Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — It’s been a tough week for Nick Cannon, who admits that he thought about taking his own life.
On Sunday, the 39-year-old entertainer shared a somber Instagram post talking about his friend, Ryan Bowers, who had died by suicide.
Cannon began, “Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. 2020 is definitely the most f***** up year I’ve ever witnessed!
Bowers was an up-and-coming artist, signed to Cannon’s label, who was shot by a San Diego cop in his own home. After being in a coma, he made an impressive recovery as he relearned basic skills like how to walk and talk, however despite appearing to have come out of the tragedy stronger, Bower was still hurting and would occasionally whisper to Cannon, “Everything still hurts.”
Cannon’s caption continued, “After waking up & barely rising from my own dark contemplation of continuing my physical existence on this planet, this powerful warrior actually had the balls to do it…. I can’t help but think if I [wasn’t] so engulfed in my own bull**** I could’ve been there for you when you finally took your life after several attempts.”
The social media post comes after a tumultuous week for Cannon. He was fired ViacomCBS — the company that owns MTV and airs his improv comedy show Wild’n Out — after receiving backlash for anti-Semitic comments he made in late June. He also announced a break from his morning radio show amid the controversy.
It’s not all bad though, despite ViacomCBS’ decision to cut ties, Cannon will remain the host of Fox’s popular singing competition show The Masked Singer and his new syndicated daytime talk show, though delayed, is still in the works.
(The number for the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.)
ABC/Mark LevineIt’s been nearly forty years since The Bellamy Brothers encouraged us to “Get into Reggae Cowboy,” and even longer since Webb Pierce topped the chart in 1953 with “There Stands the Glass.”
This week, however, Sam Hunt takes the Bellamys’ suggestion and combines Jamaican rhythms with a sample of Pierce’s country classic to create his latest number one, “Hard to Forget.”
The Georgia native is quick to point out he wasn’t the one who had the stroke of genius to marry the two disparate genres.
“I can’t take credit for coming up with it, but I recognized it immediately,” Sam tells ABC Audio. “I just knew… there was something to it. And [co-writer] Luke Laird played that for me when we were writing that day. And I just wanted there to be an idea that kept up with the track.”
“So it took a little while to find the right idea,” Sam recalls. “But finally, I think [the “Hard to Forget”] idea actually came from another write… but we combined those worlds and it just came together from there.”
“[I]t was just a perfect storm of a lot of creative people coming together to make that happen,” he reflects.
Sam wasn’t afraid to get a little weird with the music video, either, featuring a depressed clown, a goat, an aging cowboy, and Sam playing checkers with his digital twin.
“That was shot at a really cool hotel outside of Los Angeles…” he reveals. “It’s just this little world that exists at this little hotel where you’ve got this kind of motley crew of characters… whether they’re running from their problems or not, they’re all there just trying to do their best.”
“And I’m inserted into that scenario, just observing and also partaking in the craziness,” he adds.
(PEORIA, Ill.) — Thirteen people were shot during a large gathering at a riverfront in Peoria, Illinois, early Sunday morning, police said.
Authorities responded to reports of a shooting at 4:41 a.m. after a large fight broke out among a crowd of nearly 200 people, the Peoria Police Department said in a press release.
There were two victims located at the scene — an adult male who was shot in the neck and a female who was shot in the back — both were transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.
Another 11 people with gunshot wounds arrived separately at local hospitals, police said. All the victims were adults — six men and seven women.
None of the injuries were considered life threatening.
There were multiple people firing weapons, investigators said, adding that the incident was a result of a dispute among groups of people gathered at the riverfront.
Police are investigating the incident — authorities did not release any details on suspects in the shooting.
By: JON HAWORTH, MATT ZARRELL and MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The novel coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 600,000 people worldwide.
Over 14.2 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their nations’ outbreaks.
The United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 3.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 140,119 deaths. Latest headlines: – Virginia man charged with cyberstalking to try to intimidate Tulsa mayor into canceling Trump rally – South Carolina sees new daily case record – Florida reports another 12,000-plus new cases – Star Braves player says he had 104.5-degree fever, prayed for his life while sick with COVID-19
Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Check back for updates. 1:10 p.m.: South Carolina sees new daily case record
South Carolina reported its highest number of daily new cases on Sunday with 2,335 confirmed and 1 probable case of COVID-19, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control announced.
The additional cases included 526 new confirmed cases from Friday that the Department of Health received from a private lab on Saturday.
There are now 69,765 confirmed cases statewide, officials said.
The state also recorded 19 additional deaths, bringing the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 1,138.
The state reported a positivity rate of 18.4% and has conducted 626,970 tests overall.
10:50 a.m.: Florida reports another 12,000-plus new cases
The state of Florida now has over 350,000 cases of coronavirus with another 12,478 reported on Sunday, according to the Department of Health.
Officials reported another 87 deaths, bringing the statewide total to 5,089.
The state also saw an increase of 339 hospitalizations, with 9,235 active hospitalizations due to COVID-19. In total, 20,971 have been hospitalized at some point because of the virus.
An additional 105,681 tests were conducted and the state positivity rate currently stands at 11.85%, officials said.
