Author: business

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

    Grimes ‘enraged’ by how beauty culture may affect daughter

    play

    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.

    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

    play

    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’

    play

    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.

    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.

  • Gayle King on Blue Origin space flight backlash: ‘Some haters’

    Gayle King on Blue Origin space flight backlash: ‘Some haters’

    play

    Gayle King is hitting back against criticism of her brief trip to space.

    In an interview with “Extra,” the “CBS Mornings” anchor, who blasted off Monday for a celebrity-studded space mission sponsored by the Jeff-Bezos-backed exploration company Blue Origin, said critics have merely not done enough research.

    “I wish people would do more due diligence,” she said. “And then my question is, ‘Have y’all been to space?’ Go to space or go to Blue Origin and see what they do and then come back and say, ‘This is a terrible thing.’”

    The mission, which saw pop star Katy Perry and Bezos’ fiancé Lauren Sánchez join King and three others for the first all-female flight to space in decades, was marketed as a feminist win and a tribute to life on earth.

    Critics, including several celebrities, however, chided the female “astronauts” for aiding what they saw as a marketing play for Blue Origin’s expensive flights to space and helping to put an activist sheen on a company that contributes to Earth’s pollution.

    King said she herself might have once been among those critics.  

    We’ve got today’s buzz: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Everyone’s Talking newsletter for more trending topics.

    “I think it’s good that we can really address it … because I was one of those people before I went on this flight and before I became educated,” she said, adding that Blue Origin’s “intention” is more noble than she thought.

    “To figure out a way to harness the waste here and put it in space to make the Earth a better place,” King said, describing her view of Blue Origin’s mission. “Every time a flight goes up, they get some type of information that can be used for something else.”

    Citing GPS systems and satellites, King heralded Blue Origin as helping advance the everyday uses of space technology that humans already rely on.

    Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez hit back at Blue Origin backlash

    After touching back down on Earth, both Perry and Sánchez said their view of the planet from space helped them to feel more grateful for it, with Perry even kissing the ground when she exited the capsule.

    The comments quickly became fodder for critics who pointed out that space flights can contribute to pollution and that Bezos, also the founder of Amazon, has a large negative environmental footprint. Some detractors also critiqued the length of the flight, characterizing the 11-minute jaunt as more of a stunt than a true mission for discovery.

    “It’s so much money to go to space,” actress Olivia Munn said in an appearance on the “Today” show earlier this month. “There’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs … I think it’s a bit gluttonous.

    “Space exploration was to further our knowledge and to help mankind,” said the actress, who was serving as a guest host of the show alongside Jenna Bush Hager. “What are they going to do up there that has made it better for us down here?”

    King scoffed at those criticisms as well, saying, “You never see a man, a male astronaut, who’s going up in space and they say, ‘Oh, he took a ride.’ It’s always referred to as a flight or a journey, so I feel that’s a little disrespectful to what the mission was and the work that Blue Origin does.”

    Sánchez echoed that sentiment in a press conference following the mission, telling People, “Anybody that’s criticizing it doesn’t really understand what is happening here.”

    “I get really fired up,” Sánchez added. “I would love to have them come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees that don’t just work here, but they put their heart and soul into this vehicle. They love their work and they love the mission and it’s a big deal for them.”

    “I know there are cranky Yankees, I know there are some haters, but I’m not gonna let people steal my joy and steal the joy of what we did or what we accomplished that day,” King said. “I’m just not going to let it in. I’m not. And these are some of my friends that are throwing shade!”

  • Dana Perino takes ballroom dance class on Fox News breaks

    Dana Perino takes ballroom dance class on Fox News breaks

    play

    Anyone who works in media (this reporter included) is likely in a toxic relationship with their phone. But Fox News personality Dana Perino sometimes puts her phone down for a luxurious 90 minutes in the middle of the day.

    Why? To ballroom dance.

    “It’s like being at a jury,” she says, marveling at all the people she meets in a world outside her typical bubble. “It’s the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, and it’s taken about a year or so for me to now have little fun friendships with people from all over the world and people all different walks of life in New York who gather at this place, and are super encouraging to each other, and it’s fun.”

    She encourages people to go out and escape their pandemic habits in her new book “I Wish Someone Had Told Me … ” (Fox News Books, 263 pp., out April 22) to reset their career and life goals. And in her case, taking her own advice helped her fix her posture and back issues.

    Today’s trends: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Everyone’s Talking newsletter for all the buzziest stories.

    “I carry a lot of tension in my upper back, a lot of us do,” she says, noting her back pain grew chronic. She didn’t take any medicine but tried Pilates, acupuncture and saw a chiropractor. Instead, Perino ballroom danced her way into a solution.

    “The only thing that has sustained this actual better posture and comfort, I have to say, it had to have been adding the dance to my routine,” she says. Bad posture can lead to more than just back discomfort, but neck pain, problems with balance and overall flexibility, according to Cleveland Clinic. On the flip-side, though, dance on its own can lead to injuries, including ones involving the back, per Johns Hopkins Medicine.

    Before you try anything yourself, of course, consult a healthcare provider.

  • Gerry Turner gives cancer update, says he’s dating someone new

    Gerry Turner gives cancer update, says he’s dating someone new

    play

    “Golden Bachelor” Gerry Turner is offering fans an update on his ongoing battle with cancer.

    In a Tuesday appearance on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, Turner said he felt “great” as he awaits treatment for bone marrow cancer − a diagnosis he revealed in December.

