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Second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-girlfriend said she was left “embarrassed and humiliated” when he slapped her so hard, she “spun around” at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The woman, a New York attorney identified only as “Jane,” broke her silence weeks after her disturbing claims emerged, telling the Daily Mail that she was trying to persuade a valet to give her and Emhoff special treatment when her beau struck her in the face. “As I’m talking to him, Doug got out of the line, comes up, turns me around by my right shoulder. I’m completely caught off guard, I’m not...

The headliner of a heavy metal music festival in Florida — and seven other bands — dropped out of the show to protest that acquitted Kenosha killer Kyle Rittenhouse would be on the bill as a “special guest,” according to reports. Rockers Evergreen Terrace pulled out of Shell Shock II in Orlando, saying it refuses “to align with an event promoting murderers” — prompting the festival’s founder to slam them as woke phonies. SNIP Seven other bands including Southpaw, Let Me Bleed and American Hollow followed suit and quit the festival, saying they didn’t want to get political, according to...

Brooklyn’s joyous West Indian Day Parade erupted into bloodshed Monday, as at least six people were shot along the route, authorities said. The shots were fired on the 300 block of Eastern Parkway as the colorful celebration of Caribbean life was underway at about 2:35 p.m., police said. One male victim was shot in the head, while another man was shot in the torso and another was shot in the arm. Yet another was shot in the wrist. A woman was shot in the shoulder and torso. It’s unclear where the fifth and sixth victims were shot, sources said.

Two people were killed and four others wounded after two men opened fire on each other just after midnight Sunday in San Antonio. ABC 7 Amarillo reported that police heard gunshots during Fiesta San Antonio at Market Square and ran toward the sound. They soon found two armed men, one of whom was 18 years old and the other is 20 years old. The men began to flee and, while so doing, the 18-year-old allegedly shot the 20-year-old. Police then shot the 18-year-old, killing him.

Coachella, the iconic music festival held in the California desert has raised eyebrows this year for all the wrong reasons, leading some to question long-term viability. But experts have reflected on Coachella's poor performance and spoke to Newsweek about the wider state of the music festival industry. In 2023, it was the first time in 11 years that the festival did not sell out both its weekends and this year it has taken one whole month to sell out the first weekend. Considering over the past few years tickets sold out anywhere between 40 minutes to four hours, some have...

Some 300 million people around the world are starting their annual celebration of renewal and harmony with nature in what is to them the biggest cultural holiday of the year, typically involving 13 days of rituals. Nowruz (alternatively spelled Nauruz, Nauryz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nooruz, Norooz, Norouz, or Novruz), also known as Persian New Year (Nowruz means “new day” in Persian), is celebrated across ethnic groups with a common Silk Roads heritage, including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey, as well as their diaspora in other countries. Watch more from TIME Click to Learn More AD pause volume_off...

A public menorah lighting has been canceled by an arts festival in Williamsburg, Virginia, over concern that observing the Jewish holiday would amount to endorsing Israel’s policies in its war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. The Virginia Gazette News reported: A menorah lighting was scheduled for the 2nd Sundays Art and Music Festival on Dec. 10. Each month from March to December, the community event hosts artisans, street performers and food vendors, and Jewish leaders were told that the board was not comfortable allowing the lighting at the festival. …

Central Park's iconic Great Lawn is set to be closed to the public until spring 2024 after the grass was churned up by a music festival. Huge crowds descended on the Manhattan hotspot on September 23 for the Global Citizen Festival, which quickly the space became more reminiscent of the boggy chaos that ruined this year's Burning Man festival. About a third of the 12-acre green space was destroyed by a 'combination of heavy rain, foot traffic, and machinery used for staging' wrote NYC Councilwoman Gail Brewer in a letter to Mayor Eric Adams. Brewer urged Adams to move the...

Oktoberfest is the world's largest folk festival, celebrated for its famous beer event and travelling carnival. The iconic event runs from mid September to around the first Sunday in October - it's known to attract over six million people from around the world. It didn't take place in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, but returned to the city of Munich in 2022. However, this year, a lot of revelers are giving it a miss due to how expensive it's become, with one X user calling it an 'alcoholic Disney land'. A one litre stein of beer will reportedly set...

