Dick Dale, whose pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar, has died at age 81.

His former bassist Sam Bolle says Dick Dale passed away Saturday night. No other details were available.

Dale liked to say it was he and not the Beach Boys who invented surf music — and some critics have said he was right.

An avid surfer, Dale started building a devoted Los Angeles fan base in the late 1950s with repeated appearances at Newport Beach’s old Rendezvous Ballroom. He played “Miserlou,” ″The Wedge,” ″Night Rider” and other compositions at wall-rattling volume on a custom-made Fender Stratocaster guitar.

“Miserlou,” which would become his signature song, had been adapted from a Middle Eastern folk tune Dale heard as a child and later transformed into a thundering surf-rock instrumental.

His fingering style was so frenetic that he shredded guitar picks during songs, a technique that forced him to stash spares on his guitar’s body. “Better shred than dead,” he liked to joke, an expression that eventually became the title of a 1997 anthology released by Rhino Records.

Dale said he developed his musical style when he sought to merge the sounds of the crashing ocean waves he heard while surfing with melodies inspired by the rockabilly music he loved.

He pounded rather than plucked the strings of his guitar in a style he said he borrowed from an early musical hero, the great jazz drummer Gene Krupa.

“Dale pioneered a musical genre that Beach Boy Brian Wilson and others would later bring to fruition,” Rolling Stone magazine said in its “Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll” adding “Let’s Go Trippin’” was released in 1961, two months ahead of the Beach Boys’ first hit, “Surfin.’”

The magazine called Dale’s song “the harbinger of the ’60s surf music craze.”

Although popular around Southern California, Dale might have remained just a cult figure if surfing had not exploded in worldwide popularity during his peak creative years.

When the first of a series of “Beach Party” movies made to cash in on the phenomenon was released in 1963, it included Dick Dale and the Del-Tones performing “Secret Surfing Spot” as teen heartthrob Annette Funicello danced on the beach.

Dale had released his first album, “Surfer’s Choice,” a year earlier. He followed it with four more over the next two years while appearing in several “Beach Party” sequels and other surfer movies.

Other popular Dale songs included “Jungle Fever,” ″Shake-N-Stomp” and “Swingin’ and Surfin’.”

His star dimmed after the Beatles led music’s British invasion onto the pop charts in 1964 and his record label dropped him. His career also was sidelined by a battle with cancer in the 1960s and a serious foot infection in the 1970s that was the result of a surfing injury.

His musical influence was profound and included guitar virtuosos Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan and movie director Quentin Tarantino, who selected Dale’s “Miserlou,” as the theme song of his 1994 film “Pulp Fiction.” That helped pull the guitarist back into the pop-culture spotlight.

Dale himself had begun to launch a comeback with the 1987 film “Back to the Beach,” which reunited Funicello and her co-star Frankie Avalon as a middle-aged couple returning to their old surfing haunts. He teamed up with Vaughan to record the classic surf instrumental “Pipeline” for that film, earning the pair a Grammy nomination.

In 1993 he released “Tribal Thunder,” his first album of all new material in nearly 30 years. He followed it with “Unknown Territory” the following year.

Dale continued to tour into his 80s, in part he said to pay the medical bills that advancing age was saddling him with. Having beaten cancer in the 1960s, he suffered a serious recurrence in 2015.

Born Richard Anthony Monsour in Boston on May 4, 1937, Dale moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1954, where he immediately fell in love with surfing and the electric guitar.

As a child, he listened to Lebanese and Polish folk tunes played by his parents. Eventually he graduated to big band, swing, country and rockabilly.

Self-taught on guitar, the left-handed Dale couldn’t afford a custom-made model, so early on he played a standard right-hand guitar upside down and backward. That ended after a meeting with legendary guitar builder Leo Fender, who offered to make Dale his own left-handed model if he’d test a line of guitars and amplifiers Fender was developing.

“I became Leo’s personal guinea pig,” Dale told The Associated Press in 1997. “Anything that came out of the Fender company, I played.”

He played so loudly that he blew up one amplifier after another until a frustrated Fender built him a “Dick Dale Dual Showman” doubled-sized amp. It was a model that would become popular with aspiring Los Angeles guitarists.

As he began to become well known, he began calling himself Dick Dale, explaining years later that a radio disc jockey had suggested it was a better name for a rock star than Richard Monsour.

His surfer buddies had already nicknamed him King of the Surf Guitar, a title he said he initially resisted, fearing it would limit his audience. When the spirit of surfing caught on everywhere, however, he came to embrace the crown.

Dale is survived by his wife, Lana, and a son, James, a drummer who sometimes toured with his father.
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Dick Dale, whose pounding, blaringly loud power-chord instrumentals on songs like “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’” earned him the title King of the Surf Guitar, has died at age 81.