    “Until I have any symptoms, there’s no treatment. So I go frequently for blood tests. I’m on, like, a six-month schedule now,” Turner, 73, said. “I feel optimistic because the doctor has said, ‘Well, when you turn 75, we’re going to have to go three-month increments.’ So it’s telling me that at least he expects me to live another couple of years to get to that. But the bottom line is I feel really good.”

    Turner, the inaugural star of ABC’s dating show for contestants in their golden years, first told fans he had been diagnosed with cancer last year, telling People magazine that “it was like 10 tons of concrete were just dropped on me.”

    Gerry Turner feeling optimistic amid incurable Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia

    Turner’s specific diagnosis, Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, is a bone marrow cancer without a known cure. Considered a type of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the condition converts some white blood cells into cancerous ones, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    Even without a cure, Turner says his grasp on life is stronger than ever.

    “I mean this sincerely, from the time I got this diagnosis, it’s a privilege to live like you’re dying,” he told “Bachelor Happy Hour” hosts. “I don’t turn down anything. I feel like I’m more open to emotions. I’m more open to experiences.”

    We’ve got Hollywood covered: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Entertainment newsletter.

    Gerry Turner dating again after Theresa Nist split

    “The person I’m dating will say, ‘Do you want to go do-‘ And before she even gets out the rest of the sentence, I will say yes. So I’m in on everything,” he added. “And it makes life exciting because you kind of in the back of your head feel like you’ve got a lot of living to do and you don’t know how long you have to do it, so don’t turn down anything. And so, in a way, it’s really a good thing.”

    Turner, who got engaged to his “Bachelor” season finalist Theresa Nist, then married in a televised ceremony and divorced in the space of months, said when revealing his diagnosis that the disease had factored into their decision to split.

    “I wanted my life to continue on as normal as possible, and that led me to believing that as normal as possible more meant spending time with my family, my two daughters, my two son-in-laws, my granddaughters,” he told People. “And the importance of finding the way with Theresa was still there, but it became less of a priority.”

    At the time of its announcement, fans of the franchise voiced dismay over Nist and Turner’s decision to divorce noting that it followed in a long line of “Bachelor Nation” couples who couldn’t make it work.

    Age, it seemed, was no protection against the show’s faulty formula for lasting romance. But Turner told People he hopes this revelation will prompt fans to reconsider.

    “Hopefully they’ll look at things a little bit differently,” he told the magazine, “that maybe it wasn’t quite a rash, fast decision that people thought. That there was something else going on.”

    Nist told a different story in an interview with People, saying she didn’t believe Turner’s diagnosis was “a factor in the ending of the relationship, at least not for me.”

    Despite their conflicting reports, Nist said she wished her ex-husband the best.

    “I wish for him a long and healthy, prosperous life, and I hope that he finds his person. I want him to be so happy, and I just wish him all the best of everything in the world,” she said.

  • Amanda Bynes has joined OnlyFansEntertainment

    Amanda Bynes has joined OnlyFansEntertainment

  • Amanda Bynes joins OnlyFans to ‘chat with my fans’

    Amanda Bynes joins OnlyFans to ‘chat with my fans’

    play

    Amanda Bynes is interacting with her fans in a new way.

    The former child star took to Instagram on Monday to share that she would be joining OnlyFans, but only to connect with her followers.

    “I’m on onlyfans now! Disclaimer: I’m doing onlyfans to chat with my fans through dm’s. I won’t be posting any sleazy content,” she wrote on her Instagram story. “Excited to join.”

    OnlyFans is an internet content subscription service that has gained a reputation for NSFW content. The platform has become synonymous with the adult entertainment industry and sexual content, but stars from Bella Thorne to “The Sopranos” star Drea de Matteo have made headlines for using the platform, where creators can earn money from users – or “fans” – who pay a monthly membership fee to access their exclusive content.

    In late 2023, Bynes, 39, released a podcast with friend and biochemist Paul Sieminski, which ended after one episode with tattoo artist Dahlia Moth. She said at the time that the pair planned to “interview our friends, and then we’re hoping to take it mainstream and interview celebrities and artists.”

    Outside of her brief stint as a podcast host, Bynes has largely stayed out of the spotlight in the past decade. The “Amanda Show,” “Hairspray” and “What a Girl Wants” actress has not received any acting credits since 2010’s “Easy A.” During this time, Bynes also began making headlines for her personal struggles.

    In 2013, Bynes was placed on a psychiatric hold after having a public breakdown that included a series of legal troubles and outlandish appearances. Her mother was then granted a conservatorship over the actress, which remained in place until 2022. Bynes was reportedly placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold in 2023 following a canceled appearance at the pop culture convention 90s Con.

    Late last month, Bynes’ former “The Amanda Show” co-stars Drake Bell and Josh Peck discussed their fellow Nickelodeon alum.

    Bell and Peck reunited for a candid interview on the latter’s podcast “Good Guys” podcast about their friendship, the documentary series “Quiet on Set” and their relationship with Bynes today.

    Bell fondly recalled Bynes’ charisma as a young performer, likening her to Jennifer Aniston’s breakout “Friends” character Rachel Green. “She was the biggest thing on the planet to me,” he said.

    “All I’ve ever experienced with Amanda was just like this dynamite force of nature when it comes to talent,” Bell told Peck. “Watching her was like watching Carol Burnett, was like watching Tracey Ullman.”

    When asked if he’s stayed in touch with Bynes over the years, Bell revealed the former child actors reconnected via text message around 2017 after Bell had seen media coverage of Bynes. Peck added that he runs into the “She’s the Man” star “every two to three years.”

    Contributing: Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY