Category: BUSINESS

  • Coachella draws Fyre Festival comparisons amid traffic issues

    Coachella draws Fyre Festival comparisons amid traffic issues

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    Coachella 2025 is underway, and long wait lines are causing chaos as campers and concertgoers descend on the California desert, drawing comparisons to the infamous Fyre Festival.

    While many Coachella festivalgoers who are camping outdoors are already on the grounds, car campers described massive traffic wait times — upwards of 12 hours — in entering festival grounds and arriving to a spot to set up. The desert music festival’s first weekend kicks off Friday and goes to Sunday.

    One social media user took to TikTok saying that they’re “starting to think it’s Fyre Festival,” the infamous 2017 music festival held in the Bahamas where festivalgoers experienced a host of logistical issues.

    Fyre Festival was the brainchild of businessman Billy McFarland, who was later convicted of fraud and became the subject of two popular documentaries in 2019: “Fyre Fraud” on Hulu and Netflix’s “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened.”

    Other festivalgoers said it was a “disaster,” with one TikTok showing a random person starting to direct traffic. Other Coachella car campers took to social media to explain their situation as one wrote that they were going to “run out of gas” if there wasn’t a fix.

    In 2018, McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison for engaging in several fraudulent schemes related to Fyre Festival. After his arrest, he acknowledged that he had defrauded investors out of $26 million and more than $100,000 in fraudulent ticket-selling schemes.

    This year, McFarland is making a second attempt at the scandal-ridden 2017 festival as he mounts comeback from May 30 to June 2 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, a recent change from the festival’s initially promoted location of Isla Mujeres, Mexico. The location announcement was shared on Fyre Festival’s social media on March 21, just 70 days before the festival’s first day.

    But issues loom large as McFarland attempts a comeback with an unseen lineup and logistical shifts. And some on social media are proclaiming that perhaps Coachella’s first weekend may have beaten him to the punch with the traffic concerns.

    Who is performing during Coachella? Lady Gaga, Post Malone

    Fans who are choosing not to brave the desert heart can watch Coachella performances on YouTube. The streams are scheduled to start on April 11 at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT. Fans will be able to watch multiple stages from their coach simultaneously, while a vertical live stream option featuring DJ sets will also be available.

    Some of music’s biggest stars and acts are scheduled to grace the stages, including Lady Gaga, Vintage Culture, Travis Scott, Charli XCX, Post Malone and more. The first weekend’s events will run from April 11 to 13.

    The official venue opens at 1 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with general parking opening at 11 a.m. Several sets are scheduled to begin at either 1 p.m. or during that hour.

    Contributing: Greta Cross, Taylor Ardery, USA TODAY; Paris Barazza, The Desert Sun

  • Prince Harry makes surprise visit to UkraineEntertainment

    Prince Harry makes surprise visit to UkraineEntertainment

    Prince Harry makes surprise visit to UkraineEntertainment

  • COAS Books in Las Cruces, New Mexico is full of ‘hidden gems’

    COAS Books in Las Cruces, New Mexico is full of ‘hidden gems’

    Independent bookstores are the heartbeats of their communities. They provide culture and community, generate local jobs and sales tax revenue, promote literacy and education, champion and center diverse and new authors, connect readers to books in a personal and authentic way and actively support the right to read and access to books in their communities.

    Each week, we profile an independent bookstore, sharing what makes each one special and getting their expert and unique book recommendations.

    This week we have Mike Beckett, owner of COAS Books in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

    What’s your store’s story?

    In 1973, archaeologist Pat Beckett started a small archeological publishing company in Las Cruces, New Mexico called COAS Publishing. The company published local history books, academic works, anthropology books and other archeology media. As Pat’s vast collection of books continued to grow, he purchased a local paperback exchange, and with that COAS Books was born.

    The name COAS has its roots in archaeology, coming from the Nahuatl term “coa,” which means “digging stick.” It’s also the acronym for “Center of Anthropological Studies.” Today, COAS Books is run and operated by myself and Veronica Beckett as we continue to proudly serve the community in the heart of Las Cruces.

    What makes your independent bookstore unique?

    Our customers rave about our friendly staff, our immense selection and their fondness for growing up with our store, bringing their children and grandchildren to share new experiences. We have an incredible selection of new and used books (including regional and out-of-print books), CDs, DVDs, vinyls, VHS, audiobooks and games. COAS Books is family-owned and operated, with two stores located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. We receive hundreds of books every day, so our inventory is constantly changing and full of hidden gems.

