Nikita Pearl Waligwa, the young Ugandan actress who starred in the 2016 Disney film Queen of Katwe, has died of a brain tumor. She was 15 years old.

Queen of Katwe was Waligwa’s film debut and only listed film credit. She played Gloria, a friend of protagonist Phiona Mutesi, who was played by Madina Nalwanga. 

Based on a true story, Queen of Katwe follows Phiona’s rise as a chess prodigy in a Ugandan slum, aided by Gloria and her greater community. The film also starred Lupita Nyong’o as Phiona’s mother Nakku Harriet and David Oyelowo as her teacher Robert Katende. 

Waligwa died in a hospital in Kampala on Saturday, according to the BBC. Queen of Katwe director Mira Nair reportedly raised funds to help get Waligwa treatment in India, since Ugandan doctors said they did not have the necessary equipment. She was first diagnosed in 2016 and was cleared to return to school in 2017, but a new tumor was discovered last year.

Waligwa’s death was announced on Sunday by Gayaza High School, where she was a student. The news was shared on the high school’s official Twitter account.

“Fare thee well Nikita Pearl Waligwa,” the school wrote. “You were a darling to many and we have lost you to brain tumor at such a tender age.”

“We are gutted as @gayazahigh community,” the school later tweeted. “No words can explain the pain at the moment. R.I.P Nikita.”

Fare thee well Nikita Pearl Waligwa. You were a darling to many and we have lost you to brain tumor at such a tender age. Nikita was in S.3. Rest in Perfect Peace dear pic.twitter.com/ny8I9YAjsQ

— Gayaza High School (@gayazahigh) February 16, 2020

Nyong’o posted about Waligwa’s death on Sunday, as well. “It is with great sadness that I post about the passing of Nikita Waligwa, the sweet, warm, talented girl whom I worked with on the film, Queen Of Katwe,” Nyong’o wrote on Instagram. “She played Gloria with such vibrancy. In her real life she had the enormous challenge of battling brain cancer. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and community as they come to terms with having to say goodbye so soon.”

View this post on Instagram

It is with great sadness that I post about the passing of Nikita Waligwa, the sweet, warm, talented girl whom I worked with on the film, Queen Of Katwe. She played Gloria with such vibrancy. In her real life she had the enormous challenge of battling brain cancer. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and community as they come to terms with having to say goodbye so soon. May she truly rest in piece. May it be well with her soul.

A post shared by Lupita Nyong’o (@lupitanyongo) on Feb 16, 2020 at 3:44pm PST

Oyelowo also shared his condolences on Instagram. “We mourn the loss of our beautiful Nikita Pearl Waligwa,” he wrote. “She was a ball of light in @queenofkatwemovie and in life. Her battle with a brain tumor was humbling to witness. Her light will live on.”

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Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib made headlines this week for booing Hillary Clinton onstage at a Bernie Sanders rally in Iowa on Friday — though the congresswoman apologized several hours later.

Tlaib’s initial comments came in response to comments Clinton made in an upcoming documentary series that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. In the series, which documents Clinton’s life and 2016 presidential campaign, the former candidate harshly criticized Sanders, commenting on his track record and likability in D.C.

“He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done,” Clinton said. “He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.”

She doubled down on her remarks in a later interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Sanders’ supporters, meanwhile, weren’t having it — including Tlaib, who endorsed Sanders last October.

Tlaib was joined at this recent rally by fellow Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. (Omar, along with Tlaib, is also a member of The Squad, a group of progressive freshman congresswomen.) The conversation was moderated by Dionna Langford, the Sanders campaign’s Iowa co-chair, who brought up Clinton’s comments.

“We’re not going to boo, we’re not going to boo. We’re classy here,” Langford said when Tlaib cut in, “No, I’ll boo. Boo! You all know, I can’t be quiet. No, we’re going to boo. That’s all right. The haters will shut up on Monday when we win.”

Moderator: “You guys remember last week when someone by the name of Hillary Clinton said that we’re not going to boo.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “No, I’ll boo. Boo! You all know, I can’t be quiet. No, we’re going to boo. That’s alright. The haters will shut up on Monday when we win.” pic.twitter.com/FdEAnIYeJZ

— The Hill (@thehill) February 1, 2020

After online backlash (though some Sanders supporters also shared their support), Tlaib later tweeted out a statement apologizing for her behavior.

“I am so incredibly in love with the movement that our campaign of #NotMeUs has created,” Tlaib wrote. (#NotMeUs is a Sanders campaign slogan.) “This makes me protective over it and frustrated by attempts to dismiss the strength and diversity of our movement. However, I know what is at stake if we don’t unify over one candidate to beat Trump and I intend to do everything possible to ensure that Trump does not win in 2020.

