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Miley Cyrus Dedicates Her 'Voice' Performance To Ariana Grande And Manchester

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It was an emotional evening during “The VoiceSeason 12 finale on Tuesday as stars like Miley Cyrus and Usher dedicated their performances to their friend Ariana Grande and all the victims of Monday’s Manchester Arena tragedy.


Cyrus, who will return as a “Voice” coach this fall alongside Jennifer Hudson, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, sang her new hit “Malibu” after offering her condolences to Grande and “everyone that experienced that horrific attack.”  


“Our hearts are with you,” she said. 





Former “Voice” coach Usher also performed a song for Manchester with winner Chris Blue. The pair sang a stirring rendition of R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts,” bringing audience members to their feet. 





The music community is reeling following the terror explosion at Grande’s Manchester show, which killed 22 people and injured 59.


Artists took to Twitter this week to share support for the “Love Me Harder” singer, who posted a statement herself on the social media site. 






Below, more tweets from Grande’s fellow performers:





























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People Are Sending Trump Art To Guarantee Their Opinions Are Archived

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On Jan. 16, just days before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, artist and teacher Steven Silberg asked people to welcome the commander in chief with a letter ― more specifically, a letter that functions as a work of art.


The project, called “In Care of the White House,” invites citizens of all types to mail original works of art to the mailbox at Trump’s new place of residence, flooding the office with drawings, handmade cards and collages that will allegedly have to be archived, guaranteeing that the opinions of those served by Trump are remembered.


According to Silberg, all materials sent to the White House are preserved in the National Archives as a result of the Presidential Records Act. He cites U.S. Code Title 44, Chapter 22, which defines “documentary material” to include both correspondence and works of art. In the past, presidents Reagan, Clinton and both Bushes all treated such letters and other modes of public communication as presidential records.


The law also states that “upon the conclusion of a President’s term of office [...] the Archivist of the United States shall assume responsibility for the custody, control, and preservation of, and access to, the Presidential records of that President.” As a result, Silberg explained in an email to HuffPost, the documents could eventually be housed in a presidential library, unless the materials are disposed of with permission from the archivist of the United States (currently David S. Ferriero).



The hope is that, as a result of Silberg’s project, a gallery of art inspired by Trump’s term will bloom within the archives, in either digital or physical form. “I’m not yet clear on whether the physical objects will be stored or if they will be scanned and held digitally,” Silberg said. “I believe this determination falls at the discretion of the current administration in consultation with the Archivist of the United States.” 


Whether the body of work will look kindly or critically upon Trump remains to be seen, though the odds so far are certainly not in the president’s favor. One contribution is a short comic written and illustrated by Michigan-based art professor Erin Zerbe titled “Grab Back,” an allusion to Trump’s recorded 2005 statements boasting about grabbing women “by the pussy.” 


“This origami folded single page comic is about the first time I was sexually assaulted at the age of 12,” Zerbe writes in her letter to Trump, “and subsequently about my response to your vile comments on women and your election to the presidency.”


She adds:



Please understand, this comic and this letter are in no way intended as an attack on you. Rather, I’m hoping for a moment of honest, sincere conversation about sexual assault in this country, and how in many ways you have contributed to the rape culture that permeates all facets of our lives.



Other submissions address a wide range of topics from immigration to climate change, the Women’s March to fake news.  



“What I’m offering is an opportunity to make a gesture,” Silberg said, “to place one’s voice on record. Conservatives, liberals, libertarians, socialists and independents of all persuasions have felt that their voices were not being heard on issues of gender identity, gender equality, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, education and employment.


“As Allen Weinstein, former Archivist for the United States, wrote in the forward for Dear Mr. President: Letters to the Oval Office from the Files of the National Archives: ‘We have something important to say, and we expect the most powerful person on Earth to pay attention to our concerns.’”


Following the initial launch in January, Silberg followed up with a related project in March, called “Art as the Message.” Those who choose to submit work can do so online with an accompanying message; Silberg then turns the artworks into greeting cards on the artists’ behalf. 


One such letter, submitted by Hew Murphy along with the visual poem below, reads:




You speak a language of fear, hate, and ignorance when millions of children are listening. America’s children need more from you than jobs and walls. Please don’t lose your opportunity to be a positive role model.




Eventually, Silberg hopes to mount a physical exhibition comprised of the images and letters submitted through the project. Until then, he’s working to spread the word, encouraging artists, activists and concerned citizens to express their thoughts, whatever they may be, and put a stamp on them. 


“These are extraordinary times and a lot of people have a lot to say,” Silberg said. “And even though the likelihood that any one piece of artwork sent to the White House enacting change is small, it is my hope that I can help facilitate creating a permanent record of both dissent and support.”


Visit the “In Care of the White House” website to submit an artwork and letter of your own.







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Kit Harington, The King In The North, Calls Trump A 'Con Artist'

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When it comes to “Game of Thrones,” Jon Snow knows nothing. When it comes to American politics, Kit Harington prefers you think he knows nothing.


According to a profile from Esquire, the actor chooses not to “weigh in on American politics,” deferring to “experts” to take on those issues.


Looking at his quotes, it seems Harington doesn’t think politics and entertainers always mix well. The English actor says he found it “annoying” when Sean Penn decided to involve himself in the dispute over the Falkland Islands.


