Latest news with #BarbaraBush
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
And Just Like That star makes drug revelation about US President George W Bush's daughters
And Just Like That star Armin Amiri revealed he once smoked a joint with the daughters of U.S. president George W. Bush - and then hit them up for immigration help when stoned. The Iranian-born actor revealed he was once a doorman of the since-shuttered, celebrity-frequented hotspot, Bungalow 8, in New York City, when he met the first daughters. He didn't even know who twins Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager were when they showed up at the hotspot during their widely publicized party days in the early noughties, he told Page Six. The twins, now 43, were continuously in the news for partying and underage drinking at the time. 'The first time I didn't let 'em in and I didn't know who they were,' he recalled. 'I got a tap on my shoulder, and it was the Secret Service. 'And he goes, 'Hey man.' I said, 'Hey.' And he goes, 'These are the First Daughters.' I said, 'First daughters of whom?'' He said he 'took care of it right away' and led the women inside to a table. He recalled how, at one point, he asked them for a favor while under the influence. 'I remember I needed my green card. So, we smoked a joint together and I was just like, 'Listen, I'm having a green card problem.'' He said one of them said they would 'speak to someone' but joked that 'nothing ever happened.' He recalled how he had to go back to work but ended up finding the women again at the end of the night to offer to comp their dinner. He said one of the sisters told him: 'Honey, don't even worry about it. We're used to these kind of things.' Amiri — who stars in HBO Max's continuation of Sex and The City as movie director Ravi Gordi, the love interest of Sarita Choudhury's character Seema Patel — said he ended up smoking a joint with them and asked them for help with his green card. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. He said he also ran into former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at one point and asked them for the same favor. On Wednesday, the TV star told the story about meeting Bush's twin daughters, now both 43, ahead of the upcoming premiere of AJLT's season three on May 29. 'The first time I didn't let 'em in and I didn't know who they were,' he recalled. 'I got a tap on my shoulder, and it was the Secret Service. 'And he goes, 'Hey man.' I said, 'Hey.' And he goes, 'These are the first daughters.' I said, 'First daughters of whom?''; pictured May 2008 He recalled how he had to go back to work but ended up finding the women again at the end of the night to offer to comp their dinner. He said one of the sisters told him: 'Honey, don't even worry about it. We're used to these kind of things'; pictured January 2019 in New York City Then, Amiri recalled how he later went up to Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton for help on his green card too. 'I walked up to Bill Clinton and I said, 'Bill, I need my green card.' 'And he says, 'Talk to my wife.' Amiri explained that their conversation ultimately resulted in the same thing yet again. 'So they're like, 'Hey, listen, we'll do our best to take care of it for you.' 'Nothing happened,' he explained.
CTV News
25-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
The First lady says AI is the future of publishing. It's already happening
U.S. first lady Melania Trump looks on during the unveiling of a Postal Service stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush in the East Room at the White House. (via CNN Newsource) First lady Melania Trump released an audiobook version in her voice of her memoir on Thursday — but she won't actually be the one narrating it. 'I am honored to bring you Melania – The AI Audiobook – narrated entirely using artificial intelligence in my own voice,' she wrote in a post on X. 'Let the future of publishing begin.' Trump is far from the first person to use AI this way. But her choice to put the technology and its use in media creation on a bigger stage hints at the bigger role AI may soon play in creating everything from the news articles people read to the videos and shows they watch — and raising questions about whether media jobs will survive the change. 'It's too reductive to say, yes, that's an inevitable cut in the number of jobs,' Alex Connock, senior fellow in management practice at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School, told CNN. 'But it's also fanciful to say there's going to be no change to how employment works.' (Not) coming soon to a theater near you Trump's book will be narrated by an AI-generated copy of her voice that was 'created under Mrs. Trump's direction and supervision,' the product description on her website reads. Experts say using AI for voiceover work is becoming common, especially as tech from companies like Google and ElevenLabs — the firm Trump used to create her AI audiobook — make it easy to turn text-based materials into audio that sounds like a podcast. But Trump's announcement brought that AI use to the fore. 'I don't think that there's going to be a rush to (an) immediate replacement of voiceover,' Clay Shirky, vice provost for AI and technology in education at New York University, told CNN. 'A lot of these things happen gradually, but it certainly is a milestone.' The Trump audiobook comes as tech giants are launching tools that make it increasingly easy for anyone to generate realistic video and audio with little effort. Within the same week Trump announced her audiobook, Google debuted a more advanced version of its video generation model that can create audio — even dialogue between characters — to match the scene. Late last year, OpenAI released a video creation tool called Sora, which was so popular the company had to temporarily pause signups because of high demand. The ChatGPT maker ran into a similar issue earlier this year when its image generation tool went viral for its ability to create pictures resembling the style of Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli. But that doesn't mean AI-generated feature films are coming anytime soon. The current version of the technology is ideal for creating short form videos you might find on social media, according to Shirky. What's more likely is that TV networks and production companies will look for new ways to incorporate AI into existing programs. Connock, who consults with TV production companies, says he's had multiple meetings this week alone with those in the TV industry looking to learn more about AI, which he says is a major change from a year ago. Connock says producers are curious about creating AI replicas of TV personalities that viewers can interact with while watching their show. He attributes the increased interest to a desire to keep up with social media creators. 'The kind of old school, traditional professional TV economy has realized that in order to even compete at all with the creators, they have to at least match them shot for shot on their ability to deploy those tools,' he said. AI could enable a shift from media that's meant to be watched or read to digital content that viewers can interact with, according to Oren Etzioni, former CEO of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence and professor emeritus at the University of Washington. 'What if you could actually talk to Melania Trump about the chapter?' he told CNN. 