Category: Entertainment

The first of two seasons of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude has hit the screen. Netflix is currently working on the second season of this attempt to bring the author’s sprawling masterpiece to the screen. Veronica Villafane has the story.
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Oscar-winning American actor Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead Wednesday at their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico.

Authorities said they were investigating what caused their deaths but that foul play was not suspected as a factor.

Authorities said they went to the home to do a welfare check and found the 95-year-old Hackman and his wife, 64-year-old pianist Betsy Arakawa, dead along with their dog.

Hackman had a lengthy career on stage and screen, including appearing in Broadway shows, on television and in more than 80 films.

He won an Oscar for best actor for his role in the 1971 film The French Connection and a best supporting Oscar for the 1992 film Unforgiven.

Hackman’s resume featured three other Oscar nominations, including his breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 as well as I Never Sang for My Father in 1970 and Mississippi Burning in 1988.

His work crossed genres as he appeared in action movies, thrillers and offbeat comedies.

In addition to his award-nominated works, he was also known for roles in films such as The Poseidon Adventure, Young Frankenstein, Superman, Hoosiers, The Birdcage, and The Royal Tenenbaums.

His last film was Welcome to Mooseport in 2004.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who identify as Christian has declined steadily for years, but that drop shows signs of slowing, according to a new survey Wednesday from the Pew Research Center.

The Religious Landscape Study finds 62% of U.S. adults call themselves Christians. While a significant dip from 2007, when 78% of Americans identified as Christian, Pew found the Christian share of the population has remained relatively stable since 2019.

The rapid rise of the religiously unaffiliated — the so-called “nones” — has also reached at least a temporary plateau, according to Pew. Approximately 29% of U.S. adults identify as religiously unaffiliated, including those who are atheist (5%), agnostic (6%) or “nothing in particular” (19%).

“It’s striking to have observed this recent period of stability in American religion after that long period of decline,” said Pew’s Gregory Smith, one of the study’s co-authors. “One thing we can’t know for sure is whether these short-term signs of stabilization will prove to be a lasting change in the country’s religious trajectory.”

By some measures, the U.S. remains overwhelmingly spiritual. Many Americans have a supernatural outlook, with 83% believing in God or a universal spirit and 86% believing that people have a soul or spirit. About seven in 10 Americans believe in heaven, hell or both.

Young adults are less religious than their elders

Despite this widespread spirituality, there are harbingers of future religious decline. Most notably, Pew found a huge age gap, with 46% of the youngest American adults identifying as Christian, compared to 80% of the oldest adults. The youngest adults are also three times more likely than the oldest group to be religiously unaffiliated.

“These kinds of generational differences are a big part of what’s driven the long-term declines in American religion,” Smith said. “As older cohorts of highly religious, older people have passed away, they have been replaced by new cohorts of young adults who are less religious than their parents and grandparents.”

Michele Margolis, a University of Pennsylvania political scientist not affiliated with the Pew survey, has studied how religious involvement changes over a lifetime.

Young adults frequently move away from religion. “Then when you get married and have kids, this is a time where scholars have noted that religion is more likely to become important,” Margolis said.

Margolis said one question going forward is whether the youngest American adults firmly reject organized religion, or if some of them will return to the religious fold as they age.

Between 2007 and 2024, Pew religious landscape studies haven’t indicated that Americans are growing more religious as they get older.

Smith at Pew said “something would need to change” to stop the long-term decline of American religion, whether that’s adults becoming more religious with age or new generations becoming more religious than their parents.

How partisan politics intertwines with religious identity

The long-term decline of U.S. Christianity and rise of the “nones” has occurred across traditions, gender, race, ethnicity, education and region. But it is much more evident among political liberals, according to Pew. The survey shows 51% of liberals claim no religion, up 24 points from 2007. Only 37% of U.S. liberals identify as Christian, down from 62% in 2007.

Penny Edgell, a University of Minnesota sociologist and expert adviser for the Pew study, said this religious and political sorting aligns with whether people “support traditional, patriarchal gender and family arrangements.”

Edgell also notes that Black Americans defy the assumption that all Democrats are less religious than Republicans.

“More Black Americans percentagewise are Democrats, but their rates of religious involvement are still really high,” Edgell said. “That has something to do with the way that religious institutions and politics have been intertwined in historically unique ways for different groups.”

Roughly seven in 10 Black Protestants told Pew that religion is very important to them — about the same rate as evangelicals and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But Black Protestants are likely to identify as Democrats (72%), whereas evangelicals and Latter-day Saints are likely to identify as Republican (70% and 73%, respectively).

The Pew survey tracks many religious traditions

It’s been nearly 10 years since the last Religious Landscape Study, which tracks religious data that the U.S. census does not.

The new survey found that a majority of immigrants to the U.S. are Christian (58%), but they also follow the upward trend of the religiously unaffiliated, with a quarter of foreign-born U.S. adults claiming no religion.

The number of Americans who belong to religions besides Christianity has been increasing, though it’s still a small portion of the population (7%). That includes the 2% who are Jewish, and the 1% each who are Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu.

Of U.S. Christian adults, 40% are Protestant and 19% are Catholic. The remaining 3% in Pew’s survey include Latter-day Saints, Orthodox Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses and smaller Christian groups.

The two largest Protestant denominations in the Pew survey remain the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church – though both have lost many members since the first Religious Landscape Study in 2007.

The Pew Religious Landscape Study was conducted in English and Spanish between July 2023 and March 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 36,908 respondents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey’s margin of error for results based on the full sample is plus or minus 0.8 percentage points.
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After devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards are going forward. 

Like the Grammys and other awards shows this year, the ceremony will be transformed by the fires and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged to help its members and the broader film community recover. 

