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Starting 5: LeBron’s dimes lead Lakers, Joker & Murray take control, Knicks & Cavs take Playoff Game 1 wins
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took Game 1 over the Rockets, as The King handed out 13 assists.

Not in our house.

Saturday was for the home teams, as higher seeds opened the 2026 Playoffs 4-0.

With four more Game 1s on the way — two on ABC, two on NBC & Peacock — what does today have in store?

5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀

April 19, 2026

LeBron & Luke: James, Kennard lead Lakers over Rockets with Durant out

Denver’s D: Joker & Murray boost scoring while Nuggets shut down Wolves to win Game 1

East Winners: Spida’s 32 lead Saturday’s scorers, Brunson opens & KAT closes as Knicks, Cavs take Game 1’s

ABC Doubleheader: Sixers, Celtics meet for record 116th Playoff game, Thunder’s road to repeat begins

NBC Sunday Night Basketball: No. 1 Pistons clash with No. 8 Magic, Wemby makes Playoff debut

BUT FIRST … ⏰

Reloaded with four more Game 1’s…

Sunday brings four more Game 1’s to get all first-round series underway.
- ABC Doubleheader: No. 2 Celtics meet No. 7 Sixers (1 ET) and No. 1 Thunder start title defense vs. No. 8 Suns (3:30 ET)
- SNB On NBC & Peacock: No. 1 Pistons clash with No. 8 Magic (6:30 ET) before Wemby makes his Playoff debut vs. No. 2 Blazers (9 ET)
1. HOLLYWOOD NIGHT: LEBRON & LUKE SHOW TAKES GAME 1 FOR L.A.

Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

Houston and L.A. began their First Round series Saturday without the matchup’s top-3 scorers.

In response, the game’s all-time leading scorer came out with seemingly one thing on his mind:

Make something happen.

Lakers 107, Rockets 98: James (19 pts, 8 reb) dished out eight 1st-quarter dimes, on his way to 13 total, and Luke Kennard netted Playoff career-highs of 27 points and 5 3s (100 3P%) to help the Lakers take a 1-0 lead.

L.A. was without top scorers Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, while Houston missed Kevin Durant (knee contusion) after a practice collision. | Recap
- “For me, I gotta do a little bit of everything,” LeBron said postgame. “That’s what the job requires. So that’s being a triple-threat: being able to rebound, being able to pass, being able to shoot. Also defend.”
- James’ 5th assist – to Kennard – put him at the 2,100 mark for his Playoff career, joining only Magic Johnson as the only players to log that many
- Getting to 8 in that 1st frame, LeBron set a career Playoff high for any quarter, and a Lakers record for most in any Playoff quarter in the play-by-play era
- Finishing with 13, James became the first player age 41 or older with both double-digit assists and a points/assists double-double in a Playoff game
Sean M. Haffey/NBAE via Getty Images

The passing game wasn’t the only area where LeBron made history, as he and Bronny became the NBA’s first father-son duo to win a Playoff game together.
- “That’s probably the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me in my career,” LeBron said of playing in the Playoffs with Bronny. “That’s just insane.”
- Kennard’s Turn: The sharpshooter’s 27 points equal the 2nd-highest total ever for a player in his Lakers postseason debut, trailing Nick Van Exel by a bucket
- Houston filled in for Durant with five 15+ point scorers, including Alperen Sengun (19), Amen Thompson (17), Reed Sheppard (17), Tari Eason (16) and Jabari Smith Jr. (16)
Durant gets an extra day to heal his bruised knee, as the series picks up on Tuesday with Game 2 from L.A. (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).

2. NUGGETS WIN GAME 1: 2ND-HALF SHUTDOWN COOLS RIVAL WOLVES

Matthew Stockman/NBAE via Getty Images

Nikola Jokić had 6 points at halftime. He finished with a 25-point triple-double.

Jamal Murray went 0-for-8 from 3. He logged a game-high 30 points.

Denver started 6-for-22 (27.3 FG%) from the field. They won by double-digits.

Showing no panic, the 3-seed Nuggets let their game find its own way in time, and that paid off for a 1-0 First Round lead.

Nuggets 116, Wolves 105: Denver shook off a quiet start to catch the Wolves by halftime and lead the rest of the way, with Joker (25 pts, 13 reb, 11 ast) and Murray guiding the group past Anthony Edwards (22 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast) and their rival Wolves.

Not to be lost in Saturday’s Playoffs excitement, Denver has now won 13 straight games, dating back a full month to its last loss on March 18. | Recap
- Cold Open: The Nuggets’ 6-for-22 start had them facing their largest deficit of the game (12 pts), and still trailing by double-digits going into the 2nd quarter
- Tale Of Two Lines: With 3s not falling, Murray started driving, getting to the foul line eight times in his 14-point, 2nd-quarter rally. He finished 16-for-16 from the stripe
- “We just had to keep shooting,” Murray said. “Myself included. I didn’t make a 3 today. But I didn’t stop shooting. And I was able to find guys and keep the defense on their toes.”
- A Breakthrough: Then early in the 3rd, a 17-2 Denver run built a double-digit lead, with Jokić going on the attack for 12 of his 25 points in that quarter
- Joker credited homecourt advantage: “Whenever we needed a little spark, [the fans] were behind our back, and I love to play in front of our crowds. I think they’re great.”
From there, the Nuggets held the Wolves to just four made 3s and 43 points in the 2nd half. Minnesota had only seven halves all season of 43 points or fewer.
- AE & KG: Edwards passed Kevin Garnett twice with his 237th career Playoff assist, in his 32nd career 20+ point playoff game, taking the franchise lead in both categories
- Murray Joins Jokić: Murray reached his 20th career 30+ point Playoff game, joining Joker (35) as the only Nuggets ever with 20 or more such games
- Jokić Tops MPJ: Joker passed former Nugget Michael Porter Jr. (166) for 2nd-most Playoff triples made in franchise history
Game 2 from Mile High comes our way Monday night (10:30 ET, NBC/Peacock).

