge, MA, playing Lyndon B. Johnson in the American Repertory Theater’s All The Way, and it was just announced that the play will move to the Great White Way. The production is expected to debut sometime this winter, although a specific date and theater have yet to be announced.
GREY’S STAR TO BE A DAD
Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams and wife Aryn Drake-Lee are expecting their first child in December. Us Weekly reports Aryn, a real estate broker, celebrated her baby shower in Brooklyn this past Sunday. The couple married in September 2012 after five years of dating.
TARANTINO INCLUDES LONE RANGER ON BEST-OF LIST
Quentin Tarantino has odd taste in movies. The director revealed his top movies of 2013 so far, and he included the critically panned box office dud The Lone Ranger. Among the movies making the list (in alphabetical order): Afternoon Delight, Before Midnight, Blue Jasmine, The Conjuring, Drinking Buddies, Frances Ha, Gravity, Kick Ass 2, The Lone Ranger and This Is The End.
MENTALIST STAR WEDS
The Mentalist’s Owain Yeoman married jewelry designer Gigi Yallouz on Saturday, September 7th in Malibu, CA. The couple’s outdoor wedding was attended by 100 guests, including the pair’s French bulldog, who walked down the aisle with the groom.
TV TIDBITS
● Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer is coming back to CBS’s Elementary. Dormer played the role of Sherlock’s (Jonny Lee Miller) love interest Irene Adler, who also turned out to be his nemesis Moriarty. So far there’s no word on when she’ll turn up on the show.
● Bravo has ordered a second season of Newlyweds: The First Year.
MISCELLANEOUS MOVIE NEWS
● The big screen adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars will hit theaters June 6th, 2014. The movie, based on the popular John Green novel, stars Shailene Woodley as a young woman dealing with cancer.
● Salma Hayek will star opposite Pierce Brosnan and Jessica Alba in How To Make Love Like An Englishman. The film stars Brosnan as a Cambridge University professor who must reevaluate his life of hedonistic excess when he meets his ideal match (Hayek).
ROCK NEWS:
IMAGINE DRAGONS UNVEILS 2014 INTO THE NIGHT TOUR DATES
Platinum-selling Sin City rockers Imagine Dragons have rolled out details on their upcoming 2014 Into the Night North American tour. The “Radioactive” singers will kick off the trek on February 8 in Boise, ID, and have stops planned in Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, Montreal, Toronto, Camden, NJ, St. Paul, MN and Chicago before finishing up in Denver on March 15. Singer Dan Reynolds revealed, “This is our last North American tour before returning to the studio, so we plan to make it a very special experience for those who come out to share it with us.”
METALLICA RACE THROUGH THE NEVER INTO NEW “FRONTIER”
Fresh on the heels of releasing their 3D movie, Metallica: Through the Never, the members of Metallica appear to be on the verge of moving into a new “frontier,” according to drummer Lars Ulrich, who during a recent radio interview hinted something big would be coming in December. Ulrich was deliberately cryptic when he said, “There’s a very interesting thing coming our way in December. There’s another frontier heading in Metallica’s direction in December.” He went on to add that if band management found out he was even hinting about this mysterious new “frontier” “they would hunt me down and silence me. But there is another frontier coming in December, which we’re very excited about.”
BAND OF HORSES SINGER BRIDWELL TO MOUNT SOLO TREK
Next month, Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell will set out on a short eight-date tour concentrated on seven southern cities. In a press release, the singer said he will perform reworked versions of Band of Horses songs as well as solo tunes under the odd name Birdsmell, starting November 2 in Carrboro, NC, followed by shows in Charlotte, Asheville, NC, Knoxville, Chattanooga and Birmingham, AL before ending up with a two night run in Atlanta November 13 and 15.
