The world’s biggest move chain saw second-quarter earnings surge, sales jump and things looked great in movieland with the three months ended in June and the current month of July setting records on key metrics. But the numbers mask an AMC skirmish with shareholders that turned into a messy, ongoing Delaware Chancery Court case requiring a judge’s approval for the company to sell equity to raise cash.

Yes, Aron said he’s heartened at AMC’s liquidity of $643 at the end of June, but retail shareholders, who own most of the company’s stock, “are underestimating the potential for cash burn in seasonally weaker winter months, especially given the uncertainties of the actors’ and writers’ strikes, since no one knows when they will end.”

“We continue to seek the flexibility to raise fresh capital on the best possible terms…to avoid the pitfalls that sank others in our industry,” he said on a call with investors after market close, reiterating a warning from last month.

“The dumbest thing we could ever do in this industry is to run out of cash,” he added. After all, he expects a full theatrical recovery for the industry next year or the following. But “If we were to run out of cash before we get to 2024 or 2025, that would be a disaster.”

If AMC did have the cash, he ticked off a wish list including repairs to theaters, adding bars and more of the highly lucrative large-format screens, buying other exhibitors and even “transformative M&A” that could move the company beyond cinemas.

The chain will continue to bring theaters into the circuit if can do so cheaply, he said, noting huge successes at new locations in the LA area in Topanga (AMC DINE-IN Topanga 12) and Glendale (AMC The Americana at Brand 18), which are now among AMC’s top performers.

Meanwhile, he said sales of AMC Perfectly Popcorn – microwavable and in bags — at Walmart stores and online has taken off and could eventually grow to a $100 million business. He confirmed the chain will be introducing a line of AMC-branded chocolates and gummies in theaters.

The post AMC CEO Sees “Serious Liquidity Issues” Even As Box Office Booms; “The Dumbest Thing We Could Ever Do In This Industry Is Run Out Of Cash” appeared first on Deadline.

PENN Entertainment, a casino and sports gaming business, finalized its complete acquisition of Barstool earlier this year in a deal worth $551 million after acquiring a minority stake of the sports blog site in 2020 for an initial $163 million. 

On Tuesday, Portnoy, who founded Barstool in 2003 said in a video posted to Twitter: “PENN Entertainment and Barstool Sports have gone our separate ways. So that is right, for the first time in a decade, I own 100% of Barstool Sports.”

—Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 8, 2023

Penn and Barstool agreed to go their separate ways as the gambling operator signed a new 10-year deal with Disney’s ESPN that will see Penn’s existing Barstool Sportsbook rebranded as ESPN BET this fall. Penn is paying ESPN $1.5 billion over the course of the deal and $500 million in warrants tied to media, marketing, and other services from ESPN, according to the announcement.

According to a press release published Tuesday, PENN sold 100% of the Barstool’s common stock back to Portnoy “in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants.”

PENN also has the right to receive half of the gross proceeds received by David Portnoy in any subsequent sale or other monetization event of Barstool, according to the terms of the deal.

Penn’s relationship with Barstool hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing. In May, Penn overrode Barstool executives when the company fired Ben Mintz, who said a slur while reading the lyrics to a song aloud on a livestream. It happened during the same week as Penn’s first-quarter earnings report, in which it missed Wall Street’s estimates, and the stock fell to its lowest level since May 2020, the Action Network reported.

Penn shares were up 14% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, when it announced the new Barstool Sports and ESPN arrangements.

Representatives for PENN National and Barstool Sports did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment. 

The post Dave Portnoy buys Barstool Sports back for next to nothing, years after selling it appeared first on Business Insider.

The long-awaited hearing began on Monday, where written statements from Megan as well as witnesses pleading on Lanez’s behalf were read to the courtroom. In her letter to Judge David Herriford, the Grammy winner said she “[had] not experienced a single day of peace” since the shooting, referencing Lanez’s public taunting of her. Megan also asked the court to pardon her absence from the hearing and requested a harsh sentence for Lanez.