“In this instance, I allowed my disappointment with Secretary Clinton’s latest comments about Senator Sanders and his supporters get the best of me. You all, my sisters-in-service on stage, and our movement deserve better,” she continued. “I will continue to strive to come from a place of love and not react in the same way of those who are against what we are building in this country. This is about building a just and equitable future for my two boys, children across the country, and future generations.”

My statement regarding last night:

“I am so incredibly in love with the movement that our campaign of #NotMeUs has created. This makes me protective over it and frustrated by attempts to dismiss the strength and diversity of our movement. (1/4)

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 1, 2020

“However, I know what is at stake if we don’t unify over one candidate to beat Trump and I intend to do everything possible to ensure that Trump does not win in 2020. (2/4)

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 1, 2020

“In this instance, I allowed my disappointment with Secretary Clinton’s latest comments about Senator Sanders and his supporters get the best of me. You all, my sisters-in-service on stage, and our movement deserve better. (3/4)

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 1, 2020

“I will continue to strive to come from a place of love and not react in the same way of those who are against what we are building in this country. This is about building a just and equitable future for my two boys, children across the country, and future generations.” (4/4)

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 1, 2020

Though her dig at Clinton got most of the attention, Tlaib also made reference to the Iowa caucuses, which are just around the corner. The caucuses kick off on Monday, February 3. 

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Lady Gaga recounted her experiences with PTSD and mental illness in conversation with Oprah Winfrey this weekend.

The talk took place on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, FL as part of Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour. It marked the start of Winfrey’s first national arena tour in five years.

In their hour-long conversation, Gaga and Winfrey discussed the singer’s struggles with fibromyalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Gaga opened up about being raped at age 19 by someone she knew, which eventually led to PTSD when she didn’t have the opportunity to process her trauma with a doctor or therapist afterward.

“I all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it,” Gaga told Winfrey. “Then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped.”

Drawing from her personal experience, Gaga also advocated for mental health classes and education in schools during the talk. Along with helping her manage her PTSD, Gaga found that mental health therapy helped treat her fibromyalgia, which can leave her in intense head-to-toe pain.

“Mental health is a medical condition,” she said. “It should be treated as a medical condition. It should not be ignored.”

After the talk, Winfrey spoke with Gaga backstage and thanked her.

“You were so amazing,” Winfrey said, tearing up. “You were so vulnerable, you were so truthful, you were so real…Nobody does that, and you just did it.”

During their conversation, Winfrey also asked Gaga about any future projects after the wild success of A Star Is Born. Gaga said that a new album is in the works, but she’s going to take her time with it. She intends to check in with herself and her well-being throughout the process.

“We’re having a self-care conversation, but I’m still going to make music, don’t worry,” she said.

Interviews from Winfrey’s tour will be posted on both her Facebook channel and the WW Now Facebook channel as part of the Weight Watchers Reimagined Wednesday Wellness Series. Clips will also be posted as highlights on the WW Now Instagram page.

If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

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Courtney Friel, a former Fox News reporter, says President Donald Trump made advances towards her before he was elected to the presidency — and when they were each separately married.

Friel outlines the alleged encounter in her upcoming memoir, Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News. During her time at the Fox News Channel, Friel would occasionally fill in as host on Fox and Friends (the show is a noted favorite of Trump’s), which was around the time when she claims Trump propositioned her.

According to an excerpt from her book provided to the New York Daily News, Friel expressed an interest in judging the Miss USA beauty pageant to Trump, who owned and operated the pageant at the time. Trump called her office telephone line in the following weeks.

“Though he said I couldn’t be a judge since I worked at a different network, he did ask me about my career goals and complimented my work at FNC,” Friel writes in her book. Trump allegedly also told Friel she was “the hottest one at Fox News,” and Friel claims that “out of nowhere, he said: ‘You should come up to my office sometime, so we can kiss.’”

She continues: “‘Donald,’ I responded, ‘I believe we’re both married.’ I quickly ended the call.” 

Refinery29 reached out for comment — Trump and the White House have not yet reacted to the allegation publicly.

Friel, who has been an anchor at KTLA in Los Angeles since leaving Fox in 2013, writes that the incident made it tough to report on Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. In the book, she also says that she empathizes with the dozens of women who have come forward with claims of unwanted advances and sexual misconduct by Trump. He denies all the previous allegations against him.

“It infuriated me that he would call all the women who shared stories of his bold advances liars,” Friel writes. “I totally believe them.”

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