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  • Kelsea Ballerini gives young fan boots off her feet at show: Watch

    Kelsea Ballerini gives young fan boots off her feet at show: Watch

    ‘And maybe by the time you fit in them, they won’t be sweaty at all,’ the singer told the little girl at the show.

    A girl got a gift she’ll never forget when country music star Kelsea Ballerini gave her the boots off her feet during her final tour date.

    The 31-year-old songstress was spotted giving the little girl her sparkly Barbie pink high-heeled boots at an April 13 show in Toronto, the last stop on the “Kelsea Ballerini Live On Tour.”

    Various videos recorded by fans in the crowd show the moment Ballerini made eye contact with the girl who was watching the show from her father’s arms.

    “It’s the last night of tour, and I told everyone, ‘Anything goes.’ It’s gonna get weird,” Ballerini is heard saying in fans’ videos, as she sits on stage. “Here’s what I’m thinking, I know that you’re so tiny, but you’re growing up. And I’m thinking that one day maybe these boots will fit you.”

    ‘Do you hate us?’ Danielle Fishel ‘grills’ costar on ‘Boy Meets World’ podcast

    Video shows Kelsea Ballerini giving her boots away to a fan

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    Watch Kelsea Ballerini give young fan special boots from her tour

    During her tour’s final night, country music singer Kelsea Ballerini made a sweet gesture by gifting her boots to a young fan in Toronto.

    Ballerini also says in the video that she’s only worn the boots about four times, so “they shouldn’t be that sweaty.”

    “And maybe by the time you fit in them, they won’t be sweaty at all,” Ballerini added. “Do you want them?”

    Ballerini is then seen passing the boots to a security guard, who passes them to the girl’s family standing in front of the barricade. The girl, dressed in a sparkly dress, happily accepts, nodding when Ballerini asks if she likes them.

    “Do you promise whenever she fits in them to send me a photo?” Ballerini said. “You promise?”

    The little girl is seen offering Ballerini a gift of her own and blowing the “Love Me Like You Mean It” singer a kiss before the show continues.

    Kelsea Ballerini pens heartfelt message to crew, team after tour

    Ballerini kicked off her self-titled three-month arena tour in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Jan. 21 and has traveled across 36 cities, including Los Angeles, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

    The Grammy-nominated artist took to social media on April 15, one day after her last show, to reflect and extend her gratitude to all the people who made the tour possible.

    “We made it home,” Ballerini wrote in an Instagram post. “First of many end of tour emo posts, but the BIGGEST thank you to the team of people that made this come to life and executed the show every night so smoothly and beautifully. It has been a labor of love from so many, and I’m beyond grateful to share this first with such talented and kind humans.”

    Ballerini, who is also a coach on the singing contest “The Voice,” will probably be taking some time off before she hits the stage again to headline the CMA Fest, a three-day country musical festival, on June 6.

  • Michelle Trachtenberg cause of death revealed as diabetes mellitus

    Michelle Trachtenberg cause of death revealed as diabetes mellitus

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    Nearly two months after Michelle Trachtenberg’s death at 39 years old, officials have issued a ruling on her cause of death.

    On Wednesday, New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner released a statement announcing the cause and manner of the “Gossip Girl” actor’s Feb. 26 death as complications of diabetes mellitus. The manner was determined to be natural.

    The office previously said in February that the cause and manner were “undetermined.”

    Trachtenberg was found dead in a New York City luxury apartment building at 8 a.m. Feb. 26, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department previously confirmed to USA TODAY. Upon arriving at her unit, officers found a 39-year-old woman unconscious and unresponsive; EMS officials responded to the scene and found the actress dead.

    Michelle Trachtenberg tributes: Blake Lively, Kenan Thompson, more stars mourn actress

    The New York City-born star started her career at 3 in television commercials and rose to fame as a child star. She later found success in television and movie roles throughout the aughts and beyond.

    Trachtenberg was a 2000s TV mainstay with memorable roles in “Gossip Girl,” “Harriet the Spy” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

    What is diabetes mellitus?

    There are several categories of diabetes, including Type 1, Type 2, gestational diabetes, Neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young.

    Diabetes mellitus, the full name for the disease characterized by inadequate control of glucose levels in a person’s blood, affects around 38 million people in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This equates to around one in 10 people, and approximately one in five people do not know they have the chronic illness.

    Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that “occurs when some or all of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed,” Harvard Medical School’s website explains. In the absence of insulin, “sugar accumulates in the bloodstream rather than entering the cells” and causes “excessive urination and dehydration” and also causes tissue damage.

    The CDC estimates that between 5-10% of people with diabetes are diagnosed with Type 1. People of all ages can receive a diagnosis, and there are no known prevention methods.

    Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance, meaning cells resist “the normal effect of insulin, which is to drive glucose in the blood into the inside of the cells,” per Harvard Health Publishing. This causes glucose to build up in the blood. Type 2 diabetes, which affects around 90-95% of diabetes patients, can also develop at any age.

    Risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes include family history, having prediabetes or gestational diabetes, being over the age of 45 and being overweight or having obesity.

    Contributing: Jay Stahl, USA TODAY

  • George Clooney says Biden op-ed was his ‘civic duty’

    George Clooney says Biden op-ed was his ‘civic duty’

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    George Clooney is sticking by his once-controversial call for former President Joe Biden to exit the 2024 presidential race.

    The actor reflected on his July New York Times op-ed, in which he argued the Democratic party needed a new nominee.

    In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper discussing his Broadway debut in the anti-McCarthyism play “Good Night, and Good Luck” – recreated from his Oscar-nominated film – Clooney, 63, reflected on the “courage” shown by journalist Edward R. Murrow, with Tapper taking the moment to draw comparison.

    “You yourself did something that a lot of people would call brave when you wrote your op-ed,” said the CNN lead Washington anchor.

    “Well, I don’t know if it was brave, it was a civic duty,” Clooney said. “I’m a Democrat in Kentucky, so I get it. When I saw people on my side of the street not telling the truth, I thought that was time to (say something).”

    Clooney wrote in New York Times piece: “We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”

    When Biden – pressured by others including, reportedly, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – did eventually drop out less than two weeks later, Clooney said he “did the most selfless thing that anybody’s done since George Washington,” according to a video shared by Deadline.

    When Tapper asked if people were still angry with him, Clooney said, “Some people, sure. You have to take a stand if you believe in it. Take a stand, stand for it and then deal with the consequences. That’s the rules.”

    ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ review: George Clooney preaches to the choir in Broadway debut

    The filmmaker compared the backlash to his stance on the Iraq War. “Good Night” was released in 2005 as a response of sorts to the now-widely criticized war.

    “When people criticize me – they’ve criticized me because of my stance against the war 20 years ago, and some people picketed my movies,” he said. “I have to take that. I’m okay with criticism for where I stand. I defend their right to criticize me as much as I defend my right to criticize them.”

    Trump slams ‘puff piece’ from ’60 Minutes’ where George Clooney encourages free press

    Clooney continues to be an outspoken Hollywood A-lister. Last month, the actor warned Americans in a “60 Minutes” interview about the government’s increasing encroachment on journalism, a move that riled President Donald Trump.

    Contributing: Patrick Ryan and Jay Stahl

  • 'SNL' star Bowen Yang has a new gay rom-com with Lily GladstoneMovies

    'SNL' star Bowen Yang has a new gay rom-com with Lily GladstoneMovies

    ‘SNL’ star Bowen Yang has a new gay rom-com with Lily GladstoneMovies

  • Coachella apologizes for Weekend 1 traffic issues, details plan to fix

    Coachella apologizes for Weekend 1 traffic issues, details plan to fix

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    The company that puts on the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival publicly apologized this week for traffic issues that left campers waiting in their cars for hours on Weekend 1 and promised fixes will be in place before Weekend 2 starts Friday.