3. EAST WINS: BRUNSON OPENS, KAT CLOSES, SPIDA LEADS ALL SCORERS

Elsa/NBAE via Getty Images

Floater in the lane: ✅

Contested wing 3-ball: ✅

Fadeaway bank shot: ✅

Transition triple: ✅

Face-up fadeaway J: ✅

Pull-up from long-range: ✅

Jalen Brunson started Saturday 6-for-6 for 15 points in under 6 minutes.

All that, and the Knicks were up just six, as both New York and Atlanta shot over 85% in the opening 4 minutes of their First Round series opener.

Knicks 113, Hawks 102: Brunson scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in that 1st quarter, and Karl-Anthony Towns (25 pts, 8 reb) took control down the stretch, as New York outlasted CJ McCollum (26 pts, 4 3s) and Atlanta for a 1-0 series lead. | Recap
- 2nd-Half KAT: After a 1-for-6 1st half, Towns took the baton from Brunson, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the 2nd half
- “I was just rusty,” Towns said of his 1st half. “12 days, 13 days without playing… It takes a toll. So just trying to knock the rust off early in the game.”
- It was Towns who sealed the win in the 4th, sinking a triple followed by an and-1 take for back-to-back 3-point plays, capping a 10-0 Knicks run and stretching their lead to 19
- “I knew I was gonna get a chance to show what I could do in a pivotal moment,” said Towns. “I felt good about the 4th quarter and I’m glad I was able to make those shots for my teammates.”
- JB Ties Clyde: Brunson recorded his 29th Playoff game of 25+ points as a Knick, tying Walt Frazier for the 2nd-most in franchise history. Only Patrick Ewing (43) has more
New York and Atlanta tip off Game 2 at The Garden Monday night (8 ET, NBC/Peacock)

Jason Miller/NBAE via Getty Images

With 2:01 remaining, the Cleveland crowd rose to its feet.

The Cavs’ first unit subbed out to a standing ovation, up 16.

Playoff basketball was back in The Land, celebrating a First-Round, Game 1 win for the third consecutive year.

Cavaliers 126, Raptors 113: Donovan Mitchell poured in a game-high 32 points, setting an NBA record with his ninth straight 30+ point performance in a series opener, as the Cavs rolled to a 1-0 lead over RJ Barrett (24 pts), Scottie Barnes (21 pts, 7 ast) and the Raptors. | Recap
- Applause-Worthy: Backing up Mitchell, Max Strus went for a Playoff career-high 24 pts, James Harden (22 pts) dished out 10 assists, and Evan Mobley (17 pts, 7 reb) controlled the paint
- Go Time: In a 4-point game with 1:11 to play before halftime, Cleveland exploded into the 2nd half with a 27-9 carryover run, leading the rest of the way. Strus had 11 points (3 3s) in that decisive stretch
- “Coming out in the 3rd quarter, we upped our intensity defensively,” Mitchell said of the getaway run. “And then obviously, offensively, we did what we do.”
Mitchell’s record-setting nine-game, 30+ point streak in Game 1s has helped him to a 33.1 ppg average across 12 career Game 1s.

This was his 32nd-career 30+ point Playoff game, and 13th for Cleveland, passing Kyrie Irving for 2nd-most in Cavs history.
- “32 is 32, but I’m happy I got a steal…” Mitchell said. “I’m finding ways to get rebounds… Those are the little details that carry over to wins.”
- Harden’s History: The Beard passed Larry Bird (3,897 pts) for 13th place on the NBA’s all-time postseason scoring list
- “It’s tough for defenses to try to figure out which ways to guard both of us,” Mitchell said of his first Playoff pairing with Harden. “We gotta keep it up for the series.”
4. TODAY ON ABC: 76ERS-CELTICS RIVALRY, CHAMPS START TITLE DEFENSE

Isaiah Vazquez/NBAE via Getty Images

The reunited 2024 champs and the Divisional rival who played them closer than anyone this season.

The well-rested defending champions and the red-hot shooting squad who won the West Play-In Finale.

ABC’s Playoff matineé doubleheader delivers on drama and deep storylines. Here’s what to watch for:

(7) Sixers at (2) Celtics (1 ET): NBA Playoff Sunday tips off with the 116th postseason meeting of Philly and Boston, the most in NBA history. The Celtics lead this series all-time, 66-50.

The last time these two franchises met in the Playoffs, the 2023 East Semis went a full seven games, with Jayson Tatum delivering an iconic 50-ball to end it.
- Jay & Jay: Scoring 20+ points in each of his last seven games, Tatum (21.8 ppg in 16 gm) is reunited with Jaylen Brown, who set career-highs (28.7 ppg) while leading the C’s all year
- Before Tatum’s return, these two teams lived up to their thrilling history with three early season matchups, each decided by the final possession (2-1 PHI)
- Philly’s Answer: The Sixers will look to attack with the duo of top-5 scorer Tyrese Maxey (28.3) and two-way talent VJ Edgecombe, the first rookie in 7+ years with 1100 points and 100 steals — not to mention Paul George, who’s averaged 21.2 ppg in his Playoff career
Christian Petersen/NBAE via Getty Images

Following Philly and Boston, OKC takes off on its road to two in a row.

