Biden taps Gaga, Clooney, Garner, others for arts committee
The White House has announced a star-studded slate of members for the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, a panel of artists, museum professionals, academics and philanthropists that serves as an advisory board to President Joe Biden on culture issues.
New this week: 'Turning Red,' Ryan Reynolds and Mooski album
This week’s new entertainment releases include albums from Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and a Stephen Sondheim tribute from Betty Buckley, Ryan Reynolds starring as a time-traveling pilot in Netflix’s “The Adam Project” and a small-town murder case gets some big-star wattage in NBC’s “The Thing About Pam” with Renée Zellweger.
Barrier falls: Woman officiates men's qualifier in Americas
AdNesbitt worked 18 MLS games last season, including the MLS is Back tournament final, and was voted the league’s assistant referee of the year. Nesbitt earned a FIFA badge in 2016 and officiated at that year’s Women’s Under-17 World Cup, the 2018 Women’s Under-20 World Cup, and two matches at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. AdNesbitt trained with her for the 2019 Women's World Cup. AdWebb, who refereed both the 2010 Champions League and World Cup finals, hopes the pool of female officials will expand. Webb envisions a woman taking the whistle for a men's World Cup match, with hundreds of millions of people around the globe tuned in.
Portman group will bring NWSL to Los Angeles in 2022
Actress Natalie Portman and venture capitalist Kara Nortman lead a group that will bring an expansion National Women's Soccer League team to the Los Angeles area in 2022. Then she and Nortman met Becca Roux, the executive director of the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association. The women also reached out to a local supporters group that has been campaigning to bring a team to Los Angeles. The group is partnering with the LA84 Foundation, a nonprofit formed after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that promotes youth sports. The official name of the Los Angeles club, and where it will play, are expected to be announced later this year.
Michelle Obama launches online reading series for kids
NEW YORK – Michelle Obama launched a series of online video readings for kids with the classic picture book “The Gruffalo,” which the former first lady called the story of a mouse who uses his “wit and imagination” to get the best of a fox and other would-be predators. “Mondays with Michelle Obama” is part of the PBS KIDS Read-Along series, and will continue through May 11. It can be seen at noon EDT on the Facebook and YouTube pages of PBS KIDS and the Facebook page of Obama's publisher, Penguin Random House. The livestream of Obama reading “The Gruffalo” quickly received tens of thousands of likes on Facebook. Other celebrities who have given readings during the coronavirus pandemic include Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Garner and Demi Lovato, who also read “The Gruffalo.”
Jennifer Garner faces down highway toll booth
(CNN) - World-famous actress Jennifer Garner is just like all of us when she's faced with an everyday challenge like an unmanned toll booth on a highway, MSN.com reported. The actress shared a video on Instagram of her at the Oklahoma-Arkansas border trying to figure out the machine. "Apologies to cars stacked behind me at the OK/AR toll booth last night. Real world problems are hard," she wrote on Instagram over the weekend. "Lord have mercy," Garner says as she feeds dollars into it.