Nikki Glaser attends the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscar party hosted By Mark Guiducci at Los Angeles County Museum of Art on March 15, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. (Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic via Getty Images)
TIME has revealed its 2026 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Nikki Glaser represents the entertainment community as she graces one of the four worldwide covers of this year’s Time100 issue of the magazine.
Other entertainers to make the list are Noah Wyle, Sterling K. Brown, Alan Cumming, Claire Danes, Benicio Del Toro, Jonathan Groff, Ethan Hawke, Kate Hudson, Dakota Johnson, Wagner Moura, Keke Palmer, Jafar Panahi, Zoe Saldaña, Rhea Seehorn and Ben Stiller.
Chris Rock penned the tribute to Glaser, writing that one of the things he loves about her is that “she has the decency to be scared” because of how hard she works.
“Lorne Michaels used to say to me, ‘You can’t make an entrance if you never leave.’ I hope Nikki takes her time and explores all aspects of her gift,” Rock wrote. “I hope she realizes she has the potential to be not just a great comedian, but a great artist who uses the power that comes with this moment to approach her career like Madonna or Leonardo DiCaprio and work with only the best. I hope this is just the beginning of an incredible, multifaceted, Steve Martin–esque career.”
LeVar Burton wrote Wyle’s tribute, sharing that The Pitt actor is one of those people you’d love to hate, “except you can’t because he’s such a great guy.”
“He wears his compassionate nature as effortlessly as he does his easy sense of humor,” Burton continued. “When he says, ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do,’ he genuinely means it. Countless are the times I have considered myself fortunate to call him my friend.”
The world’s most influential people will gather in New York City at the 2026 Time100 Summit on April 22 and the Time100 Gala on April 23.
Live Nation logo. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Live Nation illegally monopolized the market for tickets, protecting its position through pressure and leverage, jurors in Manhattan federal court found Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Bradley Cooper and Margot Robbie during the 10th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on April 13, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Lester Cohen/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)
Bradley Cooper is set to write, direct and star in a prequel to Ocean’s Eleven.
Warner Bros. Pictures will release the upcoming film in theaters on June 25, 2027. Margot Robbie will star alongside Cooper, who will also produce the film along with Robbie’s banner LuckyChap.
Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung was previously attached to direct the film but recently stepped away from the project due to creative differences.
Warner Bros. launched this current Ocean’s franchise with Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 film Ocean’s Eleven. It became a trilogy that starred George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon. Ocean’s Eleven was a remake of the studio’s 1961 film Ocean’s 11, which starred Frank Sinatra.
Warner Bros. Pictures has also dated several other of its upcoming films for release.
The horror films The Revenge of La Llorona, Evil Dead Wrath and Final Destination 7 have received release dates of April 9, 2027, April 7, 2028, and May 12, 2028, respectively.
Additionally, a currently untitled film directed by Baz Luhrmann will be released in theaters on Nov. 22, 2028.
ABC Audio has learned that the film will follow the story of Joan of Arc. Luhrmann wrote the movie with Ava Pickett, and Isla Johnston is set to star in it.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The S&P 500 hit a record high on Wednesday as the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran entered its second week, appearing to boost hopes of a resolution to the Middle East conflict.
The uptick in markets came hours after President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to wind down the conflict, saying the war is “very close to over” in a portion of an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that aired on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% on Wednesday, registering at 7,005.78 points. The index reached a previous high of 7,002.28 points on Jan. 28.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 125 points, or 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 1.1%.
Markets have swung dramatically over the weeks following the start of the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, as investors weathered a historic global oil shock and digested mixed signals from Trump.
Stocks moved higher on a largely consistent basis in April, however, in response to an apparent willingness on the part of both sides to end fighting and negotiate a temporary truce.
The U.S. continues to mount a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, exerting pressure on Tehran by choking off a key source of revenue.
On Wednesday, the commander of the Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of Iran’s armed forces said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is a “violation of the ceasefire,” in a statement published by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
The war prompted Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that facilitates the transport of about one-fifth of the global supply of oil and natural gas.
The disruption amounted to the “most severe oil supply shock in history,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new report on Tuesday. Oil and gasoline prices soared, prompting some economists to warn of a possible recession.
U.S. oil prices have fallen from a recent peak achieved in the early days of the war, but costs remain nearly 40% higher than pre-war levels.
U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan over the weekend failed to secure a peace deal. Trump said that Iran’s alleged unwillingness to abandon its nuclear program was the key sticking point, and that the U.S. would respond with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which began Monday.
Israel, meanwhile, has continued ground operations and intense strikes in Lebanon, where it is engaged with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the ceasefire with Iran, but that Lebanon was not covered by the agreement, despite Iranian protests.
ABC News’ David Brennan, Meredith Deliso, and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
Sean Baker during the opening ceremony of the 76th Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin on Feb. 12, 2026, in Berlin, Germany. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Anora filmmaker Sean Baker has set up his next film.
Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that it will distribute Baker’s Ti Amo! through its brand-new specialty film label, Warner Bros. Clockwork. The studio has global distribution rights for the movie, excluding in France, and will release it in theaters globally in 2027.