    What book do you love to recommend to customers and why?

    My favorite book is “Tularosa: Last of the Frontier West” by C.L. Sonnichsen. It is one of the best overall histories of the Mesilla Valley and southern New Mexico. It is an illuminating experience into the rough and sometimes lawless American Frontier. I fear I am the only one who orders it regularly and it may go out of print.

    Why is shopping at local, independent bookstores important? 

    We are members of our communities: we give to local organizations in need and sponsor events that enrich our towns. Almost all of our money is spent locally.

    What are some of your store’s events, programs, or partnerships coming up that you would like to share?

    We enjoy hosting a weekly story time where the kids get a free book and local authors weekly with book signings, many of which are self-published.

  • Azealia Banks has cup thrown at her head while singing ‘212’ in Germany

    Azealia Banks has cup thrown at her head while singing ‘212’ in Germany


    The 33-year-old musician immediately stopped singing after the plastic cup hit her in the head.

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    Songwriter and rapper Azealia Banks briefly walked off the stage during a concert in Munich, Germany on Thursday night after a fan threw a plastic cup at her head.

    In a now-viral video, Banks, 33, is seen performing her 2012 hit single “212” when a plastic cup appears from the crowd and bonks her in the head. Banks immediately stops singing, looks out to the crowd with disappointment and makes a peace sign, before walking to the back of the stage as the music is cut.

    The video was captured by Jamila Gebhard, who told Storyful that the Munich concert was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. local time, but Banks didn’t appear onstage until 11 p.m.

    Gebhard nor Banks’ team immediately responded for comment about the incident when contacted by USA TODAY on Friday.

    Performers have dodged chicken nuggets, more over the years

    Banks isn’t the first, and surely won’t be the last, artist to have something chucked at them onstage by concert attendees.

    Last summer, singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha allegedly had fans removed from her concert in Green Bay, Wisconsin after the individuals reportedly threw objects at her on stage, and just a year before, the 35-year-old was seriously injured after a fan threw a cell phone at her on stage during a concert in New York.

    “If you want to hit me in the face, I had them press charges to the other guy. I would love to become richer,” Rexha told the crowd in a clip shared on TikTok last summer. “But I’m not inviting that, please. It’s a joke.”

    In June 2023, Pink paused a performance at BST Hyde Park in London when a fan threw a bag reportedly containing his mother’s ashes on stage.

    “This is your mom?” Pink was heard saying as she picked up the bag. “I don’t know how I feel about this.”

    The “Just Give Me a Reason” artist proceeded to put the bag at the front of the stage before finishing the song she had started performing.

    The same summer − in July 2023 − Cardi B threw her microphone at a concertgoer in Las Vegas after the individual threw the contents of a cup on her, soaking her face and outfit. The concertgoer was quickly escorted out by security.

    And a year before that, in August 2022, Harry Styles made headlines after a fan chucked a chicken nugget at him while the pop star performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

    “Interesting, very interesting approach. I don’t eat chicken. I don’t eat meat,” Styles said out to the crowd, chanting for him to eat the nugget.

    Editor’s note: This story has been updated to add a new photo and video.

    Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].

  • Kendrick Lamar, SZA drops ‘Luther’ video with Drake jab

    Kendrick Lamar, SZA drops ‘Luther’ video with Drake jab

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    Kendrick Lamar just released the music video for “Luther,” with a sneaky Drake dig via its director.

    The music video for the SZA-assisted single, released Friday, was directed by Karena Evans. The director and actress shot the visuals for several hit Drake tracks, including “Nice For What,” “God’s Plan” and “In My Feelings.”

    The romantic video, which features shots of the Compton, California, rapper and SZA in what appears to be a vacant office building with a downtown backdrop, is interspersed with the song’s sample track, Cheryl Lynn and Luther Vandross’ “If This World Were Mine.”

    Evans who, like Drake, is Canadian – has also directed the Chlöe music video “Have Mercy” and episodes of “P-Valley” and “Snowfall,” as well as “Gossip Girl” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” remakes.

    The 2024 rap beef between Lamar and Drake, which has since cooled, continues to spill outside of just music. Lamar took jabs at the Toronto MC during his record-breaking Super Bowl performance and at the Grammys that same month, accepting his song and record of the year trophy for “Not Like Us” wearing a Canadian tuxedo.

