Arts & Entertainment

D.C. arts briefs: events through Nov. 15

Stephanie Mills, Olivia Newton-John, Ani DiFranco and more

Published

14 years ago

November 8, 2012

Erin Durkin

Stephanie Mills is known for hits like ‘Never Knew Love Like This Before.’ (Photo courtesy the Birchmere)

Diva Mills to play the Birchmere

Stephanie Mills comes to the Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria) Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Mills is an R&B and soul singer and a former Broadway performer. She began performing at age 9 and won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. In the 1970s, she performed in the “The Wiz.”

Tickets are $69.50. For more information, visit birchmere.com.

Strathmore welcomes Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John, gay news, Washington Blade

Olivia Newton-John (Photo courtesy the artist)

The Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda) presents Olivia Newton-John on Nov. 16 at 8 p.m.

Newton-John is best known for her roles in “Grease” and “Xanadu.” She is also a four-time Grammy winner. In her most recent tour she is revisiting some her classics such as “Physical” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You” along with some of her more recent pieces.

Tickets range from $48-$78. For more information, visit Strathmore.org.

Indie legend DiFranco at the 9:30 Club

Bi indie rocker Ani DiFranco plays the 9:30 Club (815 V St., NW) Saturday night at 8 p.m.

DiFranco has been in the business 20 years and released 20 albums. In 1989 she began her own record company “Righteous Records.” Her most recent project, “Which Side Are You On?” was released in January.

Tickets are $40. For more information, visit 930.com.

Story of sisters at Woolly

Woolly Mammoth Theatre (641 D St., NW) presents “You for Me for You” Saturday 8 p.m.

The story focuses on two sisters in North Korea who are facing starvation under a corrupt regime. They make plans with a smuggler to flee to the United States. When of the sisters is too ill to leave, the other sister promises to cross time and space to save her. The play embodies the American idea of North Korea and the immigrant experience.

Tickets are $20-$67. For more information, visit woollymammoth.net.

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Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

8 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.