Entertainment

Macklemore Draws Support From Artists Amid Ed Sheeran Tour Controversy

For the two nights he made it through as an opener on Ed Sheeran‘s Loop tour, Macklemore used his position in front of an audience of thousands to advocate for Palestinians living in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 73,000 as Israeli military operations continue despite an alleged ceasefire, according to the Associated Press. The rapper’s “Free Palestine” call led to his removal from the tour, a decision ultimately made by the venue owners who opposed his statements.
While he no longer has the platform afforded to him by stadium stages, Macklemore has found support in fellow artists, activists, and public figures who have taken to social media to stand by him amid the controversy.
Kehlani embraced Macklemore from a position of having similarly experienced a loss of access and opportunity. “A LOT of venues / owners are rallied together this way,” she commented on his Instagram post addressing the removal. “Honored to know you brother. Adore you. Behind you!” In 2025, Kehlani was pulled from two separate performances, one at Cornell University and the other at New York’s SummerStage, over her public support of the Palestinian people.
In response, she said at the time, “If you want to cancel me from opportunity, stand on it being because of your zionism,” adding: “I am anti-genocide, I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti an extermination of an entire people, I’m anti the bombing of innocent children, men, women. That’s what I’m anti.” Her firm stance similarly drew support from fellow artists including Vic Mensa, who penned a lengthy open letter in which he commended Kehlani for choosing “to center humanity and courage as boldly and uncompromisingly as you have.” (Humanitarian groups and a United Nations commission have said Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide. Israel and its allies, including the United States, have denied this.)
This has become a familiar occurrence. Last year, the Irish band Kneecap faced criticism for speaking in defense of the Palestinian people during their performance at Coachella. In an email to Rolling Stone at the time, band member Mo Chara explained that Kneecap have spoken “at every single gig since the band’s formation, long before October 2023 as the oppression and brutal occupation of Palestine has been ongoing for 77 years.” Beneath Macklemore’s post, Kneecap commented, “They can never silence the truth.”
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The band also shared a photo captured backstage at a festival with the rapper. “All love and solidarity to Macklemore,” they said. “Free Palestine.” Rapper Robby Vylan of the group Bob Vylan also commented, echoing his quote, “There is no thanks for a duty.” Earlier this summer, the duo announced plans to sue the BBC for defamation over the corporation’s reaction to their 2025 Glastonbury performance, during which they led crowds in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].”
These artists have a much more limited audience reach than someone like Sheeran, who operates on a much more global scale of success. In his statement, Macklemore acknowledged this reach, writing, “I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2. Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”
Sheeran responded to the controversy in a multi-slide Instagram post of his own. “I am not complicit,” he said. “I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.” Sheeran, who boasts more than 47 million followers on the platform, disabled comments on the post.
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Finneas, who was scheduled to open for Sheeran later this year on the South American leg of the Loop tour, has “decided to withdraw” from the run. “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote on Instagram. “I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Opener Aaron Rowe also dropped out. “I don’t take the decision lightly. Ed has been a friend to me and has changed my life, I could never thank him enough for this,” Rowe said on Instagram. “But as Irish people, we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation. I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children.”
Lukas Graham, one of the only remaining openers left at the time, soon followed. “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation. Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge,” Graham wrote on Instagram. “I love Ed, and I’m grateful for everything we’ve shared. That hasn’t changed. But I can’t put these words out into the world and carry on with this tour as things stand. We’re withdrawing from the remaining dates. I’m sorry we won’t be there. This is a difficult decision, but it’s one I need to stand by.”
Shortly after, Sheeran lost part of his backing band, which performs with him for a number of songs each night. “We have made the decision to depart as Ed Sheeran’s band on the remaining US Loop tour, following the silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies,” the band Beoga wrote on Instagram. “We are a traditional Irish band who never saw ourselves playing in stadiums of that size and that opportunity is not lost on us. We have been friends with Ed for over 10 years now and will continue to be. We believe in dialogue as a means of progressing the plight of the Palestinian people.”
As members of the tour, Beoga were able to catch the two sets Macklemore played before being pulled from the bill. “We were there for Macklemore’s performance and speech. We fully supported his message, so did most of the audience in Met Life Stadium which terrifies the lobbies. Go back and read the transcript if you’re in doubt,” they wrote.
Sheeran reiterated in his post that the decision to pull Macklemore from the Loop tour came down to the venue owners and promoters, including the Kraft Group’s Robert Kraft. “I have spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution and unfortunately, was unable to do so,” he said. “I know who I am, both as a person and as an artist, and those who know my heart know my values too.” In their statement, Boega encouraged readers to “research how much Robert Kraft has done to fight the BDS movement. That will give you a sense of what we’ve all been up against.”
In an Instagram Story, actress Rowan Blanchard reposted the slide from Macklemore’s statement in which he acknowledged “Ed was in a fucked up position … His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had before.” She added the comment, “How many people refuse to get past their public facing ‘I don’t take sides.’” The indie pop band Muna also responded, writing on Instagram, “Everyone involved in the move to silence free speech about a genocide is utterly pathetic. Solidarity with Macklemore.” The model Gigi Hadid added, “Macklemore we stand with you. Free Palestine.”
