Celebrities – Winnipeg Free Press

Hollywood reacts to Joe Biden exiting the presidential race

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 9:14 AM CDT

Hollywood was quick to react to the news that President Joe Biden was ending his bid for reelection and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Barbra Streisand, a Democratic supporter, wrote Sunday on X that “we should be grateful for his upholding of our democracy.” While many paid tribute to Biden’s presidency, others wondered about the future.

Cher wrote on X that she thought Biden dropping out was the best chance for Democrats to win. She had written in a post she said was made before she saw Sunday's Biden news that she was “tortured” because she didn't believe the Democrats could win with Biden. She said it was time to think “way outside the box” and proposed a split ticket.

In recent weeks, several high-profile Hollywood names had begun calling for Biden to exit the race. Just weeks after headlining a record-breaking fundraiser for the president's reelection campaign, George Clooney wrote a New York Times opinion piece calling for Biden to end his bid.

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In Kyiv, a music festival returns as fans, artists and soldiers are united by the inescapable war

Samya Kullab, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

In Kyiv, a music festival returns as fans, artists and soldiers are united by the inescapable war

Samya Kullab, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: 9:37 AM CDT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — This year, Ukraine’s largest music festival struck a different chord. Gone were the international headliners, the massive performance halls and the hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Instead, the country’s most beloved local artists graced the stage this past weekend at the Atlas Festival for what remained an ebullient crowd. The stage was erected in a shopping mall parking lot, the only option with a shelter large enough to contain the 25,000 people expected in the event of an air raid.

Carefree youth danced, romanced and sang along, rubbing shoulders with hardened military commanders as famous singers who crooned lyrics imbued with national pride. Music was the main goal, but so was shattering the illusion that the capital is invulnerable to the bloody battles hundreds of miles away.

“Such kind of festivals can’t be separated from the life of the country. The country is at war. The core issues here should relate to the war,” said Vsevolod Kozhemyako, a businessman and one of the founders of the 13th “Khartia” Brigade, now a part of Ukraine’s National Guard and defending the frontline in Kharkiv.

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Updated: 9:37 AM CDT

People with painted faces go to the Atlas Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, July 21, 2024. This year, Ukraine's largest music festival struck a different chord. Gone were the international headliners, the massive performance halls and the hundreds of thousands of visitors. (AP Photo/Anton Shtuka)

Pharrell Williams, Bruce Springsteen among stars set to attend Toronto film festival

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Pharrell Williams, Bruce Springsteen among stars set to attend Toronto film festival

The Canadian Press 2 minute read 9:25 AM CDT

TORONTO - Movie stars Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett and Will Ferrell, as well as music superstars Pharrell Williams, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John are among the celebrities expected to walk the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival, a year after Hollywood strikes muted last year's event.

Festival organizers promised star power at this September's edition while outlining program additions that include the world premieres of Angelina Jolie's war drama "Without Blood," Ron Howard's survival thriller "Eden" and Gia Coppola's Pamela Anderson-fronted drama "The Last Showgirl."

Springsteen will be in town for the international debut of Thom Zimny's "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band," chronicling the behind-the-scenes preparation for the singer-songwriter's latest tour, while the international premiere of Morgan Neville's biopic "Piece by Piece," tells Williams' life story through Lego animation.

John is expected to support the previously announced film "Elton John: Never Too Late," which promises to "pull back the curtain" on the superstar's life.

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9:25 AM CDT

Singer Pharrell Williams poses for photographers upon arrival at the 'Lion King' European premiere in central London, Sunday, July 14, 2019. Williams is among the many stars set to hit the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Joel C Ryan, Invision

On a summer Sunday, Biden withdrew with a text statement. News outlets struggled for visuals

David Bauder, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

On a summer Sunday, Biden withdrew with a text statement. News outlets struggled for visuals

David Bauder, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:27 PM CDT

In an intensely visual news world, a seismic week of politics was transformed again in an instant on Sunday by something almost old-fashioned: a printed statement.

President Joe Biden's announcement that he would not run for a second term was dropped into his social media feed at 1:46 p.m. Eastern, followed 33 minutes later by an endorsement of his vice president, Kamala Harris. Still recovering from COVID, the president did not appear on camera. Which meant, for news outlets, scant to no visuals.

