Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
▮ While in isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic, pop star Taylor Swift created a new album that she is releasing today. The 30-year-old Swift made the surprise announcement Thursday on Instagram. “Folklore,” her eighth record, comes less than a year after she dropped “Lover.” “Most of the things
I had planned this summer didn’t end up happening, but there is something I hadn’t planned on that did happen. And that thing is my 8th studio album, ‘Folklore.’ Surprise,” she wrote. “Tonight at midnight I’ll be releasing my entire brand new album of songs I’ve poured all of my whims, dreams, fears, and musings into. I wrote and recorded this music in isolation.” Swift says the standard edition will include 16 tracks and the album will feature Bon Iver, Aaron Dessner of The National and frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. “Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed. My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world. That’s the side of uncertainty I can get on board with,” Swift wrote.
▮ Clint Eastwood sued several companies that sell CBD supplements on Wednesday, alleging that they are falsely using his name and image to push products he would never agree to endorse. Two lawsuits filed in federal court in Los Angeles include allegations that companies have spread phony articles reporting that the 90-year-old actor-director is quitting the movie business to focus on a CBD business. The lawsuits said that Eastwood has no part in the manufacture, sale or promotion of CBD, a chemical derived from marijuana often sold as a dietary supplement or included in creams and ointments. In the suits that seek damages, Eastwood names as defendants nearly 20 small companies, based in states including Arizona, California, Delaware and Florida, that sell CBD, along with up to 60 anonymous entities that could be named later. One of the companies, Sera Labs, said in a statement that it “worked for a limited time with a publisher and gave them specific advertisements they could use which follow our very strict guidelines and shut down the ads immediately after learning that they used Eastwood’s name and likeness.” The company said its guidelines prohibit using such false claims in its ads and has severed all relationships with the advertiser, and it urged others in the industry to do the same. Other companies named in the suit, including Patriot Supreme and Norok Innovation Inc., did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.