"After months of anticipation, the impeachment trial of President Trump wound up consisting of two weeks of dry debate and posturing and will conclude without any witness testimony or new evidence," a narrator for the NBC variety show read. "For those hoping for more, here is the trial you wish had happened."
The fantasy impeachment first replaced Chief Justice John Roberts (Mikey Day) with Judge Mathis (Kenan Thompson).
"Do you want my gavel?" Day's Roberts asked.
"Fool, I brought my own," Thompson's Mathis responded. "Watch out."
Thompson's Mathis then called forth Sens. Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett) and Lindsey Graham (Kate McKinnon) as well as former national security adviser John Bolton (Cecily Strong).
Thompson's Mathis asked what other details were in Bolton's book.
"No, no, sorry Judge. No more free spoilers," Strong's Bolton said. "But you can pre-order the book now. It's called 'Harry Potter and the Room Where It Happened.'"
Mathis also called Hunter Biden (Pete Davidson) to testify -- and he came in on a hoverboard scooter.
"Hey, you're not going to believe this, but my schedule was wide open," Davidson's Biden said.
Thompson's Mathis finally called President Trump (Alec Baldwin) to the stand, who was defending himself.
"Your honor, I'm a very sick old man. How could I withhold aid from the Ukraine? I can barely get around the house," Baldwin's Trump said.
In the make-believe trial, Trump gave a surprisingly honest closing statement.
"Ladies and gentlemen of this government place, what I have learned from this trial is that clearly nothing I do or say has any consequence so I'd like to come clean," Baldwin's Trump began. "The call with the Ukraine wasn't perfect, it was illegal and frankly it was a butt dial."
Baldwin's Trump added that he watches "CNN all the time, and it's awesome," that he cheats all the time in golf and taxes, and that he hates many states, including "West Carolina."
After that, Thompson's Mathis gave his judgment.
"Alright, Judge Mathis finds the defendant guilty on all charges," he said. "He's fined $10,000 and I'm forcing him to say one nice thing about Nancy Pelosi."
Toy Story 4 picked up the Animated Film prize during the ceremony at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown that honored excellence in production design across 11 categories in film and television., Check out the full list of winners below.
Trophy-takers on the TV side included The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Cherrnobyl, The Big Bang Theory, Russian Doll,The Umbrella Acedemy and Drunk History.
Since the ADG Awards launched in 1996, one of its top prize winners has gone on to win the Art Direction Oscar 15 of 23 years. The ADGs awarded a Feature Film prize for its first four years, then split its top categories into Period/Fantasy Film and Contemporary. Since 2006, it has handed out separate trophies for Period, Fantasy and Contemporary films.
But one category hasn’t been much more prolific at Academy Award prognostication. Of those 15 ADG-winning pics that went on to score Oscar gold, four were Period Film winners, four were Fantasy, there were Period/Fantasy, three were Feature and one was Contemporary (La La Land in 2016).
Two longtime industry veterans were inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame posthumously: three-time Oscar nominee William J. Creber, whose credits include the early Planet of the Apes films and Irwin Allen’s disaster pics The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, and 15-time Oscar nominee Roland Anderson, whose credits range from A Farewell to Arms and Reap the Wild Wind to Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Love with the Proper Stranger.
Syd Mead, the visionary futurist behind Blade Runner and Tron who died in December, received the William Cameron Menzies Award. His other films range from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Aliens to Elysium and Tomorrowland.
Fantasy Film Avengers: Endgame Production Designer: Charles Wood
Period Film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Production Designer: Barbara Ling
Animated Film Toy Story 4 Production Designer: Bob Pauley
Contemporary Film Parasite Production Designer: Lee Ha-Jun
Television Movie or Limited Series Chernobyl Production Designer: Luke Hull
One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: “Ep. 305, Ep. 308” Production Designer: Bill Groom
Half-Hour Single-Camera Series Russian Doll: “Nothing in This World is Easy” Production Designer: Michael Bricker
One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Series The Umbrella Academy: “We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals” Production Designer: Mark Worthington
Multi-Camera Series The Big Bang Theory: “The Stockholm Syndrome,” “The Conference Valuation,” “The Propagation Proposition” Production Designer: John Shaffner
Variety, Reality or Event Special Drunk History: “Are You Afraid of the Drunk?” Production Designer: Monica Sotto
Short Format: Web Series, Music Video or Commercial MedMen: “The New Normal” Production Designer: James Chinlund
Harry Styles and Lizzo were slotted to perform ahead of the Super Bowl at the Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl party on Friday but Mother Nature had other plans.
