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Jan 01, 2050
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
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Jan 01, 2050
Kevin Lamarque/ReutersJohn S. McCain III, an American hero who served as a Navy captain and a member of Congress for 57 years, died on TKTKTK DAY. He was 81.
McCain was a giant of the United States Senate and a lifelong public servant who won respect and admiration from his colleagues on Capitol Hill and world leaders for his staunch advocacy of democratic principles and his defiant policy positions, particularly on issues relating to the military and national security.
He was a tough and, at times, feisty and brash legislator, but he forged friendships and bonds that cemented his place in history as a dealmaker. His political opponents sometimes branded him a war-monger and a reactionary at worst but never doubted his unwavering adherence to his principles, his tireless support for American troops, and his enduring commitment to public service.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyThese are two things I never thought I'd mash together in a sentence, but here goes nothing: RuPaul's Drag Race and a Martin Scorsese biopic have come together to form a discourse supernova. At the center of it is Ronan Farrow, whose questionable paternity is suddenly relevant again. I'll be the first to admit that usually, I'd want to avoid discussing something this tacky, but in this case, Ronan himself helped revive the discussion with a spittake-worthy joke.
Two weeks ago, Farrow—the blue-eyed journalist son of Mia Farrow—appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. After a welcome from his host, Farrow dropped an unexpected and absolutely gag-worthy remark: "Ru, it is the semifinals!" Farrow said. "I haven't been this nervous since I took a paternity test."
Um, sir!?!
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
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To think back to a time before recreational weed was legal in many states, you'd have to rewind the clock to around 2012, when the first states, like Colorado and Washington, passed laws to legalize marijuana for recreational rather than only medicinal use. Back then, people often had to hide their stash, and some even opted to keep it under lock and key—or at least hidden away in a place where certain friends, family members, pets, and Johnny Law couldn't see. But as more states joined in legalizing recreational use, marijuana users seemed to have become far less discrete in how they carry and conceal their flower, dabs, vape pens, and edibles, if at all.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images This week:
The Real Housewives Are More Chaotic Than UsualRead more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe New York Attorney General's office has asked the judge in Donald Trump's civil fraud case to reject the $175 million bond he obtained to stave off even steeper fines.
In a 26-page filing signed by Attorney General Letitia James, lawyers for the state argued that Trump, the Trump Organization, and its top executives had failed to prove that the management of the bond met the "requirements of trustworthiness and competence," and argued that Judge Arthur Engoron should find the bond to be "without effect."
The AG's office argued that California-based Knight Specialty Insurance Company was a "small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York" and had "never before written a surety bond in New York," before they penned the massive loan to Trump.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images and TikTokTo the chagrin of middle-schoolers everywhere, the most extreme restrictions on TikTok are on a glide path to passage in Congress.
The bill—which is now set to get a vote on Saturday and is expected to pass with strong bipartisan support—has animated distraught TikTok creators of all ages to call congressional offices and demand they oppose a ban on the popular video app.
While the legislation is largely understood and referred to as a bill to ban TikTok, the truth is far more complex. The measure would not immediately ban TikTok. Rather, it would force its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to a U.S.-based entity within nine months of becoming law, giving the president the option of stalling the elimination of TikTok for another 90 days.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via Getty ImagesA 10-year-old child in Texas nonchalantly confessed to killing a man when he was only 7 during a fight with one of his classmates, authorities said this week.
The child, who has not been identified, said he shot and killed a sleeping stranger in 2022, providing an answer to a two-year-old murder investigation, police said.
The strange turn of events began last Friday, when the Gonzales County Sheriff's Office responded to a call from a principal at Nixon Smiley Independent School District, who said a 10-year-old child had threatened to kill another student on the bus ride home the day before.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyAs a money-losing Warner Bros. Discovery continues to slash its workforce and cut employee benefits, President and CEO David Zaslav took home just under $50 million last year, according to a proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
Warner Bros. Discovery lost $3.13 billion last year, according to the proxy statement; it lost a whopping $5.36 billion in 2022.
Still, Zaslav's compensation package, which clocked in at triple the median pay of all S&P 500 CEOs, jumped 26.5 percent from 2022. It included a salary of $3 million; a cash bonus of $22 million; a stock award (tied to free cash flow, which doubled last year to $6.16 billion) of $23,078,769; and $1,623,777 under the heading "all other compensation", for a total of $49,702,546.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Jabin Botsford / GettyDonald Trump's defense team reportedly believes that young Black men will help save the former president from a guilty verdict.
Lawyers for the former president, who has the dubious distinction of being the first ex-commander in chief to be criminally tried, have been "hoping to spot sympathizers and will focus on younger Black men and white working-class men" as jurors, according to a recent New York Times report.
The notion that young Black men might be more easily persuaded than other jurors—less prone to critical thinking and seeing through the defense's smoke and mirrors—jibes perfectly with all the racist notions Trump has expressed over the years. Even in the midst of his own criminal trial, Trump's anti-Black racism remains on full display.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Pool/Getty Images The first week of Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York City ended with a power move by the judge, who ordered the former president to take a seat—where he remained fuming in his chair until the judge left the courtroom.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was wrapping up a contentious hour of debate with lawyers on both sides Friday afternoon, when he clarified that a contempt hearing—where he might punish Trump for repeatedly ignoring a gag order and continuing to publicly speak threateningly about witnesses and jurors—would commence Tuesday morning.
But just as the judge neared the end of his sentence, Trump abruptly stood up—apparently thinking the day was over. Immediately, Merchan turned his face to the former president and said in a firm voice: "Sir, can you please have a seat."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
(Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS)Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old American who has been fighting with pro-Russian fighters against Ukraine since 2014, was kidnapped and killed, according to his battalion and Russian media reports.
Russell, who was known by his call sign "Texas," died in Donetsk, Margarita Simonyan, the head of pro-Kremlin RT, said in a Telegram post.
"He fought there for our people," Simonyan said. "Terrible. Kingdom of heaven."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/GettyA conspiracy theorist from Florida who ranted online about the government set himself alight outside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump's criminal trial was underway on Friday afternoon—the latest in an alarming string of recent self-immolations in the U.S.
The courthouse self-immolation is at least the third instance in the past five months of an American setting themselves on fire in politically fueled protest, and the fourth in the past two years. Though the shocking incidents have varied in time, place, and motive, they all occurred outside major seats of power.
Here are other recent self-immolations that made headlines.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
CNNShortly after it was announced that the entire jury had been empaneled in Donald Trump's hush-money trial on Friday, CNN anchor Laura Coates was interviewing a legal expert about what the jurors could expect in the weekslong case.
Little did she know that moments later she would have to dramatically cut that conversation short in order to pivot to a man setting himself on fire outside the lower Manhattan courthouse where the ex-president's trial is taking place.
Coates' quick journalistic impulses and composure while live-reporting a self-immolation and the attempts of first responders to extinguish the flames has drawn widespread praise from journalists and media observers, including conservatives who typically have nothing but disdain for CNN.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyIn the year of our lord 2024, the scourge of AI has become inescapable, even in pop culture. There's a robo-character named "Max" catfishing on The Circle, A24 is using the tech to make movie posters, and these days we can't even tell if a Drake diss track is real. Now, AI has given us an even bigger challenge to overcome.
Soon after Mark Zuckerberg posted a video announcing updates to Meta's AI assistant, a doctored image of him (perhaps also altered by AI?) went viral. From there, it was absolute chaos as X users took it all in—from the cool-guy vibes to the scruff to the empathetic smile. And then, the unthinkable happened: people began thirsting after Mark Goddamn Zuckerberg.