    For Drake’s part, he has gone the legal route, accusing his and Lamar’s music distributor, Universal Music Group, of engaging in a “scheme to ensure” the Billboard No. 1 diss track “broke through” on multiple streaming platforms.

    “Luther” was released last fall off Lamar’s sixth studio album “GNX.” Meanwhile, he and SZA are gearing up for their Grand National Tour, which kicks off April 19 in Minneapolis before hitting 18 more North American cities, including Lamar’s native California and SZA’s birthplace of St. Louis and home state of New Jersey.

    The former labelmates, who also count the “GNX” collaboration “Gloria” among their hits, will then hit 13 European cities starting July 2.

  • Prince Harry in Ukraine visiting war victims

    Prince Harry in Ukraine visiting war victims

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    Prince Harry met victims of war in Ukraine as part of his work with wounded veterans, a spokesperson said on Thursday.

    Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, visited the Superhumans Center, an orthopedic clinic in the western Ukraine city of Lviv that provides care and rehabilitation for wounded military personnel and civilians.

    The Duke of Sussex, who lives in California with his wife, Duchess Meghan, and their two children, was in London earlier this week for a case about changes to his security in Britain, which his lawyer called “unjustified,” after Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior royal duties in 2020.

    Harry was rushed out of the courtroom Wednesday following a fan outburst. The apparent fan made critical comments about the press, according to People and BBC News, and Harry was escorted out.

    His visit to Ukraine, however, was decidedly different from the ongoing legal dramas he continues to battle in court.

    Harry, who has served two tours in Afghanistan, was joined in Lviv by four veterans from the Invictus Games Foundation, the charity behind the international sporting event that he founded for military personnel wounded in action.

    The prince also met medical professionals and patients at the Superhumans Center as well as Ukraine’s Minister of Veterans Affairs Natalia Kalmykova, his spokesperson said.

    The country has been active in the Harry’s Invictus Games since 2017. The duke met with Ukrainian Invictus community members, including Yulia “Taira” Paievska, the Ukrainian volunteer medic, soldier and only woman set to compete for Team Ukraine in the 2022 Invictus Games, which she missed after Russian soldiers took her captive. Paievska was also featured in the Netflix documentary “Heart of Invictus.”

    The bi-annual international sporting event was held in Vancouver-Whistler in February. The next event is set to take place in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 2027.

    Contributing: Sachin Ravikumar, Reuters; Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY

  • The best episodes ever, ranked

    The best episodes ever, ranked

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    Are you ready to stare into the “Black Mirror” again?

    Netflix’s dark and cynical sci-fi anthology series, all about the dangers of technology, returns for a seventh season (now streaming) to warn us to get the heck off our phones and turn off all those A.I. chatbots for our own safety. The new season has the series’ first sequel episode, a tragedy tied up with those oh-so-familiar subscription fees and a sentimental hour featuring none other than Paul Giamatti. But do any of the new episodes rank among the series’ very best?

    Since 2011, “Mirror” has offered 34 usually depressing stories designed to make us take a hard look at our digital future. And while most have been thought-provoking and striking, a handful stand out far above the rest. In honor of the seventh season’s debut, we ranked the five best “Mirror” episodes of all time. Don’t worry, “U.S.S. Callister” and “San Junipero” are still on the list. But some of the others may surprise you.

    5. ‘Metalhead’ (Season 4, 2017)

    Most episodes of “Mirror” are extremely psychological, intimate and intellectual. “Metalhead” is all of those things, but also a rip-roaring piece of physical horror, a jump-scare bonanza that will leave you chilled even in the moments you don’t have to think too much. Filmed in a stark black-and-white palette and set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by insatiably violent robot “dogs,” “Metalhead” is one of the most thrilling and tense episodes of the series. That it still manages a heart-wrenching twist in its final moments only speaks to the maturity and depth of the writing.

    4. ‘The Entire History of You’ (Season 1, 2011)

    One of the few “Mirror” episodes penned by someone other than creator Charlie Brooker (a pre-“Succession” Jesse Armstrong), “History” represents everything that “Mirror” does best, the Platonic ideal of the anthology series. In a world in which people have implants that allow themselves to rewatch their memories like episodes of a TV show, a couple (Toby Kebbell and Jodie Whittaker) is rocked by jealousy and distrust. The overarching theme of “Mirror” (technology is scary and bad) is illustrated by the eerie and intrusive memory recorders, but the sci-fi element only serves to amplify the flaws of the characters. The episode is fundamentally a story about relationships, good and ill.

