Anne Hathaway joins Ralph Lauren front rowEntertain This!
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Did Taylor Swift announce 2026 tour? A gala posts tickets in auction
Louisville, Kentucky, event organizers are finding out how viral an auction announcement can go after mentioning 2026 tour tickets to see Taylor Swift as a potential prize. The only issue is a 2026 tour hasn’t been announced.
The Galt House will host the 12th Unbridled Eve Derby Gala on May 2 and feature celebrities, entertainers and athletes. A table of 10 goes for $12,000 and up.
On April 12, the Fox-affiliate station in Louisville posted a web story with a list of auction prizes. The headline read, “Unbridled Eve Derby Gala returns with big names, bigger auction — and a Taylor Swift surprise.”
The surprise was “Taylor Swift Package: Signed guitar by Taylor Swift and two concert tickets for a concert during her next tour.”
The Swift fandom spiraled across TikTok and X excited about the possibility of a leak about an upcoming tour.
“This is news to me,” Swiftie influncer @eurosweetheart posted.
Tammy York Day is one of the co-founders of the event. Day sent out a correction to a previous news release with the statement: “In the most recent Unbridled Eve press release, it inadvertently listed one of our auction items as a ‘Signed guitar by Taylor Swift and two concert tickets during her upcoming 2026 tour.’ Our deepest apologies for getting the Swiftie Nation excited, but it should have said ‘Guitar signed by Taylor Swift and two tickets for a concert during her next tour.’ We have no knowledge whatsoever of when that tour will be.”
Swift makes most announcements either exclusively on a broadcast platform or over social media. On Nov. 1, 2022, she told “Good Morning America” about the Eras Tour, saying the tour was a journey through all the musical eras of her career.
The singer’s team did not reply to a request for comment.
Don’t miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.
Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network’s Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
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Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ play is ‘essential’ viewing for Season 5
‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ coming to Broadway
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” based on smash-hit Netflix television show, is coming across the pond to Broadway early next year.
NEW YORK — Move over, Norma Desmond.
Broadway has a colossal new star in the Mind Flayer, a fearsome spider-like monster that towers over the Marquis Theatre stage in a bone-crunching, spine-tingling sequence of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.” During a recent tech rehearsal for the play, the wide-eyed cast has huddled in the mezzanine to catch a glimpse of the creature in action, unfurling its gnarly tentacles in a maelstrom of billowing smoke and flashing red lights. The gruesome spectacle that follows earns raucous cheers and applause from the slack-jawed onlookers.
“A bunch of us came up here to watch,” says cast member Eric Wiegand, who portrays a teenage Alan Munson in Netflix’s theatrical prequel. “That’s insane. That was my first time seeing it.”
The play was co-conceived by “Stranger Things” creators Mark and Ross Duffer, telling a dark origin story of the mysterious Henry Creel (Louis McCartney), who’s better known as Vecna, Season 4’s big bad. The ambitious, effects-heavy production premiered in London in 2023, and officially opens on Broadway April 22.
“It’s magic,” says playwright Kate Trefry, who’s also a writer on the Netflix series. “There are certain moments in every show where I can’t believe they still work on me.”
Part of the reason it’s so thrilling, McCartney posits, is because “you can see yourselves in these characters. Sure, we’ve got Demogorgons and Mind Flayers.” But at its core, “it’s people fighting for their lives, and that’s what’s really exciting about our show.”
Broadway’s ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ connects to Season 5
Directed by Stephen Daldry (“Billy Elliot”), “First Shadow” is set in 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, where Henry and his family have moved after a violent incident with his ex-classmate. Henry is quickly befriended by fellow outsider Patty Newby (Gabrielle Nevaeh), who tries to help him temper his horrific visions and convulsive fits of rage.
Meanwhile, a spunky group of familiar faces – Joyce Maldonado (Alison Jaye), Jim Hopper (Burke Swanson) and Bob Newby (Juan Carlos) – are investigating a grisly series of murdered pets across the town, which in classic “Stranger Things” fashion, may be linked to a larger supernatural threat.
The play asks big questions about nature versus nurture, but also “how these events could’ve been formative for these characters,” Trefry says. “This is the scar they all carry; how they reacted to that damage is what made them the adults you know in the series.”