There was also virtually no warning, leading to initial concerns that the president's X feed had been hacked. The Associated Press filed a “flash” alert at 1:54 p.m. Eastern. Television networks broke into programming between 1:50 (Fox News Channel) and 2:04 p.m. (ABC).

It was, the Associated Press wrote, “a late-season campaign thunderstrike unlike any in American history.” CBS News analyst Ashley Etienne called it “an incredible day in American history.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:27 PM CDT

A news crawl appears on the side of the Fox News building in New York, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in the wake of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

‘Twisters’ whips up $80.5 million at box office, while ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ looms

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

‘Twisters’ whips up $80.5 million at box office, while ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ looms

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:59 PM CDT

Moviegoers ran toward the tornadoes this weekend, propelling “ Twisters ” to a blockbuster opening. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit made $80.5 million in ticket sales from 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That’s about $30 million more than analysts expected initially, and makes for the biggest opening of a live-action movie yet this summer.

“We had big aspirations for it to begin with, and it certainly exceeded those,” said Jim Orr, who heads distribution for Universal. “We’re seriously over-indexing between coasts which is fun to see as well.”

Its overperformance recalled “ Oppenheimer’s ” debut last year on the same weekend. There are some similiarities: The studio, Universal, and the numbers. But there are also important differences: “Oppenheimer” was 3-hours long, R-rated ("Twisters" is PG-13) and historical, not to mention the collective enthusiasm around its release date companion, “Barbie.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:59 PM CDT

This image released by Universal Pictures shows promotional art for the film

Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against Fox News over explicit images featured in streaming series

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against Fox News over explicit images featured in streaming series

The Associated Press 2 minute read 9:28 AM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit accusing Fox News of illegally publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series.

An attorney for the president's son filed a voluntary dismissal notice on Sunday in federal court in New York City, three weeks after the lawsuit was filed. It wasn't clear why the lawsuit was dropped, and Biden's attorney didn't immediately respond to a Monday email seeking comment.

The lawsuit involved images shown in “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which debuted on the streaming service Fox Nation in 2022. The series features a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on charges that he hasn't faced and includes images of him in the nude and engaged in sex acts, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint claimed that the dissemination of intimate images without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn law.

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9:28 AM CDT

FILE - Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit accusing Fox News of unlawfully publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series. An attorney for the president’s son filed a voluntary dismissal on Sunday, July 21 in federal court in New York City. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, file)

Adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s ‘Nickel Boys’ to open New York Film Festival this fall

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s ‘Nickel Boys’ to open New York Film Festival this fall

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 2 minute read Updated: 8:10 AM CDT

“Nickel Boys,” an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will open the 62nd New York Film Festival in September, organizers said Monday.

Filmmaker RaMell Ross directed the drama based on the 2019 novel about two Black teenagers in an abusive reform school in Florida in Jim Crow-era Florida. Whitehead used the real Dozier School for Boys, and its victims, as a model. The cast includes Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.

“’Nickel Boys’ signals the emergence of a major filmmaking voice,” said Dennis Lim, the festival’s artistic director, in a statement. “RaMell Ross’ fiction debut, like his previous work in photography and documentary, searches for new ways of seeing and, in so doing, expands the possibilities of visual language. It’s the most audacious American movie I have seen in some time.”

Ross is best known for the documentary “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” which followed Black residents in Alabama’s Hale County and was nominated for an Oscar in 2019. The film, from Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures, will open the festival on Sept. 27 before hitting theaters on Oct. 25.

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Updated: 8:10 AM CDT

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Second B.C. university issues trespass notice to pro-Palestinian protesters

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Second B.C. university issues trespass notice to pro-Palestinian protesters

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:36 PM CDT

VICTORIA - The University of Victoria in British Columbia says it has told the pro-Palestinian protesters at an on-campus encampment that they are trespassing, setting the stage for the camp's removal.

The protesters say on their group social media page that the university administration has told them to "vacate by 8 a.m. Monday," but add in a separate post that they are planning a rally at the camp instead.

The university says in its latest encampment update that it has "taken a calm, measured and reasoned approach" to the protest since it was set up on May 1, but administrators "see no further prospect for a successful dialogue."