“I was like, ‘It has nothing to do with you, Sean Penn. Fuck off.’” said Harington.


Even so, Jon Snow still has an opinion on President Donald Trump ... er ... excuse me ... Mr. Donald Trump.


“Mr. Donald Trump — I wouldn’t call him President, I’ll call him Mister,” said Harington (to which we say, “Oh snap!”).


“I think this man at the head of your country is a con artist,” he told Esquire.


The King in the North has spoken, and there’s Snow doubt he’s not a Trump fan.







Harington’s sentiments echo those of many “Game of Thrones” cast members.


Sansa Stark herself, Sophie Turner, has spoken out against Trump and the show’s stars including Liam Cunningham regularly promote anti-Trump messages on their Twitter feeds.


In the same Esquire profile, author George R.R. Martin, whose stories inspired HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” even compared Trump to one of his most-hated characters, King Joffrey.


“I think Joffrey is now the king in America,” said Martin. “And he’s grown up just as petulant and irrational as he was when he was 13 in the books.”


Some may think Martin’s comparison is a little harsh ... you know ... for Joffrey.


H/T Esquire

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One Woman's Stripped-Down Portraits Reveal A Complex Road To Self-Love

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“Two out of three of my friends have body image issues,” photographer Caroline Fahey told HuffPost. “Most girls I know do.” 


In her series “Silver Lining,” the 22-year-old photographer unravels her own complicated relationship with her body in front of the camera. Her self-portraits, captured in bedrooms and bathrooms, backyards and hotel rooms, reject an oversimplified idea of body positivity ― one that implies a hashtag here or a selfie there can yield unremitting self love. Rather, Fahey invites viewers to revel in her moments of confidence, self-loathing and ambiguity, privileging not one above the others.


In one image, Fahey looks out at the viewer from the shower, the clouded-over glass obscuring the edges of her form. A small area of the door smudged clean reveals an egg-shaped sliver of flesh, a fog-framed abstraction that hardly resembles a human form. In another, Fahey bathes in an outdoor shower, while drops of water ricochet off her bathing-suit-clad form. She is Boticelli’s “Venus” in a bikini, both nonchalant and sensual as she gazes off-camera.  



Fahey, who first became interested in photography after creating a pinhole camera her freshman year of high school, started snapping self-portraits as a college student at NYU. Her first series was about being a fat woman and the emotions her physical stature inspired ― as Fahey put it, “What it felt like to be bigger.” She soon found the subject made her peers react rather awkwardly. 


“Talking about being fat makes people really uncomfortable,” Fahey said. “People really shut the conversation down or they say something like, ‘You’re not fat.’ But it was really important for me to challenge people, to make them talk about it.”


In 2013, Fahey’s relationship to her body transformed radically when she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her brain, the result of changing birth control medications combined with obesity. “It was extremely painful both physically and emotionally,” she said.



Then a sophomore in college, Fahey left school for eight months of recovery. “My eyes hurt, I couldn’t hear that well, I was very sensitive to light and sound.” The artist’s mother would temper her frustration with an uplifting mantra, reminding her that the pain she was going through had a silver lining, though for a while, Fahey was unaware of just what that brightness would look like. 


“As time went on, I started to realize what the silver lining was,” Fahey said. “Me learning my health needs to be my first priority. Being healthy doesn’t mean losing weight and being skinny. It means being mindful of what you’re doing with your body.”


Oftentimes the narratives concerning “body positivity” and “getting healthy” do not overlap. Following her near-death experience, Fahey went on a strict diet and exercise regimen, attempting to love and accept her body as is along the way. There was no one goal, no simple answer. It’s this journey she documents in her “Silver Lining” series, a nuanced portrait of trying to better oneself and accept oneself at the same time. 



“My project became about loving my body while also struggling with the emotions of being fat,” she said. “It’s more complex than just, ‘I love my body!’ Some days you’re going to feel really shitty about yourself, and it’s important to me that my photography reflect that. Sometimes I feel sexy, sometimes I feel hideous. It’s okay if some days you don’t feel good.”


Since publishing the series, which was also her senior thesis, online, Fahey has been inundated with support from other women, many of whom write anonymously, who too have difficult relationships with their bodies. The experience, Fahey said, has helped her feel more confident in discussing her emotions and struggles on a larger platform, even if it makes some people uncomfortable.


“At the beginning I was really shy and timid,” she said. “It would be very scary for me to have a conversation like this. But the more I showed my work, it started to feel seamless and easy. You don’t expect people to be going through similar issues as you, but they are.”







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Mom Recreates Her Viral Dancing Maternity Video With Her Baby Girl

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Spanish actress, dancer and model Gemma Marin has racked up more than 1 million views on her viral dancing maternity videos. The videos became so popular that it seemed fitting for Marin to celebrate the arrival of her daughter with one epic first dance.


In February, Marin posted a video that showed her dancing at 33 weeks pregnant alongside her partner, boxer Israel Duffus.


“Three people one soul,” she wrote in the caption.




As of Wednesday, the video had been viewed more than 1.2 million times. Its popularity encouraged Marin to share more dancing videos. The couple even tried dancing when Marin was 40 weeks pregnant in April to help induce labor.


