Noam Galai/Getty Images for HISTORYBy KELLY MCCARTHY, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Billie Jean King is a tennis icon, an activist, a champion for diversity in athletics and now an autobiographer.
ABC News’ Good Morning America exclusively revealed the cover for All In: An Autobiography, the 39-time Grand Slam winner’s new memoir.
The book marks the first time King, 77, has told her own life story in full from her career to her personal life and activism.
The tennis trailblazer is well known for speaking out against racial injustice, and calls for equal rights and fair pay, both on and off the tennis court. She was part of the Original 9, a group of women who created the all-women’s pro tennis tour and has pushed for equal prize money for decades.
King called the new book a detail of the journey to become her “authentic self,” in an announcement from Reagan Arthur, executive vice president and publisher of Knopf.
The book starts with her working-class childhood in Long Beach, California, and moves across the country and the world, as she describes her love of the sport, her commitment to excellence and her determination to be the No. 1 player in the world.
“This is a remarkable book by a remarkable woman,” editor Jonathan Segal said in a statement. “Her fight, her spirit, and her actions have made people’s lives richer and better. She paved the way for a generation of leaders, and there are lessons in her life for everyone.”
King was the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was named one of Life magazine’s “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.”
ABC(LOS ANGELES) — In an exclusive interview with Michael Strahan on ABC’s Good Morning America Thursday, embattled Bachelor host Chris Harrison addressed the comments he made defending current Bachelor contestant and front-runner Rachael Kirkconnell.
Kirkconnell’s past social media posts showed her “liking” a photo containing a Confederate flag, as well as photos of her attending an “Old South” plantation-themed party in 2018.
Harrison found himself in hot water when, in a February 9 interview with former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay on Extra, he claimed that Kirkconnell was a victim of cancel culture.
When Lindsay said Kirkconnell’s 2018 photos at an Old South Antebellum party weren’t a “good look,” Harrison responded, “Well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018 or is it not a good look in 2021? Because there’s a big difference.”
Following those comments, Harrison announced he was “stepping away” from the show. In his interview with GMA, he walked back the comments, saying, “Antebellum parties are not O.K. Past, present, future, knowing what that represents is unacceptable.”
Harrison said he’s also apologized to Lindsay, who in recent weeks has deactivated her Instagram account due to intense harassment and bullying. Harrison urged people to stop bullying her, and added, “I am deeply sorry to Rachel Lindsay and to the Black community.”
Harrison says he’s been seeking guidance since the whole controversy unfolded from “leading scholars, teachers, faith leaders,” and has been “learning from them, listening, gaining experience, knowledge and moving forward.”
As for The Bachelor franchise and its spin-offs, Harrison says, “I plan to be back and I want to be back. And I think this franchise can be an important beacon of change.”
“This interview is not the finish line,” he added. “There is much more work to be done. And I am excited to be a part of that change.”
ABC/Rick Rowell(LOS ANGELES) — NBC announced on Wednesday that Hollywood couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard will team up on TV for the first time, serving as hosts and competitors on network’s upcoming game show, Family Game Fight.
Inspired by Bell and Shepard’s antics on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The show will see the the married couple “part ways and be ‘adopted’ into a family of four as they compete in a series of insanely fun games with a big cash prize up for grabs,” according to NBC.
Casting for Family Game Fight is now underway. You can submit your story or nominate a friend, co-worker, or family member at the website Venertainment.com.
Warner Bros. Television(LOS ANGELES) — Could we beeee anymore excited? David Schwimmer finally dropped the bomb that the long-delayed Friends reunion is finally happening — and soon.
Speaking with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM on Wednesday, the actor, who played Ross in the beloved 90s sitcom, said that the gang is finally getting back together after a string of snags caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Oh, it’s happening,” said Schwimmer. “Actually, in a little over a month, I’m heading out to LA.”
The 54-year-old actor assured that safety measures will be in place to protect the cast and crew.
“We figured out a way to film it safely, and there’s going to be a portion of it that we film outside because of, you know, for safety protocols,” he said.
Unfortunately for Friends fans dying to know what the reunion will be all about, Scwhimmer was unable to reveal much else — but he did shoot down the rumor that Ellen DeGeneres would host it.
When asked who will helm the revival, the actor confessed, “I don’t know if I can actually [tell you.]”
“That’s a great question,” Schwimmer quickly modified. “I should have found that out.”
He did, however, deny other names that were floated as potential hosts, striking out Billy Crystal and, to Cohen’s amusement, not the radio host, either.
Friends, which ran between 1994 and 2004 starred Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc.
The reunion, set for HBO Max, will not be a continuation of the series — as previously revealed by Kudrow, who played Phoebe.
“I will not be Phoebe,” Kudrow hinted to Varietylast June. “I will not be Rachel, although I kind of am. Well, we’re all sort of little fragments of them…. not really. But yeah.”
