Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he’s willing to hold elections if the US and other allies help ensure security. Is that a promise Trump can make as he pushes Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia Also, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man illegally deported by the Trump administration in March and eventually returned, is now free from immigration custody. Plus, Republicans in Indiana have rejected a redistricting proposal. President Trump successfully pushed other states to redraw their congressional maps to help Republicans win next year’s midterm elections, so why did Indiana’s Republicans break with the president?
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Kate Bartlett, Anna Yukhananov, Larry Kaplow and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange
Singer Ray J comes from a family filled with musicians and performers, including his father and his sister, Brandy.
Ray J released his debut single “Let It Go” in 1997, but his family’s history in the music industry dates back to at least the 1970s, when his father Willie Norwood joined The Composers. His mother, Sonja, has worked as the manager for both Ray J and Brandy since they began their own music careers.
Ray J has created his own family with estranged wife Princess Love, who he married in 2016. The pair welcomed daughter Melody in 2018 and son Epik in 2020. In May 2020, the pair announced they were separating, and have since rescinded and then re-filed for divorce three more times. They are currently still married.
In November 2025, the “One Wish” singer was arrested after he allegedly pulled a gun on his estranged wife during an argument on Thanksgiving Day.
Video footage from the livestream allegedly showed Ray J saying, “Y’all wanna drive drunk? Y’all wanna drive drunk? Drive drunk. Drive drunk, Princess,” before Love interjects, “Ray, you just pointed a gun–.”
“Drive drunk, princess. Go ahead,” Ray J also appeared to say. “You wanna take my kids? You and your drunk cousin? Cuz y’all drunk at the alcoholics? Take my kids then, go ahead. Who’s gonna drive? Tony, he’s been drinking too.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about Ray J’s relationships with his family, including Love and their two children.
Willie Norwood
Willie NorwoodParas Griffin/Getty Images for BMI
Ray J’s father Willie is a singer, coach and teacher. As shared via Kovocals, Willie joined the singing group The Composers in the 1970s. The band made the decision to move to Hollywood after opening for Chaka Khan & Rufus, and Willie lived there with his family until he and wife Sonja decided to move back to Mississippi.
Willie took the family back to California to serve as a minister of music and become a music coach. He put together Brandy’s first tour and released his own album, Bout It, in 2001.
Willie also appeared on Brandy and Ray J’s reality series, Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. The series aired on VH1 for two seasons, from April 2010 to February 2011.
Sonja B. Norwood
Sonja NorwoodJonathan Leibson/Getty Images for WE tv
Sonja has worked as Brandy and Ray J’s manager throughout their music careers, and is also the CEO of the family’s management company, Norwood & Norwood. As shared on her website, Sonja cut her career at H&R block short to focus on her children’s musical pursuits. This allowed her to help Brandy and Ray J navigate music contracts, Brandy’s foray into music and beauty deals and running the Norwood Kids Foundation.
“Being Black, a woman, a mom, and coming into this industry in the `90s was not easy,” she says on her site. “When I’m teaching, it’s important for people to understand the practices of the entertainment industry. I appreciate all of the good and bad attitudes, the no’s and yes challenges and deceptions that came my way. They have made me the business person I am today. I have earned my way – fearless, confident, and passionate about who I am and how I can change things. I want up-and-coming mom managers and females especially to know that if they are willing to put in the work to not only master their craft but also to wholly understand who they are as a person, establish boundaries and keep God first – they can accomplish anything.”
Brandy Norwood
Brandy NorwoodDerek White/Getty Images
Brandy is Ray J’s older sister, known to audiences around the world as a singer and actress. She rose to fame after securing a role on the ABC series Thea, which aired from September 1983 to February 1984, but her breakthrough moment came with the release of her first self-titled album in September 1984.
Brandy led the cast of Moesha in 1996, and the series became a hit soon after its debut. Her acting career spawned several more roles, including in the 1997 movie Cinderella.
The release of her follow-up album Never Say Never in 1998 introduced Brandy to wider audiences after the single “The Boy is Mine” hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Brandy has continued to act and sing in the years that followed.
Sy’Rai Smith
Sy’Rai SmithBryan Bedder/Getty Images for Lifetime
Sy’Rai is the daughter of Brandy and producer Robert Smith. She made her debut as a singer on her mom’s 2020 record B7 and released her own song, “On My Own” in 2023. She is also the host of the “I Shouldn’t Have Said That” podcast.
Princess Love
Princess LoveUnique Nicole/Getty Images
Ray J and Princess Love married in August 2016, and have since welcomed two children together. The pair’s relationship has been tumultuous, and they have filed for divorce several times (in May 2020, September 2020, October 2021 and most recently in February 2024).
