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Looks like Kamala Harris may have found her official campaign song. After walking out to Beyoncé‘s “Freedom” at her inaugural visit to campaign headquarters earlier this week, the presidential contender has now released the first voter-rousing video of her candidacy, once again featuring the pop superstar’s 2016 hit.
In the campaign video, which Harris shared to her social media accounts Thursday morning (July 25), the Democratic front-runner for the nomination begins by asking voters a question: “What kind of country do we want to live in?”
“There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate,” she continues in a voice-over as warped photos of Republican opponent Donald Trump flash by. “But us? We choose something different. We choose freedom.”
Harris continues to paint a picture of her dream future while footage of her speaking to supporters on the campaign trail cuts in between clips of working Americans. Meanwhile, Bey belts out her uplifting lyrics, “Freedom, freedom, I can’t move/ Freedom, cut me loose/ Singing, freedom, freedom/ Where are you?”
“The freedom not just to get by, but get ahead,” Harris continues. “The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body … When we fight, we win.”
Beyoncé dropped “Freedom” with Kendrick Lamar in 2016 as part of her critically acclaimed album Lemonade, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The gospel-infused track reached No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Eight years later, it seems the 32-time Grammy winner has given Harris her stamp of approval by signing off on the politician’s use of the song. CNN confirmed that Bey was quick to green light the sync ahead of Harris’ headquarters speech, clearing it just hours before the candidate walked out to “Freedom.”
The “Break My Soul” singer’s mother, Tina Knowles, has also joined dozens of figures in the entertainment world in endorsing Harris. Sharing a photo she previously snapped with the sitting VP, the businesswoman wrote, “New, Youthful, Sharp … Go Vice President Kamala Harris for President. Let’s Go ❤️❤️❤️❤️ #kamala2024”
Watch Harris’ new campaign video featuring Bey’s “Freedom” below.
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The new judge in Young Thug’s sprawling Atlanta gang trial has been greeted by a flood of new motions, including a renewed demand to release the rapper from the “torturous conditions” he’s faced while sitting in jail for more than two years.
A week after Judge Paige Reese Whitaker took the reins in the massive racketeering case, Thug’s attorney Brian Steel asked her on Tuesday (July 23) to release the rapper on bond and allow him to live under house arrest with strict monitoring until a verdict is reached.
Judge Ural Glanville, who was removed from the case earlier this month after revelations of a secret meeting with prosecutors and a key witness, has repeatedly denied such requests. In his new motion, Steel told Whitaker that those rulings had forced Thug to “languish” in jail for years without ever being convicted of a crime.
“The most fundamental premise of our criminal justice system is that the criminally accused cannot be punished for an offense until the prosecution proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Steel told the new judge in his filing. “In our society, liberty is the norm.”
Thug (Jeffery Williams) and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022 over allegations that their YSL was not really a record label called Young Stoner Life but rather a violent Atlanta gang called Young Slime Life. Citing Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law, prosecutors claim the group operated a criminal enterprise that committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade.
The trial kicked off in January 2023 but has faced repeated delays and disruptions, including an unprecedented 10-month jury selection, the stabbing of another defendant and now the removal of the presiding judge. Prosecutors have only presented part of their vast list of potential witnesses, and the case is expected to run well into 2025.
Since being arrested on the day the indictment was released, Thug has sat in jail. Steel has repeatedly asked for pre-trial release, but Glanville rejected those requests after Fulton County prosecutors warned that the rapper might intimidate witnesses if granted bond. At a hearing last year, the judge ruled that Thug posed “a significant risk to the community.”
In Tuesday’s motion, Steel urged Whitaker to reject those concerns, repeating his previous promises that Thug would submit to strict conditions under house arrest. Steel said those conditions include the use of electronic monitoring, the hiring of off-duty police officers to guard him, subjecting all communications to monitoring and requiring searches of all people entering the home.
“This will prevent any possibility to intimidate a witness or otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” Steel wrote. “With these parameters in mind, it cannot be said that Mr. Williams would be a threat or a danger to the community or any person or property in the community.”
Thug’s conditions while “languishing in the county jail” have been “tortuous,” Steel wrote — including 22 hours of daily isolation, “inedible food” and an “ant infested room” from which he cannot see out the windows.
“Ordering Mr. Williams to wear an ankle monitor and to be in ‘total lockdown’ in his home is the equivalent to custody and confinement and has been deemed lawful confinement without the punishment imposed by the current county jail conditions wrongly imposed on Mr. Williams,” Steel wrote.