“We’ve tried everything!” she wrote in the Instagram caption. “Spicy, famous salads, teas, walk, sex, chocolate... even yesterday we did another dance! Alexandra is just too comfortable inside.”




A few days later, she gave birth to her daughter, Alexandra. The dancer and her partner celebrated with ― you guessed it ― a first dance with their daughter.


On Tuesday, Marin posted a video on Instagram and Youtube that showed clips of Marin and (a baby-wearing) Duffus dancing as well as clips from their first viral dancing video.


“We are so grateful for having all of you following the last part of my pregnancy, and our life with Alexandra,” Marin wrote in the caption. “Her FIRST DANCE is dedicated to all of YOU.”




According to her Instagram, the proud mom plans on sharing her love for dance with her daughter. In a caption to one of her dancing maternity videos, she wrote, “Dancing is in our veins.”


The HuffPost Parents newsletter, So You Want To Raise A Feminist, offers the latest stories and news in progressive parenting.   

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Nicki Minaj And Shawn Mendes Refuse To Let The Terrorists Win

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In the wake of the deadly attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena on Monday night, artists including Blondie and Take That have postponed or canceled shows in the United Kingdom “out of respect” for the victims. 


But two other major names have already come out to make one thing clear: They will not let terrorists scare them away from playing for their fans.


Both Nicki Minaj and Shawn Mendes have said publicly that they will continue to play on in spite of any and all fears related to the attack.


“Concerts are events people should never be afraid to attend, they are places for love and complete happiness [and I] am so sorry that things took an opposite direction last night,” Mendes wrote on Instagram.


“I hope I speak for every [a]rtist by saying that we will not stop spreading positivity and love through music no matter the situation.”




Minaj said much of the same thing when she was approached by TMZ at an airport. “We don’t operate in fear,” she said. Canceling the shows, she said, would imply “that they [the terrorists] win.”


She added that she planned to head to Manchester to play a show for the people there, although it sounds like that won’t happen until next year.


“Of course I’m going to perform for my Manchester fans,” she said. “They deserve it.”





Mendes and Minaj are the biggest names to publicly say they will not live their lives on terrorists’ terms. But others have implied as much with their actions. Celine Dion’s publicist said she has no plans to cancel her upcoming dates in Europe. According to the AP, Guns N’ Roses, Phil Collins and Iron Maiden will continue on with their planned touring schedule, as well. 


The music festival known as BBC Radio One Big Weekend sounds like it will also go off in Hull this weekend, as previously scheduled. Acts booked to perform include Haim, Lorde and Lana Del Rey.


In light of the tragedy, though, Grande’s team released a statement announcing their plans to cancel part of her Dangerous Woman tour:



Due to the tragic events in Manchester the Dangerous Woman tour with Ariana Grande has been suspended until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost. The London O2 shows this week have been cancelled as well as all shows thru June 5 in Switzerland. We ask at this time that we all continue to support the city of Manchester and all those families affected by this cowardice and senseless act of violence. Our way of life has once again been threatened but we will overcome this together. Thank you.


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Puerto Rican Day Parade’s List Of Sponsors Shrinks As Controversy Over Boricua Nationalist Grows

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The list of corporate and local sponsors withdrawing their support of the 2017 Puerto Rican Day Parade continues to grow, with some citing the event’s decision to honor Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar López Rivera as their reason for backing out.


AT&T, Coca-Cola, JetBlue Airways and the New York Yankees announced Tuesday that they would not participate in the 60th annual parade. The companies and baseball team join Goya Foods, which cited a “business decision,” and several New York City police organizations in parting ways with the annual event. This year’s parade is set to take place on June 11 in Manhattan. 


“While we are saddened and disappointed by certain sponsors pulling out of our Parade, we respect their views and decision to do so,” the National Puerto Rican Day Parade’s board of directors said in a statement Tuesday. “Equally, we respect our Parade’s mission and commitment to inclusiveness, and the responsibility of representing the broadest possible blend of voices that make up the Puerto Rican community.”


Despite publicly pulling out of the parade, Coca-Cola, the Yankees and JetBlue have all vowed to continue their financial support of the scholarships given by the Puerto Rican Day Parade organization. 


“The New York Yankees are not participating in this year’s Puerto Rican Day parade,” the Yankees organization told USA Today on Tuesday. “However, for many years, the Yankees have supported a scholarship program that recognizes students selected by the parade organizers. To best protect the interests of those students, and avoid any undue harm to them, the Yankees will continue to provide financial support for the scholarships, and will give to the students directly.”



In a statement to HuffPost, the parade’s board of directors applauded the sponsors who intended to continue funding the scholarship program and expressed hope that any future companies would follow suit if they chose not to participate in this year’s parade.


While we cannot predict whether other sponsors and/or organizations might choose not to join us on Fifth Avenue this year, we expect they will do so with the same level of responsibility and professionalism as JetBlue and the Yankees,” the statement said. “This community deserves no less.”


The parade is expected to honor López Rivera as its first “National Freedom Hero.” He was a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (known by its Spanish initials as FALN) and served more than 35 years in prison until former President Barack Obama commuted his sentence in January. 