“After much reflection, discussion, and counseling, we have come to the difficult realization that our paths have diverged, and it is in the best interest of both of us to part ways,” Love wrote in a since-deleted post shared via Instagram in February 2024. “We want to reassure you that this decision was made thoughtfully and with mutual respect and consideration for each other’s well-being. While our relationship as spouses may be coming to an end, we remain committed to co-parenting our children and maintaining a positive and supportive family dynamic.”
Princess was a cast member on seasons 3 through 6 of Love & Hip Hop: Miami (the series aired from 2014 to 2019) and frequently documents her cooking on Instagram.
Ray J Familyesse Grant/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Ray J and Love welcomed their first child together on May 23, 2018. Soon after her birth, Ray J shared a video of himself with Melody with OK! Magazine, telling the outlet that he and Love were considering a move to London with their daughter.
“I’m here with the love of my life,” he said in the video. “I love you. I’ll always be there for you. You’ll never have to want for nothing, baby.”
He added of the potential move, “I like the people, the opportunities, and the values are a little different. I’ve been in Hollywood so long, I know what it comes with, I want my daughter to have a peaceful, happy life. I want to be consistent in being there for the baby. We’d love to move in the next year and a half.”
Epik Ray Norwood
Love and Ray J’s son Epik joined the family on December 30, 2019.
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As Tatiana Schlossberg underwent stem cell treatment for her terminal cancer battle, her siblings leapt into action to help.
“My sister had turned out to be a match and would donate her stem cells,” Tatiana, 35, wrote in a New Yorker essay published Saturday, November 22, referring to older sister Rose Schlossberg. “My brother [Jack Schlossberg] was a half-match, but he still asked every doctor if maybe a half-match was better, just in case.”
The Schlossberg siblings are the three children of Caroline Kennedy — the daughter of the late John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onaissis — and Edwin Schlossberg.
Tatiana discovered that she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2024 shortly after giving birth to her second child. (Tatiana and husband George Moran welcomed a son in 2022 and a daughter in 2024.)
After consulting her physicians, Tatiana learned that she had a rare mutation in her blood cells and was subsequently given a year to live.
“I could not be cured by a standard course of treatment. I would need a few months, at least, of chemotherapy, which would aim to reduce the number of blast cells in my bone marrow,” she explained in her “A Battle With My Blood”essay for TheNew Yorker. “Then, I would need a bone-marrow transplant, which could cure me. After the transplant, I would probably need more chemotherapy, on a regular basis, to try to prevent the cancer from returning.”
Tatiana also underwent a couple of clinical trials, in addition to the stem cell treatment using Rose’s donation.
“My sister held her arms straight for hours as the doctors drained blood from one, scooped out and froze her stem cells, and pumped the blood back in the other,” Tatiana recalled of Rose’s procedure. “The cells smelled like canned tomato soup. When the transfusion began, I sneezed twelve times and threw up.”
Prince William, Jack and Tatiana Schlossberg, Caroline Kennedy in 2022.ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
She added, “Then I waited — for my blood counts to recover, for my sister’s cells to heal and change my body. We wondered if I would get her banana allergy or her personality. My hair started to fall out and I wore scarves to cover my head, remembering, vainly, each time I tied one on, how great my hair used to be.”
While Tatiana was hospitalized, with Moran by her side, her other relatives helped babysit their children.
“My parents and my brother and sister, too, have been raising my children and sitting in my various hospital rooms almost every day for the last year and a half,” Tatiana wrote. “They have held my hand unflinchingly while I have suffered, trying not to show their pain and sadness in order to protect me from it. This has been a great gift, even though I feel their pain every day.”
She continued, “Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
After Tatiana’s essay was published, her family has been in her corner. Jack, 32, even reposted links to the article via his Instagram, while cousin Maria Shriver also offered her support.
“Tatiana is a beautiful writer, journalist, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. This piece is about what she has been going through for the last year and a half,” Shriver, 70, wrote via her Instagram, specifically responding to the New Yorker story. “It’s an ode to all the doctors and nurses who toil on the frontlines of humanity. It’s so many things, but best to read it yourself, and be blown away by one woman’s life story. And let it be a reminder to be grateful for the life you are living today, right now, this very minute.”
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The Weeknd is stepping up to help Jamaicans impacted by Hurricane Melissa … donating a bunch of money to help put food on their tables. The “Blinding Lights” singer is donating $350,000 from his XO Humanitarian Fund to support the World Food…
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The girlfriend of late Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland broke her silence after the NFL star’s sudden death.
“I’m grieving hard right now,” Catalina Mancera told the Daily Mail on Monday, November 10. “It will be a long time before I’ll feel ready to talk at any length.”
Mancera, 22, called the police the night before Kneeland’s death on the morning of Thursday, November 6. She expressed concern over Kneeland’s well-being, telling authorities her boyfriend had “a history of mental illness.”
After a brief police chase, Kneeland was found near his abandoned car on the Dallas Parkway, dead of an apparent suicide. He was 24 years old.
“We’re still in the early stages of everything,” Mancera added. “We are working on the funeral arrangements. I don’t know where it’s going to be yet.”