In addition to Thug’s renewed motion for bond, Whitaker is also facing a flood of other motions as she takes over the case, including multiple requests to declare a mistrial.
Echoing a similar motion already filed by Thug’s legal team earlier this month, attorneys for Yak Gotti (Deamonte Kendrick) argued in a Tuesday filing that Glanville’s secret meeting with prosecutors was an “egregious violation” and grounds for an immediate mistrial: “Kendrick’s Constitutional rights were violated when neither he nor his attorneys were present at a critical stage of the proceedings,” attorney Doug Weinstein wrote.
Attorneys for Quamarvious Nichols, another YSL defendant, made a different argument for a mistrial: that a brand new judge could not possibly “make informed rulings” after missing the first 19 months of trial in which over 100 witnesses had already testified.
“Trials evolve and decisions are made by the court based in part on the way the trial and evidence play out over time,” attorney Bruce Harvey wrote. “This Court has missed crucial proceedings necessary to make fair and well-founded rulings and to properly instruct the jury both during and at the conclusion of trial.”
Whitaker is facing new filings from prosecutors, too. In a motion filed Tuesday, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office asked the judge to order defense attorneys to stop making “extrajudicial statements to the media” about the case, arguing that it could have a “prejudicial effect” on jurors. Prosecutors cited specific statements allegedly made by Steel, Weinstein and other defense lawyers to media outlets.
Whitaker has set a hearing date for next week to hear and potentially decide the various new motions.
Phish’s Trey Anastasio has 17 years of sobriety under his belt and in late 2023 he paid it forward by opening a residential recovery program, Divided Sky, in his native Vermont with the caseworker who helped him after a 2006 arrest for heroin possession and DWI.
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According to People, the 46-bed facility in Ludlow, VT is a “nonclinical, abstinence-based center that follows the 12-step program” and costs $7,500 for a 30 day stay; financial aid is available for those in need. “I’ve seen people in dire situations come back from this. It’s never too late to have hope,” Anastasio, 59, told the magazine. “Families can be saved.”
The facility’s model is based on The Minnesota recovery center The Retreat, which does not put patients through detox, which Anastasio said helps to keep the cost down. “So basically, you know you’re a drug addict, you’re an alcoholic when you walk in the door. If you need to do detox, we are connected in the local Vermont sober community with places where we would send you to a medical facility to detox,” he said. “Some people need longer than others. There’s a staff that assesses the condition that your loved one is in, and some people would come 20, 30 days, other people might need 90. It’s based on your individual situation. Some people might need longer and that’s perfectly fine.”
Anastasio developed an addiction to OxyContin in 2000 after first taking the prescription painkiller following dental surgery. Within four year, though, the married father of two adult daughters said, “I lost my band, then I almost lost my family,” in reference the substance issues that forced Phish into a two-year hiatus (2000-2002) that led to a reunion and then to another break in 2004 that lasted until 2008. “Drinking and drugging, for me it was a slow death of isolation.”
Anastasio got professional help after a Dec. 15, 2006 arrest in upstate New York on drug and DWI charges. “The minute I got arrested, I was relieved,” he said, adding that when he was handcuffed he “knew it was over.” At the time, prosecutors said Anastasio was arrested for weaving down a rural road near the Vermont border and was facing felony drug possession charges after police found hydrocodone, as well as misdemeanor drug possession charges for heroin, oxycodone and the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam (also known as Xanax).
The jam band leader and solo star pleaded guilty in April 2007 to a felony drug charge and avoided jail time in a plea agreement in which the more serious charges were dropped and he agreed to enter a 14-month drug court program in which he attended meetings and did court-ordered community service. According to People he hasn’t touched drugs or drink since.
Divided Sky’s program director is Melanie Gulde, who served as Anastasio’s caseworker at the time. “She saved my life,” Anastasio said of Gulde. “She’s a badass, but she’s also very loving.” Anastasio began raising the funds to open Divided Sky in 2020 via his “Beacon Jams” residency shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York.
“I hope people take away the fact that humans are resilient. Recovery is the greatest gift we can give ourselves,” said Gulde. “Divided Sky came about as Trey’s desire to give back on a bigger scale. I have had countless people tell me that Trey has been an inspiration for their own recovery. We must do the work, and that is exactly what he does.”
In addition to his ongoing touring and recording with Phish — who recently released their 16th studio album, Evolve — Anastasio has released a dozen albums, including 2022’s Mercy.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
With Kamala Harris poised to possibly become the nation’s first-ever female president, the current VP is already facing a barrage of sexist comments on social media — and Cardi B is having none of it.
