samhexum

Alex Murdaugh was hit with yet another lawsuit this week — accused of “orchestrating a campaign” to blame an innocent teen for his drunken son’s deadly 2019 boat crash. The drug-addicted lawyer’s son Paul had been set to face trial for the crash when he was found shot dead alongside mom Maggie Murdaugh, 52, in June of this year. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Connor Cook, one of the individuals on the boat at the time of the crash, claimed Murdaugh tricked him to protect his son — even though he knew he’d been “drunk and traveling at excessive speeds” when the crash killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Murdaugh — currently in rehab while on bail for orchestrating his own shooting in a doomed life-insurance scam — immediately “sought out all or most of the boat passengers in an attempt to control the narrative of what occurred,” Cook’s lawsuit insisted. As Cook, 19, was being taken to be X-rayed for a fractured jaw, Murdaugh cornered him and told him to “keep his mouth shut” when asked who was driving the boat, the lawsuit claimed. Murdaugh then “encouraged and instructed” Cook to retain attorney Cory Fleming, who also ordered him “to decline to be interviewed by law enforcement,” the lawsuit said. But Murdaugh made no mention of how Fleming was his college roommate, best friend and drunken son’s godfather, the lawsuit said. Without mentioning the “conflict of interest,” all the advice given “was to the advantage of Paul and [Alex] Murdaugh and against the interests of Fleming’s new client,” Cook, the lawsuit alleged. It made him an “unwitting … agent of protection for Paul Murdaugh” — instead exposing Cook to “the potential of being charged” and held responsible for the crash, the lawsuit said. “Murdaugh and others were orchestrating a campaign to have Connor Cook held criminally and civilly responsible for the boat accident,” the court papers alleged. It included “a ‘whisper campaign” against him — as well as “law enforcement misdirection and possible obstruction of the investigation.” The lawsuit noted that Murdaugh’s son was not tested for his blood-alcohol levels despite “his obvious state of intoxication” and “the loud and angry statements by at least one of the passengers that Paul Murdaugh was driving the boat” that belonged to his dad. The lawsuit claimed Paul had the “express permission” of his father to drive his boat despite him knowing that he “would often drink to the point of intoxication” even while driving “family vehicles, including boats.” The lawsuit also names Buster Murdaugh — the lawyer’s surviving son, for whom he allegedly tried to get $10 million in his assisted suicide plot — for allowing his brother to use his ID to buy the booze. The store and the staffer who sold it to him are also named. Together, they are “liable for all damages” because of “their negligent, careless, grossly negligent and reckless acts and omissions,” the lawsuit claimed. A spokeswoman for Alex Murdaugh told the Post and Courier that his lawyers would not be able to comment until they could review the lawsuit with their client, who is in rehab for a reported opioid addiction. “Right now, they are focused on supporting Alex’s recovery,” spokeswoman Amanda Loveday said. Fleming could not immediately be reached for comment, the outlet said. The double slaying of Paul Murdaugh and his mom — whose bodies were found by Alex — have yet to be solved. No suspects have been named. The same force last week also announced that it was now investigating the suspicious death of Murdaugh’s longtime housekeeper at his home, as well as up to $4 million in insurance money that was collected but never forwarded to her family. Murdaugh is also the subject of a state investigation into allegations he stole money from his family law firm, which booted him and led to him being suspended from practicing law in the state.

Wendy Williams has it in her legs, Kathy Bates in her arms.

Sign me up right now! My mother had a stroke and was fine except that her short term memory was shot. She kept asking my sister and me how our aunt (her sister) was. We'd either tell her 'fine' or say 'the same'. She had been dead for several years at that point. We hired a home aide for her. When she was out of her apartment, her neighbors would think there was nothing wrong with her, not realizing she was talking to them about things that had happened in the past.

If I were in Manhattan, why the hell would I want a perfectly bleached little donkey from the Midwest?

To live in, or as a cruising location?

Typically thoughtless post by Merboy. With all the geriatrics on this site he offers something that will stain their dentures. Just wait until you get a little older, kid!

Haven't really missed it. Don't think I'll watch it much anymore. Jeannie's tits are huge.

With a bad hip, that might not be a good idea. 🤢😟👀

I didn't know this until a few days ago, but the actress who played her young assistant is Lorraine Newman's daughter.

