Names and faces
■ Cindy McCain, the widow of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,, said she did not want President Donald Trump present at her husband’s funeral in September because she wanted the ceremony to be conducted “with dignity.” “You have to remember, even though it was a very public funeral, we are still a family. For all of us, and for the sake of my own children, I didn’t want any disruption …. It was important to me that we kept it respectful and calm and not politicize it,” Cindy McCain said in an interview with the BBC, an excerpt of which was released Wednesday. The interview was among Cindy McCain’s first television appearances since her husband’s death from brain cancer in August. She also recently appeared on CBS This Morning. Trump and the Arizona senator frequently clashed over foreign policy. But the president took his criticism to a level that prompted bipartisan anger during the 2016 campaign, when he derided John McCain’s military service and claimed that the former Vietnam POW was “not a war hero” because he was captured. In the BBC interview, which aired Wednesday night, Cindy McCain said she was hurt by Trump’s “not a war hero” remark, which she said was “inappropriate and wrong.” “It hurt the family, too. And he hurt the other men that served with John that were in prison, as well. … So, I think that was a wrong thing to say,” McCain said. She added: “I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it; I’ll be honest. But I’m the wife. That’s my prerogative: I don’t have to.”
■ Pop star Katy Perry has roared back to the top of Forbes’ highest-paid women in music list. Perry earned an estimated
$83 million before taxes between June
2017 and June 2018, largely because of her 80-date Witness tour and judging duties on ABC’s American Idol reboot, the financial magazine said. Perry reclaims the spot she held in 2015 when she earned $135 million during Forbes’ scoring period. Perry was followed by
Taylor Swift, who rose from last year’s No. 3 spot by earning $80 million thanks to her Reputation tour, which launched in Phoenix in May. Swift might have unseated Perry this year had most of her tour dates fallen inside the scoring period. Beyoncé, who topped the list last year, came in at No. 3 with $60 million. After welcoming twins Rumi and Sir with husband Jay-Z in June 2017, Bey laid low until her acclaimed “Beychella” performance at the Coachella music festival in April. Rounding out the top 10 are Pink ($52 million), Lady Gaga ($50 million), Jennifer Lopez ($47 million), Rihanna ($37.5 million), European superstar Helene Fischer ($32 million), Celine Dion ($31 million) and Britney Spears ($30 million).