“First Shadow” is littered with Easter eggs from the TV show, with nods to Christmas lights, rainbow-painted science labs and the now-iconic theme song. We’re also introduced to Eleven’s twisted father figure, Dr. Brenner (Alex Breaux, taking on Matthew Modine’s role from the series). But the trick was to ensure that the play would be equally accessible for theatergoers who may be walking in blind.
“It’s canon, so it has to work with everything that has come before and everything that’s coming in Season 5,” Trefry says. “It also has to be something you can watch having no knowledge of the show. But ultimately, all I’m really interested in is telling a great story. There may be things that pass people by, and others that super-fans go crazy for.”
Trefry knows it’s impossible for every “Stranger Things” enthusiast to come see the production. Still, she teases that it’s an “essential” key to unlocking the fifth and final season, which is expected to release later this year and promises yet another epic showdown with Vecna.
“I’m really excited for Season 5 to finally come out because it’s in such conversation with the play,” Trefry says. “Once people are finally able to consume the series and the play as a whole, they’ll be able to appreciate how connected it all is. It’s a singular piece of work.”
How Louis McCartney becomes the troubled Henry Creel, aka Vecna
“First Shadow” hinges on McCartney’s fiercely committed performance as Henry, who oscillates between incredibly funny and charming at times, but also tempestuous and terrifying.
“He’s this kid who’s savagely loyal and desperate for connection,” McCartney says. “He’s battling with the spirit of the boy he once was and the shadow over him.”
McCartney, 21, did ample research into the work of “Confessions of a Sociopath” author M.E. Thomas. He also spoke at length with actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who inhabits both Henry and Vecna in the Netflix series.
“I steal things from him shamelessly because he’s so good,” McCartney says. “I love the way he uses his eyes and I try to emulate that.”
In his dressing room, the good-humored actor has an eclectic playlist to get into Henry’s headspace: primarily classical music, but some “dark and moody” jams as well. At one point, his favorite warmup tune was “Mortal Projections” by Djo, the artist moniker of Joe Keery (aka Steve Harrington on “Stranger Things”).
“The song’s all about astral projection and dream-walking, and that’s sort of like the Upside Down,” McCartney says. “I found that fun and it’s got a great synth beat to it.”
The son of a medium and a screenwriter, McCartney has always been drawn to projects that push him to his limits. At 14, he made his screen acting debut in an episode of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” portraying a King’s Landing denizen who gets burnt alive by a dragon. (“I just love ruining myself,” he jokes.)
Bringing “First Shadow” to Broadway, McCartney has enjoyed getting to meet the series’ “super-crafty” fans, some of whom make bracelets for the cast or come dressed as their favorite characters. (At a recent preview performance, he spotted one young woman in a Demogorgon onesie.) The theater has been renovated to resemble the Creel family’s house, offering audiences an immersive experience that they can’t get bingeing Netflix on their couches.
“It’s live actors with live special effects, and it’s our job to really pull you into this world,” McCartney says, grinning. “It’s super exciting! People fly and there’s so much blood. It gets everywhere, like ‘Carrie.’ I love it.”
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is now playing at the Marquis Theatre (210 W. 46th Street) in New York.
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Bill Maher calls himself a ‘hero’ for Trump meeting: ‘Truth to power’
Bill Maher brushes off liberal critics ahead of Trump meeting
Comedian Bill Maher is planning a White House meeting with Donald Trump, facilitated by Kid Rock, despite years of political criticism.
Straight Arrow News
Bill Maher has some words for those who didn’t like what he had to say about his White House dinner with Pres. Donald Trump.
TMZ founder Harvey Levin invited his “dear friend” Maher on the 2 Angry Men podcast, which Levin hosts with criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, for the April 17 episode. The three opened the show by asking the “Real Time with Bill Maher” host for his thoughts on criticism he’s received – including from Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, who’d said on “Real Time” that Trump was using Maher as “a prop in a PR stunt.”
“I would say to them, as opposed to what? I had the opportunity to go to the White House and talk to the president and not give up my principles. It seems like nobody noticed that,” Maher told Levin and Geragos. “I didn’t go MAGA. I had the opportunity to talk to Donald Trump and say things to him that maybe he never hears, literally to speak truth to power. I shouldn’t take that opportunity? Again, don’t do that? OK.”