(NEW YORK) — Last week, numerous athletes trained by Olympic coach John Geddert felt a fleeting moment of victory when he was charged with abusing young gymnasts. Just hours later, their hopes of accountability were crushed when the 63-year-old took his own life.
Geddert, a notoriously tough coach who worked with convicted sex offender Larry Nassar and trained the Fierce Five team that won Olympic gold in 2012, was charged last Thursday with 24 felonies, including counts of human trafficking and forced labor causing injury as well as criminal sexual conduct. Prosecutors said he reportedly mentally and physically abused his athletes and forced them to perform even when they were hurt.
For Lindsey Lemke, a former Michigan State gymnast who accused Nassar of sexual abuse and trained with Geddert at his Dimondale, Michigan, gym, there’s no closure in his death.
“With the charges coming out, it was like a light at the end of the tunnel that we’re going to get justice, this is coming to an end for us, our healing process will continue,” Lemke, 25, told ABC News. “To then all of a sudden get the news that he committed suicide. It was almost unbelievable at first.”
“A lot of us girls are still suffering and trying to heal. In the blink of an eye, we had that taken away from us. We’ll never have closure, we’ll never have answers, we’ll never get to see him convicted,” she added.
Lemke trained at Twistars with Geddert from when she was 7 into her sophomore year of high school. She recalled that on one occasion, Geddert hit her with a mat because she tripped and fell into a vault apparatus during a practice.
“He had a temper that he couldn’t control, and he wanted to instill fear in kids,” Lemke alleged.
Sarah Klein, a former gymnast who also accused Nassar of sexual assault and trained under Geddert from when she was about 5 to 15, said she’s still in shock following his death.
“In my view there’s no greater admission of guilt than being charged and immediately taking your own life,” Klein said told ABC News.
Both women were involved in the investigation into Geddert, which was being led by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Nessel alleged at Thursday’s press conference that under Geddert, young athletes were forced to perform while injured and suffered emotional and physical abuse as well as, for one athlete, sexual assault.
Geddert’s lawyer did not respond to ABC News’ repeated requests for comment on the charges.
Former gymnasts are now demanding justice in the only way they see possible — an independent investigation into USA Gymnastics (USAG), the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOC).
Following Geddert’s death, USAG told ABC News, “We had hoped that news of the criminal charges being brought against John Geddert would lead to justice through the legal process…Our thoughts are with the gymnastics community as they grapple with the complex emotions of this week’s events.”
USOC didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Klein said the statement isn’t enough.
“Enough is enough. With the USOC and USAG intact, children and athletes are far from safe,” Klein said. “We call on Congress to demand a fully transparent independent investigation and to deconstruct two vile organizations that have the blood of little, innocent children on their hands. There has been no independent investigation done, as much as they’d like to say there has been.”
Lemke has also called for an investigation into the organizations.
“People need to see that with Larry, there were a lot of people that enabled him, and that includes John. USAG and USOC are the only ones that are left, and they were a part of it,” she said.
She and other gymnasts are calling upon Congress to decertify the organizations.
Aly Raisman, who was part of the Fierce Five, has also raised a rallying cry for the two organizations to be investigated.
“Monsters don’t thrive for decades without the help of people,” she said on CNN on Tuesday. “And we need to understand what happened, how this happened. We need a fully independent investigation. And there has not been one.”
USAG said in a statement last March it “fully cooperated” with six independent investigations led by several congressional committees, the Indiana attorney general and Walker County, Texas, but survivors say those probes didn’t lead to real change.
Klein, who trained with Geddert at Great Lakes Gymnastics Club in Lansing, Michigan, before he started Twistars, said Nassar and Geddert worked together to create a toxic culture and enabled each other.
“John wanted to be famous and go to the Olympics. Larry could help him get there by medically clearing gymnasts who shouldn’t be medically cleared. John covered for Larry by letting him go into the back room with naked children and do whatever he wanted to do with them,” Klein said.
In 2018, Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years behind bars for his decades of abuse after more than 150 survivors and family members testified against him.
At that time, the USOC and USAG voiced support for his accusers. In January 2018, the USOC issued an apology to Nassar’s victims, saying, “The Olympic family is among those that have failed you.” The organization vowed to create a system where athletes can safely report abuse.
That same month, USAG applauded the jailing of Nassar “to punish him for his horrific behavior,” promising to focus on the “safety, health, and well-being of our athletes” and “create a culture” that supports them.
Geddert had been under investigation for three years, after victim impact statements shared at Nassar’s sentencing hearings claimed Geddert knew about the abuse. He was suspended by USA Gymnastics in January 2018 and subsequently announced his retirement.
For athletes who worked with Geddert, his death is complicated.
“He was a dad and a grandpa. He had a family, and I’m sure they’re hurting,” Lemke said. “There is no celebrating his death, because now all these victims he hurt are never going to have answers. Nobody wins.”
Noam Galai/Getty Images for HISTORYBy KELLY MCCARTHY, ABC News