Paloma Faith and Rachel Chinouriri, who both performed at the Together for Palestine benefit concert at Wembley Stadium last year, voiced their support in Macklemore’s comments section. “What a fantastic and selfless way to use your platform,” Chinouriri wrote. Faith added, “You are a rare and important voice … thank you for existing… This is so articulate and so powerful. You are a hero.” More remarks poured in from Gigi Perez, who said, “True integrity. We stand with you and Palestine,” as well as Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress, who commented with heart emojis.
An additional note came from the activist Greta Thunberg, who was detained by Israeli forces last summer after it halted a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ship. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz “instructed the IDF to ensure that the ‘Madleen’ flotilla does not reach Gaza,” he said at the time. “Full solidarity and free Palestine,” Thunberg commented on Macklemore’s post. “Artists’ very active silence in the face of injustice and genocide will not be forgotten.”
Massive Attack criticized Sheeran for allowing Macklemore to be pushed out of the tour, even if it wasn’t his direct decision. “No artist should tolerate the censorship of another artist, however many millions of dollars are in play,” the band said. “We stand in solidarity with all artists risking their careers in defence of the rights of the Palestinian people, & against the illegal occupation, apartheid, war crimes & ongoing genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel.” Earlier this year, two band members were banned from Singapore after being detained and questioned for displaying the Palestinian flag onstage during a concert.
Kraft, in his own statement about deciding to bar Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium, said it was based on his “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”
The singer and songwriter Jensen McRae, who has opened for the likes of Muna, Hozier, and Noah Kahan, wrote about the controversy on Substack. “While Macklemore has said and done some questionable things in the past, I have immense admiration for his commitment to apologizing, learning more, and doing better,” she said. “As a Jew, I am baffled by the fact that the statement ‘Free Palestine’ continues to be controversial. It is routinely disappointing to see so many people prioritize social comfort over actual human lives. We have to be able to acknowledge government atrocities without viewing them as indictments of civilians. None of us are free til Palestine is free – til all victims of global imperialism are free.”
Singer Mary Lambert, who performed alongside Macklemore on the single “Same Love,” published a statement on Instagram, in which she expressed being similarly baffled by the decision to remove Macklemore from the Loop tour. “Macklemore has been loud and outspoken about this for years now,” she said. “It should be embarassing to everyone involved in this decision. What Ben said on stage at that show is not radical.
“I’m not Jewish, and I don’t know what religious persecution feels like, I don’t know what antisemitism feels like, but I know Ben. He has contended and learned from past mistakes. And I also know that Jewish people are not a monolith. The Jewish people in my life advocate for and loudly support Palestine,” Lambert continued. “If I put myself in the shoes of a Jewish person, hearing a phrase like ‘from the river to the sea,’ even though I don’t personally hear that as being an alarming phrase because I haven’t heard it used any other way, I can imagine it bringing up fear and discomfort. But discomfort and fear does not supercede that the highest number of child amputees per capita in the entire world is in Palestine.”
Drag artist and climate activist Pattie Gonia noted in a separate Instagram post she has been “rejected from countless venues and i’ve seen other political artists and politicians be denied to do events in their spaces because they stand up for basic human rights,” adding, “This isn’t just about artists — this is about venue owners who are united together to support zionism.”
In a longer statement, she said, “Every single fucking thing is political. You don’t get to be neutral about a genocide. If your favorite artist isn’t speaking up, that’s an active choice. Every artist could do this. They choose not to. Silence by artists in the face of genocide and apartheid will not be forgotten. By the way, anti-zionism is not antisemitism. I love my jewish friends. And children are not a political opinion.”
In his statement, Sheeran said he doesn’t use his platform to discuss politics because “my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum. I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes. However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace.”
The children’s YouTuber Ms. Rachel — who boasts more than 21 million subscribers and has amassed as many views as Sheeran has Spotify streams on his most popular songs (upwards of 17 billion) — has adamantly defended Palestinians living in Gaza regardless of the age of her audience. “Imagine looking back 20 years from now at yourself kicking someone off a tour because they spoke out during a genocide that has killed over 20,00 kids,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Palestinian kids are still being killed, have had almost all of their homes, schools and hospitals bombed – live in tents without proper sanitation among rats – dying of easily treatable diseases – malnourished – highest number of child amputees in modern history – 58,000 have lost one or both parents,” Mr Rachel added. “THEY NEED OUR VOICES – their human rights are being violated and they are KIDS – also free Palestine – It’s not wrong to say Palestinian kids should be able to grow up and Palestinian people should be able to be free. It’s wrong to be silent during a genocide.”
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Former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter Roger Waters voiced his frustration on Instagram, opting to talk directly to the camera. “There’s two kinds of people in this world. There’s people who do the right thing, that rapper Macklemore would be one of those people, and there’s people, many of them sadly little ff… — excuse me I nearly used the F-word then — pricks like you who do the wrong thing,” he said, directly addressing Sheeran.
The band Garbage see the response to Macklemore being dropped from Sheeran’s tour as “a major turning point.” “This is a clear and undeniable sign that the global consciousness has shifted. The normalisation of an apartheid state, and the attempts to sanitise or justify its actions, will no longer be tolerated,” the band wrote on Instagram. “Ed, there is only one victim here: the Palestinian people.”

