Latest news with #New York
CNN
30 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
All-star roster of comedians show solidarity with Stephen Colbert in first ‘Late Show' after cancellation
Stephen Colbert gained a little help from his friends and late-night rivals on Monday, his first night back on 'The Late Show' since announcing that CBS is ending the legendary show. NBC's Jimmy Fallon, HBO's John Oliver, and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart were among the faces in the 'Late Show' crowd during a spoof of the now-famous 'Coldplay cam.' The fellow comedians didn't speak and they didn't have to: Being there was the point. The 'Late Show' cancellation raised concerns about the future of late-night comedy — and about something bigger. Are big TV networks going to keep supporting political satire and free speech at a time when President Trump's campaign of retribution is rattling corporate America? 'Some people see this show going away as a sign of something truly dire,' Colbert acknowledged Monday night. 'And while I am a big fan of me, I don't necessarily agree with that statement,' he said. 'Because we here at 'The Late Show' never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day.' He also made some jokes about CBS saying the show was ending for 'purely financial' reasons. Through humor, he raised an eyebrow at news reports about the show becoming unprofitable, though he didn't directly dispute that. 'Folks, I'm going to go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone too far,' he quipped. After the 'Coldplay cam' spoof, which was led by Lin-Manuel Miranda and 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Colbert pretended that CBS had just cancelled the song because it lost money. The cameos were a testament to Colbert's long-lasting relationships in the TV industry. Fallon and his NBC colleague Seth Meyers were seated together. Bravo late-night host Andy Cohen sat with his best friend, CNN's Anderson Cooper. Actors Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald were there with Robert Smigel and his Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Beyond the partisan arguments about whether anti-Trump comics are funny is a broader fear about institutions caving to Trump and removing room for dissent. There is a long history of American TV networks giving comics space to poke politicians and even network executives in the eye, despite the potential ramifications. Fans feel that tradition is under threat now. Outside the 'Late Show' studio, the Ed Sullivan Theater, on Monday, pro-Colbert and anti-Trump protesters held up signs criticizing CBS for cancelling the show. One sign read, 'Silencing comedians is no joke.' Another read, 'Colbert forever.' Stewart spoke out about it from his own television perch, 'The Daily Show,' on Monday night. Both shows are owned by the same company, Paramount Global, which has been in a perilous political position in recent months. Colbert catapulted to fame on Stewart's show twenty years ago; the two men have remained friends ever since; and Stewart is now an executive producer of Colbert's 'Late Show,' so he has some visibility into the situation. 'If you're trying to figure out why Stephen's show is ending, I don't think the answer can be found in some smoking gun email or phone call from Trump to CBS executives, or in CBS's QuickBooks spreadsheets on the financial health of late night,' Stewart said on-air. 'I think the answer in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment — institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of our pubic hair-doodling commander in chief,' he said. Stewart, whose 'Daily Show' contract expires at the end of this year, added, 'This is not the moment to give in. I'm not giving in! I'm not going anywhere — I think.' Stewart also had a profane message for Paramount and other media companies: 'If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous, that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar, why will anyone watch you, and you are f***ing wrong.' 'The Late Show' has been a cornerstone of the CBS programming schedule for decades, so fans and industry followers were shocked when the network announced its cancellation last Thursday. Top executives at CBS said it was an 'agonizing' decision but one that was unrelated to 'other matters happening at Paramount.' In other words, the merger. Paramount has been attempting to merge with Skydance Media, which means billions of dollars and some big egos are on the line. However, the deal requires approval from the Trump administration, and the review process has been taking longer than usual, which has raised concerns about political interference. Earlier this month, while Colbert and 'The Late Show' were on a mid-summer break, Paramount settled Trump's legally dubious lawsuit against CBS News by agreeing to pay $16 million toward his future presidential library. The settlement was widely criticized, and Colbert joined the chorus when he returned from vacation last week, likening the payoff to a 'big fat bribe.' Two days after that telecast, Colbert was informed that CBS was retiring 'The Late Show' franchise. The move will take effect next May, when Colbert's contract expires and the broadcast TV season ends. Colbert referred to the settlement again on Monday night's show. He cited the media leaks indicating that the 'Late Show' was losing 'between $40 million and $50 million a year.' 'Forty million's a big number,' Colbert said. 'I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million… oh, yeah.' Meantime, the founding host of 'The Late Show,' David Letterman, weighed in on the franchise's retirement on Monday by publishing to his YouTube channel a 20-minute highlight reel of his past jokes about CBS. The video caption read: 'You can't spell CBS without BS.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- Health
- The Independent
Watch: Billy Joel reveals details of rare brain condition in first interview after diagnosis
