Trump Names Kennedy Center Honorees, Says He'll Host Awards Show
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Insiders Claim Whether Taylor Swift's New Album Has Songs About Donald Trump & Blake Lively
As soon as Taylor Swift announced TS12 coming out, the speculation hit an all-time high. While we know for certain that he main color of this era will be orange, and that the album will be called The Life of a Showgirl, there's not much else known. Fans have speculated what it's inspired by, and some even claim that photos and the track list were leaked, it's all in the air. However, insiders claim we can expect a few things: including songs about US President Donald Trump and Swift's former BFF Blake Lively. Obviously, you're probably wondering: 'A Trump song?! What does that mean?' Well, Swift famously endorsed Kamala Harris, and since then, Trump has made many pointed remarks and disses at her. Per Billboard, he has posted about her a lot on Truth Social, saying, 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' 'The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving,' and 'Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' she's no longer 'HOT?'' More from SheKnows Kai Trump Reveals Big New Milestone in Photos That Show a Subtle Shift From Grandpa Donald Trump An insider told DailyMail that while TS12 'isn't a political record,' but Swift has a lot to say. '[She was] motivated by the excitement around Kamala last year which is when she recorded some of the songs,' they said. 'Taylor has a point to prove and is ready to silence people who said her career has 'broke' because she went 'woke.'' (And if we're going by the alleged leaked track list, per StyleCaster, it seems like the tenth song, 'Cancelled!' will probably be about this!) Now, what about Lively? As many know, Swift was dragged into Lively's legal drama with Baldoni, with Swift getting added to Baldoni's countersuit. In this countersuit, Baldoni revealed texts, where Lively seemingly referred to Swift as one of her 'dragons' to defend her. At the time, insiders claimed Swift 'doesn't appreciate being referred to as one of Blake's dragons' and 'can't help but feel used,' according to another Page Six article. (There have been reports of a reconciliation, but nothing concrete yet.) The insiders claim that Swift will probably touch on the former friendship, saying, 'She did write about Blake last year, but it's no longer the focus of the album because she wanted it to be positive and feel-good.' (Again, if we check out the leaked lineup, we can infer 'Ruin the Friendship' may be about this situation!)Best of SheKnows 22 Famous Women Who Have Played Roxie in Chicago on Broadway 13 Famous Women You Totally Forgot Elvis Dated Celebrities Who Died Tragically Young: Kelley Mack, Lucy Markovic, & More Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Taylor Swift Grabbed a Record Out From Under Trump & Swifties Call It Karma
Taylor Swift didn't just appear on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast this week. She walked in, dropped her The Life of a Showgirl album announcement, and casually stole a record from Donald Trump. Within the first hour, her episode drew 1.3 million live viewers on YouTube, leaving Trump's Rogan sit-down — which peaked at 800,000 in the same timeframe — in the dust. His team once touted that number as proof of his unstoppable momentum. Swift nearly doubled it while chatting about sourdough and songwriting. For fans, the schadenfreude was immediate. 'tbh that was like half the reason I tuned in,' one person admitted on Reddit. Another agreed: 'Same, I spite watched it on YouTube for this very purpose.' More from SheKnows Taylor Swift Promises Showgirl Will Stay at 12 Songs - & Fans Think She's Addressing Something Bigger 'Straight Karma' another fan added. One more put it bluntly: 'Not a swiftie by any means but I love this for her. Any opportunity I can see anyone beat Trump in anything, is a win for me😍.' It wasn't lost on anyone that Trump is a man who famously cannot stand to lose. Watching Swift topple one of his recent bragging rights felt like poetic justice. 'Ah yes a generally male (and sports centric) podcast where they regularly praise their partners and women in their lives vs Joe Rogan,' one commenter noted. Another cut right to the chase: 'The point isn't that the Kelce bros podcast is better than Rogan's… it's that Taylor Swift is more popular than Trump which will piss Trump off a lot.' But just when it looked like Swift was delivering an unambiguous F-U, things got messier. According to Patrick Mahomes, the first call Swift made after recording wasn't to him or even to Travis — it was to Brittany Mahomes, per Us Weekly. Brittany, who once earned a glowing thank-you from Trump on Truth Social after she liked one of his posts, has been an awkward figure in Swift's circle ever since. The two women remain publicly close, but for some fans, the optics of Swift snatching a record from Trump and then FaceTiming one of his loudest cheerleaders were hard to ignore. Swift has never been subtle about her politics — she endorsed Kamala Harris last fall, and insiders have already hinted that The Life of a Showgirl may take a swing at Trump directly. Still, she seems to relish the layered symbolism of moments like this. As one Redditor quipped, 'lol I love how this is bringing her non fans and fans together for a common cause.' For Swifties, that common cause was simple: watching her swipe a win from a man who hates to lose. Before you go, click to see all of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's cutest PDA moments. Best of SheKnows 20 Times Madonna Reinvented Fashion at the VMAs The Best Photos of Madonna & Lookalike Daughter Lourdes Through The Years 22 Famous Women Who Have Played Roxie in Chicago on Broadway Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Trump's inspired Kennedy Center Honors picks spotlight liberals' own performance art
