Names and faces
Live Nation says Demi Lovato’s concert that had been scheduled for today on the Atlantic City, N.J., beach has been canceled after Lovato was reportedly hospitalized after a drug overdose.
A spokesman for Lovato said she was awake and recovering with her family. Lovato, 25, overdosed before noon Tuesday on an unidentified drug and was treated with Narcan by paramedics, sources told the Los Angeles Times. Narcan, or naloxone, is used to reverse narcotics overdoses. The hospital room where Lovato is being cared for is essentially “on lockdown,” a source told Us Weekly. There were two security guards outside Lovato’s door with strict instructions not to allow anyone inside who wasn’t approved by Lovato’s mother, Dianna De La Garza, the magazine reported. The singer was uncooperative with authorities before losing consciousness Tuesday and failed to tell paramedics what she’d taken, the Blast reported. Others at the house with her wouldn’t say either, the website said. Lovato — who went through 90 days of rehab in late 2010 and early 2011 for treatment of cutting, an eating disorder, bipolar disorder and substance abuse — addressed her broken sobriety in a recent single called “Sober,” singing “And Daddy, please forgive me for the drinks spilled on the floor / To the ones who never left me / We’ve been down this road before / I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore.”
The genre-bending Broadway musical Hamilton will be the first contemporary work of art to be recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors, the annual Washington distinction for artists who have made extraordinary contributions to culture. Until this year, the awards have always gone to individuals. This year’s honorees include Reba McEntire, Cher, Philip Glass and Wayne Shorter. “I believe that [Hamilton] is a work that has transformed how we think about using art to talk about who we are as a society,” said Deborah F. Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Though typically nonpartisan, the Kennedy Center Honors presentation has not escaped the politicization of entertainment since the 2016 election. Last year, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump withdrew from attending after several honorees expressed discomfort with the president. It is still unclear whether the Trumps will attend this year. At least two of the honorees have criticized Donald Trump, as has Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and star of Hamilton. Miranda and the show’s other three main creators — director Thomas Kail, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and music director Alex Lacamoire — will accept the award on behalf of the musical. The ceremony, which is televised, is scheduled for Dec. 2.