Jean Smart scored the first standing ovation of the night at Sunday’s 2021 Emmy Awards. However, the veteran actress stopped the crowd in its standing tracks with her moving acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Comedy for “Hacks” on HBO Max. “I have to acknowledge my late husband, Richard Gilliland, who passed away six months yesterday,” said Smart, 70, who was clad in a sleek black gown with a classic updo. “I would not be here without him — without him putting his career on the back burner so I could take advantage of incredible opportunities.” The “Designing Women” alum had double the chances to take home a statue, having sparked a “Jeanaissance” and double Emmy nods for her role as an aging Las Vegas standup comedian in “Hacks” — and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, as an overwhelmed cop’s mom in HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” (she scored a a Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nod — but the trophy went to her co-star Julianne Nicholson). I love Julianne Nicholson! Smart also shouted out her sons — Connor, 30, and Forrest, 13 — “who are very courageous in their own right, putting up with mommy commuting to Philadelphia and back.” Her late husband, veteran character actor Gilliland, died at 71 after a brief illness in March. They were married for more than 30 years. Gilliland got his start at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago and became a regular presence on the small screen in shows such as “The Waltons,” “Thirtysomething” and “Party of Five” He also played Captain Stan Cotter on “24” and had a recurring role as a serial killer in “Matlock.” The couple met when Gilliland scored a guest spot on Smart’s hit sitcom “Designing Women.” In 1986, the Fort Worth, Texas, native landed a recurring role on the sitcom as baseball talent scout J. D. Shackelford, the boyfriend of Annie Potts’ Mary Jo Shively. “I met him when he was kissing someone else,” Smart said during a 2017 interview with Northwest Prime Time, explaining that she quietly asked fellow cast member Delta Burke to find out if Gilliland was on the market. “Naturally, Delta walked up to him and blurted, ‘Jean wants to know if you’re married.’” Smart said that she and Gilliland instantly hit it off after she “lured” him into her dressing room to help her out with a crossword puzzle. They were married in June 1987 in “Designing Women” cast member Dixie Carter’s rose garden.

The world’s largest tree is safe from a raging wildfire — for now. The General Sherman, a 275-foot-tall, 36-foot-wide giant sequoia that towers above the trails in California’s Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, remained out of danger from the KNP Complex fire Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported. But the 18,000-acre conflagration, sparked by a Sept. 9 lightning storm, has burned through a western portion of the forest — and came alarmingly close to the Four Guardsmen, the famous group of giant sequoias that generations of tourists have known as the park’s entrance portal. The General Sherman, a 2,000-year-old behemoth thought to be the world’s largest tree by volume, grows in the northern end of the forest. Crews worked frantically Friday to shield the park’s most iconic trees, including the General Sherman, by wrapping their trunks with fireproof foil blankets and clearing flammable debris from their bases. Firefighters wrap the Sequoia National Forest Sign with fire-resistant material to protect it from the KNP Complex Fire. National Park Service via EPA The General Sherman tree is 2,000 years old. EPA/National Park Service HANDOUT Firefighters were diligent to wrap the General Sherman tree with fireproof foil blankets. EPA/National Park Service HANDOUT But authorities could not predict where the fire — which is still zero percent contained — would head next. “We don’t know exactly what will happen today,” Steven Bekkerus, a public information officer with the firefighting Southern Area Blue Team, said Saturday. “Today may be an active fire day.”

Not that the first season was a classic, but season 2 has been really dumb. Ironically, while I like the supporting characters, I find Nora to be annoying.

A few weeks ago I was in a store and wanted to get some soda, which (of course) was on the top shelf, and they didn't have much left, so it was towards the back of the shelf. I was looking around for an employee to help me when I noticed a woman a little ahead of me had a cane in her cart (I was using a handicapped cart, she had a regular one). The cane had a curved handle so you could hook it around the bottles, so I said 'Excuse me, ma'am, this might sound a little weird, but can I borrow your cane for a minute?' She looked at me and smiled and said 'You want to get something off the top shelf, right?' and she handed it to me. As I returned it I thanked her and said 'I'm so glad you knew why I was asking.' She said that's how she gets her cereal off high shelves. Ironically, I had my cane in my car, but because the basket of the handicapped cart is so much smaller than a regular cart, it sticks out and bangs into people and things, so I don't bring it into the store.

You forgot to mention her most famous and important roles... saying baby Maggie's first word on THE SIMPSONS and evil Helena Cassidine on GENERAL HOSPITAL.