Meanwhile, Lanez’s defense team submitted 76 letters, including ones from the singer’s relatives and son, a Missouri police chief, and even Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. (Azalea has since tweeted that she didn’t realize her letter would be made public.) Before the trial, Lanez’s attorney’s submitted a memo requesting the court to sentence to him to probation instead of prison.

After a drawn-out public legal battle, this latest decision puts an end to one of hip-hop’s biggest and most polarizing news stories over the past few years. The shooting incident occurred on July 12, 2020, when Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, fired a gun at Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Pete) after they attended a party together at Kylie Jenner’s house. Lanez was initially only arrested for carrying an unconcealed weapon. A few days later, Megan claimed she suffered gunshot wounds in her foot the same night. It wasn’t until August, however, that she named Lanez as her assailant.

In October of that year, Lanez was officially charged with three felony counts: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, personal use of a firearm, and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle—all of which he pleaded not guilty to. After a highly publicized trial in December 2022, a jury found the Canadian singer guilty on all three charges.

Following the trial, prosecutors called for Lanez to be sentenced to 13 years in prison for the offense, and for what they described as a subsequent “campaign of misinformation” meant to discredit Megan Thee Stallion. Lanez’s attorneys, meanwhile, called for probation and a residential drug treatment program.

Lanez has been criticized for his callous antics throughout the entire ordeal. In June, prosecutors cited his retaliatory behavior toward Megan in their sentencing request, including multiple instances where he and his team publicly accused Megan of lying. Court documents obtained earlier this year by reporter Meghann Cuniff also revealed Lanez and rapper DaBaby’s aborted plans to ambush Megan during her set at the 2021 Rolling Loud festival.

As the saga played out in court, on social media, and on hip-hop gossip blogs, several rappers came to Lanez’s defense, including 50 Cent, who later apologized for posting memes discrediting Megan’s allegations. Drake also garnered scrutiny last year for his song “Circo Loco,” in which he raps the lyric, “This bitch lie ‘bout getting shots, but she still a stallion.” Meanwhile, a slew of celebrities have shown their support for Megan, including Cardi B, Kehlani, Lizzo, Michael B. Jordan, and Chance The Rapper.

Following the shooting, Megan Thee Stallion has used her platform to address misogyny in the Black community and the hurdles Black women face within the court system, penning an op-ed in The New York Times about her experience and dedicating one of her Saturday Night Live performances to Breonna Taylor. In an essay she wrote for Elle in April, the Grammy winner said she’s ready to move on from the incident.

The post Tory Lanez Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion appeared first on The Daily Beast.

The hearing began Monday and wrapped Tuesday, ending a high-profile case that saw Megan, 28, subjected to what prosecutors called “repeated and grotesque attacks” and cast a spotlight on the scrutiny Black women face when reporting abuse.

Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, shot the three-time Grammy winner, whose legal name is Megan Pete, following a party at reality star and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home July 12, 2020.

Lanez, 31, had pleaded not guilty, but a jury found him guilty of three felony charges in December: assault with a semi-automatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Lanez addressed the court before the judge handed down his sentence. He apologized for his actions and said he took full responsibility for the 2020 shooting.

“If I could change it, I would but I can’t,” he said. “Everything I did that night, I take full responsibility,” he added. “I truly am just trying to be a better person.”

Matthew Barhoma, a member of Lanez’s legal team, said they will be filing appeals for both the sentence and conviction.

The charges carried a maximum sentence of 22 years and eight months behind bars. Prosecutors asked for a 13-year sentence, noting in a sentencing memorandum that Lanez re-traumatized the “Savage” rapper with social media posts about the trial, that led his followers to target her.

He also faced possible deportation back to Canada.

“We’re nowhere near that yet,” Jose Baez, one of his attorneys, said in reference to deportation.

In seeking a shorter sentence, his lawyers argued for probation and that he be released from jail to a residential substance abuse program. They claimed Lanez has alcohol abuse disorder, anxiety and post-traumatic stress from the unexpected death of his mother when he was 11-years-old.

Prosecutors said they were “skeptical” of those claims, which were not presented throughout the trail.

“This case has nothing to do with mental illness,” prosecutor Alex Bott said. “He shot Meghan because she bruised his ego.”

