Joni Mitchell at The 68th annual Grammy Awards. (Phil McCarten/CBS via Getty Images) | Meryl Streep attends the Clooney Foundation for Justice’s The Albies. (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for The Clooney Foundation For Justice)
Although there has been no official announcement, Clive Davis appeared to confirm rumors that Meryl Streep has been cast to play Joni Mitchell in the upcoming biopic on the singer, penned by Mitchell’s good friend, writer/director Cameron Crowe.
According to Rolling Stone, the music exec spilled the beans during his annual pre-Grammy party Saturday in Los Angeles. While introducing Mitchell to the audience, he mentioned that Streep would portray in Crowe’s film.
Crowe also seemed to confirm the news to the mag. When asked to comment on the casting news, Crowe told Rolling Stone to refer to Davis’ announcement. Streep’s rep declined to comment on Davis’ statement, while Mitchell’s rep did not respond to the mag’s request for a comment.
In March 2023, it was announced that Crowe was planning to write and direct a biopic on Mitchell, a project he had been working on with her for two years. In July of 2024, rumors surfaced that Streep would be playing the singer in her later years.
Crowe offered an update on the long-in-the-works Mitchell film in October 2025, telling Variety, “We’re gonna do it next year.” When asked about the casting at the time, he said there’s “nothing I can confirm,” adding, “I’m just grateful that people are talking about it and that I get to tell the story.”
A new trailer for a Michael Jackson biopic shows the late legend’s transformation from child star to King of Pop.
The trailer begins with scenes of Michael — played by Jaafar Jackson, MJ’s real-life nephew — psyching himself up in the studio, telling himself, “You’re the greatest of all time,” intercut with footage of him headlining a massive stadium concert.
It then flashes back to Colman Domingo as Michael’s father, Joe Jackson, giving his sons — the future Jackson Five — an ultimatum: “Y’all wanna work in a steel mill like me for the rest of your days? Y’all willin’ to fight for it?”
We see Michael as a child dancing and singing with his brothers before emerging as a solo star with Off The Wall. Conflict arises when his domineering father plans an international Jacksons tour, saying he wants to “capitalize on Michael’s success.”
“I love my family, but I just want to do my own thing,” Michael says. “I just have all these ideas in my head. I just gotta get them out.”
The rest of the trailer shows Michael’s rise to global stardom through a montage of iconic moments, including the “Beat It” and “Thriller” music videos and his moonwalk during the Motown 25 TV special. We also see him with Bubbles the chimp and alongside his mother, Katherine Jackson, who tells him, “I knew you were different the moment you were born.”
“I believe that music can change the world — spread love, joy, and peace,” Michael says in a closing voiceover. “That is what I want the world to feel. Magic.”
Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua and also starring Nia Long and Miles Teller, arrives in theaters April 24.
Donald Trump Jr., co-founder of World Liberty Financial, during the Token2049 conference in Singapore, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. The crypto conference runs through Oct. 2. (Photographer: Suhaimi Abdullah/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial, sold a $500 million stake to a member of the Emirati royal family shortly before his inauguration last January, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, sparking concerns over a potential conflict of interest.
According to the Journal, which reviewed undisclosed corporate documents, a firm associated with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who operates an enormous state investment fund, purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty, which is co-owned by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his family, just four days before the Trump administration swept into office.
Months later, the Trump administration agreed to supply the UAE with highly coveted American-made AI chips despite the prior administration’s concern that they may fall into the hands of the Chinese.
David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, acknowledged the existence of the deal in a statement to ABC News, but insisted that “neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction” and that “any claim that this deal had anything to do with the Administration’s actions on chips is 100% false.”
“We made the deal in question because we strongly believe that it was what was best for our company as we continue to grow. The idea that, when raising capital, a privately-held American company should be held to some unique standard that no other similar company would be held is both ridiculous and un-American,” the statement continued.