Entertainment

Here’s who’ll be on ‘SNL’ when Season 52 starts next week

“Saturday Night Live” added two new names to its cast for its 52nd season, while another cast member is moving on.
Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter will join the sketch comedy show as featured players when it resumes next weekend, “SNL” announced Wednesday.
“Welcome to the cast!” the show said on Instagram, in all capital letters.
Saidah Belo-Osagie
Belo-Osagie is a New Yorker from Queens. She wrote and directed “Tinge,” a short film; created an event series, “Afrobeats Futura”; and had a solo show, “Saidah Gets Closure,” “SNL” said in a news release about the two additions.
She shared the “SNL” post on her Instagram Story, writing, “A DREAM COME TRUE.”
Grace Reiter
Reiter, who is from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, co-wrote, directed and stars in the upcoming Netflix show “Minimum Wage,” a series about teenagers running a pizzeria. It’s based on the series released online in 2024, which made waves on TikTok and elsewhere, Netflix said.
‘SNL’ departures
Chloe Fineman, who joined the show in 2019 for the 45th season and beyond, said July 16 that she was leaving to try something new.
“It’s really hard to leave SNL but it does feel like the right time,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
Fineman spent seven seasons as an “SNL” cast member, performing impressions of Drew Barrymore and Britney Spears and appearing in sketches and advertising spoofs, such as “Domingo,” “Snackhomiez” and “Forever 31.”
Deadline reported that Fineman would be joining the cast of “Myron Bolitar,” a Netflix drama series based on Harlan Coben’s thriller novels about a former basketball star who reinvents himself as a sports agent.
The annual turnover of cast members can be minimal, indicating that the show and its longtime executive producer, Lorne Michaels, are fine-tuning its cold open, sketches and news segment. Every several years, a greater number of on-air and writers room departures foreshadow a virtual reset for “SNL.”
Amid and after the 50th season and its accompanying anniversary specials, the show had some big-name departures, including those of Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim and Bowen Yang. Fellow departing talents Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim held the freshman-like title “featured player,” a position that often leads to repertory player status.
Season 52 of “SNL” premieres Sept. 26 with New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson as host and musical guest Katseye. “SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.

