People
It’s a major score for the Country Music Association Awards.
NFL great Peyton Manning and country music star Luke Bryan will host the live CMA Awards ceremony in Nashville, organizers said Monday.
“I cannot wait to head to Nashville and take the CMA Awards stage alongside my friend Luke Bryan,” Manning, 46, said. “I am such a huge fan of Country Music, so to have the chance to stand among so many incredibly talented artists is an absolute honor.”
Bryan, 46, is no stranger to the CMA Awards, having won entertainer of the year at the 2014 and 2015 ceremonies. He hosted the award show last year.
The first-time host Manning also owns his fair share of trophies as a two-time Super Bowl champion and five-time NFL Most Valuable Player. The retired quarterback passed for 71,940 yards and 539 touchdowns during his 18 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, which both rank third in NFL history.
Manning played college football at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, located about 180 miles east of Nashville.
“Being a part of such a historical night that honors my peers and Country Music is such a privilege,” said Bryan, whose songs include “Country Girl” and “Kick the Dust Up.”
“When I was asked if Peyton Manning is someone I would consider co-hosting with, I didn’t hesitate,” the singer said. “We have become great friends through the years, and what he brings to the table is gonna make it even more of a blast. I know he’s been to the CMA Awards before, but he’s never been with me.”
The show is will air on ABC in November.
Bryan is a judge on ABC’s “American Idol,” while Manning co-stars on a weekly alternate “Monday Night Football” broadcast with brother Eli Manning on the sister network ESPN. Manning also headlines the NFL documentary series “Peyton’s Places” on ESPN+.
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Beyoncé is removing an offensive term for disabled people from a new song on her record “Renaissance," just weeks after rapper Lizzo also changed lyrics to remove the same word.
“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” a spokeswoman for Beyoncé wrote in a statement to The Associated Press on Monday.
The song “Heated,” which was co-written with Canadian rapper Drake among several others, uses the word “spaz," which is considered a derogatory reference to the medical term spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Lizzo also removed the word from one of her songs, “Grrrls," in June after disability advocates complained about the lyrics. Lizzo said in a statement she never wanted to promote derogatory language.
Disability advocate Hannah Diviney, who pointed out Lizzo’s lyrics that lead to the change, wrote on Twitter that hearing the word again used by Beyoncé “felt like a slap in the face to me, the disabled community & the progress we tried to make with Lizzo.”
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Don’t blame Taylor Swift for all the carbon dioxide emitted by her private jet, her rep insisted.
A spokesperson for Swift defended the pop musician after a viral report deemed her the No. 1 celebrity “offender” when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions. The study published by the Yard states that — since January — Swift has taken 170 flights on her personal plane, which has emitted approximately 9,142 tons of carbon dioxide.
“Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” a rep for the Grammy winner said in a statement provided Sunday to the Los Angeles Times.
“To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”
The Yard reported that Swift’s carbon footprint over the last seven months is about 1,184 times higher than what the average person emits in a year. According to the Yard, the median flight time is 80 minutes for Swift’s jet, which averages 139.36 miles per flight.
Since the beginning of the year, the “Folklore” artist’s plane has spent about 22,923 minutes — or 15.9 days — in the air, the Yard said. Her shortest trip on record in 2022 was a 36-minute flight from Missouri to Tennessee. The Yard credited data from the @CelebJets Twitter account, which regularly tracks celebrities’ flight patterns.
Among the other entertainment figures listed in the Yard’s report were Jay-Z, Blake Shelton, Steven Spielberg, Kim Kardashian, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah Winfrey and Travis Scott.
