PEOPLE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music superstar Taylor Swift announced Sunday she's voting for Tennessee's Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, breaking her long-standing refusal to discuss anything politics.
“In the past I've been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post.
Swift has faced criticism for not speaking about political issues despite having a global platform. Yet in 2017, she appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of the “silence breakers” for her countersuit against a radio DJ who was fired after allegedly groping her before a concert.
Swift won the lawsuit in a verdict that awarded her $1, which according to the suit served “as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.”
The pop star — a Tennessee native — also slammed Republican candidate and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in her lengthy post on Sunday, citing Blackburn's opposition to certain LGBTQ rights and voting against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.
“As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me,” Swift wrote.
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NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's former communications chief Hope Hicks has been hired as communications director at the newly revamped Fox company.Hicks was head of the communications team at the White House before leaving in March. She worked for Trump at his company before he was elected. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that Fox was “beyond lucky” to have her.She'll work in Los Angeles.Fox is reorganizing following the sale of most of Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment assets to the Walt Disney Co.———
SEATTLE — A life-size, bronze statue of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell was unveiled Sunday at a Seattle museum.Cornell's wife, Vicky Cornell, commissioned the piece and donated it to the Museum of Pop Culture at Seattle Center, which placed it outdoors along a sidewalk.The work, by artist Nick Marra, depicts Cornell in one of his typical poses with his signature boots, dog tag and long hair.Soundgarden members Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd attended, as did Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.Cornell died in May 2017 at 52. His death was ruled a suicide.
