Brittney Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

, Brittney Griner has been released from Russian detention today, December 8, . The outlet is also reporting that she was exchanged for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. According to an unamed US official, the WNBA star is now in the custody of the U.S.

U.S. basketball champion Britney Griner has been released by Russia in a prisoner swap and is now in U.S. custody.

The season of giving is upon us! While we focus on finding the perfect gift for loved ones, we can easily do our part to help the planet.

Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison in Russia on drug possession charges, and just last week, her appeal of that sentencing was . Since she was first detained in the country in February, the American government and various human rights organizations have been working round the clock in an effort to bring her home.

UPDATE: A Russian court has upheld the nine-year prison sentence of American basketball star Brittney Griner, drawing a rebuke from President Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who called for Griner’s immediate release and decried the “sham judicial proceeding.”

Grantchester star Tom Brittney was pictured back on set of the hit period drama in Cambridgeshire on Tuesday.  The actor, 31, was seen filming scenes with co-star Robson Green, 57, and a baby, who is believed to play his stepson on the show. Tom and Robson were spotted at one point mucking around on set and throwing around a fake baby, which at times stood in for the bub, having a laugh in between takes.

NBA starting this week, stars have stepped up to keep the scrutiny on the efforts to seal her release.  "Free our sister Brittney Griner, please.

It’s been eight months since WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport, and one NBA superstar wants to make sure she hasn’t been forgotten.

reported by CNN, Griner's attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, spent a few hours with her on her birthday. Before they left, she gave them a statement to share with everyone who has been supporting her.«Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me,» read Griner's statement.The eight-time All-Star is currently only allowed to communicate through her lawyers and letters — all of which are carefully examined by Russian officials before they can be sent.

An adviser to Vladimir Putin has insisted Brittney Griner's release is not a priority for Russia. The 31-year-old basketball star - who normally lives in Houston, Texas with wife Cherelle Griner - was arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling in Russia just days before the country launched the ongoing invasion on Ukraine in February and in August, she was sentenced to nine years behind bars. Although US President Joe Biden has vowed to ensure the sportswoman's freedom, Yury Ushakov - one of the Russian leader's top advisors and the country's ambassador to America from 1998 to 2008 - suggested this was nothing more than a bid to bolster support ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release is not imminent.

Brittney Griner, was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for drug possession, Cherelle Griner told  co-host Gayle King that she is terrified of the WNBA star's fate. «It's like a movie for me. I'm like, 'In no world did I ever thought, you know, our president and a foreign nation president would be sitting down having to discuss the freedom of my wife.' And so to me, as much as everybody's telling me a different definition of what B.G.

Still by her side. Cherelle Griner spoke out after her wife, Brittney Griner, was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison.

Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for months after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage, has officially been found guilty of drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court.On Aug. 4, the Phoenix Mercury player was sentenced to 9 years in prison and given a fine of 1 million rubles (approximately $16,500) after she was found guilty. Brittney has had an uphill battle trying to have her criminal case acquitted in a trial that experts said was unlikely to be fair and that Russian authorities are using her as a diplomatic bargaining chip amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.The Olympic gold medalist has played in Russia for the last seven winters, earning more than $1 million per season -- more than quadruple her WNBA salary, according to the Associated Press.

Brittney Griner is still languishing in a Russian prison, but President Joe Biden hasn’t forgotten her. He met today with her wife, Cherelle Griner, and let her know that he is working to gain the WNBA star’s freedom.

Dennis Rodman isn’t a judge, but he uses all his power and influence to get Brittney Griner out of a Russian jail. In a recent interview, the former basketball player said he’s planning to go to Russia; however, he never explained how he would make it happen. The 61-years-old icon also revealed that he is approved to fly to Russia and negotiate the release.

Dennis Rodman is planning a trip to Russia to seek the release of Brittney Griner. The 31-year-old basketball player - who normally lives in Houston, Texas with wife Cherelle Griner - was arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling in Russia just days before President Vladimir Putin launched the ongoing invasion on Ukraine and has been sentenced to almost a decade behind bars but her fellow NBA star Dennis, 61, revealed on Sunday (21. 08.