    3. ‘San Junipero’ (Season 3, 2016)

    Romantic, gratifying but also deeply tragic, this retro-futuristic episode starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis is Emmy-winning and beloved by fans for a reason. It is a deeply resonant love story with a technological twist: Two women meet and fall in love in a digital afterlife designed with our nostalgia-obsessed culture in mind, except one of them isn’t looking to make her stay eternal. You might call it a happy ending when Mbatha-Raw’s Kelly chooses the virtual heaven instead of a natural death so she can stay with Davis’ Yorkie. But when the camera cuts to the stark, gray, electronic servers that contain the entirety of their world, their fate is also revealed to be deeply sad. Their afterlives and love is virtual, ephemeral and fragile, tied to the fallibility of human technology. How long could their “forever” end up lasting?

    2. ‘U.S.S. Callister’ (Season 4, 2017)

    The only “Mirror” episode ever to get a direct sequel (Season 7’s new “U.S.S. Callister: Into Infinity,” now streaming), “Callister” is perhaps the most culturally relevant and insightful installment of a series that is built on those qualities. A lonely and deeply cruel programmer creates sentient digital clones of all the people in his office he perceives to have wronged him, so he can torture them inside a “Star Trek”-like video game. An apt “Trek” parody, meditation on fandom and toxic masculinity and acting showcase for stars Cristin Milioti and Jesse Plemons wrapped up in one, the episode fires on all phasers, as its space-faring characters might say. This season’s sequel is a fun continuation with returning stars, but it doesn’t match the depth of the original.

    1. ‘Be Right Back’ (Season 2, 2013)

    Harrowing is the only word to describe this devastating episode, a cruel and heart-rending version of the “be careful what you wish for” story. Hayley Atwell stars as a woman whose boyfriend (Domhnall Gleeson) dies in a tragic accident, and amid her inescapable grief tries a service that digitally recreates her love based on his online presence. What starts out as essentially a ghost chatbot turns into a full-blown android, but Atwell’s character quickly discovers that this construct can never be anything more than a facsimile. She cannot recreate the man or the love she shares, and she suffers all the more for having tried. Atwell’s performance is an undeniable force, making the story all the more wrenching and affecting.

  • Jaime King says losing custody of her kids ‘is scary’

    Jaime King says losing custody of her kids ‘is scary’

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    Jaime King is opening up for the first time about the “terrifying” loss of custody of her two sons to ex-husband Kyle Newman

    Last month, the “White Chicks” actress’ ex-husband and “Fanboys” director was awarded sole physical custody of the couple’s two children, according to a March 11 custody order filed in Los Angeles and obtained by USA TODAY. The “Hart of Dixie” star got candid during Thursday’s episode of “White Down with Jana Kramer.”

    “My duty as a mother is to protect my children. And that’s all that matters to me, and this is scary,” King told host Kramer, who dealt with a highly publicized custody battle of her own with ex-husband Mike Caussin.

    The model still retains legal custody of the children – James, 11, and Leo, 9 – with Newman.

    The “Pearl Harbor” actress may only have supervised visitation with the children due to not completing a six-month drug and alcohol program, with weekly testing, aftercare and a 12-step program, according to the filing.

    “I just didn’t know when I got married at a young age. I just didn’t know that the world works like this. I didn’t know that legal systems work like this,” King added. “And not to sound like some kind of neophyte, but I thought that, you know, when you choose to love someone, then you love that person.”

    King continued, with comments aimed at Newman, whom she married in 2007 and split from in 2020: “You build a family with them, and you trust them and sometimes it’s not always that way.” She added that “it’s very upsetting” and she doesn’t speak about the “terrifying” situation because “I never wanted my children to think any part of them was wrong.”

    Jaime King, ex-husband Kyle Newman split in May 2020

    During the podcast episode, King added that navigating the legal situation is “almost like politics,” encouraging people to “be kind and tell the truth.”

    The actress filed for divorce from the producer in May 2020, citing irreconcilable differences, and the divorce was finalized in May of last year. At the time, she requested joint physical and legal custody as well as spousal support.

