Guilty pleasures

By NewsPress Now

Russia says Tucker Carlson has interviewed Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been interviewed by former FOX News host Tucker Carlson, the Kremlin confirmed Wednesday. It is Putin’s first interview to a Western media figure since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Carlson had released a video from Moscow on Tuesday in which he said he would be interviewing Putin. Carlson claimed that Western journalists had interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy multiple times but could not be “bothered” to interview the Russian president.

The interview will be posted Thursday, according to Justin Wells, head of programming at Carlson’s streaming network. It’s not known what was said in the interview.

Putin has heavily limited his contact with international media since he launched the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have cracked down on media, forcing some independent Russian outlets to close, blocking others and ordering a number of foreign reporters to leave the country. Two journalists working for U.S. news organizations — The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Alsu Kurmasheva — are in jail on charges they reject.

Western journalists were invited to Putin’s annual press conference in December — the first since the war began — but only two were given the chance to ask a question.

WHY TUCKER CARLSON?

Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that Carlson was chosen for the interview because “he has a position which differs” from other English-language media.

Before his exit from FOX, Carlson repeatedly questioned the validity of U.S. support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion, and he’s wondered why Americans are told to hate Putin so much. His commentaries were frequently circulated on Russian state-run media.

In his video this week, Carlson denounced “corrupt” American media outlets for “fawning pep sessions” with Zelenskyy that he said were designed to get America into a war with eastern Europe and pay for it.

Peskov also rejected Carlson’s suggestion that no Western journalists had submitted requests to interview Putin. He said the Kremlin has received many requests from large Western television channels and newspapers which, he asserted, “take a one-sided position.” Carlson’s position, Peskov said, “is in no way pro-Russian, nor pro-Ukrainian, but rather pro-American.”

The Associated Press is among the outlets that has requested an interview with Putin.

”Does Tucker really think we journalists haven’t been trying to interview President Putin every day since his full scale invasion of Ukraine?” CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said on X. “It’s absurd — we’ll continue to ask for an interview, just as we have for years now.”

Carlson’s trip comes as he has planted himself on former President Donald Trump’s side in a growing split in the Republican party over Putin and the Ukraine war. Trump has pushed to cut off aid to Ukraine, and the GOP majority controlling the House of Representatives has complied.

While many Republicans are critical of the Russian president and his invasion, Trump and others have argued the United States has no interest helping Ukraine defend itself.

Carlson has also traveled to interview Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has fashioned himself into an icon for conservative populists across the globe and been Putin’s closest ally in the European Union.

HOW THE INTERVIEW WILL BE DISTRIBUTED

The interview with Putin, Carlson said in his video, will be distributed for free on his website and on X, formerly known as Twitter. Carlson, who was fired by FOX News in April, announced he was starting his own streaming service in December.

FOX has offered no explanation for firing Carlson, who was its top-rated personality at the time. Like many people who leave the network that is conservative America’s most popular news outlet, he has struggled to remain in the public eye.

Carlson worked at FOX News for more than a decade and hosted a show where he discussed conspiracy theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Russian state media on Wednesday extensively covered Carlson’s visit.

Vladimir Solovyev, one of Russia’s most famous television hosts, said the interview would “break through the blockade and the narrative that exists” in Western media which, he said, focuses on “Putin’s unprovoked, brutal invasion of Ukraine.”

Solovyev, whose show is often critical of Western media, said Carlson is “feared” because he does not align with that narrative.

Taylor Swift is demanding college student stop tracking her private jet

SAN FRANCISCO | When it comes to dealing with a Florida college student who uses public data and social media to track the private jets of billionaires, politicians and other celebrities, Taylor Swift apparently can’t just shake it off.

In late December, Swift’s camp hit Jack Sweeney, a junior studying information technology at the University of Central Florida, with a cease-and-desist letter that blamed his automated tracking of her private jet for tipping off stalkers as to her location. In the letter, attorneys from the law firm Venable accused Sweeney of effectively providing “individuals intent on harming her, or with nefarious or violent intentions, a roadmap to carry out their plans.”

Sweeney provided the link to that letter in an email to The Associated Press. In that message, he emphasized that while he has never intended to cause harm, he also believes strongly in the importance of transparency and public information.

”One should reasonably expect that their jet will be tracked, whether or not I’m the one doing it, as it is public information after all,” he wrote.

A spokesperson for Swift echoed the legal complaint, saying that “the timing of stalkers” suggests a connection to Sweeney’s flight-tracking sites. The spokesperson did not respond to questions seeking elaboration of that charge, such as whether stalkers have been seen waiting for Swift at the airport when her plane arrived or, alternatively, if there is evidence that stalkers have somehow inferred Swift’s subsequent location from the arrival time of her flight.

The legal letter likewise accuses Sweeney of “disregarding the personal safety of others”; “willful and repeated harassment of our client”; and “intentional, offensive, and outrageous conduct and consistent violations of our client’s privacy.”

Such statements are difficult to square with the fact that Sweeney’s automated tracking accounts merely repackage public data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, a government agency. That fact did not dissuade the Venable attorneys, who demanded that Sweeney “immediately stop providing information about our client’s location to the public.”

The Swift spokesperson did not reply to a question inquiring whether the attorneys had issued the same demand to the FAA.

At one point Sweeney had more than 30 such accounts on Twitter, now known as X after Elon Musk purchased the site for $44 billion in 2022. Musk subsequently had his own dustup with Sweeney, tweeting at one point that his commitment to free speech required him not to ban Sweeney’s @elonjet account even though he considered it “a direct personal safety risk.”

But it wasn’t long before Musk abruptly about-faced and effectively banned the student from X, accusing Sweeney of endangering his personal safety.

Japanese fans excited to see Taylor Swift perform in Tokyo

TOKYO | Some Taylor Swift fans in Tokyo spent thousands of dollars to attend the pop superstar’s first performance Wednesday after her latest Grammy win and the announcement of a new album.

After not seeing her idol in concert for five years, Chiyuki Fujii bought six VIP tickets, including one for each of Swift’s four nights in Tokyo, paying a total of 780,000 yen ($5,270).

Fujii said it was worth every yen, especially after Swift won a 13th Grammy on Sunday and announced that her new album “The Tortured Poets Department” will be released April 19.

Fans have been watching to see whether the singer will finish the Japan part of her Eras Tour in time to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday to see her partner and football star Travis Kelce play in Las Vegas.

Japanese fans prayed for her safe and speedy flight back to the U.S.

”I want to see both of them there together,” Satomi Seki said.

From the U.S., Swift will travel for the Australian leg of her tour later in the week, flying halfway around the world on her private jet. That has led to criticism about additional carbon emissions and lavish spending.

Disney Animation’s ‘Moana 2’ announced

Moana and Maui are sailing back to the big screen, very quickly. “Moana 2” is coming to theaters in November, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger said Wednesday.

Originally planned as a television series, the movie finds Moana journeying on a dangerous mission to the far seas of Oceania after getting a call from her ancestors. It is, the company said, “an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.”

”Moana remains an incredibly popular franchise and we can’t wait to give you more of Moana and Maui,” Iger said in a statement. The film will open in theaters on Nov. 27.

”Moana 2” was directed by Dave Derrick Jr. and will feature music by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Mark Mancina, and Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i. No details were given about the voice actors.

The first film made over $680 million at the global box office and has been streamed for over 1 billion hours on Disney+. Dwayne Johnson is also at work on a live-action “Moana” for the company.

—From AP reports