Me, too! BTW, if anybody watches THIS IS US, Anthony Ramos is engaged to the daughter of the actor that played William. And if you want to see him nude, watch the end of 'Eladio Week 4' on HBO's IN TREATMENT. (or go here:) https://men.aznude.com/azncdn/anthonyramos/intreatment/intreatment-04x13-ramos-hd-01_hd.html

Depending on where you're located, the upcoming months would give you the opportunity for a few of you to take a day trip to view the fall foliage (from the car) and maybe stop at a quaint little local place or two to eat or look around little stores where he wouldn't have to be on his feet much. I need to use the handicapped cart at the supermarket and always feel self-conscious when I stand up to get something because I think people will think I'm faking. (I can stand or walk briefly, but not nearly enough to walk around the store.)

And yet you STILL can't make a decent wienerschnitzel or pho. 😁😇😎🤣

Jeff & I were born on the same day.

Bribes, graft and back-alley deals?

Is that some weird California way of consuming chicken? 😁🤣😇🧐

I read that they're threatening to move unless the taxpayers give them a new stadium. What a novel approach for a pro sports team! What's the feeling locally?

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Kym Whitley says that the rumors about Marlon Wayans’ penis are true. In fact, the veteran actress says she mistook the comic’s goods for “a small bat” when she first caught a glimpse — and that the revelation left her distracted from her work while filming with the “White Chicks” star. Whitley guest starred on the WB sitcom “The Wayans Bros.” in 1998, telling “Uncensored” that when she arrived on the set, Marlon was wearing sweatpants with a distinctly visible outline showing through them. “I thought he’s trying to be funny because he’s a fool and I kept looking and I said [to myself], ‘This boy done put a small bat in his shorts, in his red sweatpants.’ I kept looking at it and I said, ‘Stop being silly, boy, are you crazy?'” Whitley says she turned to the crew and said, “‘You see this? He is so silly.’ And nobody on set was laughing. They were saying over the speakers, like, ‘Oh, she seen it,'” she said. “So I am like, that’s real? First of all you need to put a rope on that thing and tie it up, whatever that is. Then for the whole week I was distracted. The word in Hollywood is he’s just blessed, and it burned into my brain.”

Dear Abby: Like a lot of people, I’m working from home. Today I was completing a complicated procedure between calls from customers and getting conflicting instant messages from my supervisor and manager. I exclaimed a cuss word and suddenly got an IM from the manager saying I shouldn’t cuss. I’m at home, in my room, using my computer and on pause so I can’t receive a call from a customer, and my manager is listening to me? Was I in the wrong here? — Caught in Texas Dear Caught: Yes, you were. If you did something during business hours that you wouldn’t do at the office, you shouldn’t have been doing it at home. (In the future, if you want to blurt out a few choice words, do it while you are well away from the microphone!) FUCK, YES!

Wendy Williams has COVID-19, so the season premiere of her eponymous talk show has been postponed to Oct. 4. "While continuing her health evaluations, Wendy has tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19," said a statement on the 57-year-old's social media account Wednesday. It continued, "To allow Wendy time to quarantine and fully recover and to ensure that our production abides by all SAG/AFTRA and DGA COVID protocols, we expect to begin the 13th season of The Wendy Williams Show on Monday, October 4th. In the meantime, repeats are scheduled." While Williams expressed concern about getting the vaccine early this year — with Dr. Oz appearing on her show in March to explain that it is safe — she is fully vaccinated, a source confirms to Yahoo Entertainment. Vaccine breakthrough infections — which remain rare — occur when a fully vaccinated person gets infected with COVID-19. However, the vaccine is still doing its job in providing protection against the most severe forms of the disease. As a result, hospitalized or fatal COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases are uncommon. Williams has been dealing the health issues as of late and canceled scheduled appearances to promote her talk show. Last Thursday, the show announced Williams has "ongoing health issues" and is "undergoing further evaluations." As a result, she was canceling "her promotional activities" this week, but the premiere was still expected to take place on Sept. 20. In recent years, Williams has taken time off from work due to her heath, including Graves' disease, an immune system disorder that causes the thyroid to become overactive, something she was first diagnosed with in 1999. She also spent time in a sober living residential facility to treat her addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. At the end of last season of the Wendy Williams Show, she welcomed back her studio audience, or "co-hosts," as she refers to viewers. Per show rules, it's required that audience members are fully vaccinated and must wear masks on studio premises at all times.