After seeing that people online were attacking the Democratic party’s presumptive 2024 nominee — who President Joe Biden endorsed shortly after announcing that he was dropping out of the race last weekend — the rapper took to X Tuesday (July 23) to specifically shut down misogynistic criticism regarding Harris’ husband, lawyer Doug Emhoff.
“What does Kamala Harris husband or relationships have to do wit her credentials?” Cardi tweeted. “Do y’all hire people based on who they f–king??”
The Grammy winner’s comment seemingly comes in response to a wave of attacks baselessly suggesting that Harris has cheated on Emhoff, whom she’s been married to since 2014, in order to achieve career success. Some of the attacks have had racist and antisemitic overtones, with people taking aim at the couple’s interracial relationship and Emhoff’s Jewish descent.
Cardi isn’t the only star to come to Harris’ defense lately. Earlier this week, Lizzo slammed critics who’ve alleged that the former prosecutor “didn’t do anything” during her ongoing tenure as Biden’s vice president, challenging, “Please, for $5,000, do not use Google, tell me what any vice president has ever done during their term that was notable that you noticed.”
“The vice president’s job is to take a backseat and support while the president does everything that’s forward-facing,” the “About Damn Time” had singer added.
Several other musicians have also endorsed Harris over the past few days, from Ariana Grande to Barbra Streisand, Carole King, John Legend and more. As she was quick to remind fans recently, though, Cardi beat most of her peers to the punch, having said in a June livestream before Biden dropped out that she thought Harris should’ve been the Democratic presidential candidate instead.
See Cardi’s tweet defending Kamala Harris below.
What does Kamala Harris husband or relationships have to do wit her credentials? Do y’all hire people based on who they fcking??— Cardi B (@iamcardib) July 23, 2024
Turns out your ex isn’t the only person Olivia Rodrigo is “Obsessed” with. The singer showed her support for Kamala Harris on Tuesday (July 23) in an Instagram Story, resharing a TikTok clip from the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s first campaign rally as a 2024 contender.
In the clip, the current VP talks about restoring reproductive rights should she win the Oval Office in November. “And we who believe in reproductive freedom will stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body, and not have their government tell them what to do!” Harris said emphatically at the Tuesday (July 23) event in Wisconsin. “And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law.”
In addition to sharing the clip originally posted by The News Movement, the three-time Grammy winner added four raised-hands emojis to her Story.
Rodrigo, 21, has been an outspoken supporter of reproductive rights, launching her Fund 4 Good — her initiative that supports girls’ education and reproductive rights as well as preventing gender-based violence by helping to fund community-based non-profits — when she kicked off her Guts World Tour in February. A portion of the ticket sales also went to support the initiative, as well as the National Network of Abortion Funds. But she didn’t stop there. At several of her tour stops, local groups were on hand to hand out condoms, morning-after pills and information about how to find abortion care to those who were interested.
The “Drivers License” singer is far from the first musician to show support for the vice president, who is now campaigning to become the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and immediately endorsed his VP for the job on Sunday (July 21).
“Right person. Right time,” Carole King wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of the two women together, the same day Biden announced he was no longer running.
“I’m so ready to work to help unite the pro-democracy coalition to reject Trump’s authoritarian, oppressive Project 2025 and elect Kamala Harris as our President,” John Legend shared on Instagram after Biden endorsed his VP. “She’s ready for this fight and I’m excited to help her in any way I can.”
Others who have shown support for Harris’ 2024 presidential run include Charli XCX, Barbra Streisand, Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Lil Nas X, Beyonce, Moby, Questlove and more.
Watch the clip from Harris’ first campaign rally below that Olivia Rodrigo shared on Instagram:
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president. The union’s backing comes after a unanimous vote of the U.S. members of the AFM International Board, and what they see as the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to labor. This follows President Biden’s decision not to seek reelection and his subsequent endorsement […]
With the U.S. presidential election coming up in November, Vice President Kamala Harris is making sure that voters hit the polls like rom-pom-pom-pom. In one of the Harris campaign’s latest TikTok videos, the vice president pitched herself as the best alternative to former president Donald Trump with a little help from rising pop star Chappell […]
It’s been less than a day since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and subsequently endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to take his place. Harry Daniels, however, was already on top of doing what he does best — surprise-serenading celebrities. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest […]
07/22/2024
Ariana Grande, Cardi B, John Legend and more have all spoken in favor of the VP’s bid.
07/22/2024
In the hours since President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the role next term, countless voters and members of the Democratic party alike have flocked to voice support for the new front-runner — but Cardi B would like to remind them all that she’s […]