Entertainment

‘Dancing With The Stars’ Season 35 Premiere Night 2 Recap: Who Goes Home?

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the second of ABC‘s two-night Dancing with the Stars Season 35 premiere.
Why have one night of Dancing with the Stars when you can have two? Fresh off the news that last night’s premiere was the most watched in six years, the kickoff continued Wednesday night with the women celebrities making their performance debut.
ICYMI, the male celebs performed last night (and were in the audience to dutifully support the ladies on their big night), and Conner Leavitt was the first to go home. There’ll be another contestant sent packing by the end of Wednesday’s show. The results are at the bottom of this post.
You can breathe a sigh of relief, because there’s only one cha cha in this round. Also, online voting was back after it crashed during Tuesday’s live show.
Let’s get into it.
Actress Tatyana Ali with Jan Ravnik. Reuniting with her on-screen brother Alfonso Ribeiro here, Fresh Prince of Bel Air star Ali performed a jive to “Knock on Wood” (her kids’ song choice, she says). Ravnik is one of the newer pros, making his debut last season, and the jive is quite an ambitious dance style for the very first performance. Ali struggled with some timing issues at the start, but they ultimately pulled off a fun first routine. “That was a bit of a rough start,” Carrie Ann Inaba told her. “But what I see in you, that is positive, is that there is a fierce fire burning under you.” SCORE: 12 out of 30 (kind of rough!)
Olympian Amber Glenn with Pasha Pashkov. The gold medalist has some big shoes to fill, considering the show’s lengthy track record of figure skaters who found success on the ballroom floor. She dances the lone cha cha of the night to a Santana song, and while you could tell she was deep in thought the entire time, she rose to the occasion. “OK ice queen! I see you!” Derek Hough told her. “You have such a beautiful awareness of your body…just a little bit more finesse.” SCORE: 18 out of 30
Reality star Ciara Miller with Brandon Armstrong. When she says at the top of her intro package that she’s had a “hell of a year,” she’s pretty much understating it. The Summer House star thinks, at this point, she can take on anything, and she’s ready to express herself through a medium other than words. She and Armstrong come out of the gate with a rocky foxtrot, but listen, it’s the first performance. On a positive note, she nails the “sophistication” of the dance style, Bruno Tonioli tells her. “It’s all there with you to use.” SCORE: 15 out of 30
Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis with Alan Bersten. Dancing a tango, this celebrity chef is trying to bring an elegance she says she learned in the kitchen to the ballroom floor. She’s just got to find the right recipe! Looks like she’s sniffing it out, because the judges were truly surprised at her performance despite her zero dance experience, but Derek says he wished it was a little less safe. “With that said, I love seeing the joy in this dance,” he adds. Prepare yourselves for a lot of cooking puns this season. The judges were really packing them in there. SCORE: 16 out of 30
Actress Julia Stiles with Ezra Sosa. While she might’ve starred as a Julliard student in Save the Last Dance, Stiles really doesn’t have much dance experience. If you didn’t know, the movie was doubled, she tells viewers in her intro package. (“I’m well aware,” Sosa sweetly replies when she tells him). These two brought a quickstep to “9 to 5” by the late Dolly Parton to the show on Wednesday, and there may be room for growth, but this DWTS superfan totally disproved Andy Cohen’s previous remarks that Stiles can’t dance! Yes, they did bring that up. “Andy Cohen, you can eat it!” Derek said to the camera when the performance was finished. SCORE: 18 out of 30
Reality star Maura Higgins with Mark Ballas. These former Traitors co-stars reunited for a foxtrot on their first night in the ballroom. She’s been on several reality series at this point, and yet she’s never prevailed in the end, so she’s got her eyes on that mirrorball trophy. Too bad dance does not come naturally to her. Yet, Ballas still had her out there looking like a pro herself strutting across that floor to “Black Velvet.” A blessing and a curse to deliver like that the first week, because she’s now set the bar high. “You foxy traitor! So seductive, so enticing, smooth as silk and ready for the kill,” Tonioli said. “The movement, I’ve never seen something like that on week one.” SCORE: 21 out of 30 (highest of the night)
Reality star Sarah Jane Nader with Hailey Bills. Sarah Jayne is no stranger to the ballroom, since her sister Brooks previously competed. She took the stage for one or two counts on Season 33, but now she’s ready to take the stage for herself. This is the second time that DWTS has had a same-sex female couple, and last time it was Bills’ aunt and longtime pro Jenna Johnson paired with JoJo Siwa. So, they both have a lot to prove with their jive to “Sk8er Boi,” and it seems they did decent. “Can I just say what we’re all thinking? That was super hot!” exclaimed Inaba before delivering a hard truth: “You were out of sync.” Room for improvement! SCORE: 14 out of 30
Actress Jenna Dewan with Val Chmerkovskiy. The Rookie and Step Up star Dewan closed out the show with a tango. After starting her career as a backup dancer, she’s been focusing on purely acting for a long enough time now that she’s not sure if she can meet the expectations that she assumes people have for her run on DWTS. Chmerkovskiy is ready to push her, though, and he got a lot out of her on night one. “You put the ‘go’ in ‘tango,’” Derek says. He called it “a little frantic in places” but it certainly sets the standard for her performances to come. SCORE: 19 out of 30
So, who goes home?
After just one performance, Sarah Jayne Nader is the first female celebrity to be eliminated from the competition. The 14 remaining contestants will take on Week 2 to some viral hits next Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+.