Kneeland was also survived by his father, Shawn, who is currently incarcerated in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and his three siblings: brothers, AJ and Shawn Jr., and sister, Yahmya.
The football star’s mother, Wendy, died in February 2024, just two months before he was selected in the second round by the Cowboys in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Mancera, a fashion designer, has been staying at the Plano, Texas, apartment where Kneeland lived prior to his death.
Courtesy of Catalina Mancera/Facebook
Nicole Kneeland-Woods, Marshawn’s cousin, told the Daily Mail that the NFL player started dating Mancera while he was a student-athlete at Western Michigan University.
“Marshawn shared a very special relationship with Catalina, whom he had been with since his sophomore year of college,” she said. “They supported each other through many stages of life. Catalina is an important part of our family and she’s hurting deeply too.”
Despite what 911 dispatchers allege Catalina told them, Nicole said, “There were no previous signs or indications that Marshawn was dealing with mental issues.”
“Marshawn was a strong, loving person who cared deeply about his family and everyone around him,” Nicole added.
In addition to the death of his mother, Marshawn also lost his grandfather in 2023, which Nicole said was “was incredibly hard for him.”
“But beyond that grief, Marshawn didn’t show signs of depression or mental health issues,” Nicole explained. “Our family is devastated and still trying to process something that feels unimaginable. We want people to remember Marshawn for his kindness, his sense of humor and his drive. He was loved deeply and that love will always be his legacy.”
Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, broke his silence about Marshawn’s death on Tuesday, November 11.
“I think we all have unfettered feelings about the people we love, people we work with, and this is just a time when you acknowledge that there’s no answers,” Jones, 83, said on Dallas’ 105.3 The Fan. “It makes you want to live life to the fullest. It makes you want to look for the very best in what we have for each other. And in some way make sense out of these times in terms of what they can mean from helping those that are here on earth right now.”
Jones added, “All of those things are very natural, come to mind, but his death is such a national awareness thing that it takes on some of that light when we think about how we go forward.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
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Nathalie Kelley is opening up about her experience working with Ryan Phillippe and his son, Deacon Phillippe, on the set of their show Motorheads.
“[Deacon is] the most charismatic, polite, thoughtful young man I have ever met,” Kelley, 40 exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, November 10, referring to Phillippe’s son, whom he shares with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, adding that he “gives me hope for the entire gender of men.
“I’m like, wow! If this is what the new generation of men are coming out, looking like, sounding like, acting like, then I feel more at ease about the future of our species,” she continued, while promoting the upcoming short film Yachapa, which highlights Quechua weavers and alpaquero families in Peru, and her partnership with alpaca fiber apparel PAKA. “Honestly, what an incredible young man.”
She also recalled how overjoyed Ryan was to let Deacon spread his wings for the Amazon Prime drama.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Fanatics
“I think it was [Deacon’s] first major acting role, and super sweet to see the father-son dynamic and how proud Ryan was,” Kelley said. “Ryan was trying to navigate how much to interfere and how much to let him be in his own process. I learned a lot from having my own kids on the show, from observing Ryan as a father and just realizing, like, how beautiful that the cycle of life is.”
Kelley explained that her time on the Motorheads set also “taught me a lot about motherhood,” describing the experience as “a really transformative process for me.”
“Because at the end of it, I decided that I actually did want to have children, and before that, I hadn’t wanted to. So it’s really beautiful how art and life mimic and imitate and feed one another,” she added. “I’ll always be grateful to Motorheads for giving me that kind of awakening and realization.
Kelley, who was born in Peru before moving to Australia, has already had a full circle moment in her partnership with PAKA, fulfilling a two-decade promise to herself.
“I grew up in Australia, which is [on] the other side of the world from Peru, and when I came home for the first time after moving there very young, I saw so much injustice and so many wrongs that I wanted to right when it came to my indigenous community. And I made a promise when I was 18 years old, that one day I was going to do something to right these wrongs and to make up for the fact that I had left,” she said. “I’d never forgotten that promise.”
For Kelley, accomplishing that goal was “my sweet surprise full circle moment.” And she’s not done yet.
The “Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift” star has “found a purpose” after reconnecting with her Peruvian roots.
“It feels like it’s just the beginning,” she told Us. “I realize that what they are looking for, beyond help, is allyship, and what Kris [Cody] is doing with PAKA, and what I can do as a storyteller with influence, with global influence, is be their allies and stand by and stand beside them.”
Courtesy of PAKA
Kelley said they are shining a light on “a supply chain that needs a lot of justice and reorienting, so that we can make sure that the people behind the alpaca fiber are being honored, as well as the animals and the ecosystems.”
She also shared that it’s important the local Quechua weavers are “being properly compensated and integrated into the supply chain in a meaningful and just way.”
“This is just the first step. Kris and I have a lifelong mission there,” Kelley teased.
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