López Rivera was released last week and received a hero’s welcome at a Chicago rally that recognized him for his controversial actions fighting for Puerto Rico’s independence in the 1970s and 1980s.


The FALN was linked to over 100 bombings in five cities across the United States, including Chicago and New York, during that period. López Rivera was sentenced in 1981 for his involvement with the militant group but was never linked to specific bombings. He was instead convicted on multiple charges that included seditious conspiracy and plotting to overthrow the U.S. government.


On Monday, NYPD Police Commissioner James O’Neill said he would not march in the parade because he refused to “support a man who is a co-founder of an organization that engaged in over 120 bombings.”


The NYPD Hispanic Society and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association also issued statements boycotting the parade. The PBA pointed to the four officers and detectives injured by the FALN attack at Fraunces Tavern in 1974, which killed four people.


“The annual Puerto Rican Day Parade is a magnificent celebration of a proud heritage shared by New Yorkers and police officers alike,” PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement on their website Thursday. “Honoring a remorseless terrorist who refuses to condemn acts of violence effectively steals the parade from the good and honorable people who are proud of their Puerto Rican heritage.”


That same day, the board of directors doubled downed on their decision to honor López Rivera:



The history of Oscar López Rivera is complicated, some call him a terrorist and others call him a freedom fighter, but Oscar López Rivera, as the New York Times recently wrote, was never charged with carrying out acts of violence. After 35 years in prison, 12 years of which were spent in solitary confinement, President Obama concluded, that at the age of 74, Oscar should be free.   


It has been disappointing and unfortunate to see the progress of this Parade undermined by the circulation of false information, and the targeting of loyal sponsors by people who disagree with the Parade’s decision to recognize the freedom of Oscar López Rivera.



New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took a similar stance when he announced he’d be marching in the parade during a Tuesday news conference in the Bronx.


“I believe this parade is a very, very important part of the life of our city,” de Blasio said, according to The New York Times. “The parade committee made a choice this year on someone to honor. That does not change the basic nature of the parade. Whether you agree with that choice or not, it’s still the Puerto Rican parade and my point is, I will be there to honor the Puerto Rican people. I intend on marching. It’s as simple as that.”


In 2014, the Puerto Rican Day Parade honored Calle 13 rapper René Pérez without any controversy despite the artist’s vocal anti-imperialist stance. That same year, the parade also launched an awareness and solidarity campaign for the liberation of López Rivera. 

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This Teen's Senior Portraits Were Taken In A Taco Bell, And They’re Perfect

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Most high school students choose a photo studio or tranquil outdoor setting for their senior portraits. 


Andrew McBurnie chose Taco Bell.


The student from Bourbonnais, Illinois posed for his glamour shots at the table where he sat with his friends throughout high school, he told BuzzFeed. And the images are magazine worthy:




McBurnie had his photographer friend Wesley Taylor set up the shoot, and Taylor says T-Bell was totally cool with it.


“We ordered a taco and a couple drinks at first and then realized we needed way more, so went back and got more tacos and nachos,” Taylor told HuffPost. “Fortunately we were able to polish it all off at the end! Andrew loves his Taco Bell.”


The setting turned out to be the perfect complement to McBurnie’s suit and bowtie.


“I loved combining the fashion magazine aesthetic with the retro vibes of the restaurant ― plus, Andrew’s basically a model,” Taylor said.





McBurnie’s not the only one with memories from chalupa-land: Other high schoolers have taken Taco Bell-themed portraits in years past.


But then again, they didn’t brave nacho cheese while sporting crisp white suit cuffs. Congrats, Andrew!



H/T Buzzfeed

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How 'The Handmaid's Tale' Villains Were Inspired By Trump

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When Donald Trump was elected president last November, the cast and crew of Hulu’s “Handmaid’s Tale” were already hard at work bringing Margaret Atwood’s gut-wrenching 1985 novel to the screen.


Much of the scripts had been written, the characters formed ― and then America voted in a leader who supports the kinds of oppressive, totalitarian policies that seem better suited for fictional Gilead than present-day U.S.


“It was horrible for the world but great for me,” showrunner Bruce Miller told The Hollywood Reporter.


His series was bound to be relevant anyway. (After all, Atwood said she based the story on very real, historical circumstances of women around the world.) But Trump’s election undeniably carried the show’s import to new heights. Since it debuted, audiences have not held back in drawing terrifying parallels between the show’s portrayal of Gilead ― a theocratic regime whose continued existence depends upon its ability to force women to surrender control over their own bodies ― and the divided state of America today


Neither has the cast and creative team behind the series.


“[Joseph Fiennes and I] are the villains,” Yvonne Strahovski, who plays the commander’s wife Serena Joy, explained to THR. “Suddenly Trump is elected, and all this negative behavior comes to light. I start seeing these parallels between [my character’s] actions and what Trump’s doing. It’s in a weird way an inspiration but also a horrid parallel.”



”People were all of a sudden saying the venomous things that they had always thought out loud — things I didn’t think people thought anymore in my little bubble,” Miller added. “It made me change one or two things [in the show], but I’m not going to tell you what they are.”


Of course, in countless other interviews, series star Elisabeth Moss (who plays Offred) and director Reed Morano have reiterated that the story would be effective regardless of Trump’s position at the White House. 