Entertainment

‘Barely Breathing’ Singer Duncan Sheik Hospitalized in New York

“Barely Breathing” singer Duncan Sheik has been hospitalized in New York … TMZ has learned.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter is currently receiving care at a New York City hospital.
It’s currently unclear what led to his hospitalization, and details about his condition remain unknown.
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His team posted a statement on his Instagram late Wednesday saying he remains in critical but stable condition.
Sheik rose to fame with his 1996 debut single, “Barely Breathing,” which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
He is also known for his work as a composer and actor.

Entertainment

AGT Live Results: Season 21 Finalists

The votes are in, and we now know which acts will be competing in next week’s Season 21 finale of “America’s Got Talent.”
Prior to the Wednesday, September 16, results show, four acts — magic group Hundred Fingers, rocker Nene Royal, singer Lai Noelle, and robot dance troupe Unitree — had already secured their spot in the finals after receiving Golden Buzzers from the judges during the quarterfinals.
This left just six open spots for the season’s remaining semifinalists — dog group Acro Canine Crew, magician Kameron Marshall, comedic singer Cesar Dias, aerialist Veronika Goroshkova, rapper Luke Taleno, Royal Lasers, dog act Olivia Befus, magic duo Young & Strange, dance troupe Come Here, comedian Daniel Alvarez, magician Geno Ploeger, and singer Travis Garland — to fight for. And fight they did, delivering a night of unforgettable performances on Tuesday, September 15.
With Simon Cowell still on medical leave from the competition, regular judges Howie Mandel, Mel B, and Sofia Vergara presided over Wednesday’s dramatic results hour, as host Terry Crews gradually revealed which acts America chose to vote into the finals.
Read on for a complete breakdown of Wednesday’s results to find out which acts are competing in the two-night Season 21 finale, beginning on Tuesday, September 22.
For their semifinals performance on Tuesday, the Acro Canine Crew invited “America’s Got Talent” viewers to an all-pink sleepover, complete with more impressive flips and tricks from humans and dogs alike. The soundtrack? Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” of course.
“I mean, we’ve had dogs on the show before, but what you do and what you bring is something so different,” Mel B told them after their latest routine. “So fun, so exciting. Your dogs are brilliant, your company is brilliant — I just have the biggest smile on my face. Thank you!”
And we’re sure the viewers had similar smiles on their faces as they voted Acro Canine Crew through to next week’s finals.
Determined to leave a good impression on the judges and voters, Kameron Marshall returned to “America’s Got Talent” for the semifinals with another mind-boggling act, this time revealing a new tattoo that matched the card Sofia Vergara came up with.
“Kameron, you really keep getting better and better and better,” she told him. “That is a commitment to tattoo part of your act! I helped you a lot, I did a great job. But I am so proud of you, you deserve to be here tonight!”
Marshall might be regretting that tattoo after Wednesday’s results show; he was the first act eliminated during the live broadcast.
Shocker: nothing went “according to plan” during Cesar Dias’ semifinals performance of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” on Tuesday. From a wardrobe malfunction to a fall from the stage, it was more of the same shtick we’ve come to expect from him.
“I said it last time, but you’re a clown, and now the surprise is kind of over as far as what’s going to happen,” Howie Mandel told Dias. Fortunately, he pivoted to compliments from there: “I’ll tell you what the joy is — the joy is when you’re performing, looking over at Sofia’s face and seeing the tears and the laughter and the joy that you are putting on that woman’s face is worth more than $1 million.”
Sadly, Dias will have to spread his signature brand of joy elsewhere, as the “America’s Got Talent” voters eliminated him during Wednesday’s live results show.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “Stupid Song” provided the soundtrack for Veronika Goroshkova’s semifinals routine on Tuesday, which is fitting, as the gravity-defying display was nothing short of stupefying.
“I mean, I’ve said this before, but you’re so elegant, and what you’re doing seems so seamless and effortless,” Mel B told Goroshkova, asking if she ever gets dizzy when she’s spinning around on stage. The short answer? No, but only after a lot of practice.
And Terry Crews had good news for Goroshkova on Wednesday: she earned enough votes to spin her way right into next week’s finals.
Luke Taleno hoped to impress the judges and the voters at home with another uplifting original song, this time titled “The American Dream,” during Tuesday’s live semifinals.