    George Cunningham, senior vice president of public safety with Goldenvoice, explained the dilemma — and the steps being taken to address it — while speaking to the La Quinta City Council Tuesday.

    His appearance came after car campers described massive traffic wait times, upwards of 12 hours, getting into the Empire Polo Club on April 10, as massive lines of cars backed up surrounding roads, particularly Monroe and Madison streets.

    Cunningham told the council that the lengthy backups were partially caused by the early arrival of campers on Thursday morning “not ever letting up” throughout the day.

    “Every year, we typically have a lull (on Thursday) between 1:00 and 6:00 in the evening, where it just dies down,” Cunningham said. “We didn’t have that. Everybody wanted to come early.”

    Cunningham said the festival’s first Thursday night performance, with DJ Chris Lake delivering a set on the campgrounds, caused people to come earlier than usual. He noted that by 4:30 p.m. Thursday this year, the festival had 6,300 campers parked in the festival grounds, while on a typical year, the festival wouldn’t see that many campers until hours later Thursday.

    The festival also dealt with what Cunningham described as “staffing challenges” and couldn’t fully staff its 32 tolling stations used for car security screening Thursday morning.

    “We had six tolls that were down,” Cunningham said. “We have addressed that. We have plans if the entity, the partner that we work with that staffs those, is unable to meet it at that shift time, we already have a secondary plan in place to be able to augment that and have that staffed with other individuals.”

    For Coachella Weekend 2 and Stagecoach, an upcoming country festival the event company also runs, Goldenvoice organizers are also adding 12 more tollbooths for security checks at Lot 2A near Madison Street and Avenue 50, according to Cunningham.

    “We’re going to get (the vehicles) off the streets, and we’re going to get them in lots so we can lessen the impact on the community,” Cunningham said.

    “Am I guaranteeing that there is not going to be 100% no impact? No, I can’t give you that guarantee, but I can give you a guarantee that the impact will be many times less than you witnessed this past Thursday,” he added.

    Cunningham said the plan will be reviewed and potentially altered heading into the Stagecoach country music festival — slated for April 25-27 at the same venue — if things “are not to the standard that we need them to be.”

    Council member criticizes ‘unacceptable’ traffic issues, lack of bathrooms

    The traffic issues drew the particular ire of Councilmember Kathleen Fitzpatrick, who lives near the Empire Polo Club. (The festival grounds are located in Indio but border La Quinta to the south and west.)

    “I live right there, and I’ve lived there for 19 years,” Fitzpatrick said at the meeting. “Thursday was unacceptable.”

    “It was unacceptable because I find it reprehensible to invite all of these people into our community and then have no place for them to use facilities for restrooms, no place to get water,” she added. “It’s a total embarrassment.”

    Fitzpatrick said she heard from residents in her area “calling me and telling me about — which I had already seen — the human waste on the side of the street where people were forced to toilet.”

    “How do you reconcile that in our city?” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s one thing to say we’re having a wonderful festival (and) we’re the leaders in the field. But it’s another thing to say we don’t really give a crap about the city of La Quinta, because that’s what it looked like.”

    Cunningham replied by saying festival organizers care strongly about Coachella’s impact on the surrounding community.

    Mayor Pro Tem Deborah McGarrey asked Cunningham how traffic updates are shared with festivalgoers before their arrival, and she noted that traffic was still backed up along Avenue 54 around 9 p.m. Thursday last week.

    Mayor Linda Evans said that traffic seemed to go more smoothly the rest of the weekend, and she pointed to “Wind-chella” in 2018, when high winds delayed the campground’s opening, as an example of a past hurdle that was overcome.

    “I think a few years go by really smoothly, and then something occurs,” Evans said. “This year, it’s the add of a big performer in the campground area, so it’s a new flex that people weren’t used to, combined with the situation and the concerns and the issues that occurred.”

    More: 7 most memorable moments of Coachella 2025 Weekend 1

    Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at [email protected].

  • Grimes ‘enraged’ by how beauty culture may affect daughter

    Grimes ‘enraged’ by how beauty culture may affect daughter

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    Grimes is questioning the beauty messages introduced to young women.