(8) Suns at (1) Thunder (3:30 ET): The reigning champs begin their quest to repeat, taking on Devin Booker, Jalen Green and the hot-shooting Suns.

No NBA team has repeated since the Warriors in 2017-18, with seven straight unique champions since.
- The Thunder are the NBA’s youngest champion in 50 years, and boast the league’s best defensive rating (106.5) since the 2019-20 Bucks, holding opponents 3.5 FG percentage points below the league average
- Phoenix joins OKC with a top-10 defensive rating (112.9, 9th), while both teams rank top-5 in steals per game (9.5+)
- The Reigning MVP: SGA is the first guard in NBA history to average 30+ ppg on 55% shooting. He also ranks 2nd in ppg (31.1), 2nd in iso ppg (8.3), 2nd in 30-pt games (43), and 1st in total clutch points (175)
- Suns all-time leading scorer Devin Booker has the help of a hot hand in Jalen Green, who enters off the 2nd-ever back-to-back 35+ point performances in Play-In history
5. SNB: NO. 1 PISTONS, NO. 8 MAGIC COLLIDE BEFORE WEMBY’S PLAYOFF DEBUT

NBC & Peacock’s Sunday doubleheader features two of this Playoff field’s strongest contenders, in East 1-seed Detroit and West 2-seed San Antonio.

But their respective First Round opponents are uniquely qualified to make this matchup tougher than seedings might suggest.

(8) Magic at (1) Pistons (6:30 ET): Detroit begins its Playoff after its first 60-win season since 2006-07.

The league leader in both steals (10.4) and blocks (6.4) per game, the Pistons operate with the identity of defensive physicality – something Orlando just utilized to overpower the Hornets in its Play-In win to get here.

The Pistons are led by the rising All-Star duo of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren.
- Cade is back from his collapsed lung, and Detroit’s offensive engine was missed: The Pistons have a 120.4 OffRtg with Cade on-floor, and a 111.1 with him off; a 9.3-point swing
- First-time All-Star Duren dominates the paint with the league’s 3rd-most PITP, while Ausar Thompson logged the most steals in a season (146) by a Piston since Ben Wallace in 06-07
The Magic enter the series coming off a Play-In game statement, making their third straight Playoffs. The team split its four-game series with Detroit this season.
- Paolo Banchero has 336 points through his first 12 career Playoff games (28.0 ppg), and led the way for Orlando in its Play-In win, with 12 first quarter points and a game-high 25 overall
- Acquired last offseason, Desmond Bane has delivered offensively, leading the team in total points (1647) and total 3s (167), and ranking 2nd in assists (338)
Soobum Im/NBAE via Getty Images

After a year of bending physics on the court — and transforming the Spurs into one of the league’s toughest teams — third-year superstar Victor Wembanyama’s about to make his debut on the league’s biggest stage: The Playoffs.

(7) Blazers at (2) Spurs (9 ET): Wemby is set to make his first Playoff appearance against a Portland team that beat San Antonio once in three tries this season.
- The Spurs return to the Playoffs for the first time since 2018–19, with their first 60-win season since 2016–17. They flipped from 60 losses to 60 wins in just two years
- February March: Half those wins came in the final 2.5 months of this season, losing just four games after the start of February (30–4 record)
- With Wemby on the floor, opposing teams shot 5.7% worse – the largest on/off difference of the decade – and the Spurs posted a 103.6 defensive rating, which would rank as the best in the league over a full season
But it’s not just Wemby. He’s backed by a dynamic trio of guards.
- Stephon Castle, the reigning Rookie of the Year, took a leap this season, increasing his points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
- De’Aaron Fox, a two-time All-Star, finished second on the team in scoring and led the team in total clutch points.
- Dylan Harper, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, provides a spark off the bench for this Spurs squad.
Portland features the league’s third-best defense since the All-Star break, and an international All-Star on the rise, who’s coming off a huge performance.
- Deni Avdija became the first player to record 40 points and 10 assists in a Play-In game, capping off a breakout year in which he joined Joker and Luka as the only players to average 24/6/6
April 20, 2026
‘The Facts of Life’ Star Mindy Cohn Says She Is Fighting Cancer for a Second Time

Mindy Cohn took to Instagram on Sunday to reveal that she’s battling cancer for a second time.

“Have been off social media for a while ‘cuz I had to go kick cancer’s ass,” Cohn wrote. “I did so with the extraordinary help of Providence Saint John’s hospital staff, especially my nurses Finja, Patty and Courtney and my hero, the phenomenal oncology surgeon [Anton Bilchik]…. Thank you to my family… who have been my advocates and always on the ready to help me when it’s ‘my turn.’ Recouping for another couple of weeks and then ready for my next adventure. Onwards! F**K Cancer!”

In a 2017 interview with People, Cohn revealed that she had been secretly recovering from breast cancer for the past five years.

“I kept that secret for a long time,” she said at the time. “I’ve always been an optimist, but the cancer metastasized. It kept spreading and coming back. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then it would. And then I’d wait for another shoe to drop, and it would. I was frustrated and enraged. I couldn’t control any of this. I couldn’t fix it.”