Lawyers for the defense countered that there is a clear thread between Lanez’s trauma and heavy alcohol use and his violent actions in 2020.

“Someone has to be severely off to shoot someone because of a bruised ego,” Baez said.

The judge said he was “disinclined” to allow those factors to influence his decision.

Megan testified that Lanez shouted for her to “dance” and fired a gun toward her feet when she walked away from an SUV the pair were in with two others. She told the court that she initially told police that she had cut her feet on glass when asked why she was bleeding. Doctors later found bullet fragments in her foot at the hospital that required her to undergo surgery.

In an April interview on “CBS Mornings” prior to the trial, she told Gayle King that she initially lied to police because she feared getting into a more dangerous situation. 

“You think I’m about to tell the police that we … us Black people got a gun in the car?” she said. “You want me to tell the law that we got a gun in the car so they can shoot all of us up?”

Megan, who publicly named Lanez as the shooter in an Instagram Live video and addressed the incident in her song “Shots Fired,” also testified about the physical pain she still endures.

“I couldn’t walk for a while,” she said. “I still have nerve damage. I can’t really feel the side of my left foot. The back of my feet are always sore, but I just push through it.”

She told the court that Lanez offered her $1 million to keep quiet about the shooting.

Lanez, who dedicated an entire album to rebutting her version of events, did not testify at trial. His lawyers called Megan’s testimony, that Lanez asked her not to go to police because he was on parole, false and also argued that DNA evidence prosecutors used to identify him as the likely shooter fell short of industry standards.

His legal team also called the trial a “case about jealousy,” telling the jurors that Megan and her former friend Kelsey Nicole Harris, who was also in the car at the time of the incident, had gotten into an argument about Lanez and other men. 

The post Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot appeared first on NBC News.

In a new interview, Keough specifically spoke about the settlement she made with her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, over Elvis Presley’s Graceland and Lisa Marie’s estate.

“When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives,” Keough told Vanity Fair. “Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us. Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because it’s complicated.

“We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family. So I think that there was clarity that needed to be had.”

After Lisa Marie’s death, Priscilla had challenged an amendment allegedly made by the actress to her will in 2016 that replaced her business manager and mother as beneficiaries with her oldest children, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin Keough, died by suicide in 2020 — making Riley the sole beneficiary.

A settlement was reached between Keough and Priscilla in May. Priscilla told Fox News Digital through a representative at the time, “My family has resolved all confusion as it relates to our plea to the court and request for document interpretation after my daughter Lisa Marie’s untimely passing.

“Although the media identified such a plea as a lawsuit, I want to make clear that there was never any lawsuit filed against my beloved granddaughter. As a family, we are pleased that we resolved this together.”

Now, Keough is clarifying that things with her Grandma have always “been happy.”

“There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything’s going to be how it was. She’s a beautiful woman, and she was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland. It’s very important to her,” she noted. “He was the love of her life. Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all she wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy.

“That’s her whole life. So it’s a big responsibility she has tried to take on. None of that stuff has really ever been a part of our relationship prior. She’s just been my grandma.”

Keough also spoke highly of her mother — who passed away on Jan. 12. Lisa Marie’s cause of death was listed as a small bowel obstruction in records kept by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

“The life she had was not easy, and the treachery she endured and the lack of real love and real friends. … She definitely had some great friends and relationships in her life, but I don’t think she really ever had. … People were just coming for her since she was born — wanting something from her and not being totally authentic. She had to develop very thick skin,” she explained. “She was a very powerful presence and extremely loving and extremely loyal and sort of a lioness – a fierce woman, and a really wonderful mother.

“I think that would be my summary because I’m her daughter. She was the best mom.”

Lisa Marie was buried next to her son and her famous father at Graceland — the family estate in Memphis, Tennessee.

During her public memorial service, Keough revealed that she secretly welcomed a baby girl. Now, the “Daisy Jones & The Six” star explained she used a surrogate.

“I think it’s a very cool, selfless, and incredible act that these women do to help other people,” she told Vanity Fair. “I can carry children, but it felt like the best choice for what I had going on physically with the autoimmune stuff.”

