Celebrity
Visitors Flock To See David Sculpture After Florida Uproar
FLORENCE, Italy — Following an uproar over a Florida school’s decision to force the principal’s resignation over complaints about a lesson depicting the Renaissance masterpiece, visitors flocked to see Michelangelo’s David sculpture in Florence on Tuesday.
Tourists posed for photos in front of the massive marble statue, which depicts the Biblical David, naked with a sling over his shoulder and a rock in his hand, ready for battle with Goliath.
The sculpture is housed in Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia, which reopened Tuesday after its weekly Monday closure, and both tourists and residents couldn’t get over the controversy.
“It’s part of history,” said Isabele Joles, an Ohio high school student learning French and Italian art. “I’m not sure how you can call it porn.”
She and other visitors were reacting to the Tallahassee Classical School board’s decision last week to pressure Principal Hope Carrasquilla to quit after an image of David was shown to a sixth-grade art class.
Carrasquilla believes the board targeted her after three parents complained about not being informed that a nude image would be shown, and a third called the famous statue, considered the pinnacle of Renaissance sculpture, pornographic. The school has a policy that requires parents to be notified about “controversial” subjects that will be taught.
Principal Hope Carrasquilla quit after an image of David was shown to a sixth-grade art class.
Over the weekend, Florence’s mayor and the museum head expressed surprise at the uproar and invited the ousted principal and the school community to see the sculpture for themselves.
“We’re talking about the roots of Western culture, and ‘David’ is the pinnacle, the pinnacle of beauty,” museum director Cecilie Hollberg said in an interview Tuesday, as tourists snapped photos with the statue in front of her.
The controversy was more than just a subject of discussion in Florence. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that a large audience attended a school board meeting in Tallahassee on Monday night, with public comment on the David statue controversy lasting more than an hour. Some parents and instructors chastised the board, even asking chairman Barney Bishop to resign.
“Given all of these parents’ dissatisfaction with your leadership, would you be willing to lead us with integrity by resigning?” inquired instructor Ben Steigner.
Bishop refused, stating that he plans to serve as chairman until the end of his term in May, followed by another year on the board, according to the newspaper. The five trustees, who serve three-year terms, are chosen by themselves rather than the parents. The school’s new principal, Cara Wynn, informed the school board that nine students had left since the David controversy started, but three had enrolled.
Tallahassee Classical is an independent private school. It is taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, but it functions almost completely independently of the local school district and is sought after by parents looking for an alternative to the public school curriculum. The three-year-old institution, now in its third principal, serves 400 pupils in kindergarten through 12th grade. It follows a curriculum designed by Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian school in Michigan that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis regularly consults on educational matters.
On the other hand, the Florida Department of Education has distanced itself from the debate and the school’s choice.
“The Statue of David is both artistic and historical in nature.” “Florida encourages classics and classical art instruction and would not prohibit its use in instruction,” the department said. “The dispute at Tallahassee Classical School is between the school and an employee, and it has nothing to do with state rule or law.”
On Tuesday, visitor Brian Stapley from Seattle, Washington, expressed sympathy for the school’s students.
“It’s one of the most incredible parts of our history,” he said as he entered the museum. “I feel terrible for the kids who won’t see it.” ___
Contributors included Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Nicole Winfield in Rome.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Jason Kelce Smashes Football Fan’s Phone
Retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce destroyed a Penn State football fan’s phone after the alleged heckler called his brother, Travis Kelce, a fag.
In now-viral footage published on X (previously Twitter) on Saturday, Nov. 2, the retired Philadelphia Eagles great was seen accompanied by football fans outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., for the Penn State-Ohio State game.
As the individual capturing the tape lifted a fist to Jason, 36, and called his name for a fist bump, another man nearby hurled the homophobic slur at the retired Philadelphia Eagles star.
Hey, Kelce. How does it feel that your brother is a queer dating Taylor Swift?” the man questioned, referring to Travis, 34, who has been seeing Swift since 2023. Jason turned around seconds later, snatched the man’s phone, and crushed it to the ground.
“Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason,” the original X user who submitted the video remarked. “Wild scene in State College.”
“Kelce how does it feel that your brother is a f****t for dating Taylor Swift?”
Jason Kelce proceeded to slam this kids phone on the ground.
Looked like a Penn State student was getting in Kelce’s face for no reason. Wild scene in State College pic.twitter.com/3PEdZXWhSg
— Chives (@jarrett_daveler) November 2, 2024
Additional footage on X shows Jason smashing the phone on asphalt before picking it up and walking away. The phone’s owner, wearing a Penn State hoodie at the time of the incident, was shown in many videos strolling closely behind Jason and recording him before the conflict occurred.
