The star-studded Essence Festival has expanded with a few more additions to the lineup. Set to perform at AT&T’s Dream in Black connected stage are Mya, Jadakiss and Jeremih.
“I’m looking forward to headlining the AT&T Dream in Black connected stage as we gear up to celebrate thirty years of ESSENCE Festival,” Mya tells Billboard. “I know I’ll cherish this performance because it gives me the opportunity to connect with my fans and take them through my journey as an artist as we reflect on the last three decades of art and culture within the Black community.”
The Essence Festival takes place July 4-7 in New Orleans, a city Jadakiss describes as having “the vibe, the soul, and the stories of Black culture all around us.”
Also excited about securing a place on the lineup, he says, “It’s about celebrating where we’ve come from and where we’re headed. This performance is a shout-out to our roots, a celebration of our strength, and a step toward community and connection.”
In his own statement, Jeremih adds, “I always look to honor and celebrate Black culture through my music, which is why I’m excited to headline the AT&T Dream in Black connected stage at ESSENCE Festival. Connecting with my fans while they experience the culture and community that is ESSENCE marks a significant moment for me.”
Mya, Jadakiss and Jeremih join a jam-packed lineup that includes T-Pain, Janet Jackson, Birdman and Usher, who’ll be taking the stage with a one-night-only performance celebrating the 20th anniversary of his album Confessions.
(NEW YORK) — A pro-Palestinian protester who was captured on video this month leading what city officials deemed an “antisemitic” call-and-response chant on a New York City subway surrendered to police, authorities said.
The protester, whose name was not immediately released, turned himself in Wednesday at the Transit District 2 precinct in lower Manhattan and was expected to be released after being issued a desk appearance ticket, according to the New York Police Department.
Police had been searching for the man since the June 10 incident on a crowded Manhattan subway car that prompted a police complaint from at least one rider, according to authorities.
A video of the incident on the Brooklyn-bound subway train later surfaced online.
“Repeat after me: Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist,” the suspect, wearing sunglasses and a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of pro-Palestinian resistance, is heard repeatedly saying in the video, adding, “This is your chance to get out!”
“Ok, no Zionists, we’re good,” the man is then heard saying.
NYPD officials asked others who were aboard the subway car and felt threatened to come forward.
The man is expected to be charged with attempted coercion, police sources told ABC News.
The subway encounter was among a string of incidents between June 10-13 in New York City, including vandalism linked to pro-Palestinian protests that were discovered in four other areas of the city, including at the homes of the Jewish director of the Brooklyn Museum and several of the museum’s board members, officials said.
A protest tied to the war in Gaza also prompted a large police response on June 12 and the closure of a block on the city’s Upper East Side, where the Palestinian Mission to the United Nations was vandalized and demonstrators littered the street with leaflets smeared with red paint and encouraging the intifada, according to police.
The vandalism came a day after a large protest against the war in Gaza was held outside a new exhibit in lower Manhattan honoring the 364 concertgoers killed at the Nova Festival in Israel during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists. Hundreds of protesters waved Palestinian and Hamas military flags and the flag of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that has vowed to destroy Israel.
Some protesters even tried to storm the doors of the exhibit as relatives of those killed at the Nova Festival were touring the displays, which featured photos of loved ones murdered by Hamas.
New York City officials, including Mayor Eric Adams, reacted to the vandalism and other acts by protesters that week as “antisemitic” and “repugnant.”
“These actions will never be tolerated in New York City for any reason,” Adams said at the time. “This is not peaceful protest or free speech. This is a crime, and it’s overt, unacceptable antisemitism.”
(NEW YORK) — Hawaii Island police said they’re investigating a possible shark attack that injured a 20-year-old man visiting the island from Romania.
The man was swimming about 15 to 20 feet offshore at Anaeho’omalu Bay in Waikoloa at the time, the Hawaii Police Department said.
Around 5:30 p.m. Monday, he felt pain on his right foot and saw lacerations “bleeding profusely” on the top and bottom of his foot, police said.
The man was hospitalized in non-life-threatening condition with injuries medical personnel described as consistent with a shark bite, police said.
The victim and two people near him in the water didn’t spot a shark, police added.
The potential attack comes days after a well-known surfer and lifeguard was killed by a shark near the North Shore of Oahu, emergency officials said.
Tamayo Perry, 49, had been a lifeguard with Honolulu Ocean Safety since 2016. He was a local surf coach and competed for years in the Pipeline Master Trials, according to his official bio on his coaching site. Perry appeared in the 2002 movie Blue Crush, along with episodes of Hawaii Five-O and The Bridge, according to IMDb.
