Election Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Toby Keith, who died Feb. 5, is one of three inductees named Monday as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame, along with fellow country star John Anderson and legendary country-rock guitarist James Burton. Keith will be inducted posthumously, of course, but he was not elected posthumously.

Rishi Sunak has claimed the Tories are united despite speculation about a plot to replace him as Prime Minister before the general election.

EXCLUSIVE: More citizens will head to the polls this year for elections than any other in history, and the political fever has reached Series Mania.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic At a glance, Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 campaign for president was the definition of quixotic. She was 47 years old; at the time, she had served only one term (starting in 1968) as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. (Her district centered on the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.) To say that Chisholm wasn’t a seasoned Washington, D.C., player would be putting it mildly, and she looked the part of the outsider.

A judge delayed Donald Trump‘s New York criminal trial, in which he faces charges related to hush money payments paid to Stormy Daniels, by at least 30 days.

Many may not know the name Shirley Chisholm, but it is not for lack of Hollywood trying to keep her flame alive. The seven-term Brooklyn congresswoman, who became the first African American woman elected to Congress when she won in 1968, also became the first woman and first African American to seek the nomination for President of either major party when she ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972. She defined the word “trailblazer” and her story is indeed inspiring, if also frustrating for all the obstacles she had to overcome in a male-dominated business of governing. Uzo Aduba won an Emmy for her supporting role as Chisholm the 2020 limited series Mrs. America, even as the series itself was focused on conservative gadfly Phyllis Schaffly played by Cate Blanchett. That series touched on the 1972 campaign and thus Chisholm as well, but now, after 15 years of trying, Regina King has realized a longtime goal of doing a movie solely focused on Chisholm. In addition to playing the title role, King is also a producer, probably facing the same stiff odds bringing Chisholm’s life to the screen that her subject faced in Congress, where she introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation during her career and truly made a difference.

Editor’s note: Running until the final general election results come in, the Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the 2024 campaign and the blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Washington bureau chief Ted Johnson and senior editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. At the same time, you can follow all the news in Biden & Trump rematch and more on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.

The chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign has indicated that the final report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) into ‘injustice caused by the maladministration’ of changes to the State Pension age, “is set to be released within weeks”.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County, GA district attorney who brought criminal charges against Donald Trump and a host of other defendants over their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, can remain on the case, a judge ruled today.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has ruled out holding a general election in May on the same day as the local elections.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Pornhub and other affiliated adult websites have blocked access to users in Texas, amid a legal battle with the Lone Star State’s attorney general over an age-verification law. Last week, a federal appeals court upheld a Texas law requiring pornography sites to institute age-verification measures to ensure only adults 18 and older are able to access them, while it also struck down a part of the law requiring porn sites to display “health warnings” about the content.

A ‘tenacious and dedicated’ councillor has resigned after being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in his 50s. Craig Rotheram was elected to Bolton Council in May 2023 and represented the Horwich North ward for the Horwich and Blackrod First party.

Elizabeth Taylor Melissa Benoist is set to fly high on her newest show “The Girls on the Bus.” The “Supergirl” alum stars in the Max series as a political journalist who hits the campaign trail alongside three other female reporters. In a rowdy presidential campaign year with a tumultuous climate, the actor feels that the streamer will do more than entertain. She thinks it could inspire young people to vote in November.

When Joe Biden and Donald Trump clinched their party nominations this week, it marked the end of primary season and the start of the general election campaign.

Liz Truss has been accused of bringing shame on the office of Prime Minister by Rochdale’s council leader after she was involved in a disparaging interview about the town.

Rishi Sunak is running out of time if he wants to call a General Election on May 2 - which would coincide with the local polls. If it was to take place on that date the Prime Minister needs to dissolve Parliament 25 working days prior to the General Election for it to happen.

The United States is set for a rematch of the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination for November's election overnight (March 12).

Robert F Kennedy Jr has revealed who is at the top of his list to be his running mate in the 2024 Presidential election!

Leonid Volkov, the former chief of staff of late Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, was attacked on Tuesday outside his house in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Ex-Tory MP Lee Anderson has said he is no mercenary after joining Reform UK as he denied being paid to switch allegiances. Mr Anderson also told GB News the Conservative Party had not contacted him ahead of being unveiled as Reform’s first MP.

A controversial £3.7 million proposal to replace a roundabout in Castle Douglas looks unlikely to go ahead.

The Scottish Government has failed to persuade a rebel local authority to drop its plan to increase council tax.

Christopher Vourlias Paris-based sales outfit Cat&Docs has acquired “Unclickable,” Greek director Babis Makridis’ investigation into the murky world of digital ad fraud, ahead of its world premiere March 10 at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the film’s trailer (see below).

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok, the massively popular video app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, apparently has an ally in Donald Trump. The former U.S. president expressed opposition to a national ban of TikTok not for, say, First Amendment reasons but because such a move would likely boost the fortunes of Meta’s Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“If I was smart, I’d go home now,” President Joe Biden began his third State of the Union tonight after receiving one of the few bipartisan rounds of applause. The well-worn line by the incumbent got a laugh as expected, but for Speaker Mike Johnson and many Republicans tonight, that opening line should have been a hint.

J. Kim Murphy President Biden included a nod to a rising issue in the entertainment and tech industries during his State of the Union address Thursday evening, calling for a ban on AI voice impersonations. “Here at home, I have signed over 400 bipartisan bills.

President Joe Biden is about to deliver his final State of the Union before the 2024 election, in which he is likely to have a rematch against Donald Trump.

Uh oh. Seems like Prince Harry could be headed back to the UK whether he wants to go or not!

During the 2024 State of the Union address, you might notice that there is a group of women wearing white. Here’s why!

Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo, who are fighting to get themselves elected to the Disney board against the company’s wishes, said today they’re not out “to fire the CEO.” Peltz of Trian Partners has been publicly bashing the company and Iger for a year. Rasulo hasn’t taken the stage publicly until today as the two answered questions from shareholders on a live webcast.

Around 370,000 eligible voters in Greater Manchester are not properly registered to vote, a campaign group has claimed. Analysis by Unlock Democracy, which campaigns for democratic reforms, has found that 1 in 5 eligible voters in the city-region are not registered.

A week ago Rochdale was at the centre of British news as voters took to the polls.

Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out holding a general election in May.

The Green Party has urged Stockport residents to send a message about the climate crisis by backing its candidates in the general election.

A ‘10 year’ saga that has dominated Greater Manchester politics is set to finally be resolved. The saga centres around a plan to build 165,000 homes in the region; bring in ‘significant growth’ in the core urban area from Port Salford to the Etihad; address the GM north-south divide in jobs and housing; and support existing ‘economic drivers’ in the south.

As the Princess Catherine conspiracy theories grow worse, Prince William is finally speaking out!