Live-Event Industry Offers COVID-19 Vaccination Infrastructure, Venues and Staff in Letter to President Biden

Rauw Alejandro and Rosalia are celebrating their first Valentine's Day together, and they are sharing the love they have for each other with the world. Especially Alejandro, who wrote a beautiful love letter pouring out his feelings for the girl who stole his heart.

BTS member V has tested positive for COVID-19, according to his agency Big Hit Music.Today (February 15), Big Hit Music confirmed that the South Korean musician was diagnosed with COVID-19 after taking a PCR test, following a sore throat. The label noted that the singer has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and is only experiencing minor symptoms.“V completed two rounds of COVID-19 vaccinations and is not presenting any extraordinary symptoms other than a mild fever and sore throat,” Big Hit Music said in its statement, per Soompi.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fresh,” a twisted thriller featuring Sebastian Stan and “Normal People” star Daisy Edgar-Jones, puts a spin on your average meet-cute.After a bleak go at attempting to find eligible bachelors on dating apps, Noa (Edgar-Jones) can’t believe her luck when she runs into a cute guy, Steve (Stan), at the grocery store. They successfully banter about cotton candy grapes, exchange numbers and agree to go on a date.It goes well. So well, that Noa accepts Steve’s invitation to go on a romantic weekend getaway despite barely knowing anything about him.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAmber Heard (“Aquaman”) and Spain’s Eduardo Noriega (“Vantage Point”) will star in 19th century-set supernatural thriller “In the Fire.”The film, which will shoot in Italy, is directed by Conor Allyn (“No Man’s Land”).Principal photography is set to start Feb. 21 in Italy’s Apulia region.

Selome Hailu Catherine Cohen’s debut comedy special “The Twist …? She’s Gorgeous” will premiere on Netflix on March 15, Variety has learned exclusively.In the special, which was taped at Joe’s Pub in New York, Cohen uses her musical expertise to divulge details about relationships, modern feminism and being the main character of her own life. Henry Koperski is featured on the keys.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMeta, the parent company of Facebook, agreed to pay $90 million to settle a long-running data privacy lawsuit over its use of cookies in 2010-11 to track users’ internet use even after they had logged off.The settlement was submitted for approval late Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The fake Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon feud continues.

Chris Willman Music WriterElvis Costello and the Imposters will embark on a U.S. tour this August, joined on most of the dates by Nick Lowe, Costello’s original late ’70s/early ’80s producer and, of course, the man who knows the answer to the question “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding.”Costello and Lowe last shared a touring bill in 1989.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.Your new obsession is here, thanks to Shashibo’s latest Grateful Dead collaboration.The company’s popular fidget toy is a magnetic puzzle cube that can be transformed into 70 unique shapes. But aside from serving as a relaxing way to keep your hands busy throughout the day, it also doubles as a charming decor piece to add to your office or living room.

Zoë Kravitz has given an update on the “vulnerable” new solo music she’s making with Jack Antonoff.The actress and musician previously told AnOther magazine back in October that she’d been recording with Antonoff “for a couple of years, on and off”.Speaking in a new interview with Elle, Kravitz has now spoken further about working with the Bleachers musician at Electric Lady Studios in New York.“It feels vulnerable, and it’s a little scary, but making music makes me happy,” Kravitz said about the project. Elle notes that the forthcoming music “explores love and loss, among other themes she’s still discovering”.Kravitz told AnOther last year that Antonoff is “a fantastic producer – he’s so good at really tapping into who he’s working with and not making it about him”.“Some producers want to make it about … like, ‘I’m going to put my sound on you’.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“What is it we actually do here?” That’s a question posed by Adam Scott’s Macro Data Refinement department head Mark Scout in the new Apple TV Plus series “Severance,” a show about Lumon Industries, a mysterious company whose employees, like Mark, have undergone a surgical severance procedure that gives them a very literal “work-life balance.” It’s also a question that series creator Dan Erickson, director Ben Stiller and stars Scott, Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman found themselves asking a lot during the making of “Severance.”“The jumping off point is so fascinating, and there are so many interesting questions set up by it,” said Stiller, whose Red Hour Productions picked up the script from Erickson and brought it to Apple. “It was a question of, where should we go tonally with the show? Because we didn’t want it to go to a familiar place, necessarily.” Stiller went on to say that “because the tone was so unique,” and had a “strange humor about it,” the creative team really wanted to establish the “rules” of “Severance’s” world and “that’s what a lot of the time was spent doing.”“Severance” showrunner Erickson first got the idea to create this world while he was working a stereotypical 9-to-5 job that had him wishing he could block out that part of his day entirely.“I worked a string of office jobs when I first got to L.A., and one in particular was in this weird little windowless office,” Erickson told Variety.

Foals have shared the video for their latest single ‘2am’, which opens with frontman Yannis Philippakis out drinking before he’s then dragged into wild – and elaborately choreographed – hedonism.The clip was directed by Tanu Muiño, best known for her work on pop megahits like Lil Nas X‘s ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’ and Cardi B‘s ‘Up‘. It was filmed in Muiño’s home city of Kiev, and features an entirely Ukrainian crew.“We love Tanu’s work.