In response, protesters naming themselves "People's Park UVIC" confirm on social media that the school has issued them a trespass notice, but add that the group is planning a "trespass breakfast" at the deadline time and calling for supporters to attend.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:36 PM CDT

The University of Victoria in British Columbia says it has begun the process of removing the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus, telling protesters they are trespassing on school property. Pro-Palestinian protesters hold a demonstration at the University of Victoria, in Saanich, B.C., on Friday, April 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 28-Aug. 3

The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 28-Aug. 3

The Associated Press 6 minute read 8:52 AM CDT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 28-Aug. 3:

July 28: Cartoonist Jim Davis (“Garfield”) is 79. Actor Linda Kelsey (“Lou Grant”) is 78. Singer Jonathan Edwards is 78. Actor Sally Struthers is 77. Drummer Simon Kirke of Bad Company is 75. Guitarist Steve Morse of Deep Purple is 70. CBS News anchor Scott Pelley is 67. Bassist Marc Perlman of The Jayhawks is 63. Actor Michael Hayden (“Murder One”) is 61. Actor Lori Loughlin (“90210,” ″Full House”) is 60. Jazz trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis is 59. Actor Elizabeth Berkley (“Showgirls,” ″Saved by the Bell”) is 52. Singer Afroman is 50. Drummer Todd Anderson of Heartland is 49. Singer Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach is 48. Actor John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman”) is 40. Actor Jon Michael Hill (“Elementary”) is 39. Actor Dustin Milligan (“90210”) is 39. Rapper Soulja Boy is 34.

July 29: Actor Robert Fuller (“Laramie,” ″Emergency!”) is 91. Actor Roz Kelly (“Happy Days”) is 82. Keyboardist Neal Doughty of REO Speedwagon is 78. Actor Mike Starr (“Ed,” ″Goodfellas”) is 74. Documentary maker Ken Burns is 71. TV personality Tim Gunn (“Project Runway”) is 71. Singer-bassist Geddy Lee of Rush is 71. Singer Patti Scialfa of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is 71. Actor Alexandra Paul (“Baywatch”) is 61. Actor Dean Haglund (“The X Files”) is 59. Country singer Martina McBride is 58. Drummer Chris Gorman of Belly is 57. Actor Tim Omundson (“Psych”) is 55. Actor Ato Essandoh (film’s “Django Unchained,” TV’s “Elementary”) is 52. Actor Wil Wheaton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Stand By Me”) is 52. Actor Stephen Dorff is 51. Singer Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men is 51. Country singer James Otto is 51. Actor Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”) is 50. Musician Danger Mouse is 47. Actor Rachel Miner (“Supernatural”) is 44. Actor Allison Mack (“Smallville”) is 42. Actor Kaitlyn Black (“Hart of Dixie”) is 41. Actor Cait Fairbanks (“The Young and the Restless”) is 31.

July 30: Blues guitarist Buddy Guy is 88. Singer Paul Anka is 83. Actor William Atherton (“Die Hard” films”) is 77. Actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is 77. Actor Jean Reno (“The Da Vinci Code,” ″Godzilla”) is 76. Actor Ken Olin is 70. Actor Delta Burke is 68. Actor Richard Burgi (“Desperate Housewives”) is 66. Singer-songwriter Kate Bush is 66. Country singer Neal McCoy is 66. Director Richard Linklater (“Boyhood,” “Dazed and Confused”) is 64. Actor Laurence Fishburne is 63. Actor Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”) is 61. Guitarist Dwayne O’Brien of Little Texas is 61. Actor Vivica A. Fox is 60. Actor Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” ″Everybody Hates Chris”) is 56. Actor Simon Baker (“The Mentalist”) is 55. Director Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer,” “Memento”) is 54. Actor Tom Green is 53. Drummer Brad Hargreaves of Third Eye Blind is 53. Actor Christine Taylor (“Dodgeball,” “The Brady Bunch Movie”) is 53. Comedian Dean Edwards (“Saturday Night Live”) is 51. Actor Hilary Swank is 50. Actor Jaime Pressly (“Mom,” “My Name Is Earl”) is 47. Singer-guitarist Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers is 44. Actor April Bowlby (“Drop Dead Diva,” ″Two and a Half Men”) is 44. Actor Yvonne Strahovski (“Chuck”) is 42. Actor Martin Starr (“Silicon Valley,” ″Freaks and Geeks”) is 42. Actor Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”) is 40. Actor Joey King (TV’s “Fargo,” “The Kissing Booth” films) is 25.