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s show: 

When are the Oscars? 

The Academy Awards will be held March 2, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. The show, to be broadcast live by ABC, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific. 

Who’s hosting the Oscars? 

Conan O’Brien is hosting the Academy Awards for the first time. O’Brien, the late-night host turned podcaster and occasional movie star, said upon the announcement: “America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.” 

How have the wildfires altered the show? 

The wildfires that consumed large parts of Los Angeles in early January led some to call for the cancellation of the Academy Awards. The academy twice postponed the announcement of nominations but never pushed the March 2 date of the ceremony. Academy leaders have argued the show must go ahead, for its economic impact on Los Angeles and as a symbol of resilience. 

Organizers have vowed this year’s awards will “celebrate the work that unites us as a global film community and acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.” 

Still, the fires have curtailed much of the usual frothiness of Hollywood’s awards season. The film academy canceled its annual nominees’ luncheon. 

For many involved in the Oscars, the fires have been felt acutely. O’Brien’s Pacific Palisades home survived but his family has been unable to go back to it. O’Brien’s assistant and podcast co-host Sona Movsesian lost her home. 

“I know so many people who lost their homes and I’m just, was ridiculously lucky,” O’Brien told The Associated Press. “So, we want to make sure that that show reflects what’s happening and that we put a light on the right people in the right way.” 

Who’s presenting at the Oscars? 

More stars were added to the presenter lineup last week, including Selena Gomez, Oprah Winfrey, Joe Alwyn, Goldie Hawn, Ben Stiller, Ana de Armas, Sterling K. Brown, Willem Dafoe, Lily-Rose Depp and Connie Nielsen. They’ll join the likes of Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Scarlett Johansson, John Lithgow, Amy Poehler, June Squibb and Bowen Yang, as well as last year’s acting winners — Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph — on the Oscar stage.

Though the academy initially said it would bring back the “fab five” style of presenting the acting awards, with five previous winners per category, organizers have reportedly abandoned those plans for this year’s ceremony. Nick Offerman will also be participating as the Oscars announcer. 

Will there be any performances? 

The academy has announced that, unlike previous years, the original song nominees will not be performed this time. That doesn’t mean there won’t be music, though. 

Doja Cat, LISA of Blackpink, Queen Latifah and RAYE will be part of “showstopping performances celebrating the filmmaking community and some of its legends,” producers announced Monday, as will Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. (The songs from Wicked weren’t eligible for best song since, hailing from the Broadway musical, they aren’t original to the movie.) The Los Angeles Master Chorale will also appear. 

What’s nominated for best picture? 

The 10 nominees for best picture are: Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part 2, Emilia Perez, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, The Substance, and Wicked. 

How to watch Oscar-nominated films? 

Some of the nominees are still in theaters, but many of this year’s Oscar nominees are streaming on various platforms.  

Who are the favorites? 

More than most years, that’s a tricky question, but a front-runner had emerged after Anora took the top awards at the Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Independent Spirit Awards. The best picture race had been seen as unusually wide open, with Anora, Conclave, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown and Emilia Perez all having legitimate hopes of winning — the hopes of Conclave further boosted by its Screen Actors Guild ensemble win. 

In the acting categories, Demi Moore (The Substance) is favored for best actress, although Mikey Madison’s BAFTA and Independent Spirit wins for Anora makes it more of a race. Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) is most likely in best actor — though SAG winner Timothee Chalamet could threaten — while Zoe Saldana (Emilia Perez) is the supporting actress front-runner and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) is the favorite for best supporting actor. None of those awards, however, is considered a definite lock. 

What’s the deal with ‘Emilia Perez’? 

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, a narco-musical about a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, comes in with a leading 13 nominations. The film, at one point, seemed like Netflix’s best chance yet to land the streamer its first best picture win. Its star, Karla Sofia Gascon, made history by becoming the first openly trans actor nominated for an Oscar. 

But no nominee has had a rockier post-nominations Oscar campaign. After old offensive tweets by Gascon were uncovered, the actress issued an apology. The fallout, though, has badly damaged a movie that was already a divisive contender, and led Netflix to radically refocus its flagging campaign.
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NEW YORK — Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style on Killing Me Softly with His Song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and other hits made her one of the top recording artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88.

She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing,

Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me. The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year. In 1973, she matched both achievements with Killing Me Softly, becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record.

She was a classically trained pianist discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” Versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, Flack often favored a more reflective and measured approach.

For Flack’s many admirers, she was a sophisticated and bold new presence in the music world and in the social movements of the time, her friends including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis, whom Flack visited in prison while Davis faced charges — for which she was acquitted — for murder and kidnapping. Flack sang at the funeral of Jackie Robinson, major league baseball’s first Black player, and was among the many guest performers on the feminist children’s entertainment project created by Marlo Thomas, Free to Be … You and Me.
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The 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards kicked off Sunday night with host Kristen Bell paying tribute to Los Angeles firefighters and another supporting actor win for “A Real Pain” co-star Kieran Culkin.

Bell introduced the ceremony, streaming live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, as an ode to both the aspirational spirit of actors who come to Los Angeles to make it, and to the city, itself.

The SAG Awards unfolded against the backdrop of the devastating wildfires that began in early January. Those fires forced the guild to cancel its in-person nominations announcement and launched a disaster relief fund for SAG-AFTRA members affected.

Before singing “Do You Want to Be an Actor?” to tune of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from “Frozen,” Bell introduced attending firefighters as “the most attractive tables” among a sea of stars.

“First it was COVID then it was the strikes then it was the devastating wildfires,” actor Courtney B. Vance, president of the SAG-AFTRA charitable foundation told attendees ahead of the show. “Thousands have lost their homes including our own members and their families.”

