Fire destroys main stage at Tomorrowland music festival
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NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
Ellen DeGeneres says she moved to Britain because of Trump
LONDON — Ellen DeGeneres has made no secret of her new British life, posting social media clips of sheep charmingly trotting into her luxury rural home while she mows the lawn of the sprawling estate, her trademark hair now natural and undyed. But on Sunday she confirmed for the first time that she moved to the United Kingdom permanently for one reason: the election of President Donald Trump last November. 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like, 'He got in.' And we're like, 'We're staying here,' she told an audience at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, central England. After her long-running talk show ended amid allegations of workplace bullying, DeGeneres, 67, bought a home in England's picturesque Cotswolds region with her wife, 'Arrested Development' star Portia de Rossi, 52. With its honey-colored stone, lush greenery and chocolate-box villages, this 800 square-mile haven is home to a slew of celebrities including David and Victoria Beckham, music mogul Simon Cowell and supermodel Kate Moss. This was initially meant to be a transatlantic bolthole, she said. But asked Sunday if Trump's election cemented that move as permanent, she answered an unequivocal, 'Yes,' in comments the theater confirmed as accurate Monday. 'Everything here is just better,' DeGeneres said, while lamenting the current state of her homeland. 'I wish we were at a place where it was not scary for people to be who they are. I wish that we lived in a society where everybody could accept other people and their differences,' she said. 'So until we're there, I think there's a hard place to say we have huge progress.' NBC News has contacted the White House for a response to the criticisms. DeGeneres also referenced moves by the Southern Baptist Church to endorse banning same-sex marriage and overturn a Supreme Court ruling legalizing it nationwide. 'They're trying to literally stop it from happening in the future and possibly reverse it,' she said. 'Portia and I are already looking into it, and if they do that, we're going to get married here.' She also addressed the demise of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," after 19 seasons, almost two decades and more than 60 Emmys, after staff complained of a toxic workplace environment. 'I'm a direct person, and I'm very blunt, and I guess sometimes that means that," she said with a pause, "I'm mean?' The theater's CEO, Mark Goucher, told NBC News in an email that it "was a huge privilege to meet her and have her at The Everyman. Our door will always be open to our new neighbor.' DeGeneres is not the first person to toy with leaving America's increasingly polarized social and political landscape. Starting in June last year, around the time of then President Joe Biden's disastrous TV debate against Trump, Google data showed a spike in Americans searching 'how to move to X country,' according to an analysis by CNBC. In early February, days after Trump's inauguration, a poll of 2,000 people by Talker Research found that 17% wanted to leave in the next five years, with the top destination of choice being Canada. Some 69% of these respondents said they didn't like the direction in which the country was headed, and 65% said it had become too toxic. Trump has previously given short shrift to these potential wantaways. 'If you're not happy, you can leave,' he said in 2019. While DeGeneres appears to be enjoying an idyllic rural life, there is some evidence the grass may not be greener on the other side of the Pond. Though the U.K. is often vaunted for its universal free healthcare, public transportation network, and lack of mass shootings, it actually performs worse than the U.S. on a raft of quality-of-life indices measured by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which tracks such data. Out of 40 countries in the OECD, the U.S. ranks 10th in the 'Better Life Index,' which rates nations on everything from housing and income to life satisfaction, community and work-life balance. The U.K. is 14th. Alexander Smith
NBC News
21 hours ago
- NBC News
'We're gonna use our cameras': Coldplay gives 'kiss cam' warning to concertgoers in first show since viral moment
Coldplay's Chris Martin made sure to give concertgoers a cheeky heads-up about their "kiss cam" during the band's first performance on Saturday following the viral moment that took the internet by storm last week. The concert at Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium was the band's first since their Boston, Massachusetts concert on Wednesday, where an embrace between Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and a blonde-haired woman was captured. Byron and the woman quickly hid when the "kiss cam" panned to them, and the moment went viral, with users claiming that he is a married man. However, NBC News has not independently confirmed this or identified the woman. In video posted to social media from Saturday's concert, Martin appears to try and steer clear of controversy by introducing the "kiss cam." "We'd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd," Martin said to cheers from the crowd. "How we're gonna do that is we're gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen." Martin continued: "So please, if you haven't done your makeup, do your makeup now." He did not expressly mention Wednesday's incident. During Wednesday's performance at Gillette Stadium, a "kiss cam" was displaying couples in attendance on the screens. When it panned to one man and woman who were in an embrace, she turned around to hide her face, while the man quickly ducked out of the frame. "Oh, look at these two. You're all right," Martin said at the time, according to video footage from the concert that circulated widely online. 'You're OK. Oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy.' The footage circulated like wildfire on the internet, and Byron was identified as the man embracing the woman. On Saturday, Byron stepped down from his role as the CEO of data company, Astronomer. Before his resignation, Byron was placed on leave from Astronomer. The New York-based company, which has under 500 employees according to its LinkedIn profile, appeared to address how the fanfare around the 'kiss cam' incident has affected its reputation in its Saturday statement. 'While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not,' the company said.
NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Bad Bunny has given Puerto Rico a 'new influence' on the world stage, proud fans say
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — During the first week of Bad Bunny's historic residency, fans sported outfits inspired by Puerto Rican folkloric culture, including straw hats known as 'la pava' and traditional 'jíbaro' attire, reflective of rural Puerto Ricans who worked on farms until the 19th century. The fashion choice is a statement. It's consistent with the theme of his 30-show concert series: 'No me quiero ir de aquí,' which translates to 'I do not want to leave here.' The concerts bring to life the songs on Bad Bunny's sixth studio album, 'Debí Tirar Más Fotos,' or 'I Should Have Taken More Photos,' which the artist has dubbed as his ' most Puerto Rican' album yet. On it, Bad Bunny sings of his need to stay in Puerto Rico and cherish its people and history. Most of the lyrics speak to Puerto Rico's political realities and cultural legacy. And for Puerto Ricans in the U.S. territory as well as those who live on the U.S. mainland, the focus on their beloved Caribbean archipelago is everything. 'It feels like we're home,' Ivy Torres told NBC News. She and her spouse, Alexis, are among the more than 600,000 people who are expected to visit Puerto Rico this summer to see the show — which is the first formal residency any singer has ever done at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot, the biggest indoor entertainment arena on the island, seating over 18,000 people. 'It's a great way to reconnect with your family, friends and everything we left behind,' Alexis said. The couple moved to Ohio from Puerto Rico a decade ago during the height of the economic crisis on the island. 'It was hard,' Ivy said. 'We didn't want to leave our family and friends, but we had to.' Bad Bunny sings about this sentiment in his song 'Lo que le pasó a Hawaii' ('What happened to Hawaii'). The song addresses fears around the erosion of Puerto Rican identity amid an influx of wealthy people from the mainland who have moved there following the passage of tax breaks, as well as a recent rise in short-term rentals that limit affordable housing opportunities for local residents. Born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Bad Bunny reached global success singing in Spanish, popularizing Puerto Rican slang across the world and putting a spotlight on the plight of Puerto Rican people. 'He does his music for Puerto Rico' That's why for Puerto Rico resident Verónica González, it 'means everything having a star like Benito singing for us,' she told NBC News. 'He does his music for Puerto Rico, and he thinks about us.' The album and residency effectively take fans on an emotional journey that fuses contemporary genres like reggaeton and dembow with traditional rhythms such as bomba y plena and 1970s salsa music. Inside a restaurant in Old San Juan, Puerto Rican artist and painter Joabel Ortiz has been showing an art exhibit dedicated to Bad Bunny and his latest album. Ortiz mixes traditional symbols of Puerto Rican culture like 'la pava' with images of the superstar — highlighting the through line that connects a present-day cultural phenomenon like Bad Bunny to the roots of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican officials estimate Bad Bunny's residency will have an economic impact of more than $186 million, generating more than 3,600 jobs and resulting in more than 35,000 hotel night bookings. But to his fans, it's Bad Bunny's focus on the people and the essence of what it is to be Puerto Rican that resonates the most. 'We got a new influence to the world,' Ortiz told NBC News. 'That new influence is about our culture, about the ideas we got in the island, and how we do everything, how we speak, how we love, how we remember who we are.'