British pop-rock band The 1975 has been banned from performing in Malaysia a day after the band’s frontman Matty Healy slammed the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws and then kissed his bandmate, bassist Ross MacDonald. The country, where homosexuality is illegal, also canceled the remainder of the Good Vibes Festival Saturday, which was supposed to run the rest of the weekend with several other acts. "There will be no compromise against any party that challenges, disparages and violates Malaysian laws," Malaysia’s Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in a statement, according to Reuters. He added, "never touch on the sensitivities of the community,...

A shooting erupted hours after a local festival ended on Fourth of July weekend in Texas, leaving at least three people dead and eight others wounded, officials said. Violence broke out at about 11:40 p.m. Monday in the Como neighborhood in southwest Fort Worth, where 11 people were shot hours after the neighborhood’s annual ComoFest had ended, WFAA reported.

Many Chicago Ridge residents say "Ridgefest" is like their vacation right here at home. Ridgefest has been around for over 30 years, but in the last couple of days, the village board decided to cancel the event, citing safety concerns. Chicago Ridge Mayor Charles Tokar said the board voted unanimously to cancel the fest, which would've included live music, carnival rides and nearly 20 vendors. The move comes a few weeks after hundreds of teens were seen fighting at a carnival in Tinley Park. The Chicago Ridge village board – and residents – felt local police may not be prepared...

Change has been the name of the game for the Riverbend Festival in recent years, and the changes keep coming as the Bud Light Stage has been renamed the Ultra Stage. The change was made at the request of TriStar Beverage of Chattanooga, the distributor for both Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, according to Friends of the Festival Executive Director Mickey McCamish. He said in a text the change request was made last year. "Michelob Ultra is the most requested beer among our guests," McCamish said. "When we met with the sponsor last fall, we made the request to have...

ST. LOUIS – One woman arrested in a Cherokee Street weekend shooting is no longer in jail. Police say she has been released after the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office refused to issue charges. Police arrested Amber Booker, 33, in the investigation into a shooting Saturday evening as a Cinco de Mayo festival was wrapping up for the day. Photos shared by police Monday in connection with the case showed one woman, suspected to be Booker, and another man holding weapons. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department tells FOX 2 that the circuit attorney’s office refused all charges, citing a...

SALLISAW, Okla. — A Sallisaw police captain crashed into a pursuit suspect head-on, preventing him from getting near a crowded festival on Saturday. Police were following the driver when he got near a crowded area where children were attending the Diamond Daze Festival, according to a City of Sallisaw social media post. Sallisaw Police Captain John Weber used his patrol vehicle to crash into the driver, stopping the pursuit from getting any closer to the event.

Two Oklahoma police officers are heroes after they rammed a suspect vehicle head on Saturday to prevent it from driving into weekend festival in Sallisaw. Sallisaw Police Chief Terry Franklin said in a Facebook post that Captain John Weber and Officer Wesley McGuirt were working the town’s Diamond Daze festival on Saturday when they learned of a police pursuit heading directly toward the event. “Captain Weber and Officer McGuirt were the last line of defense before the suspect vehicle would have entered the Diamond Daze event area,” Franklin wrote. The officers decided they had no choice but to disable the...

A 26-year-old man wanted in a deadly shooting at an outdoor festival that left one person dead and seven others injured has turned himself in to police, authorities said. Skyler Buckner was booked in Muskogee County jail around 4 p.m. Sunday, nearly 16 hours after the deadly gunfire at the Memorial weekend event in Taft, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) said.

TAFT, Okla. (AP) — Authorities said a 26-year-old man was in custody after one person was killed and seven people were injured in a shooting early Sunday at an outdoor festival in eastern Oklahoma, where witnesses described frantic people running for cover amid gunfire. An arrest warrant was issued for Skyler Buckner and he turned himself in to the Muskogee County sheriff’s office Sunday afternoon, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. OSBI said that those shot at the Memorial Day event in Taft, located about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Tulsa, ranged in age from...

A documentary about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his ultimately failed 2020 run for the presidency will premiere at the LGBTQ film festival NewFest. Variety reports Mayor Pete comes in the wake of the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor’s announcement earlier this month he and husband Chasten welcomed twins into their family.

The mayor was caught with a mask off while hanging out with celebrities. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot faced criticism for continuing to hold a music festival in the midst of reinstating COVID-19 restrictions. Despite announcing plans to resume more pandemic restrictions in the city, the Democrat mayor continued to host Lollapalooza, which is one of the largest music festivals in the country. "At the same time she's threatening possible restrictions if cases rise above 200 per day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is moving forward with plans to bring 100,000 a day to Grant Park for Lollapalooza," Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt...