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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘She took me back': Barack and Michelle Obama jokingly address divorce rumours
Former President Barack Obama and wife Michelle have finally sought to shut down the long-running rumours they're headed for divorce – even though they've barely been seen together in months. The former first couple jointly addressed the speculation swirling around their three-decade marriage for the first time on Wednesday, The New York Post reports, joking on the latest episode of the ex-first lady's podcast that it was 'touch and go for a while'. 'He made time in his busy schedule. We are honoured,' Ms Obama, 61, told listeners before her co-host and brother, Craig Robinson, shot back, 'Wait, you guys like each other?' 'She took me back,' Mr Obama, 63, quickly chimed in. 'It was touch and go for a while.' Mr Robinson went on to note it was nice to have the couple in the same room together, prompting Ms Obama to say, 'I know. Because when we aren't, folks think we're divorced.' The Obamas had previously tried to quell speculation by posting cute photos on social media – even as they seemed to live mostly separate lives in public. The whispers hit fever- pitch when the former first lady noticeably skipped two high-profile events earlier this year: former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Donald Trump's inauguration. 'There hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting on my man,' Ms Obama said during the episode. 'And we've had some really hard times, and we've had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures, and I have become a better person because of the man I'm married to.' To which her husband responded: 'OK, don't make me cry now, right at the start of the show.' The show of unity came despite the pair rarely being seen side-by-side in public for months. They were last pictured stepping out for a date night at The Lowell Hotel restaurant in New York City on May 27, and cosying up for dinner at the bustling Osteria Mozza in Washington, DC in April. Before then, the Obamas hadn't been seen together since December 14 when they were snapped leaving the Mother Wolf restaurant in Los Angeles. They did, however, share the rare photo or two on social media to mark birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. During the podcast, Mr Robinson acknowledged that he, too, had been dragged into the apparent marriage-woe saga, recalling one moment when a woman in Wichita, Kansas, asked him point-blank if the couple were still together. 'This woman came up to me. She was so nice. (She asked), 'Can I have a picture?',' he recalled. 'You know how you get the side hug? She was like, 'What did (Barack) do? … He did something, didn't he?' When Mr Robinson assured the woman that the couple was still going strong, 'she was so happy, you would have thought I gave her a Christmas gift', he added. Mr Obama, for his part, said he was largely unaware of the speculation. 'These are the kinds of things I just miss. I don't even know this stuff is going on and then somebody will mention it to me, and I'm like, 'What are you talking about?',' he said. Ms Obama has repeatedly addressed the rampant speculation surrounding her marriage in a spate of podcast interviews, blaming the whispers on the couple's age and her new-found independence. 'The fact that people don't see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumours of the end of our marriage,' she told NPR's Wild Card podcast host Rachel Martin in one interview. 'It's like, 'OK, so we don't Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We're 60, y'all'.'