Bill Maher says he should be considered a ‘hero’ for going ‘inside the inner sanctum’ of Trump
Maher, a longtime Trump critic, later doubled down on defending the meeting, saying, “I’m not the villain here.”
“I should be a hero for being one of the people who got inside the inner sanctum and was able to say to this person – who knows how much he ever hears anything that’s not coming from the cult? – and say those things and stick to my guns,” Maher said.
Trump has gone after Maher multiple times over the years, frequently targeting him in social media posts that claimed the ratings for “Real Time,” now in its 23rd season, were suffering. Trump also filed a lawsuit against Maher in 2013 — then later dropped the case — after the TV host joked that Trump was “the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.”
However, Maher also insisted he was one of Trump’s earliest political critics and maintained that “A lot of the things he’s doing are just crazy. Threatening to send home-grown Americans to foreign prisons is just outrageous. … The cutting off of the aid to the people who are starving and dying of diseases around the world.”
What did Bill Maher say about his Trump meeting?
In the April 11 episode of “Real Time,” Maher opened the show with a 13-minute monologue detailing his meeting with Trump and Kid Rock, who’d coordinated the visit, as well as UFC CEO Dana White.
In his monologue, Maher conceded Trump is “much more self-aware than he lets on in public” but acknowledged, “It doesn’t matter who he is at a private dinner with a comedian; it matters who he is on the world stage.” He later added, “Why can’t we get the guy I met to be the public guy?”
Though the March 31 meeting went well, Maher – who had derided the president’s tariff flip-flopping earlier in the monologue – maintained he will continue to hold the Trump administration to account.
“He ended his report by saying, “Trump was gracious and measured, and why he isn’t that in other settings, I don’t know. And I can’t answer, and it’s not my place to answer. I’m just telling you what I saw.”
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Anne Hathaway, Sadie Sink sit front row at fashion show
Anna Wintour and stars attend Ralph Lauren show in New York City
Sarah Catherine Cook, Andra Day and more dazzle at Ralph Lauren’s NYC runway show.
Entertain This
NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren is going romantic.
And in true fashion, the designer’s runway show in downtown Manhattan Thursday afternoon brought out all the biggest celebs, from actresses Anne Hathaway and Sadie Sink to country music star Kacey Musgraves.
The fall/winter 2025 collection, the designer’s first outing since his starry and extravagant Hamptons showcase just before New York Fashion Week’s September kickoff, was an off-calendar show that packed just as much star power as its predecessor.
A cast of leading ladies sat front row, including Oscar winner Ariana DeBose, Emmy-winning comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “White Lotus” star Sarah Catherine Hook and actresses Naomi Watts, Michelle Williams and Eiza González. Ryan Destiny, Chase Sui Wonders, actress-singer Andra Day and more were in attendance.
Hathaway donned a tan trench coat and coordinating bejeweled tan denim, topped with a high ponytail. The blonde bobs of Watts and top Vogue editor Anna Wintour popped up just seats away from one another in the front row, while Ralph Lauren darling Musgraves opted for a white cowboy hat and Western-themed belt. González and DeBose dazzled in classic suiting, while Day paired springtime whites with a gem-encrusted top.
“I loved the show. I love the mixing of the themes, I think that’s something that’s really intrinsic to me when it comes to fashion,” Day tells USA TODAY. “I love exploring different worlds. I think they do classic very well, but they’re innovative with classic.”
She recalls her most memorable Ralph purchase, a vintage coverall with a vintage scarf. “I love it so much I had a friend of mine wear it to last year’s fashion show,” she says with a laugh. “I knew I was being dressed (by the brand), but I was like ‘Oh wear this, I love this!’”
Hook, fresh off her role as Piper in Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” thought the show was “so gorgeous.”
“And so different from what I was expecting! It was really quite dark and edgy, but had this really gorgeous, romantic feel to it,” Hook says, “but still maintained the timeless look that Ralph Lauren always achieves.”
Dubbed “the modern romantics,” the designer played with texture, moody colors and silhouette for the April 17 runway.
“This collection is a study in beautiful contrasts – feminine flourishes juxtaposed against menswear motifs,” Lauren, 85, says in an exclusive statement to USA TODAY. “Romantic ruffles paired with masculine tailoring, sleek leather skirts topped with feminine bustiers. Each look tells a story of duality celebrating the confidence of a woman’s personal style.”