“You know what? You are the American dream,” Howie Mandel told Taleno. “You have had to battle your whole life through your health, and then you manifested yourself last year backstage, telling Simon you were going to end up on that stage. … You are making your dream come true, and now it is up to America. You’ve got to keep this dream happening! You are, to me, the new Eminem.”
Those words from Mandel only make it more painful for us to say that Taleno was, in fact, eliminated during Wednesday’s live results show.
You could say that Royal Lasers took things to the next level in their semifinals performance on Tuesday, performing a video game-themed routine set to Benson Boone’s “Mr. Electric Blue.”
Covered in streamers, Mel B couldn’t stop singing Royal Laser’s praises when all was said and done. “I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed that,” she said. “By the way, your choreography is on point. The way that you are so precise, following along with [the game], it’s just brilliant.”
Unsurprisingly, the “America’s Got Talent” voters beamed Royal Lasers into the finale during Wednesday’s live results show.
The other Season 21 dog act, Olivia Befus, was done playing around when her moment on stage arrived on Tuesday — well, except for the impressive game of volleyball she played with one of her canine companions, set to BTS’ “Dynamite.”
“My favorite thing about your act is that I can tell that those dogs love you,” Sofia Vergara told Befus. “They can’t wait to be on stage on with you, and that makes me very very happy. Congratulations!”
Well, the dogs aren’t the only ones who love Befus, as we learned when she was became the first act sent through to the finals during Wednesday’s live results show.
Claiming to have the “greatest magic prop in ‘AGT’ history” is a pretty tall order, but that’s exactly what Young & Strange alleged in Tuesday’s semifinals — but not everyone was impressed.
“You know I love you guys, you know I do, that did not cut it for me,” Mel B told them. “Your last performance was so much better. But it’s not up to me, it’s up to America!” (For the record, Howie Mandel couldn’t have disagreed with her more.)
The voters, apparently, sided with Mel B, eliminating Young & Strange during Wednesday’s live results show.
Olivia Rodrigo also provided the soundtrack to Come Here’s semifinals performance. The dance group moved, posed, and wowed their way through her smash hit “Vampire.”
“You are my favorite human dance troupe on this season,” Howie Mandel told them. “If they vote you through, your competition is robots,” he said, alluding to Unitree. “But you came off like machines. The synchronicity that you [displayed] wasn’t human. The way you all move, it was perfection. I wish you luck.”
And that luck came in handy! It was revealed during Wednesday’s live results show that the “America’s Got Talent” viewers voted Come Here through to the finals.
Daniel Alvarez returned for the semifinals on Tuesday with more self-deprecating humor (“I love dancing, because every dance is a lap dance for me”) and jokes about his fellow competitors (“It’s so hard to compete against dogs, because we’re all thinking the same thing… could I pet that dog?”).
Alvarez got high praise from fellow comedian Howie Mandel, who said, “I love you, and I think America loves you, and I think this audience loves you.”
Maybe Mandel misjudged the love this time around, as Alvarez was sadly among the acts eliminated during Wednesday’s results show.
Fall is officially here, and magician Geno Ploeger took the “America’s Got Talent” audience back to school with a homework-themed routine during the semifinals on Tuesday.
Ploeger’s routine left the audience roaring — and the judges’ heads spinning. “They’re chanting his name in here,” Sofia Vergara said. “I’m going to say it again, I’m so glad we’re not the ones voting or picking tonight. Every act has been spectacular. That was amazing.”
Fortunately for Ploeger, the people who were responsible for voting did so in his favor. He was the last act sent through to the finals on Wednesday.
Travis Garland closed out Tuesday’s semifinals with an appropriately emotional take on Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over,” hoping that America would keep his own party going with their votes.
“You know I have loved your voice from the very beginning, and I love how you keep on taking risks,” Mel B told Garland. “Now, this song started off not very good, I have to say. But by the middle, when you did the key change and you did all those trills, you got me.”
Sadly, Garland will not be singing on the “America’s Got Talent” stage again; he was the final act eliminated on Wednesday.
How do you feel about the way Wednesday’s results shook out? Vote for the acts you would have sent to the finals in our poll below, then drop a comment with the act you predict will win Season 21.

