Politics

For Diane Guerrero, taking on the role of Crazy Jane in HBO Max’s “Doom Patrol” isn’t as easy as just playing a kooky character from a comic book series. Jane actually has 64 personalities, the result of childhood sexual trauma. “It’s like, ‘Of course I’m doing this role. It’s because I am’ — and this

In an interview on a new episode of Luminary’s Black List Podcast, hosted by Black List co-founder Franklin Leonard and Black List community director Kate Hagen, Spike Lee voices his agreement with growing calls to remove statues and iconography commemorating the Confederate States of America. “F— that flag,” Lee said. “That flag, to me, [makes

Reacting to a surge in COVID-19 cases, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered all movie theaters closed for 30 days, along with bars, nightclubs, gyms and water parks. Ducey made the announcement during a news conference with the executive order going into effect at 8 p.m. Monday. “This will help relieve stress on our health

UPDATED: California Governor Gavin Newsom warned on Monday that he may halt reopenings in Los Angeles County and six other counties due to high transmission rates of COVID-19. Later on Monday, Los Angeles County officials ordered beaches and bike paths closed for the Fourth of July weekend. Later on Monday, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti

Twitch has temporarily kicked Donald Trump off the streaming service, citing violations of its policy against “hateful conduct.” In a statement, Amazon-owned Twitch said, “Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered all bars in several counties, including Los Angeles, to shut down again due to the rising number of coronavirus cases. Other counties’ bars forced to close include Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, San Joaquin and Tulare. Newsom added that bars in Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued a strong endorsement of Disney’s decision to delay its planned July 17 reopening its Disneyland theme park and resort in Anaheim. “I want to compliment Disney and their team for making that determination,” Newsom said Thursday at an hour-long midday news conference. “They noted that the state had ceased offering guidelines

Former TV host-turned-filmmaker Jon Stewart used a Wednesday night visit to Stephen Colbert’s “A Late Show” to first dig at, and then warm to, presidential candidate Joe Biden. “Biden was not my guy. Wasn’t even in the top four,” Stewart said. “I was more of a Sanders moron.” “But having watched him on (Colbert’s “A

The Democratic nominating convention will be dramatically scaled down this year, without the customary parties and with state delegations advised to stay home, the organizing committee announced on Wednesday. The committee unveiled plans for a “convention across America,” which will be anchored in Milwaukee but feature content from satellite locations around the country. “(C)onvention organizers

Donald Trump is in Twitter’s penalty box — again. On Tuesday morning, Trump posted a tweet that said, “There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone’ in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!” Twitter later in the day applied a warning on Trump’s tweet,

Don Lemon painted a simple reminder as he congratulated the 2020 graduating class of Point Scholars. During the virtual ceremony on Tuesday, Lemon said, “You are stepping up and stepping forward to create a more just and fair tomorrow.” The CNN anchor said, “Your future is full of promise.” Lemon was just one of the

The Georgia film tax credit, long one of the world’s most generous subsidies for the entertainment industry, could be on the chopping block as the state pares spending to respond to an unprecedented budget crisis. Last Friday, the state Senate passed $2.6 billion in cuts, including more than $1 billion in cuts to K-12 education.

UPDATED: Facebook and Twitter on Friday both removed a video posted by President Donald Trump — which was faked to appear as if it had aired on CNN — after receiving a copyright-infringement claim. “We received a copyright complaint from the rights holder of this video under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and have removed

Donald Trump tweeted a video doctored with fake CNN chyrons — which never aired on the news network — and then bizarrely claimed that the bogus clip was evidence of “fake news.” In Trump’s tweet posted June 18, the video shows two small boys, one Black and one white. It’s edited to make it falsely

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday against the Trump administration’s attempt to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which allowed non-citizens brought to this country illegally as children to apply for protection from deportation. In a 5-4 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court said the government’s justification for ending the

Amid criticism over Facebook’s policy to not fact-check political ads, the social giant is giving users a new option: They can choose to disable political advertising. Facebook announced the new feature as it touted the launch of a new U.S. voter-registration drive — under which it hopes to sign up 4 million voters this year

Veteran South African filmmaker Anant Singh has penned an open letter comparing the problems of racism within his own country with the killings of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks at the hands of police in the U.S. The letter, which he calls “All Lives Matter, Especially Black Lives,” is published on the 44th anniversary of

North Korea has blown up the liaison office between the two Koreas, following days of tension between the neighbors. South Korea’s Unification Ministry sent out a one-line message on Tuesday afternoon: “North Korea blows up Kaesong Liaison Office at 14:49.” North Korea was angered by the floating of anti-regime leaflets from the South by former

After the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in 2015, activists in Louisiana had to remind people that the fight for equality was not over. “We always echoed that ‘You can get married on Saturday and fired on Monday,’” says SarahJane Guidry, executive director of Forum for Equality, headquartered in New Orleans. On Monday, the court

Howard Stern has addressed his use of blackface and the N-word in a New Year’s Eve special in 1993. The video was brought back to light by Donald Trump Jr., who retweeted the clip of the performance, originally posted by filmmaker Tariq Nasheed. The president’s son and Stern had been in a public spat since

Katy Perry and Black Eyed Peas will co-headline Democracy Summer 2020 on Thursday, June 18 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The virtual event is co-hosted by Rosario Dawson and Logan Browning and presented by a coalition led by Rock the Vote, Voto Latino Foundation, When We All Vote and March For Our

In a major victory for the LGBTQ community, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that people cannot be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The decision comes despite the high court’s rightward lurch and demonstrates the major cultural shifts that have taken place in terms of gay rights in recent

Beverly Hills issued an emergency order on Saturday that bans gatherings of more than 10 people at night in residential areas. Enacted on Saturday night, the new rules lasts between 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. each night until further notice. The city of Beverly Hills’ Twitter account shared the message as well, and the full

Rather than celebrate President Trump’s birthday on Sunday, many Twitter users used the day to honor President Obama with the hashtag “All Birthdays Matter.” Several phrases began trending on Twitter early on Sunday, including “Obama Day June 14th,” “Obama Appreciation Day,” “Obama Day USA” and “Happy Birthday Obama,” in addition to “All Birthdays Matter.” Some

President Trump announced on Twitter Friday night that he has decided to reschedule his June 19 rally in Tulsa, Okla., in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. Juneteenth, short for “June Nineteenth,” is a holiday widely celebrated by the Black community as it marks the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865.

Taylor Swift, who recently took the president to task for his response to the George Floyd killing and resulting social upheaval, is not wanting to go lightly on legislators in her home state, either, as she has joined a chorus of activists in urging the removal of monuments to racist leaders in Tennessee and elsewhere.

The Georgia governor’s office on Friday said that 75 film and TV productions are set to shoot there over the next 18 months, as the state looks to emphasize that it is open for business. Tyler Perry is expected to be the first out of the gate, having previously said that he will resume work

Los Angeles County on Thursday issued extensive regulations for a staged resumption of film and TV production. The rules allow for productions to resume as soon as Friday, although in reality most are not expected to get underway until July or August. The county’s rules set out stringent directives for social distancing on sets. It

People who attend President Trump’s rally next week have to sign a waiver promising that they will not sue if they contract COVID-19 while at the event. “You are acknowledging that an inherent risk to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By attending the rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume

Twitter said Thursday that it removed more than 170,000 accounts tied to a Chinese influence operation that spread misinformation favorable to the Beijing regime about Hong Kong and coronavirus. The company suspended 23,750 accounts that were part of a “highly engaged core network,” as well as a larger group of around 150,000 “amplifier” accounts designed