Cedric the Entertainer on ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ (Disney/Eric McCandless)
Cedric the Entertainer is just weeks away from taking the stage in the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Speaking to People, he said the role is an “opportunity to stretch and do something totally different than being a TV dad.” He also noted its similarities to his roots as a stand-up comedian.
“It’s like riding a horse,” he said. “You can feel the emotion of the horse, and that horse can feel your emotions. When you’re performing live you can tell when you’ve got the audience in the palm of your hand and when you’re losing them.”
Cedric stars as Seth Holly, who runs a Pittsburgh boardinghouse with Bertha Holly, played by Taraji P. Henson. They provide shelter to Black travelers navigating uncertain paths in the aftermath of the Great Migration, according to Broadway.com.
The story centers on Herald Loomis, who arrives with his young daughter. As noted on the play’s official website, he searches for his lost wife while embarking on a journey of self-discovery after seven years of forced labor under Joe Turner, Broadway.com adds. Performances begin March 30 at the Barrymore Theatre.
In other Cedric news, he’s preparing to say goodbye to The Neighborhood, which is ending May 11 after eight seasons.
He also has an animated film, Swapped, arriving May 1 on Netflix, and a barbecue cookbook with Anthony Anderson set to drop on May 5.
“I love the fact that in a Renaissance man kind of way, I get to do it all,” he said of his busy schedule. “I’d love to continue to have a career that resonates 10, 20, 30 years from now.”
When asked about retirement, he added, “Let’s go until the wheels fall off.”
Rose Byrne may be fresh off her first Oscar nomination for her performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, but she already has another movie in theaters.
The actress stars in Tow, which follows the true story of Amanda Ogle, an unhoused woman living in her car on the streets of Seattle, Washington. After her Toyota Camry is stolen and impounded, she fights a relentless legal battle to reclaim her car and, in turn, her life.
Byrne told ABC Audio she got the chance to meet with the real-life Ogle while preparing for the role. They spent a few days together exploring neighborhoods in Seattle and seeing all of the locations that made her who she is.
“She’s extraordinary,” Byrne said of Ogle, noting “her stubbornness, her perseverance” and most of all her “self-respect and her value of wanting to fight this fight.”
“Which is really what it’s about. Less so the car, but about that drive,” Byrne said, pun not intended.
Byrne continued, “She was really struggling for the basic things and yet she was driven to make sure that she went up against this unbelievable monolith, this corporate monolith who couldn’t care less about this complaint.”
Her story “was very inspiring and unbelievable,” Byrne said. If she had to pick one thing about Ogle that speaks to her the most, Byrne said it was her unyielding dedication.
That stubbornness “was a thing I was fascinated with,” Byrne said, “her unwillingness to let it go.”
Honoree Snoop Dogg accepts the Ultimate Icon Award onstage during the 2025 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 9, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)
Another day, another gig for Snoop Dogg. Deadline reports he is set to star in God of the Rodeo, a true crime thriller from filmmaker Rosalind Ross.
Snoop will also produce the film with his Death Row Pictures partner Sara Ramaker, Giannina Scott for Cara Films and Ridley Scott for Scott Free Productions, while Ross writes and directs.
“Linking up with Scott Free Productions and working with Ridley Scott and Giannina Scott on God of the Rodeo is life changing and an honor,” Snoop said in a statement. “Rosalind Ross brought a story with heart and grit, and that’s what I’m about. Me and the team at Death Row Pictures stepping in as producers, I’m acting in it, and Death Row Records is building the soundtrack—and this one got soul. … We’re bringing an important story and something special to the screen.”
Giannina Scott said she is “excited and blessed to have Snoop join the cast,” calling him “one of the most gifted and influential artists alive.”
Ross added, “It’s a thrill and an honor as a filmmaker to bring the legendary swagger, soul and eccentricity of Snoop to this story in what will be a completely transformative role for him.”
While Snoop’s exact role has not yet been revealed, God of the Rodeo — based on reporting by Daniel Bergner— is set against the brutal backdrop of Louisiana’s Angola Prison in 1967.
