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News Daypop

Jack Dorsey stepping down as Twitter CEO; chief technology officer Parag Agrawal to take over, effective immediately

Jack Dorsey, CEO and co-founder of social media platform Twitter, said on Monday that he is stepping down as CEO. The 45-year-old Dorsey will remain on Twitter’s board of directors until next May, according to an email to staff that Dorsey tweeted. Twitter’s chief technology officer, Parag Agrawal, will replace Dorsey as CEO effective immediately, the company said. Agrawal began his Twitter career as an engineer, then worked his way to the C-suite, becoming CTO in 2017. As the technology chief, Agrawal has played a role in “every critical decision that helped turn this company around,” Dorsey said. Bret Taylor, a member of Twitter’s board since 2016, was also named chairman.

Dorsey said the decision to step down “was my decision and I own it,” adding in the staff email, “I decided it’s finally time for me to leave. I’m really sad…yet really happy.” Dorsey added in a press release: “I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders. My trust in Parag as Twitter’s CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational.”

Dorsey’s departure ends his second tenure as CEO at Twitter. He served as chief executive between 2006 and 2008, and began his second stint leading the company in 2015. Twitter, co-founded in 2006 by Dorsey, Evan Williams and Christopher “Biz” Stone, was initially a way for people to send updates to a small group using text messages. The first tweet sent by Dorsey on March 21, 2006, read “just setting up my twttr.”

Twitter has more than 5,500 employees and a market cap of about $39 billion. In the past decade, Twitter has been one of the top used social media platforms around the world, behind Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Shares of Twitter surged Monday after Dorsey’s departure was announced. Twitter’s stock jumped more than 10% in early trading, but reversed itself by midday.

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News Daypop

President Joe Biden speaks about the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, saying it is “cause for concern, not a cause for panic”

President Joe Biden said on Monday the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 is a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.”  While health experts work to learn more about the quickly spreading strain, Biden said researchers believe that current vaccines should be adequate against the variant.

Biden also continued to advocate COVID-19 vaccinations, saying in his address: “We have the best vaccine in the world, the best medicines, best scientists, and we’re learning more every single day, and we’ll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed, not chaos and confusion.”   He added that the variant’s arrival confirms the importance to getting the vaccine and booster shots, saying: “I know you’re tired of hearing me say this. The best protection against this new variant or any of the variants out there, the ones we’ve been dealing with already, is getting fully vaccinated and getting a booster shot. [The vaccine is] free and they are available at 80,000 locations coast to coast. Do not wait. Go get your booster if it’s time for you to do so.”

Biden noted that if medical experts and researchers discover that a new booster is needed against the Omicron variant, the United States will be the first to act. The President said: “In the event, hopefully unlikely, that updated vaccinations or boosters are needed to respond to this new variant, we will accelerate their development and deployment with every available tool. We do not yet believe that additional measures will be needed.”

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Sports Daypop

The NY Mets and pitcher Max Scherzer agree to record-breaking $130M contract

The New York Mets and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer have agreed to a three-year, $130 million contract. Sources told ESPN, The Athletic and MLB.com that the contract was finalized Monday afternoon, and the deal includes an opt-out before the 2024 season.

The contract is worth a Major League Baseball, record-breaking $43.3 million in average annual value; New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole held the previous record at $36 million in average annual value. Scherzer’s deal also is expected to give the Mets the highest payroll in MLB next season.

The 37-year-old Scherzer went a combined 15-3 with a 2.46 ERA last season in 30 appearances for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. In July, the Nationals traded the eight-time All-Star, along with infielder Trea Turner, to the Dodgers. Scherzer went 5-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 12 starts during MLB’s COVID-19-shortened 2020 season. He owns a 190-97 record with a 3.16 ERA in 407 career appearances.

Scherzer made his MLB debut in 2008 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also played for the Detroit Tigers from 2010 through 2014. He won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019. He ranks fifth all-time with 10.715 strikeouts per nine innings for his career. His 10,266 batters faced ranks fifth in MLB history.

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Sports Daypop

Denver Nuggets’ Michael Porter to have season-ending back surgery

Sources told ESPN, the Denver Post and The Athletic on Monday that Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. will undergo surgery on his lower back Wednesday, which could end his 2021-22 season. Porter’s agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN and the Post that the forward will miss an “indefinite” period of time.

The No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the 23-year-old Porter averaged 9.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game through nine appearances this season. He last played in a Nuggets win over the Houston Rockets on Nov. 6 in Denver.  Porter averaged 19 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in 61 appearances in 2020-21. Porter also missed his entire rookie season due to a back injury.

Porter agreed to a five-year, $172 million rookie-scale max contract extension with the Nuggets in September. His salary jumps from $5.2 million this season to $29.7 million in 2022-23.

 

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Country Daypop

Turnpike Troubadours confirm on social media they are back together

After more than two years, Turnpike Troubadours are back together. After first dropping hints that their hiatus was coming to a close last week by posting a “Coming Soon” graphic on the band’s website. and wiping their Instagram clean, on Monday morning the band posted a photo of all six members reunited and together once again, snapped by renown music photographer David McClister.

The band includes drummer Gabriel Pearson, guitarist Ryan Engleman, steel guitar and accordion player Hank Early, fiddle player Kyle Nix, bassist RC Edwards, and frontman/singer/songwriter Evan Felker, whose battles with alcohol were the primary reason for dissolving of the band in 2019 after numerous cancelled shows. Felker has since gotten sober and has a young daughter after reuniting with his wife, Staci.