Anyone who has spent even five seconds looking at the real Mark Zuckerberg should be able to tell that Hot Zuck—the Stefan Urquelle to Regular Zuck's Steve Urkel—has had a little Facetune-style work done to him in that photo. His jaw is thicker, his forehead has had a little digital botox, and the edit has also capped his teeth with some nice, white veneers. Most importantly, you can actually see the light of life in his eyes. The only real bit of drip in this photo is the chain, which is, unfortunately, 100 perce
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Apr 19, 2024
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‘May the Fourth' (aka Star Wars Day) is almost here, and for Star Wars fans, this is their 12/25. Finding a cool gift for Star Wars lovers can be tough. I should know; I'm one of them. I became a fan a long time ago (2002) of this incredible galaxy far, far, away and have a treasure trove of Star Wars merch that would make a Hutt jealous. The number one gift on any Star Wars devotee's list is being able to use the force. While none of these gifts can top that feeling, they certainly come close.
Don't forget to check out our coupon site to find more deals, including Nordstrom Rack coupons, Macy's coupons, Overstock coupons, and adidas coupons.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/St. Augustine Police DepartmentThe man who doused himself with accelerant and set himself ablaze outside Donald Trump's Manhattan trial on Friday published an online manifesto in the midst of the chaos, declaring he self-immolated to warn the world about an "apocalyptic fascist world coup."
The self-immolating conspiracy theorist was identified by cops as Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida, who was in critical condition on Friday afternoon. He declared online that his act was an "extreme act of protest is to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery."
His Substack manifesto is a dizzying document that rails against cryptocurrency, New York University, the Clintons, and the world's governments—warning readers that they are "victims of a totalitarian con" akin to a massive Ponzi scheme.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Erin O'Flynn/The Daily Beast/St. Augustine Police DepartmentThe man who doused himself with accelerant and set himself ablaze outside Donald Trump's Manhattan trial on Friday published an online manifesto, declaring that he self-immolated to warn the world about an "apocalyptic fascist world coup."
The self-immolating conspiracy theorist was identified by cops as Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida, who was in critical condition on Friday afternoon. He declared online that his act was an "extreme act of protest ... to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery."
His Substack manifesto is a dizzying document that rails against cryptocurrency, New York University, the Clintons, and the world's governments—warning readers that they are "victims of a totalitarian con" akin to a massive Ponzi scheme.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
CNN ClipA man doused himself with a liquid and set himself ablaze outside Donald Trump's trial in New York City on Friday, sending freaked-out protesters fleeing.
The man's condition and motive wasn't immediately clear, but multiple reporters, including those speaking on a CNN live broadcast, said the stench of the flames lingered even minutes later.
Clips of the incident showed people rushing to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers. The New York Times reported that the man was badly burned and placed in an ambulance.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo by Curtis Means/Getty ImagesDonald Trump's criminal trial is full steam ahead, with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office set to start presenting its case Monday before 18 jurors-a dozen on the panel and six alternates.
After a relentless, four-hour questioning session on Friday that screened 22 potential jurors, lawyers on both sides exhausted all of their legal challenges and ultimately settled on the five alternates who remained to be chosen.
Unlike most trials, which keep a couple of extra jurors present just in case one calls out sick, this high-profile court battle needs a deep bench to account for the overwhelming cloud of fear that hangs over the proceeding.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Reuters/Maansi SrivastavaApparently Donald Trump needs to catch up on some sleep, as the former president appeared to doze off in a New York City courtroom yet again on Friday.
This time around, reporters noted that Trump's head repeatedly dropped, and he closed his eyes for quite some time.
It's at least the third time Trump has been spotted catching some ZZZs during the first week of his high-stakes hush-money trial, which centers around his alleged plot to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
SUZANNE CORDEIRO / Getty ImagesMeghan Markle has started filming her Netflix cooking and homemaking show, and her 50-strong production team have rented a property two miles from her home to shoot the series.
The revelation comes just days after Meghan sent out a limited edition of 50 pots of homemade American Riviera Orchard jam to close friends and top influencers, some of whom posted about the sweet treat on their Instagram Stories.
Now, DailyMail.com has published official paperwork showing that Meghan's crew of 50 are filming not at her and Prince Harry's palatial home but in a nearby property located just two miles from them.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty Donald Trump's antics are finally catching up with him.
That is, of course, true in the New York criminal trial as a whole, where Trump may be found guilty of past misconduct. But Trump's antics are also catching up with him in a narrower, but quite meaningful way.
In the New York case, the prosecutors said Thursday that they would not be providing to Trump's legal team the names of the first three witnesses that the prosecutors would be calling to testify. Trump's lawyers objected. Judge Juan Merchan sided with the prosecution, saying that he couldn't fault the prosecutors for refusing to identify the witnesses, given Trump's history of criticizing and potentially intimidating witnesses.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyIn recent years, clips from Tucker Carlson's shows were prominently featured on many Russian state TV shows, with hosts and guests clinging to his every word and even surmising he might be the only American they don't want to kill.
After Carlson's flat-footed interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by caustic comments from both the host and the subject, the bloom was off the rose.
Similarly, Mike Johnson's arrival as the 56th Speaker of the House was cheered on state TV with the anticipation that—at Trump's request—he would block U.S. aid to Ukraine. For months, Johnson did just that, prompting state TV host Olga Skabeeva to describe him as "our Johnson." His recent reversal of this stance prompted Russian propagandists to debate whether he was "bought" or simply "bent over" by the Democrats.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Reuters There are many creatures in the animal kingdom—from weasels to spotted skunks to ostriches—that perform a dance to intimidate their enemies.
This week, we saw generals in both Israel and Iran perform their own weasel dances. They made a great show, flexed their muscles in the most visible possible way, and did so with the apparent objective of sending a message to their adversaries.
Both sides launched aerial attacks at one another. But there is plenty of evidence to suggest, in both cases, the objective of the attack was more to ward off a war than to trigger one.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty While Swifties were determined to stay up till midnight to find out which of the 16 (or is it 31?!) songs on The Tortured Poets Department were about Joe Alwyn, historian David Stenn was focused on what the singer had to say about another star: Clara Bow. One lyric in particular left him speechless.
"‘Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours,'" he remarks, "That's poetry, that's profound."
The author and historian, who wrote the Clara Bow biography Runnin' Wild in 2000, jumped on a midnight call to discuss his thoughts on the song as well as the parallels between Bow and Taylor Swift's careers.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management/Steve Granitz/FilmMagicTaylor Swift is throwing fuel on a years-long beef with Kim Kardashian with new track "thanK you aIMee," which fans have promptly noticed capitalizes the letters K-I-M in the title.
With her surprise deluxe album drop Friday, Swifties were little prepared for the obvious Kim K diss track, in which Swift sings that her "saintly" mother wishes the "bronze, spray-tanned" antagonist dead.
Swift goes on to say in the song that she "screamed ‘Fuck you, Aimee' to the night sky" and she "can't forgive the way you made me feel," before ultimately concluding that "there wouldn't be this, if there hadn't been you"—a sentiment she previously expressed in her Time "Person of the Year" interview last year. Back then, she'd credited her success with the "catalyst" of "having my life's work taken away from me by someone who hates me," before detailing her side of their longstanding beef.
Read more at The
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Apr 19, 2024
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via GettyPresident Joe Biden's baffling suggestion that his uncle might have been eaten by cannibals after a plane crash off Papua New Guinea during World War II has, unsurprisingly, not gone over great with the people who actually live there or have carefully studied the region's history.
The Democrat made the comments Wednesday while discussing the fate of Ambrose Finnegan, whom he affectionately referred to as "Uncle Bosie." "He got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be—there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea," Biden said.