It follows Buckkey, an inmate serving a life sentence “who finds a glimmer of redemption” in Angola’s first inmate rodeo, according to Deadline. He later learns the rodeo is less of an opportunity and more of “a grueling fight for survival designed to satiate the public’s” desire for bloodshed and the warden’s sense of power.
Raissa (Liza Soberano) and Jo (H.E.R.) in ‘Forgotten Island,’ directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. (DreamWorks Animation)
The official trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island has arrived.
Grammy and Oscar winner H.E.R. stars alongside Liza Soberano in the upcoming movie, which centers on friendship. The pair voice high school graduates Jo and Raissa, who have been best friends ever since they were in grade school. The movie picks up as the girls are set to go off on separate life paths.
“While celebrating their last night together, Jo and Raissa stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them to the fantastical island of Nakali, packed with magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing stories about from their Filipino families,” according to an official description from Universal Pictures.
On the island, the pair meet new friends, such as the weredog Raww (Dave Franco), as well as new enemies, like The Dreaded Manananggal (Lea Salonga). Eventually, the best friends discover they can return home, but only if they give up all of the memories they have of each other. The besties then race to find a way to get home without forgetting each other forever.
The trailer is set to the song “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds. In it, we see Jo and Raissa get transported to the new land, where they receive a warning.
“The Forgotten Island is a dangerous place,” they’re told by a character voiced by Jenny Slate. “The longer you’re here, the more memories you’ll forget.”
The film’s star-studded voice cast also includes Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy and Ronny Chieng. It was written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado and produced by Mark Swift, the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has reached an agreement with President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn to pay him roughly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the former general claiming he was politically targeted for prosecution during Trump’s first administration, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Dominic McLaughlin stars in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.’ (Aidan Monaghan/HBO)
The boy who lived, for a brand-new era.
HBO has released the official teaser trailer for the first season of its upcoming Harry Potter series. It is officially titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the network announced.
Additionally, HBO has set the season to premiere Christmas Day on HBO Max.
“There is nothing special about Harry Potter – at least that’s what his Aunt Petunia always says. On his 11th birthday, a letter of admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry opens up a hidden world for Harry: one of fun, friendship and magic,” its official logline reads. “But with this new adventure comes great risk as Harry is forced to face a dangerous enemy from his past.”
Dominic McLaughlin leads the cast as Harry Potter, alongside Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who play Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
“I’ve always wanted to know about my parents,” McLaughlin says as Harry in the trailer.
We then see Nick Frost as Hagrid, who says to him, “Your parents were the kindest, bravest people I ever met. They were funny and clever, and they stood up for what they believed was right. And the next time I see you will be in Hogwarts.”
The rest of the trailer finds Harry getting onto the Hogwarts Express and arriving at the wizarding school. We see glimpses of the great hall, the quidditch pitch, the sorting hat and other classic moments from the first Harry Potter book.
“Are you really Harry Potter?” Stout’s Ron asks Harry in the trailer’s last moments. When the boy who lived confirms so, Ron makes an explosion noise and accompanying hand movement on his own forehead, in the infamous spot where Harry’s lightning bolt scar resides.
The show is described as a faithful adaptation of the books by J.K. Rowling, who serves as an executive producer on the series.
Victor Greenawalt, a Citizen Honor Award recipient, poses with his mother in Washington, D.C., March 24, 2026. (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A 11-year-old boy from Minneapolis will be recognized with a Citizen Honor Award in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for helping save a classmate’s life during a mass shooting at their school.
Victor Greenawalt is among this year’s six honorees — five individuals and one nonprofit — for showing “extraordinary bravery far beyond his years,” the Congressional Medal of Honor Society said in a statement. “Instinctively, Victor protected a classmate with his own body, directly saving their life.”
Victor was injured when he used his body to shield his friend from the gunfire at Annunciation Catholic School, according to MPR News.
“My friend Victor, like, saved me though. He laid on top of me, but he got hit,” the friend, Weston Halsne, told Minneapolis station KARE last year. “He was really brave.”
