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Published by Reuters (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson will stop selling talc-based baby powder globally in 2023, the drugmaker said on Thursday, more than two years after it ended U.S. sales of a product that drew thousands of consumer safety lawsuits. “As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” it said, adding that cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world. In 2020, J&J announced that it would stop selling its talc Baby Powder in the United States and Canada because demand had fallen in the wake of what it called “misinformation” about the product’s safety amid a barrage of legal challenges. The company faces about 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors claiming its talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen. J&J denies the allegations, saying decades of scientific testing and regulatory approvals have shown its talc to be safe and asbestos-free. On Thursday, it reiterated the statement as it announced the discontinuation of the product. J&J spun off subsidiary LTL Management in October, assigned its talc claims to it and immediately placed it into bankruptcy, pausing the pending lawsuits. Those suing have said Johnson & Johnson should have to defend itself against the lawsuits, while defendants of J&J and the bankrupt subsidiary process say it is an equitable way to compensate claimants. Ben Whiting, an attorney with the plaintiffs firm Keller Postman, said because the lawsuits are paused in bankruptcy, the company’s sales decision won’t immediately impact them. But if a federal appellate court allows the cases to move forward, the consumers could try to use Johnson & Johnson’s decision to pull the products as evidence, Whiting said. “If these cases were to go again, then it’s a very big deal,” Whiting said. Before the bankruptcy filing, the company faced costs from $3.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2 billion, according to bankruptcy court records. A shareholder proposal calling for an end to global sales of the talc baby powder failed in April. A 2018 Reuters investigation https://reut.rs/2QevfW1 found that J&J knew for decades that asbestos, a carcinogen, was present in its talc products. Internal company records, trial testimony and other evidence showed that from at least 1971 to the early 2000s, J&J’s raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos. In response to evidence of asbestos contamination presented in media reports, in the court room and on Capitol Hill, J&J has repeatedly said its talc products are safe, and do not cause cancer. Sold since 1894, Johnson’s Baby Powder became a symbol of the company’s family-friendly image. An internal J&J marketing presentation from 1999 refers to the baby products division, with Baby Powder at the core, as J&J’s “#1 Asset”, Reuters reported, although the baby powder accounted for only about 0.5% of its U.S. consumer health business when the company pulled it off the shelves. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Diana Jones in Denver Editing by Maju Samuel, Deepa Babington and Grant McCool) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English ‘Hamilton’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is going to let the lawyers “do their work” over an allegedly unauthorised production of the show by a church in Texas. A production of the hit musical was performed and live-streamed by the Door Christian Fellowship Ministries in McAllen, Texas earlier this month and it infuriated bosses behind the show – and Lin-Manuel has now insisted the matter is now in the hands of his attorneys. In a statement posted on Twitter, he wrote: “Grateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production. Now lawyers do their work. And always grateful to the @dramatistsguild, who have the backs of writers everywhere, be it your first play or your fiftieth.” The church’s production of the show was heavily criticised over changes to the script and a post-production sermon given by by the church’s pastor. Bosses of the Dramatists Guild accused the church of reproducing the show without a licence and added that they “changed lyrics and added text without permission.” They said in a statement: “We hold up the Door McAllen Church’s brazen infringement to shine a light on the problematic pattern of some theatrical organisations performing authors’ work without a license and rewriting the text without authorial consent. No organisation, professional, amateur, or religious, is exempt from these laws. No writer’s work, whether they are a student who has just written their first play, or Lin-Manuel Miranda, can be performed without their permission. And it is never okay to change the words, lyrics, or notes, without their express consent.” The church performed the show on August 5 and 6 with the first production reportedly being streamed online. The Dallas Morning News reports Door Christian Fellowship’s pastor Roman Gutierrez told the publication that his church and the production company behind the show acquired legal permission to stage ‘Hamilton’. However, representative for the original stage show Shane Marshall Brown told the publication in a statement that the musical “does not grant amateur or professional licenses for any stage productions and did not grant one to The Door Church”. A cease-and-desist letter has since been issued over the alleged unauthorised use of the musical’s intellectual property. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Madonna says her son David Banda looks better than her in his mother’s clothes. The Queen of Pop, 63, confessed that it’s “really irritating” that her 16-year-old son – whom she has with ex-husband Guy Ritchie – can pull off any outfit, even items from her wardrobe. She said: “He can put on any outfit and look swag and you know what, It’s really irritating. He wears my clothes and looks better in them. He can even wear a dress and look butch.” The ‘Beautiful Stranger’ hitmaker – who also has Rocco, 22, with movie director Guy, and daughter Lourdes, 25, with ex-boyfriend Carlos Leon, along with Mercy James, 16, and nine-year-old twins Stella and Estere, who she adopted from Malawi – also tipped her son to become as big a music star as her one day. During an appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, she said: “He’s going to end up being one of your guests. “He’s got ‘it.’ He’s got magic. He’s funny, he’s charming, he’s athletic, he’s a good-looking dude.” The ‘Vogue’ hitmaker commenting on her son’s dashing looks comes after the pair turned heads at the WBA World Lightweight Championship in New York in May, when David rocked a red-and-white dress the new Gucci x Adidas collection. Speaking previously about motherhood, Madonna said: “[Having children has] reminded me how precious time is, and how each child requires attention and vigilance and guidance in a different way. “Really, you have to be ready for anything. They teach you to stop being obsessed with yourself, ’cause they’re always there to throw a wrench into the works… self-obsession is not allowed with children. “The more kids that you have, the better you get at being a parent… yeah, definitely.” View the full article

Published by Reuters By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Big Pharma spent more than any other industry to lobby Congress and federal agencies this year, a Reuters analysis shows, but is still on course for a major defeat by failing to stop a bill that allows the government to negotiate prices on select drugs. Despite the pharmaceutical industry spending at least $142 million on lobbying efforts, the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act to change climate, health, and tax policies cleared its largest hurdle last week when Democratic lawmakers passed it in the Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives is also expected to pass it on Friday, allowing President Joe Biden to sign it into law. Its enactment would represent a rare legislative defeat for the pharmaceutical industry and set a new precedent for curbing drug prices in the world’s most lucrative market for medicines, according to congressional and industry officials. “This is a major first step forward,” Democratic Senator Patty Murray, chair of the Senate’s health committee, told Reuters. “It is the first time we’ve been able to make this kind of step to lower prices on pharmaceuticals … which will set the stage for us to do more.” Health policy experts say the bill reflects the pharma industry’s weakening influence on the Democratic Party and that its main argument against price negotiation — that it stifles innovation — is no longer persuasive for the public. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in October found that 83% of Americans, including 95% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans, want the federal Medicare health plan for seniors to negotiate prices. “The pharma guys upped the ante in throwing everything but the kitchen sink against this,” said Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat who chairs the finance committee. The industry’s powerful trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), urged senators in a public letter to reject the bill. Its president, Stephen Ubl, told Politico that lawmakers who vote for it would not “get a free pass.” “Few associations have all the tools of modern political advocacy at their disposal in the way that PhRMA does,” he said. A PhRMA spokesperson said that the group would continue to work with all lawmakers. He did not address Ubl’s comments about holding lawmakers accountable. “We may not agree on every issue, but we believe engagement and dialogue is important to promoting a policy environment that supports innovation, a highly-skilled workforce and access to life-saving medicines for patients,” said spokesperson Brian Newell in an email. PHARMA’S PLAN A Reuters analysis of lobbying and campaign contribution data from OpenSecrets shows that the pharmaceutical industry has spent at least $142.6 million on lobbying Congress and federal agencies in the first half of 2022, more than any industry, and at least $16.1 million on campaign contributions during the current mid-term election cycle that started in January 2021. Almost two thirds of the money spent on lobbying, around $93 million, came from PhRMA and its member companies. The pharma campaign argued that prescription drugs do not contribute to inflation, citing an average 2.5% rise in drug prices in the past year compared to a 17% rise in health insurance prices. Critics say the figures combine high-priced brand name drugs with much lower-cost generics, masking the impact on patients’ costs. A KFF study estimated that prices increased faster than inflation for half of all drugs covered by Medicare in 2020. The industry has long warned that price curbs in the U.S. market would hamper its ability to invest in developing new drugs. With help from Democrats backed by the industry, the bill’s provision for drug price negotiations was scaled back in November, allowing Medicare to focus on an annual maximum of 20 of the costliest medicines by 2029, instead of an initial proposal to help reduce prices for 250 treatments. Opponents to the more dramatic curbs included Senator Kirsten Sinema and Representative Scott Peters, two of the biggest recipients of industry donations, at more than $201,000 and $320,000 respectively, according to OpenSecrets data. “We created a good space for investors to be able to recoup their investment which continuously has set out to develop new drugs,” Peters told Reuters. “I still think they came out okay on this.” WHAT NOW? Democratic staffers, industry executives and policy experts said that the bill’s broad popularity, combined with pressure on Democrats to pass meaningful legislation ahead of midterm elections in November, helped overcome the pharma industry campaigning. “With this vote I would imagine Pharma realizes they do not have a lot of friends left among Democrats,” said Larry Levitt, vice president for health policy at KFF. “Pharma sees this as the camel’s nose under the tent, and it probably is.” The industry will likely try to mitigate the effects of the bill as much as possible, policy experts said. “They will prosecute this through the courts. And they will, I suspect, try and alter the legislation,” said Mark Miller, a former government health policy official who is now executive vice president of healthcare at Arnold Ventures. The extent to which the bill might stoke fear for investors remains to be seen, given many of them view pharmaceutical stocks as among the safer bets during an economic downturn. “Sentiment is at a multi-year high for the US Pharma and we do not view the IRA drug reform as significantly changing investor positioning,” a note from JPMorgan analysts said. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Deepa Babington) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega The Mar-a-Lago mole who was the FBI’s confidential source which led to the sensational raid on Donald Trump is a former administration staffer who had specific knowledge of his private residence and office setting. That’s the view of people connected to the former president’s legal team who have concluded the informant is someone who briefly worked at Mar-a-Lago in the post-Trump presidency. Mega The Justice Department tipster has been provided anonymity status — at least for now. The source “likely sought and received immunity from potential prosecution,” one well-placed insider told Radar. Anyone who handled or failed to safeguard classified information at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., could be charged with a felony crime. Trump’s suspicion is the individual was involved in his post-presidency transition from the White House. Trump and his advisors do not believe the mole is still in his ranks, multiple people with direct knowledge of the ex-president’s thinking confirmed. “This isn’t a Deep Throat,” a source exclusively told RadarOnline.com. Mega “The Trump camp believes the Justice Department through the FBI targeted the source and threatened they could be prosecuted if they did not cooperate. “The source likely cooperated in exchange for some form of immunity.” The highly-placed RadarOnline.com source added, “It’s very easy to establish how this went down. “We know the Justice Department and the former president were in negotiations about the material. It was a well-established fact. When those discussions collapsed, prosecutors drew up a list of potential sources to target. They put the screws on a number of people until one, the mole, flipped.” The insider also cautioned: “That said, just because President Trump had been in discussions with the Justice Department does not mean he accepts that he did anything wrong.” Late Thursday night, it was claimed the classified documents sought in the search and seizure warrant were related to the government’s nuclear arsenal. It was first reported by the Washington Post. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Justice Department penetrated Trump’s inner circle to secure crucial evidence that led them to execute Monday’s search warrant. Before other media outlets confirmed RadarOnline.com’s reporting, this website revealed the focus of the sensational investigation centered around “highly classified” documents. Trump is said to have taken the material with him from the White House when he left office in 2020. Mega During the raid, a safe and closet were ransacked, according to Trump and his son Eric, an official of the embattled Trump Organization. “In order to get the search warrant, the Department of Justice had to submit to a federal judge … probable cause,” a source explained. “based upon known facts, (they needed) to believe a crime has been committed or that certain property is connected with a crime, and tellingly, that they are in possession of significant facts to justify the execution of a search and seizure warrant. “The judge would have had to weigh the credibility and specificity of the evidence before granting the subpoena. “That means whatever the Department of Justice had as evidence, it was compelling. Not to mention the burden would likely have to be greater considering Trump, a former president, was the target.” Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday he “personally approved” the search warrant that led to the unprecedented raid of Trump’s home. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Madonna wears mouth grills to hide her “ugly” teeth. The 63-year-old pop superstar is regularly seen wearing jewellery over her gnashers and she’s now opened up about why she decided to change up her look with customised mouth bling – admitting she worries her teeth don’t look very nice. During an appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, she showed off her latest grill piece, telling the host: “I just got these new grills, and if I start lisping will you tell me?” Jimmy replied: “Ooh they’re beautiful! I love them.” The ‘Material Girl’ singer then went on to explain she had the new grills made as a special birthday present for herself as she prepares to turn 64 on August 16. She added: “They’re my ‘birthday grills. It’s almost my birthday, so I got myself a pair of grills.” Madonna then told the host she has been wearing mouth jewellery for “decades” and explained the reason why she covers her teeth. She said: “People have a problem with my grills, I don’t know why … I just like the way it looks – it’s mouth jewellery – and I have really ugly teeth.” During the interview, Madonna continued to worry about whether her latest accessory was giving her a lisp and went to take it out before the host stopped her, saying: “No, don’t! Leave it, it looks cool!” She also spoke about her fashion forward 16-year-old son David Banda, revealing he often gets inspiration from his mother’s wardrobe. The singer said: “He can put on any outfit and look swag as ‘you know what’. It’s really irritating. He wears my clothes and looks better in them. He can even wear a dress and look butch.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Lady Gaga has urged Americans to speak up and vowed to continue fighting against the country’s anti-abortion ruling. The pop star has been an outspoken critic of the supreme court overturning of Roe v. Wade – the landmark ruling which gave women the constitutional right to a termination – and she paused her concert in Washington D.C. on Monday night (08.08.22) to dedicate her track ‘Edge of Glory’ to all those affected. She said: “I would like to dedicate this song to every woman in America. For every woman who now has to worry about her body if she gets pregnant. “I pray that this country will speak up, that we will stick together, and that we will not stop until it’s right! You just got to keep believing it’s gonna be okay.” At the end of the track, she added: “I didn’t mean to be a downer, but there’s some s**t that’s more important than show business.” Lady Gaga previously opened up about her own personal struggle , revealing she fell pregnant after being sexually assaulted by a music producer when she was just 19 years old. She admitted she felt she was “living this big lie” by not speaking about her ordeal, so when she did open up, she felt much more “comfortable”. She told Deadline: “I think that for me it was just a healing process because I’m in the public eye often. At the time when I first started to come out of things that I was going through, I was in the public eye very frequently and followed all the time. “I really felt like I was living this big lie by not sharing what I was experiencing. And it actually helped me to share my life experiences because then my fans – or people that were following me, people that were discovering me – they knew more of the human side of me. I just felt more comfortable in the world. It’s like living in your truth … “I think when you live in your values and your truth, it can help you. In my particular existence it helps me to not feel like an imposter, but rather to know that I’m uniquely and truly myself, wounds and all.” Speaking in the first episode of Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry‘s Apple TV+ series, ‘The Me You Can’t See’, she previously said of her assault: “I was 19 years old, and I was working in the business, and a producer said to me, ‘Take your clothes off.’ “And I said no. And I left, and they told me they were going to burn all of my music. And they didn’t stop. They didn’t stop asking me, and I just froze and I – I don’t even remember. “And I will not say his name. I understand this Me Too movement, and I understand people feel real comfortable with this, and I do not. I do not ever want to face that person again.” The ‘Poker Face’ hitmaker then revealed that years later, a doctor advised her to see a psychiatrist for her chronic pain, leading to her diagnosis of PTSD stemming from the ordeal. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. federal agents were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons when they raided former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida this week, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. It was not clear if such documents were recovered at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, the Post said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The U.S. Justice Department asked a judge on Thursday to make public the warrant that authorized the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, after Trump, a Republican, portrayed it as political retribution. The request means the public could soon learn more about what investigators were looking for during the unprecedented search of a former president’s home. The search was part of an investigation into whether Trump illegally removed records from the White House as he left office in January 2021, some of which the Justice Department believes are classified. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the top law enforcement officer and an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, told a news conference that he had personally approved the search. The Justice Department also seeks to make public a redacted receipt of the items seized. “The department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken,” Garland said. His decision to publicly confirm the search was highly unusual. U.S. law enforcement officials typically do not discuss ongoing investigations in order to protect people’s rights. In this case, Trump himself announced the search in a Monday night statement. Garland said the Justice Department made the request to make public the warrant “in light of the former president’s public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances and the substantial public interest in this matter.” A source familiar with the matter said the FBI retrieved about 10 boxes from Trump’s property during the search. Trump was not in Florida at the time of the search. Late on Thursday, Trump called for the immediate release of documents related to the search. “Not only will I not oppose the release of documents related to the unAmerican, unwarranted, and unnecessary raid and break-in of my home in Palm Beach, Florida, Mar-a-Lago, I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents, even though they have been drawn up by radical left Democrats and possible future political opponents, who have a strong and powerful vested interest in attacking me, much as they have done for the last 6 years,” he said on his Truth Social platform. The government has until 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Friday to let the court know whether Trump’s attorneys will object to unsealing the warrant. The case is before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who reviewed the warrant to ensure the Justice Department had sufficient probable cause for the search. While seeking to unseal the warrant, the Justice Department has not asked the judge to unseal the sworn statement in support of the warrant, the contents of which could potentially include classified information. Two of Trump’s attorneys, Evan Corcoran and John Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement earlier on his Truth social network, Trump said: “My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established. The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.” LOCKED STORAGE ROOM The unprecedented search marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations Trump is facing from his time in office and in private business, including a separate one by the Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony slates of electors. The investigation into Trump’s removal of records started this year, after the National Archives made a referral to the department. Former Archivist David Ferriero has previously said that Trump returned 15 boxes to the government in January 2022. The archives later discovered some of the items were “marked as classified national security information.” A couple of months before the search, FBI agents visited Trump’s property to investigate boxes in a locked storage room, according to a person familiar with the visit. The agents and Corcoran spent a day reviewing materials, the source said. A second source who had been briefed on the matter told Reuters the Justice Department also has surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago in its possession. Garland’s Justice Department has faced fierce criticism and online threats since Monday’s search. Trump supporters and some of his fellow Republicans in Washington accuse Democrats of weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to target Trump. In Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday, an armed man suspected of trying to breach the FBI building died following an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement officers, an Ohio State Highway Patrol official said. Garland condemned the threats and attacks against the FBI and Justice Department. “I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” he said. Some Democrats have criticized Garland for being overly cautious in investigating Trump over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Karen Freifeld; additional reporting by Andy Sullivan, David Morgan, Mike Scarcella, Kanishka Singh, Eric Beech, Steve Holland and Dan Whitcomb; Additional reporting by Shubham Kalia; Editing by Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis, Howard Goller and Leslie Adler) View the full article

