By Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have been embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute, starting when the company criticized a Florida law last year, which has led to dueling lawsuits.

THE DISNEY LAWSUIT AGAINST DESANTIS

The entertainment giant sued the Republican governor on April 26 in federal court, claiming he was “weaponizing” state government in retaliation for the company’s criticism of a law that banned classroom discussion of sexuality and gender identity with younger children. Opponents labeled the measure the “don’t say gay” law.

The company alleged DeSantis rallied the Republican-controlled legislature to strike back at “woke Disney” and seize control of an administrative district, created in 1967, that helped Disney develop theme parks and resorts. The district, originally known as Reedy Creek Improvement District, was also named as a defendant.

FLORIDA’S LAWSUIT AGAINST DISNEY

Rather than responding in federal court, the administrative district, which lawmakers put under DeSantis’ control and renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, fired back on May 2, countersuing Disney in state court.

The new district leadership accused the company of striking last-minute “backroom” deals with the prior board, just before the legislature changed the board structure.

The new board asked the state court to void those Disney-friendly deals, which gave the company control over development in the district for decades and which limited the new board’s authority.

HOW THE LAWSUITS DIFFER

Disney’s lawsuit was filed in federal court and alleges that DeSantis violated the company’s protections under the U.S. Constitution, including its First Amendment right to free speech.

It also alleges the new district board violated of the Due Process, Contracts and the Takings Clauses of the U.S. Constitution by declaring void the company’s development agreements that were struck with the old board. Disney is asking the court to strike down laws that created the new board and that voided the agreements with Disney.

In contrast, the state court lawsuit against Disney focuses on the procedures the old board followed in approving the agreements with Disney. It alleges those deals were approved at meetings that failed to follow state rules for things like giving the public advance notice. The Florida district is asking the state court to void the Disney agreements.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN LAWSUITS?

Disney’s case is proceeding before U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee, who previously has struck down some laws that define the governor’s conservative agenda. The Florida district’s case is in state court before Circuit Judge Margaret Schreiber in Orlando.

The district could file a motion in federal court to ask Walker to dismiss or pause Disney’s federal case while the state court proceeds. Legal doctrines hold that federal judges should refrain from hearing a case where there is a related state court proceeding, particularly when a state court decision could resolve the federal lawsuit.

But Walker might still allow Disney’s federal lawsuit to proceed because the company is claiming a major Constitutional violation, which is the kind of claim a federal judge is inclined to hear.

COULD THERE BE CONFLICTING RULINGS?

Both cases could proceed simultaneously. While the legal theories are different, both courts were asked to decide if the agreements between Disney and the prior board were valid, so it’s conceivable that the judges could reach conflicting answers. In that scenario, it is likely that the side that prevails first would ask the other judge to respect that ruling. The prevailing party would likely cite the doctrine of res judicata, which says that a claim that reaches judgment in one court should not be relitigated in a second.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Amy Stevens and Lisa Shumaker)

It looks like Britney Spears fans will have to wait a bit longer for her anticipated memoir to be released, as it is delayed due to legal concerns.

According to The Sun, a source claimed the pop star, 41, is getting pushback after she made claims she had “flings with two massive Hollywood stars.”

“Britney is brutally honest in the book — there are a lot of nervous A-listers,” the insider claimed of the “Toxic” songstress who has dated Justin Timberlake, Jason Trawick, Kevin Federline and more. “Strongly worded legal letters have been sent to the publishers by people who know Britney and who fear what she has written. There is no movement at the moment and there are concerns over when it will eventually be able to come out.”

The book, which will cover he controversial conservatorship, her marriage to Sam Asghari and other hot topics, is now likely to come out at the end of the year.

“Britney wants this to be her moment she talks to the world, to tell her side of the story and set the record straight,” the insider dished. “There’s a fair amount of throwing people under the bus, talking about past relationships, some of whom will be revealed for the first time ever.”

The insider added, “Britney lived her life in the public eye but there are relationships and people she had encounters with who she managed to keep under the radar, including some massive film star names and people from the music world. She has wanted to go all out with this book and tell her truth, and that’s what has people worried.”

The singer enlisted Sam Lansky as a ghostwriter.

AsOK! previously reported, the tome is sure to be juicy.