    The singer took to X this week to question if anyone else was experiencing being “choked to death on beauty culture” after a targeted makeup ad interrupted a “nice calm super bro mens” podcast.

    “The beauty ads chasing me into the men’s podcast realm is another level of psychological horror I have to say,” the Canadian artist added in a separate post on April 14.

    “Can I go somewhere where someone isn’t shoving ‘DONT YOU WANT TO BE BEAUTIFUL’ down my throat,” Grimes, 37, said. “I’m getting like radicalized just out of pure desire to not have to engage with this sick notion of beauty that follows me like a wraith … doing some targeted ad about beauty while I try to listen to the history of war on the American frontier.”

    The musician expressed dread over the effect of “beauty culture” on the next generation. “The insidiousness of what our culture does to young women is insane. I feel enraged knowing I won’t be able to protect my daughter from this. What a monumental waste of mental space.”

    Grimes has three children, shared with X owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk: son X Æ A-Xii, 4, daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, 3, and son Tau Techno Mechanicus, 2.

    Last month, Grimes opened up about her unsuccessful attempts to limit her children’s exposure to the internet.

    Grimes says she ‘tried begging’ Elon Musk to keep their children off the internet

    After debunking an online rumor that she wrote a post about the “sexuality and kinks” of Fortune 500 CEOs, Grimes responded to a user who asked if she could remove the post and “protect your children” from the content.

    “I unfortunately do not control the internet and cannot wipe this from the internet,” Grimes wrote. “I have tried begging the public and my kids’ dad to keep them offline, and I’ve tried legal recourse.”

    Last month, the “Delete Forever” singer expressed her disdain for son X’s public visibility after he accompanied Musk to the White House during a visit with Trump.

    Contributing: Edward Segarra

  • ‘NCIS’ stars Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo

    ‘NCIS’ stars Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo

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    Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo are finally back as Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David in “NCIS: Tony & Ziva” ‒ and they’re bringing their 12-year-old daughter Tali (Isla Gie) along for the adventure.

    As these exclusive first-look photos of the eagerly awaited “NCIS” spinoff show, the action family is camera-ready to highlight life on the run throughout Europe for the Paramount+ series coming this fall.

    “Shooting ‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva’ was the biggest professional adventure of my life, and I can’t wait to let the world share in action, mystery and deep feelings,” Weatherly, who is an executive producer with De Pablo, says in a statement.

    Weatherly promises “all the echoes” of the beloved “NCIS” couple known to fans as Tiva. But the new series will give viewers “a deeper groove on ‘Tony & Ziva’… and locations you can’t get on a backlot.”

    The series starts as the couple raises Tali in Paris. Tony’s private security company is attacked, and the family is forced to flee across Europe while finding out who’s after them. The international cast and crew spent eight months in locations such as Budapest, Hungary, the Canary Islands and Paris, making the 10-episode season.

    “To actually shoot this series in Europe was a gift,” executive producer John McNamara says. “We wanted to pull the audience into the authentically exotic and beautiful settings that Tony and Ziva are launched into.”

    The cast includes Amita Suman as Claudette, Tony’s chief technical officer, and Maximilian Osinski (“Ted Lasso”) as Boris, a brilliant Russian computer hacker.

    Who plays Tali in ‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva’?

    The sizzle between Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo and Israeli Mossad agent liaison officer Ziva shot off immediate sparks starting in 2005’s Season 3, when De Pablo joined “NCIS.” The nontraditional love storyline remained even after De Pablo suddenly departed “NCIS” in 2013. In the 2016 Season 13 finale, Tony learned that Ziva had seemingly been killed in a mortar attack and ‒ on the same episode ‒ met their daughter, Tali, whose existence Ziva had kept secret. Tony left NCIS to care for Tali (as Weatherly starred in the short-lived CBS drama, “Bull”). De Pablo returned to “NCIS” in Season 17 for a four-episode arc that ended with Ziva joining Tony and Tali in Paris for a short-lived TV family happy ending. The new series featuring the reunited stars and 12-year-old Tali was formally announced in February 2024.

