People: Sorority tale untrue, says Miss America
Miss America Kira Kazantsev said Tuesday that she was removed from her college sorority over a letter that made light of hazing, but she denied a report that she was involved in aggressively hazing fellow students.
Kazantsev said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that she was asked to leave the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University after sending an email to alumni that included what she said was a joke about making an event “scary” for pledges.
The website Jezebel reported Monday, based on an anonymous source, that Kazantsev was involved with aggressively hazing pledges. Kazantsev denied the report, saying it was untrue and hurtful.
Kazantsev said she was hazed herself as a pledge and that she took part in some hazing activities. She had been in charge of the sorority’s recruitment committee.
The Miss America organization says that Kazantsev was open with them about being terminated from the sorority.
Dylan to be Person of the Year
Bob Dylan will be honored as the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year ahead of next year’s Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy and MusiCares Foundation announced Tuesday.
Dylan will receive the honor during MusiCares’ 25th annual gala dinner and concert held during Grammy weekend in Los Angeles.
Dylan’s “body of creative work has contributed to America’s culture, as well as that of the entire world, in genuinely deep and lasting ways,” Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the MusiCares Foundation and the Recording Academy, said in a statement.
The MusiCares Foundation offers a host of services and programs for music people in need, including financial assistance, medical expenses and aid for personal emergencies. The 57th annual Grammy Awards will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 8.
Bell will play for change with backup
Joshua Bell wants a do-over in Washington.
The Grammy-winning violinist played for spare change in a D.C. Metro station during a 2007 experiment with the Washington Post, and almost no one paid attention. It made for a good magazine story that won the Pulitzer Prize. But Bell hasn’t been able to live it down after seven years.
Bell told the Post he is planning another public performance in the main hall at Washington’s Union Station. And he hopes to have an audience this time. The performance is set for Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.
Bell said the goal is to promote music education. He will be accompanied by nine students he mentored. He also has a new album debuting the same day and an upcoming HBO special.
The birthday bunch
News anchor Lou Dobbs is 69. Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Joe Greene is 68. Actor Kevin Sorbo is 56. Actress Megan Ward is 45. Olympic gold medal gymnast Paul Hamm is 32. Actor Erik Stocklin is 32.