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Sabtu, 01 Juni 2019

Trump says Duchess Meghan was ‘nasty’ about him, fueling debate in the U.K. ahead of his state visit - The Washington Post

American actress Meghan Markle and Britain's Prince Harry at their wedding on May 19, 2018. (Gareth Fuller/Pool via AP)

June 1 at 2:53 PM

President Trump sparked a new debate in Britain this past week, after calling comments made in the past by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, “nasty,” in an interview with the Sun tabloid.

During the 2016 election campaign, the duchess — then Meghan Markle — called Trump “misogynistic” and “divisive.” The American actress also said she might move to Canada if Trump was elected president. Instead, two years on, she married Britain’s Prince Harry and became part of the royal family.

Suggesting that he had been unaware of the duchess’s 2016 remarks ahead of preparations for his upcoming state visit to Britain and his royal reception on Monday, Trump said in an audio recording released by the Sun: “I didn’t know that she was nasty.”

[Britain is at its most delicate political moment in years. Now here comes Trump.]

Trump had previously used the word to describe his Democratic opponent during the 2016 campaign, calling Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” — words that later became a rallying cry for the anti-Trump movement.

But this time, Trump refrained from provoking a full-blown spat, quickly emphasizing in the same interview with the Sun that “I am sure she will do excellently” as a duchess.

Trump’s remarks ahead of the trip echoed concerns voiced in the lead-up to Meghan’s wedding with Harry: that her past political activism may make things awkward for the royal family, which is not supposed to voice public political views. She started to speak out against sexism as a child and never hid her other personal convictions throughout her acting career, including thoughts on U.S. politics. As member of the British royal family, Meghan has already strayed further into political territory than others, for instance by speaking out against racism, which she herself has faced in recent months.

While her past comments are a nightmare for those knowing the ins and outs of royal protocol, the British public may have a different take. “You know, we don’t care what he thinks about us,” British lawyer and political activist Shola Mos-Shogbamimu told Sky News on Saturday. “Women are going to stand up together and speak out against the lunacy of his presidency,” she said of Trump.

The president has faced major resistance in Europe in the past, and a “Trump Baby” balloon greeted the president when he visited Britain last July during a four-day working visit, to the cheers of bystanders.

A protester holds a sign as the 'Trump Baby,' a six-meter-high, helium-filled effigy of President Trump, flies over Parliament Square in London on Friday, July 13, 2018. (Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg News)

Trump’s state visit, which begins Monday, has been repeatedly delayed. He was originally invited shortly after taking office in 2017. Trump also plans to attend ceremonies commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings while visiting Britain and France.

Meghan, who is still on maternity leave, and Trump will not meet during the president’s visit to Britain. Harry is expected to attend, according to British media.

As a biracial and divorced American, Meghan’s biography has vastly differed from the life experiences that have so far dominated the halls of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Opening up traditions and acknowledging that even royals can have opinions, her supporters said, has infused royal traditions with a more human and natural touch.

When Harry and Meghan launched their Instagram account in early April, the handle immediately broke records, reaching 1 million followers within less than 6 hours. Many of the couple’s fans are from the United States, where almost 30 million watched their wedding last year, compared to about 23 million who watched Kate Middleton wed Prince William back in 2011. The birth of Harry and Meghan’s first baby, Archie, was celebrated by fans around the globe this May.

Meghan’s popularity in the United States could prove to be an opportunity for a royal family, as evidence that the expensive traditions remain a cornerstone of British influence abroad. But it could also become a pitfall, given that not everyone across the Atlantic agrees with her political views.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/06/01/trump-says-duchess-meghan-was-nasty-about-him-fueling-debate-uk-ahead-his-state-visit/

2019-06-01 18:53:36Z
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Meghan Markle Called Trump A Misogynist In 2016 And Now He Called Her "Nasty" - BuzzFeed News

Dominic Lipinski / AFP / Getty Images

Ahead of his state visit next week to the UK, President Donald Trump has hit back at Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, for her previous criticism of him during the election.

As a new royal, the Duchess is no longer supposed to be making comments that show political favor, but back in 2016 she was free to speak her mind.

"Of course, Trump is divisive," Meghan said in a 2016 interview on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore back when she was an actor on Suits. "Think about just female voters alone, right?"

"You're not just voting for a woman if it's Hillary just because she's a woman," she said, "but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see you don't really want that kind of world."

The Los Angeles-born Meghan dubbed him "misogynistic...and so vocal about it," and said she was considering remaining in Canada, where she filmed Suits, if he won.

Asked Friday by the British newspaper the Sun about Meghan's past comments, Trump said he was unaware of her criticism.

“I didn’t know that," he said. "What can I say? I didn’t know that she was nasty.”

During the 2016 presidential debates, Trump famously called Clinton a "nasty woman," a phrase she and her supporters soon reclaimed as a badge of honor.

Meghan, who is still on maternity leave following the birth of baby Archie, her son with Prince Harry, is not scheduled to meet with Trump when he arrives in the UK on Monday.