The comments immediately drew scrutiny as, for one thing, they seemed to be a major departure from the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's version of what happened to Finnegan. The war records say his plane went down for "unknown reasons" on May 14, 1944, during a courier flight heading to New Guinea.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Getty Images/Slaven VlasicThe beloved Christian musician Mandisa, who was a finalist on season 5 of American Idol and won a Grammy, died on Thursday, the Christian rock radio station K-Love announced. She was 47.
A cause of death for Mandisa, whose full name was Mandisa Lynn Hundley, was not released, but a statement announcing her death said that her "struggles are over."
"Even more than her music, the Platinum-selling singer will forever be known for her huge heart and sincerity," the statement said. "Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually extensive platform to talk about Him at every turn. Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it was no match for the size of her heart."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Karwai Tang/GettyPrince William made his second public appearance since Kate Middleton's cancer announcement as he attended the funeral of a World War II veteran on Friday morning.
The Prince of Wales visited Hereford Cathedral to honor the life of Maj. Mike Sadler, the last remaining airman of the U.K.'s original Special Air Service (SAS) regiment, an elite task force founded in 1941. Sadler, who passed away in January at the age of 103, was a gifted navigator who used the stars to guide his comrades across large spans of North Africa. He was memorialized in the BBC drama SAS: Rogue Heroes, played by House of the Dragon actor Tom Glynne-Carney.
William joined Sadler's family and friends to pay his respects.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Jeff KravitzDavid Spade voiced his concerns about the upcoming Lorne Michaels-produced biopic about late comedian Chris Farley this week on his and Dana Carvey's Superfly podcast.
"I had heard some whispers about this for a long time," Spade said on Friday's episode, and shared his hopes for what the biopic will focus on in Farley's life. It was recently announced that Farley would be played by Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser. "I've run into this guy Paul, very nice guy," Spade continued. "I think he's been wanting to do this for a while. I don't know how, I'm a little ambivalent about it."
Playing Farley had indeed been a longtime dream role for Hauser, who told The Daily Beast in 2022, "No one alive will do or can do what I would do with that part. And that doesn't mean they're not talented or good. It just means if that movie is getting made, I'm the guy." He even demonstrated his spot-on Farley impression during the podcast interview.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Michael M. Santiago/GettyDonald Trump kicked off Day 4 of his criminal hush-money trial in a familiar fashion: with the airing of grievances.
"They've taken away my constitutional rights to speak and that includes speaking to you," the former president told reporters as he arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday.
He insisted Judge Juan Merchan's gag order—which bars him from taking shots at prosecutors, jurors, court staff, and their families—"has to come off."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Vladimir Vladimirov TelegramUkraine claims to be behind the fiery crash of a long-range Russian bomber on Friday morning, an incident which Moscow has attributed to a technical problem with the aircraft.
"For the first time, the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, destroyed the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber," Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleschuk said in a statement. He said the bomber carries cruise missiles "which Russian terrorists use to attack peaceful Ukrainian cities."
Russia's Ministry of Defense said the Tu-22M3, which reportedly cost around $40 million, crashed in the Stavropol region to the east of the annexed Crimean peninsula on Friday morning as the aircraft was returning from a combat mission. "According to preliminary data, the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction," Russia's RIA Novosti reported.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Liu Ranyang/China News Service via GettyTesla is recalling thousands of its Cybertrucks over a problem with the accelerator pedal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Friday.
The auto safety regulator said the pedals in certain Cybertruck vehicles have a pad that "may dislodge and become trapped by the interior trim," in turn causing the truck to "accelerate unintentionally, increasing the risk of a crash." A total of 3,878 Cybertrucks are being recalled to fix the issue.
Part of a safety recall report said the fault on Cybertrucks manufactured between November 2023 and April 2024 said the accelerator pad can become dislodged when "high force" is applied to the pedal. If the pad then becomes trapped in the interior trim, "the performance and operation of the pedal will be affected, which may increase the risk of a collision."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersIsrael's retaliatory attack against Iran early Friday came despite President Joe Biden's stringent warnings against doing just that to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the leaders appearing to become increasingly at odds about how Israel should respond against its enemies.
The U.S. was only tipped off about the attack "at the last minute," according to the Italian foreign minister who spoke to American officials at a meeting of the G7 on Friday morning.
Iran has so far played down the significance of the attack, with state media portraying the incident as involving a few drones that were taken down without causing damage. American sources, however, have suggested the strike involved missiles—though the severity of the damage caused by the attack is not yet clear.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Ashok Kumar/TAS24 via GettyWith Taylor Swift fans already delirious with anticipation about the release of her new album, the singer proceeded to send them stratospheric early Friday by revealing that The Tortured Poets Department is a double album.
Following the release of the new record's first 16 songs at midnight, a mysterious countdown to 2 a.m. E.T. appeared hidden on her Instagram. "It's a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album," Swift wrote in a post when the fateful moment finally arrived.
"I'd written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here's the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs," she added. "And now the story isn't mine anymore… it's all yours."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/GettyWelcome to Trail Mix, your 2024 election sanity guide. See something interesting on the trail? Email me at jake.lahut@thedailybeast.com. To get Trail Mix in your inbox, subscribe here for free.
This week, we take an early look at just how much Donald Trump's Manhattan trial is derailing his campaign. Plus, an exclusive interview with New Jersey Senate candidate Andy Kim and new polling on a win-win issue for President Biden.
TRIAL AND ERRORRead more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Toby Melville/GettyNot a lick has yet been tasted by the masses, but the headlines around Meghan Markle's American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam continue unabated. Fifty pots were sent to influencers, and all the hype around it helped spike sales of King Charles' own-brand organic strawberry preserve. Is it just a PR gimmick, or will we all taste the red stuff soon? Royalist Correspondent Tom Sykes and Senior Editor Tim Teeman discuss the impact of Meghan's latest venture.
Tom Sykes: I have to be honest, there are lots of things I don't understand about the launch of American Riviera Orchard. For starters, it seems really strange to me to do a big social media campaign, like the one we've been sold over the past few days, but not have any product actually available for the punters to buy. There is not even a functioning website. When you go to the ARO website it just gets you to enter your email address for updates.
Tim Teeman: Sure, it's not user-friendly, but I can think of nothing more camp than making a launch of strawberry jam and mysterious homewares as hush-hush and mysterious as a Taylor Swift album release. It also sticks it to the media (that Meghan and Prince Harry can't abide), who are currently, futilely trying to get hold of this jam, jars of which are presently reserved for the hands and mouths of selected friends and influencers. Isn't it genius marketing? Create a product, create a buzz around the product, make
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyListen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
After a week full of frightened jurors and very public concerns over witness intimidation, The New Abnormal co-hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy have some advice for the judge handling former President Donald Trump's New York City hush-money trial: Treat it exactly the same as a high-profile mob case.
"I really don't know what these judges and the media are waiting for," Moodie says on this week's episode. "Are they waiting for people to just start disappearing? Are they waiting for some death and grave harm to come to people to recognize the stakes at which Donald Trump is playing with right now?"
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Portraits by Photo by Mary Mathis for The Washington Post via Getty ImagesChappell Roan's debut album might chart The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, but in the world of pop, she's going nowhere but up. The Missouri-born singer-songwriter and her mop of red hair have been inescapable on pretty much every social platform. She's been opening for (and kissing) Olivia Rodrigo on the Guts World Tour, dancing to her own music in front of Red Lobster, and got us all doing the treadmill strut. At this point, Roan is basically the chief marketing officer for gay pop. But, wait, didn't someone else just say they wanted that job?
Last week, JoJo Siwa got roasted to oblivion for saying she wanted to "start" a new music genre called "gay pop." (Pronounced like "K-pop," but with "gay" instead.) Folks including Betty Who and the beloved duo Tegan and Sara raised their eyebrows, prompting Siwa to walk back her statements and explain that she never meant she wanted to invent a new g
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Apr 19, 2024
Ludo StudioThere was a wackadoo of an international incident this week.
