If there was one thing that united us during a polarized 2024, it was likely the solar eclipse, a reminder of the awesome forces in our galaxy as one star disappeared, albeit briefly. Throughout the year, luckily, we saw the birth of more stars on Earth.
Aaron Pierre announced himself in the taut, suspenseful thriller “Rebel Ridge,” Nicholas Alexander Chavez frightened in the one-two punch of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Grotesquerie,” and GloRilla emerged as one of rap’s most promising new voices.
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Fred Hechinger poses for a portrait on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in New York. Hechinger has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Adria Arjona poses for a portrait on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. Arjona has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.(Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)
Maleah Joi Moon poses for a portrait on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in New York. Moon has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
GloRilla poses for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. GloRilla has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)
Aaron Pierre poses for a portrait on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. Pierre has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
This combination of photos shows AP's 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha'la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
An appropriately named celestial being — Maleah Joi Moon — blew up on Broadway, while Myha’la stamped her authority on the series “Industry,” Adria Arjona soared in “Blink Twice” and “Hit Man,” and Fred Hechinger ruled as a Roman emperor in “Gladiator II.”
All seven have ended 2024 with critical and popular attention and have been named The Associated Press’ Breakthrough Entertainers of the Year. The latest class join a range of Breakthrough Entertainers anointed since 2017, including Ayo Edebiri, SZA, Rachel Zegler, Megan Thee Stallion and Daniel Kaluuya.
“It felt like I was doing the thing that I was put on earth to do,” says Chavez, who cut his teeth on ABC’s “General Hospital” before starring in two Ryan Murphy shows this fall.
GloRilla established herself as a proven hitmaker with “Wanna Be” featuring Megan Thee Stallion and the breakout hit “Yeah Glo!,” which earned two Grammy nominations.
“Don’t ever get too comfortable,” advises the rapper. “Take advantage of everything that comes your way. If you drive and apply yourself, it’s going to happen.”
Moon has had quite a 2024 — winning a best actress Tony Award, going to the Met Gala and appearing on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She calls all of the events “wonderful sprinkles on an already really good cupcake.”
Arjona doesn’t take it lightly that she is one of the few Latina actors able to play multidimensional roles. Her long-term dream is to see more varied Latin American stories on screen.
“I just hope that it gets less and less complicated and that the opportunities of playing real dimensional characters just doesn’t stop,” she says.
Pierre — who once had an otherworldly part in SyFy’s “Krypton” — will next showcase his vocal talents in “Mufasa: The Lion King.”
“I want to always feel like I’m growing, like I’m shifting the needle. You know, I never want to feel stagnant. I never want to feel comfortable,” he says.
Hechinger, with his breakthrough role as Caracalla in “Gladiator II,” is on a roll: He's in the Spider-Man spinoff “Kraven the Hunter,” along with “Nickel Boys,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
“For so many years I wanted to tell stories and be an actor,” he says. “So, the moment I started to get paid to do it, where it was a job, an actual real job to do this thing that I loved to play and focus and work in this way, that’s something I count as a blessing.”
Myha’la is already looking ahead: She has roles in two notable films coming next year — “Swiped,” about the founding of Bumble, and “They Will Kill You,” with Zazie Beetz — in addition to the fourth season of “Industry.”
“Nobody saw this trajectory for me. Not even me,” she says. “This has actually been sort of like a very happy accident and surprise that I have any career at all in TV/film.”
For more on AP’s 2024 class of Breakthrough Entertainers, visit https://apnews.com/hub/ap-breakthrough-entertainers
Fred Hechinger poses for a portrait on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in New York. Hechinger has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Adria Arjona poses for a portrait on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. Arjona has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024.(Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
Myha'la poses for a portrait on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in New York. Myha'la has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)
Maleah Joi Moon poses for a portrait on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in New York. Moon has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
GloRilla poses for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. GloRilla has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP)
Nicholas Alexander Chavez poses for a portrait on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. Chavez has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP)
Aaron Pierre poses for a portrait on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. Pierre has been named one of The Associated Press' Breakthrough Entertainers of 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
This combination of photos shows AP's 2024 breakthrough entertainers of the year. Fred Hechinger, from top left, Maleah Joi Moon, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Adria Arjona, Myha'la, Aaron Pierre, and Glorilla. (AP Photo)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's president defended his martial law decree as an act of governance and denied rebellion charges, vowing Thursday to “fight to the end” in the face of attempts to impeach him and intensifying investigations into last week’s dramatic move.
Yoon Suk Yeol's televised statement came hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party submits a new impeachment motion against Yoon to put it on a floor vote this weekend.