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Country Daypop

Mitchell Tenpenny is engaged to longtime girlfriend Meghan Patrick

Mitchell Tenpenny is officially engaged to his girlfriend and fellow country artist, Meghan Patrick. Tenpenny popped the question on Wednesday, November 24, at Losers Bar in Nashville, where the couple first met four years ago, sharing a photo of the moment on social media and showing the bar decorated with large letters that read “Marry Me,” along with roses and candles on the floor in the shape of a heart.  Tenpenny told People that he chose Thanksgiving week to pop the question because Patrick’s family, who hail from Ontario, Canada, would be in town for the celebration. Tenpenny added that he asked Patrick’s father for her hand in marriage during her parents’ last trip to Nashville.

Patrick posted to the photos from the engagement on her Instagram, sharing: “4 years ago I walked into the back room of @losersoriginal bar, straight out of a tree stand in full camo… that was the first time @m10penny and I ever set eyes on each other, and tonight, in that same bar, I walked in (also wearing camo) and he asked me a question… I’ve known the answer for a long time, and I can’t think of a better place to say yes.”

Mitchell Tenpenny Engaged to ‘I Can’t Love You Anymore’ Muse

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Entertainment Daypop

Jay Leno to play Ed Sullivan in Beatles biopic “Midas Man”

Jay Leno has been cast as the late Ed Sullivan in the forthcoming Beatles biopic Midas Man, marking the Tonight Show host’s first feature film appearance as a character since the ’90s,  The Beatles appeared on Sullivan’s show three times in February 1964, and several more times over the years. Their first appearance was watched by 73 million viewers at the time.

Midas Man recently shut down production after director Jonas Akerlund ‘took a break” from production. A quote from the production read:  “Until some matters become clearer, we are not able to add any further comment to this statement. In the meantime, we can confirm that filming of Midas Man will continue in London in November before breaking for Christmas. Filming will restart in early January in Los Angeles.” It was since confirmed that Vinyl director Sara Sugarman would be taking over from Akerlund.

Midas Man stars ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ actor Jacob Fortune-Lloyd as Epstein, a record shop manager who is credited with signing the biggest band of all time. Epstein also discovered other popular acts including Cilla Black, Billy J Kramer, Gerry And The Pacemakers, and helped promote acts including Jimi Hendrix.

A release date for Midas Man has not been announced as of press time.

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Entertainment Daypop

Take a look at the Season 6 Trailer for the final season of ‘This Is Us’

The final season of ‘This Is Us’ is ahead, and in the first trailer for Season 6, Rebecca (Mandy Moore) looks back at some of her favorite memories. As “Time After Time” (sung by Chrissy Metz aka Kate) plays, Rebecca says: “Sometimes I think about what my very last memory will be before the candle goes out. I don’t know how much longer I have before things get worse. … I’m not worried about forgetting about the big stuff. It’s the little things I’m not ready to let go of.”

As she speaks, we see flashbacks to key moments throughout the series, showing Rebecca when she was younger and dating Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) comforting each other, and the three Pearson siblings celebrate their birthdays as ‘the Big Three’.  The trailer also teases Kate’s future marriage to Phillip (Chris Geere) as he stares at her longingly. The season five finale showed us their wedding, shocking everyone that it wasn’t Toby.

The sixth and final season of “This Is Us” will premiere on Jan. 4, 2022, and will consist of 18 episodes.  Check out the Season 6 trailer – here.

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Pop Daypop

Chance the Rapper and Dionne Warwick share their new single “Nothing’s Impossible”

Chance the Rapper has teamed up with R&B legend Dionne Warwick for the new single, “Nothing’s Impossible.” Chance and Warwick famously made their first interaction on Twitter back in December 2020, when Warwick tweeted: “Hi, @chancetherapper. If you are very obviously a rapper why did you put it in your stage name? I cannot stop thinking about this.”

Shortly after, Warwick teased that the duo would be in the studio together to put out a song benefitting both their charities (Chance’s SocialWorks and Warwick’s Hunger: Not Impossible).  The resulting song, “Nothing’s Impossible,” is an uplifting ballad from the two artists.  Warwick announced the song’s release on Twitter, writing: For those of you asking about the song with @chancetherapper… well, it’s out NOW. I am very excited about this. If you can’t find the link to stream in Chance’s bio, you can find it in mine. Ok… Bye!”

Take a listen to the collaboration from Warwick and Chance – here.

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Categories
Rock Daypop

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr pay tribute to George Harrison on the 20th anniversary of his death

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr shared tributes online to George Harrison on the 20th anniversary of their late Beatles bandmate’s death. Harrison died on Nov. 29, 2001 at age 58, following a battle with cancer. The anniversary of Harrison’s death arrives on the heels of The Beatles: Get Back documentary, which premiered on Disney+ last week. The documentary focuses on footage shot during the making of the group’s final album, Let It Be.

McCartney wrote on Twitter: “Hard to believe that we lost George 20 years ago. I miss my friend so much. Love, Paul.”  Back in 2001, McCartney told reporters on the day Harrison died that he was thankful to have had a final visit with Harrison: “He was still laughing and joking, very brave man. I’m just privileged to have known him and I love him like he’s my brother. It’s a very sad day for me and for a lot of other people, but I think he would have wanted us to get on and be loving and remember him as the great man he was.”

In a separate post, Starr said: “Peace and love to you, George. I miss you man. Peace and love, Ringo.” Starr saw Harrison for the last time in Switzerland, where he was being treated for his illness. Said Ringo in the 2011 Harrison documentary “Living in the Material World”: “I was going to Boston, ’cause my daughter had a brain tumor. And I said, ‘Well, I gotta go to Boston,’ and [Harrison] goes — they’re the last words I heard him say, actually — and he said, ‘Do you want me to come with ya?’ So that’s the incredible side of George.”

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