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8:52 AM CDT

FILE - Jason Momoa, left, and Lisa Bonet appear at the premiere of

Olympic marketing deal hopes to meet young fans where they are – on Roblox

Eddie Pells, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Olympic marketing deal hopes to meet young fans where they are – on Roblox

Eddie Pells, The Associated Press 2 minute read 8:13 AM CDT

The Olympic world's ever-expanding quest to draw in young fans is meeting them where they are — on Roblox.

The U.S. Olympic team and NBC are collaborating with the kid- and teen-friendly gaming platform to produce a new “Obby” — that's Roblox for obstacle course — and other features that include ways to interact with U.S. athletes while also checking out highlights from the Paris Games and making visits to a virtual Team USA House called “The Vibe House.”

This new Roblox feature debuting Monday includes animated versions of 20 U.S. Olympians, including a surfer, a skateboarder and two break dancers — all of whom represent sports that have been added recently to the Olympic program in hopes of driving young fans to the games.

“My sister-in-law said my nieces are going to be more excited about me being in Roblox than me being in the Olympics,” said one of the breakers, 35-year-old Sunny Choi.

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8:13 AM CDT

FILE - Victor Montalvo, also known as B-Boy Victor, of the United States, competes in the B-boy Red Bull BC One World Final at Hammerstein Ballroom, Nov. 12, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)

Book Review: Call the script doctor! ‘Feh’ explores the toxic storyline of a religious education

Ann Levin, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Book Review: Call the script doctor! ‘Feh’ explores the toxic storyline of a religious education

Ann Levin, The Associated Press 3 minute read 10:21 AM CDT

A few years ago, the writer Shalom Auslander was hospitalized with a potentially fatal case of pancreatitis after taking a banned performance-enhancing drug to lose weight. His psychiatrist said he was trying to kill himself. Auslander, then unemployed, in his 40s, with a wife and two children, disagreed. He said he did it because he was tired of hating himself for being fat and believed that if he were thinner, it might be easier to find work and provide for his family.

Auslander relates this tale at the beginning of his latest memoir, “Feh,” a poignant, profane, and scabrously funny exploration of the way that organized religion, but also scientists and philosophers, conspire to teach us that we are “feh,” a Yiddish expression of contempt. If you don’t believe this, he argues, consider the fact that according to Genesis, the first human was called Adam, whose name derives from “adamah,” the Hebrew word for dirt.

Auslander says he was inspired to write this sequel of sorts to his acclaimed 2007 memoir, “Foreskin’s Lament,” by his friendship with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of a drug overdose in 2014. In the Irish Catholic actor, Auslander perceived a kindred soul raised with the same story of “feh” that was drilled into him by the rabbis in charge of his religious education in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of Monsey, New York (Auslander originally wrote the since-cancelled Showtime series, “Happyish,” for Hoffman.)

As Auslander attempts to exorcise his demons and rewrite his origin story in a more positive light, the book takes on a “meta” flavor in line with the narrative we humans have been telling ourselves lately about the way we use storytelling to make sense of our lives.

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10:21 AM CDT

This book cover image released by Riverhead shows

‘Back to Saskatch’: Taylor Swift fans woo pop star to come back to province

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

‘Back to Saskatch’: Taylor Swift fans woo pop star to come back to province

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Yesterday at 7:00 AM CDT

REGINA - Megan Weiland has made a friendship bracelet for every Taylor Swift album.

The Regina woman has also crafted one in Saskatchewan Roughriders green and white -- an homage to the mega-pop star's football-playing boyfriend Travis Kelce. There is also one in pink and green to give the effect of watermelon, something Rider fans are known to wear on their heads at games.

Weiland's bracelets, and hundreds more, have been strung together around a spool, reaching 100 metres in length -- or about the size of a football field.

