In the news
A bumbling Kid Rock was booed off the stage at his Nashville honky tonk bar last week after going on an unprompted rant about Oprah Winfrey. The singer, 48, grabbed the mic while holding a drink with the other hand and said, “F--- Oprah!” He continued mocking her in vulgar terms, saying, “She can suck d--- sideways.” As the crowd began to heckle him, he said, “People say, ‘Hey, I’m pretty sure Kid Rock’s a racist,’ I’m like, OK fine. F--- off.” Authorities came up on the stage and helped him off. Kid Rock, a Trump supporter who mulled a Republican bid for the Senate, claimed on Twitter that he hates Winfrey because she wouldn’t let him appear on her talk show years ago without citing five things he likes about her. He added, “The press hates [that] I love Trump, f--- them too.”
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro blamed a new culprit last week for the devastating Amazon rain forest fires: Leonardo DiCaprio. Bolsonaro has accused foreign environmental organizations of setting fires this year that ravaged thousands of square miles of Brazil in order to attract donations. He told supporters, “DiCaprio is a cool guy, isn’t he? Giving money to set the Amazon on fire.” DiCaprio’s environmental group pledged $5 million to help locals battle and recover from the fires, which scientists believe are largely the result of deliberate deforestation to make way for farms and cattle. “The future of these irreplaceable ecosystems is at stake, and I am proud to stand with the groups protecting them,” DiCaprio said.
Gabrielle Union was dumped from America’s Got Talent after being told repeatedly that her hairstyles were “too black” for the show’s core demographic, Variety reported, leading the actors’ union to announce an investigation this week. Union, 47, was reportedly criticized by her NBC bosses for frequently changing hairdos during her first season as a judge. She also encouraged Asian producers on the show to report Jay Leno after he joked on set that dogs in a painting looked like something one could find “on the menu at a Korean restaurant.” Confronted by TMZ.com, Leno refused to address the joke but called Union “a great girl.” ■