    British actress Gie plays Tali at age 12 in “Tony & Ziva,” while Olivia Brody portrays her as a 7-year-old in flashbacks. The star couple’s TV daughter is “bright, headstrong, funny and fierce,” McNamara says. “She’s the perfect blend of her parents, which means when trouble hits, she runs right toward it.”

    Weatherly, 56, had no problem hitting stride with his longtime scene partner De Pablo, 45, as the unconventional couple seeks their own version of happily ever after.

    “It was surprising how Cote and I just fell into this new place with our characters,” Weatherly says. “Informed by the past, illuminated by the present and trying to see a future together ‒ these characters are on the adventure of a lifetime. Hopefully so is the viewer!”

  • 'Tony & Ziva' first photos: See 'NCIS' couple in Europe with TaliTV

    'Tony & Ziva' first photos: See 'NCIS' couple in Europe with TaliTV

    ‘Tony & Ziva’ first photos: See ‘NCIS’ couple in Europe with TaliTV

  • Nate Bargatze is ‘beyond excited’

    Nate Bargatze is ‘beyond excited’

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    Fans of Nate Bargatze are sure to think the next Emmys host is “Unbelievable.”

    The comedian with the highest-grossing tour of 2024, according to Billboard, is set to emcee TV’s biggest night. The jokes start rolling on Sept. 14 from Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. The awards ceremony will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ (8 ET/5 PT). Nominations will be revealed on July 15.

    “It’s a huge honor to be asked to host such an iconic awards show,” Bargatze said in a statement, “and I’m beyond excited to work with CBS to create a night that can be enjoyed by families around the world.”

    And likely the A-list attendees as well, as Bargatze’s clean comedy is clever without being cruel. He’s more apt to joke about his dependency on food delivery or deep devotion to McDonald’s than obliterate the audience. This marks his first time hosting a major awards show. Eugene and Dan Levy hosted the 2024 Emmys on ABC.

    Last year, CBS aired a Bargatze holiday special, “Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas.” The Grammy-nominated standup has gained popularity in recent years following the release of his 2019 Netflix special “The Tennessee Kid.” He’s since released three more specials, “The Greatest Average American” (2021), “Hello World” (2023) and “Your Friend, Nate Bargatze” (2024).

    Bargatze, 46, has delivered quips as a two-time host of “Saturday Night Live,” earning praise for his portrayal of George Washington in a sketch when the first president initiates our nonsensical approach to weights and measures. His book, “Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind,” arrives May 6.

  • save our shows 2025 last chance to vote top shows

    save our shows 2025 last chance to vote top shows

    There’s still time to vote!

    USA TODAY’s 28th annual Save Our Shows poll is nearing the deadline, and we’re asking you to vote of which of 17 comedies and dramas deserve another season.

    The four major broadcast networks are weighing the fates of these series as they balance them against a smaller crop of new shows vying to replace them. They’ll decide their fates by mid-May, when they unveil their plans for the 2025-26 TV season. Now it’s your turn to weigh in: Our exclusive 28th annual Save Our Shows poll whether you’d like to save or cancel each of them.

    Which series are ahead in the poll, first published on April 2? In no particular order, the top choices include NBC’s “The Irrational,” starring Jesse L. Martin; Tim Allen comedy “Shifting Gears,”  which ABC renewed after the poll launched; and CBS’ remake of “The Equalizer,” starring Queen Latifah.

    More: Save Our Shows: What’s renewed, canceled or ‘on the bubble’ in 2025?

    The rest of this year’s endangered crop is weighted toward still-unproven freshmen shows such as ABC’s “Doctor Odyssey,” NBC’s “Brilliant Minds” and new spinoff “Suits LA,” and Fox’s “Rescue: Hi-Surf.” But it also includes longer-running shows like Fox’s “The Cleaning Lady” and two NBC sitcoms, “Lopez vs. Lopez” and a “Night Court” revival.