We get Pope, NYC gets Beyonce, Malala, first lady, more
Also in Tattle: Chris Brown stopped from going Down Under, Hotel Transylvania 2 hits, so does Fetty Wap
WHILE Pope Francis was rocking Philadelphia this weekend, New York's Central Park hosted the 2015 Global Citizen Festival on
Saturday night.
There, headliners included Michelle Obama, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and Beyonce.
The multi-hour event, held on the Great Lawn, also featured Vice President Joe Biden, Hugh Jackman, Bono, Leonardo DiCaprio and show-closers Pearl Jam.
Obama said she has traveled the world and met with young women who have not had a chance to receive an education. She asked the audience to tweet photos of themselves with the hashtag #62MillionGirls and say what you learned in school. Obama said she learned how to "speak up" in school.
"Right now 62 million girls are not in school . . . they deserve the same chances to get an education as my daughters and your daughters," she told the feverish audience, who cheered her on.
The event, in its fourth year, aims at ending poverty around the world. (Good luck with that.) The festival is timed to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly meeting, and fans earned free tickets by taking actions to end poverty on globalcitizen.org.
"I want education to be the top priority because, how can we end poverty . . . when we deny the right to education?" Malala said.
"It is a book and a pen that can change the life of a child - it's not a gun," she added.
The event featured a number of unique musical pairings: Beyonce joined Eddie Vedder; Sting performed with Common; and Ariana Grande sang with Coldplay.
Ed Sheeran even joined Beyonce for a guitar-based version of "Drunk in Love," which earned roaring applause.
* On Friday night, the hot ticket was the guest list for President Obama's lavish dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
On the list was Philly-born filmmaker Lee Daniels ("Empire").
The meal featured Colorado lamb and Maine lobster, and entertainment by Ne-Yo, as opposed to Neoconservatives.
Brown sees blue
Chris Brown's plans to tour Down Under were in jeopardy yesterday after the Australian government formally warned the troubled R&B singer that he is likely to be denied a visa because of his criminal conviction for assaulting pop star Rihanna.
The immigration department issued Brown a "notice of intention to consider refusal," giving him 28 days to present evidence as to why he should be allowed to enter the country, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said in a statement.
The notice comes just days after former Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash urged Dutton to refuse the 26-year-old American a visa on character grounds.
"People need to understand, if you are going to commit domestic violence and then you want to travel around the world, there are going to be countries that say to you, 'You cannot come in because you are not of the character we expect in Australia,' " Cash, who is now minister for women, told reporters last week.
TATTBITS
* "Hotel Transylvania 2" earned a robust $47.5 million in its debut weekend, making it the top September opener of all time, according to Rentrak estimates yesterday. The previous record holder was "Hotel Transylvania" which opened to $42.5 million in 2012.
"The Intern," a PG-13-rated workplace comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro, took second with a
solid $18.2 million.
* Rapper Fetty Wap has received three summonses after he was injured in a motorcycle crash in his North Jersey hometown.
Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale says that Wap was cited for driving without a license, not having insurance and failing to produce a vehicle registration card.
As always, the best time to go out for a joyride when you're a celebrity is when you don't have a license or insurance.
Then again, Wap is the sound you make when your motorcycle smashes into a car.
- Daily News wire services
contributed to this report.
Email: gensleh@phillynews.com
On Twitter: @DNTattle