'That's coming soon, maybe not with her, but you know, coming soon to a book near you.' AI and the future of jobs The launch of Trump's audiobook also comes as AI-generated content has raised questions about whether AI will take humans' jobs as it gets better at tasks like creating podcasts, authoring books and writing code. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs report, released earlier this year, found that 41 per cent of employers plan to downsize as generative AI plays a bigger role in work-related tasks. Aneesh Raman, the chief economic opportunity officer at LinkedIn, recently fretted about AI replacing some entry-level jobs in a New York Times op-ed. Those fears have been especially prevalent in the media industry; film and TV writers in the Writers Guild of America went on strike in 2023 in part to prevent aspects of their jobs from being replaced with AI. An agreement was reached after 146 days establishing that AI can't be used to 'write or rewrite literary material.' The WGA did not respond to CNN's request for comment. But answering the question of whether AI will replace media jobs is complicated; experts see some areas, like voiceover work, that could be impacted quickly. Yet other roles that involve nuanced handling of sensitive data will be more challenging to fill with AI. 'If I'm an investigative journalist, and I spend a lot of time getting to know people and understanding complex situations, that's not a job that's easy to replace,' said Shirky. It's also possible that the answer will fall somewhere in between; companies may shift their hiring practices to include professionals with AI expertise. But that might not mean job cuts. 'Traditionally, a development department would be kind of three people with arts degrees,' said Connock. 'And now it might be one person with an arts degree, one person who's a kind of professional coder, and one person who's kind of an academic researcher.' Article written by Lisa Eadicicco, CNN
Fox News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
First lady Melania Trump welcomes children to White House for work day celebration
First lady Melania Trump welcomed a number of children of White House employees to The People's House on Tuesday afternoon. The "White House Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day" featured an array of activities scattered around the complex for children of all ages to take part in the fun. The first lady greeted children in the East Garden, assisting the kids with decorating American flags. Children drew on the wooden flags with red and blue markers. They also added star stickers as well as small and fluffy red, white, and blue pom-pom balls. The first lady was seen donning a white button-up blouse along with a floral pencil skirt. Many children were seen sporting "Gulf of America" Navy hats with "45-47" embroidered in red on the side. On Monday, President Donald Trump signed the Take it Down Act alongside the first lady, who has been championing the issue since her husband's inauguration. The bill punishes internet abuse involving nonconsensual and explicit imagery. The first lady also scored a big win for her "Be Best" initiative, securing a $25 million foster youth investment to be included in the president's 2026 fiscal year budget. Mrs. Trump has been very active in hosting a variety of recent events at the White House. Ahead of Mother's Day, the first lady honored military moms by hosting moms serving the nation in uniform, the mothers of service members and mothers whose spouses serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. The first lady also paid tribute to the late Barbara Bush in a stamp dedication ceremony, hosting former Bush staffers along with family and friends. "The unveiling of this commemorative stamp honors Barbara Bush's contributions as first lady and her enduring impact on our nation," Melania Trump said at the time.
CBS News
11-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
First Lady Melania Trump honors the legacy of former First Lady Barbara Bush at White House
First Lady Melania Trump unveiled a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp that pays tribute to former First Lady and Texan Barbara Bush. It took place during a ceremony at the White House Thursday. The First Lady said, "The unveiling of this commemorative stamp honors Barbara Bush's contributions as First Lady and her enduring impact on our Nation. Mrs. Bush's legacy is marked by her respect for tradition while also breaking with convention. While she's known for championing literacy, she also supported women's' empowerment, changed the national conversation on AIDS and took a stand supporting gay rights. May this tribute inspire us to lead with compassion, act with strength, and uphold the values that direct us toward a meaningful existence." Among those who attended, Doro Bush Koch, daughter of Barbara Bush and former President George H.W. Bush. Watch Eye On Politics at 7:30 Sunday morning on CBS News Texas on air and streaming Follow Jack on X: @cbs11jack
Epoch Times
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Melania Trump Hosts White House Event to Unveil Barbara Bush Postage Stamp
WASHINGTON—In the White House's East Room on a rainy Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump and members of the Bush family gathered to unveil a U.S postage stamp bearing the portrait of former first lady Barbara Bush. Amid the anticipation of the unveiling, Trump, Bush's daughter Dorothy 'Doro' Bush Koch, and Judy de Torok, a vice president at the U.S. Postal Service, took turns sharing stories chronicling the former first lady's life and achievements. Bush Koch held back tears recalling moments from her mother's early life. 'Mom was never one to shy away from speaking the truth or taking a stand,' she said. 'With her signature white hair and pearls, she became an icon in her own right, and yet, even as a former first lady, she remained humble and humorous.' The image on the stamp is Barbara Bush's official White House portrait, which currently hangs in the entrance to the East Wing. She is depicted in a black suit and purple blouse, wearing her hallmark triple strand of pearls. After a commemoration ceremony in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the Bush family compound is located, the stamp will go on sale June 10. Trump said she appreciated how Bush inspired people to pursue their personal dreams and was ahead of her time when she made the call for a female American president. Related Stories 5/8/2025 5/7/2025 'Who knows?' Trump said. 'Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House, and I wish him well,' she said to laughs. Barbara Bush died in 2018 at 92 years old. She was married to President George H. W. Bush. She is the mother of former President George W. Bush. She was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincy Adams. And in 2016—at 90 years-old—Barbara Bush campaigned for her son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush when he vied for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the George H. W. Bush library. Melania Trump attended Bush's funeral in 2018 while President Donald Trump did not attend. The White House said he stayed away to avoid security disruptions. Bush is the eighth first lady to be honored with a U.S. postage stamp. Bush Koch said 'it's unlikely that mom ever pictured herself on the postage stamp, and it's very likely that she would be wondering what all this fuss is about.'
