These terrorists aren’t about that life. U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI on Friday arrested a Moroccan man who was planning a suicide attack on the Capitol, authorities said. The suspect, identified as Amine Khalifi, arrived at a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was expected to make an appearance in the afternoon, court officials said. In announcing Khalifi’s arrest, Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said the man had received what he thought was a vest with explosives, but the materials in the vest had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement. Khalifi was arrested as soon as he accepted the vest from undercover officers, according to a federal law enforcement source. He was also given a gun, which was similarly rendered inoperable, officials said. The 29-year-old suspect was living in Alexandria and was in the United States illegally, the source said. A second source, a government official, said the planned attack was meant to be carried out Friday. Khalifi has lived in the United States for 12 years, the government official said. The investigation began when the suspect began talking with an undercover agent. “The suspect was talking about blowing up military installations, and synagogues and said he wanted to blow up a restaurant,” the government official said. The man had been closely monitored as part of a lengthy and extensive undercover operation, police said, adding that U.S. Capitol Police had been “intimately” involved in the investigation. The public was never in danger, police said. We’ll keep you updated as more news comes. But we know these terrorists don’t want to eff with Barry Obeezy. Photo via WENN More On Bossip! Whitney Houston’s New Jersey Home, Where She Married Bobby Brown, Up For Sale: Take A Peek Inside [Photos] Strange Feelings: The Most Random Celebrity Crushes That Make Us Scratch Our Heads Represent! A History Of Beautiful Women Of Color That Graced Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issues Guess Which Love & Hip-Hop Badazz Brawlin’ Banger Got The Boot At A Fashion Week Show In New York???
The only color he saw was green! In another instance of harmony in post-racial America, a white Aryan Nations member joined forces with a black gang member to distribute methamphetamine in Missouri, according to federal investigators: The partnership between white supremacist Richard Treis, 38, and Robert “Biz” Swinney, 22, was torn asunder by an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration probe that resulted in this month’s indictment of Treis, Swinney, and five codefendants on a variety of drug distribution and conspiracy charges. According to investigators, Swinney allegedly marshaled a network of friends, relatives, and fellow gang members in St. Louis to purchase decongestants containing pseudoephedrine from various stores. Swinney then allegedly sold the pseudoephedrine to Treis, who cooked it down into meth. If convicted of the various felony charges, each man faces decades in prison. Looks like another case of drugs and money making schemes bringing the races together. How nice? Source More On Bossip! Whitney Houston’s New Jersey Home, Where She Married Bobby Brown, Up For Sale: Take A Peek Inside [Photos] Strange Feelings: The Most Random Celebrity Crushes That Make Us Scratch Our Heads Represent! A History Of Beautiful Women Of Color That Graced Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issues Guess Which Love & Hip-Hop Badazz Brawlin’ Banger Got The Boot At A Fashion Week Show In New York???
More On Bossip! Whitney Houston’s New Jersey Home, Where She Married Bobby Brown, Up For Sale: Take A Peek Inside [Photos] Strange Feelings: The Most Random Celebrity Crushes That Make Us Scratch Our Heads Represent! A History Of Beautiful Women Of Color That Graced Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issues Guess Which Love & Hip-Hop Badazz Brawlin’ Banger Got The Boot At A Fashion Week Show In New York???