Glamorous gowns swished down the stairs of the former Gilded Age palazzo-turned-art gallery in Tribeca’s Clock Tower Building, as ruffled ascots romanticized more traditional tailoring and crushed velvet in deep purples appeared alongside lacy frocks.
Lauren, whose ethos and clothes have become part of the underpinning of stylishly seminal Black people for decades, looked to “subvert the classic dandy trope” with the collection ahead of the 2025 Met Gala. Only weeks away from the first Monday in May and its “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme, focused on the Black dandy and tailored wares, the runway show looked to highlight “precise tailoring” while “upending previousness with daring, while revealing an underlying sensuality,” according to the show notes.
Grammy-winning singer Day says she’ll be in attendance at annual Costume Institute fête, though she can’t tease much before her appearance on the famed steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“It will be a good time, it will be a dandy time and it will definitely be a statement,” she says with a coy smile.
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Drake claims Kendrick Lamar performance damaged his image
Kendrick Lamar controversial halftime show features Serena Williams
Serena Williams joined Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl halftime show. Lamar performed his diss track “Not Like Us,” about Williams’ ex, Drake.
NEW YORK — Drake expanded his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group, saying more people were duped into believing he was a pedophile after rapper Kendrick Lamar performed “Not Like Us” during the Super Bowl halftime show.
In an amended complaint filed April 16 against his record label, Drake, 38, said the performances introduced millions of new listeners to Lamar’s smash hit and have led to more threats against the Canadian rapper, born Aubrey Drake Graham, and his family.
Drake said this occurred though Lamar omitted the word “pedophile” from his Super Bowl performance, seen by more than 133.5 million people, ostensibly because “nearly everyone understands” it was defamatory.
“It was the first, and will hopefully be the last, Super Bowl halftime show orchestrated to assassinate the character of another artist,” Drake said.
“Not Like Us” also includes the lyric “Drake, I hear you like ’em young,” which Lamar sang at the Super Bowl.
In a statement on Thursday, UMG called Drake’s accusations baseless and his lawsuit an affront to creative expression.
“Drake, unquestionably one of the world’s most accomplished artists and with whom we’ve enjoyed a 16-year successful relationship, is being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another,” UMG said.
UMG had sought to dismiss Drake’s original lawsuit, which was filed on Jan. 15 in Manhattan federal court, and will have a chance to dismiss the amended lawsuit. In response to the music conglomerate’s statement on the ongoing litigation, a spokesperson for Drake said UMG is attempting to “spin the narrative and deflect from the truth.”
“UMG claims to stand for creativity but in fact exploits it, and the artist community knows that,” the spokesperson said. “Drake joins a growing chorus of artists raising questions about UMG’s leadership. … UMG said, ‘Be careful what you ask for.’ Drake knows exactly what he asked for: the truth and accountability.”
Drake is seeking unspecified damages, saying UMG tried to boost profit and make him a pariah by promoting Lamar. “UMG will be held accountable for the consequences of its ill-conceived decisions,” said Drake’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb in a statement.
Drake and Lamar have feuded for about a decade, including through a series of competing diss tracks.
“Not Like Us” was released on May 4, 2024, one day after Drake’s “Family Matters” appeared to accuse Lamar of physical abuse and infidelity and questioned the parentage of one of his children.
Lamar’s song won Grammy Awards for record and song of the year and topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for three weeks. He also won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
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Diddy news: Prosecutors add new charges to criminal case in indictment
Embattled music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with two additional sex crimes charges ahead of his May trial in New York City.
As music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs heads to trial on federal charges, USA TODAY will be keeping you up to date with the latest developments from the courtroom. Our team will be in the courtroom each day to let you know what happened, and help you understand what’s coming next in the Grammy-winning rapper’s trial.
You can keep up with the case by signing up for our Diddy newsletter, which will bring each day’s updates straight to your inbox. Sign up here.
What is Diddy going on trial for?
Combs is facing five federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The trial, slated to start with jury selection beginning on May 5, comes more than a year after a civil lawsuit filed by Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. The lawsuit alleged rape, sex trafficking and physical abuse, and opened the floodgates to dozens of damning civil complaints accusing the Bad Boy Records founder of various sexual assaults over the course of his three-decade career.
Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, has been in jail since his arrest on Sept. 16, 2024. Despite repeated attempts at bail, he was ordered to remain in custody at the Special Housing Unit in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of his May 5 trial.
The music mogul was taken into custody on Sept. 16 “based on a sealed indictment” filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
To keep up with the latest news and updates on Diddy’s criminal trial and legal issues, sign up for our newsletter.
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The controversial legacy of Sean 'Diddy' CombsEntertainment
The controversial legacy of Sean ‘Diddy’ CombsEntertainment
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Christopher Meloni addresses viral Knicks moment with Mariska Hargitay
‘Law & Order’: Christopher Meloni explains Mariska Hargitay friendship
“Law & Order: Organized Crime” star Christopher Meloni chats with USA TODAY’s Ralphie Aversa about the friendship he has with Mariska Hargitay.
NEW YORK – Christopher Meloni uses an interesting metaphor when he describes sharing a screen with longtime “Law & Order” co-star Mariska Hargitay.
“Like slipping into a warm bath; you know what you’re getting,” the actor, 64, tells USA TODAY. “There’s not going to be a problem. You get to focus on making the scene as honest and interesting as you possibly can. You don’t have to worry about personalities or having an offbeat difference of opinion.”
Hargitay’s Olivia Benson and Meloni’s Elliot Stabler reunite on “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” which moves from NBC to Peacock for its fifth season (new episodes Thursdays). Meloni, also an executive producer and writer on the show, says Benson’s return to “Organized Crime” is usually dictated by her “SVU” schedule. And yes, while the pairing is as comfortable as that warm bath for Meloni, they still practice their lines with each other before taping.
“It’s just nice to hear the music that they’re gonna play,” Meloni remarks. “Do they see this as a jazz piece, or is this a little more formal and not quite so improvisational? You always need to know what piece they’re thinking of playing, what quality they’re going to give to it.”
Fans enjoy seeing the pair’s off-camera friendship as well. The two sent “Law & Order” fans into a frenzy last week when they sat courtside at a New York Knicks game and were photographed on the NBA team’s X page holding hands.
“I’m with a close friend that is unique in my life because I don’t share the same journey with anybody else on this earth that I do with her,” he says of their night out. “We do the same nonsense when we’re alone, you know, (being) physical and connected and calling (expletive) on each other. It’s just two friends kicking it. I do recognize how public it is, but when we’re together it doesn’t feel that way because we just connect.”
Both stars are married: Meloni wed Doris Sherman Williams in 1995. Hargitay and “SVU” co-star Peter Hermann have been married since 2004.
Here’s what excites Meloni about ‘Organized Crime’
In “Organized Crime,” we don’t see Elliot Stabler only fighting crime. The series gives us a peak into his personal life as a father, son and brother.
“I am finding myself enjoying the family scenes a lot because that’s the least visited aspect of this character over the years that I’ve played him,” Meloni reveals. (“SVU” premiered in 1999; Meloni left the show in 2011 but returned to the franchise as Stabler with “Organized Crime” in 2021). “It’s only recently that we’ve gotten into what makes him tick behind the scenes. I’ve found that different and fresh and new to play.”
The “Organized Crime” cast also includes Ellen Burstyn, who plays Stabler’s mother Bernie, and Dean Norris, who plays his brother, Randall. Meloni calls working with Burstyn “a joy” and says Norris’ casting was “a no-brainer.”
Meloni adds that “to explore Stabler’s personal side with these players, that’s what helps make it even more exciting.”
Real-life law enforcement officers still approach Meloni
When Meloni and Hargitay are shown on the big screen at Madison Square Garden, they hear jubilation from the sold-out Knicks crowd. But for the actor, “the highest honor” is receiving a compliment from a real-life first responder who enjoys watching his character.
“I used to have a guy, he was security detail, and he was an ex-police officer for 30 years or something,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Tommy, did you like being a cop?’ And he goes, ‘I loved it.’
“That response rocked me back. He goes, ‘Chris, every day when I was on the job, I would wake up and I knew I had an opportunity to help someone.’ What an attitude. That’s an honorable life.”
