Latest news with #Armand
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Sad, Violent Story of Ash Armand, Alleged Diddy 'Freak-Off' Escort And Former Reality Television Star
Week one of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' bombshell sex trafficking and racketeering trial closed with more shocking allegations than we can count. Amid Cassandra 'Cassie' Ventura's tearful testimony, prosecutors presented a binder of 13 male sex workers allegedly recruited by Ventura and hired by Diddy. One escort in particular sparked headlines, and he's a whole mess. Ash Armand — real name Akshaya Kubiak — was in the spotlight between 2011 and 2016 in Showtime's uncensored realityseries 'Gigolos.' The series followed the glammy lifestyle of five male escorts in the bustling city of Las Vegas. On Wednesday (May 14), Armand's photo was among many presented as evidence for Diddy's infamous drug-filled 'freak off' parties. In 2020, Armand claimed he was attacked by a friend — or alleged client — Herleen Dulai, after they allegedly took shrooms together at his home before he 'blacked out.' Armand called the police to report her unconscious, however officer's stated Dulai was 'obviously deceased' upon their arrival. During his hearing in December 2021, Armand declared his innocence, saying 'I have never hit a woman in my life, and I certainly never wanted to hurt Herleen,' per Review Journal. The Clark County Coroner's office ruled Duali's death a homicide, citing blunt force trauma and strangulation. On May 20, the trial jury heard testimony from 10 witnesses including another male escort, Sharay Hayes, who sang like a canary. According to Hayes, he had previously created 'a scene, a sexy scene, that was enjoyable' alongside Ventura for Diddy, per CNN. Dishing more details, he alleged Ventura didn't appear to show any discomfort with the situation, and claimed he never saw the two engage in any filming or violence. Today, Armand is serving an eight-to-20-year sentence in a Nevada correctional facility after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and mayhem. With his name mentioned in connection to Diddy's sex trafficking allegations, fans are wondering if he could emerge as a figure in the case. Either way, prosecutors are just getting warmed up. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Fallen marine from Rochester will be honored by NASCAR driver
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A fallen Marine from Rochester will be honored at NASCAR's 600 Miles of Remembrance this Memorial Day weekend. Corporal Reynold Armand was a graduate of Eastridge High School before he followed in his father's footsteps and joined the US Marines. Armand passed away on August 2, 2007, in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was 21 years old. Professional driver Daniel Suarez announced Wednesday that he will honor Armand during NASCAR's Military Appreciation Weekend. His name will be featured on the windshield of the Freeway #99 car. Miriam Velez is the Gold Star Mother of Cpl. Armand and a co-founder of the local organization Latino Military Coalition. She shared her thoughts on Suarez honoring her son. 'I sincerely appreciate Freeway for sharing my son's story and keeping his memory alive,' Velez wrote in a statement. Suarez will be racing in the 600 Miles of Remembrance, which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday, May 25. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
Police seek public's help locating missing West Springfield man
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The West Springfield Police are seeking the public's help in locating a man who has been missing since last Tuesday. In a social media post, the police say Armand Lemieux lives in the area of Main and Bridge Streets and has been missing since the early morning of April 29. He is well known to the residents in that area, and some say that they haven't seen him recently. Westfield begins two year project to replace aging pipes Armand is described as approximately 5'7' tall and weighing 160 pounds. If you have seen him or know of his whereabouts, you are asked to call West Springfield Police Detective Craig Nielson at 413-263-3210, extension 278. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
02-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘The music is in good hands': SFJazz names new CEO following yearlong search
After a year under interim leadership and a nationwide search, SFJazz has appointed Gabrielle Armand as its new chief executive officer. A seasoned arts executive and longtime leader at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, Armand will officially assume the position on July 1, guiding the Bay Area's premier nonprofit jazz institution through a pivotal moment of both challenge and opportunity. 'It's the right time for me to make a big move like this and come into a city so deeply rooted in the arts, creativity and vibrancy,' Armand said. 'San Francisco is in a moment of regeneration, and there's so much excitement about its next chapter. It felt like a natural fit.' Armand has nearly two decades of experience in arts marketing and strategic partnerships, most recently serving as chief marketing officer and vice president of brand, sales and marketing at Jazz at Lincoln Center. There, she led transformative initiatives in media, corporate sponsorships and audience development that significantly elevated the organization's national and international presence. She now brings that expertise west, joining SFJazz as it contends with financial pressures, changing demographics and the lingering effects of a pandemic that disrupted the live performance landscape. 'The richness of her experience at Jazz at Lincoln Center combined with her lifelong passion for the art form makes her the perfect leader for us,' said Coye, the board's president. 