Los Angeles:

A raft of celebrities from Taylor Swift and Beyonce to George Clooney and Harrison Ford proved unable to prevent Kamala Harris’s crushing defeat in the US election, underlining the limited impact of sweeping star endorsements on voters. 

Instead, it was Donald Trump and the Republicans — who received scant support from the entertainment industry at large, but tapped into a targeted subset of well-known, hypermasculine influencers — who won comfortably.

So, did the Democrats’ long-standing Hollywood and music industry connections, including last-minute rally appearances from Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez, make any difference at all in the end?

“Not in this election, clearly,” said New York University arts professor Laurence Maslon.

“At the end of the day, people probably realize that Beyonce and George Clooney don’t have to worry about the cost of gas or the cost of eggs — so maybe they’re sort of irrelevant,” he told AFP.

Celebrity endorsements have long been part of the fabric of US elections, harking back to the days when Frank Sinatra wrangled the “Rat Pack” to support John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Even this year, Hollywood-led fundraisers helped raise tens of millions of dollars for Harris’s record-breaking campaign war chest.

But their impact in actually influencing votes has always been a “mixed bag,” said Arizona State University associate professor Margaretha Bentley, who teaches a public policy course on Taylor Swift.

“It’s never going to be the golden ticket that everybody’s looking for,” she said.

Mark Harvey, author of “Celebrity Influence: Politics, Persuasion, and Issue-Based Advocacy,” agreed that we “shouldn’t be terribly surprised” by the lack of celebrity impact.

“There isn’t a real strong science behind this idea that celebrities can influence people to vote for candidates,” he said.

– ‘Macho’ –
Famous supporters have only ever been effective when advocating on very specific issues on which they are widely regarded as expert, added Harvey.

As Donald Trump delivered his victory speech early Wednesday, the new president-elect was flanked by — and showered praise on — famous names from the world of sport.

UFC boss Dana White was lovingly hailed as “tough” and “a piece of work,” while golfer Bryson DeChambeau was celebrated as “fantastic” and even having a “slightly longer” drive than the golf-loving Trump.

Loud cheers — and a significant portion of Trump’s address — were devoted to his best-known supporter of all, tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Trump also received a last-minute endorsement from Joe Rogan, the influential host of one of the world’s top podcasts.

The Republican may have benefited from these associations because, in an election “largely driven by cultural issues, one of the most potent cultural issues was masculinity,” said Harvey. 

“This sort of ‘be a real man,’ the Trump ‘macho’ sort of thing… it’s the kind of thing that Joe Rogan plays all the time.”

– ‘Shocked’ –
For the Democrats, this latest scarring experience will require a “deep self-analysis… of what they did and didn’t do, and what might have been successful,” including with celebrity endorsements, said Bentley. 

Ashley Spillane, author of the report “Celebrities Strengthening Our Culture of Democracy,” agreed there was “debate” about the “value and impact of celebrity endorsements of candidates.”

But there is still “robust evidence that celebrities do have a real impact in promoting overall, nonpartisan civic engagement,” she wrote via email, pointing to Swift’s endorsement of Harris, which was credited with driving 400,000 people to a voter registration site.

Even if their endorsements failed, Hollywood celebrities showed no indication Wednesday that they would remain silent.

Waking up to the news of Trump’s victory, several well-known figures took to social media to vent their frustrations.

Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis said Trump’s win would usher in “a sure return to a more restrictive, some fear draconian time.”

“Fascist with total power… That may have been the last free election,” wrote actor John Cusack. “Horror is coming.”

Pop singer Cardi B, who appeared at a Harris rally last Friday, simply wrote: “I hate yall bad.” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Houston, United States:

Superstar Beyonce provided the latest shot of stardust to Kamala Harris’s White House campaign on Friday, as the vice president and rival Donald Trump courted voters with just 11 days to go in a neck-and-neck election.

Taking the stage with her Destiny’s Child co-star Kelly Rowland, the Grammy-winning diva introduced Harris to over 20,000 roaring supporters in the Texas metropolis of Houston, Beyonce’s hometown.

“It’s time for America to sing a new song,” Beyonce said, urging voters to show up.

While the superstar did not perform any hits, her presence brought even more attention to Harris’s rally, which focused on abortion restrictions in Republican-led states.