Last summer’s Cars 2 marked a notable footnote in the history of Pixar Animation , just not a good one; despite opening to the studio’s sixth-highest worldwide take to date, the sequel to 2006’s Cars earned middling reviews, prompted critics to deem it a commercial cash-grab, and eventually – maybe most shockingly, given the studio’s track record – became the first Pixar film not to nab an Oscar nod for Best Animated Feature since the category was inaugurated. Could it be, as Pixar producer Lindsey Collins suggests, that Cars 2 was Oscar-snubbed because of anti-Pixar backlash? Speaking with press today in Phoenix, Arizona for John Carter , which she produced for longtime Pixar collaborator Andrew Stanton, Collins assessed why Cars 2 was overlooked in favor of five other animated films ( A Cat in Paris , Chico and Rita , Kung Fu Panda 2 , Puss in Boots , and Rango ). “The fact that [ Cars 2 ] was a sequel — in a way it’s funny, because obviously from a franchise standpoint people love sequels,” Collins explained. “And certainly from a franchise standpoint Cars 2 did insanely well, such that we can’t even count it as a good metric to tell us whether or not to do sequels.” Sequel status aside, Collins surmised a larger reason was working against the John Lasseter-directed pic, which was the first Pixar film to earn an overall “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes. “I think it had the fact that Pixar has dominated going against it,” she added. “At a certain point there was going to be somebody who was going to take the fall a little bit. It was going to be like, ‘Eh, we don’t like that one.’” Then again, Cars 2 ’s nomination miss could also be chalked up to the relatively deep field of animated films in the running for Oscar this year – many of which surprised Collins and defied her own expectations of the competition. “I see every single one of these things because my kids drag me to them all, and to me it felt like God, there are some great animated films this year. I actually had one of those, ‘There’s two hours of my life that I’m never going to get back’ [thoughts], and then you walk out like, ‘Actually, that was quite good!’” Among the “great pictures” not spawned from Pixar that Collins had praise for? “I loved Rango ,” she admitted. “There were actually some great pictures this year.” As for the cold critical reception and accusations of crass commercialism Cars 2 received, Collins maintains that Lasseter “truly, truly loves” the sequel — and Pixar, she says, supports the films its stable of directors want to make. “John loves that world, he loves those characters. We got accused of being very commercial with it and it’s kind of funny, it’s so ironic because if you’ve met John Lasseter there’s not a disingenuous bone in that man’s body.” Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘Mac Miller deserves it. He’s working hard and he’s happy,’ Pharrell tells MTV News of the Pittsburgh MC’s success. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Ricky Louis Pharrell Photo: MTV News So what does a #1 album get you? If you’re Mac Miller , it gets you studio time with one of rap’s most storied producers, Pharrell Williams . Less than a week after the Pittsburgh spitter’s debut Blue Slide Park landed the #1 spot on the Billboard albums chart, Mac linked up with the Neptunes hitmaker in a Miami recording studio and got to work. “He came down to Miami. He was like, ‘Yo I want to do something,’ ” Pharrell told MTV News in an interview earlier this month. “He went in and again, just made like two really good records.” No telling where those records will end up, but Miller is pretty excited about the collaboration as well. “just made somethin’ crazy with @Pharrell all I can say is wait til y’all hear this,” Mac tweeted after the session in November. Pharrell and Mac returned to the studio in January, this time with Busta Rhymes, Reek Da Villian and Kendrick Lamar. If the picture that Miller tweeted is any indication, fans can expect quite a bit from the two sessions. While Mac crafted the majority of his Blue Slide Park album with local producers E. Dan and Big Jerm at ID Labs studios, he has also been branching out, clocking in time with some of rap’s most revered beatmakers. Aside from Pharrell, Miller has already recorded with DJ Premier, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Just Blaze. The multiplatinum Skateboard P applauds Miller’s efforts and toasts his recent success. “Mac Miller deserves it. He’s working hard and he’s happy. He’s very thankful, he’s a super humble kid and he deserves it,” Pharrell said. “That’s what the game needed, and it’s just sprouting up everywhere and it’s so awesome for us to all be able to do it.” What do you expect to hear from Pharrell and Mac Miller’s upcoming collaborations? Tell us in the comments! Related Videos Back To The ‘Burgh With Mac Miller And Wiz Khalifa Related Artists Pharrell Williams Mac Miller