Published by AFP Clean energy is one of the tentpoles of US President Joe Biden's massive climate and health proposal Washington (AFP) – Hundreds of billions of dollars for clean energy projects, cheaper prescription drugs and new corporate taxes are a few of the key items in US President Joe Biden’s massive investment plan, which the House of Representatives is expected to pass Friday, after Senate approval. Here’s a closer look at the signature elements of the plan, which could offer the Democratic leader a big political win heading into November’s crucial midterm elections. $370 billion for clean energy, climate If the legislation is passed, it will mark the biggest investment in US history in the fight against climate change. Rather than attempting to punish the biggest polluters in corporate America, the bill put forward by Biden’s party instead proposes a series of financial incentives aimed at steering the world’s biggest economy away from fossil fuels. Tax credits would be given to producers and consumers of wind, solar and nuclear power. If passed, the legislation would allot up to $7,500 in tax credits to every American who buys an electric vehicle. Anyone installing solar panels on their roof would see 30 percent of the cost subsidized. Around $60 billion would be allocated for clean energy manufacturing, from wind turbines to the processing of minerals needed for electric car batteries. The same amount would go towards programs to help drive investment in underprivileged communities, notably through grants for home renovation to improve energy efficiency and access to less polluting modes of transportation. Huge investments would go into making forests less susceptible to wildfires and protect coastal areas from erosion caused by devastating hurricanes. The bill aims to help the United States reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, as compared with 2005 levels. $64 billion for health care The second major aspect of the legislation is to help reduce the huge disparities in access to health care across the United States, notably by reining in skyrocketing prescription drug prices. If the draft eventually becomes law, Medicare — the nation’s health insurance plan for those aged 65 and older, or with modest incomes — could be permitted to negotiate prices of certain medications directly with Big Pharma for the first time, likely yielding far better deals. The plan would require pharmaceutical companies to offer rebates on certain drugs if the prices rise faster than soaring US inflation. It also would extend benefits under Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act — known colloquially as Obamacare — until 2025. Minimum corporate tax of 15% Alongside these huge investments, the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” would seek to pare down the federal deficit through the adoption of a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent for all companies with profits exceeding one billion dollars. The new tax seeks to prevent certain huge firms from using tax havens to pay far less than what they theoretically owe. According to estimates, the measure could generate more than $258 billion in tax revenue for US government coffers over the next 10 years. View the full article

Published by Radar Online mega Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary, has muscled in on the lucrative Trump trash-talking television circuit — and Radar has learned the former first lady’s rage is at fever pitch. “How can she get away with this? She is a traitor,” Melania Trump told a pal, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. The insider added: “Melania is hurt and offended by Stephanie who she thought would act more ‘professionally’ than to run her mouth at every opportunity.” Grisham is widely panned in republican circles as the White House press secretary who never held a briefing for the media during her nine months in the coveted position for Donald Trump. mega But when Grisham stood down from the role, she moved into the plum gig as her chief of staff — and Melania leapt to her defense. “She has been a mainstay and true leader in the Administration from even before day one, and I know she will excel as Chief of Staff,” the first lady said, at the time. mega Now, Melania is spitting mad at someone whom she believed was her friend. “Stephanie had a long relationship with the Trump family, and she worked as an assistant on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign,” added the source. “That’s what stings the most for Melania. This is someone who she thought was trustworthy and loyal.” Grisham has become a mainstay on CNN. This week, following the FBI raid on the former president, Grisham told Erin Burnett Trump did not handle classified documents properly and wasn’t pressed up on his staff to handle properly. mega Grisham was also forced to deny speculation that she was the source of images showing papers Trump had torn up floating in a toilet. “Whatever the scandal is on any given day, Melania feels Stephanie pops up on television as a pundit and no matter the scenario, has a wild tale of ‘yes, I knew that’ or ‘I saw that, too.’ Melania cannot understand how Stephanie is being given so much credibility,” said the source. View the full article

Published by Reuters By Sarah N. Lynch (Reuters) -FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump’s Florida home this week removed 11 sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday while also disclosing that prosecutors had probable cause to believe Trump may have violated the Espionage Act. The bombshell disclosures were made in a search warrant and accompanying legal documents released four days after FBI agents carried out the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach based on a warrant approved by a federal magistrate judge. Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the records at issue were “all declassified” and placed in “secure storage.” “They didn’t need to ‘seize’ anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago,” the Republican businessman-turned-politician said. The Justice Department said in the warrant application approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart that it had probable cause to believe that Trump may have violated the Espionage Act, a federal law that prohibits the possession or transmission of national defense information. The department also said it had concerns he may have broken several other statutes related to the mishandling of government records including one that makes it a crime to try to hide or destroy government documents regardless of whether they are classified. FBI agents took more than 30 items including more than 20 boxes, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Trump’s ally and longtime adviser Roger Stone, a list of items removed from the property showed. Also included in the list was information about the “President of France.” The warrant showed that FBI agents asked to search a room called “the 45 Office” – Trump was the 45th U.S. president – as well as all other rooms, structures of buildings on the estate used by Trump or his staff where boxes or documents could be stored. There are three primary levels of classification for sensitive government materials: Top secret, secret, and confidential. “Top secret” is the highest level of classification, reserved for the country’s most closely held national security information. Such documents usually are kept in special government facilities because disclosure could cause grave damage to national security. FBI agents on Monday collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents and three sets of confidential documents, the documents showed. They also showed that agents collected a set of documents labeled “classified/TS/SCI documents” – a reference to top secret and sensitive compartmented material. While a sitting president has authority to declassify materials, there was no indication in any of the documents released on Friday that Trump had done so prior to leaving office in January 2021. AN ESCALATION Monday’s search of Trump’s home marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations he is facing from his time in office and in private business, including a separate one by the Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony slates of electors. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced that the department asked Reinhart to unseal the warrant. This followed Trump’s claim that the search was political retribution and a suggestion by him, without evidence, that the FBI may have planted evidence against him. The investigation into Trump’s removal of records started this year, after the National Archives and Records Administration, an agency charged with safeguarding presidential records that belong to the public, made a referral to the department. On Friday, Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee called on Garland and FBI Director Chris Wray to release the affidavit underpinning the warrant, saying the public needs to know. “Because many other options were available to them, we’re very concerned of the method that was used in raiding Mar-a-Lago,” Representative Michael Turner, the committee’s top Republican, told reporters. If the affidavit remains sealed, “it will still leave many unanswered questions,” Turner added. In February, Archivist of the United States David Ferriero told House lawmakers that his agency had been in communication with Trump throughout 2021 about the return of 15 boxes of records. He eventually returned them in January 2022. At the time, the National Archives was still conducting an inventory, but noted some of the boxes contained items “marked as classified national security information.” Trump previously confirmed that he had agreed to return certain records to the Archives, calling it “an ordinary and routine process.” He also claimed the Archives “did not ‘find’ anything.” Since Monday’s search, the Justice Department has faced fierce criticism and online threats, which Garland have condemned. Trump supporters and some of his fellow Republicans in Washington have accused Democrats of weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to target him even as he mulls another run for the presidency in 2024. In another matter, Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions during an appearance before New York state’s attorney general in a civil investigation into his family’s business practices, citing his constitutional right against self-incrimination. Earlier on Friday, Trump denied a Washington Post report that the FBI search of his home was for possible classified materials related to nuclear weapons, writing on his social media account that the “nuclear weapons issue is a hoax.” Reuters could not immediately confirm the Washington Post report. Garland has declined to publicly detail the nature of the investigation. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York, Jacqueline Thomsen and David Morgan in Washington and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Will Dunham, Ross Colvin, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller) View the full article

Published by AFP Salman Rushdie is loaded onto a medical evacuation helicopter near the Chautauqua Institution after being stabbed in the neck while speaking on stage in New York state New York (AFP) – British author Salman Rushdie, whose writings have made him the target of Iranian death threats, underwent emergency surgery Friday after being repeatedly stabbed in the neck at a literary event in New York state. Rushdie was rushed by helicopter to hospital and taken into surgery, his agent Andrew Wylie said in a statement, pledging to provide an update on his condition as soon as possible. Social media footage showed people administering emergency medical care onstage immediately after the attack. The interviewer also suffered a head injury. A suspect was taken into custody by police, who gave no immediate details about his identity or probable motive. The attack occurred at the Chautauqua Institution, which hosts arts programs in a tranquil lakeside community 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Buffalo city. Carl LeVan, an American University politics professor attending the event, told AFP that the morning session was about to begin when the suspect ran onto the stage where Rushdie was seated and “stabbed him repeatedly and viciously.” LeVan, a Chautauqua regular, said the suspect “was trying to stab him as many times as possible before he was subdued,” adding that he believed the man “was trying to kill” Rushdie.” “There were gasps of horror and panic from the crowd,” the professor said. LeVan said witnessing the event had left him “shaken,” adding he considered Chautauqua a safe place of creative freedom. “To know that this happened here, and to see it — it was horrific,” he said. “What I saw today was the essence of intolerance.” Another witness, John Stein, told ABC that the assailant “started stabbing on the right side of the head, of the neck. And there was blood… erupting. “People in the audience had gotten up on the stage when they saw this and then grabbed the attacker who still had a knife.” A decade in hiding Rushdie, 75, was propelled into the spotlight with his second novel “Midnight’s Children” in 1981, which won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India. But his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses” brought attention beyond his imagination when it sparked a fatwa, or religious decree, calling for his death by Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The novel was considered by some Muslims as disrespectful of the Prophet Mohammed. Rushdie, who was born in India to non-practicing Muslims and today identifies as an atheist, was forced to go underground as a bounty was put on his head — which remains today. He was granted police protection by the government in Britain, where he was at school and where he made his home, following the murder or attempted murder of his translators and publishers. He spent nearly a decade in hiding, moving houses repeatedly and being unable to tell his children where he lived. Rushdie only began to emerge from his life on the run in the late 1990s after Iran in 1998 said it would not support his assassination. Now living in New York, he is an advocate of freedom of speech, notably launching a strong defense of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after its staff were gunned down by Islamists in Paris in 2015. The magazine had published drawings of Mohammed that drew furious reactions from Muslims worldwide. An ‘essential voice’ Threats and boycotts continue against literary events that Rushdie attends, and his knighthood in 2007 sparked protests in Iran and Pakistan, where a government minister said the honor justified suicide bombings. The fatwa failed to stifle Rushdie’s writing and inspired his memoir “Joseph Anton,” named after his alias while in hiding and written in the third person. “Midnight’s Children” — which runs to more than 600 pages — has been adapted for the stage and silver screen, and his books have been translated into more than 40 languages. Suzanne Nossel, head of the PEN America organization, said the free speech advocacy group was “reeling from shock and horror.” “Just hours before the attack, on Friday morning, Salman had emailed me to help with placements for Ukrainian writers in need of safe refuge from the grave perils they face,” Nossel said in a statement. “Our thoughts and passions now lie with our dauntless Salman, wishing him a full and speedy recovery. We hope and believe fervently that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced.” View the full article