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“Britney’s book is a story of triumph. It will cover her most vulnerable moments, her childhood – being a little girl with big dreams – her breakup with Justin Timberlake, the moment she shaved her head, and her battle with her family over her conservatorship,” one source said.

“It is also a story of survival, finding her way out of the crippling conservatorship to finding happiness with her husband Sam Asghari,” they continued.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan accused the opposition of being “pro-LGBT” at a rally in Istanbul on Sunday, as he stepped up his rhetoric against his opponents a week before what is expected to be a tight election.

Elsewhere, protesters threw stones at Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), during an election rally in the eastern city of Erzurum, a stronghold of Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP).

Imamoglu later claimed nine people had been injured at the event.

Turkey is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14 and opinion polls show that Erdogan faces his biggest electoral challenge in his two decades in power.

At his rally in Istanbul, the president was appealing to his conservative Muslim voter base.

“AK Party and other parties in our alliance would never be pro-LGBT, because family is sacred to us. We will bury those pro-LGBT in the ballot box,” he told the crowd.

Erdogan has toughened his rhetoric against the LGBT community in recent years, frequently labelling members “deviants”.

On Sunday, he also attacked his key election rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the main opposition alliance.

“My people will not allow drunks and boozers to take the stage,” Erdogan also said. “Mr. Kemal, you can drink barrels of it, nothing can cure you,” he said.

“My nation will make the necessary response on May 14. We will not allow Kilicdaroglu, who is hand in hand with terrorists, to divide our homeland,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan has also accused Kilicdaroglu of getting support from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency since the 1980s in which more than 40,000 people have been killed. It is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The opposition has previously denounced claims by Erdogan linking them to terrorists as divisive and dangerous campaign rhetoric.

At the event in Erzurum, Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu, who would become vice president if Kilicdaroglu wins the election, was addressing his supporters from the top of an open air bus when some members of the crowd threw stones at him and his supporters in the crowd, video footage showed.

Imamoglu cut short his speech and left the scene in the bus.

“We are leaving for your safety,” Imamoglu told his supporters, adding that he would file a criminal complaint against the Erzurum governor and police chief for allowing the violence.

Footage showed at least one person wounded in the face.

“Erzurum’s governor called and told me that seven people were wounded. I spoke to nine wounded people at this time,” he later said in a tweet.

In the 2018 presidential election Erdogan won 72% of votes in Erzurum.

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Keanu Reeves has aged like a fine wine over the span of his career!

The Constantine actor has been through his fair share of struggles throughout his decades in Hollywood, but he’s always managed to maintain his charm!

Besides his impressive work in film, Reeves has always kept his reputation as such a nice guy and a true romantic — especially when it comes to longtime girlfriend Alexandra Grant.

When asked what his last moment of bliss was, the 58-year-old gushed, “A couple of days ago with my honey.”

“We were in bed. We were connected. We were smiling and laughing and giggling. Feeling great,” he said of the special moment with his longtime friend turned lover. “It was just really nice to be together.”

According to insiders, Reeves has been so taken with the visual artist that he’s been on the verge of asking her to marry him for a while now. “He has the ring and the proposal speech all ready, but just can’t follow through,” an insider claimed earlier this year. “He also worries about jinxing something that’s already so perfect.”

“It’s been so much fun hanging out because she’s so cool and intellectual. Sheconstantly astounds him,” the source continued. “Alexandra thinks the world of him. They’ve been inseparable these past few years. She’s accompanied him on his shoots, including Berlin for The Matrix 4, and she’s been a tireless supporter of his other endeavors, like his writing and music.”

“It’s really all in his head,” the insider said of his nerves about the proposal. “No one but Keanu really thinks she’ll say no. He just needs to build up his confidence — and shake those jitters.”

Scroll through the gallery to see Reeves’ most handsome moments throughout the years.

A young Reeves smoldered for the cameras at a press event in 1997.

The multi-talented star concentrated while playing the guitar in 1998.

Reeves looked clean shaven as he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.

The Matrix actor kept warn in a gray scarf and matching blazer while stepping out in 2009.

Reeves stepped out looking dapper at the John Wick Chapter 4 premiere in 2023.

Renowned comedian and actor John Cleese sparked backlash on social media yesterday after tweeting a comparison between the newly-crowned King Charles and former president Donald Trump, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Cleese posted a tweet early Saturday morning that read: “The pledge of allegiance idea would certainly please Donald Trump. But, since we no longer live in a feudal society, our pledge of allegiance should be to the Rule of Law, not to an individual.”