The baby girl’s name is Tupelo Storm, named after her grandfather’s hometown and her brother, Benjamin Storm Keough.

“It’s funny because we picked her name before the Elvis movie. I was like, ‘This is great because it’s not really a well-known word or name in relation to my family — it’s not like Memphis or something,” she recalled. “Then when the Elvis movie came out, it was like, Tupelo this and Tupelo that. I was like, ‘Oh, no.’ But it’s fine.”

The post Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter Riley Keough discusses inheriting Graceland and ‘chaotic’ time after mom’s death appeared first on Fox News.

The Season 3 premiere of OMITB does an excellent job of presenting a whole new cast of suspicious maybe-killers, who all have an ax to grind with the pompous star of Oliver’s play, Ben Glenroy. In the first couple of episodes, there are only a few real clues to go off of. The big one is the cause of death. There was a murder attempt on Ben just moments before he stepped out on stage on the opening night of Death Rattle. It seemed like he may have been poisoned, but as Mabel noted, there was no foaming in his mouth, so it could have been something else. When Ben turned up alive at the afterparty, everyone in the room had suspicious responses to him. Later that night, Ben was killed, likely by someone pushing him down the Arconia’s elevator shaft.

The smoking bullet is the handkerchief on top of Ben’s corpse, the gift that he had given to everyone in the Death Rattle cast and crew. Since Ben’s own handkerchief was stolen earlier that night, this one must have been dropped by the killer. Basically, everyone’s a suspect, but some characters make a lot more sense as the killer than others.

1. Cliff & Donna

The mother and son producing duo is at the very top of the suspect list for a few reasons. For one, it would make sense for Donna to want to fake Ben’s death on opening night to drum up buzz for the show. Notably, she immediately pointed out how Ben’s apparent resurrection would be great promotion. So then, why would she actually kill her star right after that? She didn’t. But her son might have.

As Ben was listing all the terrible things he’d done to the cast and crew, it was clear Cliff was still the most upset with Ben, who constantly forgets his name and simply refers to him as “boy.” The play’s premise is about a baby being accused of murder, and as we all know, art imitates life. Maybe Cliff got so sick of being treated like a baby that he took matters into his own hands.

2. Dickie

Dickie only had a very presence in the first couple episodes, which is what makes him so incredibly sus. Not only does Ben constantly put his brother/assistant down, but Dickie’s also the person with the most consistent access to Ben. The biggest clue came when Ben arrived at the afterparty and said his near-death experience must have been something he ate. Who’s the person in charge of Ben’s diet? That’s right: Dickie.

3. Joy

This one’s a bit of a stretch, since Joy wasn’t part of the production and therefore never got a handkerchief, but that might be just the misdirect she was going for. We still don’t know much about Charles’ new girlfriend — and it should be said that he doesn’t exactly have a knack for picking non-murderous love interests. When everyone thought Ben had died, Joy actually seemed happy about it, saying that it would allow her and Charles to spend more time together. Could her love for Charles be so strong that it led to murder? She probably also picked up some tips from Charles’ podcast, and knew to leave someone else’s handkerchief on Ben’s body to shift suspicion away from her.

4. Kimber, Ty, or Jonathan

Most of the other Death Rattle actors are grouped together because they all have similar motives, and also because it’s possible they worked together to kill their leading man. Ben seemed to insinuate he had a messy fling with Kimber, he and Ty fought over a trainer, and Jonathan being Ben’s understudy is motive in and of itself. Obviously, we’ll learn more about these three as the season continues, but it could be a nice twist if the season ended with not tjust one killer, but three who worked together to end the toxic environment Ben had created backstage.

5. KT

Could the hard-working, overlooked stage manager be the killer? It’s certainly a route OMITB has taken before, and one moment at the afterparty put some suspicion on her. She’s one of the only people confirmed to have brought her handkerchief to the Arconia that night, as Howard points out how she used it to dry her tears. Why include a scene making it very obvious that KT had her handkerchief, if not to imply she could be the killer?