It was an event so shattering that adults around the globe were immediately reduced to tears. There is no known cure for the weeping that occurs surrounding this inciting party: a family of cartoon Australian dogs who might be moving out of their house.
The animated series Bluey, which streams on Disney in the U.S., is a phenomenon. But this week—in which the sheer number of grown adults allegedly crying along to its season finale has made headlines across the globe—the show reached a whole new level of relevance. And, now that I've seen the episode myself (and sobbed silently alone while watching) I have some thoughts as to why this show has become such a big deal—and a crucial, necessary part of pop culture.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/NetflixWhen I first learned that an AI chatbot was joining The Circle for Season 6, I wasn't exactly worried for the human players. We've heard plenty about how quickly this tech is progressing (too fast, some suggest), but my own occasional experiences with AI have mostly left me underwhelmed. For instance: A few weeks ago, when I wrapped up a blog post dream-casting Margot Robbie's upcoming Sims movie, I asked ChatGPT to tell me who it would cast as Bella Goth. It chose Charlize Theron. I mean, I love her, but Charlize Theron? As Bella Goth?!
Suffice it to say that when The Circle Season 6 debuted Wednesday on Netflix with its robo-character, "Max," I went in fully convinced that, while AI might be automating over more and more of our world, it still lacks a certain human touch. Foolishly, I thought that there was no way this tech twist would actually convince anyone. Alas, to
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Apr 19, 2024
Press TVIran's tightly controlled state media made fun of Israel's reprisal attack on Friday, claiming that a few drones had been intercepted and no serious damage was done—with a top Israeli minister appearing to agree.
World capitals have been on edge since Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel last week, with President Joe Biden among those pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond with a direct attack on Iran.
Late on Thursday, U.S. rolling news channels switched into breathless global conflict mode as reports emerged that Israel had dismissed the urgent advice of the White House and launched a strike on Israeli soil.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Press TVIran's tightly controlled state media made fun of Israel's reprisal attack on Friday, claiming that a few drones had been intercepted and no serious damage was done—with a top Israeli minister appearing to agree.
World capitals have been on edge since Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel last week, with President Joe Biden among those pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond with a direct attack on Iran.
Late on Thursday, U.S. rolling news channels switched into breathless global conflict mode as reports emerged that Israel had dismissed the urgent advice of the White House and launched a strike on Israeli soil.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
NetflixZack Snyder dreams in slow motion, his reveries alight with cascading sparks, mushrooming fireballs, and brightly colored energy beams streaking through the air. There's no modern director more adept at crafting gorgeous pseudo-static tableaus of superhuman and science-fiction mayhem and madness, and he reaffirms that reputation with Rebel Moon—Part Two: The Scargiver, which hits Netflix and select theaters April 19, the second half of a two-movie epic that began with last December's A Child of Fire.
Alas, the downside to Snyder's fondness for hitting the figurative brakes to gaze at men and women in over-the-top, fit-for-Heavy-Metal-magazine panoramas is that his material often grinds to a halt, and that's never been truer than with his latest, whose visual splendor is no match for his simplistic, derivative plot.
Having defeated admiral Noble (Ed Skrein) at the conclusion of the prior film, fugitive rebel Kora (Sofia Boutella) returns with her mates—love interest Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), general Titus (Djimon Hounsou), cyborg swordswoman Nemesis (Donna Bae), animal tamer Tarak (Staz Nair), and soldier Millius (Elise Duffy)—to Gunnar's home planet of Veldt. There, she delivers the good news that Noble is dead and that their crops are now safe from the predatory clutches of the Motherworld. What she doesn't know is that Noble didn't perish in their last scuffle and has been resurrected by his comrades
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Apr 19, 2024
Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights ManagementAs the clock struck midnight on Friday and Spotify streams raged, Taylor Swift dropped a few hints behind the meaning of her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
In her first statement since the album's release, Swift said that she had "no scores to settle" via her music, and described the project as "both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure."
Reviews, however, are already describing it as a "doozy" of a break-up album.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
ABCTaylor Swift fans have been counting down the seconds until the release of her much-anticipated new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which arrives today. But it was the Swifties who ended up being tortured when Jimmy Kimmel decided to prank a few of them by attempting to pass "Anything Is Possible," Lara Trump's painful-to-hear new single, off as a track from Swift.
Spoiler alert: No one was impressed.
"Taylor Swift's album isn't the only major release this month," Kimmel told his audience on Thursday. "It's the biggest, but we also got a new single a couple weeks ago from RNC co-chair and former first daughter-in-law Lara Trump."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 19, 2024
Ben Blackall / Paramount We've been stuck up with Count Alexander Rostov (Ewan McGregor) at the Metropol Hotel for a decade now on A Gentleman in Moscow—or, in our own time, four episodes—and everything is starting to get quite monotonous. Alexander and Anna (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) are still sneaking around. The Count now has a gig at the hotel restaurant waiting tables. Other than that, it's all the same old, same old.
Alexander finds little ways to fill his days with a new sense of whimsy. He keeps up with the roof, tends to Abram's (Dermot Crowley) bees, and also tries to help lead chef Emile (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) flirt with Marina (Leah Harvey). Meanwhile, security guard Osip (Johnny Harris) has been pestering the Count for new details on Mishka (Fehiniti Balogun), who has been rabble rousing a little too hard these days. Osip and Alexander describe their budding friendship in Les Mis terms: Like Javert and Jean Valjean, Osip doesn't like having to follow Alex around-but it's his life's purpose.
Most of this week's episode deals with Mishka's continued violent resistance against Stalin's country. He's upset that Russia's people—the exact folks he originally fought for—are starving. What was the point of locking up rich people like Alexander if they're the only 0nes who can eat nowadays?
Read more at The Daily Beas
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Apr 18, 2024
CNNJesse Ventura, the former governor of Minnesota who was elected on neither the Democratic nor Republican ticket, confidently declared Thursday that, if given ballot access nationally and a spot in the presidential debates, he could actually beat not only Donald Trump but President Joe Biden.
On CNN's Out Front, Ventura, who hasn't held elected office since 2003, was first asked about Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and whether he would vote for him.
"I don't know yet," Ventura told anchor Erin Burnett, before praising the vaccine skeptic whose candidacy has spurred many family members to endorse Biden. "RFK and I have our differences. I met with him about the VP job. We met one evening for over two hours and discussed it, and I have all the admiration in the world for him. He has every right to run, and he's probably going to get a lot of votes."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Reuters/Amir CohenIsrael launched an attack on Iran early Friday morning local time—the first retaliatory strike following an Iranian missile and drone attack on Israeli soil last weekend, U.S. officials told CBS and ABC News.
It's unclear how many—if any—drones reached targets in Iran and how effective they may have been on impact.
The country's anti-missile defenses were activated early Friday near the city of Isfahan, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency. Isfahan is the country's third-most populous city and the site of a nuclear technology center and one of its largest military bases.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Reuters/Amir CohenIsrael launched missiles toward Iran early Friday morning local time—the first retaliatory strike following an Iranian missile and drone attack on Israeli soil last weekend, U.S. officials told CBS and ABC News.
It's unclear how many—if any—reached Iran and how effective they may have been on impact.
The country's anti-missile defenses were activated early Friday near the city of Isfahan, according to the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency. Isfahan is the country's third-most populous city and the site of a nuclear technology center and one of its largest military bases.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyBillionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson is locked in a vicious legal war with his former business manager, is bogged down in a bitter divorce from his estranged wife, and is on President Biden's shit list for raising $50 million for Donald Trump.
