President Joe Biden made his first comments on his impeachment, telling a group of Democratic donors that Republicans ‘want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government.’

Biden, speaking at a fundraising reception in McLean, Virginia, specifically mentioned conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and her interest in impeaching him since the day Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.

‘Well, I tell you what, I don’t know quite why, but they just knew they wanted to impeach me. And now, the best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government,’ he said.

‘So look, look, I got a job to do. Everybody always asked about impeachment. I get up every day, not a joke, not focused on impeachment. I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got to deal with the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day,’ he noted. 

It was his first time acknowledging he faces the possibility of being convicted and removed from office. His most extensive comments to date came behind-closed doors. No TV cameras or photographers were allowed inside the fundraiser, only a small group of print reporters. 

The White House has doubled down on its defense of the president, blasting the impeachment inquiry as ‘baseless,’ setting up a war room to combat the investigation, and sending a memo to news organizations to encourage greater scrutiny of Republican motives.

Aides insist Biden is focused on business as usual. On Thursday he’ll travel to Maryland to make a speech about the economy. 

But the impeachment inquiry was obviously on his mind when he spoke to a small group of supporters, who were there to donate to his re-election campaign, at the home of David Frederick and Sophie Lynn. Frederick is a partner in Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, a Washington law firm, and was the first Rhodes scholar from the University of Pittsburgh. 

And the president has targeted Greene, a well-known, outspoken conservative and critic of his presidency, on previous occasions.  He’s said she ripped his infrastructure plan but took federal funds from it for her congressional district. 

Greene, a strong ally of Donald Trump, had threatened to vote against the appropriations bills that fund the government unless Speaker Kevin McCarthy opened an impeachment inquiry into the president. Congress has until September 30th to pass the federal budget or the government shuts down. 

She’s claimed credit for pushing McCarthy to open the impeachment inquiry.

Biden told the room full of donors on Wednesday night that he ‘has a job to do’ before he moved on to a different subject.

His comments were his first since McCarthy announced the inquiry – the first step in the impeachment process – on Tuesday. 

Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden‘s foreign business dealings since they took control of the House in January. They are looking into whether Joe, who was vice president during the time period, personally benefited from his son’s work and if the family used Joe Biden’s official office for their personal gain.

President Biden has denied any involvement with his son’s business affairs. 

Earlier in the day, Jill Biden rescued her stony-faced husband from having to answer questions about impeachment at his first public appearance since McCarthy announced the potentially devastating inquiry.

The first lady leaned over to whisper to the president and touched his arm when reporters started shouting questions about the probe during a Cabinet room meeting to discuss Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative.

Biden looked uncomfortable under the barrage of inquiries, stared at the ceiling, and made chewing motions with his mouth, but ultimately refused to talk as reporters were led out of the room.  

His wife stepped in as the White House ramped up their war with Republicans in the investigation into foreign business deals by Biden’s son Hunter.

The Cabinet meeting was on the Bidens’ initiative ‘to end cancer as we know it.’ 

Jill Biden praised her husband’s work on the issue, telling him on Wednesday that: ‘You did good things, Joe.’

The White House is all in on defending the president. 

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday called the Republicans’ impeachment probe a ‘baseless inquiry that the House Republicans can’t even really defend themselves.’

Jean-Pierre said that the elder Biden has done nothing wrong. 

‘Republicans in Congress, right they have spent all year investigating the president, that’s what they’ve spent, and have turned up with no evidence that he did anything. I mean, that is what we heard over and over again, from their almost clear year-long investigation, and that’s because the President didn’t do anything wrong,’ she said in her daily press briefing.

The administration is also going on the offensive to address specific charges against the president. 

Earlier Wednesday, the White House said Biden was just calling to check in on Hunter when he was on calls with his son’s business associates. 

‘This is part of the right-wing’s misinformation machine to try to confuse people about what the truth is,’ White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams told CNN on Wednesday morning.

‘The truth is that the president, as he said publicly for years, calls his family every day to check in. He calls his son every day to check in. He calls his other family members to check in to see how they are doing. He loves them. They are a tight-knit family.’ 

Hunter’s former business partner Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee in testimony this summer that Hunter had put his father on speakerphone during business meetings about 20 times.

At the time of Archer’s closed-door testimony, Democrats in the room said Archer described the calls as personal.