Published by New York Daily News Penny Marshall’s 1992 “A League of Their Own” movie introduced the world to a group of women who fought their way onto a baseball field, but it only featured women who were straight, white, presentable. The new series, which premiered Friday on Prime Video, does much more. “Our intention here is to tell the stories that the film overlooked and did not focus on and really open up the lens to a generation of women who played baseball and who played it so f—ing well,” co-creator Abbi Jacobson, the 38-year-old actress who also stars as Rockford Peaches catcher Carson Shaw, told the Daily News. “Th…Read More D’Arcy Carden promises the ‘League of Their Own’ series really is ‘so gay’ — One Original Player Just Came Out at 95 A few Weeks Ago Published by New York Daily News At the end of the season, the ballplayers of the original “A League of Their Own” movie happily went home to their husbands. In the new show, there’s no need to pretend. The Prime Video series, which premiered Friday, is under no illusion that the women making up the Rockford Peaches and the rest of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League are all straight. In the decades since the league, created as a fill-in during World War II, folded in 1954, several of its real-life stars have come out as gay, including 95-year-old Maybelle Blair earlier this year. Penny Marshall’s 1992 film da…Read More The cast of the new ‘A League of Their Own’ doesn’t care if you don’t think women should play baseball Published by New York Daily News It’s fine not to like the new “A League of Their Own” series, says the cast. But only if it’s for the right reasons. The cast of the Prime Video show, which premiered Friday, knows how many people already have nasty ideas about the women baseball players who made up the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. It comes with the territory: women in a role typically held by men. The actors just want you to actually watch their series first. “Probably the only people who are going to stay mad are the people who would write online about an all-female ‘Ghostbusters’ and … Read More The New “A League of Their Own” Is Nothing Like the Original — Which Is Why It’s the Rare Reboot Worth Watching Published by InsideHook By Bonnie Stiernberg For just about as long as it has existed, America has claimed to love underdogs. That, presumably, largely has to do with the scrappy band of revolutionaries who sailed across an ocean and then took on an empire in order to found this country. We’re conditioned to root for the Davids over the Goliaths; that Jay Gatsby-style rags-to-riches trajectory is so inherent to our national identity that we’ve dubbed it the American Dream. But for all that posturing, America has never really concerned itself with the true underdogs — the ones who for many years couldn’t vote or open …Read More How does the new ‘A League of Their Own’ show stack up against the movie? Published by The Seattle Times I, like many women of my generation, absolutely LOVED the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.” Because of that, I got goose bumps the first time I saw the trailer for the new “A League of Their Own” TV series, which premieres Friday on Amazon’s Prime Video. The previews of the eight-episode reboot have fans like me excited to get another glimpse of the world of women’s baseball in the ’40s. But that doesn’t mean we’re not apprehensive, nervous about what we’ll see and how it compares to the nostalgia felt about that film. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-creator and star Abbi Jac… Read More With Amazon’s ‘A League of Their Own’ reboot looming, meet a woman who long ago played on one of the girls teams Published by The Seattle Times SEATTLE — When Jeneane Lesko was drafted as a pitcher by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League’s Grand Rapids Chicks before the 1953 season, she had never played in a single baseball game. Now 87 and a resident of Snohomish, Lesko (who played under her maiden name, DesCombes) was a fixture at the baseball field while growing up in rural Lakeview, Ohio. She would watch the boys play and practice with them whenever she could. So when the local baseball coach saw a newspaper ad for AAGPBL tryouts, he encouraged her to go. Lesko’s response: “What would I play?” Even though the league… Read More Amazon’s new ‘League of Their Own’ tells more female baseball stories Published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch scratched the surface. Underneath, there were stories about the players’ personal lives and the challenges they faced in a less-than-friendly sports world. Working off that 1940s history, creators Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham found material that could fill multiple seasons of television. One scene in Penny Marshall’s 1992 film, for example, prompted a secondary plot in their new Amazon Studios series. A foul ball is picked up by a Black player and tossed back to Geena Davis. “That’s supposed … Read More Rockford Peaches — 30 years after ‘A League of Their Own’ — live on in a new series: ‘We didn’t know we were part of something bigger’ Published by Chicago Tribune CHICAGO — For many of the women and girls playing baseball this summer, the Rockford Peaches — a team that hasn’t played in more than 60 years — remain a source of inspiration. One of the original four teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), the Peaches won the most championships in league history. Even though the team dissolved in 1954, the organization lives again through the efforts of baseball historian Kat Williams and the International Women’s Baseball Center along with the City of Rockford — and of course the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.” The film ha…Read More View the full article

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Published by BANG Showbiz English Anne Heche has died days after being involved in a fiery car crash. The ‘Donnie Brasco’ actress, 53, had been in a coma following last week’s wreck in Los Angeles when she crashed her Mini Cooper into a home, leaving her with major injuries, which included an anoxic brain injury. Heche’s close friend Nancy Davis, announced her death on Friday (12.08.22) with the Instagram tribute: “Heaven has a new Angel. My loving, kind, fun, endearing and beautiful friend @anneheche went to heaven. “I will miss her terribly and cherish all the beautiful memories we have shared. Anne was always the kindest, most thoughtful person who always brought out the best in me. “She was so supportive with anything she could do to help @racetoerasems and would always say yes when she knew she could contribute something with her time, talent and creative genius to help find a cure for MS. “My heart is broken #heavenhasanewangel #heavenhasanotherangel.” She added broken heart emojis and an angel symbol to the post. Heche’s ex, talk show legend Ellen DeGeneres, also broke her silence on Friday, tweeting: “This is a sad day. I’m sending Anne’s children, family and friends all of my love.” A representative for the actress told TMZ on Monday that Heche had slipped into a coma following the August 5 crash. They said: “Shortly after the accident, Anne Heche became unconscious, slipping into a coma and is in critical condition. “She has a significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention.” Dramatic photos of the wreckage show her mangled vehicle being towed after Heche was dragged out of the flaming car by firefighters. The mum-of-two was seen squirming in agony on a stretcher before she was rushed to the hospital after the smash at around 11am. She was reportedly driving at speeds of up to 90mph before the crash, which took place in the Mar Vista area of LA. Before her death, reports surfaced that those closest to Heche were fighting with the decision to take her off life support. Her relationship with DeGeneres became the subject of widespread media interest in 1997 as they were one of Hollywood’s first openly gay couples until their amicable split in 2000. Heche is survived by her sons, Homer and Atlas, as well as her sister Abigail. View the full article

Published by AlterNet By David Badash Christina Pushaw, the divisive far right press secretary to Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has submitted her letter of resignation as she moves to head rapid response on his re-election campaign. The Florida Standard, first to break the news, published her resignation letter. “You gave me latitude to respond to media narratives in direct and often unconventional ways, allowing me to redefine this role for a leader whose actions speak for themselves,” she wrote. Among those unconventional ways was to popularize against LGBTQ people the dangerous label of “groomer,” during … Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story By Matthew Chapman On Thursday, The Guardian reported that a private religious school in Louisiana expelled a five-year-old kindergartner — because her parents are a same-sex couple. “Emily and Jennie Parker said they were informed by school officials at the Bible Baptist Academy in DeQuincy, Louisiana, during a meeting with the school’s director and a pastor that their same-sex relationship did not follow the teachings of the school and that they would need to find a new school for their daughter, Zoey,” reported Gloria Oladipo. ‘We got called into the principal’s office for a meeting, they i… Read More View the full article