Another footage published on X, which appears to have been filmed after Jason shattered the man’s phone, showed the hooded Penn State supporter trudging through a mob to pick up his phone off the ground.
“Give me my phone, bro,” he seemed to say to Jason.
The NFL alum seized the gadget first, then stood in front of the man and asked, “Who’s the fag now?” Others appeared to interfere.
The incident occurred while Jason was at Beaver Stadium for an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay. The Ohio State Buckeyes won Saturday’s game 20-13 over the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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Celebrity
Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
Shaun White, the Olympic snowboarding champion, already has an impressive medal tally, but his surprise proposal to Nina Dobrev deserves a gold medal.
On Wednesday, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. Dobrev posted photographs of the two hugging under an arch of white roses and showing off her five-carat Lorraine Schwartz engagement ring.
“RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé,” Dobrev said in the caption.
However, the photographs only tell half the tale, as Shaun devised an elaborate plan to surprise Dobrev with his proposal.
Shaun White’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
According to a Vogue interview published Wednesday, Shaun said he assembled a team of people from the couple’s inner circle and Vogue personnel to trick Dobrev into thinking she had been invited to an intimate dinner party with Anna Wintour.
Dobrev accepted the invitation, joking that Shaun made it “look so legitimate.”
He even asked Dobrev’s stylist to outfit her in Chanel for the event.
Dobrev said she recognized what was happening when she entered the venue and saw White standing beneath the flowery arch.
Shaun’s Proposal To Nina Dobrev Was Romantic Gold
“I went into shock,” Dobrev admitted, later adding that White “said all the right things” before she agreed.
According to the publication, after Shaun proposed, the couple partied into the early morning hours with close friends and relatives.
“Best night of my life,” Shaun captioned his Instagram story on Wednesday.
The duo first became romantically involved in 2020, and they have since publicly recorded their relationship, globe vacations, and White’s Olympic farewell on social media.
SOURCE | CNN
Celebrity
Hollywood Actress Teri Garr Passes Away at 79
Hollywood actress Teri Garr, known for her roles in classics like “Young Frankenstein” and “Tootsie,” has passed away at 79. She died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” said publicist Heidi Schaeffer.
Admirers took to social media in her honor, with writer-director Paul Feig calling her “truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.”
Throughout her career, the performer, often known as Terri, Terry, or Terry Ann, seemed destined for show business from a young age.
Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comic, and her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dancing classes at six and was performing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies by age fourteen.
She was 16 years old when she joined the road crew of “West Side Story” in Los Angeles, and she began starring in small roles in films as early as 1963.
In an interview from 1988, she described how she landed the role in “West Side Story.” After being rejected at her initial audition, she returned the following day dressed differently and was accepted.
Teri Garr, a comedian
Teri Garr then found steady work as a movie dancer, appearing in the chorus of nine Elvis Presley films, including “Viva Las Vegas,” “Roustabout,” and “Clambake.”
She has also appeared on various television shows, including “Star Trek,” “Dr. Kildare,” and “Batman,” and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show “Shindig,” the rock concert performance “T.A.M.I.,” and a cast member of “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”
Her breakthrough role was as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 thriller The Conversation. This led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who offered her the Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant role in Young Frankenstein if she could speak with a German accent.
“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once said.
The film established her as a great comic performer, with New Yorker film writer Pauline Kael calling her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on screen.”
Her big smile and off-center appeal helped her land roles in “Oh, God!” with George Burns and John Denver, “Mr. Mom” (as Michael Keaton’s wife), and “Tootsie,” in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange and discovers he has dressed up as a woman to revive his career.
A gift for spontaneous humor
Teri Garr, best known for comedy, has shown in films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion, and The Escape Artist that she can also tackle drama.
She had a gift for spontaneous humor, frequently playing David Letterman’s foil during early guest appearances on N.B.C.’s “Late Night With David Letterman”.
Her appearances grew so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing that rumors of romantic involvement circulated for a while. Years later, Letterman acknowledged those early appearances with helping the program become a success.
During those years, Garr began to experience “a little beeping or ticking” in her right leg. It started in 1983 and expanded to her right arm, but she thought she could handle it. By 1999, her symptoms had gotten so bad that she saw a doctor and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
After disclosing her diagnosis, Garr became a spokesman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, giving hilarious remarks at events in the United States and Canada.
Source: AP
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