The concert was evacuated after severe thunderstorms began to roll through the city, flooding the venue. Pepsi said on Twitter that the Miami Fire Department ordered all fans to leave and that the concert had been canceled, even though it had already started.
Fans evacuated the show's venue at Meridian Island in Miami, where Styles was meant to be the headliner, according to a release from Pepsi. Lizzo, who was a special guest, had already begun performing. Mark Ronson was also a special guest.
The National Weather Service Miami-South Florida had tweeted that there was a severe thunderstorm warning in the area through 3 a.m. and later updated the news of the severe weather at 11:20 p.m.
"Thunderstorms will intensify across the metro areas of Miami-Dade County over the next hour or so. Wind gusts to 70 mph and brief isolated tornadoes will be possible. Please stay weather aware!" they wrote.
Miami Fire Rescue wrote on Twitter that their Division of Emergency Management was monitoring the current and expected conditions in the county. They were expecting potentially hazardous weather overnight with "thunderstorms, gusty winds to 60mph, heavy rainfall, small hail and isolated tornadoes possible."
Styles also took to Twitter to address his fans around midnight after he wasn't allowed onstage after the fire department canceled the show.
"To those of you here in Miami, I was told there's a severe storm on the way," he wrote. "The fire department would not let us do the show under any circumstances. Please stay safe. I'm so disappointed, and I'm sorry. I love you all. H"
According to the Mirror, fans were evacuating in muddy fields with water up to their knees.
Local meteorologist Brandon Orr tweeted a video of the conditions.
Attendees of the concert were not amused by the situation. Twitter user @sighnatasha called it "fyre fest 2.0." Another user, @ClaireOrihuela, also compared the situation to Fyre Festival. "At least the people at FYRE festival got sandwiches."
And some even refused to leave, according to another tweet containing a video from Joel Franco.
Others took to Twitter to start a movement: Sue Pepsi.
User @chalakissy created a list of reasons that people should sue and shared it on Twitter.
"1) pepsi banned portable chargers and made people throw theirs out so now peoples phones are dying while they are trying to find help
2) people are being charged $300+ for ubers
3) ubers are the only way out to get off the island unless you want to walk across a bridge #SUEPEPSI."
Pepsi wrote on Twitter around 1 a.m. that the evacuation was mandatory across all special event venues in the city and apologized. They said they were focused on evacuating attendees safely.
After announcing the evacuation, Pepsi took to Twitter again to make another announcement.
The company said it would begin issuing refunds for tickers and for ride share costs incurred during the evacuation.
"To all attendees at the Pepsi Planet Zero Sugar Party, we have notified Ticketmaster and all refunds will be automatically issued to the method of payment used to make your purchase. We will also cover ride share costs from the show. Those details are on the way," they wrote in the tweet.
USA TODAY reached out to Pepsi and to the Miami Fire Department for comment.
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The Miami Fire Department canceled the Planet Pepsi Zero Sugar concert as strong thunderstorms moved through the city shortly after 8 p.m.
"This was a mandatory evacuation in Miami across special event venues," Pepsi said in a tweet. "We are focused on ensuring everyone is safely evacuated. We deeply apologize to the fans."
Fans were asked to leave the concert venue, Meridian at Island Gardens, just before Styles was to start his performance, CNN affiliate WSVN reported.
The former One Direction member apologized to fans on Twitter, saying the fire department wouldn't allow the concert to go on "under any circumstances."
"I'm so disappointed, and I'm sorry," Styles wrote.
A night earlier, Styles, whose new solo album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in December, showed up at Lizzo's concert at the Fillmore Miami Beach and sang her hit song "Juice" with her.
Pepsi tweeted it will offer a full refund for the canceled show and pay for the cost of ride shares for concertgoers.
Lady Gaga is scheduled to perform Saturday at Meridian, the location of Friday night's concert, according to an event schedule posted on Ticketmaster's website.
The Super Bowl Live fan festival, a couple miles from the concert site, will open Saturday morning as scheduled, Miami Super Bowl Host Committee spokeswoman Karla Fortuny said. Earlier, Fortuny said the festival wouldn't open Saturday, citing the weather.