His former bassist Sam Bolle says Dick Dale passed away Saturday night. No other details were available.

Dale liked to say it was he and not the Beach Boys who invented surf music — and some critics have said he was right.

An avid surfer, Dale started building a devoted Los Angeles fan base in the late 1950s with repeated appearances at Newport Beach’s old Rendezvous Ballroom. He played “Miserlou,” ″The Wedge,” ″Night Rider” and other compositions at wall-rattling volume on a custom-made Fender Stratocaster guitar.

“Miserlou,” which would become his signature song, had been adapted from a Middle Eastern folk tune Dale heard as a child and later transformed into a thundering surf-rock instrumental.

His fingering style was so frenetic that he shredded guitar picks during songs, a technique that forced him to stash spares on his guitar’s body. “Better shred than dead,” he liked to joke, an expression that eventually became the title of a 1997 anthology released by Rhino Records.

Dale said he developed his musical style when he sought to merge the sounds of the crashing ocean waves he heard while surfing with melodies inspired by the rockabilly music he loved.

He pounded rather than plucked the strings of his guitar in a style he said he borrowed from an early musical hero, the great jazz drummer Gene Krupa.

“Dale pioneered a musical genre that Beach Boy Brian Wilson and others would later bring to fruition,” Rolling Stone magazine said in its “Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll” adding “Let’s Go Trippin’” was released in 1961, two months ahead of the Beach Boys’ first hit, “Surfin.’”

The magazine called Dale’s song “the harbinger of the ’60s surf music craze.”

Although popular around Southern California, Dale might have remained just a cult figure if surfing had not exploded in worldwide popularity during his peak creative years.

When the first of a series of “Beach Party” movies made to cash in on the phenomenon was released in 1963, it included Dick Dale and the Del-Tones performing “Secret Surfing Spot” as teen heartthrob Annette Funicello danced on the beach.

Dale had released his first album, “Surfer’s Choice,” a year earlier. He followed it with four more over the next two years while appearing in several “Beach Party” sequels and other surfer movies.

Other popular Dale songs included “Jungle Fever,” ″Shake-N-Stomp” and “Swingin’ and Surfin’.”

His star dimmed after the Beatles led music’s British invasion onto the pop charts in 1964 and his record label dropped him. His career also was sidelined by a battle with cancer in the 1960s and a serious foot infection in the 1970s that was the result of a surfing injury.

His musical influence was profound and included guitar virtuosos Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan and movie director Quentin Tarantino, who selected Dale’s “Miserlou,” as the theme song of his 1994 film “Pulp Fiction.” That helped pull the guitarist back into the pop-culture spotlight.

Dale himself had begun to launch a comeback with the 1987 film “Back to the Beach,” which reunited Funicello and her co-star Frankie Avalon as a middle-aged couple returning to their old surfing haunts. He teamed up with Vaughan to record the classic surf instrumental “Pipeline” for that film, earning the pair a Grammy nomination.

In 1993 he released “Tribal Thunder,” his first album of all new material in nearly 30 years. He followed it with “Unknown Territory” the following year.

Dale continued to tour into his 80s, in part he said to pay the medical bills that advancing age was saddling him with. Having beaten cancer in the 1960s, he suffered a serious recurrence in 2015.

Born Richard Anthony Monsour in Boston on May 4, 1937, Dale moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1954, where he immediately fell in love with surfing and the electric guitar.

As a child, he listened to Lebanese and Polish folk tunes played by his parents. Eventually he graduated to big band, swing, country and rockabilly.

Self-taught on guitar, the left-handed Dale couldn’t afford a custom-made model, so early on he played a standard right-hand guitar upside down and backward. That ended after a meeting with legendary guitar builder Leo Fender, who offered to make Dale his own left-handed model if he’d test a line of guitars and amplifiers Fender was developing.

“I became Leo’s personal guinea pig,” Dale told The Associated Press in 1997. “Anything that came out of the Fender company, I played.”

He played so loudly that he blew up one amplifier after another until a frustrated Fender built him a “Dick Dale Dual Showman” doubled-sized amp. It was a model that would become popular with aspiring Los Angeles guitarists.

As he began to become well known, he began calling himself Dick Dale, explaining years later that a radio disc jockey had suggested it was a better name for a rock star than Richard Monsour.

His surfer buddies had already nicknamed him King of the Surf Guitar, a title he said he initially resisted, fearing it would limit his audience. When the spirit of surfing caught on everywhere, however, he came to embrace the crown.

Dale is survived by his wife, Lana, and a son, James, a drummer who sometimes toured with his father.
…

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Fox News weekend host Jeanine Pirro’s show didn’t air a week after her comments questioning U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar over her wearing a Muslim head covering. No explanation was given.