“The world knew Tamayo as a surfer and an actor, but to those who knew him best, he was a man of deep faith … now taken too soon,” his wife, Emilia Perry, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. “I feel so upset and devastated. But I also have a weird calmness in my heart knowing that he’s in a better place.”
Friday sees the release of “Here We Go!,” the song Lil Nas X recorded for the upcoming Netflix film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.And according to Nas, it’s pretty great. In fact, he thinks no other song has ever been better.
“so excited to release the best song of all time this friday!” he wrote on Instagram. “also sorry I’ve been so scared with my art lately. I’m coming around to myself again. I will make you guys very proud.”
He posted the artwork for the song, which takes the form of a Detroit police detective ID. Instead of Eddie Murphy‘s Axel Foley character, it shows a picture of Nas, using his birth name, Montero.
Nas’ “He Knows” duet partner Camila Cabello responded in the comments, “nature has seasons and so do we there is no spring without winter. it’s your time to bloom baby!!!”
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F starts streaming on Netflix July 3.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a First Amendment challenge to the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies in an effort to remove misinformation on the platforms about COVID-19 and the 2020 election.
The 6-3 opinion was authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
Barrett, writing for the majority, said two Republican-led states and five individual users lacked standing to sue the government because they could not show that the government outreach directly resulted in censorship of their views.
“The plaintiffs, without any concrete link between their injuries and the defendants’ conduct, ask us to conduct a review of the years-long communications between dozens of federal officials, across different agencies, with different social-media platforms, about different topics,” she wrote. “This Court’s standing doctrine prevents us from ‘exercis[ing such] general legal oversight’ of the other branches of Government.”
Barrett explained that the private companies, including Facebook and Twitter, have their own First Amendment rights and were lawfully moderating content on the platforms — removing and reducing posts — well before contact from the Biden administration.
The plaintiffs “must demonstrate a substantial risk that, in the near future, they will suffer an injury that is traceable to a government defendant,” Barrett wrote. The court concluded they did not meet that bar.
It is “entirely speculative” that the companies’ future moderation decisions “will be attributable, even in part, to the defendants,” Barrett said.
The ruling means executive branch agencies involved in the case — the White House, Surgeon General, CDC, FBI and CISA, among others — can continue to interact with social media companies over moderation of content on their platforms.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is the right one, and it helps ensure the Biden Administration can continue our important work with technology companies to protect the safety and security of the American people, after years of extreme and unfounded Republican attacks on public officials who engaged in critical work to keep Americans safe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Public health and election integrity groups praised the decision as a win for efforts to ensure accurate information is available to users. National security analysts have said it will also ensure the government can continue to freely coordinate with the online companies over threats.
In dissent, Justice Alito wrote that the court was condoning a “serious threat to the First Amendment.”
“For months, high-ranking government officials placed unrelenting pressure on Facebook to suppress Americans’ free speech,” he wrote.
The case pit the government’s ability to persuade private companies to undertake certain action, which is generally lawful, against claims that it had ventured into coercion, at times badgering and threatening consequences, which potentially may not be lawful.
The Supreme Court did not offer any new guidelines for determining when government contact might cross the line, leaving those questions for another day.
Exterior view of Elvis Presley’s house Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. (Gab Archive/Redferns via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Tennessee Attorney General turned the investigation into the failed foreclosure of Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate to federal investigators, according to a spokesperson for the office.
“The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office looked into the Graceland matter, and it quickly became apparent that this was a matter best suited for federal law enforcement. We have faith in our federal partners and know they will handle this appropriately,” director of communications for the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office Amy Lannom Wilhite said in a statement to ABC News.
In May, Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti announced that his department would look into the attempt by an investment group to foreclose on Graceland.
Actress Riley Keough, Presley’s granddaughter, and daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, sued to stop a company calling itself “Naussany Investments and Private Lending LLC” from auctioning off the Memphis estate visited by millions from around the world.
Contact information for the company wasn’t immediately available.
The sale had been scheduled for late May but was blocked by a judge, and the effort was ultimately dropped.
Skrmetti said in May lawyers from the AG’s office would look into the matter “and identify” what they could do to “protect both Elvis Presley’s heirs and anyone else who may be similarly threatened.”
“My office has fought fraud against homeowners for decades, and there is no home in Tennessee more beloved than Graceland,” Skrmetti said.