Cohn is best known for playing Natalie Green on the NBC sitcom “The Facts of Life.” The show ran for nine seasons from 1979 to 1988. Most recently, she starred as Ann Holiday on the Apple TV+ series “Palm Royale.” She also appeared in the comedy film “Influenced” alongside Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Cohn received several comments of support on her post from stars like Octavia Spencer, Rhea Seehorn, Chelsea Handler and Sarah Paulson.

April 19, 2026
Barack Obama Says His and Michelle’s Production Company Higher Ground Will Go Independent After Netflix Deal Ends

Barack and Michelle Obama‘s production company Higher Ground is transitioning to an independent operation following eight years at Netflix.

Barack Obama shared the news at an event held Saturday in Philadelphia that featured leaders in media, sports and entertainment as part of a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Speaking on separate panels, both Barack and Michelle Obama talked about their work with Higher Ground.

The former president specifically noted that after eight years of working exclusively with Netflix and being “very grateful for the launch that happened,” the Obamas are “in the process now of transitioning to a more independent [company] where we can work with a bunch of different studios.”

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to a rep for Higher Ground for comment.

The Obamas inked their producing deal with Netflix in 2018. In 2024, Higher Ground and Netflix extended their partnership, with Higher Ground transitioning to a multiyear first-look deal for all of its film and TV projects.

Higher Ground’s recent projects with Netflix include Oscar-nominated films Rustin, American Symphony and Crip Camp and the Oscar-winning and Emmy-winning film American Factory as well as the Will Forte series Bodkin and Sam Esmail’s apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind.

More recently, Higher Ground has been setting up projects outside of Netflix, including the HBO sketch comedy series Life Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, from creator Larry David and Jeff Schaffer, which premieres in June. The project was was announced last month at SXSW during a panel with David and Schaffer.

Saturday’s event in Philadelphia also featured Joe and Dr. Jill Biden, Bill and Hilary Clinton and George W. Bush as well as Nicole Kidman, Tina Fey, Colin Jost, Garth Brooks, Tom Brady, Ted Danson, Kate McKinnon, Jason Kelce, Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb.

Abbey White contributed to this report.

April 19, 2026
XRP Goes Live on Solana, Shiba Inu Crosses One Trillion Threshold, Bitcoin ETFs Record Biggest Inflows Since January — Top Weekly Crypto News

$XRP goes live on Solana

The integration, powered by LayerZero and Hex Trust, brings wrapped $XRP (wXRP) into Solana’s expansive decentralized finance ecosystem.

The Solana network has integrated $XRP, according to a Friday announcement. The integration, which has been in the works for several months, bridges the gap between two of the cryptocurrency industry’s most prominent ecosystems.

The asset has been launched as a wrapped token, designated as wXRP. The Solana Foundation partnered with LayerZero and Hex Trust, two major infrastructure providers, in order to be able to facilitate this massive cross-chain move.

The announcement has noted that the $XRP Ledger is specifically designed for “fast” and “low-cost” transactions. Now, $XRP holders will be able to get exposure to Solana’s vast DeFi ecosystem.

Bitcoin ETFs back on track with biggest inflows since January

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their strongest weekly inflows since January, pulling in nearly $1 billion as institutional demand accelerates.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest weekly inflows since January, signaling a renewed wave of institutional demand, according to data from Farside Investors.

Total net inflows reached $996 million over the past week, marking the strongest performance since early January, when inflows approached $1.4 billion.

The surge was driven by a standout Friday session, which alone brought in $663.9 million, the highest single-day inflow of the week.

Last week, ETFs saw $411.5 million in inflows on Tuesday and $186 million on Wednesday, followed by a modest $26 million on Thursday. The period began with a $291 million outflow on Monday, making the rebound particularly notable as momentum quickly reversed.

The strong inflow activity pushed total net assets across spot Bitcoin ETFs above $101 billion by the end of the week. At the same time, trading volumes surged, with daily activity nearing $4.8 billion, reflecting heightened participation from both institutional and retail investors.

The data suggests that despite recent market uncertainty, capital continues to rotate back into Bitcoin exposure through regulated investment vehicles, reinforcing the role of ETFs as a primary entry point for traditional investors.$SHIB crosses one trillion threshold in outflows

$SHIB crosses one trillion threshold in outflows

Shiba Inu is seeing massive exchange outflows, hinting at quiet accumulation despite a still-weak price trend.

With exchange outflows exceeding one trillion $SHIB in a brief amount of time, Shiba Inu is exhibiting a change in on-chain behavior. That is a significant shift in the positioning of large holders, particularly in light of the months-long downtrend and low demand.

Both exchange inflows and outflows have increased, but outflows are outpacing inflows, according to the data. Net flow is still marginally negative, with total outflows at about 1.24 trillion $SHIB and inflows at about 1.13 trillion $SHIB.

At the same time, exchange reserves are still slightly decreasing. Instead of aggressive selling, this combination usually indicates a slow removal of supply from exchanges. However, the price is not responding, at least not yet.

April 19, 2026
Fresh Manipulation Warnings Hit Other Crypto Projects After RAVE’s 95% Collapse
Warnings are intensifying across multiple crypto tokens as an on-chain investigator flags structural risks and questionable trading behavior. The growing list of red-flagged assets is heightening concern that retail investors remain exposed to engineered liquidity and sudden price shocks.

Key Takeaways:
- Broader warnings point to structural weaknesses across parts of the crypto token market.
- Major exchanges face rising pressure to respond faster to questionable trading behavior.
- Retail investors remain exposed as oversight concerns spread beyond a single token.
Rising Crypto Exchange Manipulation Concerns Spread Across Tokens

Market manipulation concerns on major crypto exchanges moved back into focus after on-chain investigator ZachXBT tied $RAVE’s collapse to concentrated supply and questionable trading activity. He outlined the episode on social media platform X on April 19. The post described how a token that entered the top 15 by market cap fell 95% within hours.