Zack Sharf India Arie used her Feb. 14 interview with Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” to explain why she thinks Joe Rogan is “consciously racist.” The Grammy-winning singer requested her music be taken off Spotify at the beginning of February, citing Rogan’s problematic “language about race.” Arie first brought attention to Rogan’s history of racist language by posting a video compilation of Rogan using the N-word along with a clip of him comparing a movie theater in a Black neighborhood to “The Planet of the Apes.”Arie told Noah this week that she felt  “disrespected” by Rogan’s language, although she did not expect anyone to pay attention to her posts because she’s “used to this certain type of treatment from the industry where they don’t listen.” The singer is “still in a fight” with Universal Music Group over getting her music off Spotify, but she said that’s still her intent because Rogan “is being consciously racist.” “I think he was saying it because it got a rise out of people,” Arie said.

PC system requirements for Elden Ring have been released ahead of the game’s upcoming release.Elden Ring PC players can now determine what to expect with the PC results having been released through the official Twitter account. The tweet shows off both the minimum specifications and the recommended, and it seems like you might need a bit of a powerful computer in order to meet the minimum requirements.To meet the minimum requirements you will need:And if you want to play at the recommended specifications, they are:The recommended specs also need DirectX 12, and both need 60GB of storage, and work with any Windows-compatible audio device.PC specifications for #ELDENRING.

Perfect Valentine’s Day plans! Scott Disick celebrated the holiday with his and Kourtney Kardashian’s 9-year-old daughter.

Not playing his part? Two months after giving birth to her and Tristan Thompson’s baby boy, Maralee Nichols is alleging that the athlete hasn’t been in the infant’s life.

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Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe April dates of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and its companion Stagecoach country music festival have been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser.“We look forward to when the events may return,” Kaiser said via Twitter, although it was unclear whether later dates in 2021 may be scheduled.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSeven months after K-pop fans famously took over the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag on social media in a largely successful effort to drown out racist online chatter, there’s been no shortage of other events that seemed ripe for such a move: the presidential debates, the election, the white riot at the Capitol, and any of countless actions and inactions by former President Trump.But apparently they held off until two days after President Biden’s inauguration, mobilizing forces to take over the #ImpeachBidenNow after a deeply cynical attempt by Republicans to retaliate for the former president’s second impeachment by making a similar move on the new president on his first full day in office.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLate on the day that Lil Wayne officially received his long-rumored pardon from former President Trump, he dropped a new song called “Ain’t Got Time.”While the song’s lyrics don’t specifically address the pardon, he does reference the December 2019 federal weapons charges that were cleared by it.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs anyone who follows her on Twitter knows, Bette Midler is no fan of now-former President Trump.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOf all the songs President Joe Biden might have quoted during his inaugural address on Wednesday, a song that many people know as a Norah Jones track from a Ken Burns documentary might not have been the first guess.The song, “American Anthem,” was written by songwriter Gene Scheer and was first sung by Denyce Graves in 1998 for President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton at the Smithsonian Institution during the launch of the “Save America’s Treasures” initiative. It was subsequently performed at other ceremonies, was covered by Patti Labelle and sung by Graves at George W.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLady Gaga delivered a rendition of the national anthem at Joe Biden’s inauguration that was both respectful, and very Lady Gaga.Dressed in a tight black long-sleeved shirt embellished a golden dove brooch, and a billowing, bright red dress, Gaga sang into a golden microphone. She drew out the song’s notes, singing with proper, Streisand-esque pronunciation that nonetheless featured many flourishes.She raised her left fist on the word “proudly,” and gestured with her right hand throughout the song.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the fraught final hours of Donald Trump’s presidency, he issued a raft of pardons, including ones for Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.In an official White House statement released late Tuesday night, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. and Bill K.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA Michigan nurse whose informal performance of “Amazing Grace” at a local hospital became an online sensation last year will sing at a memorial for those who have died from COVID-19 on Tuesday (Jan. 19), ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.Lori Marie Key, 29, of Belleville, Michigan is set to sing “Amazing Grace” as part of the tribute ceremony to be held at 5:30 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation, the world’s largest live-entertainment company, has acquired a majority stake in Veeps, the ticketed livestream platform launched by Joel and Benji Madden of the band Good Charlotte. The Madden brothers, along with cofounders Sherry Saeedi and Kyle Heller, will remain at the helm of Veeps, with their full team staying on to continue with all operations of the business, according to the announcement.Established in 2017, Veeps is designed for ticketed livestreams, and facilitates engagement between artists and fans with features like chat and exclusive merch purchases, while also supporting broad social marketing and VIP offerings.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn crushing news for music lovers, Rough Trade NYC will close its Williamsburg location in the spring and will relocate to another, yet-to-be announced city location in the summer.