David Warrington, the White House counsel, told ABC News in a statement that “the President has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities,” and that “President Trump performs his constitutional duties in an ethically sound manner and to suggest so otherwise is either ill-informed or malicious.”
But the Journal’s report adds yet another wrinkle to the U.S. decision to sell highly coveted advanced chips to the Emiratis.
As ABC News previously reported, shortly before the chips deal was announced, a UAE-backed investment firm called MGX announced last May that it would use a digital token minted by World Liberty Financial to finance a $2 billion investment in a crypto exchange Binance, a major boon for the firm.
Shiekh Tahnoon, who is the brother of the UAE’s president, also serves as MGX’s chairman.
The Biden administration declined to provide the UAE with the chips, which power some of the most sophisticated weapons on the planet, for fear they might be redirected into China.
Peter Wildeford, the head of policy at the AI Policy Network, a nonpartisan advocacy group, warned that could close the U.S.’s advantage in the AI race and compromise American security.
“If China gets their hands on these chips at scale, they would be able to launch cyberattacks against the U.S., they could build autonomous weapons that could find and sink our Navy ships — they could close the military technology gap that’s currently keeping us safe,” he said.
World Liberty has emerged as perhaps the most lucrative of the Trump family’s various business ventures, either in cryptocurrency or real estate. ABC News reported last year that the Trump family secured a roughly $5 billion windfall when trading of World Liberty’s digital token opened.
According to the Journal, Shiekh Tahnoon agreed to pay half of his investment in World Liberty up front. Based on the ownership structure of the company at the time, that meant a payment of as much as $187 million into the Trump family’s coffers on the eve of his return to office.
Ethics experts said the concept of a foreign government official secretly directing hundreds of millions of dollars to a company owned in part by the president has no known precedent — and raises a host of ethical and national security concerns.
“Maybe the President would have reached the same decision over the transfer of high techn [chips] to UAE if he wasn’t also getting money from them,” said Robert Weissman, the co-president of the advocacy group Public Citizen. “But we’ve got no way to know that, and we do know there was a lot of opposition inside the government to do exactly what he has OK’d.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly maintained that the president “only acts in the best interests of the American public,” and said that no conflict of interest exists in part because the president’s assets are held in a blind trust managed by his children. Typically, a blind trust would operate with an independent trustee.
“President Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children,” Kelly added. “There are no conflicts of interest.”
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Congressional Democrats leapt at new details in the report, characterizing the transaction as further evidence of alleged pay-for-play. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., alleged “mind blowing corruption,” in a post to X.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., issued a statement calling the deal “corruption, plain and simple.”
“Foreign countries are bribing our president to sell out the American people,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., claimed in a post to X.
Shortly before the chips deal was announced last May, a UAE-backed investment firm called MGX said it would use a digital token minted by World Liberty Financial to finance a $2 billion investment in a crypto exchange Binance. Tahnoon also serves as MGX’s chairman.
MGX is also one of the few companies with a major ownership stake in the new TikTok U.S. joint venture, with a 15% stake in the new entity.
A child is seen playing a game on the Roblox platform on November 19, 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A group of 800 parents — including those who have already filed suit and those who have retained lawyers with the intent to sue –sent a letter to the board of directors of Roblox demanding the gaming company stop attempts to keep lawsuits out of the public eye.
Roblox, launched in 2006, has been at the center of recent controversy, with some parents alleging that the platform has been used to help facilitate child sexual exploitation and grooming.
The company is facing over 100 lawsuits that were recently consolidated, with one law firm telling ABC News that it is investigating thousands of child sexual exploitation and abuse claims.
Roblox had nearly 83 million average daily active users in 2024, according to its financial reports. It reported $3.6 billion in revenue that year.
Pat Huyett, one of the attorneys representing families in the lawsuits, said Roblox’s legal strategy has been to file motions to compel arbitration — a private, out-of-court process where claims are settled confidentially by a third party.
“They are confidential, they’re secretive,” Huyett said. “Anything that happens in those arbitration proceedings does not become public, so Roblox’s conduct can’t be scrutinized by the public.”