Miami-Dade County reported the most new cases with 3,233 and a positivity rate of 20.5%
4:47 a.m.: Virginia man charged with cyberstalking to try to intimidate Tulsa mayor into canceling Trump rally
A Virginia man who sent harassing and intimidating emails directed toward Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and his family made an initial appearance in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
Adam Maxwell Donn, 40, of Norfolk, Virginia, was charged by Criminal Complaint with cyberstalking. According to court documents, Bynum and his family received 44 emails and 14 phone calls from June 11 through June 22, 2020, which were meant to harass, annoy, threaten and intimate Bynum and his family.
“The United States charged Adam Donn with stalking, harassing, intimidating, and inflicting emotional distress upon Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and his family. Mr. Donn allegedly sent a series of harassing emails and voicemails in an effort to intimidate the mayor into canceling the presidential rally that occurred here in June,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
“Cyberstalkers try to hide behind keyboards while they threaten and intimidate others, but their online actions have real world effects. Mr. Donn will now face the real world consequences for his alleged criminal actions. As we do in all cases, our victim coordinators will work with the mayor and his family as this case proceeds in federal court.”
Bynum, concerned for his family’s safety, reported the emails and calls to the Tulsa Police Department on June 18, 2020. According to the affidavit filed by an FBI agent, investigators found that the emails were linked to an IP address traced to a Cox Communications account holder named Adam Donn of Norfolk, Virginia, and that his email addresses were used to send the intimidating emails to Mayor Bynum and his wife.
Court documents allege that Donn threatened to publish the Bynum family’s home address and personal information to the internet, including the children’s cell phone numbers and social media accounts. The defendant allegedly said this with the hope that people would encroach upon the Bynum residence with the intent to cause Mayor Bynum harm and emotional distress.
Donn was released under the pretrial supervision of the U.S. Probation Office. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on July 22, 2020, at 2 p.m. in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
4:15 a.m.: Star Braves player says he had 104.5-degree fever, prayed for his life while sick with COVID-19
Freddie Freeman, a four-time All-Star with the Atlanta Braves, revealed that he had a high temperature of 104.5 degrees while sick with the disease and prayed for his life.
“I said a little prayer that night,” Freeman said in a video conference call. “I’ve never been that hot before. My body was really, really hot. … I said ‘Please don’t take me’ because I wasn’t ready.”
Freeman said the fever was down to 101 the following morning and broke two days later. He said Saturday was his ninth consecutive day without symptoms, which also included body aches, chills and a temporary loss of his senses of taste and smell. He said two other members of his household, his wife and aunt, are recovering after positive tests.
“I feel great,” he said. “I only lost one pound. … I didn’t lose any strength.”
Freeman received his second negative test for the coronavirus on Friday which earned him medical clearance to play.
“I feel like I’m a kid in a candy store again,” he said Saturday. “You forget sometimes how much you love this game. I did truly miss it. I was so excited when I got to the yard.”
Freeman’s return was well timed. Free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig tested positive for the coronavirus after agreeing to sign with Atlanta. The positive test voided the deal.
Puig was projected to be a replacement for Nick Markakis, who opted out of the season after talking on the telephone with Freeman.
“Unfortunately that was my worst day,” Freeman said, adding he didn’t try to influence the decision by Markakis when the two spoke again days later.
“He just wasn’t into it, and I totally, totally get it,” Freeman said.
Freeman was one of four teammates to test positive at the start of summer camp. Right-hander Touki Toussaint, who had no symptoms, also returned Friday. Left-handed reliever Will Smith and infielder Pete Kozma have not returned.
Freeman wore a face mask during a video interview and said he’ll continue to take precautions.
“It’s very serious,” he said, adding that his family “did everything right” to avoid the disease. “It still somehow got to me.”
(SAN ANTONIO) — Three members of the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club were killed and nine others were critically injured when an alleged drunken driver going in the opposite direction swerved into their lane and hit them head-on while they were on a group ride in the Texas Hill Country, officials said.
The crash occurred about 5 p.m. on Saturday on a highway in Kerrville, Texas, about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio, according to the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.
“They were on a ride in the Texas Hill Country and were on Highway 16 south of Kerrville, when another person crosses the center stripe,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
The sheriff’s office said the driver who struck the motorcycle club members was arrested on several counts of intoxicated manslaughter and intoxication assault. The name of the alleged drunken driver was not immediately released.
“Please keep our brothers with the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club in ya’lls prayers,” the statement from the sheriff’s office reads.
The motorcycle club, comprised of active and retired law enforcement officers and military service members, had gathered in Texas for the weekend to celebrate the group’s 11th birthday, according to a spokesman for the club.
The club members killed were identified as Joseph Paglia, Jerry Wayne Harbour and Michael White, according to a statement issued by David Weed, a spokesman for the club. Weed said the club members were attending the annual Thin Blue Line meeting in Bandera, Texas, and celebrating the club’s birthday.
Weed said Paglia was a former Niles City, Illinois, police officer and the president of the motorcycle club’s Chicago chapter. He said White, a former Chicago Community Services officer and U.S. Army veteran, was also a member of the Chicago chapter and served as its secretary.
Harbour, who was from Houston, was a Thin Blue Line National Ambassador, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and a retired Eastern Airlines pilot, Weed said.
“These men who spent their lives serving our Country and their communities with valor and honor,” Weed said in his statement.
He said the crash occurred when a group of club members went on a “leisurely motorcycle ride” headed back to Bandera after having lunch in Kerrville.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — It’s been a tough week for Nick Cannon, who admits that he thought about taking his own life.