IRON MAIDEN PLAYED TO OVER ONE MILLION FANS IN 2013
International hard rock heavyweights Iron Maiden wrapped their exhaustive 2013 worldwide tour last week with a show in Santiago, Chile in front of 60,000 fans. To mark the milestone end of the massive global trek, the band’s tour manager posted some fun facts on Facebook, which read in part: “Since rehearsals started 131 days ago with one band and 102 crew, there have been 46 shows, 1,175,714 Maiden fans, 45,350 miles traveled, 44 cities in 25 different countries on three continents, 3,853 hotel rooms…3,380 dinners…and we have made it to the end of another tour.”
TALKING HEADS’ BYRNE YEARNS FOR LATTER DAY NEW YORK CITY
In a new op-ed written for Creative Time Reports, Talking Heads mainstay David Byrne fears New York City is losing its once vibrant creative energy due to a seemingly unstoppable influx of the super wealthy. Byrne writes: “The cultural part of the city – the mind – has been usurped by the top one percent.” He goes on to say that “most of Manhattan and many parts of Brooklyn are virtual walled communities, pleasure domes for the rich (which, full disclosure, includes me)…there is no room for fresh creative types. A culture of arrogance, hubris and winner-take-all was established.”
MORRISSEY BACKS BLOGGER OVER USE OF HIS LYRICS IN CARTOON
Executives at Universal Music have their collective panties in a wad over graphic designer Lauren LaPrete’s use of lyrics from the songs of The Smiths as captions in her Charlie Brown-inspired online cartoon, This Charming Charlie, but Morrissey, who penned the words in question, has no problem with LaPrete using his words. In a statement, a representative for Morrissey said: “Morrissey would like to stress that he has not been consulted over any takedown request to remove…This Charming Charlie. Morrissey is delighted and flattered by the Peanuts comic strip with its use of Morrissey-Smiths lyrics, and he hopes that the strip remains.”
ANBERLIN SERVES UP SPACEY NEW SONG “IJSW”
One week from today, Winter Haven, FL-formed Anberlin will release Devotion: Vital Special Edition, a bolstered edition of its 2012 album, Vital. On Monday, the group debuted “IJSW,” one of three new tunes found on the forthcoming release, and a track that singer Stephen Christiandescribes as being “as close to Jack Kerouac Anberlin will ever come,” adding, “I just pushed play on the demo and just sang whatever came to mind.”
AEROSMITH’S ROCK FOR THE RISING SUN CONCERT FILM TO HIT THEATERS
Boston’s finest Aerosmith has partnered with SpectiCast to show their latest concert film, Rock for the Rising Sun, in theaters worldwide, starting October 17. Released on DVD and Blu-ray in July, the film focuses on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band’s autumn 2011 tour of Japan following the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused extensive damage. Worldwide screening dates and times will be up at Aerosmithonscreen.com soon.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OFFERS 6-DVD/2-CD HUMAN RIGHTS GIGS SET
Human rights organization Amnesty International has set a November 5 release date for¡Released!, a colossal six-DVD and two-CD box set featuring four shows from the celebrated Human Rights concert treks that took place from 1986 through 1998. In all, the DVDs feature 120 songs and almost 17 hours of material, while the CDs hold 30 tunes culled from four shows. Acts included in the compilation include U2, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Lou Reed, Radiohead, Bryan Adams and Joni Mitchell, among others.
HAYNES SETS DATES FOR 25TH CHRISTMAS JAM
Longtime Allman Brothers Band and Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes has locked down the dates for the 25th edition of his Christmas Jam series. This year’s two-day affair will take place December 13 and 14 at the US Cellular Center in Asheville, NC and will include jam band stalwarts such as Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the Phil Lesh Quintet, OAR, the John Scofield Uberjam Band, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Keb Mo and of course his own Gov’t Mule, plus more acts to be named soon.
NEW ALBUM RELEASES
New albums out today: Korn – The Paradigm Shift; Alter Bridge – Fortress; Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington – High Rise EP; Cage the Elephant –Melophobia; Mayday Parade – Monsters in the Closet; Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals;Panic! at the Disco – Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!.