And now, his luxury car dealerships in Puerto Rico keep going up in flames—literally.
A blaze erupted at one of his posh dealerships on the island for the second time in five months this weekend, this time in an outdoor storage area adjacent to the Ferrari showroom.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/APDespite a feeling of one step forward and two steps back Thursday morning, the jury in the Manhattan District Attorney's election interference case against Donald Trump is now complete, with only the selection of five alternates left to be done.
Some legal experts had predicted that jury selection could take weeks but my own view was that the experience of Judge Juan Merchan, as well as the prosecutors in the case, would likely make the process a quick one.
In part, that is due to the fact that state courts in large cities are far more adept at handling jury selection in high profile cases than the federal courts with their more rarified atmosphere. But Merchan's approach did cause some unforced errors which may repeat themselves and grow worse if not corrected.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Fox NewsSen. James Lankford (R-OK), the GOP co-architect of the Senate's failed immigration bill earlier this year, made what were perhaps his most critical comments yet on Donald Trump's role in scuttling the legislation, alluding to Fox News Thursday that the former president was motivated by his political self-interest.
On Your World, Lankford was confronted by anchor Neil Cavuto about the players behind the bill's demise.
"You are a real gentleman about this, and I know you're not trying to zing your colleagues, but it's your colleagues in your party, sir, who torpedoed this, who didn't get the facts right on what you just outlined was in that measure," Cavuto said. "They killed it, ironically. Not Democrats."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyIf you are a MAGA Republican who is hoping to remake the party in Donald Trump's image, you might be tempted to look at Speaker Mike Johnson's recent comments and observe (as Barack Obama infamously did a few years ago) that the 1980s called, and they want their foreign policy back.
In case you missed it, Johnson—who is taking heat for saying he now supports funding bills for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—recently invoked Ronald Reagan to buttress his support for foreign aid. "I'm a child of the ‘80s," Johnson told CNN's Jake Tapper. "I regard myself as a Reagan Republican. I understand the concept of maintaining peace through strength. That's one of our guiding principles...it's a big part of our party and our worldview."
Not everyone is happy about Johnson's support for Ukraine (to fend off Russia's invasion). In fact, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep.
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Apr 18, 2024
Getty Images/Andrew WalkerThe author and 30 Rock actor Maulik Pancholy, an openly gay man, has spoken out after a Pennsylvania school board voted unanimously to cancel a scheduled talk at a local middle school because of his "lifestyle."
Pancholy said he learned of the Cumberland Valley School Board's now-viral decision through social media himself, adding that he hopes the district's students from underrepresented groups know they're loved and accepted.
"When I talk about the characters in my books feeling ‘different,' I'm always surprised by how many young people raise their hands—regardless of their identities and backgrounds—wanting to share about the ways in which they, too, feel different," Pancholy said in a statement to The Daily Beast, which he also read in an Instagram clip. "That's the power of books. They build empathy.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
CNNIn what has now become a daily procedure, an angry Donald Trump emerged from a lower Manhattan courthouse on Thursday to complain about the "very unfair" hush-money trial that will keep him busy for the next few weeks.
This time around, however, the former president came armed with props in the form of a massive stack of printed-out articles and opinion columns about how the criminal case against him is a "whopping outrage."
Besides reading off a list of Fox News contributors who have railed against the trial, the ex-president grumbled about the temperature of the courtroom. "Everybody was freezing in there!" Trump exclaimed.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / XOklahoma schools boss Ryan Walters kicked off his talk at a state university on Wednesday night by calling on people to "never back down to a woke mob."
But less than 15 minutes later, Walters seemed to do just that as hecklers in the audience shouted over his remarks.
The Republican firebrand—who has likened the state teachers union to a "terrorist organization," advocated for taxpayer-funded religious schools, and appointed the far-right "Libs of TikTok" creator to a state library media advisory committee—waved goodbye before organizers of the Oklahoma State University event escorted him away.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Oklahoma State Bureau of InvestigationA religious group linked to the abduction and slaying of two Kansas moms has condemned the attack as a "senseless act of murder" that goes "against God's word," asserting it has no ties to the alleged murderers.
The condemnation from the group, "God's Misfits," came days after probable cause affidavits revealed that the suspects accused of murdering Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley were part of an organization by the same name, which met weekly and was characterized by authorities as "anti-government."
Those suspects are Tifany Adams, the grandmother and guardian of Butler's children, as well as her boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, and their friends, Cora and Cole Earl Twombly. Each were arraigned Wednesday on murder and kidnapping charges in an emotionally-charged hearing that nearly became violent.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty ImagesRep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS) announced on Thursday that he will not be seeking re-election, splashing into the steady stream of Congress members who are opting out of the rat race.
In a statement, LaTurner said that he would stay in his seat for the remainder of his term, but that he would not seek re-election, so he could spend more time with his four children.
The Kansas Republican wrote, "the busy schedule of serving in Congress has taken a toll. The unrepeatable season of life we are in, where our kids are still young and at home, is something I want to be there for."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
X/ScreengrabThings got physical when a group of climate protesters clashed with other event-goers at a gala hosted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on Thursday. Several activists were pushed off stage and fell on top of one another while resisting attempts by the event attendees to remove them.
Murkowski was giving a speech at the Bryce Harlow Foundation's awards ceremony when she was suddenly interrupted by about 10-12 climate protesters, who rushed the stage and took over, according to a source who attended the event.
Climate Defiance, the protest organizer, posted a video of the scuffle on social media.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
The Daily Beast/Kelly McKee Zajfen/InstagramOne good turn on Instagram deserves another.
After Meghan Markle's friend Kelly McKee Zajfen posted a glowing review of her pal's new American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam earlier this week, Meghan on Thursday posed with McKee Zafjen, the pair sporting branded T-shirts supporting her charity, Alliance of Moms.
Meghan, 42, was photographed wearing the shirt bearing the slogan, "Love like a mother."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
YouTube/screengrabHot on the heels of his latest "Let's Make a Poop" game show special featuring Rob Schneider, "Weird" Al Yankovic, and more, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was spotted engaging with the MAGA faithful outside of Donald Trump's criminal trial in Downtown Manhattan this week.
Now, the fruits of his comedic labors have arrived on YouTube for us all to enjoy.
"Triumph doesn't have a formal gig right now, but I've been wanting to cover the election," Robert Smigel, the former Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien writer who created the iconic puppet, wrote in a message to The Daily Beast on Thursday. "Since this trial was right here in New York some writers and I just went for it, shooting with iPhones. We were low on cigars, but hopefully people support Triumph's special and YouTube channel and he'll buy some new ones."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Matt Winkelmeyer / GettyTaylor Swift's latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, isn't set to officially drop until tomorrow night, but whoever posted a Google Drive leak of audio files bearing the 16 track names from the main album; plus one of the bonus tracks and and screenshots of alleged lyrics, clearly didn't care too much about official business.
The seemingly authentic leaked tracks dropped Wednesday evening and have officially disseminated into all corners of the internet, defying copyright removals on X and on other platforms.
As such, Swifties have spent all day combing through the illicit offerings rather than doing anything else productive. And opinions amongst the community of passionate fans who track the pop star's every utterance are thoroughly divided.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Alex DeLuca of The Miami New Times / YouTubeNew dash camera footage shows the explosive moment when former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) allegedly slammed into the parked car of a Florida State Trooper on Monday.
Drivers on I-75 were brought to a stand-still earlier this week after a Mercedes which was driving "erratically and aggressively," according to one witness, tore past them down the highway, and rear ended a cop's car. As the drivers rode past, many were able to identify the driver of the Mercedes as none other than the avid Donald Trump supporter and accused insurrectionist.