Published by Reuters TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan on Friday blamed “political considerations” for the cancellation of WorldPride 2025 Taiwan after it said the organisers had insisted the word “Taiwan” be removed. Taiwan participates in global organisations like the Olympics as “Chinese Taipei”, to avoid political problems with China which views the democratically-governed island as its own territory and bristles at anything that suggests it is a separate country. Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung had been due to host WorldPride 2025 Taiwan, after winning the right from global LGBTQ rights group InterPride. Last year, after an outcry in Taiwan, it dropped a reference to the island as a “region”, wording that suggests it is not a country. But the Kaohsiung organisers said InterPride had recently “suddenly” asked them to change the name of the event to “Kaohsiung”, removing the word “Taiwan”. “After careful evaluation, it is believed that if the event continues, it may harm the interests of Taiwan and the Taiwan gay community. Therefore, it is decided to terminate the project before signing the contract,” said the Kaohsiung organisers. InterPride did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said the event would have been the first WorldPride event to be held in East Asia. “Taiwan deeply regrets that InterPride, due to political considerations, has unilaterally rejected the mutually agreed upon consensus and broken a relationship of cooperation and trust, leading to this outcome,” it said. “Not only does the decision disrespect Taiwan’s rights and diligent efforts, it also harms Asia’s vast LGBTIQ+ community and runs counter to the progressive principles espoused by InterPride.” Taiwan legalised same-sex marriage in 2019, in a first for Asia, and is proud of its reputation as a bastion of LGBTQ rights and liberalism. While same sex relations are not illegal in China, same sex marriage is, and the government has been cracking down depictions of LGBTQ people in the media and of the community’s use of social media. (Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Madonna was warned her career was “over” when she accidentally flashed her butt on stage. The 63-year-old singer was one of the performers at the very first MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in 1984 when she caused a sensation when her dress flipped up and she flashed her backside while singing ‘Like a Virgin’, and though the wardrobe malfunction was accidental, her management team were convinced the brief flashing of flesh would spark enough outrage to ensure she’d never work again. Speaking to Jimmy Fallon on ‘The Tonight Show’, she said: “I did that show and I walked down the very steep stairs of the wedding cake and I got to the bottom and I started dancing around in my white stiletto pumps fell off. “And I was trying to do this smooth move like, dive for the shoe and look like it was choreography. And my dress flipped up and my butt was showing. Can you imagine? “Those were the days when you shouldn’t show your butt to have a career. Now it’s the opposite. “It happened by accident and when I didn’t even know my butt was showing. It wasn’t even like the whole butt it was just like a butt cheek, like half a butt cheek. “Yeah, when I went backstage, my manager told me my career is over with.” The ‘Beautiful Stranger’ singer also recalled how much it “blew [her] mind” when she saw people dancing to her music for the first time at a club called Danceteria. She said: “I want to tell you when I finally got this guy, Mark Kamins, to play my cassette, it’s a song called ‘Everybody’. “It’s on his record and I swear to god, I had to promise everything to him to get it played. And when he played it, everybody got up and started dancing to it and it blew my mind I mean, seriously, like that was everything to me.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Dame Olivia Newton-John will receive a state funeral. The ‘Grease’ legend will be laid to rest with a state memorial service in Australia after her family accepted the offer days following her tragic death aged 73 earlier this week. Speaking on ‘A Current Affair’, her niece Tottie Goldsmith confirmed: “We will [accept], on behalf of not just our family, but I think Australia needs it. She was so loved. “I think our country needs it so we’re going to accept it.” A venue and date is yet to be revealed, but discussions will continue between the family, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and his department. He commented: “The family were quite touched at the prospect of Victorians being able to come together and celebrate Olivia’s life. “As tough as this time is… it’s made a little easier by all the outpouring of grief and support, and the very fond memories people are sharing of such an amazing person.” Premier Andrews had previously confirmed his government would approach the late actress’ family about the official farewell. He told news.com.au: “As for celebrating her life… her music and film and all the other amazing contributions that she made, we would, of course, want to speak to the family and be as respectful as we can. “She took her cancer journey and used that to save lives and change lives, and that’s just a deeply impressive thing. “The research that’s done there [at the cancer and wellness centre], the treatment, the care, the love and support that is central to that place is a lasting legacy to the person that she was.” Olivia’s husband of 14 years, John Easterling, shared a statement across the star’s social media channels on Monday, confirming she had passed away. It read: “Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time. “Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made in her memory to the @onjfoundation “Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling; daughter Chloe Lattanzi; sister Sarah Newton-John; brother Toby Newton-John; nieces and nephews Tottie, Fiona and Brett Goldsmith; Emerson, Charlie, Zac, Jeremy, Randall, and Pierz Newton-John; Jude Newton-Stock, Layla Lee; Kira and Tasha Edelstein; and Brin and Valerie Hall.” View the full article

Published by The San Diego Union-Tribune The American arrived at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow and was arrested after a luggage search found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil that was prescribed by a U.S. doctor to treat chronic pain. There were various detention facilities, a guilty plea, a hearing in front of Russian judge and an implausibly long prison sentence. We’re not talking about basketball player Brittney Griner. We’re talking about Marc Fogel, a 61-year-old history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow that was created by the U.S., Canadian and British embassies to teach the children of diplomats stati… Read More View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Although Fox News has “largely refrained” from criticizing ex-President Donald Trump publicly, Lachlan Murdoch – the network’s chief executive – has slammed Trump behind closed doors, Radar has learned. The surprising development came days after numerous reports suggested both Lachlan Murdoch and his father, Fox News patriarch Rupert Murdoch, had given Trump “the cold shoulder.” Mega But now, according to disgraced CNN host Brian Stelter, the Murdochs have realized that while they disagree with how Trump acts and “behaves,” the ex-president and potential 2024 candidate hopeful is nonetheless still “good for business.” In fact, according to sources who spoke to Stelter and Oliver Darcy on Reliable Sources, Lachlan Murdoch has gone so far as to claim: “if Trump were to run again, it would be bad for the country.” Mega As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the New York Times published a report last week that claimed Rupert Murdoch “banned” Trump from Fox News airwaves over the former president’s “refusal to accept his [2020] election loss.” Although Fox News host Howard Kurtz quickly claimed Trump was the one ignoring the network and choosing not to appear on the network’s programs, Fox News’ reporting on Trump took center stage this week following the FBI’s raid on his Mar-a-Lago home. Fox News’s reporting on Trump following the raid has “shattered any such illusion” that the Murdochs were “steering” the network in an anti-Trump direction, seemingly proving