“The whole message that Margaret was sending in the book is that big changes like this don’t happen overnight,” Morano told audiences at 92Y in early May, “they happen very slowly over time, almost so that you don’t know that they’re happening until it’s too late.”


And yet, as Miller makes clear, the election had its effect. “I think that I definitely had personal feelings about [the election],” Moss told HuffPost in April. “All of a sudden I felt like [the story] was much more personal, much more relevant. It wasn’t so crazy. And this whole idea of ‘it couldn’t happen here’ kind of started to fade away. And that’s kind of what everyone else has felt as well.”


The parallels might be tough to stomach, but there’s hope, Samira Wiley (who plays Offred’s friend, Moira) told THR:



One of the things that’s so interesting about this show is the caste system, specifically within the women. It is, I think, a false sense of authority. We have Serena Joy and Offred, who are of two totally different statuses in the society, but how different it would be and how amazing it would be if they could see that banding together could be a revolution? Pitting women against each other is something that also happens in our world today. I hope people have conversations that they wouldn’t be having otherwise.



Miller agrees. In a previous interview with HuffPost, he said he wants the series to encourage people to “appreciate the freedoms that we have, and see little ways that they’re chipped away and what that can lead to.”



“There’s been just an unrelenting assault on [...] women’s sovereignty over their own bodies,” he added, “that’s been happening at the state level and the national level, that’s been head-spinning.”


Moss put it best to THR. When asked which women’s right she thought was the most vulnerable in our current political climate, she responded: 



Damn. How much time do you have? The easy one that comes to mind is sort of a blanket: the right to do with your own body what you want to do. Which covers a lot of things, frankly. It doesn’t just cover the right to have a child or not have a child.







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Adorable Animated Film Offers Beautiful Story Of Two Boys Falling In Love

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A new animated short film is in the works that tells the story of a gay boy falling in love with the most popular boy in school.


“In A Heartbeat” follows Sherwin, an awkward young teen who is unsure of his sexuality. After crossing paths with Jonathan, a classmate, Sherwin’s heart literally pops out of his chest and chases after his new Prince Charming. Sherwin then has to try and stop his heart from revealing its true feelings ― not only to Jonathan, but the entire school.


Slated to be completed and then debut this summer thanks to a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $14,000, “In A Heartbeat” is a completely dialogue-free and created by Esteban Bravo and Beth David.


“When we first started working on this film, we knew that we didn’t want it to be preachy,” the pair, both filmmakers at the Ringling College of Art, told HuffPost. “There isn’t even dialogue, so we never have the characters speak to persuade the audience of anything. We simply wanted to show the audience what growing up was like for us through this story about a sweet, red-headed boy who feels just as confused and scared about his feelings as we did. Hopefully, it’ll resonate with those who identify with this character - and for those who don’t, we hope they’ll gain an understanding for people who go through this experience.”


We can’t wait!

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'Baywatch' Stars Alexandra Daddario And Jon Bass Are Proud The Movie 'Flips The Script'

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There are a lot of things to be said about the new “Baywatch” movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron. Yes, it’s absurd. Yes, there are cringeworthy moments. No, it’s not as bad as “CHiPs.”


As The New York Times put it in their review of the movie, out May 25: “Like its source material, ‘Baywatch’ is sleazy and wholesome, silly and earnest, dumb as a box of sand and slyly self-aware. It’s soft-serve ice cream. Crinkle-cut fries. A hot car and a skin rash. Tacky and phony and nasty and also kind of fun.” 


This ability to be self-aware is what sort of saves the movie from falling into the trap of the stereotypical, sexist comedies we see as of late. Jokes that worked 10 or even five years ago no longer have the same effect. Women don’t want to be in nude scenes while their male counterparts get away scot-free. 


The creators behind “Baywatch” know that ― so they tried their best to add in some role reversal. 


“I think it was very important for all of us ― the cast and obviously the producers and director [Seth Gordon] ― to create female characters that weren’t just dumb and funny because they were dumb,” star Alexandra Daddario, who plays Summer in the film, told HuffPost during a Build Series interview on Wednesday. “The point was that Baywatch takes itself very seriously ― we’re all like CIA operatives but on the beach ― and all the women are very tough and strong and I think that made a lot of sense in the context of this film, and I think it actually makes it funnier. It’s a little cliché to just have the women there as eye candy ― part of the joke is that we’re all supernaturally hot, but that’s not just what it is.”


Jon Bass, who plays the “chubby” techie trainee Ronnie, echoed those sentiments, proving the point by saying he’s the only person who’s naked in the movie. 


“We do a really good job of sort of flipping the script and making sure that, yeah, the guys get their due. Because it’s 2017,” Bass told HuffPost.


“The essence of ‘Baywatch’ in and of itself is, you know, is sexy. It’s sexy, it’s beachy and it’s fun ― and we’re not throwing that out, we’re saying, ‘Look, that is a part of this movie, but we also know how absolutely hilarious and ridiculous that is.’” 



Ridiculous is the right word to describe one scene in particular that kicks off the film. Ronnie, clearly smitten with lifeguard C.J. (Kelly Rohrbach), accidentally gets himself caught in a tricky situation after an incident on the beach. 