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Pete Davidson expecting his first child with girlfriend Elsie Hewitt
Pete Davidson is expecting his first child with his girlfriend Elsie Hewitt, who announced her pregnancy on Instagram. 'Welp now everyone knows we had sex,' the 29-year-old captioned her Instagram post, which featured footage of the new couple, including at an ultrasound appointment. Hewitt's post also featured a photo of shirtless Davidson, 31, holding Hewitt's stomach. The couple hugged each other in two other photos and took a selfie with face masks on in another image. Davidson's relationship with the model was revealed in March this year when they were spotted together in Palm Beach, Florida. A source told Page Six at the time that Hewitt 'respects Pete and his desire for privacy,' and that Davidson's mum and sister 'approve of this relationship and love seeing Pete so happy.' Hewitt soft launched their relationship later that month when she posted a video of the Saturday Night Live star in a white bathrobe to her Instagram Stories. Come May, the couple had quietly moved in together. 'Pete and Elsie have been living together in New York for the past few months,' a source told People. 'They're splitting their time between Pete's house in upstate New York and a brownstone they recently started renting in Brooklyn.' The Post reached out to Davidson's rep for comment. 'They're so happy together and doing great,' the source added. That same month, Davidson and Hewitt made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 13th Annual Blossom Ball in New York City. They also attended the New York Knicks game on May 16. About eight months before he began dating Hewitt, Davidson split from 'Outer Banks' star Madelyn Cline. The exes were together for less than a year. Davidson's other famous exes include Ariana Grande, Kate Beckinsale, Kaia Gerber, Phoebe Dynevor, Kim Kardashian, Emily Ratajkowski and Chase Sui Wonders. On Kevin Hart's talk show in 2022, the comedian spoke about wanting to start a family. 'My favourite thing ever, which I'm yet to achieve, is I wanna have a kid,' Davidson stated. 'It's super corny, but it would be so fun to dress up a little dude,' he continued. 'I'm so excited for that chapter so that's kind of what I'm just preparing for now, is trying to be like good as a dude and develop and get better so when that happens it's just easier.' Hewitt, for her part, dated Jason Sudeikis in early 2024 before she ended up with Davidson. She was also famously in a relationship with Reese Witherspoon's ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe, before suing him for alleged assault in 2017. The Cruel Intentions star denied Hewitt's allegations, and they settled the case in 2019.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Mark Ronson on Raye collab 'Suzanne' and Amy Winehouse comparisons
Mark Ronson is a certified hit machine. And he has multiple awards, millions of streams and, crucially, the respect of his peers to prove it. He's the brains behind Bruno Mars-fronted mega-hit 'Uptown Funk', co-wrote the Golden Globe and Oscar-winning 'Shallow' with Lady Gaga, and collaborated with everyone from rappers Ghostface Killah and Sean Paul to vocal icons Adele and Miley Cyrus. Before the accolades, and a catalogue that cemented him as a taste-making super-producer to the stars, Ronson was an amateur DJ. For his 19th birthday, he received a pair of turntables and began scratching his way around New York City, gigging his way up from East Side clubs to high-fashion events. Now 49, Ronson has spent the past few years reflecting on his youth, writing a memoir called Night People, coming out in September. "The book is about 90s hip hop nightclubs in New York and me coming up as a DJ as a teenager playing for Biggie [Smalls] and Jay-Z and all these people," he tells Double J's Dylan Lewis. That nascent era has also reignited Ronson's creativity as he continues work on the follow-up to the Barbie soundtrack and his 2019 divorce album of "sad bangers", Late Night Feelings. "I've just been obsessing over the sound of it. And then I just met Raye, and we made this song just like that." The song in question is 'Suzanne', a delightfully smooth slice of soul played with a flesh-and-blood band, burnished with Ronson's signature classy, vintage polish. The timeless production is a natural fit for Raye, the breakout London star whose vocal and visual styling have regularly invited comparisons to the late, great Amy Winehouse. Initially, the 27-year-old Raye was reluctant to work with Ronson, who worked closely on Winehouse's 2006 blockbuster Back To Black, concerned people would double down on the similarities. "I actually was quite nervous and scared," she revealed in a People interview. "I know I can never, ever, ever, ever, ever attempt to replace or imitate Amy. I'm in awe of her. We all are, and we miss her." For the uninitiated: Raye, real name Rachel Agatha Keen, was slumming it in a bad record deal for years with Polydor, who failed to cultivate her talents. Instead, they shelved her music and had her writing songs for others, including Beyoncé and John Legend. After leaving