Yoon’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, has generated political chaos and large protests calling for his ouster. The decree brought hundreds of armed troops attempting to encircle parliament and raiding the election commission, though no major violence or injuries occurred. Martial law lasted only six hours as Yoon was forced to lift it after the National Assembly unanimously voted it down.
Yoon, a conservative, said he enacted martial law as a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which controls parliament. He called the party “a monster” and “anti-state forces” that he said tried to use its legislative muscle to impeach top officials, undermined the government’s budget bill for next year and sympathized with North Korea.
“I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralyzing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said.
“The opposition is now doing a sword dance of chaos, claiming that the declaration of martial law constitutes to an act of rebellion. But was it really?” he said.
Yoon said martial law was an act of governance that cannot be the subject of investigations and doesn’t amount to rebellion. He said the deployment of nearly 300 soldiers to the National Assembly was designed to maintain order, not dissolving or paralyzing it.
The Democratic Party quickly dismissed Yoon’s statement as “an expression of extreme delusion” and “a declaration of war against the people.” Kim Min-seok, head of a party task force, accused the president of attempting to incite pro-Yoon riots by far-right forces. He said the Democratic Party will focus on getting the motion impeaching Yoon passed on Saturday.
It's unclear how Yoon's comments will affect his fate. The Democratic Party and smaller opposition parties hold 192 seats combined, eight votes short of a two-thirds majority, or 200 of the 300 lawmakers, in the National Assembly. The earlier attempt to impeach Yoon failed with most lawmakers from Yoon’s governing People Power Party boycotting the vote.
Yoon's speech was expected to deepen a divide inside the PPP. When party chair Han Dong-hun, a critic of Yoon, called Yoon's statement “a confession of rebellion” during a party meeting, Yoon loyalists angrily jeered and called on Han to stop speaking. Han has urged party members to vote in favor of Yoon's impeachment.
Opposition parties and even some PPP members say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. They say South Korean law allows the president to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergencies. They argue that deploying troops to seal the National Assembly to suspend its political activities amounted to rebellion because the constitution doesn’t give a president such rights in any situation.
Police, prosecutors and other agencies are investigating whether Yoon and others involved in imposing martial law committed rebellion, abuse of power and other crimes. Earlier this week, the Justice Ministry banned Yoon from leaving the country, but it's still unclear if they would be able to detain or arrest him. A conviction for rebellion carries a maximum penalty of death.
South Korean law gives a president immunity from prosecution while in office, except for allegations of rebellion or treason. This means that Yoon can be questioned and detained by investigative agencies over his martial law decree, but many observers doubt that authorities will forcefully detain him because of the potential for clashes with his presidential security service.
On Wednesday, Yoon’s presidential security service didn't allow police to search the presidential office.
Yoon's statement was seen as an about-face. Last Saturday, Yoon apologized over declaring martial law, saying that he won’t avoid responsibility for it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office.”
On Wednesday, Yoon's former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun, was arrested on allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power. The national police chief and the head of Seoul's metropolitan police have been detained while their actions of sending police forces to the National Assembly are investigated as a criminal matter.
Kim, who resigned after martial law was lifted, is one of Yoon’s close associates. He has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting on it. He tried to kill himself in detention, but correctional officers stopped him and he was in stable condition, according to the Justice Ministry.
In his speech Thursday, Yoon said he had discussed imposing martial law only with Kim before he informed other top officials about it at a Cabinet meeting just before its declaration.
On the night of Dec. 3, besides the National Assembly, Yoon and Kim sent troops to the National Election Commission. That raised speculation that he might have tried to seize computer servers at the commission as he believed unfounded rumors that the results of April's parliamentary elections, in which his party suffered steep losses, were rigged.
Yoon said he asked Kim to examine the supposed vulnerabilities of the commission's computer systems, which Yoon said was hampering the credibility of election results. He accused the commission of resisting a thorough inspection by Seoul’s spy agency following a cyberattack attributed to North Korea-backed hackers last year.
If Yoon is impeached, his presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to remove him from office or retore his powers. If he is dismissed, a new presidential election would be required within 60 days.
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
TV screens show the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's speech at the Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
TV screens show the broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's speech at the Yongsan Electronic store in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo//Lee Jin-man)
In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo provided by South Korea Presidential Office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol bows while delivering a speech at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)
A participant wearing a mask of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol performs during a rally to demand his impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The signs read "Arrest the rebellion leader Yoon Suk Yeol." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Participants stage a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahnn Young-joon)
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo//Lee Jin-man)
People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Participants stage a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahnn Young-joon)
A TV screen shows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's televised briefing at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A participant holds up a banner with writing reading "Overthrow the rebellion criminal Yoon Suk Yeol", during a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment, outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A participant holds a banner with writing reading "Arrest the rebellion leader Yoon Suk Yeol", during a rally to demand South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