Dennis Rodman is going to take his shot at freeing Brittney Griner.The NBA legend recently revealed his plans to travel to Russian in an effort to seek release for Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for alleged drug possession charges.«I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,» Rodman, 61, told NBC News over the weekend. «I'm trying to go this week.»Rodman added, «I know Putin too well.»Despite Rodman's confidence — and his past independent unsanctioned diplomatic visits with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un — the US State Department and White House officials are strongly against the idea.An unnamed senior Biden administration official told NBC News that Rodman's visit is more likely to complicate and already tenuous situation, explaining, «It’s public information that the administration has made a significant offer to the Russians and anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder release efforts.»However, Rodman does not need permission from the United States to travel to Russia.

“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman told NBC News this weekend, not saying exactly who he got permission from. “I’m trying to go this week.”Rodman, who won five NBA titles with Michael Jordan during the ’90s while building an image as the NBA’s party-loving bad boy, has become known in the past decade for rubbing elbows with political figures that have tense relationships with the U.S.

to nine years in prison, her lawyer Maria Blagovolina on Monday. Griner was arrested for carrying a single vape cartridge containing less than a gram of hash oil.After six months in pretrial detention, the Phoenix Mercury star player was found guilty of drug possession on August 4.

Brittney Griner's legal team has appealed against the American basketball star's guilty verdict and nine-year prison sentence on drug smuggling charges in Russia, the lawyers said on Monday.Griner was arrested for carrying vape cartridges containing with marijuana in a Moscow airport in February amid soaring tension between Washington and Moscow, and just before Russian leader Vladimir Putin launched his ongoing assault on Ukraine.The athlete was on her way to Yekaterinburg, in western Russia, to play for a local team during the WNBA's off-season.Griner pleaded guilty to the charge but sought leniency, saying that she packed the cartridges inadvertently and marijuana was prescribed to her by a doctor in the U.S. to help her cope with pain from injuries sustained during her basketball career. In early August, a court in the Moscow region found her guilty.Before her trial began in July, the State Department designated her as being «wrongfully detained,» moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs — effectively the U.S.

Brittney Griner have filed an appeal against her prison sentence, Russian news agencies reported on Monday. Griner, an American basketball star for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison after being found guilty for drug possession. Griner was detained by Russian police at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on February 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

Brittney Griner‘s defense team has officially filed an appeal of her conviction.

pleaded guilty to the charge against her, admitting to possessing the cartridges but saying they were left in her luggage as part of an oversight while she was packing in a hurry. The U.S. State Department has floated the idea of a prisoner swap, in which the United States would release a convicted arms dealer in exchange for Griner and Paul Whelan, a former U.S.

Basketball player Brittney Griner has been found guilty of smuggling drugs with criminal intent in a Russian court today and sentenced to nine years in prison, CNN reports. The Phoenix Mercury player was detained near Moscow earlier this year after security discovered a small amount of the drug in her luggage.

pleaded guilty to the charge, but insisted she had never intended to break Russian law, and that the vape cartridges were in her luggage due to an oversight while packing in a hurry.The judge also fined Griner 1 million rubles, or about $16,300, as part of her sentence. According to The New York Times, Griner’s lawyers had asked the court to take into account Griner’s personality and the role she has played in the development of Russian basketball playing for EMMC Ekaterinburg in the WNBA off-season, asking for a “milder” penalty.Addressing the court, Griner talked about her upbringing in Houston and the values her parents instilled in her, including to “take ownership for your responsibilities.”“That’s why I pleaded guilty to my charges; I understand everything that has been said against me in the charges against me, but I had no intent to break Russian law,” she said.

Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony after she pled guilty to drug charges. Griner was arrested in February after officials found cannabis oil in her luggage.

Justin Bieber offered up his help after U. S. basketball star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia on Thursday.

Justin Bieber is among famous faces expressing shock and dismay at the imprisonment of US basketball player Brittney Griner in Russia. The pop megastar took to social media to offer his help in getting the athlete home after she received a sentence of nine years in prison for bringing cannabis oil into Russia.