The post was met with a mixed response, with some people agreeing with Cleese’s sentiments while others were quick to criticize the comparison.

“Relax,” one user wrote. “The pledge is a pledge to the King only in his capacity as a proxy for the rule of law and this system of democracy. It’s not a pledge to an individual.”

Another Twitter replied, “You’re the one introducing Trump into the conversation, John. Respectfully, maybe you should consider if you’re a little too focused on him.”

Although the Monty Python comedian has been a vocal critic of Trump in the past and is known for using his platform to voice his opinions on politics and current affairs, other Twitter users criticized him for using the Coronation to air his views on US politics.

The comparison between the former President and the new King was likely meant to stir the pot, with many people seeing the two figures as diametrically opposed in terms of their politics and personality.

While Trump is notorious for his inflammatory rhetoric and divisive policies, King Charles is seen by many in the UK as a more moderate figure who is likely to take a more measured approach to his role as Monarch.

This isn’t the first time Cleese took aim at the royal family. The 83-year-old actor has turned down several honors offered to him over the years, calling the late Queen Elizabeth and her family “silly” after declining a life peerage for political services in 1999.

More recently, he took a potshot at King Charles after “evicting” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from Frogmore Cottage and allegedly offering it to his brother, Prince Andrew.

The Flying Circus star tweeted: “Surprising that the Royal Frogmore Cottage is being converted into a holding facility for people accused of sex offenses.”

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There’s more than what meets the eye with controversial Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as RadarOnline.com can reveal that the Republican lawmaker has a shocking past.

While the governor’s political opponent Donald Trump seized the opportunity to expose DeSantis’ odd preference towards eating pudding with his fingers, DeSantis continues to surprise voters.

The same former congressional colleagues, who outed DeSantis’ strange eating habits, also claimed that the Yale graduate was a socially awkward “loner” who kept to himself.

Adding to DeSantis’ eyebrow-raising past was his stint as a young Navy lawyer at Guantanamo Bay. The governor often dodged reporters when asked about his time working for the notorious prison camp.

When DeSantis served as a judge advocate general (JAG) at Guantanamo Bay, his job was ensuring that military personnel and prison guards followed the law.

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As a JAG, DeSantis was tasked with investigating the gruesome death of three prisoners. They were discovered hanging in their cells, bound at the feet and hands, with their mouths gagged. Despite the state that the prisoners were found in, then-Naval officer Harry Harris claimed the prisoners killed themselves.

DeSantis upheld Harris’ suicide theory and the investigation concluded after only 11 days, leaving the deaths a mystery to this day.

Additionally, DeSantis was accused by a former Guantanamo prisoner of overseeing guards barbarically force-feeding him during a hunger strike in 2006, which the governor denied.

A year before he was elected governor in 2019, DeSantis came under fire for a Facebook group he was an administrator of. DeSantis was exposed as a member of The Tea Party Facebook page.

DeSantis attempted to distance himself from the page. On the campaign trail, he alleged he was added to the group without his consent, and he removed himself from the group.

Making matters worse for DeSantis was that it was not the first time during his campaign for governor that he was accused of being racist.

In August 2018, DeSantis appeared on Fox News to discuss his campaign against Democrat Andrew Gillum. He warned Florida voters to not “monkey this up.”

Florida Democrats accused the future governor of using a racist dog whistle against Gillum, a Black man. The DeSantis campaign responded to allegations but failed to provide any apology.

“Ron DeSantis was obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses. To characterize it as anything else is absurd,” said Stephen Lawson, then-communications director for the DeSantis campaign.

By Michael Holden, Kate Holton and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) -King Charles III was anointed and crowned on Saturday in Britain’s biggest ceremonial event for seven decades, a display of pomp and pageantry that sought to marry 1,000 years of history with a monarchy fit for a new era.

In front of a congregation including about 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, slowly placed the 360-year-old St Edward’s Crown on Charles’ head as he sat upon a 14th-century throne in Westminster Abbey.

During the solemn two-hour service, elements of which date back to the time of King William the Conqueror in 1066, Charles’ second wife Camilla was also crowned queen.

A huge military procession followed, gun salutes were fired, thousands of soldiers roared three cheers, and there was a scaled-down flypast by military aircraft as the king and queen waved from the balcony of Buckingham Palace to cheering crowds who gathered on The Mall boulevard.