‘The witness indicated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and approximately 20 times over the course of 10-year relationship, Hunter may have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and they never once spoke about any business dealings,’ Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York said at the time. 

‘As he described it, it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, what’s going on. There wasn’t a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had,’ Goldman noted.

But Republican Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said Archer testified that Joe Biden ‘joined Hunter Biden’s dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times’ and was put on the phone to sell ‘the brand.’ 

Comer said the testimony shows ‘Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved. Joe Biden was ‘the brand’ that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.’ 

The White House has accused Republicans of election-year politics with its impeachment inquiry.

‘The president has been in politics for a long time. I think as he would say, he has seen a lot of malarkey along the way, but this might take the cake,’ Sams told CNN. ‘He’s focused on issues that matter to the American people.’

Sams is White House point person on countering Republican accusations against the president and his family. He is part of a war room established in the White House counsel’s office specifically to deal with GOP investigations.

He noted Biden, who was vice president at the time, was calling Hunter to check in because the family was also dealing with the illness of Beau Biden, the late son of the president. Beau Biden died in 2015 of brain cancer.

‘He was checking in with Hunter during a particularly hard time, a time where the family was going through Hunter’s brother Beau’s illness. Of course the president checks in,’ Sams said.

Hunter Biden has spoken about how he relapsed into his drug and alcohol addiction after his brother died. The Biden family later held an intervention to get him to do another stint in rehab.

It was during that intervention that Joe Biden told his son: ‘I don’t know what else to do. I’m so scared. Tell me what to do.’ 

Hunter Biden did get sober but his business dealings are being investigated by House Republicans. And the impeachment inquiry – the first step in the impeachment process – will investigate whether President Biden personally benefited from his son’s work.

Biden has said he had nothing to do with Hunter’s business deals.

Speaker McCarthy, under heavy pressure from the conservative wing of his party and facing threats to his speakership, declared on Tuesday the inquiry would begin. 

‘House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ McCarthy said. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.’

‘These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office. 

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

It’s estimated Hunter raked in $40 million through 20 shell companies and fake accounts created while Joe Biden was vice president.

Spice Girls singer Mel B was forced to come clean over rumours she was replaced by a lookalike on Masked Singer Australia this year.

The pop star, 48, appeared on the Kyle and Jackie O Show on Monday morning to shut down the claims after host Kyle Sandilands couldn’t believe how good she looked on the show.

Mel B, whose real name is Melanie Janine Brown, joined the radio hosts over Zoom from her hometown, Leeds in the UK.

However Kyle revealed he’d recently spotted the pop star in person while she was filming in Sydney.  

‘You were down at Rose Bay and I saw you,’ began Kyle. ‘And my missus went, “That looks like Mel B!” And I went, “No, that’s too young to be Mel B,” and now look at you,’ he recalled.

‘Even last year on the Masked Singer I said, “That’s not Mel. That’s a body double.”‘

Mel denied she had not personally starred in the show and claimed her youthful appearance was all thanks to her lifestyle overhaul.

‘You’ve got to look after yourself. I mean, I do saunas and ice baths every day. And I meditate,’ she explained.

‘I’m doing the whole lifestyle change.’

Mel’s former co-star Jackie admitted she was sad the interview couldn’t take place in person.

‘I was hoping you’d be here because I want to see you…’ Jackie told Mel. ‘How was your time in Australia filming Masked Singer?’

It appeared Mel B didn’t want to talk about the Channel 10 game show

‘Oh, it was so lovely – I tried to get a hold of you… So we could have dinner and stuff,’ Mel said, seemingly side-stepping the question. 

Masked Singer premiered on Channel 10 on Monday night, with the first mystery celebrity being unmasked as Brian Austin Green from iconic ’90s series, Beverly Hills, 90210.

After taking off his mask, the 50-year-old actor left judges Mel B, Abbie Chatfield, Dave Hughes and Chrissie Swan stunned, with none of them able to guess his identity.

The fifth season of The Masked Singer Australia has been generating a whirlwind of excitement online.

Across social media platforms, chatter abounds that Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, who has been a panellist on previous seasons, is concealed beneath one of the extravagant Tim Chappel-designed costumes.

In addition to this speculation, there are whispers that Mischa Barton, the iconic star of The O.C, may be among the 10 celebrities gracing the show.

Fans of the show have been flooding promotional videos on Instagram with their own guesses. 