An 8-year-old and 10-year-old sitting in pews were killed and many others were injured when the shooter opened fire through the windows of the school’s church on Aug. 27, 2025. The shooter died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Victor is receiving the young hero award, which honors Americans 17 years old or younger “for their courage in a dire situation,” the Congressional Medal of Honor Society said.
Sgt. Juan Miranda, culinary specialist, 155th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, files in Afghan Special Immigrants into the dining facility, August 20, 2021 at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. (Sgt. Jimmie Baker/US Army via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — More than 1,100 Afghan refugees and family members of active duty U.S. military personnel are stranded on an unused Doha military base that has become a target since the start of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, according to U.S. non-profit organization Afghan Evac.
Qatar Armed Forces have been intercepting incoming attacks from Iran, but residents at the facility, known as Camp As Sayliyah, told ABC News they have been hiding in buildings during the attacks and were not initially given bunkers or proper protections to take cover.
During those weeks, they said shrapnel would fall into their bedrooms, even locations where young children were. Since the war broke out, refugees sent ABC News recordings in secret, outlining what they say are the dire conditions at the camp. They asked for their faces to be hidden and their voices altered, due to their fear of being deported or reprimanded.
Three weeks later, ABC News received videos where residents show how the camp installed new concrete walling near the entrances and exits of buildings. They say workers urge residents to enter the bunkers in the “event of a duck and cover alert.”
In response to the residents’ claims of terrible conditions, a spokesperson for the a U.S. State Department, which administers the base, also told ABC News they are “addressing all related operational concerns” including “the safety and security of American citizens as well as the safety of residents at Camp As Sayliyah.”
Mahidewran, a young Afghan mother, told us that her child’s first steps were taken in the camp, where the family has been for more than a year, and that raising her child there has been difficult.
“I’m not always able to provide her with the foods she needs or the toys she loves,” she said.
Her daughter was about to turn 1 when they were initially brought to Camp As Sayliyah, and now she is turning 2.
Apart from raising a child on a former military base, she faces another unlikely challenge: war.
Mahidewran told ABC News sirens go off every few hours in the camp, warning residents to take cover in their buildings.
“I left [Afghanistan] through a legal process by the United States, and when they transferred me to Qatar, we were given safety, an opportunity to rebuild our lives,” she told ABC News.
Ahmad, who said he fought against terrorism alongside the U.S. as a member of the Afghan Command forces, told ABC News his son sleeps under the bed, fearing for his life as missiles continue to fire at the camp.
He said he’s been living at Camp As Sayliyah with his children for more than 18 months, and despite being brought to Doha by the U.S. government, his entire family remains in limbo, not knowing where they will go next. ABC News spoke to refugees who shared similar stories to Ahmad’s — saying they were promised a better life in return for risking theirs when working for the U.S. government.
From July to August 2021, the U.S. evacuated more than 100,000 people out of Afghanistan during Operation Allies Refuge, following the withdrawal of U.S. troops during the Biden-Harris administration.
Nearly five years later, the Trump administration has halted relocation and refugee resettlement efforts, impacting many of those who had already been vetted and cleared to travel to the U.S., according to AfghanEvac. The reports detailing the operation have since been deleted from the State Department website.
Refugees at Camp As Sayliyah said that the U.S. government’s promise of a better life on American soil was broken and that being caught in another war brings them back to the terrifying moments they experienced in Afghanistan.
“We came from a country that was under war for 48 years, before living here we were living in constant fear and anxiety,” Farishta, a teenager living on the base with her parents, told ABC News.
When ABC News spoke with Farishta, she said she was still living in a state of fear and that a worker at the camp threatened her with deportation to Afghanistan if she spoke to a journalist again.
Farishta said she has lived at Camp As Sayliyah for 15 months and often dreams of her future, hoping to further her education.
“I feel hopeless because I am a girl who has been deprived of education and whose future is uncertain,” she said.
“Afghan Nationals at the camp do not currently have a viable pathway to the United States,” the department said.
The plan is to relocate the population to a third country by March 31, according to the department. It said this “is a positive resolution that provides safety for these remaining people to start a new life outside of Afghanistan.”