Ti Amo! marks Baker’s highly anticipated follow-up to his Academy Award-winning and Palme d’Or-winning film Anora. Baker himself won the awards for best picture, best director, best writer and best editing, while its star Mikey Madison won best actress.
Baker will write, direct, edit, cast and produce Ti Amo!, as he also reteams with Anora producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan.
The new label Warner Bros. Clockwork will be led by film executive Christian Parkes. It will be “a home for singular filmmakers that powerfully connect with audiences theatrically across the world,” according to a press release, and build on “Warner Bros.’ longstanding legacy of producing socially relevant, provocative, and culturally resonant cinema for audiences globally.”
“Sean Baker is an artist who embodies everything we believe in at Clockwork, and Ti Amo! will be another gift to cinema,” Parkes said. “Plus, his poster game is on point.”
The official Warner Bros. Clockwork Instagram shared a photo of Baker holding a video camera circa 2002 to announce the news. The director collaborated on the post, which is captioned, “TI AMO! The new film from Sean Baker. In theaters worldwide 2027.”
People dressed as Santa Claus take part in the annual SantaCon celebration in New York City, December 13, 2025. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors arrested the organizer of New York City’s controversial SantaCon bar crawl Wednesday after they say he allegedly kept a lot of the holiday joy for himself.
Stefan Pildes, 50, is facing federal wire fraud charges that accuse him of siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable funds for his own use, including for concert tickets and vacations.
SantaCon is an event held annually in December in which thousands of attendees dress as Santa Claus and other holiday characters and travel to bars and restaurants throughout the day.
The event is billed as “a charitable, non-political, nonsensical Santa Claus convention that happens once a year to spread absurdist joy” that charges attendees tickets that cost between $10 and $20, the indictment said.
“When one Attendee, for example, asked what she would receive for purchasing a ticket, the SantaCon Email responded, in part, ‘your donation goes to charity and it is only a few bucks and that good feeling will warm your heart faster than whiskey and gingerbread,'” the indictment said.
But of nearly $3 million Pildes raised since 2019, he allegedly diverted more than half to an entity he used as a slush fund, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court.
Prosecutors allege Pildes used the money for personal expenses, including $365,000 to renovate a lakefront property in New Jersey, $124,000 toward the lease of a “luxury Manhattan apartment,” a “$100,000 investment in a boutique resort in Costa Rica founded by a personal friend,” and a nearly $3,000 birthday dinner, the indictment said.
Pildes was expected to appear in court later Wednesday, and it was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.
He is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
The bar crawl has become a controversial event in Manhattan with complaints from local leaders and residents accusing some intoxicated Santa-dressed revelers of causing disturbances during the day
The NYPD has issued several summonses and made some arrests at past SantaCons.
-ABC News’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
The seal of the Department of Homeland Security (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(ATLANTA) — A Department of Homeland Security employee was “brutally shot and stabbed to death,” Monday, according to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in a shooting spree across the Atlanta area, in which one other person was killed and a third is in critical condition.
Lauren Bullis was walking her dog on Monday, when she was randomly attacked, allegedly stabbed and shot by Olaolukitan Adon Abel, a 26-year-old born in the United Kingdom who was naturalized in 2022, Mullin said.
“He possesses a prior criminal record that includes convictions for sexual battery, battery against a police officer, obstruction, and assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and now stands accused of murdering @DHSgov employee Lauren Bullis by shooting and stabbing her while she walked her dog,” Mullin wrote on X.
Mullin said Abel was arrested for reportedly shooting a woman to death outside a restaurant before “randomly shooting a homeless man multiple times” outside a supermarket. ABC affiliate WSB reported that man is in critical condition.
Police said Abel, 26, shot and stabbed Burris about four hours later, according to WSB.
Police raided a home that the suspect rented near where Burris was attacked and arrested Abel, WSB reported, who faces at least six charges, including murder, aggravated assault and possession of a gun as a convicted felon.
A behind-the-scenes photo as production starts on ‘The White Lotus’ season 4. (Fabio Lovino/HBO)
Cameras have started rolling on season 4 of The White Lotus.
The Emmy-winning HBO series has started production on the French Riviera. This fourth season is set to film in Cannes, St. Tropez and Monaco. Additionally, some filming will also take place in Paris, although the main story remains along the Côte d’Azur.
HBO has also confirmed that this new season’s plot will take place during the Cannes Film Festival, where it will follow a new group of White Lotus hotel guests and its employees over the course of a week.
The star-studded season 4 cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Vincent Cassel, Steve Coogan, Caleb Jonte Edwards, Dylan Ennis, Corentin Fila, Ari Graynor, Marissa Long, Alexander Ludwig, Chris Messina, AJ Michalka, Kumail Nanjiani and Nadia Tereszkiewicz. Additional cast includes Chloe Bennet, Sandra Bernhard, Heather Graham, Max Greenfield, Frida Gustavsson, Charlie Hall, Jarrad Paul, Rosie Perez, Ben Schnetzer and Laura Smet.
The hotels that will be featured in this season of the show are the Airelles Château de la Messardière, which will be the White Lotus du Cap, and the Hôtel Martinez, which will be the White Lotus Cannes.
The White Lotus is created, written and directed by Mike White. White also executive produces alongside David Bernad and Mark Kamine.
Officials say an ice block crashed through the roof of a home in Whittier, California, on April 10, 2026. (Los Angeles County Supervisor)
(LOS ANGELES) — Federal authorities are investigating after a California resident reported that a large chunk of ice fell from the sky and crashed through the roof of a house and landed on a couch.
The incident occurred around 11:15 a.m. on Friday at a home in Whittier in Los Angeles County, according to local officials.
The resident reported hearing “what sounded like an explosion” and found a large block of dirty-looking ice on the living room couch, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office said in a press release on Tuesday.
The ice had crashed through the roof and ceiling, according to Hahn’s office, which released photos of the damage to the home.
No one was injured in the incident, Hahn’s office said.
Local law enforcement and fire personnel responded and classified the situation as a “suspicious circumstance,” and the resident submitted a report to the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Hahn.
The home is under the Los Angeles International Airport landing approach. Data from Flightradar24 shows there were planes flying over the house around the time of the incident, and there is a plane over the house approximately every 3 minutes.
Hahn has called for a “thorough and timely” investigation into the incident in a letter to the FAA. The letter, dated Tuesday, noted that a “large mass of ice penetrated the roof of a residential home, causing significant structural damage and posing substantial risk of injury or loss of life.”
“While such incidents are rare, the potential consequences are extremely serious,” Hahn wrote. “Whether the material originated from aircraft systems, waste leakage, or another source, this event raises important concerns about aviation safety over densely populated communities in Los Angeles County.”
The FAA said it is investigating, and that the agency investigates every report it receives alleging ice fell from an airplane and damaged property.
The homeowner, Thania Magana, had reached out to Hahn on Saturday, “requesting assistance ensuring this incident is properly investigated,” Hahn’s office said.
“We definitely want to know what it consists of and if it’s going to affect our health,” she told the station.
If the ice was due to a plane, Magana told KABC that she wants to “understand why it happens, because even right now as we’re speaking, there’s a plane flying over us and it’s scary.”
Construction on the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Prosecutors from the U.S. attorneys office in Washington were turned away Tuesday after they made an unannounced visit to the Federal Reserve, where they allegedly requested a tour of renovations that have attracted scrutiny from the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The unusual visit prompted immediate backlash from an attorney for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who wrote a letter to D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office, citing the recent ruling from a federal judge that blocked subpoenas to the bank after determining DOJ’s criminal probe was driven by President Donald Trump’s political animus towards Powell.
Robert Hur, who formerly served as special counsel who investigated former President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents and now represents Powell, warned DOJ in the letter reviewed by ABC News that future efforts to initiate contact with Fed representatives should be negotiated through legal counsel.
“As you know, Chief Judge [James] Boasberg has concluded that your interest in the Federal Reserve’s renovation project was pretextual. Should you wish to challenge that finding, the courts provide an avenue for you; it is not appropriate for you to try to circumvent it,” Hur said. “I ask that you commit not to seek to communicate with my client outside the presence of counsel.”
According to Hur’s letter, attorneys from Pirro’s office, Carlton Davis and Steven Vandervelden, and a case agent showed up at the Fed’s headquarters, stating they wished to “check on progress” and that they asked for a “tour.”
A source said they were then told they could not access the site without preauthorized clearance from Fed management and were given the contact information for the Fed’s legal counsel, after which the three left the area.
“Any construction project that has cost overruns of almost 80% over the original construction budget deserves some serious review,” Pirro said in a statement on X after the prosecutors were turned away. “And these people are in charge of monetary policy in the United States?”
Pirro publicly vented her frustrations about Boasberg’s ruling that effectively blocked her office from investigating Powell, which she has vowed to continue appealing despite threats from Republican Sen. Thom Tillis to block any confirmation of Powell’s replacement until the criminal probe is resolved.
The probe centered on Powell’s testimony to Congress last year about cost overruns in a multibillion-dollar office renovation project.
Trump on Wednesday again threatened to fire Powell if he does not step down when his term as chair ends May 15.
“I’ll have to fire him, OK, if he’s not leaving on time — I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial, you know, I want to be uncontroversial,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo.
Legal experts have questioned if Trump has the authority to fire Powell. His attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook last year is currently awaiting a decision at the Supreme Court.
The confrontational visit also comes as Pirro’s name has repeatedly been floated as a potential permanent replacement for Pam Bondi as the next attorney general.
Powell rebuked the investigation in a video message in January as a politically motivated effort to influence the Fed’s interest rate policy.
Pirro, at a press conference in March, denied that politics played any role in her probe of Powell and the focus was whether public money has been wasted as a result of the Fed’s renovations, and potential false statements to Congress by Powell about the operations.
