Stephen Foster statue removed, amid protest
PITTSBURGH — A 118-year-old statue of the “Oh! Susanna” songwriter was removed from a Pittsburgh park Thursday after criticism that the work is demeaning because it includes a slave sitting at his feet, plucking a banjo.
In October, the Pittsburgh Art Commission voted to take the Stephen Foster sculpture out of Schenley Plaza and find it a new home. For now, it will remain in a storage lot, out of the public view.
On Thursday, workers used straps and construction equipment to lift the 10-foot-bronze statue off its base. It was strapped to a flatbed truck and taken away.
The Giuseppe Moretti statue was completed in 1900 and thousands attended its dedication.
The shoeless banjo player is based on “Uncle Ned,” a fictional slave and subject of a song by the same name. Critics have long decried the statue as racist.
“It’s the single most offensive display of public art in Pittsburgh, hands down,” Paradise Gray, a hip-hop activist, musician and writer, told the Post-Gazette in August . “It permanently depicts the black man at the white man’s feet.”
Others say it highlights that Foster was inspired by black spirituals. Some historians contend the 1848 song is actually an early, subtle anti-slavery song.
Neville Brothers sax player dead at age 79
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans-born saxophone player Charles Neville has died at age 79.
His career dated back to the 1950s and included gigs backing up B.B. King among others. But he was best known for three decades of performances with his siblings Aaron, Art and Cyril as the Neville Brothers band. It was formed in the 1970s and was famous for a distinctive blend of soul, funk and New Orleans rhythm and blues.
A publicist for Aaron Neville’s management agency confirmed in an email that Charles Neville died Thursday. Aaron Neville, who first disclosed the news to WWL-TV, declined an interview but posted a lengthy tribute to his brother on Facebook.
Charles Neville had lived in Massachusetts in recent years. His family announced in January that he had pancreatic cancer.
Brokaw latest celebrity accused of groping
NEW YORK — A woman who worked as a war correspondent for NBC News says Tom Brokaw groped her, twice tried to forcibly kiss her and made inappropriate overtures attempting to have an affair.
Linda Vester tells Variety and the Washington Post in stories published Thursday that the misbehaviour from the longtime news anchor at the network took place in NBC offices in Denver and New York in the 1990s, when she was in her 20s. Variety reports that Vester showed them journals from the time that corroborated the story.
Brokaw denied doing anything inappropriate. In a statement issued through NBC News, the 78-year-old says he met Vester twice at her request to give career advice, and that the meetings were “brief, cordial and appropriate,” and he “made no romantic overtures toward her.”
Weekend Update crew will host the Emmys
LOS ANGELES — NBC says that Michael Che and Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” will co-host this year’s Emmy Awards.
Che and Jost anchor the “Weekend Update” segment of “Saturday Night Live” and are head writers on the long-running sketch show.
The Emmy ceremony rotates from the major broadcast networks, allowing them to use the host’s job to highlight a show or performers. “SNL” has enjoyed a ratings resurgence with its sharp-edged jabs at President Donald Trump and his administration.
Alumni of the late-night show have hosted the Emmys, including Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. But the last current “SNL” cast member to serve as host was Eddie Murphy in 1983.
The 70th prime-time Emmy Awards will air Sept. 17.