The State Dept said the “Trump administration has no plans to send these” Afghan refugees back to their home country.
However, those people ABC News spoke to said they have not been told what country they would be going to or when.
Afghan Evac said it has been advocating for refugees at the camp, writing several letters to the State Department, urging the government not to leave the residents at Camp As Sayliyah behind.
According to Afghan Evac, 800 of the people at the camp are fully vetted and approved refugees who were cleared to travel to the U.S. The camp’s residents are mainly women and children, it said.
Shawn VanDiver, the president of Afghan Evac, claimed that there was a pathway and that the State Department closed it off.
“There is no structural or legal barrier preventing these individuals from coming from the United States. The absence of a ‘viable pathway’ is a policy choice, not an inevitability,” he told ABC News.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump enters the East Room with a humanoid robot during the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit at the White House. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — First lady Melania Trump was joined by a special guest at the White House on Wednesday: a walking, talking humanoid robot.
Named “Figure 03,” the shiny black and white robot strolled side by side with Mrs. Trump into the East Room for the second day of her international technology summit, where she is hosting spouses of leaders from 45 nations and representatives from 28 tech companies.
The robot, developed by the company Figure, welcomed guests in multiple languages and offered a wave.
“I’m Figure 03, a humanoid built in the United States of America,” it said. “I am grateful to be part of this historic movement to empower children with technology and education.”
The robot then turned and walked back down a White House corridor out of the room.
“It’s fair to state, you are my first American-made humanoid guest in the White House,” the first lady quipped after its exit.
The first lady launched her “Fostering the Future Together” initiative in September at the United Nations General Assembly.
She and other first spouses, like France’s first lady Brigitte Macron, spoke on Wednesday about the importance of balancing the use of tech with safety and the need for initiatives to equip young people with practical skills.
“Our mission to empower children through technology and education is achievable. I encourage each of you to take a proactive step after this inaugural summit. Pledge to host a regional meeting. Collaborate with the private sector. Unlock access to tech for those who require assistance, draft groundbreaking legislation to protect our children,” Mrs. Trump said. “Collaborate with another member nation. Form a committee and be a catalyst for discovery.”
“Indeed, our world is transforming, and through the use of AI, we can now access centuries worth of human humanities knowledge base. The future of AI is personified. It will be formed in the shape of humans,” she added.
The first lady kicked off the inaugural meeting of first spouses and dignitaries on Tuesday with remarks delivered at the State Department. A working session followed focused on the topics of artificial intelligence, education technology, digital literacy and skills, and safety and protection online.
Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine, and Sara Netanyahu, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are among the first spouses present.
Zelenska said she was joining Mrs. Trump’s initiative as a reliable partner, and spoke about Ukraine’s investment in digital infrastructure, education technologies and AI-enabled learning.
“For us, this is the matter of principle. No child, no adult, should lose access to education regardless of their circumstances. That is why we’re building a comprehensive digital education ecosystem,” Zelenska said.
Two teenagers look at their iPhone screens displaying various social media and messaging apps. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — In a landmark decision, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent for designing apps that harmed kids and teens and failed to warn them about the dangers.
The jury awarded compensatory damages in the amount of $3 million. The jury also found punitive damages are warranted.
The lawsuit, brought by a 20-year-old woman identified as “Kaley,” alleges major social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive. The suit claims features like auto-scrolling got the plaintiff addicted to the platforms, ultimately leading to anxiety, depression and body image issues.
In a statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”
The plaintiff’s attorney called the verdict “bigger than one case,” in a statement to ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”
The plaintiff’s attorney called the verdict “bigger than one case,” in a statement to ABC News.
“For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous design features,” the attorney continued. “Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived. We now move forward to the next phase of this trial focused on punitive damages.”
The damages were found to be 70 percent the responsibility of Meta and 30 percent the responsibility of YouTube.
The jury returned an answer of “Yes” to every question posed relating to negligence and failure to warn of dangers. Ten jurors were in favor of the plaintiff for every question, with two in favor of the defense in every question.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