6. Howard

Like KT, Howard also had his handkerchief at the afterparty, plus he has even more motive to ruin Oliver’s play, after Oliver disrespected him by making him an assistant rather than cast him. But, in all reality, he’s lower on the suspect list since he’s been on the show for three seasons now. The killer will almost definitely be one of the new characters, not an Arconia regular.

7. Loretta

The show would want you to think Loretta is the obvious prime suspect — she clearly hated Ben, and wanted the show to end so she could date Oliver, who has a rule against dating his actors. But… she’s way too obvious of a killer. Obviously, Meryl Streep’s role is going to be a juicy one, but it’s hard to believe she’ll end up the killer with how much the show loves a good twist.

8. Tobert

There’s really nothing to say about the documentarian Tobert yet. He didn’t seem to be at the afterparty, and it’s not even clear if Ben gave him a handkerchief since he technically wasn’t part of the play. Of course, more will be revealed about him soon enough, but for now, he’s too much of a mystery to even speculate about.

9. Bobo

C’mon, it can’t be Bobo! Unless this season is willing to pull of a really wild twist with its silent, comic relief character (which would probably feel pretty random and unsatisfying), then Bobo is safe, for now.

10. Mabel

Obviously, it’s far-fetched to include any of the main characters on the suspect list — the show’s not going to actually make one of its stars a murderer! But, Mabel has some motives that can’t be totally ignored in Season 3. She constantly brings up how the trio needs another murder to cover on their podcast, and is resentful of Oliver’s play for how much time Oliver and Charles spend together without her. Clearly, she was desperate for one last murder mystery before having to leave the Arconia. Maybe she didn’t kill Ben herself (she is his biggest fan), but found him dead and moved his body into the Arconia so that it would be eligible for her, Charles, and Oliver to cover on their podcast. It is called Only Murders in the Building, after all!

New episodes of Only Murders in the Building drop Tuesdays on Hulu.

The post Who Killed Ben In ‘Only Murders’ Season 3? Every Theory, Ranked appeared first on Elite Daily.

Brady talked about the “next chapter” of his life amid rumors he has kindled a romance with model Irina Shayk. Brady’s post was accompanied by photos of his family and the sights of his trip.

“It was another special reminder that life is TRULY about relationships and memories…,” he wrote of his getaway. “This past week of my birthday I have had much time to reflect and be grateful for all the incredible blessings.

“I couldn’t imagine growing up as a boy in San Mateo that my life would become what it has… I’ve experienced quite a bit in the first 45 years I have lived, and what I have loved most is the people who I have shared the most life changing events with….my children, my family, my loved ones and friends and all of you have added so much to this incredible/adventurous life.

“To wake up to sunrises and untouched parts of our beautiful planet, to witness these animals in all their glory, to see how different people can live with true joy and happiness continues to bring me great lessons in learning. Anyone who knows me knows I love quotes….I have two in my mind that I want to begin this next chapter with. They are profoundly meaningful to me and maybe you will like them as well!”

Brady pointed to two quotes he drew inspiration from – “The life you lead, is the lesson you teach,” and “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I?”

He said he would keep them in mind as he started another revolution around the sun.

“I am taking these next days one at a time, focusing on being my best self for me, and others, and living a life of integrity and purpose.”

A representative for Brady, who was most recently linked to reality star Kim Kardashian, told Fox News Digital in July there would be no comment on the status of his relationship with Shayk. Brady divorced Bündchen in October. 

Fox News’ Caroline Thayer contributed to this report.

The post Tom Brady turns attention to ‘next chapter’ amid romance rumors: ‘I am taking these next days one at a time’ appeared first on Fox News.

The fifth season of Ultimate Girls Trip will be the second “Ex-Wives Club” edition, with some past Real Housewives from RHUGT Season 2 returning for another dramatic vacation. But this time, rather than heading to Dorinda Medley’s Berkshires mansion like before, the ladies are traveling halfway around the world to Morocco, the site of the Bravo-famous RHONY Season 4 cast trip. Previous RHUGT destinations include Turks and Caicos for its first season and Thailand for Season 3.

Here’s everything you need to know about RHUGT Season 5.

