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This article was published 07/11/2019 (2546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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RAPPER T.I. FACES MAJOR BACKLASH FOR ‘HYMEN’ COMMENTS

NEW YORK (AP) — Planned Parenthood and others on social media blasted T.I. after the rapper said he goes to the gynecologist with his daughter every year to make sure her hymen is “still intact.”

T.I. told the “Ladies Like Us” podcast that he takes “yearly trips to the gynecologist” with his now 18-year-old daughter. Social media blew up afterward, with people strongly lashing out at T.I.

Planned Parenthood posted a series of clapback tweets Wednesday, starting with: “Idk who needs to hear this but virginity is a made-up social construct, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your hymen.”

The episode debuted this week but was later removed from many popular podcast platforms like Apple, though the episode was still listenable after a Google search. The “Ladies Like Us” hosts apologized on Instagram for the episode.

STUDY FINDS LGBTQ CHARACTERS HIT RECORD HIGH ON NETWORK TV

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new study by the advocacy group GLAAD says that TV is building on its record of inclusiveness.

GLAAD said Thursday that the percentage of LGBTQ major characters on broadcast networks reached an all-time high this season of just over 10%.

That met the goal GLAAD had challenged networks to achieve by 2020.

There were other notable shifts in representation, according to the report.

For the first time, female LGBTQ characters on broadcast TV outnumbered their male counterparts.

The study also found that the ethnic diversity of LGBTQ characters increased significantly on broadcast and cable, but there was a decrease on streaming.

TAYLOR SWIFT TO PERFORM CONCERT AT FINAL FOUR IN ATLANTA

ATLANTA (AP) — Taylor Swift will perform at Centennial Olympic Park during the men’s Final Four weekend.

The 10-time Grammy Award-winning singer will headline the Capital One JamFest on April 5, the finale of the three-day March Madness Music Festival.

The Final Four is set for nearby Mercedes-Benz Stadium on April 4 and 6.

In August, Swift released her seventh album, “Lover.”

The free concert in Atlanta is Swift’s only U.S. show scheduled so far in 2020 other than that her Lover Fest West concerts at the new SoFiStadium near Los Angeles on July 25-26 and Lover Fest East at Gillette Stadium in suburban Boston on July 31 and Aug. 1. She will tour Europe and Brazil beginning in late June.

MORE CELEBS JOIN MICHELLE OBAMA’S VOTER OUTREACH DRIVE

NEW YORK (AP) — Election Day is over, but Michelle Obama is still trying to get out the vote.

The former first lady announced that Selena Gomez, Liza Koshy, Shonda Rhimes, Megan Rapinoe, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kerry Washington have signed on as co-chairs of the national organization When We All Vote.

Obama is already a co-chair, along with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Faith Hill, Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, and basketball star Chris Paul.

When We Vote bills itself as a nonpartisan group dedicated to increasing voter participation. The organization was founded in 2018.

Hanks said, “registering new voters is an act of hope and taking part in the American idea.” He added that voting guarantees the blessings of “liberty for the grandkids.”

The 2020 elections, which include the presidential race, are next Nov. 3.

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ROBBIE ROBERTSON LOOKS BACKWARD AND FORWARD WITH FILM, MUSIC

NEW YORK (AP) — Robbie Robertson is in a purple patch of late.

He’s got a new album called “Sinematic” and a new documentary about his time in The Band.

In addition to his own songs, he’s written music for the upcoming Martin Scorsese film “The Irishman,” is writing a second volume of his memoir “Testimony” and is celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Band’s self-titled album with a new box set.

The Band fused rock, blues, folk and gospel to create an authentically American sound. They hewed their complex sound backing Bob Dylan when he first went electric.

Only two original members remain. One song on Roberts’ new album pays tribute to his “lost brothers.”

WINFREY PICKS ‘OLIVE, AGAIN” FOR HER NEXT BOOK CLUB READ

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey has chosen Elizabeth Strout’s “Olive, Again,” the follow-up to Strout’s Pulitzer Prize winning “Olive Kitteridge,” as her next book club read.

In a statement provided Thursday to The Associated Press, Winfrey praised Strout’s plain-spoken title character for teaching us “so much about loneliness, judgment, aging, and loss.” Strout’s book is Winfrey’s second selection for her new partnership with Apple. Her first pick, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel “The Water Dancer,” was announced in September and quickly topped the Apple and Amazon.com bestseller lists. Winfrey has boosted sales for dozens of books since she launched her first club in 1996.

Winfrey’s interview with Strout will air Jan. 17 on Apple TV+.

MEMOIR BY MARIAH CAREY TO BE PUBLISHED THANKS TO ANDY COHEN

NEW YORK (AP) — A memoir by Mariah Carey is on the list of titles from Andy Cohen Books.

Henry Holt and Company announced Thursday that Cohen’s self-named imprint will launch in 2020. It says the imprint will feature three nonfiction works by women.

Carey’s memoir will be about her journey to superstar status.

The other works are “The Queen V,” by Dr. Jacqueline Waters, a cast member on Bravo’s “Married to Medicine,” and “Bodacious Dreams and Bevelations,” by Bevy Smith, a former co-host of “Page Six TV.”

Cohen is the TV producer behind the “The Real Housewives” Bravo franchise and host of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”

Holt is the publisher of Cohen’s three bestsellers: “Most Talkative,” ”The Andy Cohen Diaries,” and “Superficial.”

The imprint was announced in 2016.

LINCOLN CENTER IN NEW YORK CITY TO HONOR SPIKE LEE IN APRIL

NEW YORK (AP) — Spike Lee will receive Film at Lincoln Center’s 46th Chaplin Award.

Lincoln Center announced Thursday that the 62-year-old filmmaker will be honoured in its annual fundraising gala on April 27.

For its 50th anniversary last year, Lincoln Center skipped a Chaplin Award honoree and instead hosted a special gala that featured Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodovar, Tilda Swinton and others.

The four previous Chaplin Award winners were Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Robert Redford.

A selected retrospective of Lee’s films will also play alongside the event. Lee’s last film, “BlacKkKlasman,” was nominated for six Oscars including best picture.

MARIE KONDO’S DOING WHAT SHE CAN TO MAKE YOUR KIDS TIDY

NEW YORK (AP) — Not even Marie Kondo can follow all her rules for tidying all the time.

The decluttering guru from Japan says it’s only natural that busy people like herself let go of organizing at times. She was tight-lipped during a recent interview on exactly what she lets slide, besides leaving her house slippers in the middle of the floor occasionally.

But one thing’s for sure. When it comes to Kondo, the emphasis is on busy these days.

Kondo has amassed an empire by urging the world to decide if their belongings “spark joy.” She has expanded her reach again with a picture book, “Kiki & Jax: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship.”

It’s the story of two friends, one a squirrel and the other an owl, who strengthen their bond through tidying.

STREEP, MIRANDA AND STONE ARE NAMED AS MET GALA CO-CHAIRS

NEW YORK (AP) — Next year’s Met Gala may be the closest we’ll ever come to getting a Miranda Priestly moment at the starry event.

Meryl Streep has been named as a co-chair of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The Oscar winner played Priestly, a thinly veiled fictional version of Vogue editor Anna Wintour, in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Wintour clearly has no hard feelings because she selected Streep as a co-chair along with Lin-Manuel Miranda and fellow Oscar-winner Emma Stone. Designer Nicolas Ghesquiere rounds out the group.

The gala’s theme is “About Time: Fashion and Duration,” which the museum described as a meditation on the ephemeral nature of fashion.

It takes place on May 4 and will launch the spring exhibit. The show is curated, as always, by Andrew Bolton.