Trump told the Sun he was unaware he wouldn't get the chance to meet with Meghan, but said, "I hope she is OK."

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Instead, Queen Elizabeth II and some of the other royals with welcome Trump to Buckingham Palace in London on Monday, and then host a state dinner in his honor that evening. All four Trump children and their partners will also attend.

Trump, who met the Queen for the first time in July last year at Windsor Castle, told the Sun he was looking forward to seeing her again.

Despite Meghan's past criticism, the US president told the Sun he was happy the royal family had a new American member.

“It is nice, and I am sure she will do excellently," he said. “She will be very good. I hope she does [succeed].”

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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/trump-meghan-markle-nasty

2019-06-01 16:50:05Z
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Pioneering rocker Roky Erickson dead at 71 - Fox News

Roky Erickson, the blue-eyed, dark-haired Texan who headed the Austin-based 13th Floor Elevators, a pioneering psychedelic rock band in the 1960s that scored with "You're Gonna Miss Me," has died. He was 71.

Erickson's sinuous lead guitar and wailing vocals didn't turn him into a chart topper, but they cemented his role as a musician's musician. Fans included everyone from Lenny Kaye and the Swedish metal group Ghost — who covered his "If You Have Ghosts" — to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons.

A 1990 tribute album to Erickson, "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye," attracted the likes of R.E.M., T-Bone Burnett, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Julian Cope, The Mighty Lemon Drops, Primal Scream and ZZ Top.

Erickson's death on Friday was announced by his brother, Mikel Erickson, on Facebook and confirmed by his agent, Dave Kaplan. The cause and location of death were not revealed.

"It's almost unfathomable to contemplate a world without Roky Erickson. He created his own musical galaxy and early on was a true inspiration," Gibbons said in a statement.

After the trippy 13th Floor Elevators dissolved in the face of drug arrests and instability, Erickson in the early '70s entered an insanity plea to a marijuana possession charge and ended up spending some time in an institution.

A short-lived effort to reunite the Elevators followed. Erickson put out a book of poetry — "Openers" — and continued making music, including the songs "Two Headed Dog" and the LP "The Evil One."

In 1986, he released the album "Don't Slander Me," and a 2005 documentary by Keven McAlester about him was called "You're Gonna Miss Me." His later albums include the mid-1990s effort, "All That May Do My Rhyme," and a 2010 collaboration with Okkervil River, "True Love Cast Out All Evil."

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https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/roky-erickson-dead-71

2019-06-01 18:44:07Z
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Elton John slams Russian distributor's censorship of 'Rocketman' gay sex scenes - CNN

The local film distributor, Central Partnership company, cut the scenes to "comply with Russian legislation," it told state news agency TASS.

According to high-profile Russian film critic Anton Dolin, who has seen both the edited and unedited versions, "all scenes of kisses, sex and oral sex between men were cut out."

'Rocketman' spins jukebox version of Elton John's bohemian life

"Only five minutes were removed from the film, but this is very noticeable," said Dolin on his Facebook page, adding that they were a "fundamental five minutes, very important for artistic design."

John and the filmmakers said in a statement that they rejected "in the strongest possible terms the decision to pander to local laws and censor Rocketman for the Russian market."

They said film company Paramount Pictures had been "brave and bold partners in allowing us to create a film which is a true representation of Elton's extraordinary life, warts and all."

Paramount, for its part, said it was "releasing the film in its entirety around the world regardless of rating." But it added that "like all studios, we must adhere to local laws and requirements in certain territories in which the film is being shown."

The decision to remove the scenes was "made solely by the distributor," Russia's Culture Ministry told TASS, adding that it "issued no recommendations" concerning the scenes.

Elton John refused to 'tone down' the sex and drugs in 'Rocketman'

The film features British actor Taron Egerton as John, following his rise to fame from gifted pianist "Reggie Dwight" to a flamboyant superstar fighting drug and alcohol addiction, and coming out as gay.

In an article for the Guardian, John wrote: "I didn't want a film packed with drugs and sex, but equally, everyone knows I had quite a lot of both during the '70s and '80s, so there didn't seem to be much point in making a movie that implied that after every gig, I'd quietly gone back to my hotel room with only a glass of warm milk and the Gideon's Bible for company."

Film critic Dolin said the "grossest thing" about the Russian edit was that the final caption had been removed from the closing credits.

"In the original, it says that Elton John found the love of his life and is raising children with the man he loves (there is a dramatic moment in the film when his mother says to him 'you are doomed to be lonely')," wrote Dolin.

"In the Russian version it says the musician set up a foundation to fight AIDS and is still working with a long-time co-author," he said.

CNN's Fran Curtis, Megan Thomas, Bex Wright, Mary Ilyushina reported from Atlanta, London and Moscow. Sheena McKenzie wrote in London.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/01/entertainment/elton-john-rocketman-russian-censorship-intl/index.html

2019-06-01 16:48:06Z
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