New York Times: Chris Rock says he has Covid.. “Chris Rock told his social media followers on Sunday that he is sick with Covid-19 after a breakthrough infection, and the comedian urged people to get vaccinated.”
Washington Post: Opinion: We’re not calling out Nicki Minaj. We’re calling her in.. “Minaj’s now-infamous post follows comments from other Black musicians, such as the rapper Busta Rhymes and R&B singers Tank and Summer Walker, who have taken to stages and social media to question the safety and utility of the vaccines. Given the unique trust many Black people afford Black musicians — and the understandable skepticism with which many regard the medical establishment — it is extra critical we make sure these celebrities have all the information they need to talk about the vaccines responsibly. And the best way to do so is without judgment.”
Yahoo Entertainment: Jeff Bridges says his cancer is in remission, but recent COVID battle ‘kicked my ass pretty good’. “Jeff Bridges says his cancer is in remission, but he contracted COVID-19 at a chemo treatment and was close to death. Nearly a year after going public with his lymphoma diagnosis, the 71-year-old Academy Award winner shared that he’s ‘in remission’ and his tumor, which he said was ‘9 x 12,’ has shrunken to the ‘size of a marble.’”
Daily Beast: Howard Stern Mocks Joe Rogan for Taking ‘Horse Dewormer’. “Howard Stern has had it with the millions of Americans who would rather take medicine designed for deworming horses than accept that we already have a ‘cure’ for COVID-19 in the form of a safe and effective vaccine. And that includes broadcasting disciple, podcast megastar Joe Rogan.”
CBS Local: Jacqueline Jackson, Wife Of Rev. Jesse Jackson, Is Now Able To Breathe On Her Own As She Battles COVID-19. “Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, has been able to breathe on her own for the past few days as she continues to battle COVID-19. The Jackson family reported Thursday that Ms. Jackson remains at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. After leaving the ICU earlier in the week and returning to her regular hospital room, she has been able to breathe on her own for a few days without any supplemental oxygen.” Rev. Jackson is also feeling better but remains in hospital.
BBC: Prince Harry uses GQ awards show spot to make vaccine plea. “The Duke of Sussex has urged governments to tackle the ‘huge disparity’ in access to Covid vaccines worldwide, as he made a surprise virtual appearance at an awards show. Prince Harry was speaking at the GQ Men of the Year awards, where he presented a prize to the team behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Library of Congress: Library of Congress National Book Festival Announces Schedule of Events. “The 2021 Library of Congress National Book Festival will feature more than 100 authors, poets and writers in a range of formats — all celebrating the festival theme, ‘Open a Book, Open the World.’ The 2021 virtual festival programs will roll out over 10 days in an extended schedule Sept. 17-26.”
CNET: Taylor Swift joins TikTok ahead of Red re-release. “Some of us have been living on Taylor Swift TikTok for a while now, but it’s just been missing one thing — Taylor herself. All that changed on Monday when the global megastar joined the video-first social network by posting her very first TikTok.”
Newsweek: Danny DeVito Gets Twitter Verification Back After Abrupt Loss of Status Sparks Outrage. “Danny DeVito’s Twitter account was briefly unverified before being reinstated, after he tweeted support for striking Nabisco workers. As walkouts spread across U.S. Nabisco bakeries, with union workers protesting proposed changes amid contract negotiations, screen star DeVito took to Twitter to express solidarity on Wednesday.”
TMZ: Jerry Messing On Ventilator With Covid-19. “Jerry Messing — the “Freaks and Geeks” actor who’s also the face of a famous meme — has COVID and is fighting for his life in Florida … TMZ has learned. His father, James, tells us … Jerry lives with his parents in an apartment in Tampa, and a few days ago he started feeling really sick all of a sudden and having shortness of breath, but assured his dad he was breathing fine.”
CNN: How a deepfake Tom Cruise on TikTok turned into a very real AI company. “Despite the movie star hair, the eye-squinting and that trademark teeth-baring cackle, it wasn’t really Cruise. The 10 videos, which were posted between February and June, featured an artificial intelligence-generated doppelganger meant to look and sound like him. The deepfakes — a combination of the terms ‘deep learning’ and ‘fake’ — were created by visual and AI effects artist Chris Umé with the help of a Cruise stand-in, actor Miles Fisher.”
Engadget: Lucille Ball’s radio show is now a ‘podcast’ on SiriusXM. “Lucille Ball sadly passed away long before podcasts became a reality, but that isn’t stopping her from joining the modern phenomenon. The LA Times reports that SiriusXM is turning Ball’s Let’s Talk to Lucy radio show into a ‘pop-up’ satellite radio station for three weeks. Once that stint is over, all 240 episodes of the 1960s-era show will be available as podcasts through both SiriusXM’s app, Stitcher and other common platforms.”
Mashable: Twitter verified a fake Cormac McCarthy account. “Cormac McCarthy was just verified on Twitter! No, not the real one, who wrote some of the worlds most famous novels including No Country For Old Men and Blood Meridian. But a person pretending to be Cormac McCarthy — with 48,500 followers and the bio ‘my publicist insists this is a worthwhile use of my remaining time’ — was verified for a brief time on Monday.”
FreshWater Cleveland: The big idea: City Club’s archives inspire one artist to create a video series on important moments . “Theater artist Chris Szajbert found herself without a gig in 2020. She turned to an unlikely source for inspiration—the City Club of Cleveland archives, which feature racial justice activist Rosa Parks reflecting on why she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger at the front of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955; Cesar Chavez explaining how he united Latinx farm workers in a strike and 300-mile march against poor working conditions in California in 1965; Then-Senator Joseph R. Biden discussing campaign finance reform; and transgender activist Paula Stone Williams advancing transgender rights in the 2019.”