The night’s first televised award went to Culkin, who has won just about every award in the category. Gripping the SAG trophy, he could quickly tell the difference.

“It is funny that the heaviest of all awards is given by actors,” said Culkin, who characteristically riffed his way through a rambling acceptance speech before swearing sincerity: “Believe it or not, this actually means a lot to me.”

The SAG Awards should offer the final clue in an unusually unpredictable Oscar race. The other major awards — including the BAFTAs, the Producers Guild Awards, the Directors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes — have all had their say. But actors make up the largest piece of the film academy pie, so their picks often correspond strongly with Academy Award winners.

After wins from the PGA and the DGA — and last night, the Independent Spirit Awards — Sean Baker’s “Anora” is seen as the favorite to win best picture in a week’s time at the Oscars. But Edward Berger’s “Conclave” won last weekend at the BAFTAs, the latest wrench in an award season full of them. That’s included the unlikely rise and precipitous fall of another top contender, “Emilia Pérez.”

The awards are being streamed lived by Netflix, which distributed “Emilia Pérez,” for the second time.

“Wicked” comes in the leading film nominee, with five nods, while “Shōgun” heads the TV categories. It took early awards for Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai and for best stunt ensemble. The corresponding award for film went to the stunt performer ode “The Fall Guy.”

The best actor and best actress categories should be nail biters. While Brody (“The Brutalist”) has won a string of awards, Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”) and Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) could easily pull off the upset. Best actress could go to either Moore (“The Substance”) or Madison (“Anora”).

In addition to the competitive categories, Jane Fonda will be given the SAG Life Achievement Award.

 
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Los Angeles — Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.

“While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us,” Harris said after receiving the NAACP’s Chairman’s Award. “The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people.”

The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.

Harris, defeated by Trump in last year’s presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state’s attorney general.

In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump’s actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America’s future.

“Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask ‘What do we do now?'” Harris said. “But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path.”

Other winners of the Chairman’s prize have included former President Barack Obama, the late Rep. John Lewis and the late actor Ruby Dee.

NAACP Hall of Fame

Harris was honored during the ceremony along with the Wayans family. The family was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame in recognition of pioneering contributions to film, TV, sketch and stand-up comedy that have shaped Hollywood for decades.

Keenen Ivory Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. each were recognized.

Marlon Wayans, whose guest appearance on Peacock’s “Bel-Air” was up for an NAACP award, shared how Keenen Ivory Wayans sparked the family’s rise.

“He raised us all like Jedis,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our big brother.”

Marlon Wayans joked that when his brother told their mom he was leaving college for comedy, she said, “Boy, I’ve known you your whole life, and you ain’t never said nothing funny. That’s the funniest thing you’ve said.”

The crowd erupted in laughter, a fitting tribute to a family that has kept audiences laughing for more than three decades.

The family has a long list of credits. Keenen Ivory Wayans created the sketch comedy series “In Living Color” in 1990 and directed the 2000 slasher spoof “Scary Movie,” which was written by Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans, who also wrote and starred in “White Chicks” in 2004. Damon Wayan’s had a starring role in the 1995 comedy “Major Payne,” and currently co-stars with son Damon Wayans Jr. in the CBS sitcom “Poppa’s House,” which was nominated for an NAACP Award. The pair also were nominated for their acting on the show.

Damon Wayans Jr. has acted in two of the most critically acclaimed comedies in recent years: “Happy Endings” and “New Girl.” Kim Wayans, a comedian, actor and director, also received praise for her work in the 2011 drama “Pariah.”

Entertainer of the year

Keke Palmer expressed her surprise after her name was called as winner of the coveted entertainment of the year.

“Oh my gosh. Guys, I didn’t think I was going to win,” said Palmer, who paid homage to fellow nominee Cynthia Erivo’s Oscar-nominated performance in “Wicked.”

Palmer starred in the buddy comedy “One of Them Days,” which debuted No. 1 at the box office last month. She also won an Emmy for her hosting efforts on NBC’s “Password.”

“It’s such an amazing category to be in with all these people,” Palmer said. “It’s a beautiful night. It’s Black History Month, y’all. It’s so important we all come here together and celebrate one another with one another.”

Other nominees included Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Hart and Shannon Sharpe.

Awards recognize LA residents impacted by wildfires

Image Awards host Deon Cole honored residents of the nearby Altadena neighborhood who were affected by January’s devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires.

A video of the fire devastation played before actor Morris Chestnut took the stage.

“Homes were lost, stores destroyed, countless lives shattered and over two dozen souls gone forever,” said Chestnut, a Los Angeles native who referenced impacted areas such as Altadena, the Pacific Palisades and Malibu.

“But what was not lost is the spirit of our community,” said Chestnut, who noted 22 Altadena residents attended the show on Saturday. Many in the audience stood and applauded.

Cole shifted tone and brightened the mood with a comedic prayer for Kanye West’s wife to find more clothes after her barely-there Grammys look and for Shannon Sharpe to finally size up his T-shirts.

The opening act was a lead-up to the evening’s first award: Queen Latifah as best actress in a drama series for her role in “The Equalizer.”

Chappelle honored

Dave Chappelle was honored with the President’s Award for his “thought-provoking humor.”

Accepting the award, Chappelle talked about the NAACP’s push against negative portrayals of Black people in media and the importance of representation.

“Every opportunity we get, we just keep chipping away at this monster of a machine,” he said.

Past recipients of the President’s Award include Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Usher, Rihanna and John Legend.
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New York — “Captain America: Brave New World” soared on opening weekend but crashed down in its second go-around with audiences. 

“Brave New World,” the latest sign that the Marvel machine isn’t quite what it used to be, remained No. 1 at the box office in its second frame with $28.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. But after a debut of $100 million over four days and $88 million over three days, that meant a steep drop of 68%. 