Billy Joel has revealed the details of his rare brain disorder in his first interview since his diagnosis was announced. The 76-year-old musician has Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH), which is a build-up of fluid in the brain. The excess fluid puts pressure on the brain, which can result in damage. It can affect mobility; Joel told Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast that his "balance sucks" following his diagnosis, which forced him to cancel all upcoming performances and tour dates. "They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling," he added.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Yankees' Spencer Jones ahead of the trade deadline: ‘I want to play in New York'
Spencer Jones, the New York Yankees' No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is not oblivious to where we are in the baseball calendar. There are nine days remaining until the trade deadline, and Jones is one of the most hotly debated prospects in the sport. What the Yankees decide to do with Jones at this year's deadline might tell the public how they truly feel about the 24-year-old slugger. Keep him, and it could signal Jones is the Yankees' center fielder of the future, perhaps as soon as 2026. Trade him, and it might mean the club doesn't believe a player with his profile can have success in the big leagues. Advertisement Jones can't avoid the trade rumors because his friends across the country are continually sending him content that features him. But he doesn't mind it one bit. In fact, one recent post that a friend passed along still makes him burst out in laughter days later. 'There was a post of me hitting a home run and one of the comments was, 'Get ready to speak desert, buddy,'' Jones told The Athletic. 'That's a really good one. I saw that and was dying laughing. That is just so good. To me, that's the really fun part about baseball at this time of year. I really like the creativity that fans have. It's awesome. I don't know if I can speak desert.' Jones is referencing being a possible target of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who the Yankees have been linked to given their interest in third baseman Eugenio Suárez. The Yankees are one of several teams who have expressed interest in acquiring Suárez, an impending free agent who is arguably the best bat on the market. But whether the Yankees would include Jones in a trade for a rental remains to be seen. Yankees fans on the internet remain split on how they view Jones. Some believe he should only be traded for a star-level talent. In 16 Triple-A games, Jones has hit 10 home runs. His 26 home runs are tied for the most across the minor leagues this season. His 1.106 OPS can't be ignored. That kind of production makes the job of the Yankees' front office challenging because if Jones does become a star in the majors, the organization will never hear the end of it. But there are also dissenters who believe Jones' swing-and-miss tendencies and lack of contact are impossible to ignore. He is whiffing on 37.6 percent of his swings in Triple A, and his 74.8 percent in-zone contact rate would rank second-to-last in MLB. Those numbers would be expected to get worse when facing major-league pitching. Advertisement So, there's the dilemma that the Yankees face. Do they believe Jones' power potential is so tantalizing that they need to see it in the majors, or do they trade him when his value may never be higher? If Jones had it his way, there's no doubt where he wants to play. 'I was just talking to my girlfriend about this, but at the end of the day, I want to play in New York and be a part of this organization and stay loyal to it,' said Jones, the Yankees' 2022 first-round draft pick. 'That's a big part of who I am and where I want to go in my career.' Jones said he hasn't been told by the organization whether he has anything to worry about regarding a possible trade. He has told staff members in the past that he prefers to have few thoughts in his head when playing, and he feels like he's finally at a point where he's confident at the plate. The 6-foot-7 outfielder has tinkered with his stance several times this season, and the latest iteration is here to stay. It's a unique-looking swing for someone his size where he'll crouch low, open his hips wide and then have an exaggerated leg kick. But it's working for him. He credits his stance for helping him have success this year. 'In spring, there were issues with my ability to recognize pitches and make a decision right away,' Jones said. 'Where I'm at now, people may look at it and think it's not simple, but the move and the way it works is very simple. I kind of just move my body, let myself see the pitch and let my body swing. That's where it's been. I am glad to have been able to produce the results I have.' Spencer Jones is the man of a thousand stances but here are some of the more recent changes. There's a healthy sample of elite success with his latest change. He's put himself in a better position to attack pitches in the zone with authority. — Yankeesource (@YankeeSource) July 21, 2025 A major change from this past offseason has also contributed to his breakout. Jones made his swing path as steep as possible to exaggerate hitting the baseball in the air to the pull side. He traded ground balls for fly balls in 2025. Jones' fly-ball rate in 2024 was 29.2 percent. It's 40.3 percent this season. His ground-ball rate in 2024 was 42.3 percent, and it's 29.9 percent this year. With his raw power, it's no coincidence the change has led to him having the best wRC+ (205) in the minor leagues. Advertisement 'We worked really hard to add steepness to my path to a point where I was doing it to a fault in the beginning of the year and at the end of spring, I had one of the steepest swings in the league,' Jones said. 