The RHUGT Season 5 Cast

On Jan. 9, Bravo and Peacock not only confirmed that they had renewed RHUGT, but they announced the new cast, which made it clear that the “Ex-Wives Club” was taking another trip together. Orange County’s Vicki Gunvalson, Beverly Hills’ Brandi Glanville, and Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks and Eva Marcille will return after impressing fans during RHUGT Season 2, and they’ll be heading to Morocco with some new (old) blood as well.

New York alum Alex McCord will return to the Housewives fold for the first time since leaving RHONY after Season 4 and moving to Australia. Former New Jersey matriarch Caroline Manzo will also be making a comeback after her Bravo spin-off Manzo’d With Children ended in 2016. RHOBH star Camille Grammer Mayer and RHOC alum Gretchen Rossi will join their former co-stars to round out the cast.

Who Left RHUGT Season 5 While Filming?

Over the weekend of Jan. 28, rumors started swirling on Twitter that Brandi and Caroline had gotten into some altercation of sorts while filming, leading to both of their early departures. Rumors flew that the incident had something to do with another New Jersey Housewife, Caroline’s estranged sister Dina Manzo, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. On Jan. 30, sources told People that Brandi kissed Caroline multiple times during a party without consent, leading production to report her actions to executives.

“It was unwanted,” a source said. “Caroline’s distress over the matter did not seem to stop Brandi. Things escalated and physical boundaries allegedly were crossed that Caroline felt were serious and uncomfortable.” Brandi reportedly apologized to Caroline via text message the next morning after being made aware of her feelings, but unbeknownst to Caroline, the decision was made to remove Brandi from the trip early. Caroline then decided to go home on her own accord, with the support of production and her castmates. “She needed to process this outside of the reality TV environment,” the insider said.

Brandi and Caroline have not publicly commented on what happened, but the RHOBH star seemed to be in good spirits as she was reportedly leaving Morocco, posting a photo of a camel on Instagram. “Bon Soir Morocco,” she wrote before adding the Arabic word for thank you, “SHUKRAN.”

The RHUGT Season 5 Premiere Date

Though Peacock initially planned it to be RHUGT Season 4, the second Ex-Wives Club installment has been delayed and will now air sometime in 2024. The reason? Network executives swapped the RHONY: Legacy iteration, which filmed about five months later, into the slated December 2023 drop date amid the success of the RHONY reboot, as well as Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan’s Welcome to Crappie Lake spin-off. The streamer has yet to reveal a specific replacement premiere date for Ex-Wives Club 2, though.

This post will be updated as more RHUGT Season 5 details become available.

The post ‘RHUGT’ Season 5: Cast, Potential Premiere Date, & Everything To Know appeared first on Bustle.

The school issued a statement saying Victoria “Tori” Bowles was dismissed because she refused to cooperate with an internal investigation into the crash. Her attorneys claim she is being retaliated against for filing the lawsuit, which also names former Georgia player and first-round NFL draft pick Jalen Carter.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported Bowles’ firing.

The Jan. 15 crash, which occurred just hours after a parade celebrating Georgia’s second straight national championship, killed the 20-year-old Willock and the driver of the Ford Expedition, 24-year-old Chandler LeCroy.

Police said LeCroy had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and was racing Carter at about 104 mph when the SUV swerved off the road, struck two utility poles and a tree before slamming into another tree on the driver’s side, where both LeCroy and Willock were sitting.

Another Georgia player, Warren McClendon, sustained only minor injuries. But Bowles, who was sitting in the backseat next to Willock, sustained serious injuries including lumbar and rib fractures, a spinal cord injury and lacerations to the kidney and liver, her lawsuit stated. She also sustained a closed head injury with neurological damage and severe eye pain.

The lawsuit, which includes LeCroy’s estate as an additional defendant, requests at least $171,595 in general damages along with punitive damages.

The suit claims the Georgia athletic association entrusted the rented SUV to LeCroy and was aware that she had at least two “super speeder” violations among four speeding tickets prior to the crash.

The athletic association said staff members were authorized to use rental vehicles for recruiting purposes only. “Under no circumstances were recruiting staff authorized to use rental cars to drive at excessive speeds while intoxicated,” it said in a statement.