In the letter sent Sunday night, the parents asked the board to “stop the improper and shameful attempts to force these vulnerable, sexually abused and exploited children into secret arbitration proceedings.”
The letter includes signatures from parents in Washington, California, Florida and Texas who allege their children were targeted by predators.
“These children deserve their day in court,” the parents wrote.
The company has consistently responded to the lawsuits and allegations by stating that protecting children is a priority and announcing investments in safety measures, including artificial intelligence age verification.
According to Roblox, inappropriate content is against the rules and standards of the game. The company says it uses thousands of human moderators and artificial intelligence tools to police content.
“We are deeply troubled by any allegations about harms to children online and are committed to setting the industry standard for safety,” a spokesperson for Roblox previously told ABC News. “To protect our users, we have rigorous, industry-leading policies, including limiting chat for younger users and employing advanced filters designed to block the sharing of personal information. Roblox also does not allow users to share images or videos. We also collaborate closely with law enforcement.”
A separate group of 150 parents sent a similar letter to Discord, a communication platform that families allege predators use to communicate with minors after meeting them on Roblox.
Roblox and Discord did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Discord previously told ABC News the company is “committed to safety” and said it requires all users to be 13 to use their platform.
“We maintain strong systems to prevent the spread of sexual exploitation and grooming on our platform and also work with other technology companies and safety organizations to improve online safety across the internet,” the spokesperson previously said.
The letter from the parents contains accounts from parents about their children’s experience, including a Washington state teenager allegedly coerced into sending explicit images and a minor in California who was allegedly groomed on the platform and later died by suicide.
Families from Florida and Texas also described experiences involving extortion, self-harm and physical assault.
The push from parents follows a ruling from a judge in November that rejected Roblox’s attempt to force a child exploitation case into arbitration. In the order, the California judge cited the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), which prohibits forced arbitration in cases of sexual abuse. Roblox has appealed the order.
In the letter sent on Sunday, the parents argued that while Roblox claims to prioritize “community before company,” it is simultaneously “attempting to silence abused and exploited children in secret arbitration.”
“By trying to force sexually abused and exploited children to tell their stories only in private, confidential proceedings, Roblox seeks to protect predators and itself, not its users,” the letter states.
Huyett told ABC News, “The families really just want to heal … but on the other hand, they want accountability.”
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced on Sunday that a woman missing in Arizona is the mother of “Today Show” host Savannah Guthrie. (Pima County Sheriff’s Department)
(NEW YORK) — An 84-year-old woman who was reported missing in Arizona has been identified by officials as the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department announced during a news conference on Sunday that Nancy Guthrie was last seen in the Catalina Foothills area on Saturday night at approximately 9:45 p.m.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said a family member reported her missing on Sunday, around noon.
Nanos said search and rescue teams have been out at Nancy Gutherie’s home, along with homicide teams and detectives.
Foul play is notbeing ruled out at this time, he said.
Nancy Guthrie is described as having some physical ailments, but does not have cognitive issues, her family said, according to the sheriff.
An NBCUniversal spokesperson confirmed early on Monday that Nancy Guthrie was missing.
“We can confirm this is a missing persons case, and the family is working closely with local law enforcement,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “If anyone has any information, please contact the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900. The family is grateful for the outreach, thoughts and prayers.”
ABC News’ Cecilie Larcher contributed to this report.
The Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) Amuay oil refinery at the Paraguana Refinery Complex in Punto Fijo, Falcon State, Venezuela. (Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez announced on Sunday that the country’s first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas had been exported.
The announcement in a post on her Telegram channel on Sunday comes almost a month after President Donald Trump ordered a military operation that led to the capture of Venezuela’s former President Nicolas Maduro, who now faces federal charges in the U.S.
Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, was sworn in as the interim president after his capture in January.
Rodriguez said the ship, the Chrysopigi Lady, had set sail from Venezuela “with the first shipment of Liquefied Petroleum Gas,” in a post, originally in Spanish.