ZachXBT stated on X: “A summary of the $RAVE -95% price fluctuation from $26 to $1 over the past 24 hours.” He said the sequence began on April 18, when he urged Binance, Bitget, and Gate to examine possible manipulation and offered a $10,000 bounty, later raising it to $25,000. Bitget, Binance, and Gate each publicly acknowledged the request that day, while RaveDAO said it had no involvement. ZachXBT also said he confronted RaveDAO co-founder Yemu Xu on April 13 and 14 without receiving a response. Highlighting broader concerns beyond $RAVE, he remarked:

“Other projects with highly questionable price action recently include: $SIREN, $MYX, $COAI, M, PIPPIN, $RIVER.”

Similar structural and behavioral risks have surfaced across several recently flagged tokens. $SIREN showed extreme supply concentration, with Bubblemaps finding that a single cluster controlled roughly half the supply across 47 wallets. ZachXBT recently said he traced that cluster to wallets tied on-chain to several obscure DWF-affiliated tokens, including LADYS, RACA, and TOMO, reinforcing concerns that the token’s liquidity was engineered rather than driven by organic retail demand. $COAI raised a different red flag: its proxy contract ownership was not renounced, leaving the deployer or admin able to change key functions. $RIVER and PIPPIN exposed weaker market structures in different ways, with $RIVER associated with a low circulating-supply profile and PIPPIN unraveling in a derivatives-driven liquidation cascade. $MYX and M also came under scrutiny, tied respectively to extreme funding conditions and allegations that Axiom staff had access that could enable front-running and deanonymization of users.

Exchange Oversight Pressure Intensifies Amid Retail Risk

The blockchain investigator argued that $RAVE’s structure made the move difficult to dismiss as normal volatility. ZachXBT said $RAVE launched in December 2025 on Binance Alpha with a one billion total supply, while addresses tied to the initial distribution controlled about 95% of supply.

He also pointed to suspicious April 2026 centralized exchange activity connected on-chain to RaveDAO team addresses, which he said could conflict with the project’s denial. ZachXBT added:

“$RAVE is not the only token with manipulation we have seen on major centralized exchanges. It’s just the most blatant, reaching a top 15 market cap within 10 days before dropping 95% in hours.”

The episode widened scrutiny on how quickly trading platforms respond to extreme dislocations in thinly distributed tokens. ZachXBT argued: “Exchanges need faster intervention on manipulation. Detection at scale isn’t easy, but each day of delay means retail traders absorb losses while platforms collect fees on the volume. The outcome is the same regardless of intent.” He also emphasized the broader impact on market participants, saying: “I recognize how much this behavior takes from retail traders, and I plan to investigate similar movements in hopes of identifying the responsible parties.”
April 19, 2026
‘Facts of Life’ Star Mindy Cohn Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Mindy Cohn, best known for her role as Natalie in the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life, revealed Sunday that she was diagnosed with cancer for a second time.

On Instagram, the actress posted a photo of her lying in a hospital bed with the caption: “have been off social media for awhile ‘ cuz i had to go kick cancer’s ass.”

In the photo, Cohn is smiling and giving a thumbs-up. In her post, she thanked the staff of Providence Saint John’s Hospital, located in Santa Monica, and her “phenomenal” oncology surgeon, Dr. Anton Bilchik.

She also thanked close friends including The Morning Show actress Tara Karsian and The Rookie star Gregory Zarian, along with his husband, John Stewart.

They “have been my advocates and always on the ready to help me when it’s ‘my turn’. recouping for another couple of weeks and then ready for my next adventure. onwards! F**K Cancer!” she ended the post.

This is the second time Cohn has battled cancer. In 2017, she revealed that she’d had a five-year battle with breast cancer.

“I kept that secret for a long time,” she told People at the time. “I’ve always been an optimist, but the cancer metastasized. It kept spreading and coming back. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and then it would. And then I’d wait for another shoe to drop, and it would. I was frustrated and enraged. I couldn’t control any of this. I couldn’t fix it.”

Cohn was one of the stars of Facts of Life for its entire nine-season run from 1979-88. More recently, she co-starred opposite Kristen Wiig in Apple TV+’s Palm Royale.

Cohn received a flood of well wishes from famous faces in the comment section of her most recent post, including Sarah Paulson, who wrote “Sending love … your way.” Rhea Seehorn wrote: “MINDY!!!! F**CK that nonsense!!!! Sending you love and healing to the moon and back!”

Other well wishers included Octavia Spencer, Chelsea Handler, Vicki Lawrence, Helen Hunt, Lucy Hale, Daphne Zuniga, Peri Gilpin, Johnny Weir and Holly Peete.

Read her full post below.

April 19, 2026
Asobi System Artists, Executives on Global Aspirations and Asobi Expo Hawaii 2026

A day after J-pop fans gathered at Honolulu’s Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell for a one-night-only concert, Asobi Expo Hawaii 2026, the artists and executives of Asobi System congregated backstage to discuss the event and the company’s global aspirations.

As J-pop continues to move further into the U.S. market, Japanese entertainment companies and labels are looking for ways to connect artists with both longtime and potential fans in what was a previously untapped market. Bringing Asobi Expo, an event meant to gather and showcase artists from the Asobi System family, to the U.S. is one way some labels are introducing talent stateside. Other events similar to it, like Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association’s Matsuri event held last year in Los Angeles, are label agnostic.