“He gets his erect penis stuck in a beach chair,” Daddario revealed, laughing while explaining that the scene is one of the reasons she signed on for the project. “I felt that it was pushing the envelope and was just laugh-out-loud funny and ridiculous and I think that was the right tone for a film like this.” 


As for Bass, he’s privileged to join the likes of Ben Stiller and Jason Biggs on the list of actors who “get their dicks stuck in things.” (Yup, he went there.) But in all seriousness, he’s happy to be a part of a movie that pushes the boundaries without being self-serious. 


“I remember reading the script and just being like, ‘This is going to be just such a fun movie to be a part of,’” Bass said. “We had so much fun on set; we had so much fun every scene that I got to shoot with every one of the cast members. It was like a fun day at the beach. It was like summer camp.” 


Camp being the word to remember before seeing “Baywatch” this weekend. 


Watch the full Build Series interview with Alexandra and Jon below. 






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Bill Gates Wants You To Read Trevor Noah’s Memoir This Summer

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Deepen your mind while you deepen your tan.


Microsoft founder, philanthropist and avid bookworm Bill Gates has a few book recommendations for the summer. Each of the titles, which he listed in a blog post on Monday, are meant to help readers better understand the larger world around them.


“Some of these books helped me better understand what it’s like to grow up outside the mainstream,” Gates wrote. “As a child of mixed race in apartheid South Africa, as a young man trying to escape his impoverished life in rural Appalachia, or as the son of a peanut farmer in Plains, Georgia.” 



He adds, “I hope you’ll find that others make you think deeper about what it means to truly connect with other people and to have purpose in your life. And all of them will transport you somewhere else — whether you’re sitting on a beach towel or on your own couch.”


One book Gates recommends is Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show,” which details the comedian’s life growing up in apartheid South Africa.


“I loved reading this memoir about how [the] host honed his outsider approach to comedy over a lifetime of never quite fitting in,” Gates wrote.


To find out Gates four other picks, just watch the video above. Happy reading!

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Watch This Disabled Burlesque Performer Own Her Sexuality

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Jacqueline Boxx is a burlesque performer, dancer and cat-owner. Oh, and she also happens to be disabled. 


The Scene recently featured Boxx in a short documentary where the burlesque dancer discussed her love for performing and how she deals with her disability on and off stage. 


“As a disabled person, I have a body that isn’t often celebrated,” Boxx told The Scene. “A lot of times it feels like disability means that your body should be hidden. Like I shouldn’t be pleased and happy and feel sexual as a disabled woman.”


When Boxx was in college, she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable syndrome called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which makes the joints in her body dislocate easily. She had always been a dancer, and was actually teaching dance at the time of her diagnosis. Boxx had to stop dancing and accepted the fact that she would never perform again.


It wasn’t until a few years later that she went to a burlesque show and remembered how much she missed dancing.   


“I went to a burlesque show and I thought how much I missed being there,” Boxx told The Scene. “I remembered the glitter and the rhinestones and how powerful I felt; and I thought ‘Man, it would feel really nice right now to feel powerful.’” 


So, Boxx started choreographing a burlesque performance ― from a wheelchair. She quickly found out that performing burlesque made her look and feel damn good.  








“When I’m performing I am showing that I love and accept my body as it is,” Boxx told The Scene. “The way in which burlesque is so in-your-face-aggressive about owning your body is inspiring. I think that the time has come for that to include disabled bodies.”


Boxx hopes viewers take away two things from the video. For disabled people, she hopes they can “start viewing their own bodies as sensual and sexual and confident.”


And for everyone else? “I don’t necessarily want to be know as the disabled burlesque performer,” Boxx said. “I want to be known as a burlesque performer who is a disabled women who lives authentically and encourages others to live authentically.” 

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Justin Bieber Might Not Actually Know The Lyrics To 'Despacito'

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Justin Bieber might need to brush up on his Spanish.


The Canadian singer remixed Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s global hit “Despacito” last month. The new version shot to the top of the U.S. charts last week and became the first Spanish-language song to be No. 1 in the country since the “Macarena.” 


The remix marked the first time Bieber had sung in Spanish on a track. And according to E! News, he appeared to forget some of the lyrics to the hit song during a performance at the 1 Oak nightclub in New York City on Tuesday. 


Videos of when Bieber replaces Spanish lyrics with intelligible sounds or phrases like “I quit smoking ciggies” surfaced on Instagram on Wednesday. TMZ also posted a video of the performance. 




During an interview with AOL Build, Fonsi explained that the remix came out quite suddenly and was recorded in the span of about four days. The Puerto Rican singer also said that Bieber had insisted on singing in Spanish and learned the lyrics phonetically. 


“He wanted to sing the chorus in Spanish, we had lyrics for the whole song in English but he’s like ‘uh uh uh’ I’m doing it in español,” Fonsi said during the live interview on May 17. “He went there and he learned phonetically ‘Despacito.’ He did his thing, let me tell you.”


Watch Bieber do his thing in the videos above.

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Behind The Poem That So Powerfully Captures Parenting In Times Of Tragedy

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As news of the devastating concert attack in Manchester broke, people around the world turned to social media to share words of sorrow, fear and hope.


One popular message came in the form of a poem called “Good Bones” by writer Maggie Smith.


“Life is short, though I keep this from my children,” the powerful poem begins.  






