• Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and Foo Fighters will perform during the prime-time special that will cap the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, and actors Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington will also have roles to play in the program, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said Friday. The announcement added yet more stars to "Celebrating America," an event scheduled for Wednesday evening. Last week, Biden's inaugural committee unveiled plans for the program, saying actor Tom Hanks would host, while singers like Justin Timberlake, Jon Bon Jovi and Demi Lovato would perform. Officials have said the 90-minute event will also include remarks from Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. During the piecemeal rollout of inauguration plans, Biden's team has said the program will "showcase the American people's resilience, heroism and unified commitment to coming together as a nation to heal and rebuild." In a news release Friday, officials specified that the program would include "stories of young people making a difference in their communities."
• Hours after a mob of Trump supporters took control of the U.S. Capitol in a violent insurrection, Selena Gomez laid much of the blame at the feet of big technology. "Today is the result of allowing people with hate in their hearts to use platforms that should be used to bring people together and allow people to build community," tweeted the singer/actor. "Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai, Susan Wojcicki -- you have all failed the American people today, and I hope you're going to fix things moving forward." It's just the latest effort by the 28-year-old Gomez to draw attention to the danger of internet companies that critics say have profited from misinformation and hate on their platforms. In an exclusive interview, Gomez said she's frustrated by what she views as the companies' lackluster response and that they have to "stop doing the bare minimum." "It isn't about me versus you, one political party versus another. This is about truth versus lies and Facebook, Instagram and big tech companies have to stop allowing lies to just flow and pretend to be the truth," Gomez said in a phone interview from New York. "Facebook continues to allow dangerous lies about vaccines and covid, and the U.S. election, and neo-Nazi groups are selling racist products via Instagram. Enough is enough," she said. Facebook and Twitter representatives declined to comment. Google didn't respond to a request for comment.