Singers from Adele to Justin Timberlake have sung stinging goodbyes. By John Mitchell Katy Perry performs “Part of Me” at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Photo: Robyn Beck/ AFP/ Getty Images The breakup song is a rite of passage for just about every singer. Mostly, they’re sad-sack anthems about moving on, but every so often, the wound is raw enough that the artist is inspired to issue their former lover a cutting message: I’m better off without you. That’s what Katy Perry seems to be doing with her new single “Part of Me,” which she premiered at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. With lyrics like “Days like this I want to drive away/ Pack bags and watch your shadow fade/ You chewed me up and spit me out like I was poison in your mouth/ You took my life, you drank me down/ But that was then and this is now,” it’s pretty clear she is dressing down her ex, Russell Brand, and has no intention of beating around the bush. Need less-obtuse lyrical evidence that the song is about Brand? Later, she sings, “You can keep the diamond ring, it don’t mean nothing anyway/ In fact, you can keep everything, except for me.” Perry has only exchanged rings with one gent, and that’s Brand. But this isn’t her first kiss-off track: On Teenage Dream , Perry laments a love gone wrong on “Circle the Drain,” which she reportedly penned about her relationship with Travie McCoy. It doesn’t present a flattering picture of her time with the Gym Class Heroes frontman. “You fall asleep during foreplay/ ‘Cause the pills you take/ Are more your forte,” Perry sings. “Wanna be your lover/ Not your f—ing mother/ Can’t be your savior/ I don’t have the power/ I’m not gonna stay and watch you circle the drain.” Ouch. Whether “Part of Me” or “Circle the Drain” will stand the test of time to rank alongside the most-famous kiss-off songs in pop history remains to be seen, but Perry has certainly got people talking right now. From Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive” to George Michael’s “Faith” and pretty much half the songs in Kelly Clarkson’s catalog, it’s a genre that could use a little fresh blood, though these five (relatively) recent additions to the cannon do a pretty solid job of holding down the jilted-and-not-having-it fort. Justin Timberlake, “Cry Me a River” and “What Goes Around … Comes Around” We’re giving Justin Timberlake a little extra shine on our kiss-off list because he did the genre justice by bringing the sex to it then coming back for more — which is a pretty good metaphor for how we’d like to break up with him. “What Goes Around” was in many ways a sequel to Timberlake’s 2002 single “Cry Me a River,” from his debut solo set, Justified . “River” details the dissolution of a relationship after his girl cheated on him and is allegedly a behind-the-scenes look at what really ended his three-year relationship with Britney Spears. “I’m not going to specifically say if any song is about anybody,” Timberlake told MTV when asked who the ballad was about. “I will say writing a couple of songs on the record helped me deal with a couple of things.” Noted. Timberlake returned to the post-Britney well for “What Goes Around,” from 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds , though for his second spin, the spurned heartthrob changed the message from “How could you?” to “You’re gonna get yours.” The lesson here is clear: Do not cheat on JT unless you would like several awesome pop songs assassinating your character penned in your honor. (And, really, wouldn’t you rather be the subject of “LoveStoned”?) Adele, “Rolling in the Deep” While assembling this list, we tried to keep it to songs where we could identify the subject (i.e. Britney in “Cry Me a River,” Carey Hart in Pink’s “So What,” which you’ll find below), but we’re making an exception for Adele ‘s “Rolling in the Deep.” The song is so ubiquitous after its many Grammy wins and so famously about her ex that it is impossible to ignore. And while Adele has never spoken publicly about who the songs on her massive album 21 are about — and the guy has smartly never stepped forward to say, “Yeah, I’m the one who was pretty awful to the world’s current favorite singer” — “Rolling in the Deep” is still without question the most-stinging kiss-off song in recent memory. The powerhouse vocalist doesn’t sugarcoat her feelings, singing, “Finally, I can see you crystal clear/ Go ‘head and sell me out and I’ll lay your s–t bare/ See how I leave with every piece of you/ Don’t underestimate the things that I will do.” Depending how you look at it, Adele possibly offered up the harshest kiss-off ever in the history of sound. If it wasn’t bad enough to have an album’s worth of songs dedicated to how much you sucked as a boyfriend, we wonder what it feels like to watch that album go on to win six Grammys and sell close to 7 million copies, seemingly en route to becoming the first 10-time platinum album in the U.S. since Usher’s 2004 Confessions . They say looking good is the best revenge (and she did that too, looking glam and trim on Grammy night), but we think Adele’s critical and commercial success probably stings the hardest. Pink, “So What” Our thoughts on success killing the game when it comes to slapping your ex