It's like a long love letter: Please, Taylor, you belong with us.

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Yesterday at 7:00 AM CDT

Small fashion houses sowing sustainability with sewing pattern releases

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Small fashion houses sowing sustainability with sewing pattern releases

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:49 AM CDT

When Michelle Larsen started her fashion brand, she planned on making each item herself, with an eye to transparency, sustainability and fair labour practices.

She held fast to those principles as her brand evolved over the years, but she recently flipped her original vision on its head: many people are now making one of her designs.

Larsen's line, Fortiv, is one of a handful of small fashion brands that have started selling PDF sewing patterns — blueprints for cutting and marking fabric, and instructions on how to sew those pieces into a garment — in addition to, or instead of, ready-to-wear clothes.

"I had this connection a couple of years ago that it really aligned with my values to make sewing patterns, because it was giving other people the possibility to make things," she said from Vancouver. "There's a layer of accessibility there that I really value."

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Updated: Yesterday at 10:49 AM CDT

A woman sews at her home in Lincoln, Neb., on March 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP - Omaha World-Herald, Lily Smith

The biggest of stories came to the small city of Butler. Here’s how its newspaper met the moment

David Bauder, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

The biggest of stories came to the small city of Butler. Here’s how its newspaper met the moment

David Bauder, The Associated Press 7 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 10:27 PM CDT

BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — When gunshots echoed at the Trump rally where she was working, Butler Eagle reporter Irina Bucur dropped to the ground just like everyone else. She was terrified.

She hardly froze, though.

Bucur tried to text her assignment editor, through spotty cell service, to tell him what was going on. She took mental notes of what the people in front and behind her were saying. She used her phone to take video of the scene. All before she felt safe standing up again.

When the world's biggest story came to the small western Pennsylvania hamlet of Butler a week ago, it didn't just draw media from everywhere else. Journalists at the Eagle, the community's resource since 1870 and one that struggles to survive just like thousands of local newspapers across the country, had to make sense of chaos in their backyard — and the global scrutiny that followed.

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Updated: Yesterday at 10:27 PM CDT

Kurt Slater, pressman at the Butler Eagle newspaper, pulls papers as they come off the press, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Ernest Hemingway fans celebrate the author’s 125th birthday in his beloved Key West

David Fischer (), The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Ernest Hemingway fans celebrate the author’s 125th birthday in his beloved Key West

David Fischer (), The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:54 PM CDT

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Ernest Hemingway spent the 1930s in Key West, Florida, and more than six decades after his death, fans, scholars and relatives continue to congregate on the island city to celebrate the author's award-winning novels and adventure-filled life.

Hemingway Days started in 1981 with a short-story competition and a look-alike contest. This year's celebration concluded Sunday on the 125th anniversary of Hemingway's birth on July 21, 1899.

As a novelist, short-story writer and journalist, Hemingway's spot in the pantheon of American literature is undeniable and his legacy permeates the culture and character of Key West.

Hemingway's great-grandson, Stephen Hemingway Adams, was born nearly three decades after Hemingway died. Adams said working with his grandfather, Patrick Hemingway, who was Ernest Hemingway's second son, helped him gain a deeper understanding of his famous ancestor.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:54 PM CDT

A view of the Key West Lighthouse from the grounds of the Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West, Florida, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. Ernest Hemingway and his then-wife, Pauline, bought the home in 1931. It was turned into a museum in 1964. (AP Photo/David Fischer)

89-year-old comedian recovering after she was randomly punched on New York street

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

89-year-old comedian recovering after she was randomly punched on New York street

The Associated Press 2 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — An 89-year-old comedian is recovering after being randomly punched and knocked to the ground while waiting to cross a street in New York earlier this month.

D’yan Forest said she had just stopped at a coffee shop and was heading to a swimming pool when someone came up to her from behind and hit her in the eye. She lay on the ground in shock as police and paramedics came to her aid.

“I thought I had lost use of the eye because I couldn’t see anything.” Forest said. Her eyesight returned over the next four hours while she underwent tests at a hospital.

Police on Saturday said the female suspect in the July 10 incident had a medium complexion and cornrow braids and was last seen wearing a tank top and shorts with a Jurassic Park logo.

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Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

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