“I thought that was really important to bring [the event] abroad, to really spread the Japanese culture,” Asobi System CEO and founder of Yusuke Nakagawa, tells The Hollywood Reporter. The entertainment company, which he founded in 2007, works to showcase and spread Japan’s famed harajuku culture, which is essentially a collection of eclectic and diverse subcultures.

That Harajuku culture is on display plenty, all the way down to the variety of artists Nakagawa has picked for the Honolulu edition of Asobi Expo. There’s the high-energy, out-of-box Atarashii Gakko!, the adorable and endearing Kawaii Labs girl group Fruits Zipper and the veteran Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. The event’s audience featured a fair share of supporters for each act, a mix of both local residents and diehard fans who flew in from Japan.

Asobi Expo Hawaii 2026.

Hisashi Uchida, Taku Miyazawa

Nakagawa says he felt that Hawaii was the perfect location to expand Asobi Expo into the U.S. “I thought it was a really good place, where the Japanese people would be happy to come and the local people [would] have a lot of support,” he says.

“It was our first time in Hawaii,” says Suzuka of Atarashii Gakko! The four-member girl group is no stranger to performing in the U.S., having previously performed at Coachella and headlining a North American tour of their own.

“The audience was really enjoying [the] different artists, so I thought maybe that’s the atmosphere of Hawaii, that you get to be more relaxed. I thought that was really good,” the singer continues. She says they put together a setlist that they knew the crowd would enjoy.

“Even the Japanese people that traveled over here, they seemed to have more energy or were yelling in a higher tone or [had] more body movement,” she continues. “We actually got hyped watching the audience. And, as a team, I was really grateful that we all got to travel together with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Fruits Zipper, but also [with] the Asobi System staff.”

Fruits Zipper, hailing from Asobi System’s sublabel, Kawaii Labs, is admittedly a bit to newer the U.S. market, but the girl group — which operates on a system of each member being assigned a color — had a large fan presence at the Honolulu concert.

“It’s always nice to see that there are fans outside Japan because we never get to meet the person,” Noel, whose color in the group is yellow, explains. The 22-year-old is the group’s main fluent English-language speaker, having been born in Germany and raised in Japan.

The word “kawaii” means cute or adorable in Japanese, which is exactly the vibe that Fruits Zipper’s visual aesthetic and sound conveys. The label, much like its parent company, aims to bring Harajuku culture to the global stage. Kawaii Labs, led by Misa Kimura, oversees several girl groups, including Cutie Street, who have been going viral internationally following music show promotions in Korea.

J-pop girl group Fruits Zipper.

Hisashi Uchida, Taku Miyazawa

“One of the main thing Kawaii Labs strives to do is to bring the Japanese idol culture to the world, so when we do anything abroad like in U.S. and elsewhere, we don’t try to customize it to that region,” Kimura explains. The 35-year-old serves as the project’s leader and producer for Fruits Zipper and Cutie Street, along Candy Tune and Sweet Steady.

“In the case of the U.S., they think [this kind of group] is a breath of fresh air,” the producer says. “It’s just completely different than what they’re used to.”

Kimura was once in the J-pop scene herself, having previously been the leader of idol group Musubizm. The producer’s experience as both an executive and a former idol makes her uniquely qualified in conveying just how much J-pop has grown globally. “I’m very happy to see that the Japanese culture is actually spreading in different countries, even in places that I didn’t think it was there,” she says. “I’m very happy to [be able] see that in person.”

Asobi System and Asobi Expo plan to continue their global growth, says Nakagawa. “Watching the audience’s reaction really touched me. It was really very emotional and made me realize I really want to [bring this to] L.A., Miami, London, Paris,” the executive explains.

“The music is so different when you experience it [in person], not just on the social media side [or] listening to it,” he continues. “It’s a challenge to bring [the show] over and then to find the right artists that will be able to communicate to the audience, but it’s something we want to think about and challenge ourselves to make it happen.”

April 19, 2026
Ted Danson Says Bill Clinton Questioned His ‘Intentions’ With Mary Steenburgen Under Secret Service Watch

Ted Danson recalled an intimidating first encounter with former President Bill Clinton and his Secret Service detail during an early date with his now-wife, Mary Steenburgen.

Moderating a panel with Bill and Hillary Clinton at History Talks in Philadelphia on Saturday, Danson started off by telling the audience that his wife has been close with the Clintons “since the early days” — and that she used her friends in high places to test his character on one of their first dates.

“One of the first things she did was take me to meet her dear friends in the White House,” Danson said. “Bill — Mr. President — took me around the corner, and there were three Secret Service agents behind him, all of them looking at me. The president asked me what my intentions were.”

The “Cheers“ star then turned to Bill and asked, “My first question is to you, Mr. President: Do you think that was fair?”

“No, but it was effective. And I didn’t think I had to be fair,” Clinton replied after a brief silence. “As it turned out, you became the best thing that ever happened to her.”

Staying on topic about the Clintons’ early days in the White House, Hillary described the jarring transition from Arkansas to presidential life. After attending the presidential inaugural parade and a dozen balls, the exhausted couple “collapsed into bed” around 3:30 a.m. — only to be awakened two hours later by staff.

“At 5:30 a.m., the doors opens with a White House butler,” Hillary recalled. “He walks in with a silver tray and two cups of coffee because that’s how the Bushes — George H.W. and Margaret Bush — liked to woken up.”