While blockbusters often see significant slides in their second weekends, only two previous MCU titles have fallen off so fast: 2023’s “The Marvels,” which fell 78%, and 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which dropped 70%. 

The Anthony Mackie-led “Captain America” installment has been slammed by critics, and audiences also have graded it poorly, with a “B-” CinemaScore. “Brave New World,” which fans had hoped would right the Marvel ship, has been largely met as another example of a once impenetrable brand struggling to recapture its pre- “Avengers: Endgame” aura of invincibility. 

Still, “Brave New World” has quickly grossed $289.4 million worldwide, with international sales nearly reaching $150 million. And with few big-budget offerings arriving in theaters in the coming weeks, it will have scant competition through much of March. 

The biggest new release of the weekend was Oz Perkins’ “The Monkey,” the director’s follow-up to his 2024 horror hit, “Longlegs.” Adapted from a Stephen King short story, “The Monkey” opened with $14.2 million for Neon, the second-best debut for the indie distributor. The best? “Longlegs,” which launched with $22.4 million. 

Neon had much to celebrate over the weekend. Its top awards contender, “Anora,” by Sean Baker, continues to gather momentum into next Sunday’s Academy Awards. The best-picture favorite added wins at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday. 

Perkins, Neon and Blumhouse, which partnered in the release of “The Monkey,” have found a productive low-budget collaboration, with more on the way. Even if “The Monkey” doesn’t reach the heights of “Longlegs” ($126.9 million globally), Perkins and Neon return with “Keeper” this October. 

“The Monkey,” starring Tatiana Maslany and Theo James, revolves around an old monkey toy found in an attic. Reviews have been good (77% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), though audiences were less impressed, giving it a C+ CinemaScore. Horror films, though, typically grade low. 

As it did with “Longlegs,” Neon leaned into cryptic promotion for “The Monkey,” along with some macabre marketing. A funeral premiere was held at Los Angeles’ Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and fan screenings took place at the Hollywood Cemetery. The film, produced by James Wan, cost $10 million to make. 

Lionsgate’s “The Unbreakable Boy” opened with a paltry $2.5 million in 1,687 theaters. The Christian-themed Jon Gunn-directed film starring Zachary Levi and Meghann Fahy, is about parents who learn their son is autistic and has brittle bone disease. 

“Paddington in Peru,” the third installment of the marmalade-mad bear, fell to third place in its second weekend. It grossed $6.5 million in 3,890 locations, bringing its two-week total to $25.2 million. “Paddington in Peru” has been most popular overseas, where its collected $150 million thus far. 

“Ne Zha 2,” the animated Chinese juggernaut, took in $3.1 million from 800 theaters in its second weekend. In China, the sequel has grossed $1.7 billion this month, setting numerous box-office records. Those totals put “Ne Zha 2” past “Inside Out 2” ($1.66 billion) as the highest grossing animated film ever. 

Top 10 movies by domestic box office 

With final domestic figures releasing Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. 

1. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $28.2 million. 

2. “The Monkey,” $14.2 million. 

3. “Paddington in Peru,” $6.5 million. 

4. “Dog Man,” $5.9 million. 

5. “Ne Zha 2,” $3.1 million. 

6. “Heart Eyes,” $2.9 million. 

7. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $2.5 million. 

8. “The Unbreakable Boy,” $2.5 million. 

9. “Chhaava,” $1.5 million. 

10. “One of Them Days,” $1.4 million. 
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ROME — Pope Francis, in critical condition with a complicated lung infection, rested well during a peaceful night following a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, the Vatican said Sunday.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni’s one-line statement didn’t mention if Francis was up or eating breakfast. “The night passed quietly, the pope rested.”

The brief update came after doctors said the 88-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, was in critical condition. On Saturday morning, he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection.

The pope received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.

The Saturday statement also said that the pontiff “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday.” Doctors said the prognosis was “reserved.”

Doctors have said Francis’ condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease.

Main threat facing pope is sepsis

They have warned that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia. As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition.

Saturday’s blood tests showed that he had developed a low platelet count, a condition called platelopenia or thrombocytopenia. Platelets are cell-like fragments that circulate in the blood that help form blood clots to stop bleeding or help wounds heal. Low platelet counts can be caused by a number of things, including side effects from medicines or infections, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Francis, who has chronic lung disease and is prone to bronchitis in winter, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.

Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it.

Speculation that Francis might resign

Meanwhile, the Vatican hierarchy went on the defensive to tamp down rumors and speculation that Francis might decide to resign. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated. Francis has said that he has written a letter of resignation that would be invoked if he were medically incapable of making such a decision. The pope remains fully conscious, alert, eating and working.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, gave a rare interview to Corriere della Sera to respond to speculation and rumors about a possible resignation. It came after the Vatican issued an unusual and official denial of an Italian media report that said Parolin and the pope’s chief canonist had visited Francis in the hospital in secret. Given the canonical requirements to make a resignation legitimate, the implications of such a meeting were significant, but the Vatican flat-out denied that any such meeting occurred.

Parolin said such speculation seemed “useless” when what really mattered was the health of Francis, his recovery and return to the Vatican.

“On the other hand, I think it is quite normal that in these situations uncontrolled rumors can spread or some misplaced comment is uttered. It is certainly not the first time it has happened,” Parolin was quoted as saying. “However, I don’t think there is any particular movement, and so far I haven’t heard anything like that.”

Holy Year celebrations continue

Deacons, meanwhile, were gathering at the Vatican for their special Holy Year weekend. Francis got sick at the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism. This weekend, Francis was supposed to have celebrated deacons, a ministry in the church that precedes ordination to the priesthood.

