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Carole King is officially joining the Swifties for Kamala kickoff call, according to event organizers.
“We wouldn’t be Swifties for Kamala without Midnights Mayhem,” political director April Glick Pulito wrote in an email to attendees, according to Variety. “With that… We are so incredibly excited to announce our special, surprise guest 4x Grammy winner, singer-songwriter and a Swiftie for Kamala… Carole King!”
The call will take place on Tuesday night (Aug. 27) at 7 p.m. ET. Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Ed Markey; Rep. Chris Deluzio and Rep. Becca Balint; North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton; and Swifties for Kamala team members Irene Kim, Emerald Medrano, Annie Wu Henry, April Glick Pulito, Emma Coleman and Lexa Hayes are all set to speak at the kickoff event.
While Taylor Swift herself is not affiliated with the group — which describes themselves as a “coalition of Swifties ready to mobilize Taylor Swift fans to help get Democratic candidates elected up and down the ballot” — they note that the “I Can Do It With the Broken Heart” singer is “always welcome to show up to our party.”
Swift has yet to endorse anyone in the 2024 presidential race between Trump and Harris. She endorsed Biden in 2020, and also took aim at Trump during the George Floyd protests that same year, slamming Trump’s response to the unrest.
“After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? ‘When the looting starts the shooting starts’???” Swift wrote in reference to a comment from Trump that many took as a potential threat to protesters following the killing of unarmed Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. “We will vote you out in November.”
Meanwhile, many other musicians have stepped up to the plate to endorse Harris, including Megan Thee Stallion, John Legend, Pink and Stevie Wonder — each of whom has performed at various campaign events — as well as Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Demi Lovato, Quavo, Bon Iver, Barbra Streisand and more.
Nick Offerman makes his stance on the 2024 presidential election pretty clear in a new musical parody video, which the Parks and Recreation star dropped Tuesday (Aug. 27) to declare his support for Kamala Harris while raking Donald Trump over the coals.
The clip opens with Offerman plainly endorsing the Democratic nominee’s White House bid, telling the camera, “I’m very enthusiastic to be supporting the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.”
“For obvious reasons, there are a lot of Republicans that are very Kamala-curious,” he continues, wearing a T-shirt with a bald eagle on it. “Let me offer you a song that’s from the point of view of one of these Republicans, one of these good citizens, who formerly was blinded by misinformation and has now found a way to see clear to decency.”
The Civil War actor goes on to sing his own original lyrics set to the tune of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2001. “I’m proud to be a Kamala man, who’s quit the GOP/ I just can’t stick with the man convicted of 34 felonies,” he belts over unflattering clips of Trump. “It’s time to stand up and face the facts after all the scams and tricks. He’s a half-a–ed Putin wannabe, yes, Trump’s a f—ing di–.”
Sharing the video on social media, Offerman also encouraged followers to donate to the cause. “Join me in goosing the joy and positivity of the Harris-Walz campaign with any filthy lucre you can spare,” he wrote, including a link to the Democrats’ website.
Offerman is just the latest star to endorse Harris, who took over the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July. At this month’s Democratic National Convention alone, Pink, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Lil Jon all delivered performances in support of the former attorney, while Ariana Grande, Barbra Streisand, Carole King, Olivia Rodrigo, Megan Thee Stallion and dozens more have also spoken up in Harris’ favor.
Watch Offerman’s original “Proud to Be a Kamala Man” song above.
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Troy Ave has been released from New York City’s Rikers Island after being inside since February. He commemorated the occasion with an Instagram post on Monday (Aug. 26), sharing a picture of himself in front of a Rikers Island sign holding a bag of cash, a red Lamborghini Urus next to him. He captioned the […]
It was the rumor that everyone wanted to believe but nobody could confirm: the final night of the Democratic National Convention was going to feature a very special appearance by Beyoncé. The fantasy was that the singer was going to shock the world and cap the coronation of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat party’s 2024 presidential nominee by performing her Harris campaign theme song, “Freedom” in Chicago’s United Center as the balloons and confetti rained down on Harris and her VP pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Only it wasn’t true and never was. It was, however, such a compelling manifestation that even some of the event’s staff were convinced it was happening.
“We never put out anything about Beyoncé. We denied it every time the media asked us — even though, by the way, people on my staff didn’t believe me,” DNC executive producer Ricky Kirshner told The Hollywood Reporter. “I kept getting texts from news organizations saying, ‘When is Beyoncé coming out?’ But come on, we have the biggest star, the Democratic nominee for president. Why would we overshadow that?”
It’s a fair point. Plus, Kirshner, an Emmy-winning veteran of 14 Super Bowl halftime shows and a raft of other live events, who worked with Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss (Tony Awards, Kennedy Center Honors) to design the four-night spectacle, said they already had a huge task ahead of them after Harris swapped in just four weeks before the event following President Joe Biden’s exit from the race. Coming off a muted 2020 convention that was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Weiss said they were looking for a “big-energy experience,” after throwing out the original script and pivoting to focus the event around Harris.