    The children will live with Newman, and King is allowed supervised visitation two to three times a week in specific blocks, until the court orders otherwise, according to the March 11 filing.

    Contributing: Taijuan Moorman

  • ‘You Are the Detective’ is an interactive murder mystery

    ‘You Are the Detective’ is an interactive murder mystery

    Think you could out-Sherlock Holmes or hang with Hercule Poirot?

    Author Maureen Johnson and illustrator Jay Cooper are giving readers a chance to solve a murder mystery for themselves with their new “You Are the Detective” interactive whodunit series. The first book, “The Creeping Hand Murder” (out Sept. 16), takes readers back to London circa 1933 so they can decipher clues, decode witness statements and assist Scotland Yard in figuring out the culprit of a dastardly crime. USA TODAY is exclusively revealing the cover and a smattering of inside illustrations.

    The book’s a throwback of sorts at least for Johnson, writer of the young-adult Stevie Bell mysteries and “a lifelong obsessive who has always, always wanted to solve a case,” she says.

    “As a child, I was given copies of dossier murder mysteries that came out in the 1930s. These were murder mysteries that I could solve. Evidence files. Photographs. Sealed solutions. This was my dream. And I thought to myself, after having written several mystery novels, that I wanted to bring these back.”

    In “The Creeping Hand Murder,” poison pen letters have lured seven people with dark secrets to a swank townhouse for a fatal gathering, and unfortunately American novelist Roy Peterman is stabbed in front of the rest of them. Of course, no one saw a thing or went near him, and the most obvious killer is a disembodied hand. So who did it: Was it the poet, the earl, the actress, the cook, the telephone operator or the lothario? And what is the connection between this case and the death of rising stage star Billie Snooks?

    Johnson teamed up with Cooper, her partner on “Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village,” on the project. Wanting his illustrated clues to feel authentic to the time period, Cooper researched and sourced antique items from the ’30s for reference, plus bought a bunch of vintage stuff.

    “In the case of the poison pen letters, I couldn’t just illustrate them – my lettering is atrocious – or use a font,” says Cooper, an artist who’s worked on more than 25 kids books and designed ad campaigns for Broadway shows. “In the end, I did what any self-respecting scoundrel would: I tracked down and cut to bits a handful of actual 1930s magazines, newspapers and sheet music. All those letters are real, and all those jagged lines were the work of scissors. It was diabolical and old school. And as an avid book collector/ephemera junkie, I’m now guilty of murder myself.”

    Keep scrolling for a look at more illustrations from “The Creeping Hand Murder”:

  • Paul McCartney apologized for Beatles joke to Adam Levine

    Paul McCartney apologized for Beatles joke to Adam Levine

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    Adam Levine is looking back on an awkward run-in with music royalty.

    The Maroon 5 frontman said during a Thursday appearance on “The Howard Stern Show” that Beatles vocalist Paul McCartney once cracked a joke about Levine’s performing skills, then over-corrected after fearing the quip had fallen flat.

    “I told you I’ve been scared a handful of … times in my life, that was definitely one of them,” Levine said of a performance he did alongside bandmates to honor 50 years of The Beatles. The televised tribute show, to mark 50 years since the British band had appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” saw Maroon 5 cover “All My Loving” − one of the group’s signature hits.

    Footage of The Beatles themselves playing the iconic tune was projected behind them, Levine recalled, then paused to allow Maroon 5’s performance halfway through to finish the rest of the song.

    “I’m sorry man, you can be too cool, but not always,” Levine recalled of performing in front of his heroes. “It’s Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.

    “Afterwards I see Paul, and Paul kind of took me in close and he goes, ‘You know we did it better.’ And I thought it was so funny,” Levine told Stern. “I cracked up and I was like ‘Yeah, … you’re Paul McCartney, you’re the Beatles.”

    Three or four months later, Levine recounted that he was at a party where McCartney was trying to get his attention. He had approached to apologize, the singer said, recalling McCartney telling him: “Hey man, I just wanted to let you know that if that bothered you, like I’ve been thinking about this. I didn’t want to insult you.”

    Levine, who said he had not ever taken the joke to be rude, described the moment as formative in understanding how human your heroes can be.

    “It kind of shattered in a great way this whole thing about your heroes being who they are,” he said. “He’s a human being with a beating heart and a really beautiful soul who was actually thoughtful enough to even take that into account that maybe for some reason my feelings might’ve been hurt, but of course, they were not.”