In his place, the Holy Year organizer was to celebrate Sunday’s Mass, the Vatican said. And for the second consecutive weekend, Francis is skipping his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he could have delivered from Gemelli if he were up to it.

“Look, even though he’s not [physically] here, we know he’s here,” said Luis Arnaldo Lopez Quirindongo, a deacon from Ponce, Puerto Rico, who was at the Vatican on Saturday for the Jubilee celebration. “He’s recovering, but he’s in our hearts and is accompanying us, because our prayers and his go together.” 
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TOKYO — Yoshiko Abe is about to turn 89, but that hasn’t stopped her from going to the gym every day and trying the free-of-charge makeup course at her housing complex.  

“It was really helpful,” she said, all smiles and glowing after putting on foundation and pink lipstick, something she hadn’t done in years.  

Japan has the largest percentage of older citizens than any other country in the world. More than a quarter of Japan’s  population is 65 and older, at 36 million people. In about a decade, the ratio will be one in three.  

No wonder the young-at-heart, like Abe, is a growing target for Japan Inc.  

The market for older people is estimated to grow to more than 100 trillion yen ($650 billion) in size this year, according to a study by Mizuho Bank. And that business isn’t just about remedies for sicknesses and old folks’ homes but taps into solid consumerism.

The growth of artificial intelligence and robotics also offers promise for such services and gadgetry. Akira Shimizu, professor of business at Keio University, calls them “cool grandpas and cute grannies” who remain sensitive to trends, including the latest luxury and health products.  

“They think about the clothing and makeup that express their style,” he said. 

From luxury cruises and “oldies” rock concerts, companies are leveraging the fact that older people these days remain active, go out with friends and on dates, so they want to dress up and look good, said Shimizu.  

Maintaining one’s looks is good physical exercise because it takes hand agility to open cosmetics tubes and draw eyebrows nicely, and massaging the face gets one’s saliva glands going, according to Miwa Hiraku, the makeover class instructor from the Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido.  

Shiseido Co., which started out as a pharmacy in 1872, said that makeup is not just good for your physical well-being but also your soul.  

The company has been holding free makeup courses for older people across the country.

“Putting on makeup works as a switch to turn on your energy at the start of your day,” said Hiraku, who vows to wear makeup even at 100. “It’s not just about looking beautiful. It’s about living a long healthy life.” 

Yoshihiko Hotta, 85, the only man in the class of about 30 people, didn’t try the rouge but happily put on the hand cream and went along with all the exercise routines. While acknowledging he felt some effects of aging like sore legs, he declared with conviction: “I don’t think age is relevant.” 
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LOS ANGELES — Sean Baker, whose low-budget movie “Anora” is the front-runner for next weekend’s Oscars, delivered an impassioned plea to “keep indie film alive” as he won top prize at the Spirit Awards on Saturday. 

The annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony, held in a giant tent at Los Angeles’ Santa Monica beach, only celebrates movies made for less than $30 million. 

Baker, long a leading figure of the U.S. independent movie circuit, who is now shooting to mainstream success, won best feature and best director for “Anora,” which was shot for $6 million.  

“Indie film is struggling right now more than ever,” Baker said. 

“I personally do not have children, but I know for a fact that if I did, I would not be able to make the movies that I make,” warned one of the United States’ most respected directors. 

His latest film “Anora” portrays Ani, a stripper and escort, whose whirlwind marriage to the son of a Russian oligarch rapidly unravels in disastrous circumstances. 

Mikey Madison, who plays Ani, won best lead performer honors at the Spirit Awards. 

Having launched at the Cannes film festival last May, where it won the Palme d’Or, “Anora” became an arthouse hit, grossing $40 million worldwide. 

It is widely tipped to win best picture at the Oscars. 

But Baker warned that the collapse of DVD sales, which once supported up-and-coming filmmakers, means creatives like him rarely make any money even when their movies succeed in theaters. 

He warned that major Hollywood studios swallow profits, refuse to “green light” movies tackling controversial subjects, and force directors to cast actors based on “how many followers they have on social media.” 

“I’m an indie film lifer … the system has to change, because this is simply unsustainable,” he said. 

Stars attending the low-key Spirit Awards gala included Emma Stone, Demi Moore, Michelle Yeoh and Jesse Eisenberg, who won best screenplay for “A Real Pain.” 

Kieran Culkin also won best supporting performance for the comedy about two polar opposite U.S. cousins retracing their Jewish heritage in Poland. 

“Flow,” a Latvian, dialogue-free animation about animals banding together to survive a mysterious flood, won best international film. 

Best documentary went to “No Other Land,” about the destruction of a village in the occupied West Bank. 

It is the favorite to win the same prize at the Academy Awards on March 2, yet still has not been able to find a distributor in the United States. 

“Nickel Boys,” another Oscar best picture nominee, about historic abuse at a Florida school and shot entirely from the first-person perspective, won best cinematography. 

“September 5,” about the terrorist massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, won best editing.  

The Spirit Awards will not affect this year’s Oscars, as voting has already ended for the season-capping 97th Academy Awards. 
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Following the news of Jorge Bergoglio’s health, churches across the country are joining in prayer. In this video we visit the most emblematic places in his hometown. Argentine faithful share prayers and reflect on the importance of having an Argentine Pope.

Click here for the full story in Spanish. 
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new york — Jerry Butler, a premier soul singer of the 1960s and ’70s whose rich, intimate baritone graced such hits as “For Your Precious Love,” “Only the Strong Survive” and “Make It Easy on Yourself,” has died at age 85.

Butler’s niece, Yolanda Goff, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Butler — whose show business nickname, “The Iceman,” was given to him for his understated style — died Thursday at his home in Chicago.

