Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande to perform at MTV awards
NEW YORK — Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande will reunite to perform at the latest MTV Video Music Awards, the network announced Wednesday. Minaj, one of the most successful female rappers, will join Grande in the pop star’s single “Side to Side” at the gala Sunday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The pair, along with English singer Jessie J, collaborated together at the 2014 VMAs in one of the night’s first and best-received performances. Minaj again kicked off the awards in 2015 in a performance with pop superstar Taylor Swift — despite Minaj’s criticism of MTV that year for passing over her “Anaconda” in nominations for Video of the Year. Previously announced performers for Sunday’s awards include Rihanna, who will be presented with a career Video Vanguard Award, as well as the rapper Future and Britney Spears, who is releasing a new album. MTV on Wednesday announced that award presenters for Sunday will include reality TV star Kim Kardashian, whose husband Kanye West is up for the top prize with “Famous.” Other presenters will include New York-born hiphop mogul Puff Daddy, R&B singing great Alicia Keys, second-generation rapper and actor Jaden Smith and British singer Rita Ora. A year after Miley Cyrus enjoyed much of the focus by presenting the awards, MTV will forego a traditional host. The gala will instead have a series of presenters including rap producer DJ Khaled, who will appear from a luxury box in the arena. —
Britney Spears biopic coming to TV
NEW YORK — The turbulent life of Britney Spears — who went from teenage pop idol to tabloid fodder — is becoming a television biopic. Lifetime, a US network geared toward women, said Wednesday it had given the green light to a two-hour film on the singer’s life, tentatively called to air next year. Starring as Spears, one of the most recognizable musicians of her generation, will be Natasha Bassett, a rising actress from Australia, a Lifetime representative said. Bassett, who started her own career as a child, appeared as a 1950s starlet in the latest film by the Coen Brothers, Lifetime said will trace the 34-year-old Spears from her childhood in Louisiana, where her talent was recognized early on. Spears became one of the most successful stars of the 1990s, topping the charts with songs that combined a squeaky-clean pop sound and undertones of teenage sexuality. But her career quickly descended amid a messy personal life that included a highly public breakup with fellow star Justin Timberlake, two marriages in 2005 alone, and being caught on camera nearly dropping one of her two children from her lap while driving. Spears has found more stability since starting a residency show in Las Vegas in late 2013. She is releasing her ninth album, on Friday and two days later is set to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards. —
Actress’ Web site hacked, nude photos posted
HOLLYWOOD — actress and comedian Leslie Jones’ Web site was hacked on Wednesday and nude photos and personal information including her passport and driver’s license were posted, according to media reports. The Web site, was subsequently taken offline. Several accounts of the hacking, which was first reported by
said it appeared the Web site was accessed through Jones’ personal cellphone or iCloud account, which lets users store photos and other content online and access it from any Apple device. Representatives from Apple, Inc. (AAPL.O) and Jones’ agent did not respond to requests for comment. Among the images posted to her Web site was a video of Harambe, the gorilla killed by the Cincinnati Zoo after a three-year-old boy fell into his pen in May, according to the reports. Jones, 48, became a top trending topic on social media on Wednesday after the news. Many Twitter users expressed support for the actress, who was a target of racist bullying on Twitter in July. “These acts against Leslie Jones... Are sickening. It’s racist & sexist. It’s disgusting. This is hate crimes. This ain’t ‘kids joshing round,’” tweeted musician Questlove Gomez (@questlove). director Paul Feig (@paulfeig) wrote on Twitter, “What’s happening to @Lesdoggg is an absolute outrage... haters, trolls, ‘comedians,’ whoever... you all are, you’re just sad.” In 2014, Apple confirmed that nude photos of celebrities including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence had been accessed through the hacking of iCloud accounts, then posted online. Apple said the leaks resulted from targeted attacks on accounts in which personal data was stored, and not a direct breach of Apple systems. After starring in the film this summer, Jones briefly quit Twitter because she was bombarded by racist and abusive comments. In response, Twitter permanently suspended numerous accounts and said it was taking steps to confront abusive behavior on its network. —
The Weeknd hints at new music with Daft Punk
NEW YORK — R&B sensation The Weeknd released a snippet of music on Wednesday after hinting at a collaboration with reclusive French electronic duo Daft Punk. The Canadian singer, who a year ago burst into the mainstream with his Grammy-nominated album uploaded what appeared to be new music onto Instagram without further visuals or commentary. The track is driven by The Weeknd’s distinctively wide-ranging R&B-tinged voice but with a light electronic accompaniment. The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has provided few details about his upcoming projects but has repeatedly posted pictures of himself in the studio. Last week, he put an image of a stereo speaker on Facebook. Sitting on top of the device were figurines of Daft Punk, instantly recognizable for their robot masks. Daft Punk, French producers Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, has been mostly silent since the duo’s Grammy-winning 2013 album
Pioneers of the French house scene, the members of Daft Punk rarely grant interviews or appear outside their costumes. —
Celebrities join Native American pipeline protest
WASHINGTON — Actors Susan Sarandon, Riley Keough, and Shailene Woodley joined members of North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe outside a courthouse in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to protest against construction of a pipeline they say would pollute water and desecrate sacred land. About 100 members of the Native American group demonstrated outside the US District Court for the District of Columbia while others filled a courtroom inside where a legal battle unfolded over the $3.7-billion project. The 1,770.28 km pipeline, being built by a group of firms led by Energy Transfer Partners, would be the first to bring Bakken shale from North Dakota directly to refineries in the US Gulf Coast. The group behind the pipeline, called Dakota Access, had planned to start operations in the fourth quarter of this year, but construction has been dogged since April by protests in North Dakota, and some work has been halted. Dakota Access filed a restraining order against David Archambault II, chairman of the tribe, and other members of the tribe in federal court in North Dakota earlier this month. In turn, the tribe has sought a preliminary injunction in Washington to halt pipeline construction, accusing the US Army Corps of Engineers of violating historic preservation and environmental laws by approving the pipeline, which would cross just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. The Army Corps of Engineers declined comment on Wednesday. The tribe says the pipeline would leave it vulnerable to contamination from oil spills and would damage historic and culturally significant sites. Outside the court, Sarandon and other celebrities showed support for the tribe. “I’m here as a mother and a grandmother to thank the people of the Standing Rock community for bringing our attention to this horrible thing that is happening to their land, which in turn will endanger all of us... because all of our waters are connected,” said Sarandon, the Oscar-winning actress known for social and political activism. —