Spears alleges ‘abuse’
Britney relentlessly. Spears levels disturbing allegations about her controversial
13-year conservatorship, claiming her father and others exploited the pop musician
For his sophomore album, Anthony Ramos wanted to go “sexy and dark” while adding an R&B vibe in honor of the artists who inspired him growing up.
“Love and Lies,” released on Friday, follows 2019’s “The Good & The Bad,” a “more autobiographical” effort, according to the “In the Heights” star. It features 12 songs, including “Echale” and “Right Now.”
Ramos, who got his break in Lin-manuel Miranda’s smash musical “Hamilton,” is having a breakthrough year as an actor, also appearing opposite Uzo Aduba in the HBO reboot of “In Treatment.” His next projects include a sci-fi epic, “Distant,” as well as the next “Transformers” installment.
But “music was my first love,” he told The Associated Press in an interview this week from Montreal. And being a recording artist is a “suenito” (little dream) that only grew bigger with time.
Ramos also spoke about the colorism debate around “In the Heights” — “The people have spoken. There’s nothing to debate,” he said — and the film’s lackluster theatrical box office after being praised by critics and hailed as the movie of the summer. The film was released simultaneously in theaters and for streaming on HBO Max. — Associated Press
Miller set to portray Prime Minister Major
For season five of “The Crown,” a British heavyweight will play a British heavyweight.
Olivier Award winner Jonny Lee Miller has been tapped to portray U.K. Prime Minister John Major in the next season of the popular Netflix series about the British monarchy.
Major served as prime minister from 1990 to 1997 and was Leader of the Conservative Party after
working as part of Margaret Thatcher’s administration when she was prime minister from 1987 to 1990.
The upcoming season of “The Crown” will focus on Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ 1996 divorce and her tragic death a year later. Following her passing, Major was appointed as one of the guardians of her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.
An awardwinning thespian of the British theater and television, Miller’s breakthrough film role was in 1996’s “Trainspotting.”
The 48-year-old actor, who was Angelina Jolie’s first husband, gained notoriety among U.S. television audiences for his roles as a modern-day version of Sherlock Holmes in “Elementary.” He also has a supporting role in the Showtime series “Dexter.”
Season five of “The Crown” is set to premiere in 2022.
—Tribune News Service
Spears describes ‘abusive’ situation
Pop musician Britney Spears leveled several disturbing allegations this week while speaking to a
Los Angeles court about her controversial 13-year conservatorship.
Appealing to a judge Wednesday, the “Toxic” singer claimed that her father and other key players involved in what she called an “abusive” conservatorship have forced her to work nonstop, take medication that left her incapacitated, give copious amounts of blood and submit to excessive psychological evaluation. She said they’ve rendered her “angry,” “depressed” and “traumatized.”
At the end of her passionate, 24-minute speech, Spears dropped a final bombshell of an accusation: Her “so-called team” refused to let her remove the intrauterine contraceptive device implanted inside her, preventing her from having more children.
“I was told … I’m not able to get married or have a baby,” said Spears, who shares two teenage boys with exhusband Kevin Federline and is currently dating personal trainer Sam Asghari. “I wanted to take the IUD out, so I could start trying to have another baby, but … they don’t want me to have … any more children. So basically, this conservatorship is doing
me way more harm than good. I deserve to have a life.”
In particular, Spears’ closing allegation has stirred fervent conversations about reproductive justice and left many people wondering: Is that even legal?
In response to Spears’ rousing remarks, Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, called the pop icon’s account of forced contraception “extremely troubling.”
“Planned Parenthood supports her right and the right of all individuals to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health, including whether and when to have children, free from coercion and exploitation,” Hicks said.
“Given what we’ve seen in this case, the state must do better to ensure that stronger protections are in place with regard to reproductive decision-making for individuals subject to conservatorship.”
Additionally, the LA Times spoke Friday with Khiara M. Bridges, a law professor and faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at UC Berkeley, about the legal implications of Spears’ testimony and how it connects to a larger history of reproductiverights violations.