ACADEMY: WILL SMITH REFUSED TO LEAVE OSCARS The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that Will Smith was asked to leave Sunday's Oscars ceremony after he hit Chris Rock onstage, but that Smith refused. The academy met to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith. He has the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board meets again on April 18. [AP]
SUSAN COLLINS WEIGHS IN ON KETANJI BROWN JACKSON Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate Republican, said she will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. If all Democrats and Collins support Jackson, her confirmation would go through without Vice President Kamala Harris having to cast a tie-breaking vote. [HuffPost]
BIDEN CONTINUES PUSHING COVID VIGILANCE, EVEN AS NATION LOSES INTEREST Biden got his second COVID booster shot, announced a new coronavirus vaccine and treatment website, and urged Congress to continue providing funding to help with the pandemic — all as polling shows the country is losing interest in the 2-year-old public health crisis. "Americans are back to living their lives again. We can't surrender that now," Biden said. [HuffPost]
THIS MAY BE THE (ONLY) GOOD NEWS ABOUT FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW If you care about LGBTQ rights, it's hard not to be angry about Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signing what he calls a "parental rights bill" and what its many critics call the "Don't Say Gay" bill. But attitudes about sexual orientation and gender identity have changed a lot, and in the long run, the likes of DeSantis may be fighting a losing battle, writes Jonathan Cohn. [HuffPost]
MEHMET OZ GOES FULL CLIMATE DENIAL Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor-turned-GOP Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, declared that carbon dioxide is not a climate problem because it accounts for just a small fraction of the air in Earth's atmosphere, a longtime talking point of climate change deniers. "As a scientist, I'll tell you the Green New Deal is a lie," said Oz, who is a medical doctor, not a climate scientist. [HuffPost]