Amber Riley, renowned for her role in Glee, stands out as the top choice following the snippet of Snow Fox delivering a soul-stirring rendition of Avicii’s Addicted.

‘It’s Amber Riley, it has to be!’ wrote one comment on Instagram, while another claimed it was ‘Jess Mauboy for sure’. 

Despite the creepy costume, many fans believe the Grim Reaper’s identity is that of Darren Hayes, former frontman of Savage Garden.

Meanwhile, many fans are split over the Bad Avocado and Space Fairy, with some believing Tones and I is one or the other.

Panellist Mel B declares in the promos that she’s convinced her former bandmate Emma Bunton is concealed beneath the Bluebottle costume, while social media pundits were skeptical of Scary’s bias.

‘I’d be rich if I was paid $100 for every time Mel predicts a Spice Girl,’ wrote one commenter. 

The Masked Singer continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel 10 

Simu Liu is breaking his silence after an awkward clip of him and his Barbie co-star Ryan Gosling went viral.

In a video taken at the film’s London premiere this month, Ryan was seen brushing off Liu’s hand after he’d placed it around his waist as they posed for photos.

Taking to Instagram Wednesday, Liu, 34, suggested that Ryan had shooed him away in jest and praised the Canadian actor for making the press tour a blast for the cast.

He kicked off the post by making a reference to the film’s hilarious ‘Beach You Off’ scene where Ken (Gosling) and Tourist Ken (Liu) face-off in the sand.

‘I’d beach off with this Kenadian again in a heartbeat,’ wrote Liu, who is a fellow Canadian.

He continued: ‘[Gosling] is the best human in every way, especially when he jokes around with us on the carpet and on set, infecting all of us with his kenergy.’

To close out the post, Liu redirected focus to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes that have shutdown Hollywood.

‘Now let’s get back to the issues that matter, like supporting our striking actors and writers fighting for fair wages!’

Liu included a photo from the London premiere that showed Ryan smiling at him as they posed with their hands in their pockets.

His depiction of Gosling as a jokester provides clarity to the viral clip that drew discussion online earlier this week, with one person saying they would ‘literally never show my face again’ if they had been Simu.

Taking to Twitter, another user said: ‘This Ken doesn’t like to be touched across the nape of his back. Simu Liu handled it well though.’

Another wrote: ‘I mean you supposed to ask before you touch someone,’ while a third added: ‘He was so mad after like you can see it in his face.’

A fourth person came to Simu’s defense and wrote: ‘Is it me or has Ryan Gosling come off very arrogant for this entire press tour?’ 

Ryan stars as the main Ken in the fantasy film opposite Margot Robbie who portrays the main Barbie.

Simu plays Tourist Ken in the flick alongside John Cena, Scott Evans and Kingsley Ben-Adir who play other versions of the hunky character. 

Barbie could join an elite club of billion dollar movies with industry insiders predicting the acclaimed live-action film could cross the milestone after a $360million opening weekend.

Barbie beat its initial estimate of $155million with its domestic total rising to $162million following its release on July 21 – with its ticket sales marking the biggest opening weekend of the year, beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie which pulled in $146 million.

The film has also taken in $194.3million worldwide – making its current worldwide total $356.3million.

Deadline’s industry insiders are predicting Barbie may cross the billion dollar mark globally – with the Margot Robbie starring movie tipped to make at least $800million during its theatrical run.

The movie has received praise for its cast, storyline and its feminist themes, with a source telling the publication: ‘If you made Barbie in the 1980s, it would have fallen into the patriarchy.

Barbie is the second biggest opening of all time. Only Avengers: Endgame in 2019 did better with $357 million. 

Barbie is also the biggest debut ever for a film directed by a woman (Greta Gerwig), overtaking Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel ($153 million), reports Variety. 

The highest grossing film of all time is 2009’s Avatar – which made $2,923,706,026, closely followed by 2019’s Avengers: Endgame with $2,797,501,328.

The Barbenheimer box office battle saw Oppenheimer rake in  $82.4 million domestically – and has added $98 million for a total of $180 million worldwide.

Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein said: ‘This historic result reflects the intense heat, interest and enthusiasm for Barbie. This doll will indeed have long long legs.’

In total, Barbie and Oppenheimer drew an estimated $465 million in ticket sales following their joint release date of July 21. 

If the $465 million figure is accurate, Barbenheimer weekend becomes the biggest box office weekend of all time.