Footage released to the Miami New Times via a public records request shows the exact moment Cawthorn allegedly crashed into the Florida Highway Patrol cruiser.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesNothing is certain in life except death, taxes, and that jury duty sucks.
So many of us have been through it, you get that notice in the mail and wonder if you can just pretend you didn't see it. Maybe you're the sort of person who is just able to travel for a month or two and didn't keep up with your snail mail? No, you're not that interesting, and anyway, jury duty does mean you can have an excuse not to go to work.
Oh, and also you're a good upstanding citizen who respects the law and the values on which this country was founded—and you want to do your part!
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
REUTERS/Caitlin OchsScores of Columbia University students were arrested Thursday afternoon after they rebuffed authorities' pleas to vacate an on-campus tent city erected in support of Palestine.
"Since you have refused to disperse, you will now be placed under arrest for trespassing," the NYPD told protesters through a loudspeaker. "If you resist arrest, you may face additional charges."
Police officers began taking protesters into custody at around 1:30 p.m., putting them in flex-cuffs and loading them onto buses parked nearby. "Shame! Shame!" some chanted as the arrests unfolded. Others broke out in their own chant of, "Columbia, Columbia you will see, Palestine will be free," and "Disclose, divest, we will not stop, will not rest."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
NewsNation/screengrabComedian and former talk show juggernaut Rosie O'Donnell was willing to lay down some serious cash (for most people) with a bet that Donald Trump would be found guilty on any charges brought against him—but conservative commentator and Trump hype man Bill O'Reilly chickened out of an opposing bet against her Wednesday night during a cable news segment that felt like a throwback to another era.
O'Donnell and O'Reilly were guests on the ex-CNN host Chris Cuomo's NewsNation show when they got into a verbal sparring match about Trump's impact on the country. "Democracy is on trial," O'Donnell said on the show this week. "We have to get everyone back together again in some way," she continued, "Without this, we're nothing as a nation."
O'Reilly jumped in to defend Trump, saying "Rosie, with all due respect, you're not gonna be successful saying that democracy is on trial and anybody who supports Donald Trump is a fascist," he said. "Those people are gonna reject you because there's a lot more to it than you are presenting."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Care Can't Wait ActionRep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) went off on House Republicans on Thursday, mincing no words as she decried the group for preventing the swift delivery of aid to Ukraine.
During a debate on foreign aid on Thursday, DeLauro told the House Rules Committee that she remembered when certain GOP members said they would approve sending additional aid to Ukraine, if they could achieve a bipartisan agreement to boost border security.
"We accomplished bipartisan border security," she said, referencing the, now-dead Senate bill which tied aid to tighter border restrictions. "And you know what? It was Donald Trump who said: Don't. Give. Biden. A Win."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Reuters/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANAIran warned on Thursday that it might review its nuclear "doctrine," threatening a potential break from the publicly stated "peaceful" objectives of its nuclear program.
"The threats of the Zionist regime [Israel] against Iran's nuclear facilities make it possible to review our nuclear doctrine and deviate from our previous considerations," said Ahmad Haghtalab, a top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, according to Tasnim. "If the Zionist regime wants to take action against our nuclear centers and facilities, we will surely and categorically reciprocate with advanced missiles against their own nuclear sites," Haghtalab said, adding the era of "hit and run" is over.
The threat to change course comes as Israel has been deliberating a response to Iran's attack on April 13, when Tehran launched over 300 missiles and drones towards Israel. The attack—conducted in retaliation for the killing of a top commander at an Iranian embassy in Syria earlier this month—was largely thwarted, causing no major damage in Israel.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Universal StudiosKids do the darndest things, and in Abigail, that includes sprouting fangs and sucking blood while wearing cute tutus. That plot point would, under normal circumstances, be classified as a spoiler, considering that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's film, which hits theaters Apr. 19, hides its central surprise for its first third. Unfortunately, with the marketing department having totally let the cat out of the proverbial bag in order to get teenagers into multiplex seats, there's zero mystery to this gruesome horrorshow—which is almost as deleterious as the material's fondness for exposition over frights, bloat over concision, and clichés over invention.
As with their prior Scream and Scream VI, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett's latest has modest personality but scant creative terror. Very loosely based on 1936's Dracula's Daughter (by which I mean, it shares that predecessor's basic conceit and virtually nothing else), this clumsy bloodbath concerns a seemingly perfect crime that goes horribly wrong. In an unnamed city, adolescent ballerina Abigail (Alisha Weir) travels home from rehearsal in a Rolls Royce to her opulent manor house. Unbeknownst to her, she's not alone, since a gang of crooks are lurking in her bedroom's shadows. Led by no-nonsense Frank (Dan Stevens), this gang has been hired by Lambert (
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Apr 18, 2024
Fox NewsShark Tank star Kevin O'Leary flew off the handle on Thursday over Donald Trump's hush-money criminal trial, claiming that it "hurts the American brand" to "go after the office of the president with porn star cases" because former presidents should be given "a broad swath of latitude."
A Canadian investor who became a household name for portraying a "shark" on a business reality TV show, O'Leary has been an outspoken critic of the criminal and civil cases against Trump, especially in New York. Besides claiming that he'll never invest in the "loser" state again due to his disgust over Trump's civil fraud ruling, he's also called the massive $454 million fine against the ex-president an "attack on America."
During an appearance on Fox News' midday panel show Outnumbered, O'Leary reacted to sp
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Apr 18, 2024
Tim Rooke/GettyMeghan Markle's limited launch of her first American Riviera Orchard product unexpectedly boosted her father-in-law King Charles' rival jam this week, as royal followers stocked up on the sweet condiment in anticipation of her strawberry preserves.
Sales of Charles' Highgrove Organic Strawberry Preserve skyrocketed this week after a few select influencers began promoting Meghan's version on social media. The duchess gifted 50 pots of her product to the chosen few but hasn't announced when it will be available to the public. With the teased release, some royal followers may be stocking up on the king's jam to put the duchess' and the king's products in a head-to-head test.
Meghan's brand is driven by a central Californian identity, its name a reference to Santa Barbara's designation as the "American Riviera." Charles' lifestyle brand Highgrove, by contrast, is named for the king's private residence in Gloucestershire, England, and practically sells English heritage in its advertising. On the website, Charles' jam is described as a "quintessentially English strawberry preserve" packaged with "a specially commissioned woodcut design that captures the natural beauty of the gardens at Highgrove" on its label.
Read more at Th
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Apr 18, 2024
Drew AngererEx-Rep. George Santos is once again coming face-to-face with his own worst enemy—himself.
Lawyers for the truth-challenged former New York lawmaker asked the judge in his fraud case to yank the "confidential" label off material they call "highly exculpatory" that the government produced in the case, arguing that not letting Santos talk about it publicly would violate "his First Amendment right to offer brief insight into his defense."
The government dismissed the defense's suggestion this material would "exonerate," and practically laughed at the argument that the automatic confidentiality that both sides in the court fight previously agreed to has in any way constrained the Republican's right to free expression.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Rick Diamond/Getty ImagesDickey Betts—guitarist, singer, and songwriter for the Allman Brothers Band—died on Thursday at the age of 80.
Betts died surrounded by family in his home in Osprey, Florida, according to a statement from his family.
According to his manager David Spero, the cause of death was cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is commonly caused by smoking.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
AFP via Getty Images A Russian military court convened on Thursday to rage against the press secretary of Facebook's parent company over a tweet posted more than two years ago.
Andy Stone, the press secretary of Meta, was not present in the Moscow District Military Court. Andy Stone will probably never be present in a Russian court.