The severe weather threat is not over for Miami, which is hosting Sunday's Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium. According to the National Weather Service, severe weather could hit the area Saturday afternoon and evening, but the threat diminishes in time for the big game Sunday.
CNN meteorologists are predicting a beautiful, dry day for the showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, with temperatures in the mid-60s by kickoff time.
The much-anticipated release of "American Dirt," a novel about a mother and son who flee Mexico for the United States after their family members are killed by a drug cartel, has prompted a seemingly endless stream of discussion as people representing all sides of the debate continue to speak out.
By now, most are familiar with the details surrounding the controversy. The novel's defenders maintain that Jeanine Cummins' book, released on Jan. 21, is an important narrative confronting a topical issue, U.S. migration from Mexico and Central America. The book has been championed by high-profile celebrities, like Oprah who named it her bookclub pick.
The novel's critics, however, primarily consisting of Latinos and other people of color, have deemed the book opportunistic and racist and are questioning why Latino authors often don't receive a similar level of support for their projects, which touch upon similar themes and are written from an insider's perspective.
Author Jeanine Cummins in Nyack, N.Y..Heather Sten / New York Times via Redux Pictures
But this week brought two major developments in the "American Dirt" saga. The novel made its debut at No. 1 on The New York Times’s best-seller list for hardcover and for combined print and e-book fiction, hours before its publisher canceled the rest of the author's tour Wednesday, citing security concerns.
As the discussion continues, some are asking what's next. How might the conversation surrounding "American Dirt" be capitalized to diversify the publishing industry in an actionable way?
One thing people on both sides of the controversy agree on is that "American Dirt" has further revealed the schism between a publishing industry that is majority white and readers and writers of color. According to the latest diversity survey from Lee & Low Books, which was released on Tuesday, nearly 80 percent of book publishers and agencies are white. Latinos are particularly underrepresented, making up 6 percent of the industry as a whole and 3 percent of the industry's leadership.
Though there have been initiatives in recent years to diversify the industry, including the organizations Latinx in Publishing and We Need Diverse Books, the needle hasn't moved all that much, as evinced by the 2015 diversity survey from Lee & Low Books, which also stated that the publishing industry was approximately 80 percent white.
Yet the nearly omnipresent responses to "American Dirt" suggest that the book will be an inflection point for the publishing industry.
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Latino critics have already somewhat upended publishing by bypassing the traditional modes of book reviewing. Initially these critics began sharing their thoughts on the book through blog posts, tweets and memes, but once the controversy began picking up steam, their thoughts were elicited and shared in the opinion sections of major outlets. Now hundreds have become involved with #DignidadLiteraria, a social movement that calls for social media and in-person actions to share Latino stories. The movement was spearheaded by authors Myriam Gurba, David Bowles, and Robert Lovato, the initial and most vocal critics of "American Dirt."
"We made our point. Now we should pivot toward something far more important than a single white woman who stole our stories," reads #DignidadLiteraria's mission statement. "We call on Latinx writers, artists and rebels to join us in staging actions this coming week: inspired, angry, beautiful actions that will draw the nation's attention to a community of 60 million left off of bookshelves and out of the national dialogue."
According to Bowles, the movement has been functioning "organically" thus far as he, Gurba and Lovato are reaching out to authors and booksellers in different cities to organize town halls to elevate the work of Latino authors. The first live event for the movement was Friday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and the Association of Writers and Writers Programs will host a #DignidadLiteraria read-in during its annual conference in March. More events will be announced in the upcoming days.
Though these events were inspired by "American Dirt" responses, they will not focus solely on the novel.
"It's not healthy for Cummins nor is it healthy for us to keep discussing 'American Dirt's' shortcomings ad nauseam," Bowles told NBC News. "The problem goes beyond this novel: why are Latinxs routinely excluded from the market and what are we going to do about it?"
Bowles, author of "The Smoking Mirror" and several other award-winning novels, is also an educator and says that he is fighting for those "who've given up," like some of his Latino students who didn't think they could become writers because they never saw themselves represented on the page.
Just days old, #DignidadLiteraria is already connecting agents and authors from different parts of the country and reigniting the desire to amplify Latino works.