“Good Bones” first went viral on social media last June following the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando and murder of British parliamentarian Jo Cox in the U.K. After the 2016 presidential election, the poem made the online rounds again with posts from celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Megan Mullally


The Washington Post declared that Smith’s poem “captured the mood of a tumultuous year.”





Smith lives in Ohio and has a 4-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter. “I wrote the poem in 2015, thinking about how to spare my children from the harsher parts of the world, at least while they’re so young, without lying to them about it,” she told HuffPost. “How do we stay honest and also stay hopeful? Sometimes it’s hard enough to be optimistic, let alone project optimism to others.” 


Watching her poem’s rise to internet fame has been an interesting experience for Smith. “I was just telling Jen Benka, the executive director of the Academy of American Poets, how strange it is that when my mentions start blowing up on social media, I know something bad has happened somewhere in the world,” she said. “That’s when people start sharing ‘Good Bones’ again.” 



The poet said she found out about the Manchester attack Monday night through Twitter. “It breaks my heart that women, girls, and the LGBTQ community were targeted,” she told HuffPost. “I have a daughter who is 8 years old, and I’m sure someday I’ll take her to a concert as a special night out, just the two of us. I can’t imagine what those parents must be feeling. My heart is breaking for the families in Manchester.”


Because her kids are young enough to have limited access to the news, Smith plans to keep the Manchester attack from them while she can.  



Smith, whose upcoming book of poetry, Good Bones, will be published this fall, says she has mixed feelings about the titular poem’s role in the aftermath of public tragedies. 


“It’s incredibly gratifying and moving to see the poem travel so far and touch so many people, but it’s also heartbreaking and strange that when the poem is being shared widely on social media, it’s because of a tragedy or injustice,” the poet explained.


Still, she added, “All in all I’m glad that the poem is bringing people comfort or at least helping them see a bit of light in the darkness.”

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Donald Trump Gave The Pope A Sculpture His Holiness Will Probably Regift

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Turns out President Donald Trump’s taste in art is just about as refined as his taste in suits.


During Wednesday’s visit to the Vatican, 45 exchanged gifts with a dour looking Pope Francis. His holiness’ awesomely unsubtle gifts to our president included the pontiff’s 2015 treatise on climate change along with a large medallion reading, “I give this to you so that you can be an instrument of peace.” 


Trump, in return, gifted the Pope with a bronze sculpture of lotus flowers that just screams dentist waiting room. Seriously, the seafoam green figure makes Dale Chihuly seem like Auguste Rodin. 


The piece, called “Rising Above,” is the work of Florida-based artist Geoffrey C. Smith, whose sculptures often depict various species of plants and wildlife. “Art is important. It was man’s first form of communication and still one of the most powerful forms today,” Smith quotes himself as saying on his website.


Too true. Could Smith possibly let Trump, who’d like little more than to defund the National Endowment for the Arts, know?


According to the White House, Trump selected the sculpture because the sacred flower “evokes two universal values: unity and resilience.” In comparison to the Pope’s pointed presents, however, the floral arrangement seems to evoke the universal value of sleepiness. (From which Trump is probably suffering.)


It’s hard to gauge exactly what Pope Francis is thinking in the photo below, though we wouldn’t be surprised if a good friend of the Holy Father’s winds up with something very similar to the lotus sculpture come Christmas time. 



H/T artnet News.





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Sarah Lacina Wins 'Survivor: Game Changers' In Thrilling Final Tribal Council

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Another successful season of “Survivor” has come to an end ― and the last person standing no doubt deserves the $1 million prize for their gameplay. 


After 39 days of intense competition, Sarah Lacina was named the winner of “Survivor: Game Changers” following a tribal council that switched things up a bit, focusing on each player’s strategy through outwit, outplay and outlast Q&As. Sarah earned the majority of votes from the jury, beating out runner-up Brad Culpepper and third place finisher Troyzan Robertson.



Tai Trang, Aubry Bracco and Cirie Fields were voted out earlier on in the finale episode. Cirie’s exit was particularly memorable as her torch was snuffed after a record-breaking three idols were played during tribal on Day 36. Not one person wrote her name down, yet she was sent home since Tai played two idols ― one for himself and one for Aubry ― Troyzan played his idol, Sarah played her legacy advantage and Culpepper won the immunity challenge. Technically, Cirie ended up being the only player who could be voted out. 


After the four-time player left, host Jeff Probst told the jury and the remaining five contestants, “A ‘Survivor’ legend goes out in legendary style.”



Despite it all, real-life cop Sarah, who admittedly “played like a criminal,” had a stellar run this season, managing to backstab the best of the best. “Game Changers,” of course, featured esteemed past players including Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tony Vlachos, Ozzy Lusth, Malcolm Freberg and Andrea Boehlke.  


A teary-eyed Sarah told host Probst during the live after-show, “I’m very proud of the game I played, I’m not proud of how I treated people.” 


Well, the jury members didn’t seem to mind the blindsides, Sarah. Congrats! 

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Zeke Smith Relives Being Outed As Transgender On 'Survivor: Game Changers' Finale

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”It became a worldwide cultural moment,” host Jeff Probst told the audience at the live “Survivor: Game Changers” finale, referring to the disappointing and shocking moment when Jeff Varner randomly outed fellow contestant Zeke Smith as transgender on the April 12 episode. 