But that did not stop a high-profile prosecutor from trying to call up a witness to make the Kremlin's case that Stone is guilty of "justifying terrorism" for announcing back in March 2022 that Facebook and Instagram users could write "death to the Russian invaders" as much as they pleased. (Stone made clear at the time, at the height of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that calls for violence against Russian civilians would not be tolerated.)
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via GettyA trial is underway for 22-year-old Jack Callahan, two years ago after he was accused of drowning his father during what he described to investigators as an exorcism.
In June 2021, police in Duxbury, Massachusetts, received a call from Callahan's mother saying her 19-year-old son was acting erratically and that her ex-husband was missing, according to a press release from the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office.
Police arrived on the scene, and Jack Callahan told them he'd gone in a ride-share to pick up his father, Scott, from a bar in Boston. At the time, the 57-year-old banker was supposed to be receiving treatment for alcohol addiction but had checked himself out, according to The Independent.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
MSNBCWith the jury selection process underway in Donald Trump's trial of the century, some members of the culled pool were struck by the experience of encountering the former president in the flesh for the first time.
And one juror, asked about her first impression of the Don, was surprised by his complexion more than anything else. According to her, Trump's typical Tropicana glow was more toned down than she expected.
"He looked less orange, definitely," the woman, identified by her first name Kat, told MSNBC's Yasmin Vossoughian outside the courthouse. "Like more yellowish, like yellow," she clarified.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesSamantha Davis, the wife of U.K. actor Warwick Davis has died of sepsis at age 53, her family announced Wednesday.
In a statement released by Lucasfilm, Davis, who is best known for his role as Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter movies, paid tribute to his beloved late wife.
"My most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career, has passed," Davis said, referring to her as his "favorite human" and "the most open, warm person I have ever known."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Mohammed Salem/ReutersA harrowing photograph showing a woman in Gaza sobbing in a morgue as she cradles the body of her 5-year-old niece won the 2024 World Press Photo of the Year Award on Thursday.
Mohammed Salem, a 39-year-old Palestinian Reuters photographer, captured the image at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave on Oct. 17, 2023. The picture shows Inas Abu Maamar, 36, embracing the shrouded corpse of her niece, Saly.
"Mohammed received the news of his WPP award with humility, saying that this is not a photo to celebrate but that he appreciates its recognition and the opportunity to publish it to a wider audience," Rickey Rogers, Reuters' Global Editor for Pictures and Video, said at a ceremony in Amsterdam. "He hopes with this award that the world will become even more conscious of the human impact of war, especially on children."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Jabin Botsford/ReutersThe troubles plaguing Donald Trump's first criminal trial in New York City and its anonymous jury are starting to mount, as a nurse slotted as "juror number two" bowed out after details of her personal life revealed in court allowed her to be identified by friends and colleagues, scaring her enough to want to avoid serving on the most significant trial in the country's history.
"I definitely have concerns now… about being in public. Yesterday alone, I had friends, colleagues push things to my phone questioning my identity as a juror. I don't believe at this point that I can be fair and unbiased and let the outside influences not affect my decision to be in the courtroom," she told the judge Thursday morning.
"Thank you. I'm sorry," New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan replied. "You're excused."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Jabin Botsford/ReutersThe troubles plaguing Donald Trump's first criminal trial in New York City and its anonymous jury are starting to mount, as two jurors bowed out after details of their personal lives revealed in court drew public attention—and potentially a target on their backs.
At the start of the day, a nurse slotted as "juror number two" said details reported by news outlets allowed her to be identified by friends, scaring her enough to want to avoid serving on the most significant trial in the country's history.
Then, at noon, a Puerto Rican IT consultant chosen to be "juror number four" held a private meeting with the judge, prosecutors, and defense attorneys to apparently share similar concerns.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Jabin Botsford/ReutersDespite the troubles plaguing Donald Trump's first criminal trial in New York City, the process reached a milestone Thursday afternoon when the judge filled all 12 seats of the jury that will determine his fate.
But the slog is far from over, as prosecutors and defense lawyers must now screen dozens of other jurors to pick the half-dozen New Yorkers who will serve as alternates during the next month or two—and might not even make it into the deliberation room.
The new additions to the jury cut a diverse slice of the Big Apple:
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Alastair Grant/Getty ImagesPrince William was handed get well soon cards for his wife and father by a well-wisher Thursday as he made his first in-person appearance since Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis. The prince appeared to be taken aback by the gesture, and, swiftly changed the subject, alighting on a pan of spaghetti hoops as a convenient conversational prop.
Although there is no suggestion the charity worker who handed him the cards had anything other than the best intentions, Kensington Palace and William are likely to be irritated at the distraction as they tried to return to business as usual during William's first job back in the saddle after he spent the Easter holidays focused on his family.
William was visiting food distribution charity Surplus to Supper in Surrey, and was touring the facility's kitchen, when one of the charity's volunteers, reached below her food serving station and produced two cards for his wife and father which she handed to the prince.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Steve Marcus/ReutersGoogle fired 28 employees late Wednesday after staff members staged protests against the company's work with the government of Israel during the war in Gaza.
The terminations came after nine of the tech giant's employees were arrested following 10-hour sit-in demonstrations at Google offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, California, on Tuesday. The workers involved in a group named No Tech for Apartheid say they were objecting to Project Nimbus—a $1.2 billion contract awarded to Google and Amazon in 2021 to provide cloud-computing services to the Israeli government.
"They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers," Chris Rackow, Google's vice president of global security, wrote in a companywide memo to staff announcing the firings, according to the New York Post. "Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made co-workers feel threatened."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Newshub YouTubeA man in New Zealand went looking for his elderly parents on Thursday morning after becoming concerned that he had not heard from them for days, reports say. At their rural rented property in Waitakere, West Auckland, he found a ram in a paddock alongside the lifeless bodies of his parents.
The unnamed couple in their early 80s are believed to have both been killed by the sheep, according to The New Zealand Herald. Authorities believe the man had gone out to feed the ram and never returned, his wife then suffering the same fate when she went to check on him, Stuff reports.
New Zealand Police said the bodies were found at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Thursday morning. The agency said in a statement that the "ram was in the paddock" when authorities were contacted about the situation.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
GettyTaylor Swift's most devoted fans went into a tailspin on Wednesday evening when her forthcoming new album, The Tortured Poets Department, allegedly leaked in what appeared to be its entirety.
"You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth / should be a bigger artist / I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed Golden Retriever," one fragment distributed by Swifties reads.
While most of the audio that ripped across X has already been taken down due to copyright violations, the overwhelming consensus among fans is that the bulk of the album's lyrical content concerns not actor Joe Alwyn, whose six-year relationship with Swift reportedly ended last year, but Matty Healy, the problematic lead singer of The 1975 and a former situationship of Swift's.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
ReutersThe Kremlin is not pleased that French authorities have taken aim at Vladimir Putin's ex-wife.
A French court's decision to seize the $5.7-million villa belonging to Russian citizen Artur Ocheretny, the new husband of Lyudmila Ocheretnaya (formerly Putina), is "a priori illegal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
The "Souzanna" villa in Anglet, near Biarritz, was seized back in December 2023 but the news only became public this week, according to the local publication Challenges.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Ramapo College of New JerseyCapt. Everett Leland Yager of the U.S. Marine Corps was 30 years old when he embarked on a military training exercise back in California in 1951, and it's fair to say the World War II vet probably had a lot of ideas about how he wanted to be remembered by his wife and two children should he be killed during his service. Full military honors, perhaps a somber memorial. A burial site where future generations could remember him.
He almost certainly didn't expect any of his remains to wind up in a child's rock collection. And yet that's exactly what happened, according to genealogy experts.