Polydor in 2021, she channelled her frustrations into new songs — a difficult-to-categorise bridging of old-school jazz and R&B with contemporary pop, hip hop and electronic music — including her chart-topping global hit, 'Escapism' (featuring 070 Shake). Her 2023 independent debut album, My 21st Century Blues, was a runaway hit that saw Raye make history at last year's Brit Awards, winning six of her seven nominations and breaking Blur, Adele and Harry Styles' record four wins at a single Brits ceremony. Needless to say, Ronson has been a Raye admirer for some time. "Even though I've lived in America since I was eight, and I speak with a ridiculous accent, I am English," he explains. "So, when I see another English artist really come up through the ranks and start to take over — like how she's made a splash in Australia and America; killing it at the Oscars and the Grammys — I've just been cheering her on as a fan." Ronson has mentored plenty of emerging talent in his time, such as young Brooklyn artist King Princess and big-voiced gospel-pop singer Yebba, and often works in services of his artists' influences and tastes. That approach was no different with Raye. "She's young, she's definitely a generation who grew up with music like Amy Winehouse," Ronson says. "She's a really soulful singer, she has jazz influences. I might have guessed she was a fan of Amy, but I didn't know she was a super fan of mine. And she played it very cool." There's another strange connection between the two, with a 19-year-old Raye working out of Ronson's former London studio when he relocated once more to the US in 2016. "I left the studio there and I think she then took it over [as part of] a crew of people. It was her, Fred Again… a few other people that took this studio over." 'Suzanne' sees Ronson embracing the retro-facing sound that skyrocketed his career in the mid-2000s after the breakout success of Back To Black. So how does he feel about the Winehouse comparisons? "I'm not gonna lie; I guess when I first came out, people were like, 'Oh, the retro guy. Of course!' "I think because Amy was the first thing that I ever really had success with, for a little while … everything I did sounded like that, for about three or four years. "Then, by the time I made [2010 album] Record Collection with 'Bang Bang Bang' [featuring A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip and electro-pop artist MNDR], I was sort of ready to move on. "But it's funny now, there's a new generation of kids — there's Jalen Ngonda and Thee Sacred Souls — going back to that. Kids who are hearing it for the first time. "So, I always have to be in the studio with a younger artist like a Raye who'll be like, 'No. Do that shit. We love that!' I'm like, 'Really? But I did that before.' And they're like, 'No, no. It's cool.' "So, I mean, it's fun to get back together with so many musicians that I did that [sound with] because Raye feels like an artist sort of worthy of that sound." 'Suzanne' saw Ronson reuniting with guitarist and producer Thomas Brenneck. A member of instrumental ensembles Menahan Street Band, Budos Band and El Michels Affair, Brenneck's expansive credits include albums for funk and soul greats Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. He also played on Back to Back, and perfectly represents the kind of prolific, old-fashioned, behind-the-stardom muso that Ronson loves filling out his key personnel with. "But you know I I'm always trying to make something that still sounds fresh, I guess." After co-writing the music with Brenneck, the rest "just came so easy," Ronson continues. "I just left the room for a second and Raye said, 'I think this song's supposed to be called Suzanne.' It sounded very random … But I was like, 'Cool!'" Between smooth bottom-end, gentle guitar strokes and warm brass, Raye uses vivid details to paint a lush lyrical portrait of a female crush. "Grey skies out the window, but she's a summer breeze," she sings. "You can't tell if she's into you, she's a winding road/That I've been running on down since I was seven years old." Ronson didn't tell Raye at the time, "because I wanted her to have her own Suzanne. But there was a woman growing up [who] helped raise me and my family," he explained to triple j. "She had just passed away, like two weeks before [recording]. She was from Southampton in England; it was all these coincidences." He tells Double J: "It was such a lovely, cathartic release. We didn't really make it for either one of our albums. We just liked it. We were like, 'Let's just put it out.'" Raye and Ronson have already knocked out a second collaboration, 'Grandma Calls The Boy Bad News', which Ronson describes as having a "Memphis Atlantic record, kind of 60s feeling", and released as part of the soundtrack to the Brad Pitt-starring F1 movie. Plus, there's hope that the partnership can continue. "We have such a great energy. You never know, but I do hope so," Ronson concludes. "Because I love Raye and her energy and I love how free ['Suzanne'] was and it just came out of us. That's why I'm very grateful for the gift of this song. I know that sounds a little over the top but I mean it."