The emotional tribal council was heartbreaking for Smith, who had not publicly come out as trans at that point, but it ultimately led to an important discussion about supporting people who are trying to be their authentic selves. 


“I was really scared because I didn’t know what was going to happen to my world. I didn’t know what the reaction was going to be,” Smith said during Season 34’s reunion show on Wednesday night. “What this experience has shown me is I have so much love in my life ... I’ve never felt as loved as I do right now.”


The 29-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, was blindsided by the outing, but has since come to realize that the moment has only made him stronger. 


“When I transitioned, I was hit with a pretty big bout of depression, like a lot of people are, and I almost failed out of Harvard, I was living at home, I was alone, I was pretty helpless. And I started watching ‘Survivor,’ and I binged 20 seasons, and it took me away,” Smith said. “I got to go on an adventures with Ozzy [Lusth] and Cirie [Fields[ and with Sandra [Diaz-Twine] and it got me through. And, slowly, I got to put my life back together, but there was something ― there was a courage and a boldness ... something inside of me knew I had to go play ‘Survivor.’ And I found that courage and that boldness in Fiji. I found it on the beaches. And in so many ways, ‘Survivor’ has given me my life back.”



As for Varner’s thoughts on the backlash, he, of course, knows he was in the wrong. “This has been very difficult. I got hit hard,” he said. “It was really ugly for a period of time.”


But then, as Varner explained, it changed after he admitted to his mistake and turned it into something positive.


“There’s a book in the works that I’m working on, it’s entitled Surviving Shame,” he added, to the surprise of some of his castmates. “And you get the first copy,” Varner told Probst. 


“I love that you’re turning this into something positive,” Probst concluded. 


Let’s hope more meaningful conversations continue. 

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George R. R. Martin Likens Donald Trump To His Most Sadistic 'Game Of Thrones' Character

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George R. R. Martin is bringing winter early to President Donald Trump.


The acclaimed author has compared the commander-in-chief to one of the most brutal, sadistic and despicable characters from “Game of Thrones”— King Joffrey Baratheon:







“I think Joffrey is now the king in America,” Martin said in an interview with Esquire published Wednesday. “And he’s grown up just as petulant and irrational as he was when he was thirteen in the books.”


Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire book series is the basis of HBO’s fantasy epic. Shortly before the 2016 election, he said Trump was “unfit to lead this nation.”


Actor Kit Harington, who portrays the character Jon Snow in the show, also commented on the current occupant of the White House — and revealed why he refuses to call Trump by his official title.


“Mr. Donald Trump — I wouldn’t call him President, I’ll call him Mister,” he said. “I think this man at the head of your country is a con artist.” 


Read the full Esquire interview here.


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Keira Knightley Almost Wasn't In 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 5'

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It seems it almost wasn’t a “Pirates” life for Keira Knightley.


Brenton Thwaites, who plays Henry Turner in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” recently chatted with HuffPost about what it’s like to play the son of Orlando Bloom’s Will Turner and Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann. He also shed some light on Knightley’s big return.


The actor told us, “It’s kind of an honor to play a Turner. I’ve watched all their stuff together since the first movie, and they’ve always had such a great banter and wonderful chemistry with each other.”


Fans were especially excited about the chance to see that chemistry again when it got out that Knightley would appear in the film. Images of the actress, which first showed up in the international trailer, instantly went viral. Since then, the cast has been pretty forthcoming about Knightley’s appearance, with Bloom openly talking about sharing the screen again with his “Pirates” co-star on the red carpet.



Still, her return apparently wasn’t always a lock. As Thwaites remembers it, the Knightley scene wasn’t in the original script.


“I believe it was added after. I’m not sure, but I believe it was added after,” Thwaites told HuffPost, saying the part with Elizabeth Swann was shot “14 or 15 months after principal photography.” 


“It was a long gap between finishing production and doing the reshoots was that little segment,” said Thwaites. “I had already shot my biggest scenes with Orlando, so we already had our moment, and our story had come to an end, and we kind of [closed] that chapter and had our climactic moment.”


(HuffPost reached out to screenwriter Terry Rossio about the moment and will update this story accordingly.)


Knightley previously said she wasn’t going to appear in another “Pirates” movie, which could explain why Elizabeth Swann supposedly wasn’t included in the initial script. But what changed her mind?


Perhaps she just missed life on the high seas. Or, as we speculated before, the actress probably stole a piece of cursed Aztec gold and got pulled into the role while trying to return it to the “Pirates” set. Who knows?







However it happened, we’re glad she’s back. Swann’s inclusion is without a doubt one of the best parts of the movie, and it may play a role in where the franchise goes from here. 


Thwaites told us he’d like to see his character have “a bit more material with Elizabeth Swann” in future “Pirates” films.


“I didn’t really have that much with Elizabeth Swann, Keira’s character, but I would like to see a bit more of that because it feels like the start of something new,” he said, “and there’s kind of a lot of possibility at the end of the movie. It feels like it will go somewhere.”


If we had a magical compass that pointed to what we wanted most, it’d be more Elizabeth Swann, too.







”Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” hits theaters Friday.

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