The "unexpected" discovery was announced this week by the Ramapo College of New Jersey, where a genetics lab determined that Yager's jawbone had somehow been mistaken for a rock during a "scavenging exploration" in Arizona. The "rock" was finally referred for forensic testing in January 2023, and students ultimately found it was a DNA match to Yager's daughter.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via GettyRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is pushing for the creation of a space laser to defend the U.S.-Mexico border. Yes, really.
The MAGA congresswoman, who has notoriously made bizarre comments about "Jewish space lasers" in the past, called for the technology in a proposed amendment to a bill that would provide funding for Israel during its war against Hamas in Gaza. "By the funds made available by this Act, such sums as necessary shall be used for the development of space laser technology on the southwest border," the text of her amendment reads.
"Israel has some of the best unmanned defense systems in the world," Greene wrote in an X post Wednesday. "I've previously voted to fund space lasers for Israel's defense. America needs to take our national security seriously and deserves the same type of defense for our border that Israel has and proudly uses."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Anadolu via Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden on Wednesday made a pretty shocking claim about why the body of his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, was never found after Finnegan's plane went down during World War II.
"He got shot down in New Guinea," Biden said at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in Pittsburgh. "And they never found the body because there used to be—there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea."
Biden mentioned his uncle—known to his family as "Bosie"—in a speech which also criticized his election rival Donald Trump for reportedly calling U.S. veterans "suckers" and "losers."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Mario Tama/Getty ImagesMore than a dozen members of the Kennedy family will officially endorse Joe Biden for president on Wednesday, forsaking their own family member, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The family plans to gather with Biden in Philadelphia, where they will make calls and knock on doors on the president's behalf.
According to a draft of Kerry Kennedy's remarks reviewed by The Daily Beast, she plans to denounce Donald Trump as a threat to America's "most basic rights and freedoms."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesPay Dirt is a weekly foray into the pigpen of political funding. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Thursday.
A watchdog group is asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Donald Trump repeatedly lied in sworn statements to the federal government—including his own administration—about a $50 million loan that apparently never existed in the first place, and which could be evidence of tax evasion.
The criminal complaint, filed on Thursday by watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and first obtained by The Daily Beast, asks the FBI and the Justice Department's Public Integrity Unit to probe whether Trump "knowingly and willfully" lied about the mystery loan on his personal financial disclosures.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesTaylor Swift's highly anticipated new album, The Tortured Poets Department, drops this Friday. But given the somewhat scattered LP rollout thus far, you'd be forgiven for wondering just what exactly has been running through the pop star's mind in terms of strategy this time around.
Case in point: Like a luxury brand looking to seduce penny-pinching skeptics, Swift and Spotify appear to have collaborated on a Tortured Poets activation at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles this week.
The resulting semi-ramshackle, adult-sized dioramas look rather like proposed pop-up experiences that were rejected from Harry Potter World at Universal Studios: You, too, can wait in line for hours to look at a West Elm birdcage perched on a fake bookshelf, and ponder its meaning!
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyWordle is actually making us crazy.
Therapists tell The Daily Beast that some of their patients are confessing just how much time they are spending on The New York Times Games app and how it's messing with their mood or mental health.
"When I see it as a problem is when a patient says ‘I was not able to complete my tasks at work today because I spent so much time on Wordle' or when they say they were asked to go to dinner with their friends but chose to stay home to play Connections," New York psychologist Jennifer Gittleman said.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty"You can either die as speaker and worry about them taking you out, or live every day as your last."
As Speaker Mike Johnson ponders what to do this week, I hope he heeds that advice that came from Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) back in February.
In case you have missed it, the next week or so will determine whether Johnson is going to remain the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and (just as important) whether that title is even worth a warm bucket of spit in the first place.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Apr 18, 2024
LionsgateGuy Ritchie loves movies about rough-and-tumble bros—or, rather, blokes—and at its best, his work generates amusing excitement from having tough guys band together to complete intricate and daring action-adventure missions. The director's cinema is one of attitude and flair, and over the course of his prior three features (Wrath of Man, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The Covenant), he's moved confidently between stern and silly modes, all while maintaining the rugged swagger that has long been his trademark. Thus, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare would seem to be an almost ideal project for Ritchie—which is why its lethargy comes as such a dispiriting surprise.
A low-wattage affair that goes through the spy motions without ever providing more than formulaic reasons to care about its plot or its players, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (April 19, in theaters) is a dramatized real-life saga whose specifics were declassified by the British government in 2016. Loosely based on Damien Lewis' book Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII, it concerns Winston Churchill's clandestine attempt to stave off the escalating Nazi threat by mounting an unauthorized exercise to end Hitler's stranglehold on the Atlantic Ocean and, by doing so, to allow the United States to involve itself in the global conflict. Dubbed "Operation Postmaster," it was an endeavor of the utmost secrecy and importance. Ye
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesIt's always a little sad when someone doesn't understand that everyone's laughing at them, not with them. You kind of want to tell them about the behind-the-scenes giggles, but then if you do tell them, you have to see the sad look reach across their eyes. The final option is to simply go along with the crowd, performing the scandalous act of giggling in secrecy, all at someone else's expense. That's what I—along with most of the world—have chosen to do with JoJo Siwa as she enters this forced goth-bad-girl era of her singing career.
Siwa, who has recently reinvented her rainbow persona to be darker, grittier, and "gay pop," seems to have no idea that the world has made her the butt of the joke. Siwa's "Karma" music video, released April 4, is perhaps the most unsettling video released in 2024. It also features Siwa animatedly humping her dance partner as vigorously as a dog thrusts his hips against a stranger's shin. But at least when the dog does it, it's not wearing a webbed jumpsuit with fishnets and leather, something Spider-Man might purchase if he landed on a sex shop somewhere in Queens.
Since the video's release, folks all over the internet have been recreating the dance in particular, as well as making other Siwa
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Apr 18, 2024
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/RokuThe past few years have brought harrowing stories of streaming platforms shelving completed projects as tax write-offs. This time, at least, there's a happy ending for the YA series The Spiderwick Chronicles, which was originally made for Disney , only to be scrapped as a cost-cutting strategy and sold to Roku instead.
Based on Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black's bestselling fantasy novels about a family who move into their old ancestral home and discover a hidden world of magical creatures, Spiderwick certainly would've made sense as a companion to Disney's Percy Jackson and the Olympians. (Both are based on mid-aughts book series that gained massive popularity in the post-Harry Potter publishing landscape.) On Roku, however, it gets to be an uneven but mostly charming flagship series for the free, ad-supported streamer, which debuts all eight episodes on April 19.
Spiderwick enthusiasts should know that creator Aron Eli Coleite has taken some fairly drastic liberties with the source material—including aging up its twin protagonists from 9-year-olds to teenagers and giving its mystical baddies far more human motivations. In place of the Amblin-inspired whimsy of the 2008 big-screen adaptation starring Freddie Highmore, Coleite's series tries to be Buffy the Vampire Slay
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Apr 18, 2024
ABC"What a day this was," Jimmy Kimmel said at the top of his late-night monologue on Wednesday before recounting the "tumultuous morning" he had thanks to yet another mean "Truth" aimed in his direction from "our Kentucky fried former president" Donald Trump.
Noting that Wednesday was a day off from Trump's criminal trial, the host asked, "How did he spend it? Brunch with Melania? No. Maybe a catch with Barron in the yard? No, no, Ranta Claus got up bright and early to post 165 venomous words about yours truly."
"Stupid Jimmy Kimmel, who still hasn't recovered from his horrendous performance and big ratings drop as Host of The Academy Awards, especially when he showed he suffered from TDS, commonly known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, to the entire World by reading on air my TRUTH about how bad a job he was doing that night, right before he stumbled through announcing the biggest award of all, ‘Picture of the Year,'" Trump posted, beginning to mix up Kimmel with actor Al Pacino.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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