Beyonce said she was not there as a celebrity but as “a mother who cares deeply about the world… a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies.”

Texas is not one of the handful of battlegrounds that are expected to decide the presidential election, or where the Democrat and her rival would normally be campaigning in the home stretch.

But Harris is banking on her star-studded show — which also featured 91-year-old country legend Willie Nelson, who sang “Mamma, don’t let them babies grow up to be cowboys” — to energize her campaign ahead of the final week.

“Voting has already started, and we know this will be a tight race until the very end,” Harris said.

“We are 11 days out from an election that will decide the future of America, including the freedom of every woman to make decisions about her own body.”

‘Fascist’ row

While Harris was in Houston, Trump was in the state capital Austin, taping an interview with “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the United States’ most popular podcast.

Trump’s follow-on rally, in battleground Michigan, was delayed after his taping with Rogan ran on for three hours.

Harris and Trump also locked horns earlier Friday over accusations that the Republican ex-president has been running as a “fascist.”

The two camps traded barbs over claims by Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, echoed by Harris, that Trump is a “fascist” who cannot be trusted with power again.

Republican leaders in Congress attacked her over that characterization, in a statement revealing they had been briefed on “ongoing and persistent” threats to Trump, and accused Harris of encouraging “another would-be assassin” after he survived an attempt on his life in July.

‘Garbage can’

Half the country agrees with Harris that Trump is a fascist, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll of registered voters, and she hit back at an impromptu news conference.

“The truth is that some of the people closest to Donald Trump, when he was president… have been very clear about the danger and the threat that (he) poses to America, and the fact that he is unfit to serve,” Harris said.

“The American people deserve to hear that, and know about that, so they can make a decision.”

Trump described the United States as a “garbage can for the world” for a second time this week while giving remarks in Austin — the latest in a string of inflammatory comments on immigration.

The race is a dead heat, according to polls. A New York Times/Siena College survey released Friday showed Trump and Harris tied at 48 percent each.

Both candidates have sought to broaden their support by sidestepping newspapers and the big TV networks in favor of podcasts and YouTube shows consumed by uncommitted young voters who could make the difference.

Trump hopes to woo Rogan’s massive audience. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was the world’s most listened-to podcast on streaming giant Spotify in 2023 and has 17.5 million subscribers on YouTube. 

‘Bad things happen’

Trump’s latest remarks ahead of the recording aimed at undermining trust in US elections and alarming Americans about crime committed by undocumented immigrants, who are statistically more law-abiding than the native population.

He complained that elections “go on forever, and bad things happen.”

Harris is “here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities. Isn’t that exciting? But she’s not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime while she’s here,” he said.

Harris is banking on the issue of abortion to help sell her message that Trump is a threat to Americans’ freedoms.

“Texas, what is happening across this state and our country is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of it,” Harris said, describing the agony of several women who were forced to travel out of state for emergency medical care.

“Please know, no one is protected if there is a Trump national abortion ban.”

November’s presidential election will be the first held after a 2022 US Supreme Court ruling overturned nationwide protection of abortion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ballet dancer Michaela Mabinty DePrince, who moved to the United States from an orphanage in conflict-ridden Sierra Leone and graced some of the world’s most prestigious stages, died aged 29. Her death was announced on her personal Instagram page by a family spokesperson, though the cause of death has not been disclosed. 

“Michaela touched so many lives across the world, including ours,” her family shared in a statement, describing her death as “sudden.” Her sister, Mia Mabinty DePrince, expressed her devastation, stating, “I am in a state of shock and deep sadness. My beautiful sister is no longer here.”

Tributes from the ballet world and beyond have poured in, with American ballerina Misty Copeland writing, “Despite being told the ‘world wasn’t ready for black ballerinas,’ she remained determined and made big strides.” DePrince’s life and career shattered barriers for dancers of colour, challenging stereotypes in the ballet community.

Born in 1995 in Kenema, Sierra Leone, DePrince’s early life was marked by tragedy. She lost both parents during the country’s civil war and was sent to an orphanage at age three, where she was mistreated due to her vitiligo. DePrince was later adopted by an American couple and moved to New Jersey, where her adoptive mother nurtured her love for ballet. She went on to become the youngest principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem and performed in Beyonce’s Lemonade.

In 2021, she joined Boston Ballet as a second soloist and appeared in Dancing with the Stars at just 17. DePrince was also a dedicated humanitarian, advocating for children affected by conflict.