Pirro’s show, “Justice With Judge Jeanine,” was replaced Saturday night by other programming. The Fox News schedule for the upcoming weekend doesn’t include the show.

An email seeking comment was sent Sunday to Fox representatives.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning about Pirro’s absence, saying she should be brought back.

“Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, don’t give it to them,” one of his tweets said.

Fox News had “strongly condemned” Pirro’s commentary on Omar, the first-term representative from Minnesota. Pirro had questioned whether Omar’s wearing of a hijab was “indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which is in itself antithetical to the U.S. Constitution?”

Fox said Pirro’s views didn’t reflect the network and it had addressed the issue with her, but didn’t specify what that entailed.

Omar, in a tweet, thanked Fox for the statement, saying no one should question a person’s commitment to the Constitution because of a person’s faith or country of origin. Omar is a Somali immigrant.

Pirro said her intention had been to start a debate, but that being Muslim didn’t mean someone didn’t support the Constitution. She invited Omar to her show.

Pirro is the former district attorney from New York’s Westchester County.
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As rising nationalism and the crisis surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union intensify divisions on the continent, a new exhibit in the French capital looks instead at a powerful unifier: Music.

The music the came with the postwar colonial migrations helped turn two of Europe’s most important hubs, London and Paris, into multicultural melting pots.

Rhythm and blues, reggae, rai and rock ’n’ roll — Europe and other Western regions got world music long before the term was invented. Even the Beatles were much more than a British brand — borrowing from Asia and sometimes West Africa.

How it blended into popular culture today is a central theme of a new exhibit that examines three decades of post-war migration to Paris and London — through music.

France and Britain needed extra manpower to fuel their fast-growing economies. They got it from former colonies that had just achieved independence. For immigrants in Paris, it was a tough beginning.

“Immigrants lived in special areas, what we call foyers,” said Stephane Malfettes. “There were a lot of strikes in the foyers de travelers. They were working in factories during the day — sharing the life of everybody — but at the end of the day, they vanished in their foyers.”

 

WATCH: Post-Colonial Migration to London, Paris Traced Via Music

Malfettes is the curator of the exhibit that opened this week at the Paris Museum of Immigration History. He says the immigrants were initially sidelined from France’s mainstream musical scene, as well. Things changed in the 1970s.

“The music became a very strong protest in the public space as an instrument of revolt and protest,” he said.

Across the English Channel, migrants in London also faced racism. But Martin Evans, another exhibit curator, said they were introducing the city to ska and reggae from Jamaica, music from East Africa, and calypso from Trinidad and Tobago.

“They become profoundly London,” Evans said. “And in a sense, I think that’s a measure of how much this migration has transformed London by the end of the 1980s.”

The parents of British musician and filmmaker Don Letts immigrated to Britain from Jamaica as part of the so-called Windrush generation. He says they wanted to integrate by denying their roots. It didn’t work.

“Ironically, it was their culture, particularly their music, that would capture the imagination of the white working-class kids,” he said. “And it was our culture that would actually help us to integrate with society.”

Letts says the cultural exchange went both ways.

“I was inspired by a lot of things that I grew up with. I grew up digging the Stones, the Beatles, Bowie, Roxy Music and all the rest of it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Paris by the 1980s had become a hub for African music — singers like Papa Wemba, Khaled, Youssou Ndour and Salif Keita. Music producer Martin Meissonnier was among their earliest fans — and producer for some of the biggest artists.

“Out of pleasure I was discovering all these new musics, and I thought it was a gold mine. It was fascinating. It was all these incredible bands,” Meissonnier said.

The musical fusion has left a powerful imprint on today’s artists. And it has changed not only how we think about music, but about each other.
…

your ads here!

As rising nationalism and the crisis surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union intensify divisions on the continent, a new exhibit in the French capital looks instead at a powerful unifier: Music.

The music the came with the postwar colonial migrations helped turn two of Europe’s most important hubs, London and Paris, into multicultural melting pots.

Rhythm and blues, reggae, rai and rock ’n’ roll — Europe and other Western regions got world music long before the term was invented. Even the Beatles were much more than a British brand — borrowing from Asia and sometimes West Africa.

How it blended into popular culture today is a central theme of a new exhibit that examines three decades of post-war migration to Paris and London — through music.

France and Britain needed extra manpower to fuel their fast-growing economies. They got it from former colonies that had just achieved independence. For immigrants in Paris, it was a tough beginning.

“Immigrants lived in special areas, what we call foyers,” said Stephane Malfettes. “There were a lot of strikes in the foyers de travelers. They were working in factories during the day — sharing the life of everybody — but at the end of the day, they vanished in their foyers.”

 

WATCH: Post-Colonial Migration to London, Paris Traced Via Music

Malfettes is the curator of the exhibit that opened this week at the Paris Museum of Immigration History. He says the immigrants were initially sidelined from France’s mainstream musical scene, as well. Things changed in the 1970s.

“The music became a very strong protest in the public space as an instrument of revolt and protest,” he said.

Across the English Channel, migrants in London also faced racism. But Martin Evans, another exhibit curator, said they were introducing the city to ska and reggae from Jamaica, music from East Africa, and calypso from Trinidad and Tobago.

“They become profoundly London,” Evans said. “And in a sense, I think that’s a measure of how much this migration has transformed London by the end of the 1980s.”

The parents of British musician and filmmaker Don Letts immigrated to Britain from Jamaica as part of the so-called Windrush generation. He says they wanted to integrate by denying their roots. It didn’t work.

“Ironically, it was their culture, particularly their music, that would capture the imagination of the white working-class kids,” he said. “And it was our culture that would actually help us to integrate with society.”

Letts says the cultural exchange went both ways.

“I was inspired by a lot of things that I grew up with. I grew up digging the Stones, the Beatles, Bowie, Roxy Music and all the rest of it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Paris by the 1980s had become a hub for African music — singers like Papa Wemba, Khaled, Youssou Ndour and Salif Keita. Music producer Martin Meissonnier was among their earliest fans — and producer for some of the biggest artists.

“Out of pleasure I was discovering all these new musics, and I thought it was a gold mine. It was fascinating. It was all these incredible bands,” Meissonnier said.

The musical fusion has left a powerful imprint on today’s artists. And it has changed not only how we think about music, but about each other.
…

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As rising nationalism and the crisis surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union intensify divisions on the continent, a new exhibit in Paris looks instead at a powerful unifier. Music arriving with postwar colonial migrations helped turn two of Europe’s most important hubs, London and Paris, into multicultural melting pots. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.
…

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As rising nationalism and the crisis surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union intensify divisions on the continent, a new exhibit in Paris looks instead at a powerful unifier. Music arriving with postwar colonial migrations helped turn two of Europe’s most important hubs, London and Paris, into multicultural melting pots. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA.
…

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A major exhibition dedicated to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo opened recently at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. “Appearances Can Be Deceiving” is the largest U.S. exhibit in a decade devoted to the iconic painter. Pictures, drawings, even clothing and personal belongings are all showcased at the Brooklyn Museum in an exhibit that will be open until mid-May. Mikhail Gutkin has the story.
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A major exhibition dedicated to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo opened recently at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. “Appearances Can Be Deceiving” is the largest U.S. exhibit in a decade devoted to the iconic painter. Pictures, drawings, even clothing and personal belongings are all showcased at the Brooklyn Museum in an exhibit that will be open until mid-May. Mikhail Gutkin has the story.
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A Pakistani immigrant who came to the U.S. as an impoverished young adult now helps feed the homeless and needy in his popular Washington restaurant. As a Muslim American, he says he’s simply heeding the will of God; to serve his fellow men with what he has. Which in his case is food, and so much more. VOA’s Julie Taboh has his story.
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A Pakistani immigrant who came to the U.S. as an impoverished young adult now helps feed the homeless and needy in his popular Washington restaurant. As a Muslim American, he says he’s simply heeding the will of God; to serve his fellow men with what he has. Which in his case is food, and so much more. VOA’s Julie Taboh has his story.
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“I hope I die before I get old,” The Who sang in their 1965 hit “My Generation.”

But more than 50 years on, the veteran rock band’s two surviving original members are set for a new tour named “Moving On!” and the release of their first album of new music in 13 years.

Singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend, now in their 70s, will take the stage in May as part of The Who’s current six-member lineup and backed by an orchestra to play venues in the United States and Canada as well as London’s Wembley Stadium in July.

After tours of past hits, namely the hugely influential rock operas “Tommy” and “Quadrophenia,” Daltrey, who performed with an orchestra last year, said it was time to do something “that reflects where we are in our lives at the moment.”

Music that feels ‘kind of grown up’

“We’re old men now … we can’t go out there and pretend it’s going to be anywhere like we were 40, 50 years ago,” he told Reuters in an interview at Wembley.

“Adding the orchestra … can elevate the music into a place where it feels kind of grown up … (but) people mustn’t think just because there’s an orchestra with The Who that it’s going to be watered down. We’ll be playing exactly full throttle like we usually do.”

Emerging in 1960s London, The Who, which included the late drummer Keith Moon and bass player John Entwistle, have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, with hits like “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “I Can See For Miles.”

“We could never have imagined it (the group’s ongoing success),” Daltrey said. “I was coming to (Wembley) stadium today and taking the same journey I used to take every night in the group van. … All the memories come back.”

‘Lucky to be alive’

Townshend, the band’s principal songwriter and famed for thrashing his guitar on stage, said he felt “grateful” they could still perform.

“Roger and I are very lucky to be alive,” he said. “We’re lucky to be reasonably healthy. We’re lucky that we can still play the music that we grew up with.”

The Who this year are also planning to release their first album of new music since 2006’s “Endless Wire.”

“We went through so many different phases so now really the challenge is just writing music which is good music which suits Roger and I,” Townshend said.

“I’m a real, real hard taskmaster when it comes to what I sing and whether, whether it’s a good song or not. And I’ll tell you, he’s still got it,” Daltrey said.

The singer has said “Moving On!” is not a farewell tour, but acknowledged the duo’s advancing years.

“One of them’s gonna be (a farewell tour), we might not make the end of this one,” he joked. “Every time you hit the stage there’s a possibility of game over at our age.”
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The Hallmark Channel cut ties Thursday with favored star Lori Loughlin, a day after her arrest in a college admissions scam put the family-friendly network and extended Hallmark brand in uncomfortable proximity to a headline-grabbing scandal.

“We are saddened by the recent allegations surrounding the college admissions process,” Hallmark Cards Inc., parent company of the Crown Media Family Networks umbrella group that includes the Hallmark Channel, said in a statement.

“We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin” and have stopped development of all productions with the actress for Crown Media channels, the statement said.

The company initially took a wait-and-see approach after a federal investigation of the scam involving more than 30 parents, many of them prominent, was revealed Tuesday. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying bribes to gain their daughters’ college admissions.

Loughlin’s career and the Hallmark Channel were deeply intertwined. She’s been among its so-called “Christmas queens” who topline a slate of popular holiday movies, and also starred in the ongoing “Garage Sale Mysteries” movies and the series When Calls the Heart.

“It’s a feel-good, family values-type channel, and obviously scandal is the opposite of that,” said Atlanta-based market strategist Laura Ries.

There was more at stake than image. When Calls the Heart tapes in Canada, and a judge ordered Loughlin’s passport to be surrendered in December after grudgingly allowing her to cross the border for work until then.

Loughlin has not yet entered a plea in the case, and her attorney declined comment Wednesday after her first appearance in a Los Angeles federal court. Loughlin’s publicist declined comment Thursday on Hallmark’s decision to drop her.

The actress isn’t exclusive to Hallmark. She’s reprised her role as Aunt Becky for Netflix’s Fuller House reboot of the popular series that originated in 1987 on ABC. But the sitcom represents a fraction of the streamer’s flood of programs, while Loughlin has occupied an increasing amount of Hallmark real estate since she starred in Meet My Mom in 2010.

She’s proved a reliable performer. Her 2018 holiday movie, Homegrown Christmas, was the most-watched non-sports cable program the week it aired. In February, the season six premiere of When Calls the Heart was watched by a series-best 2.5 million viewers, putting it behind only The Walking Dead in Sunday night cable dramas.

“They definitely have a formula and you do have to follow the formula. And if you don’t, they rein you back in and say, ‘You have to follow. This is our format, this is what we do,”‘ Loughlin said of the Christmas movies last year in an interview with The Associated Press.

She said the rigidity chafes a bit but called the result “heartwarming,” adding, “You go to bed and you don’t have any bad dreams.”

The New York City native with a sunny smile proved a good fit for the channel that specializes in romantic dramas and comedies with a wholesome touch, while her media-friendly personality allowed her to expertly tout her shows on her website and in TV appearances.

Then came Tuesday’s bombshell government allegation that Loughlin and her husband were among more than 30 parents who paid a consultant to ensure their offspring’s place in college with bribes and falsified exams. Prosecutors allege the couple paid $500,000 to have their daughters labeled as crew-team recruits at the University of Southern California, although neither is a rower.

Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives, American Crime) was among the other prominent parents, including a lawyer, doctor and hedge fund manager, indicted in the scam.
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“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty in a Chicago court on Thursday to new charges that he falsely reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault on a city street.

Wearing a navy suit and dress coat, Smollett, 36, appeared serious and quiet standing next to his attorneys as Cook County Circuit Court Judge Steven Watkins was assigned to his case.

In a 16-count indictment returned by a grand jury last Thursday, Smollett, who is black, openly gay and plays a gay musician on Fox’s hip-hop drama, was charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct alleging he gave false accounts of an attack on him to police investigators.

 

Each count carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Smollett was previously charged last month with felony disorderly conduct for making a false report after he told police he was attacked in January by masked supporters of President Donald Trump who beat him, slung a noose round his neck and poured a liquid chemical on him while shouting racist and homophobic slurs.

Detectives investigated the incident as a hate crime but local news outlets cited police sources saying it was believed to be a hoax.

The Chicago Police Department is investigating how information about the alleged attack was leaked to journalists.

Fox cut Smollett’s character in “Empire” after he was arrested.

According to prosecutors, Smollett wrote a $3,500 check to two brothers and gave them $100 to buy the rope, ski masks, gloves and red baseball caps used in the supposed Jan. 29 attack.

Police said Smollett hoped the incident would advance his career and secure him a higher salary.

Police initially arrested the brothers on Feb. 13, after they were recognized from surveillance footage from near the scene of the alleged attack. One had appeared with Smollett on “Empire,” police and their lawyer said. Prosecutors said one had supplied Smollett with “designer drugs” in the past.

The brothers confessed to the plot, police said. They became cooperating witnesses and were released without charges.

After the alleged attack, Smollett received support on social media, including from celebrities and Democratic presidential candidates. Others were skeptical of the incident, which Smollett said occurred at around 2 a.m. on a city street during one of the coldest weeks in recent history.

Outside the courthouse on Thursday, about a dozen supporters gathered with signs, chanting that his prosecution was unjust.

In a “Good Morning America” interview last month, Smollett said he was angry some people questioned his story and suggested racial bias may be behind the disbelief.

 
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South Korea’s entertainment industry was upended this week after a celebrity’s cell phone, which was in for repairs, revealed widespread alleged acts of sexual misconduct. YG Entertainment, which is tied closely to the stars at the center of the scandal, has seen its stock fluctuate this week as high-profile K-pop singers tied to it were implicated in the illegal activity.

It’s a blemish on South Korea’s leading cultural export that’s spawned the creation of a Seoul Metropolitan Police unit to look into the matter.

At the center of the scandal are ex-Big Bang member Seungri (real name Lee Seung-hyun), Jung Joon-young, and FT Island’s Choi Jong-hoon.

While Seungri hasn’t admitted to any specific acts of wrongdoing, Jung has.

On Wednesday, Jung admitted to filming women he had sex with and then sharing the videos online. He said this was done without the knowledge or consent of his partners.

“I admit to all of my sins. I filmed women without their consent, shared the videos in a SNS [social networking service] group chat and did such behavior without feeling any sense of guilt,” Jung said in a statement.

He added, “Most of all, I kneel down to apologize to the women who appear in the videos and all those who might be disappointed and upset at this shocking incident.”

Seungri apologized to his fans via his Instagram account, but has yet to elaborate on his role in the scandal.

“I’ve disappointed so many people and made so many people angry, I want to apologize once more and I will cooperate with the investigation,” he said.

Among K-pop entertainment labels, YG Entertainment, which signed Seungri, was hit hardest by the scandal. The firm’s stock price slid 14 percent on Monday, but has regained some ground since.

JYP Entertainment and S.M. Entertainment, also K-pop powerhouses, saw their shares dip earlier in the week as the scandal’s scope grew, before the market reversed that trend.

Choi’s agency, FNC Entertainment, announced the singer would stop performing with FT Island and place his career on hold.

Some 126 officers are now part of the criminal investigation that includes members from the narcotics unit, serious crime squad, a regional investigation unit, and a cyber investigation team.

Alleged criminal activity

For ex-Big Bang member Seungri, questions over his involvement in alleged illegal activity date back to January, when authorities began investigating claims that the Gangnam club Burning Sun had drugged female patrons, who later said they were raped in the club’s VIP room. Seungri also stands accused of providing prostitutes for wealthy investors.

At one point on South Korean television, Seungri claimed to be the owner of the Burning Sun, but as authorities began their investigation into the allegations the club provided gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a date rape drug to the female guests, it was revealed that the relationship had been severed.

However, Seungri has admitted he bribed policemen in Gangnam with about $18,000 to help facilitate the entrance of underaged guests into the nightclub.

In addition to admitting to using date rape drugs in the past, Jung Joon-young said he uploaded video footage he took to a private chatroom on multiple occasions. Jung said the women in the videos were filmed without their consent and even included some celebrities.

At least 10 victims have been identified by authorities at this time.

It’s not the first time Jung has been involved in a case involving nude images. In 2016, he was alleged to have recorded nude videos of his then-girlfriend. However, the case was dropped after a private digital forensics company contracted to retrieve the potentially illicit material said that nothing could be obtained from his mobile device.

Suspicions have now arisen that some members of the police asked the technology firm to guarantee no data could be recovered in Jung’s case. Local media reported Thursday that the unnamed forensics firm was raided Wednesday in connection to the current scandal.

Other group chat messages allege Choi Jong-hoon and others discussed payment being made to the police to cover up his drunk driving accident in 2016.

Police Commissioner Min Gap-ryong has launched an internal investigation into potential cover-ups and police wrongdoing.

Implications

South Korea remains fixated on the scandal and the plethora of allegations that continue to emerge, but Choi Ji-eun, a former journalist and commentator on South Korean pop culture, said it’s too early to predict the scandal’s impact on the perception of nation’s music industry.

“This is a criminal case of adult men, treating women as goods and sexual objects, but it is a bit early to predict the future of K-pop,” said Choi Ji-eun.

Choi calls the problem “deep-rooted” and asserts it will not be easy to change the culture. But if those charged were to be found guilty and severely punished when they illegally film and share the footage; use date rape drugs, and commit sexual harassment, “it will break down the strong structure [of a male-dominated society] and vicious circle.”

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, declined VOA’s request for comment.

Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.

 
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South Korea’s entertainment industry was upended this week after a celebrity’s cell phone, which was in for repairs, revealed widespread alleged acts of sexual misconduct. YG Entertainment, which is tied closely to the stars at the center of the scandal, has seen its stock fluctuate this week as high-profile K-pop singers tied to it were implicated in the illegal activity.

It’s a blemish on South Korea’s leading cultural export that’s spawned the creation of a Seoul Metropolitan Police unit to look into the matter.

At the center of the scandal are ex-Big Bang member Seungri (real name Lee Seung-hyun), Jung Joon-young, and FT Island’s Choi Jong-hoon.

While Seungri hasn’t admitted to any specific acts of wrongdoing, Jung has.

On Wednesday, Jung admitted to filming women he had sex with and then sharing the videos online. He said this was done without the knowledge or consent of his partners.

“I admit to all of my sins. I filmed women without their consent, shared the videos in a SNS [social networking service] group chat and did such behavior without feeling any sense of guilt,” Jung said in a statement.

He added, “Most of all, I kneel down to apologize to the women who appear in the videos and all those who might be disappointed and upset at this shocking incident.”

Seungri apologized to his fans via his Instagram account, but has yet to elaborate on his role in the scandal.

“I’ve disappointed so many people and made so many people angry, I want to apologize once more and I will cooperate with the investigation,” he said.

Among K-pop entertainment labels, YG Entertainment, which signed Seungri, was hit hardest by the scandal. The firm’s stock price slid 14 percent on Monday, but has regained some ground since.

JYP Entertainment and S.M. Entertainment, also K-pop powerhouses, saw their shares dip earlier in the week as the scandal’s scope grew, before the market reversed that trend.

Choi’s agency, FNC Entertainment, announced the singer would stop performing with FT Island and place his career on hold.

Some 126 officers are now part of the criminal investigation that includes members from the narcotics unit, serious crime squad, a regional investigation unit, and a cyber investigation team.

Alleged criminal activity

For ex-Big Bang member Seungri, questions over his involvement in alleged illegal activity date back to January, when authorities began investigating claims that the Gangnam club Burning Sun had drugged female patrons, who later said they were raped in the club’s VIP room. Seungri also stands accused of providing prostitutes for wealthy investors.

At one point on South Korean television, Seungri claimed to be the owner of the Burning Sun, but as authorities began their investigation into the allegations the club provided gamma-hydroxybutyrate, a date rape drug to the female guests, it was revealed that the relationship had been severed.

However, Seungri has admitted he bribed policemen in Gangnam with about $18,000 to help facilitate the entrance of underaged guests into the nightclub.

In addition to admitting to using date rape drugs in the past, Jung Joon-young said he uploaded video footage he took to a private chatroom on multiple occasions. Jung said the women in the videos were filmed without their consent and even included some celebrities.

At least 10 victims have been identified by authorities at this time.

It’s not the first time Jung has been involved in a case involving nude images. In 2016, he was alleged to have recorded nude videos of his then-girlfriend. However, the case was dropped after a private digital forensics company contracted to retrieve the potentially illicit material said that nothing could be obtained from his mobile device.

Suspicions have now arisen that some members of the police asked the technology firm to guarantee no data could be recovered in Jung’s case. Local media reported Thursday that the unnamed forensics firm was raided Wednesday in connection to the current scandal.

Other group chat messages allege Choi Jong-hoon and others discussed payment being made to the police to cover up his drunk driving accident in 2016.

Police Commissioner Min Gap-ryong has launched an internal investigation into potential cover-ups and police wrongdoing.

Implications

South Korea remains fixated on the scandal and the plethora of allegations that continue to emerge, but Choi Ji-eun, a former journalist and commentator on South Korean pop culture, said it’s too early to predict the scandal’s impact on the perception of nation’s music industry.

“This is a criminal case of adult men, treating women as goods and sexual objects, but it is a bit early to predict the future of K-pop,” said Choi Ji-eun.

Choi calls the problem “deep-rooted” and asserts it will not be easy to change the culture. But if those charged were to be found guilty and severely punished when they illegally film and share the footage; use date rape drugs, and commit sexual harassment, “it will break down the strong structure [of a male-dominated society] and vicious circle.”

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, declined VOA’s request for comment.

Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.

 
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In the U.S. these days, cheese is emerging as a product and point of pride that in some circles. That was clear at the United States Championship Cheese Contest held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week. A crowd of approximately 500 people packed into a ballroom to see a U.S. Cheese Championship winner named, and a steady stream of even more people had spent two previous days watching judges sniff, taste, spit and rate 2,555 different cheeses from across the nation.
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In the U.S. these days, cheese is emerging as a product and point of pride that in some circles. That was clear at the United States Championship Cheese Contest held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week. A crowd of approximately 500 people packed into a ballroom to see a U.S. Cheese Championship winner named, and a steady stream of even more people had spent two previous days watching judges sniff, taste, spit and rate 2,555 different cheeses from across the nation.
…

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Italy’s art police say they have identified six suspects in connection with a 2017 Modigliani exhibit that was comprised mostly of fakes.

The Carabinieri art squad announced Wednesday that the suspects include an artist who may have counterfeited works of Amedeo Modigliani; two collectors, including an American who procured most of the contested works; the head of the agency that organized the exhibition and its curator.

The show had traveled through lesser-known venues before arriving in Genoa, where the connection to the Ligurian-born artist and the upcoming 100th anniversary of his death in 2020 increased both public interest and expert scrutiny.

The show hastily shut down three days before its scheduled close in 2017, with experts saying that 20 of the 21 paintings it displayed were fakes. Consumer rights groups have demanded refunds for ticket buyers.

Italian prosecutors will now determine if there is enough evidence to back charges, which are then decided by a preliminary hearing judge.

Modigliani died in poverty, but his portraits featuring elongated faces and necks are among the most recognizable artworks of the early 20th century.
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Italy’s art police say they have identified six suspects in connection with a 2017 Modigliani exhibit that was comprised mostly of fakes.

The Carabinieri art squad announced Wednesday that the suspects include an artist who may have counterfeited works of Amedeo Modigliani; two collectors, including an American who procured most of the contested works; the head of the agency that organized the exhibition and its curator.

The show had traveled through lesser-known venues before arriving in Genoa, where the connection to the Ligurian-born artist and the upcoming 100th anniversary of his death in 2020 increased both public interest and expert scrutiny.

The show hastily shut down three days before its scheduled close in 2017, with experts saying that 20 of the 21 paintings it displayed were fakes. Consumer rights groups have demanded refunds for ticket buyers.

Italian prosecutors will now determine if there is enough evidence to back charges, which are then decided by a preliminary hearing judge.

Modigliani died in poverty, but his portraits featuring elongated faces and necks are among the most recognizable artworks of the early 20th century.
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Pete Kaiser has become the latest Alaska Native to win the Iditarod dog sled race.

Kaiser won the race for the first time early Wednesday, crossing the finish line in Nome after beating back a challenge from the defending champion, Norwegian musher Joar Ulsom.

 

Crowds cheered and clapped as Kaiser came off the Bering Sea ice and mushed down Nome’s main street to the famed burled arch finish line.

 

The 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) race began March 3 north of Anchorage.

 

Kaiser, who is Yupik, is from the southwest Alaska community of Bethel.

 

Four other Alaska Native mushers have won the race, including John Baker, an Inupiaq from Kotzebue, in 2011.

 

Kaiser will receive $50,000 and a new pickup truck for the victory.

 
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Pete Kaiser has become the latest Alaska Native to win the Iditarod dog sled race.

Kaiser won the race for the first time early Wednesday, crossing the finish line in Nome after beating back a challenge from the defending champion, Norwegian musher Joar Ulsom.

 

Crowds cheered and clapped as Kaiser came off the Bering Sea ice and mushed down Nome’s main street to the famed burled arch finish line.

 

The 1,000-mile (1,600-kilometer) race began March 3 north of Anchorage.

 

Kaiser, who is Yupik, is from the southwest Alaska community of Bethel.

 

Four other Alaska Native mushers have won the race, including John Baker, an Inupiaq from Kotzebue, in 2011.

 

Kaiser will receive $50,000 and a new pickup truck for the victory.

 
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