Bowles was on paid medical leave for a couple of months following the crash, before the athletic association placed her on unpaid leave in March, according to records obtained by the Journal-Constitution.

Rob Buck, an attorney representing Bowles in her lawsuit, said the university has engaged in a “campaign of intimidation” against his client, whose job paid less than $12,000 a year.

“Tory, like all other perceived liabilities to the football program, became expendable to UGA, and despite her loyalty and meager salary, has been steamrolled,” he said.

The athletic association said in a statement Monday that while it wished Bowles well in her recovery, it was forced to fire her for lack of cooperation.

“Applicable policies require university employees to cooperate with internal investigations,” the statement obtained by the Journal-Constitution said. “Over the course of several months, Ms. Bowles was asked — on numerous occasions — to speak with our investigators and provide information, and through her attorney, she repeatedly refused to cooperate.

“As a result, we were ultimately left with no choice but to terminate her employment.”

Carter, who was selected ninth overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL draft, received 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine in March after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing.

McClendon was a fifth-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams.

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

The post Georgia fires football staffer who survived fatal crash after lawsuit appeared first on ABC News.

“When my mom passed, there was a lot of chaos in every aspect of our lives,” Keough told Vanity Fair in an interview published Tuesday. “Everything felt like the carpet had been ripped out and the floor had melted from under us. Everyone was in a bit of a panic to understand how we move forward, and it just took a minute to understand the details of the situation, because it’s complicated. We are a family, but there’s also a huge business side of our family. So I think that there was clarity that needed to be had.”

Keough has also reached a settlement with her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, who earlier this year filed a petition to challenge the validity of Lisa Marie’s will. The will named Keough and Lisa Marie’s 14-year-old twin daughters, Harper and Finley, as the sole beneficiaries of her estate, which is reportedly worth multiple millions of dollars.

Priscilla was previously named as a trustee of her daughter’s will, but in 2016, Lisa Marie made an amendment that removed her mother and former business manager as trustees.

As the sole trustee of her mother’s estate, Keough will assume ownership of Graceland, Elvis’ iconic Memphis home, which Priscilla converted into a highly lucrative tourist attraction after the singer passed away in 1977.

Per the agreement, Priscilla will receive a monthly payment as an advisor to the trust, and will also be permitted to be buried at Graceland.

“I don’t know why she wouldn’t be buried at Graceland,” Keough told Vanity Fair. “I don’t understand what the drama in the news was about. Yeah. If she wants to be, of course. I always had positive and beautiful memories and association with Graceland. Now, a lot of my family’s buried there, so it’s a place of great sadness at this point in my life.”

When asked about the current status of her relationship with Priscilla, the Daisy Jones & the Six actress said that while an answer could be a “20-minute conversation,” things between the two of them will ultimately “be how it was.”

“Things with Grandma will be happy,” Keough told Vanity Fair. “They’ve never not been happy. There was a bit of upheaval, but now everything’s going to be how it was. She’s a beautiful woman, and she was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland. It’s very important to her. He was the love of her life. Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all she wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy. That’s her whole life. So it’s a big responsibility she has tried to take on. None of that stuff has really ever been a part of our relationship prior. She’s just been my grandma.”

The post Riley Keough Opens Up About ‘Complicated’ Presley Family Feud appeared first on The Daily Beast.

Paramount also saw advertising revenue from its TV properties tumble by 10 percent, which was worse than the 8 percent drop expected by Wall Street.

Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery — the parent company of CNN — reported TV advertising had plummeted 13 percent for the most recent quarter.

The cratering ad market is creating an existential crisis for Hollywood media giants, which have traditionally relied on revenue from their TV networks to pump up corporate profits. However, continued cord cutting by tens of millions of Americans is gutting the industry and throwing Hollywood into an existential crisis.

Like other legacy studios, Paramount recently enacted a brutal round of layoffs as the advertising collapse shows no sign of abating.

Paramount+ recently canceled the little-watched, woke series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, which was nixed after just one season and then removed completely from the platform.