While rooted in history, the ceremony – only the second British coronation to be televised – was also an attempt to present a forward-looking institution and to reflect a more diverse country.

“I come not to be served but to serve,” Charles said at the start.

With Britain struggling to find its way in the political maelstrom after its exit from the European Union and maintain its global standing, the monarchy’s supporters say the royal family provides an international draw, a vital diplomatic tool and a means of keeping it on the world stage.

“No other country could put on such a dazzling display – the processions, the pageantry, the ceremonies, and street parties,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

But despite Sunak’s enthusiasm, the coronation took place amid a cost of living crisis and public scepticism, particularly among the young, about the role and relevance of the monarchy.

Charles, 74, automatically succeeded his mother as king of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms including Canada and Australia when Queen Elizabeth died last September.

Saturday’s event was on a smaller scale than that staged for her in 1953, but still sought to be spectacular. There was an array of historical regalia from golden orbs and bejewelled swords to a sceptre holding the world’s largest colourless cut diamond.

After the service, Charles and Camilla, 75, departed in the four-tonne Gold State Coach built for George III, the last king of Britain’s American colonies, to ride to Buckingham Palace in a one-mile procession of 4,000 military personnel from 39 nations.

Meanwhile hundreds of soldiers in scarlet uniforms and black bearskin hats lined the route along The Mall for what was the largest ceremonial event of its kind in Britain since Queen Elizabeth’s coronation.

Tens of thousands of people ignored pouring rain to mass on the streets to watch what some saw as a moment of history.

“When I was a young girl, I was able to watch (the coronation of) Queen Elizabeth on television in Hartford, Connecticut, at a friend’s house because we had no TV,” said retired U.S. teacher Peggy Jane Laver, 79.

“So I’m thrilled to be here for the coronation in person.”

Not everyone who came to watch was there to cheer Charles, with hundreds of republicans booing and waving banners reading “Not My King”. The Republic campaign group said its leader had been arrested, among 52 people detained as part of a “significant police operation”.

SACRED CEREMONY

Inside the abbey, which was bedecked with flowers and flags, politicians and dignitaries from around the world such as U.S. first lady Jill Biden took their seats alongside 2,200 others from charity workers to celebrities, including actors Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench and U.S. singer Katy Perry.

Charles looked solemn as he swore oaths to govern justly and uphold the Church of England – of which he is the titular head.

He was then hidden from watching eyes by a screen for the most sacred part of the ceremony when he was anointed on his hands, head and breast by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby with holy oil consecrated in Jerusalem.

After being presented with symbolic regalia, Welby placed the St Edward’s Crown on his head and the congregation cried out “God save the King”.

Gun salutes were fired at the Tower of London and across the capital, the nation, in Gibraltar, Bermuda and on ships at sea.

Charles’ eldest son and heir Prince William, 40, knelt before his father to pledge his loyalty as his “liege man of life and limb”.

Much of the ceremony featured elements that Charles’ forebears right back to King Edgar in 973 would recognise, officials said. Handel’s coronation anthem “Zadok The Priest” was sung as it has been at every coronation since 1727.

But the service also included an anthem composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, famed for his West End and Broadway theatre shows, a gospel choir, and an “unprecedented” greeting from faith leaders.

However, there was no formal role for either Charles’ younger son Prince Harry, after his high-profile falling out with his family, or his brother Prince Andrew, who was forced to quit royal duties because of his friendship with late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

They sat in the third row behind working members of the royal family and neither appeared on the palace balcony.

Camilla’s crowning sealed her rise from a position of deep unpopularity in the period after Charles’ divorced first wife, the popular, glamorous Princess Diana, died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

For the last decade, the royal family has enjoyed massive global media attention, celebrating everything from weddings, births, and significant anniversaries to mourning last year’s death of Queen Elizabeth, and now Charles’ coronation.

But, no major event is likely for some years, and with polls indicating a decline in support for the monarchy, especially among the young, commentators say adapting and staying relevant is the greatest challenge to the institution.

Neil Edward, 72, a retired salesman who travelled from southwest England to watch, said the experience had been a mixture of pride and nostalgia with a touch of sadness that this might be the last big royal event he attends.