A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a three-time Grammy Award nominee, Butler was a voice for two major soul music hubs: Chicago and Philadelphia.

Along with childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, he helped found the Chicago-based Impressions and sang lead on the breakthrough hit “For Your Precious Love,” a deeply emotional, gospel-influenced ballad that made Butler a star before age 20.

A decade later, in the late ’60s, he joined the Philadelphia-based production team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, who worked with him on “Only the Strong Survive,” “Hey Western Union Man” and other hits. His albums “Ice on Ice” and “The Iceman Cometh” are regarded as early models for the danceable, string-powered productions that became the classic “Sound of Philadelphia.”

Butler was also a songwriter, collaborating with Otis Redding on “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” a signature ballad for Redding; and with Gamble and Huff on “Only the Strong Survive,” later covered by Elvis Presley, among others. His credits also included “For Your Precious Love,” “Never Give You Up” (with Gamble and Huff) and “He Will Break Your Heart,” which Butler helped write after he began thinking about the boyfriends of the groupies he met on the road.

“You go into a town; you’re only going to be there for one night; you want some company; you find a girl; you blow her mind,” Butler told Rolling Stone in 1969. “Now you know that girl hasn’t been sitting in town waiting for you to come in. She probably has another fellow and the other fellow’s probably in love with her; they’re probably planning to go through the whole thing, right? But you never take that into consideration on that particular night.”

Link to Mayfield

Butler was the son of Mississippi sharecroppers who moved north to Chicago when he was 3, part of the era’s “Great Migration” of Black people out of the South. He loved all kinds of music as a child and was a good enough singer that a friend suggested he come to a local place of worship, the Traveling Souls Spiritualist Church, presided over by the Reverend A.B. Mayfield. Her grandson, Curtis Mayfield, soon became a close friend. (Mayfield died in 1999.)

In 1958, Mayfield and Butler, along with Sam Gooden and brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks, recorded “For Your Precious Love” for Vee-Jay Records. The group called itself the Impressions, but Vee-Jay, eager to promote an individual star, advertised the song as sung by Jerry Butler and the Impressions, leading to estrangement between Butler and the other performers and to an unexpected solo career.

“Fame didn’t change me as much as it changed the people around me,” Butler wrote in his memoir, Only the Strong Survive, published in 2000.

One of his early solo performances was a 1961 cover of “Moon River,” the theme from the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Butler was the first performer to hit the charts with what became a pop standard, but “Moon River” would be associated with Andy Williams after the singer was chosen to perform it at the Academy Awards, a snub Butler long resented.

His other hits, some recorded with Mayfield, included “Find Another Girl” and “I’m A-Telling You.” By 1967, his formal style seemed out of fashion, but Butler was impressed by the new music coming out of Philadelphia and received permission from his record label, Mercury, to work with Gamble and Huff. The chemistry, Butler recalled, was so “fierce” they wrote hits such as “Only the Strong Survive” in less than an hour. 

“Things just seem to fall into place,” Butler told Ebony magazine in 1969. “We lock ourselves in a room, create stories about lovers, compose the music, then write the lyrics to match the music.”

By the 1980s, Butler’s career had faded, and he was becoming increasingly interested in politics. Encouraged by the 1983 election of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor, he ran successfully for the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1985 and was re-elected repeatedly, even after supporting a controversial sales tax increase in 2009. He retired from the board in 2018.

Butler was married for 60 years to Annette Smith, who died in 2019, and with her had twin sons. Many of his generational peers had struggled financially and he worked to help them. He chaired the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which provides a wide range of assistance to musicians, and pushed the industry to provide medical and retirement benefits.

Butler considered himself relatively lucky, even if he did pass on the chance to own a part of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International recording company.

“You know, I have lived well. My wife probably would say I could’ve lived better,” Butler told the Chicago Reader in 2011. “Did I make 40, 50 million dollars? No. Did I keep one or two? Yes. The old guys on the street used to say, ‘It’s not how much you make. It’s how much you keep.’ ”
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MUMBAI, INDIA — Even for the world’s most-populous nation, the scale of a Hindu religious festival being held in India’s northern city of Prayagraj since mid-January is staggering. Surpassing previous numbers, the Maha Kumbh Mela that wraps up Wednesday has drawn more than half a billion devotees in the last six weeks, according to officials.

The government of Uttar Pradesh, where the festival is being held, claims that this year’s event is the largest congregation in human history for a religious, cultural and social event.

Those who have taken a holy dip in waters that Hindus believe cleanses them of their sins and helps attain salvation include ordinary devotees from all walks of life, billionaires, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, politicians and Bollywood stars. Others went to simply witness the mesmerizing panorama of the religious spectacle that unfolds along the confluence of two rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna, where Hindus believe a third, mythical river also exists.

Among the first rush of pilgrims to attend the Kumbh Mela when it began last month was Deepinderr Singh Bindra, a resident of Gurugram in North India. “It was the accumulation of my spiritual journey following my visit to several Hindu pilgrim sites in the last few years,” he said. He took an early morning dip on three consecutive days and “found it a surreal, deeply satisfying experience.”

The pull of the Maha or great Kumbh Mela, which is held every 12 years, became even greater for many devotees because this year’s event was considered special — it coincided with an alignment of the planets and stars that occurs once in 144 years.

The festival was marred by a stampede on Jan. 29 that killed 30 pilgrims who were trampled amid the rush to take part in the bathing on a day considered particularly auspicious.

That tragedy, however, failed to dampen the fervor as millions continued to pour into the vast temporary tented township that covers a stretch of 4,000 hectares, or 40 square kilometers, along the banks of the river. The tented township includes roads, hospitals, toilets and free community kitchens run by volunteers. A platform made of sandbags stretches along the Ganges riverbank for devotees to take part in the ritual immersion.