'We are excited for the opportunities ahead as Gabrielle helps expand the reach of jazz regionally and nationally, while deepening our commitment to education and artist support.' Armand steps into her new role at a critical juncture. SFJazz, widely recognized as one of the most influential jazz presenters in the country, faces growing questions about its long-term sustainability, community engagement and strategic direction, like many local arts institutions. She replaces Susie Medak, the former managing director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, who served as interim CEO following Greg Stern 's decision to step down at the end of December after 4 ½ years with the nonprofit. Armand will work in close partnership with Blanchard, an Emmy-winning trumpeter and twice Oscar-nominated film composer known as a leading figure in contemporary jazz. 'I see myself being on a listening tour for at least the first few months and spending real time with Terence to understand all the things that he wants to do,' Armand said, 'and then work together to kind of put together the priority list and the action plan.' Their collaboration pairs Blanchard's artistic vision with Armand's strategic leadership. 'We're both keenly aware of our responsibilities in our respective lanes,' Armand noted. 'We see opportunities to cross-pollinate where it makes sense, but most importantly, we're committed to supporting one another. Terence is such a versatile and accomplished musician, I have enormous admiration for his artistry.' Blanchard echoed her sentiment, calling Armand 'an outstanding leader with a deep understanding of the jazz world.' 'I'm excited to partner with her in advancing the vision and impact of SFJazz,' Blanchard said in a statement. During her time at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Armand spearheaded a bold expansion into digital media, launching an in-house record label, a dedicated streaming channel and award-winning broadcast content. 'Both of our organizations have been intertwined in many ways over the past decades and this is a sign of our maturation,' said Wynton Marsalis, managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. 'Gaby's leadership will reflect a deep understanding of the civic, cultural and mythological significance of jazz. She will make ethical, fiscally responsible, and intelligent decisions that will bring new energy to our ecosystem. The music is in good hands.' Armand sees similar opportunities at SFJazz, which has already experimented with online concerts and expanding its educational programming. 'SFJazz has an incredible foundation,' she said. 'My goal is to build on that and elevate the organization to new heights. It already has the essential ingredients every arts institution needs in times of transition: strong artistic leadership, an amazing staff and a supportive board. Those are the key elements you need whenever you're trying to turn things around, start a new chapter, or go in a different direction.' With more than 30 years of experience across music, media and nonprofit sectors, Armand is no stranger to leading complex organizations. Still, she acknowledges the unique significance of this role — and this moment. 'SFJazz has long been a beacon in both the San Francisco and national arts communities,' she said. 'It's a place where diverse voices and ideas are nurtured and celebrated. As we approach the country's semi-quincentennial, it feels especially meaningful to lead an institution rooted in jazz, a uniquely American art form that has always taken a lot of different cultures within this country, integrated them and made space and been a place to support all kinds of different artists.'
Boston Globe
22-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Remembering sculptor Armand LaMontagne, ‘our enduring star' whose wooden sculpture work commemorated Boston's sporting greats
Dave and I agreed how lucky we'd been to be his friends, while enjoying his company during the period of his greatest creative output, the three decades in which he carved life-size wooden sculptures of General George S. Patton, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams (twice), Larry Bird, Bobby Orr, Carl Yastrzemski, and Harry Agganis. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up We'd even reached out to Bill Russell, as we wanted to honor Boston's greatest champion with a LaMontagne original, but he respectfully declined. I recall that Armand had even selected a pose of Russell balancing on one leg while cradling a rebound, in the split-second before he'd fire a bullet pass to Bob Cousy or Sam Jones at the start of a patented Celtics fast break. Advertisement It had been a little more than six years since I'd seen Armand, and I was aware he'd suffered a series of illnesses. Our last phone chat had been roughly a year ago, when we recalled the many times we'd interacted regarding the five sculptures and half-dozen paintings he'd created for The Sports Museum. I informed him that he was still the star of our exhibits, as visitors often stood in wonder while examining the near-Baroque swirls and almost surgically rendered intricacy of his carvings of items such as Orr's hockey gloves or Bird's high-top sneakers. It reminded me of an encounter I had with Tom Heinsohn in the bowels of the old Boston Garden on the night of the public unveiling of the Bird sculpture. As I stood guard over the draped figure, Heinsohn approached and asked if I could give him a peek at the sculpture. After gazing at it for nearly a minute, he informed me it was just 'pretty good.' Screwing up my courage, I blurted out my immediate reply of, 'Just pretty good … why do you say that?' Advertisement He looked down and pointed to the sculpture's feet and said, 'Well, for starters, he put socks and shoes on a mannequin.' Seizing on the moment, I said that though we normally wouldn't let anyone touch the sculpture, he was, well, Tom Heinsohn, the artist and basketball star, and I told him to run his fingers over both the socks and sneakers and tell me what he thought. I may have been the first person since Red Auerbach to render him speechless, as the look on his face told me all I needed to know about his revised opinion of the