“Without them, I don’t know how we would come together to celebrate big events like this,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Andrew MacAskill, Sarah Young, Suban Abdulla, Rachel Armstrong, Farouq Suleiman, Muvija M and Paul SandleWriting by Michael Holden and Kate HoltonEditing by Frances Kerry and Janet Lawrence)

Yellowstone macho man Kevin Costner allegedly plunged into a forbidden love affair with his leading lady Whitney Houston — just like their characters in their movie hit The Bodyguard — as his first marriage crumbled from his cheating scandal, sources told RadarOnline.com.

The 67-year-old star of TV’s hottest drama admits he was a notorious skirt-chaser three decades ago leading to the 1994 divorce from his first wife, Cindy, mom of Annie, 37, Lily, 35, and Joe, 33, three of his seven kids.

Their 16-year marriage collapsed just two years after he allegedly fell for 28-year-old pop megastar Whitney — on and off screen — in the 1992 blockbuster.

Sources say the attraction between the two A-listers was immediate after meeting on the set of the film, which features Costner as the bodyguard of Whitney’s pop star character. In the movie, they end up sizzling in bed.

“He couldn’t keep his eyes off her and went her comfortable in her first film role,” spilled a source. “The chemistry between them was immediate and powerful.”

At the time, Whitney was set to wed pop star Bobby Brown and shut down her romance with Kevin when the film wrapped, spies dished. Meanwhile, womanizer Kevin — who later called the late Grammy winner “my one true love” — insisted his marriage to college sweetheart Cindy was already in tatters when he signed on for the film.

It wasn’t his forbidden pining for Whitney that ended his first marriage.

As RadarOnline.com reported, Costner made an $80 million mistake when his ex-wife discovered he had invited an exotic hula dancer to put on a private show for him while he filmed a movie in Hawaii.

He learned from his money mishap before his second marriage, allegedly forcing Christine Baumgartner to sign a prenup before their 2004 wedding — protecting his $250 million fortune.

Christine filed for divorce on Monday, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split — but RadarOnline.com was told Costner’s grueling Yellowstone schedule was a point of contention for the pair.

Costner and Christine share three minor children aged 12, 14, and 15. The actor is seeking joint custody of the kids.

Costner’s rep confirmed the news, telling TMZ, “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action.”

By Tilman Blasshofer

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) – A German artist who is preparing to lay the 100,000th cobblestone commemorating a person who was deported and killed by the Nazis has no intention of giving up making the brass-capped blocks, saying demand is higher than ever.

By placing Stolpersteine (“stumble stones”) outside the victims’ last known address, 75-year-old Gunter Demnig aims to draw attention to the fate of individuals in the Holocaust.

The project started about three decades ago when Demnig laid the first stones in Berlin and Cologne.

Nearly 100,000 cobblestones later, they can be found in 30 countries across Europe, from Finland to Italy, Hungary, Russia and Ukraine.

“I never dreamed of this,” Demnig said, saying he had expected a few hundred or maybe 1,000 stones.

“I was naive enough to believe that it would have to decrease at some point … but it’s the other way around: interest is getting greater and greater.”

He expects to lay his 100,000th stone this year.

In his workshop, Demnig embosses the name and date of birth and circumstances of death by hand. He lays most of the stones, which can be requested by anyone, himself, with the costs paid by donations and sponsorship from private individuals as well as companies or institutions.

“People ask why I don’t have it done in a factory? I say Auschwitz was a murder factory. That’s why it’s important to me that the writing is hammered into the plaques by hand,” he said.

Inspired by the Talmud – a compendium of Jewish thought and commentary – which says a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten, the stones in front of the buildings revive the memory of the people who lived there.

They commemorate all groups of the Nazis’ victims, including Jews, Sinti and Roma, political opponents, gay people and “antisocial elements”, or criminals.

They have become an integral part of cities across Germany, especially Berlin, where locals and tourists stop to inspect the stones, which shine on grey pavements and sometimes have flowers strewn across them.

“Here we have a mother who has been stigmatised for ‘antisocial’. The child was placed in a children’s home. Both were murdered,” said Demnig as prepares to lay two stones outside the house in Cologne where they lived.

While determined to continue his work, Demnig is resigned to eventually delegating to colleagues. “As long as my knees are still okay, I’ll keep going,” he said.

(Reporting by Tilman Blasshofer; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Alison Williams)