Her spokesperson said her artistry “touched countless hearts” and her life was defined by “grace, purpose, and strength.” DePrince’s legacy, they added, will continue to inspire future generations.

DePrince’s family is also mourning the loss of their mother, Elaine DePrince, who passed away around the same time. 

Heading into the glitzy final night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, speculation was rife online about who would be the much vaunted special guest, with figures from ex Republican President George W Bush to superstar musician Beyonce and Taylor Swift in the frame.

It proved to be way off the mark.

George W Bush was put forward as a contender for the surprise spot, with “Republicans against Trump” posting a picture of Bush embracing then first lady Michelle Obama to the account’s 765,000 followers on X.

George Bush’s spokesperson Freddy Ford told John Bachman, veteran TV news anchor with Newsmax, that Bush is “definitely not” in Chicago to speak at the DNC.

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, currently a US senator who has criticized former president Donald Trump, also denied it would be him.

“Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight. My guess is that it will be Beyonce or Taylor Swift,” Mr Romney posted on X. “So disappointing, I know!”

Contrary to fake news posts, I am not the surprise guest at the DNC tonight. My guess is that it will be Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. So disappointing, I know!

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 22, 2024

However, many anti-Trump Republicans spoke at this year’s DNC throughout the week, taking a stance against the former president and endorsing Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz instead.

This list includes former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, former homeland security adviser Olivia Troye, former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger, and even Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen.

But Bush is perhaps one of the most prominent Republicans to publicly announce he was not supporting Trump – sparking rumors he may make a surprise appearance on Thursday.

Kamala Harris accepted her party’s presidential nomination on the final day of the convention, buoyed by a galaxy of stars, that set the stage for the grueling run-in to November 5.

The 59-year-old Californian has edged ahead by razor-thin margins in polling, reversing what had started to look like a likely Trump victory against Biden before he dramatically pulled out and endorsed Harris.

Democratic heavy hitters, from Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton to vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, have warned that the party could still lose to Trump’s Republicans if complacency creeps in.

Walz, a former school football coach, used a sporting analogy, saying that Democrats were “down a field goal, but we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball.”

Party strategists spent the week in Chicago showcasing a parade of anti-Trump Republicans, including ex-cabinet officials, a small-town mayor and a former statewide office holder.

“If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot,” former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan said.

Ms Harris called Trump an “unserious” person.

“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations,” Harris said in her keynote speech, earning uproarious applause.

(With inputs from AFP)

Apple’s first-generation Apple Watch is no longer available for repair or upgrade as the company declared the product as “obsolete”. This includes the premium 18-karat gold version, which adheres to Apple’s seven-year warranty policy. The watch was released in 2015 with a price range of $10,000 to $17,000 and was only available for one year before Apple replaced it with less luxurious watch variations, as per a report in The Verge.

The obsolete tag not only means the end of software updates but also the end of hardware support. The company will no longer provide parts, repairs or replacement services for the watch at Apple Stores and Apple Authorised Service Provider locations. It is to be noted that the original Apple Watch, referred to as Series 0, was never updated beyond watchOS 4.3.2 in 2018.

As per Apple’s website, when a product has been out of production for more than seven years, the company considers it to be technologically outdated. The first-generation devices just surpassed that seven-year milestone since the original Apple Watch was discontinued in September 2016 in favour of the Series 2 and Series 1 versions.

The solid-gold Apple Watch Edition was a pet project for Jony Ive, who served as Apple’s previous head designer. Celebrities were spotted wearing it when it first debuted, including German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and singer Beyonce, who paired it with a gold link bracelet that was never made available to the general public.

Not only this, all other Hermes-branded 38mm and 42mm aluminium and stainless steel models of the original Apple Watch are also regarded as outdated. The ceramic Apple Watch Edition, which could be purchased for up to $1,299, was later replaced by the solid-gold Apple Watch in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 were launched on September 12 at the company’s Wonderlust event. The wearable smartwatches come with considerable upgrades over their preceding models. The Apple Watch Series 9 is offered in Midnight, Pink, (Product) Red, Starlight, and Silver colour options and is priced at Rs. 41,900 whereas the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is priced at Rs. 89,900. It comes with Alpine Loop, Trail Loop, and Ocean band options.