Lizzo and Beyoncé pay tribute to Tina Turner: “You are strength and resilience”
Following the passing of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tina Turner, a number of artists and dignitaries paid tribute to the entertainer, including Lizzo and Beyoncé.
Enjoy!, USA TODAY
Samantha Weinstein, an actress who starred in the 2013 remake of “Carrie” and had roles in several cartoons, has died. She was 28 years old.
Her father, David Weinstein, confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY on Thursday that she died of ovarian cancer on May 14 at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada.
“We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of tributes to Samantha,” he said. “She lived a full, charming and authentic life. She was very passionate about her art and worked until her last days voicing animated characters and living as full a life as possible.”
He also shared that photos posted on Samantha’s unverified Instagram on May 15 were created by the actress herself for use in her farewell message. The photos show her smiling and floating in the cosmos.
“After two and a half years of cancer treatment and a life of jet-setting around the world, voicing a plethora of cartoon animals, making music and knowing more about life than most people will never know, she’s off on her next adventure,” reads the post.
Weinstein went on to live a full life while undergoing cancer treatment. She married Michael Knutson on October 29, 2022 and the two honeymooned in Japan.
In an article for Love What Matters, published last July, Weinstein, who also played in a punk rock band called Killer Virgins, opened up about being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 25 and d fell in love with Knutson. The two had their first date a week after his cancer diagnosis.
“The first dates were quite nerve-wracking, but I had just received some devastating news the week before – it was cancer. Talk about scaring a guy!” she wrote. “Eyes fixed on the dirt floor of the dog park, I told him that I had been diagnosed with a rare ovarian germ cell yolk sac tumor and that I would be starting chemotherapy in just a few months. I held my breath, squeezed my eyes closed and waited for the inevitable rejection…but it never came.”
She continued: “When my hormones were raging from the IVF injections, we yelled at each other as we built an IKEA vanity and collapsed on the floor laughing. When my hair started falling out, we We shaved our heads together. When my fingers turned black from nerve damage, he took me out for an ice cream and held the cone. He taught me that love is selfless and reminded me to let others take care of me too.
Weinstein wrote that she and Knutson started talking about their marriage shortly after their first date. At their wedding, after their first dance to “Don’t Yah Feel Better?” by The Velveteins, they engaged in a choreographed lightsaber duel.
“I said instead of a first dance, we should have a lightsaber duel. 20 months, 10 rounds of chemo and a lifetime of memories later, here we are,” she said. wrote on Instagram, adding that they were going to pretend-fight-in-the-vibe-of-your-parents-basement.”
Weinstein wrote in her article Love What Matters that she also came to terms with her sexuality and gender identity after her cancer diagnosis, coming out as “bisexual/pansexual” and non-binary to her parents and Knutson, who told her. all accepted.
“What I’ve learned in the 18 months since my first diagnosis is that the worst things in the world can turn out to be incredible blessings wrapped in sandpaper,” he said. she writes. “Having cancer is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, but in the weirdest way it was also the best thing. I still live with cancer and with my parents since the future is uncertain (on the bright side , we’ve never been closer!) I continue to work on my dream career as a voice actor. I have more love in my life and for myself than I ever could have. imagine, and I see each day as a gift There are still days when I can’t stop crying – I’m in pain or my thoughts are getting the better of me – but I’m learning to let my loved ones m ‘help carry the burden.’ what happened to me is a bit of a stretch, but it’s certainly not a witch’s curse either… and if it is, then this witch certainly has a sense of humor.”
More: Tina Turner, queen of rock ‘n’ roll, dies after a long illness