artist. Wood sculptures of Celtics great Larry Bird and Bruins great Bobby Orr by Armand LaMontagne are part of the collection at The Sports Museum at TD Garden. Chin, Barry, Globe Staff Photo In like manner, all of Armand's living subjects came to the realization they'd dealt with a gentleman every bit as skilled, talented, and devoted to his chosen profession as they were to theirs. As with many of the best relationships that forged the early history of The Sports Museum, our decades-long relationship with Armand started with Ted Williams before being brought home by Dave Cowens. In the summer of 1986, I was invited to speak at the Rhode Island chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research. The invitation came from my good friend Father Gerry Beirne, who was hosting the gathering at his then-parish of St. Rita's in Warwick, R.I. I recall it was a sunny Saturday on which I turned down an invitation to go sailing with my uncle in Portsmouth, N.H., after nearly literally flipping a coin to make my decision. Advertisement Armand was the first speaker and star attraction, because a year earlier he'd made headlines by carving a life-size wood sculpture of Williams for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. At the Cooperstown unveiling ceremony his rendition of Williams prompted the aging slugger to break down while praising LaMontagne. Not only was an American hero honored in a picture-perfect setting, but a star was born, as news coverage of LaMontagne made national headlines. After acknowledging a brief standing ovation in the packed reception room, he began his remarks by asking if anyone among the assembled knew anything about 'a sports museum in Boston.' My hand shot up as people swerved to observe me (at this point the museum was a year from opening to the public), and Armand replied, 'I want to see you afterwards.' Ninety minutes later, after I spoke of the 1914 Miracle Braves on an afternoon where we also learned of the greatness of Bing Miller, Nap Lajoie, and Gabby Hartnett, Armand asked me to help him get something from the trunk of his vintage Mercedes. As his trunk door lifted, he informed me that he was giving the museum a work of art at the request of Williams. We carefully cradled a long tube of rolled watercolor paper. A sculpture of Larry Bird by Armand LaMontagne (right) is located in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. GLOBE STAFF/Thomas James Hurst Back in a quiet corner of the reception hall, we unfurled what was a life-size painted study of the Williams sculpture in Cooperstown. The detail was striking, worthy of any work by Norman Rockwell or Thomas Eakins. It depicted Williams in what he considered his greatest season of 1957, the year in which he batted .388 at the age of 38, striding into a pitch with each measurement of his figure scrawled in pencil. Advertisement Williams had even signed it to Armand with the slightly self-deprecating inscription, 'You even made me look good.' Not only was it the 'blueprint' for the sculpture, as Armand informed me that he clipped it to an easel adjacent to the wood block, but a masterpiece in its own right. I consider it the equal of its three-dimensional twin in Cooperstown, and proof that his artistry is as much of an engineering feat as it is an aesthetic expression. Armand joked that at their first meeting, Williams told him he was expecting to meet an artist in a beret with a French accent. Months later, the two became close enough that when the slugger half-kiddingly complained that work on the sculpture hadn't progressed to his liking, Armand held up his chisel and mallet and suggested that Williams finish it. The former Army vet and Marine fighter pilot became fast friends, and The Sports Museum proudly displays one sculpture of the slugger in his fly-fishing gear to accompany the four Williams painted portraits that are among our treasures. Red Sox great Ted Williams was known for his love of fishing. Chin, Barry, Globe Staff Photo Not long after he'd presented the museum with the study for the Cooperstown sculpture, he asked if we could connect him with Bird in the hope the Celtics star would agree to pose for a sculpture. Cowens reached out to his former teammate that night, and within 48 hours Bird and Cowens drove Larry's pickup down to the artist's studio, where No. 33 agreed to pose. Advertisement Ten months later, that sculpture was unveiled first at a private dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and later prior to a game at Boston Garden. At the Ritz dinner, Bird made brief remarks that included casting a glance to Orr before informing the group he always looked at Orr's retired number banner during the playing of the national anthem to gain inspiration. That Hollywood moment led to Armand's next commission, namely an Orr sculpture, followed two years later by Yastrzemski, the classically rendered Agganis in 1995, and finally the Williams fishing sculpture in 2001. Each have their distinctive characteristics, with Orr captured in a dazzling array of carved and painted details, the torque and grace of Yastrzemski's swing (the subject commenting to LaMontagne that he captured him socking a home run), the classic pose of Agganis (that one critic observed resembled Zeus tossing a thunderbolt from the heavens), and Williams shown in his happy place of the salmon streams of New Brunswick. The ailing slugger saw it weeks before his death in 2002, and declared it his favorite portrait of himself. Like his noted subjects, LaMontagne will be remembered as one of the greats. In the context of art history, that leads to an immediate comparison with Grinling Gibbons, England's master wood sculptor of the late 17th and early 18th centuries whose most noted works reside within London's St. Paul's Cathedral. I recall surprising Armand by comparing him to his artistic counterpart, which made him laugh before replying with a robust, 'That's my guy.' Armand, was, and will forever be, our guy. Richard Johnson has served as curator of The Sports Museum since 1982.