'Throughout the year, the tinkering has been to re-flatten it because the swing was so steep. There's going to be a natural arc to the swing. I've been focused on flattening the path to let those fly balls I hit to left field have a little more carry or the line drives to right get a little more backspin. It's a delicate balance.' Generally, Yankees manager Aaron Boone is not asked about what happens in the minors, mainly because he is focused on the big-league club. But Jones' demolition of minor-league pitching has made its way to Boone as he's been asked about Jones multiple times over the past few days. It's becoming impossible for anyone to not pay attention. 'As a bigger guy, I think it's harder to master mechanics and skills as a hitter,' Boone said. 'But when you can, and you do, obviously, I think you have advantages just with your strength and your leverage and things like that. So he's made a lot of adjustments over the last couple of years, and it's good to see that those adjustments in Double and Triple A have paid off for him so far.' Jones' value in MLB wouldn't be just with his bat, as he's a good defensive center fielder with exceptional speed. If he could be an average to slightly-below-average bat in the majors, he'd still be a valuable player on any roster because there aren't many center fielders who are elite hitters. Boone believes Jones has the ability to stick in center field whenever he gets to the big leagues, but he could also see him turn into a plus fielder in the corners. Jones is one of the most perplexing players in terms of his big-league future. Could he become Joey Gallo? Is he Franchy Cordero? Or if he realizes his full potential, can he mirror Aaron Judge's production? Evaluators dropped Jones off their top prospect lists before this season began, but Baseball America just moved him up to No. 3 in the Yankees' system. Jones said he understands why some may be skeptical of his production, but he's never had more confidence in his game. These next nine days will tell us if the Yankees feel similarly. 'I knew there were glimpses of what I was capable of in seasons past, but the production, I had never felt true to myself or consistent,' Jones said. 'I think the way things have worked out this year is just a product of me being more comfortable within myself to flow naturally. I'm not worried about what the stance looks like or what anything else looks like. I'm just feeling good playing baseball.' (Photo of Spencer Jones with Double-A Somerset: Jess Stiles / Associated Press)
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ghislaine Maxwell fears for life in prison amid Epstein revelations
Now, her brother Ian (pictured) is revealing her sister's frame of mine in the wake of the botched release of the files. Ian Maxwell communicates regularly with her sister in jail on the phone and told The Times she fears for her safety. 'Prisons are very dangerous places and we know from Ghislaine that there are serious staff shortages and more dangerous higher-risk-category prisoners now being admitted to … Tallahassee,' said Maxwell. 'For sure she remains at great, if not greater, risk and has expressed her real concerns about this to me.' He also said his older sister believes that Epstein may have been murdered, contradicting the DOJ and FBI's belief in the official theory that he committed [self-murder]. 'There were certainly a number of convicted murderers on the wing in [Metropolitan Correctional Center] New York where Epstein died,' Maxwell said. 'The contemporaneous investigation of Epstein's death was cut short, cursory and frankly shoddy, certainly as regards the duty guards' story the night he died. At least one distinguished, independent forensic pathologist concurred with the Epstein family-appointed pathologist that homicide was more likely than [self-murder],' he added. He added that the pathologist from the New York Medical Examiner's office never examined the body. 'I think despite the DOJ memo concluding that Epstein died by [self-murder], there must remain serious doubts and the jury remains out about that.' Ian Maxwell's take was that President Trump and others would be 'pleased' by the [self-murder] verdict. 'The principal casualties here are truth and justice and my sister's freedom,' he said. 'That's the reality and it should make all right-thinking people seethe with anger. We remain ever hopeful that the truth of the 'hoax', as President Trump now refers to it, comes out.' Ian Maxwell also 'welcomes total discourse' and the complete public release of the FBI files. Maxwell, 63, is the only person behind bars - serving 20 years on child trafficking charges - despite the fact that Jeffrey Epstein allegedly controlled a web of underage girls. Additionally, Epstein's victims alleged they were passed around as sexual toys to his wealthy friends and billionaire business associates who regularly visited his homes including his private island, Little Saint James. A source said: 'Despite the rumors, Ghislaine was never offered any kind of plea deal. She would be more than happy to sit before Congress and tell her story. No-one from the government has ever asked her to share what she knows. She remains the only person to be jailed in connection to Epstein and she would welcome the chance to tell the American public the truth.' What that 'truth' is remains to be seen. Maxwell was convicted in 2022 over her role in a scheme to sexual exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Epstein over the course of a decade. Maxwell argues she should have been protected from prosecution as part of a Non Prosecution Agreement made by Epstein - her former lover and boss - in 2007 when he agreed to plead guilty to two minor charges of prostitution in a 'sweetheart deal' which saw him spend little time behind bars. And now, controversy continues to rage over the Department of Justice's statement that there is no Epstein 'client list' and the release of videos from inside New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center which the DOJ says proves he committed self-murder in 2019 while being held in jail on trafficking charges. Critics have pointed to the fact that there is a crucial minute missing from the jail house video that also does not show the door or, indeed, the inside of Epstein's jail cell. The scandal - and alleged 'cover up' - has