The Kennedy Center Honors are the nation's top performing-arts-achievement awards and their celebration the highlight of the capital's cultural calendar. Yet the honorees are typically announced in that most artless of ways — a press release. Not this year. You'd think liberals who decry conservatives as contemptible Philistines would be pleased to see a Republican president focus the country's attention on the arts with something of a show itself. But no — not when that president is Donald Trump. They slammed the selections too, though the list isn't much different from those under Democratic presidents such as Barack Obama — and reflects a wide swath of what Americans appreciate and admire in the arts. Of course, the small spectacle Trump held Wednesday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts wasn't exactly establishment Washington. The president walked to a podium in front of five pictures on easels, all covered with red cloth. Two attractive women in sleeveless dresses and high heels assisted — distinctly reminiscent of ring girls in boxing and Trump's beloved UFC — dramatically unveiling each honoree on cue. 'Rocky' creator-star Sylvester Stallone, glam-metal rockers KISS, country king George Strait, disco goddess Gloria Gaynor and Broadway luminary Michael Crawford will receive the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors. Trump himself — also the center's chairman — will host the gala tribute Dec. 7, which CBS will air later that month. DC doesn't have a lot of glitz, so the December weekend honorees and those paying tribute to them spend in town is a big deal. I know because I covered the cocktail parties, the rehearsals, the red carpets and more for years when I lived in Washington. And the political and performing elite can't stand the idea of Donald Trump taking part in the ritzy rituals. Trump didn't attend a single Honors gala in his first term after 2017 honoree 'All in the Family' creator Norman Lear said he'd skip any White House event to protest the president. But Trump 2.0 is bolder and brasher — and wants to make real his 'vision for a Golden Age in arts and culture,' as he put it. The media fawned over First Lady Michelle Obama's White House Kitchen Garden. They published deep think pieces about her husband's summer playlists. But the same people who believe right-wingers want to cut all cultural education are annoyed when a GOP president spends an hour talking about great artists. 'You might be wondering why you haven't heard much about important issues like inflation, health care or infrastructure lately, but there's a very good reason: Donald Trump doesn't care,' late-night talker Seth Meyers said. Conservatives 'want to go on Fox News and whine about woke,' he continued. 'This is what the right really cares about. This is why Trump is spending his precious time announcing the Kennedy Center Honors.' Cue the subtle — and not-so-subtle — digs about the choices. 'The line-up explains a lot about him, his power and why he's president,' CNN's Stephen Collinson intoned. It's 'more populist than 'high' culture.' 'At the Kennedy Center, Trump Puts His Pop Culture Obsession on Display,' The New York Times headlined its story. Time Senior Correspondent Philip Elliott declared, 'The Kennedy Center Honors Is Now Just Another Trump Show,' and likened the Florida man to Stalin, who made the genius Shostakovich's life a living nightmare. This year's choices, Elliott wrote, 'signal yet the latest example of Trump putting his thumb on the scale of American culture and tossing it back to yesteryear.' Who's going to tell the storied Time the Kennedy Center Honors are lifetime-achievement awards whose winners always send us 'back to yesteryear'? Liberals howling this isn't the highfalutin' list it should be forget the first awardees under Obama included Bruce Springsteen, Robert De Niro and Mel 'Blazing Saddles' Brooks. LL Cool J won in 2017. Trump's is not a way-out-there list. It's true one spot usually goes to classical music or dance, and I'm disappointed that's missing — though to Trump, Michael Crawford is operatic. And he did originate the title role of 'The Phantom of the Opera,' which Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote for his then-wife, classical soprano Sarah Brightman. KISS is an inspired choice — a great American story. Two Jewish New York kids whose families had fled the Holocaust, Stanley Bert Eisen and Chaim Witz, transformed themselves into the makeup-laden, otherworldly Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. And in doing so, they transformed concert touring itself. Texan George Strait helped bring back a very American genre as a trailblazer in neotraditional country in the 1980s, when pop crossovers were stealing stages in Nashville and beyond. Now young country-not-crossover stars such as Zach Top and Parker McCollum cite his influence. As a Strait fan from Alberta, the Texas of Canada, told me, 'People like him because he's real. He's not fake ass. And he can actually sing.' Authenticity — it reminds me of my time covering the Honors. At the various events, the rest of the press wanted to talk only to the cool kids. At the cocktail party the year Steve Martin won, for example, their sights were set on well-known actors. That let me have Ricky Jay, Steve Martin's friend who appeared with him in the David Mamet film 'The Spanish Prisoner,' all to myself. He was one of the greatest magicians of our time, a learned man with an amazing medieval collection. Another year, it was just me and an AP reporter left on the red carpet for Chris Cornell, there to perform for The Who — the super famous stars had walked it already. The AP fellow knew nothing about him, so I was able to ask all of the questions of one of rock's greatest voices. Speaking of David Mamet, can Trump turn his attention to Mark Twain Prize for American Humor next? The Kennedy Center refuses to give it to politically incorrect geniuses like him and Woody Allen. Washington could certainly use some intelligent laughs these days.