Weiss said the Beyoncé rumor — which kicked into high gear by the anonymous @Angry_Staffer X account writing, “If you thought the Oprah surprise was big, just wait” — was a perfect example of an internet whisper taking on a life of its own. “And people taking something as fact — literally to the point that people in my booth are saying, ‘Is she coming? You can tell me.’ And I would say, ‘I have no knowledge she’s coming.’ And they would say, ‘No knowledge? So there’s something to know?,’” he said. “It was pretty crazy. But she wasn’t coming. In the end even TMZ [which first reported it] had to issue an apology.”
The rumors spun up so quickly and fervently that a spokesperson for the singer stressed to THR on the day of Harris’ convention-ending acceptance speech on August 22 that “Beyoncé was never scheduled to be there… The report of a performance is untrue.”
While Queen Bey was not in the house, her presence was definitely felt, including on night one when a moving a cappella video cued to her Lemonade track “Freedom,” with narration from Oscar-nominee Jeffrey Wright, was played to help kick-off the proceedings. After Harris unexpectedly jumped into the race last month, the campaign rolled out “Freedom” during the veep’s walk-out at her inaugural visit to campaign headquarters. A full-band album version of the song was also featured in an early campaign video.
Unlike Trump, who has been sued, issued cease & desist orders and strongly-worded requests from artists who don’t agree with his divisive, name-calling rhetoric and who want him to stop using their music during his campaign stops, Beyoncé gave the Harris campaign full approval to use “Freedom.”
In another nod to how important music was to the DNC, Kirshner said that the instantly viral Georgia roll call moment with Lil Jon performing “Turn Down For What!” in the room even took producers by surprise. “It took on a life of its own,” Kirshner said of the high point of the innovative, music-heavy recitation of the delegate count, which had a much more traditional, staid roll-out at the RNC weeks before. “We were just trying to energize the room and we woke up the next morning and it was like, ‘holy crap!’ We actually asked a couple of people from other states if they might want to do something and they didn’t get into it. But Lil Jon just really leaned in.”
Donald Trump‘s campaign is asserting its right to use Foo Fighters‘ “My Hero” at events despite the band’s public denunciation of the campaign’s prior use of the track. “We have a license to play the song,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in an email to The Hill. Additionally, he tweeted at the band, using puns of the […]
Taylor Swift doesn’t need to endorse Kamala Harris for her fans to rally around the Democratic nominee. Many of them already are, mobilizing on behalf of the VP under the name Swifties for Kamala.
In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, a few of the organization’s leaders shared that they don’t particularly care if or when the 34-year-old pop star publicly supports Harris, because their movement is much bigger than that. As 21-year-old Rohan Reagan explained to the publication, “We are doing this outside of her, using the platform of Swifties as a way to get people involved in the election.”
“Taylor did throw her support toward Joe Biden during the 2020 election, so it is possible that she’ll show her support again,” Reagan continued. “But Swifties for Kamala aren’t waiting for her to do that.”
Co-founder Irene Kim, 29, added, “We’re not trying to make her do anything — we do not speak for Taylor. Our movement is about the power of our community and how we can mobilize together.”
The interview comes about a month after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, appointing his second-in-command to take over the ticket. Since then, Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate and officially accepted her nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention — but Swift has yet to publicly show support for the attorney-turned-politician. There was a moment earlier this month when many fans believed the “Anti-Hero” singer subtly embraced Harris by posting an Eras Tour photo with what appeared to be a Kamala look-alike in the background, but so far, there have been no signs that it was purposeful.
Even so, many other musicians have stepped up to the plate to endorse Harris, including Megan Thee Stallion, John Legend, Pink and Stevie Wonder — each of whom has performed at various campaign events — as well as Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Demi Lovato, Quavo, Bon Iver, Barbra Streisand, Carole King and more. And in the meantime, Swifties for Kamala plan to continue advocating for Harris on behalf of the “Karma” artist’s fans, from raising awareness about the VP’s campaign to providing followers with voter registration resources.
“One of our goals is that we really want to make this almost a Swiftie safe space where people feel comfortable to be active in politics, especially younger voters and people who have never really participated in politics,” 22-year-old cofounder Emerald Medrano told Cosmo. “We combine voter registration information with, like, friendship bracelets initiatives. We’re bringing things from our fandom culture into a political space, which I think is a really cool way to help people open up and participate.”
The War and Treaty’s Tanya Blount was once a Bad Boys Records artist, and is expressing her thoughts about the allegations about the label’s founder, Sean “Diddy” Combs, that have risen in the years since.