The Singapore-flagged Chrysopigi Lady left from a port in northern Venezuela on the evening of Feb. 1 and is set to arrive in Providence, Rhode Island, according to marinetraffic.com.
“Proud to share this moment: the vessel Chrysopigi Lady has set sail from Venezuela with the first shipment of Liquefied Petroleum Gas,” Rodriguez said in the post. “We are marking this historic milestone by exporting the country’s first molecule of gas; an achievement for the well-being of the people of Venezuela.”
Rodriguez faces key tests in the weeks ahead. Since becoming the country’s de facto leader, she has struggled with her new twin responsibilities of maintaining order at home and managing diplomatic relations with the United States who conducted a military operation on her country’s soil weeks ago.
Last week, Rodriguez appeared to struggle publicly with the appropriate tone to both satisfy Washington and assert Venezuela’s independence.
Rodriguez said Venezuela has “opened a space for political dialogue,” but warned “those who seek to perpetuate harm and aggression against the people of Venezuela should stay in Washington,” in public comments during a ceremony recognizing her as Venezuela’s Commander-in-Chief in Caracas on Jan. 28.
Rodriguez also said “no one” in Venezuela surrendered during the military operation on Jan. 3. “That is why I say honor and glory to the heroes and heroines of January 3, 2026,” she said during the ceremony on Jan. 28.
About 100 people overall were killed during the U.S. military operation on Jan. 3, Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said on Jan. 8, according to Reuters. Out of the 100, 32 Cuban security officials were killed during the attack, the Cuban government confirmed on Jan. 4.
The Housemaid will be available to watch at home soon. Deadline reports the Paul Feig-directed Lionsgate film will arrive on premium digital and premium video on demand on Feb. 3. That means it will have played a 46-day theatrical-only window. Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried star in the film, which Lionsgate has announced has a sequel on the way …
Only two of the best original song nominees will be performed at the 2026 Oscars. Variety reports that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have confirmed that only “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters and “I Lied to You” from Sinners will be performed live at the 98th annual awards ceremony. These remaining nominees will not be performed: “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless, “Train Dreams” from the movie of the same name and “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! …
It’s Florida, Man has been renewed for a third season. The late-night comedy series will get a season 3 on HBO and HBO Max. The show, which is executive produced by Danny McBride, brings headlines from the Sunshine State to life. A rotating cast of actors and comedians recreate accounts from everyday Floridians. Season 2 starred Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, Tiffany Haddish, Haley Joel Osment, Nick Swardson, JohnnyKnoxville, Taika Waititi, Rita Ora, Joel Kim Booster and more …
Dylan O’Brien as Bradley Preston and Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle in ‘Send Help.’ (Brook Rushton/20th Century Studios)
Sam Raimi’s Send Help didn’t need any help at the box office this weekend. The film, starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien, earned $20 million in its opening to debut at #1, according to Box Office Mojo.
Debuting at #2 was the sci-fi horror film Iron Lung, which brought in $17.8 million in its opening weekend. Melania, the documentary about first lady Melania Trump, brought in $7.04 million in its debut to nab the #3 spot. According to Variety, the Melania haul was well above pre-opening estimates of $3 million to $5 million.
One other new film debuted in the top five this weekend. The Jason Statham action thriller Shelter earned $5.5 million to land at #5.
The only non-debut landing in the top five was Disney’s animated Zootopia 2, which earned another $5.8 million to land at #4. It has now grossed over $408.9 million.
Here are the top 10 films at the box office: 1. Send Help — $20 million 2. Iron Lung — $17.8 million 3. Melania – $7.04 million 4. Zootopia 2— $5.8 million 5. Shelter – $5.505 million 6. Avatar: Fire and Ash— $5.5 million 7. Mercy — $4.73 million 8. The Housemaid— $3.5 million 9. Marty Supreme— $2.91 million 10. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple — $1.6 million