Entertainment

Netanyahu Moves To Get ‘NAZA’ Directors’ Israeli Citizenship Revoked

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has joined the chorus of Israeli government officials seeking to punish the directors of the Venice Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize-winning documentary NAZA.
After decrying what he described as “global antisemitic incitement,” Netanyahu said he will be introducing two bills in his country’s parliament, the Knesset.
“We will hit them in their pockets and also in their citizenship, because their place is not among us,” declared Netanyahu. He also described the bills specifically.
“The first: to revoke the citizenship of anyone who slanders IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] soldiers.
“The second: to hit them in the pocket, raising the defamation damages they can be sued for twentyfold.”
The co-directors of NAZA, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, are both Israeli.
The prime minister’s comments followed those of his Culture Minister, Miki Zohar, who also threatened to revoke the filmmakers’ citizenship.
On Friday, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett criticized NAZA and its filmmakers, saying in a statement that that he is “proud” and “deeply grateful” to the Israeli reservists and soldiers “standing between us and that next massacre.” He added, “To portray them as perpetrators of ‘genocide’ is not courageous art. It is a cowardly blood libel.”
NAZA, a late addition to the competition lineup in Venice, received a record 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere there. On Saturday night, it won the festival’s Special Jury Prize. The film is directed by Israeli Jews Abraham and Szor, who were also two of the four directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
In NAZA, Abraham appears on camera, interviewing his subjects on the rooftop; they explain that “NAZA” is a Hebrew acronym used by the Israel Defense Forces to signify collateral damage (נזק אגבי, or Nezek Agavi, per an interview included in press notes), in other words, an acceptable loss of civilian life incurred while trying to kill suspected Hamas militants. The film suggests the number of “NAZA” considered acceptable in each attack was elastic. In some cases, it would be under a dozen, but in others it could be 200 or even 500 people deemed permissible collateral damage, according to Israeli military personnel interviewed in the film.
Matt Carey contributed to this report.