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Blount was signed to the label in the 1990s, though her album with the company was never released. “Puffy was interesting because being with him was like — we didn’t see this Puffy that people are talking about now,” she recalled during a new episode of Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast. “We never saw him drink, we never saw him smoke. I never saw that guy. Being around him was like school because you were literally learning while training.”
She added, “Everything has good and bad. I’m really appalled with the stuff I’m hearing about now. I had protection too. I was young but I had a manager who told me, ‘No you’re not going to that party.’ […] I also had God protecting me from whatever was happening. The people who experienced it, I really feel bad for them.”
In a devastating video, obtained by CNN earlier this year and dated March 5, 2016, Combs appears to shove his longtime former partner, Cassie Ventura, to the ground near an elevator bank, kick her several times while she lies on the ground and drag her down a hallway. The contents of the video mirror an assault allegation Ventura made in a now-settled lawsuit she filed against Diddy in November.
Shortly after, on May 19, Diddy took to social media to share a video of himself taking responsibility and apologizing for his actions in the disturbing clip. “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy says in his Instagram video. “I was f—ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom. But I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I’m disgusted now.”
He continued, “I went out and sought professional help. Had to go into therapy, into rehab. Had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to being a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”
“The gut-wrenching video has only further confirmed the disturbing and predatory behavior of Mr. Combs,” said Ventura’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, in a statement sent to Billboard. “Words cannot express the courage and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has shown in coming forward to bring this to light.”
Ventura was the first to accuse Diddy of sexual assault, filing a lawsuit in November in which attorneys for Cassie claimed she “endured over a decade of his violent behavior and disturbed demands,” including repeated physical attacks and forcing her to “engage in sex acts with male sex workers” while he masturbated. According to the complaint, after she attempted to separate from him in 2018 after an on-and-off public relationship for 11 years, Combs allegedly “forced her into her home and raped her while she repeatedly said ‘no’ and tried to push him away.” The case was soon settled, but Combs was then sued by multiple other women who claimed they were sexually abused by the hip-hop mogul.
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” Diddy wrote on Instagram in December. “For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy. Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.”
With the 2024 U.S. presidential election just 70 days away, the candidates — Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump — are pulling out all the stops to win the contest. But internet comedian Randy Rainbow is not impressed by the tactics of Trump’s embattled running mate, JD Vance. In his latest parody […]
Charli XCX accidentally on purpose drew herself into the current heated American presidential race with what she thought was an innocuous tribute to Vice President Kamala Harris’ ineffable, no f’s given qualities. And while her “Kamala IS Brat” tweet last month helped boost the enthusiasm about what was then the very-new White House campaign by the current VP-turned-Democratic-candidate, Charli told Vulture that the tweet fired off while hanging around her pool in L.A. was meant to be something “positive and lighthearted” rather than a strict political endorsement.
Just days after Harris announced her intention to run for the Democratic nomination following President Joe Biden’s historic decision to give up his second run for the nation’s top job, Charli made noise by announcing “Kamala IS brat.”
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The reference was to the title of XCX’s new album and a messy-on-purpose lifestyle Charli has described as someone who can be high lux at times, or who has a “pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra” at others. Very aware of what she was doing and how it might land, Charli watched as the Harris campaign immediately seized on what seemed like a cool girl nod to their insurgent effort, by instantly rebranding the Kamala HQ‘s X page with the same font and lime green logo style as the singer’s album title.
“To be on the right side of democracy, the right side of women’s rights, is hugely important to me,” said Charlie, who as a British citizen cannot vote in the U.S. election, but whose tweet became a cringe-worthy talking point on cable and broadcast news programs where confused anchors tried to figure out what the kids were talking about.
“I’m happy to help prevent democracy form failing forever,” she added, appearing to nod to the existential threat to the American political system that President Biden and Harris have said former President and third-time White House aspirant Donald Trump represents. “I obviously knew what I was doing.”
That said, she had no inkling the tweet would be seem more than 55 million times and turned into its own meta meme. “Did I think me talking about being a mess b–ch and, like partying and needing a Bic lighter and a pack of Marlboro Lights would end up on CNN? No,” she said, noting that she is not, and has never aspired to be, “a political artist… I’m not Bob Dylan and I’ve never pretended to be… My music is not political. Everything I do in my life feeds back into my art. Everything I say, wear, think, enjoy — it all funnels back into my art. Politics doesn’t feed my art.”
In the same interview, Charli revealed that she is already working on another “full-length other project” that will definitely be “in the bratosphere, so to speak.” At press time no additional information was available on that project.
Police are investigating the cause of death of a woman who was found unresponsive during the opening weekend of this year’s Burning Man gathering in the Arizona desert. According to the Reno Gazette Journal, the unnamed woman — whose age has also not yet been revealed — was found unresponsive at 11:29 a.m. on Sunday […]