Even basic tasks became an ordeal. Hillary recalled one instance when her staff spiraled after she asked for two eggs, a pan and butter to whip up a quick breakfast for Chelsea when she fell sick.

“You would’ve thought I’d asked for the nuclear codes,” she quipped. “If you said, ‘Can I have a banana?’ and they didn’t have one, then everywhere you went for a week, there’d be bunches of bananas.”

Parenting, childhood upbringings and creating a better world for their grandchildren anchored the Clintons’ conversation, largely steering clear of Trump and other partisan topics. This tone echoed across the four presidential panels, which promoted bipartisanship and the values of the nation’s Founding Fathers (the term “working towards a more perfect union” was heard repeatedly throughout the day).

Beyond politics, History Talks drew a range of entertainment figures, including Nicole Kidman, NFL icons Tom Brady and Jason Kelce, country singer Garth Brooks and comedians Tina Fey and Colin Jost.

April 19, 2026
Don Schlitz, Revered Songwriter Behind ‘The Gambler,’ ‘Forever and Ever, Amen,’ ‘When You Say Nothing at All’ and Other Country Classics, Dies at 73

Don Schlitz, one of the most widely revered names in the history of country music songwriting, died April 16 in a Nashville hospital after what was described as a sudden illness. He was 73.

A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Schlitz may be best recognized by the public as the sole author of one of country’s most iconic singles, and possibly the genre’s most quoted song ever: “The Gambler,” a country-pop crossover smash for Kenny Rogers in 1978. It was the first song he ever had recorded by someone, but it was not all downhill from there.

Most of his other hits were co-writes, many of them with fellow songwriting legends like Paul Overstreet. The collaborations with Overstreet include “Forever and Ever, Amen,” an 1987 smash in the hands of Randy Travis; other songs for Travis that included “On the Other Hand,” from 1986, and “Deeper Than the Holler,” in 1988; and “When You Say Nothing at All,” made into a country No. 1 by Keith Whitley in 1992 (and also successfully recorded by Alison Krauss & Union Station, plus Ronan Keating, who had a U.K. No. 1 with it in 1999).

Sometimes Schlitz co-wrote with a recording artist, as with “I Feel Lucky,” a smash he co-wrote with its singer, Mary Chapin Carpenter, in 1992, and “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” which Carpenter turned into another hit the following year.

He had several enduring hits with the Judds, co-written with their producer, Brett Maher, including “Turn It Loose,” “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” and “I Know Where I’m Going,” each of them a No. 1 country hit in the late ’80s for the mother/daughter duo.

Others who recorded his material included Alabama, Sara Evans, Waylon Jennings, George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, Reba McEntire, the Bellamy Brothers, Tanya Tucker, Garth Brooks, Pam Tillis, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, Kathy Mattea, the Oak Ridge Boys and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Schlitz’s many honors include his inductions into the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame in 1993, the (New York-based) Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012, the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Grand Ole Opry in 2022.

The Country Hall of Fame is especially notable because Schlitz was only the sixth songwriter to be inducted, at that time. The Opry’s recognization is similarly noteworthy because he was the only non-performing songwriter to be so inducted in the Opry’s history — although he certainly became a performer for his many regular appearances there, as he had in many songwriters’ round appearances at the Bluebird Cafe.

Don Schlitz speaks onstage during the Class of 2023 Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 22, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Awards-wise, “The Gambler” won him the Grammy for best country song in 1978, and it became the CMAs’ song of the year the following year. Ultimately he won two Grammys, three CMA song of the year prizes and two ACM song of the year awards. He also was named ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year for four consecutive years, from 1988-91.

His prowess extended to Broadway, when he wrote both music and lyrics for the 1999 musical “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

Schlitz often told the story of how he wrote “The Gambler” when he was 23, working at Vanderbilt University as a computer operator, aspiring to be a writer. One day, without a car, he walked 2-3 miles home from work and wrote the entirety of the song in his head along the way, except for the kicker. “I’m just making up this story song; I’m good at rhymes and meter, so I’m putting that in to it…. When I made it back to my efficiency apartment, I sat down at my dad’s old Smith-Corona typewriter — I’m a pretty good typist — and wrote it start to finish…without a last verse. When I was done, I knew it was too long and it didn’t have a love angle, and it wasn’t up-tempo, and it was a pretty linear melody,” he told the Library of Congress in a 2018 interview.

One solution for the song was to have no solution. “At that time, I didn’t have the last verse, though I wrote 50 or 60 options. One version of it had 50 lines, another had another 50 lines. I didn’t know how to end it, how to get out of the song, and finally I just decided to leave it open-ended, let the listener decide what happens in the end, like an O. Henry finish.”

Bobby Bare recorded it, but his record company didn’t think it was worthy of releasing. Three other versions came out, including one recorded by Schlitz himself, which he recalled peaking at No. 61. Then an ASCAP exec took to it and got it recorded by both Johnny Cash and Rogers, and the latter singer’s version was the one to make it to the starting gate.

“Kenny’s version was really special and fit his persona. Then they did this amazing album cover. He changed a couple of words, he modulated after the first chorus. His version was more up-tempo. … The song became ubiquitous. It was everywhere. … Actually, I think it was a hit because it was a story, somewhat linear, and, it had no ‘finished’ ending! It allowed the listener to be involved. It respected the intelligence of the listener. And I say this with humility, or as much as I can muster, it wasn’t dumb. (Bob) McDill once told me, ‘You can’t write country music, looking down your nose at it.’ You have to respect your listener. Listeners are smart people. And it was a good time for a story song…

“I can’t tell you enough about what Kenny did, for the song, for me, and for country music. Kenny has always been loyal, kind, generous with his praise. The power of Kenny Rogers, and Larry Butler — a genius producer. The right people at the right time.”