in the figurative face also applies here: “So What,” the lead single from Pink ‘s fifth studio album, 2008’s Funhouse , was the singer’s first #1 hit. (Doesn’t that seem strange? It’s true though.) This song was written by Pink while she and Carey Hart were separated and the oft-brutally honest singer did not hold back when it came to taking shots at the motocross superstar. The song’s chorus says it all: “So, so what/ I’m still a rock star, I got my rock moves/ And I don’t need you/ And guess what, I’m having more fun/ And now that we’re done, I’m gonna show you tonight/ I’m alright, I’m just fine/ And you’re a tool/ So, so what/ I am a rock star, I got my rock moves/ And I don’t want you tonight.” Hart must be into that sort of thing, however, because he and Pink reunited not long after the song was recorded and he even good-naturedly cameos throughout the video. The pair now have a baby girl, Willow, and appear happier than ever. Maybe it took a good kiss-off for these two love birds to realize they couldn’t live without each other. Alanis Morissette, “You Oughta Know” In case you don’t know already know, this angst classic is all about Dave Coulier, a comedian-actor best known as Joey Gladstone on the former ABC sitcom “Full House.” Yes, Alanis Morissette wonders if Uncle Joey is thinking about her when he’s, you know, getting busy with his new girl. Eek. Once you know this song is about Coulier, it’s difficult to watch “Full House” the same way. After all, we learn an awful lot about his relationship with the much-younger Morissette — including that we should probably give them a rundown on what you are and are not permitted to do in a movie theater. Sure, there are more-recent breakup tracks and, yes, we were trying to keep this list contemporary, but much like the end of a relationship gone sour, it’s hard to shake a great kiss-off song. What’s your favorite kiss-off song? Tell us in the comments below! Related Videos Greatest Kiss-Off Songs Of All-Time Related Artists Katy Perry
Black history, our history, American history is a complicated matter riddled with facts that make us proud and others that make us cringe. It is a story of a nation built by men and women who sacrificed their lives to force America to live up to its promise. These men and women were also full of contradictions. Frederick Douglass was one of those contradictions. He is remembered as a writer, abolitionist and orator. He was a human rights activist before the label existed. Yet, he also vehemently opposed the Great Migration of blacks from the South to the North to escape the crippling shackles of Jim Crow. Read Douglass’ bio . Douglass was born in February in the early 1800s in Tuckahoe, MD. In his autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,” he wrote that he did not know his exact birthdate. Most references to Douglass focus on Douglass’ post-slavery life as an influential abolitionist and a human rights activist. Before he became the great statesman, and the first African American to be nominated for vice-president, Douglass was an educator. He secretly taught himself to read and write and then he taught fellow slaves. He was traded to several different slave owners in Maryland, including a brutal farmer known as a “slave breaker.” Douglass finally escaped to New York. It is ironic that Douglass — who so believed in equality and who himself escaped North — lamented the black exodus from the South in the late 1800s during the early years of Jim Crow. He urged blacks to tough it out. Below are a few quotes from Douglass, compiled by the Gilder Lehrman Center of the Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition , regarding the black exodus North. The Negro, long deemed to be too indolent and stupid to discover and adopt any rational measure to secure and defend his rights as a man…. He has, discovered and adopted a measure which may assist very materially in, the solution of some of the vital problems involved in his sudden elevation: from slavery to freedom, and from chattelhood to manhood, and citizenship . . . he has adopted a simple, lawful and peaceable measure. It is emigration—the quiet withdrawal of his valuable bones and muscles from a condition of things which he considers no longer tolerable. This exodus has revealed to southern men the humiliating fact that the prosperity and civilization of the South are at the mercy of the despised and hated Negro . . . . We have the story of the emigrants themselves, and if any can reveal the true cause of this Exodus they can . . . They tell us with great unanimity that they are very badly treated at the South . . . [As a strategy, however] it is a surrender, a premature, disheartening surrender, since it would make freedom and free institutions depend upon migration rather than protection; by flight, rather than right . . . It leaves the whole question of equal rights on the soil of the South open and still to be settled . . . it is a confession of the utter unpracticability of equal rights and equal protection in any State, where those rights may be struck down by violence . . .
