PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Hager says Jerman made White House feel like home
Wilson Jerman made the White House feel especially like home, Jenna Bush Hager, 38, explained while reflecting on her relationship with the former White House butler who died at 91 after contracting coronavirus.
“You know, it’s interesting because people will say, ‘Gosh ... how was the White House? Did it feel like home?’ ” the former first daughter said Thursday on “Today with Hoda & Jenna,” which she co-hosts with Hoda Kotb. “And the reason why it felt like home was because of people like him.”
“Mr. Jerman,” as Bush Hager affectionately referred to him, was always smiling when she saw him, she recalled. “He was the loveliest.”
“We loved him. He was beloved by my family, and he will be so missed,” she said.
Wilson Jerman started working as a cleaner under President Dwight Eisenhower and retired as an elevator operator during the presidency of Barack Obama.
Howard graduates from NYU
Bryce Dallas Howard is a college graduate.
The “Jurassic World” star, 39, announced that she graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts more than two decades after she originally enrolled in 1999.
“I am so overcome with joy to share that I have officially graduated from NYU!” Howard wrote on Instagram Friday. “I first enrolled in undergrad in ’99, then took a leave of absence to start working as an actor, so this has been 21 years in the making!”
She called the academic feat a “dream,” even though she wasn’t able to attend an in-person graduation and walk across the stage, like many graduates following stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Howard, the daughter of director Ron Howard, added: “To the class of 2020, WE MADE IT.”
Jazz competition goes virtual
NEW YORK – The coronavirus pandemic has altered the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, but it will still go on, giving students the chance to show their talents virtually.
High school bands from around the country traditionally head to Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City for a multi-day competition.
Given the COVID-19 crisis that has led to shutdowns across the nation, there will be no travel; instead, the event will take place from June 8-12 on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s website, social media accounts and also through Zoom.
“This year we are even more committed to recognizing our high school student musicians,” said Wynton Marsalis, who is JALC’S managing and artistic director. “We may be isolated from one another in this time, but together, we are connecting and expanding our extended family through the deeply human and liberating feeling of jazz.”
For the first time, the event will also include several international bands. The celebration will end with the crowning of the first-place band, outstanding soloists and outstanding sections.
Cuomo brothers continue their sibling rivalry on TV
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo continued their on-air teasing last week, when the governor appeared to discuss the coronavirus test he got while on TV two weeks ago to encourage the public to get tested. For Chris, that meant it was time to tease his older brother, who has been vocal in the past about being uneasy during doctor’s appointments.
The Cuomo brothers are usually able to keep a straight face during their TV banter, but they both started to break and laugh as Chris held up giant-sized swabs, sarcastically wondering if Andrew’s experience had been that bad.
“I thought I did so well on that nasal test standing up there, she did the swab, I did not flinch. I was a cool dude in a loose mood, didn’t move,” Andrew said. But Chris was unimpressed.
“Of course you were, that swab is like a piece of lint going in that thing on your face. How could it have collected anything?” Chris said. “It was like throwing a rock around a cave.”