But for many like Mumbai resident Nikhil Shirodkar, joining the festival was not just about the dip in the river but a once-in-a-lifetime experience that offered a chance for a connection with age-old Hindu traditions.

“I went more as a spiritual seeker and not with the belief that the dip cleanses one’s sins,” he said.

He spent three days sleeping on the floor like an ascetic and helping serve meals to people.

“It was an eye opener. Everybody was reaching out to each other. On the roadside some would be serving tea, others biscuits, to the pilgrims who kept pouring in. It had an impact on my outlook,” Shirodkar said.

Others, especially overseas visitors, were drawn to it by a sense of curiosity. Twenty-one-year-old Lucinda Pernell, who had come from Australia to India to attend a yoga camp, decided to attend after learning from her photographer friend about the festival’s immense scale.

“It was overwhelming because there were just so many people, which a Westerner like me has never seen. But I found it amazing. It was a kind of organized chaos, but what I will take back with me is that people respected each other. There was a sense of belief,” she said, recalling the experience.

On one of the days that she was there, considered an especially auspicious day, an estimated 35 million took a dip in the waters in Prayagraj — that’s more people than the population of Australia.

She visited the camp for Naga sadhus, the ash-smeared, often naked Hindu ascetics, who armed with tridents lead the religious spectacle. It’s one of the most dramatic sights of the festival.

At this year’s festival, the sacred coexisted with high technology, as underwater drones and artificial intelligence systems were used to monitor the crowds and improve safety.

The Kumbh Mela also reflected the growing synergy between religion and politics since Prime Minister Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata party came to power 10 years ago, according to political analyst Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. Giant billboards of Modi stood high at the festival site.

“The open, publicized participation of top political leaders at a religious festival is not something you witnessed in the past,” he said, pointing out that lines between religion and the state have been increasingly blurred. Besides Modi, who took a dip in the river, the Uttar Pradesh state government, led by a Hindu monk, held a Cabinet meeting at the site of the festival.

Reasserting a Hindu cultural identity has been part of the BJP’s agenda. Under the rule of the country’s erstwhile Mughal rulers, the city where it took place was earlier known as Allahabad. It was renamed Prayagraj in 2018 by the BJP state government in a bid to restore its identity as a Hindu pilgrimage center.

Mukhopadhyay also pointed out that the elaborate facilities built for the festival at a cost of over $8 billion, included upscale accommodations, airport and railway expansions and new roads. “With facilities like air-conditioned tents and roads, the rich and upper middle classes no longer had to trek for miles as devotees did in earlier days. So for many of them, attending the Kumbh transitioned from a purely religious pilgrimage into a social talking point,” he said.

Questions have been raised about the water in which the devotees immerse themselves. A report by the federal government’s Central Pollution Control Board earlier this month said that there were high levels of contamination in a key bathing place. But the Uttar Pradesh state government rejected the report, saying authorities were continuously monitoring water in the rivers to maintain its quality.

At last count provided by the state government, 550 million had attended the festival. With five more days to go until it culminates on Wednesday, which is considered another auspicious day, those numbers will rise.

Among those who plan to travel to Prayagraj on that day is Bindra, the resident of Gurugram. “I will be going again to take another dip,” he said. “It is a calling for me.”
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Archaeologists in Egypt say they have unearthed the ancient tomb of King Thutmose II, the first discovery in 100 years of a tomb of an Egyptian royal.

The discovery near Luxor is the first of a pharaonic royal tomb since the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb were found over a century ago in 1922, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Tuesday.

Thutmose’s tomb was found west of the Valley of the Kings, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites and home to the burial sites of many ancient Egyptian royals and nobles, including Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut.

Thutmose, an ancestor of Tutankhamun, lived nearly 3,500 years ago. His wife, Queen Hatshepsut, was one of the few women known to have ruled Egypt. Her mortuary temple is on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, not far from where her husband’s tomb was found.

Thutmose was a king of ancient Egypt’s 18th dynasty. His tomb was the last undiscovered tomb of that group.

An archaeology team found the entrance to Thutmose’s tomb in October 2022, according to the online magazine Archaeology News, but they thought it was likely the burial site of a queen. As they dug deeper, they found inscriptions referring to Thutmose II as the “deceased king” and Hatshepsut.

The tomb flooded soon after the king’s burial, damaging most of its contents, but some funerary furniture was recovered. Egypt’s antiquities ministry said Tuesday the discovery of the tomb is “one of the most significant archaeological breakthroughs in recent years.”

Professor Mohamed Abdel-Badel, who heads Egypt’s Antiquities Sector, told Archaeology News that the team “recovered and restored fallen plaster fragments” that had blue inscriptions on them, including from the Book of the Amduat, which the website described as “a key funerary text used in royal burials.”

Thutmose’s tomb can now be listed among the wonders of ancient Egypt that draw hordes of tourists to the country. Last year, Egypt hosted 15.7 million tourists and aims to attract 18 million visitors in 2025, according to Agence France-Presse. Egypt may reach that goal with the long-awaited opening this year of the Grand Egyptian Museum at the foot of the legendary pyramids in Giza.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is ready to host the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy 2025 on Wednesday, with eight teams coming together for a major cricketing event in the country for the first time in three decades.

Pakistan last hosted a men’s Cricket World Cup in 1996 under the International Cricket Council.

The Champions Trophy will see players from Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand Pakistan, and South Africa compete over almost three weeks, with the final scheduled for March 9.

All the teams except India will play in three stadiums across Pakistan. All matches involving India will be staged in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, after the Indian cricket board refused to send the team to the archrival country, citing security concerns.