Bruce Springsteen has released the official music video for “We Take Care Of Our Own,” and it’s not exactly the most upbeat four minutes in the history of the business. As posted below, the video is shot in black and white and features no member of the E Street Band. Instead, we simply see shots of The Boss playing in an abandoned house, which are toggled between images of everyday Americans walking around, sullen, as the lyrics flash on screen. However… Springsteen then asks “where’s the promise from sea to sea” and colorful, happier images crop up, such as a young boy catching a baseball. Watch below and mark down March 6 on your calendar. That’s when the album “Wrecking Ball” comes out. Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care Of Our Own (Official Music Video)
The lifelong Spidey fan admits that ‘no actor could ever live up to’ the role of Peter Parker. By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Andrew Garfield Photo: MTV News The adage “with great power, comes great responsibility” always kept Spider-Man in check, but you may not have known that the same applies for the actor playing the web-slinger in “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Before a recent preview event in New York City , Andrew Garfield shared his excitement and anxieties about playing the iconic superhero with MTV News’ Josh Horowitz. Though he later told the crowd of fans that he took the role because he’s “not an idiot,” Garfield admitted to a constant state of nervousness. “It’s always the same. It’s always at a 10 inside,” he said. “It’s just a question of whether you acknowledge it, or try to ignore it, or try to suppress it, or pretend that it’s not there, or act like you don’t care.” The pressure doesn’t simply come from fans or the history of the character, but also the people who have worked to bring Spidey to life. “It’s a huge responsibility for me to be in that suit and to take on the mantle from a fantastic actor previously and from fantastic artists and writers and ultimately Stan Lee,” Garfield said. “That’s where it came from.” At the same time, everything that Spider-Man means to Garfield and all the other fans has made playing the character both easier and more difficult. “I feel lucky and also unlucky that I’m a fan first. I’m a Spider-Man fan, that’s who I am at my core,” Garfield explained. “I feel lucky in the sense that I feel I know him. I know Peter Parker because I grew up with him, but I feel unlucky in the sense that I know how disappointed I am that I’m playing him.” That disappointment doesn’t stem from self-deprecation, the actor clarified. But there is a sense of inevitable failure built into taking a role like Spider-Man. “No actor could ever live up to the character for me,” he said. “And that’s weird for me to say that because I’m the actor playing him in this particular incarnation. I can’t wait for another actor to take it over, so that I can judge.” Can Andrew Garfield tackle the role of Spider-Man? Let us know what you think in the comments section! Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Andrew Garfield Related Photos The Amazing Spider-Man
‘I approached the character like any fan would: with real reverence and terror,’ the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ star tells MTV News. By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Andrew Garfield Photo: MTV News With the release of the new trailer for “The Amazing Spider-Man,” fans got their first extended look at Andrew Garfield ‘s take on the wall crawler before the movie hits theaters in July. He’s darker and a bit more sarcastic, but with a series reboot coming so soon after the three films directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, comparisons between the two are bound to dominate much of the conversation. Garfield doesn’t necessarily see the need for comparison and told MTV News’ Josh Horowitz that he would have a hard time describing any differences. “I can’t answer that, really. I don’t know. I know that I saw the Sam Raimi/ Tobey Maguire version before it was legally out. I was so excited to see it, I got a pirate copy,” Garfield told MTV News before a screening event Monday. “I was blown away. [Tobey has] been Spider-Man in my imagination since then, in my mind’s eye.” The star explained how “The Amazing Spider-Man” was made with the series’ history in mind and how that added to the story. “Thinking about those movies outside of just knowing the history that was supporting our movie, we are just another chapter in the legacy,” he said. “I approached the character like any fan would: with real reverence and terror and attempt to do it justice.” Garfield has never kept his own fandom a secret, having even appeared at San Diego Comic-Con in store-bought Spidey regalia. That passion played a big part in how he thinks about the role. “I do feel like he’s in me, like all true fans do,” he said. “That’s what being a fan is of a character like this: feeling like there’s no separation between you and them and that you have ownership over them. Ultimately, you have no ownership over it, because he belongs to everybody.” When it comes down to it, the actor in the suit doesn’t actually matter, according to Garfield. “The symbol is bigger than any actor playing him and any particular movie or comic book,” he said. “The symbol of the mask, the symbol of the suit, it doesn’t even matter who’s in it, as long as somebody’s in it to keep the symbol alive. That’s what’s important to me.” But as Uncle Ben said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Though it may not matter to Spider-Man fans who is in the suit, getting up every morning to play the man is a different story. “In terms of how I approached it, I just approached it every day I woke up. My first thought was ‘Oh, boy,’ ” Garfield said. “Then my second thought was, ‘Remember, just go from a place of being a fan and caring as deeply as you do.’ You have to just let go and trust from there on. If people like it, people like it.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Amazing Spider-Man.” For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Andrew Garfield Related Photos The Amazing Spider-Man