the theory that although Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch may disagree with Trump privately, they won’t hesitate to cover the controversial politician when it is “good for business.” Furthermore, despite the Murdochs’ personal feelings towards Trump, their recent coverage of the ex-president suggests Fox News would rush to defend Trump when doing so provides an opportunity to cater to their pro-Trump viewers. Mega After Trump took to social media Monday night and confirmed the FBI raided his Palm Beach, Florida home, Fox News hosts rushed to the airwaves to slam the FBI and Dept. of Justice while portraying Trump as a “victim” of “deep state forces” trying to “damage” the ex-president. Such instances create a conundrum for the Murdochs and Fox News because, although they allegedly tear Trump apart behind closed doors, they cannot condemn Trump publicly without losing a large part of their core audience. Instead, the Murdochs have no choice but to air supportive coverage of Trump – meaning that, should he run for president again in 2024, Fox News will likely support him again like the network did in 2020, even if Lachlan Murdoch believes “it would be bad for the country.” View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Ex-Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes revealed she has secret recordings that she wants to release to the public as her nasty fight with Bravo and Andy Cohen continues in court, Radar has learned. The 54-year-old iconic reality star unleased this morning on Twitter on the network and her former boss. She said, “I am happy I was able to help all the other black women get job opportunities that are working for them. He stopped me from working because I was a threat to his career! Yet he was able to abuse me for years.” NeNe ended, “I want to release these voice recordings so bad.” Mega The reality star then re-tweet the message, “Andy used you until he wanted to kick you to the curb and then slander you so you couldn’t obtain any further work. It’s so disappointing and it is definitely different than how he treats other housewives he disagrees with or has parted ways with.” Another message she supported read, “Andy high key used her popular to benefit off of to build his celebrity up and when he didn’t feel like he needed Nene anymore, she was gone, and he’s started to strategically befriend other popular names instead until their popularity starts to fade away.” As RadarOnline.com previously reported, earlier this year, NeNe sued Bravo, Andy and the production companies behind Real Housewives of Atlanta accusing them of discrimination. NeNe said she complained about her white co-star Kim Zolciak making alleged racist remarks over the years but nothing was done. Instead, she claimed the execs took action against her and made life hard during filming. She said they also told her to stop speaking about Kim publicly after she called her out on Instagram. Mega In the lawsuit, Nene said Andy and the network went out of their way to “blackball” her in the industry after she spoke out about the incidents on RHOA. She said they refused to let her work on other projects, unlike other cast members. NeNe pointed to a specific deal she was working on with Sirius XM radio. She said Andy “interfered with, and sabotaged, this effort.” “Cohen has admitted that he told Sirius XM that Mrs. Leakes would demand a lot of money for any role on a radio show, an obvious effort to prevent her from getting such a deal,” the suit read. Mega As RadarOnline.com first reported, NeNe and the defendants are currently fighting on where the lawsuit will be fought. Andy and the other corporate defendants have demanded the battle be taken to arbitration which would be outside the public eye. The court has yet to rule. View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Herschel Walker’s ex-wife recently accused the professional football player-turned-politician of threatening to kill her during their nearly 20-year-long marriage, Radar has learned. The shocking accusation was made by Cindy DeAngelis Grossman – who was married to Walker from 1983 to 2002 – during a scathing ad slamming the former NFL running back for allegedly threatening to put a gun to Grossman’s head. Mega “He held the gun to my temple and said he was gonna blow my brains out,” Grossman said in the shocking ad, which was put together by a group called the Republican Accountability Project in an effort to hurt Walker’s chances of winning Georgia’s upcoming Senate race. Grossman further claimed Walker’s eyes “would become very evil” when he became angry, and other alleged incidents between the former couple included “guns and knives” as well as “a few choking things.” Mega Although Walker previously acknowledged the shocking allegations against him, and admitted he suffered from mental illness throughout his marriage to Grossman, he maintained the claim he never threatened to kill his then-wife. Walker, who won the GOP primary for Georgia Senate candidate on May 24 after being endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is set to face off against Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) during the senatorial election on Tuesday, November 8. Senator Warnock is currently holding a “modest but steady lead” in the polls against Walker, and the allegation Walker once threatened to kill his ex-wife is just the latest scandal to come to light since the 60-year-old former New York Giants running back announced he was running for Georgia senator. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Walker was also forced to admit he fathered three “secret” children following a bombshell report published in June – just days after he won the Georgia GOP primary race. Mega Although Walker admitted he fathered a 22-year-old son, Christian, he was forced to admit he also fathered three children out of wedlock – a 10-year-old son, a 13-year-old son and another daughter born while the Georgia-native was still in college. “Herschel had a child years ago when he wasn’t married. He’s supported the child and continues to do so. He’s proud of his children,” Scott Paradise, Walker’s campaign manager, said in June regarding one of Walker’s “secret” sons. “To suggest that Herschel is ‘hiding’ the child because he hasn’t used him in his political campaign is offensive and absurd,” Paradise added. View the full article

Published by AFP A new survey says teen have fled Facebook in recent years San Francisco (AFP) – US teens have left Facebook in droves over the past seven years, preferring to spend time at video-sharing venues YouTube and TikTok, according to a Pew Research Center survey data out Wednesday. TikTok has “emerged as a top social media platform for US teens” while Google-run YouTube “stands out as the most common platform used by teens,” the report’s authors wrote. Pew’s data comes as Facebook-owner Meta is in a battle with TikTok for social media primacy, trying to keep the maximum number of users as part of its multi-billion dollar ad-driven business. The report said some 95 percent of the teens surveyed said they use YouTube, compared with 67 percent saying they are TikTok users. Just 32 percent of teens surveyed said they log on to Facebook — a big drop from the 71 percent who reported being users during a similar survey some seven years ago. Once the place to be online, Facebook has become seen as a venue for older folks with young drawn to social networks where people express themselves with pictures and video snippets. About 62 percent of the teens said they use Instagram, owned by Facebook-parent Meta, while 59 percent said they used Snapchat, researchers stated. “A quarter of teens who use Snapchat or TikTok say they use these apps almost constantly, and a fifth of teen YouTube users say the same,” the report said. In a bit of good news for Meta’s business, its photo and video sharing service Instagram was more popular with US teens than it was in the 2014-2015 survey. Meanwhile, less than a quarter of the teens surveyed said they ever use Twitter, the report said. The study also confirmed what casual observers may have suspected, 95 percent of US teens say they have smartphones, while nearly as many of them have desktop or laptop computers. And the share of teens who say they are online almost constantly has nearly doubled to 46 percent when compared to survey results from seven years ago, researchers noted. The report was based on a survey of 1,316 US teens, ranging in age from 13 years old to 17 years old, conducted from mid-April to early May of this year, according to Pew. View the full article