Natalia Sylvester, author of "Chasing the Sun" and "Running," recalled the difficulty she had breaking into the industry. As she attempted to sell her first novel to publishers, she said she was repeatedly told by publishers that while it "had important things to say," they "didn't know how to market it" because it included Latino characters. That book never sold, which she said is a "testament to who the publishing industry thinks its readers are."
She was also instructed to add more scenes of border-crossing to her second novel "Everyone Knows You Go Home," about a Mexican-American family, which she interpreted as publishers wanting her to write more stereotypical plot lines because they couldn't connect "mundane" scenarios with Latino people, like a mother calling her daughter or a family celebrating a birthday.
"I was protective of the story because I wanted to honor that community," Sylvester told NBC News. "I wanted to focus on the joy, not just the pain."
Following "American Dirt," Sylvester is more determined than ever to pay it forward and to create space for Latino writers. Using #DignidadLiteraria, she's inviting authors to reach out to her about their work so she can share it.
For #dignidadliteraria, I want to help lift up unpubbed/emerging Latinx voices—esp that of Afro-Latinx, Indigenous Latinx, Asian Latinx &/or queer folx & ppl w/disabilities. Short version: get in touch & tell me how I can help you. Long version (please read the whole thread!)
— Natalia Sylvester: pre-order RUNNING (@NataliaSylv) January 27, 2020
She's not the only one doing so. Book reviewer Manuel Aragon and others have requested authors who have books coming out in 2020 reach out to them so they can promote and write about them. And editors and agents like Shelly Romero, who works at Scholastic, and Megan Manzano, who works at D4EO Literary, have tweeted that they are continuously soliciting and on the lookout for stories from authors of diverse backgrounds.
"It's more important to me than ever before to let Latinx authors know that there are people who want to hear from us, who want to hear our stories, and who will fight for us," Manzano told NBC News. "We can't be defeated."
Manzano noted that the barriers to entry in publishing are sometimes insurmountable for people beginning their careers. According to Glassdoor, the salary for entry-level positions in publishing can be as low as $30,000, even in expensive cities like New York, where most of the positions are available. She also says that recruitment of people of color is only the first step in addressing the industry's lack of diversity and that often there are "no clear promotional pathways" in publishing, so moving up can sometimes mean leaving a company.
While many "American Dirt" critics were unsatisfied by Flatiron Books' decision to cancel Cummins' book tour — the leaders of #DignidadLiteraria called it an "unnecessary infringement of speech" — there's indication that leaders in the publishing industry won't be able to ignore the pushback to "American Dirt."
"Sources inside NY publishing (yes, we have MANY allies rooting for us FROM INSIDE) & beyond are telling us that #DignidadLiteraria is scaring the sh-t out of VERY powerful interests in the industry," Lovato tweeted Friday. "Ours is not the voice of the subservience and accommodation they pay handsomely for. Ours is a voice they haven't had to hear, one they're not yet equipped to deal with."
The Good Place aired its series finale this week, and the end ofthe NBC fan-favorite is making us all sob into our pillows. Creator Michael Schur has said of the season 4 finale episode, “I think we got it right.” But how did the cast of The Good Place react to the end of the universe?
The series finale of The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready,” featuring William Jackson Harper as Chidi and Kristen Bell as Eleanor | Colleen Hayes/NBC
The cast of ‘The Good Place’ honor their co-stars and characters after the series finale
After The Good Place series finale aired, the cast joined late-night host Seth Meyers for a live after-show. Meyers asked The Good Place actors what was the most emotional part about ending the show for good.
“The Redwoods, that was pretty emotional,” Ted Danson said. “The final goodbyes, that was pretty emotional.”
Jameela Jamil also told William Jackson Harper, “your speech killed me,” in reference to his series finale monologue about the Buddhist take on death. “I’ll never ever recover from that”
The cast of The Good Place: D’Arcy Carden, Kristen Bell, Manny Jacinto, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Ted Danson | Earl Gibson III/Getty Images
Kristen Bell also revealed on the recap show that Eleanor and Chidi’s touching scene on the bridge in Paris was the last shot The Good Place filmed.
“When we shot on the bridge—it’s called the Artist’s Bridge in Paris, that was … pretty emotional,” Bell explained. “Mike our creator kept it rolling, and … we were just both sobbing.”
Manny Jacinto shared: “the table read for me was probably the most emotional. Hearing those words out loud for the first time, and hearing it all together.”
