Names and faces
Rapper Kanye West has been invited to the White House. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says
West is scheduled to have lunch with President Donald Trump on Thursday and meet with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Sanders said Tuesday that they’ll talk about manufacturing, prison changes, preventing gang violence and reducing violence in Chicago, where
West grew up. Trump recently tweeted praise for West, who closed a Saturday Night Live show wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and delivering an unscripted pro-Trump message after the credits rolled. West is married to reality television star Kim Kardashian West, who successfully pushed Trump to grant a pardon for a drug offender this year and has met with senior aides regarding criminal justice changes.
An activist in Maine who won a lawsuit over using the girls’ bathroom at her school is making her TV debut as a transgender superhero. Nicole Maines, 21, will appear on Season 4 of The CW’s series Supergirl on Sunday. Maines will play Nia Nal, also known as Dreamer. Producers say the character is a “soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.” The character is believed to be the first transgender superhero on U.S. television. Maines gained attention for her lawsuit against her school district after her elementary school said she could no longer use the girls’ bathroom. Maine’s highest court ruled in 2014 that officials violated state anti-discrimination law. Maines has made previous TV appearances, including the show Royal Pains and the HBO documentary The Trans List.
Stevie Nicks, who’s already in the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac, has been nominated for inclusion as a solo artist next year, along with other first-time nominees Def Leppard, Todd Rundgren, Devo, John
Prine and Roxy Music. Nicks was inducted with Fleetwood Mac in 1998. But she’s maintained an active solo career, with her best-known songs coming in the
1980s, like “Edge of Seventeen,” “Stand
Back” and the Tom Petty duet, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Nine other artists are returning to the ballot for another try, including Janet Jackson, Radiohead and The Cure. Generally, about five to seven nominees each year are voted into the hall in Cleveland, Ohio. Past inductees and industry experts vote on who gets in, and fans can make their feelings known on rockhall.com. Winners are announced in December, with the 34th annual ceremony scheduled for March 29 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.