Afghanistan’s cricket team faced boycott calls from politicians in England and South Africa, who did not want their cricket boards to play the team because of the Afghan Taliban’s severe restrictions on women’s mobility, education and ability to work.

The cricket series begins in Pakistan’s biggest metropolis, Karachi, with the host team playing New Zealand.

Long wait for this opportunity

International cricket dried up in Pakistan after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan national team in Lahore injured six players. Six Pakistani police officers and two passersby were killed. The incident deprived Pakistan of the chance to host the 2009 Champions Trophy and the 2011 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

International cricket returned with Zimbabwe’s visit in 2015. Since 2019, several major foreign teams have played in Pakistan.

For the nation of cricket lovers, attending a large event at home after more than a decade is nothing short of a dream come true.

“It’s the biggest event for us since 2009, so we are very excited,” said Mohsin Ali. Ali told VOA he paid just over $10 for a ticket to see Pakistan face Bangladesh on Feb. 27 in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad.

“Pakistani team would play overseas, and we would watch it on TV, which wasn’t much fun,” said Ubaid Hassan, who was a child when international teams shunned Pakistan. Hassan, a captain of the cricket team in his village, has tickets to two matches.

Tight security for the event

Pakistan is deploying almost 20,000 police officials and personnel across Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi for security on game days, with snipers deployed on buildings surrounding the stadiums.

The security situation remains poor in Pakistan with near daily deadly militant attacks in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces. However, the country’s eastern province of Punjab and the southern province of Sindh, where the matches will be played, remain largely calm.

Still, in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, paramilitary troops and the military will be on standby to respond to security emergencies during the event.

Players are receiving state guest-level security. That means a heavy police contingent at hotels where teams are staying, with their travel routes cleared of all traffic. Only personnel with security clearances are allowed to interact with them.

Muhammad Waqas, deputy inspector general of operations for the Punjab police, told VOA that since the 2009 attack, “sports security and security of international events has become very important for us.”

“Even the slightest administrative lapse will cause embarrassment at a very large level, and if we do a good job and manage things efficiently, the same positive impression will go to a billion odd people,” Waqas said. “That is why it’s extremely important and is being planned and monitored at the highest level.”

Fans coming to the stadium will go through several layers of security, including metal detectors and pat downs. Each ticket bears the name and national identity card number of the buyer.

Could be good for nation’s image

While it’s not clear how many visas have been issued to foreign fans, cricket experts in Pakistan say the event will help improve the country’s image, which has suffered partly because of a lack of international exposure.

“When you don’t have tourists, then people will not know how your country is and people will keep thinking poorly of Muslims and Pakistanis,” said Tauqir Zia, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Although India’s absence from Pakistan’s grounds is a disappointment for many Pakistani cricket lovers who wanted to see the sport’s biggest rivalry play out at home, some say the arrival of other cricketing powers is a vote of confidence.

“Six countries coming to play here is a very big victory for Pakistan. If India doesn’t come, it’s not stopping cricket. The game is still happening,” said cricket journalist Umar Farooq.

The final will be played in Pakistan, unless India qualifies to play the last match, in which case the event will take place in Dubai.

Pakistan has spent millions of dollars in recent months to upgrade the stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

Former Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed said he hopes the arrival of heavyweights will usher in a new era for international cricket in the country.

“It’s the first step,” said Ahmed, who is a spin bowling coach for Bangladesh. “I am very hopeful that this will open more doors.”

VOA Urdu’s Naveed Naseem contributed to this report.
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“Saturday Night Live” has been a staple of American television comedy for 50 years, launching stars and shaping culture. On Sunday night, fans and famous alumni gathered in New York City to celebrate this milestone. Aron Ranen reports from the Big Apple.
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NEW YORK — Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter opened the 50th anniversary special celebrating “Saturday Night Live” with a duet of his song “Homeward Bound.”

The 83-year-old Simon has been a constant on “SNL” since its earliest episodes in 1975 and performed on the first show after the 9/11 attack. He was joined by the 25-year-old pop sensation of the moment, Carpenter.

“I sang this song with George Harrison on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1976,” Simon said.

“I was not born then,” Carpenter said, getting a laugh. “And neither were my parents,” she added, getting a bigger laugh.

Fifty seasons of “Saturday Night Live” sketches, songs and special guests are being celebrated for the special’s landmark anniversary in a Sunday night special.

The pop culture juggernaut has launched the careers of generations of comedians, from Bill Murray to Eddie Murphy and Tina Fey to Kristen Wiig.

Many of those stars were on hand for “SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration,” airing live from New York, of course.

“I grew up with the show, you know, and I was born in 1971, and it’s lived with me my whole life,” Amy Poehler, who was a cast member from 2001 to 2008,” said on Sunday ahead of the show’s start. “We have a show to do in just under two hours, and being back is an amazing privilege.”

The three-hour extravaganza comes after months of celebrations of “Saturday Night Live,” which premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with an original cast that included John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Gilda Radner.

“After the original cast, we were just going, Those guys just did it all for us,” Adam Sandler, a cast member from 1990-1995, said before the show. “They crushed it. We watched them at home. They made their movies. We worshiped their movies. And that’s all. What we wanted to do is just kind of continue that sort of stuff.”

It’s become appointment television over the years as the show has skewered presidents, politics and pop culture and been a platform for the biggest musical stars of the moment. As streaming has altered television viewing, “SNL” sketches, host monologues and short comedy films remain popular on social media and routinely rack up millions of views on YouTube.

While NBC has revealed some of the stars expected to appear, many of the special’s moments, cameos and music performances remain a surprise.

On Sunday, NBC announced more guest appearances including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Leslie Jones, Billy Crystal, Cher, Mike Myers and Alec Baldwin, who holds the title of the person who’s hosted “SNL” the most times.

 
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