“It was snotty,” Bell agreed. “It was very, very wet at that table read.”
The cast of The Good Place celebrates the series finale with Seth Meyers | Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Danson summed the series finale up with some lovely words.
“It was perfect for all of us,” he said. “It was a perfect ending to our story and Mike’s story … It was sad but uplifting and kind and gentle and sweet.” That it was, Ted.
Ted Danson, Kristen Bell, and other cast members share emotional tributes after ‘The Good Place’ ends
The cast also responded to The Good Place ending on social media.
Danson shouted out the scene in which he learns guitar from his real-life wife, acclaimed actress. Mary Steenburgen.
“My teacher on and off the screen!” he wrote. “Hi honey!”
Kristen Bell wrote on Twitter: “What a forking beautiful journey the past 4 years have been. Thank you so much for tuning in each week and giving us a life. #TheGoodPlace was the very best place. Shellstrop out.”
On Instagram, she posted a gorgeous picture of her and Danson in the Redwood forest.
“It’s not goodbye, just see you later in the dot of the ‘i,'” Bell wrote.
D’Arcy Carden had been posting The Good Place memories on Instagram for the last several days, leading up to the series finale. She gave shout outs to her fellow co-stars, producers, costume designers, you name it.
Her final Instagram post read, “could never explain what these people mean to me. i love them. forever.”
‘Now we return to the ocean’: saying goodbye to the wacky, lovely NBC show about the afterlife
“Forever grateful that our Jeremy Bearimy’s crossed paths,” Manny Jacinto captioned a photo on Instagram.
I don’t mess with Social media much. I’m too sensitive. (And crabby) But thanks to all the folks who rode this wave these past four years with us. Thanks to the best cast and crew ever. Now…we return to the ocean. Bye y’all.
William Jackson Harper | Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
The wave of The Good Place has officially folded back into the sea. But we are simply grateful we got to see it crash, brilliantly onto the shore, the sun glinting off its crest.
In the documentary out Friday, Swift goes after Blackburn's record as she gets emotional discussing with her parents and team about wanting to voice her opinion in the 2018 midterm elections, adding that she regrets not speaking out against Donald Trump during the 2016 election.
Swift, who had been reluctant to voice her political opinions in the past, broke her silence on politics during the 2018 midterms and endorsed Blackburn's rival for Senate, Democrat Phil Bredesen, and another Democrat running in Tennessee in an Instagram post. In the post's caption, Swift had said Blackburn's voting record "appalls and terrifies me."
Blackburn, a conservative lawmaker closely tied to the President, ended up winning her 2018 race by about 11 points, becoming the first female senator to represent her state.
Later in the documentary, Swift is shown reacting to Blackburn's election victory, saying she "can't believe it."
"She gets to be the first female senator in Tennessee, and she's Trump in a wig," Swift says. "She represents no female interests. She won by being a female applying to the kind of female males want us to be in a horrendous 1950s world."
The pop singer criticizes also Blackburn for her 2013 vote against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and stance against same-sex marriage.
"It's really basic human rights, and it's right and wrong at this point, and I can't see another commercial and see her disguising these policies behind the words 'Tennessee Christian values,'" Swift says, getting emotional. "Those aren't Tennessee Christian values. I live in Tennessee. I am Christian. That's not what we stand for."
After Swift went public with her endorsement of Bredesen, Blackburn told Fox News at the time, "Of course I support women and I want violence to end against women."
It seems the Republican senator doesn't want bad blood between her and Swift, according to a statement provided to CNN.
"Taylor is an exceptionally gifted artist and songwriter, and Nashville is fortunate to be the center of her creative universe," Blackburn said in the statement, first reported by Variety. "While there are policy issues on which we may always disagree, we do agree on the need to throw the entertainment community's collective influence behind legislation protecting songwriters, musicians, and artists from censorship, copyright theft, and profiteering."
She pointed to her and Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler's legislation, the Ask Musicians for Music Act, or AM-FM Act, that seeks to have radio services "pay fair market value" for the music they use.
Swift has been a vocal about concerns around the rights of singers and songwriters to profit from their own music.
"I welcome any further opportunities to work with Tennessee's and the nation's creative communities to protect intellectual property and ensure appropriate compensation for their creations. On that note, I wish Taylor the best — she's earned it," Blackburn added.