prompted a rebellion amongst President Trump's loyal MAGA base. Some even believe Attorney General Pam Bondi should be fired after promising to release all files relating to Epstein and his high-profile male friends only to apparently renege on that promise. On Saturday night, President Trump posted a rebuttal to accusations of a cover-up on social media site Truth Social saying: 'For years, it's Epstein, over and over again. Why are we not giving publicity to files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan and the losers and criminals of the Biden administration?' The Epstein 'cover-up' was also a main topic of conversation among attendees of this weekend's Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA, an organization many credit with rallying Trump's young base before last year's presidential election. Sharon Allen, an attendee, told NBC News: 'It's not even about Pam Bondi to me. It's like, look, Trump, we elected you because you were supposed to be different. So you have to prove to us you're different.' A source close to Maxwell told Daily Mail that the former girlfriend of Epstein - who continues to protest her innocence - would 'welcome the chance to sit in front of Congress and tell her story'. The source said: 'Congressional hearings have been held into everything from JFK's assassination to 9/11. The Epstein Files rank up there with those cases. Ghislaine would be willing to speak before Congress and tell her story.' Maxwell is also fighting to have her appeal heard by the Supreme Court. On July 14, lawyers for the US government will submit their response to her plea for the Supreme Court to take up her case. President Trump's former 'First Buddy' Elon Musk sensationally claimed there is a cover-up because Trump is mentioned in the Epstein Files, something sources close to Maxwell say 'is a false flag.' 'President Trump was photographed with Epstein several times and they ran in the same circles but Trump was one of the first to break all contact with Epstein because they fell out over a business deal and Epstein's treatment of women,' the informed source said. 'There are no big shocks about President Trump in the Epstein Files. But there are a lot of powerful men involved and a lot of money and it will come down to following the money.' The Department of Justice has said no-one else is likely to be prosecuted in relation to the Epstein case, including Britain's Prince Andrew who was accused by Virginia Giuffre, of allegedly sleeping with her when she was 17 and underage. Prince Andrew has consistently and vehemently denied all charges against him and settled a civil lawsuit with Giuffre with no admission of wrongdoing. Giuffre committed self-murder earlier this year.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Billy Joel, 76, breaks silence on his brain disorder and how it forced him to step back from music
Billy Joel gave an emotional update on his health amid his battle with the brain disorder normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). He revealed his diagnosis in May, and announced the cancellation of his forthcoming concerts following recent onstage struggles. The condition's impacted the 76-year-old's 'hearing, vision, and balance', and he opened up about his condition on Monday's Club Random With Bill Maher podcast, where he said: 'I feel fine. My balance sucks. It's like being a boat.' Joel said doctors could not identify the cause of the condition, and said: 'They don't know… I thought it must be from drinking.' Over the years, Joel's been open about his struggles with alcohol and substance abuse, as well as his battles with mental health, which at one point led to a suicide attempt amid career pressures. He said: 'I feel good. They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I'm feeling.' According to Mayo Clinic: 'Hydrocephalus is the buildup of fluid in the brain, enlarging the ventricles and puts pressure on brain tissue, potentially causing damage and neurological symptoms.' Joel underwent targeted physical therapy as prescribed by his doctor and was 'advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period'. When diagnosed early, NPH could be effectively treated with surgery to drain excess fluid from the brain to relieve pressure and the symptoms. However, if left untreated, the condition could cause permanent damage later on. The musical legend also expressed his gratitude for the care he had received and thanked fans for their continued support. Joel said on Instagram: 'I'm sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding.' A statement added: 'Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health.' Opening up: The singer used Instagram to share details of his diagnosis The post added: 'He is grateful for the support from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.' The new health update was after Joel previously postponed his tour by only four months 'due to a medical condition'. A statement on Instagram on March 11 revealed the tour had been halted after Joel underwent a recent surgery: 'The current tour will be postponed for four months to allow him to recover from recent surgery and to undergo physical therapy under the supervision of his doctors. 'Joel is expected to make a full recovery.' The star posted: 'While I regret postponing any shows, my health must come first. I look forward to getting back on stage and sharing the joy of live music with our amazing fans. Thank you for your understanding.' Multiple fans speculated if his medical issues were connected to a recent fall on stage. In late February, Joel suffered a nasty fall during a gig at the Mohegan Sun resort in Connecticut, which sparked major fear amongst fans. Footage from the show captured the Grammy-winner as he spun a mic stand before he hurled it across the stage - only to suddenly topple over moments later. Photos and clips of the fall captured Joel as he appeared to stumble before hitting the stage hard on his side, then rolling on to his back. Joel was helped up and managed to carry on with the rest of the show.