He added, ” if it’s become an American folk song, I’m good with that. You know, I’m not a card player, not a gambler. I don’t do that. Besides, that’s not what the song’s about anyway. If it is, to some people, that’s great. But [the song’s] really about discretion. It’s about choices and the choices you make. Very simply — but very directly. I think when you hear the song, you hear the meaning of the story in Kenny’s voice. He put the wisdom in there.”

Schlitz had only been performing on the Opry on a few occasions when Vince Gill formally invited him to become a member. Soon, he became a favorite of Opry audiences, regaling them with stories from his songwriting career after bluntly beginning with: “You have no idea who I am.”

“I remember whispering to Vince onstage, ‘Don’t leave me here alone,’” Schlitz recalled of his first Opry appearance to American Songwriter in 2022. “I went out and played ‘The Gambler’ and everyone applauded. As we were driving home, we were quiet like old friends can be. I asked him, ‘Does it ever get old?’ He told me ‘Nope,’ and that has turned out to be true.”

Don Schlitz

Chris Hollo

He had officially quit songwriting some time ago, saying the constant sense of inner mental research had wearied him. ““I woke up and looked at my wife and said, ‘I want to stop. I want to stop thinking about it all the time.’ That was my process. I listened to people talk. I read. I wanted to write songs that I wanted to hear. Most importantly, I wanted to find an honest way of saying something that came from my heart.”

He still marveled at the unpredictable magic that makes for a hit, saying, “You never know what song is going to be the song, You’re going to tell me that a song that is too long about a guy talking to an older guy who is either drunk or doesn’t have any cigarettes of his own is something that needs to be written? Yeah, I wanted to hear that story.”

Schlitz added, ““I’m not gonna think about my legacy yet. But I get to share Kenny Rogers’ legacy. Keith Whitley’s legacy. Randy Travis’ legacy. These are songs that they know from their heroes.”

Schlitz is survived by his wife, Stacey; his daughter Cory Dixon and her husband Matt Dixon; his son Pete Schlitz and his wife Christian Webb Schlitz; his grandchildren Roman, Gia, Isla, and Lilah; his brother Brad Schlitz; and his sister Kathy Hinkley. Service plans are pending.

“We are heartbroken by the news of the passing of Don Schlitz,” said Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern. “Don loved his family, his home state of North Carolina, and above all, songs and songwriters. He carried that love into every room, every stage and every lyric he ever wrote. His work, including timeless classics like ‘The Gambler,’ helped shape our genre and rightfully earned him some of its highest honors.

“In recent years, he found great joy performing at the Grand Ole Opry, mentoring the next generation of songwriters, and sharing his music at Room In The Inn, giving back to the community he helped build. Wayne and I send our love to Stacey and the entire family. Not long ago, we shared a dinner, and as we were leaving, Don picked up a guitar and began to play. That is how I will always remember him, smiling and with a guitar in his hand. His legacy lives on through his music and the many artists and writers he inspired. He will be deeply missed.”

April 19, 2026
Unluckiest Trader Misses $2.6M Profit Opportunity on Asteroid Shiba $ASTEROID

The highly volatile crypto market has witnessed another tragic tale of loss at the brink of a breakout. In this respect, an Asteroid Shiba ($ASTEROID) trader has recently sold their holdings at a loss just before the staggering price pump. As per the data from Lookonchain, the trader has missed a life-changing opportunity of $2.6M profit in this respect. The incident highlights the significance of patience amid the wider market fluctuations.

This is the unluckiest guy I’ve ever seen!

80 days ago, trader 0x5811 spent $542 to buy 7.43B $ASTEROID.

Just one day before $ASTEROID pumped, he sold all 7.43B $ASTEROID for $405, taking a $137 loss.

Today, those 7.43B $ASTEROID are worth over $2.6M.

He missed a… pic.twitter.com/xHDPp5OD8p

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 19, 2026

Trader ‘0x5811’ Offloads $ASTEROID Holdings at Loss, Missing $2.6M Opportunity

As the market statistics suggest, the trader, with the wallet address “0x5811,” has recently made a pessimistic move of offloading their $ASTEROID holdings at a loss. Interestingly, this took place only 1 day before the meme token’s huge upsurge. Hence, the trader could not attain a possible $2.6M profit following the bull rally.

Particularly, the trader’s journey with the $ASTEROID token started 80 days ago. At that time, the trader purchased a notable amount of 7,426,982,235 $ASTEROID tokens by spending 0.20 $ETH, equaling just $541.47. That was the moment when the token was changing hands at just a fraction of the present value it has. However, the trader gave up amid shifting market conditions following stagnation and decided to offload the $ASTEROID holdings.

Incurring $137 Loss Instead of Life-Changing Opportunity Amid Volatile Market

So, the trader, while endeavoring to cut losses, swapped the whole 7.43B tokens in return for just 0.1744 $ETH. This indicates that the trader sold that amount for up to $405, showing a loss of nearly $137. Following that, $ASTEROID started showing shifting market dynamics with significant price increase. As a result, the trader missed a remarkable opportunity as the sold $ASTEROID holdings currently have a value of more than $2.6M.

April 19, 2026