Paramount-owned CMT recently faced backlash for censoring Jason Aldean’s music video for “Try That in a Small Town.” The country music channel caved to pressure from leftist activists who smeared the hit single as racist.

Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com

The post Paramount Loses $424 Million on Streaming as TV Ad Revenue Sinks 10 Percent appeared first on Breitbart.

Who is the biggest name, you ask? Why, that title belongs to Harry Styles. Kind of. Not really. While he doesn’t appear, Styles is briefly mentioned in Episode 2, “The Beat Goes On,” which made me believe he was going to have a cameo. Maybe later on this season we’ll see the former One Direction star in all his murderous glory.

Styles is mentioned at Ben’s (Rudd) funeral following his second, more permanent death in the elevator shaft. He’s meant to give a eulogy, but right as he’s about to step up to the stage, the show cuts away to another scene. Bummer. At least we’ve still got Rudd (in flashbacks), Streep, and, of course, Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. Only Murders may not have Styles, but that’s not to say the show isn’t incredibly star-studded.

There are so many big names, in fact, that Martin, Short, and Gomez—playing Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, respectively—are all sent to the overflow room for Ben’s funeral. No, they can’t squeeze in besides the big name actors who make up the list of Ben’s friends. They watch the funeral in an LED-lit hotel room above the actual procession, where they see Ben’s casket on a TV that appears to be from 2004. What a lovely sendoff.

Of course, Charles and Oliver hated Ben, so their protests over being sent to the main room are just virtue signaling at its finest. Charles, in particular, had some destructive beef with the leading man of Oliver’s Death Rattle.

In flashbacks to opening night, we get more insight into their history. Ben was once a child actor on Brazzos, in which—as we already know—Charles played the titular detective. Charles loathed Ben, who was a terrible actor. Stuck up and egotistical, Charles refused to work with Ben and got him fired from the set. In the present day, Charles, regretting his actions, decides to confront Ben on opening night about his mistakes.

But the pair have an undeniably terrible relationship. Charles can’t even apologize without tearing Ben down. Ben wants Charles to understand that, while he was a bad actor (most kids are, really), he only took the gig to support his mom and brother. Now, doesn’t Charles look like a real asshole? Once again, Charles has the most fascinating backstory to unpack. Last season, it was the Brazzos reboot. Now, after letting Ben down on two productions, Charles must avenge his death out of pity.

Charles isn’t the only one who has a connection to Ben. Mabel joins him in that regard, but from a fan perspective—she used to watch Girl Cop on a loop, Ben’s cheesy teen TV show, following the death of her father. Mabel is a huge fan of Ben’s, not to mention the fact that she has a giant crush on the actor. Along with her desire to have one last podcast season before she moves out of the Aronia, Mabel’s affection for Ben leads her to go digging for some evidence.

Which is why she takes an immediate liking to Greg (Adrian Martinez), a fellow Girl Cop stan who promises that he has a lead on what happened to Ben. Charles tags along with Mabel when she goes to Greg’s apartment to crack the case with her new pal. Greg is a superfan in the weirdest sense. He collects everything short of Ben’s saliva, from the Girl Cop keys to every poster of all of Ben’s productions. A huge fan of Ben’s, Mabel is in heaven.

Until she’s not, because Greg suffocates both her and Charles and handcuffs them to a beam in his basement. Turns out he’s one of those creepy superfans who will kill anyone that might lay a hand on his favorite celebrity. Greg suspects that Charles killed Ben, knowing their behind-the-scenes tension. Luckily, the cops intervene before Greg can get his hands on either Mabel or Charles.

Meanwhile, after Oliver sits through the rest of Ben’s funeral, he confronts a popular play critic as she’s exiting the event. He begs her to spill on her thoughts of Death Rattle. They aren’t good. Ben would’ve received terrible critiques. The staging was boring. As she walks away, Oliver clutches his chest and falls to the floor. This isn’t Oliver being his usual, overly dramatic self. Oliver has a minor heart attack.

After Oliver recovers, his doctor and son Will (Ryan Broussard) warn him about being too active. The play should take a break. Any work in the theatrical environment, in fact, should be avoided at all costs. Oliver is compared to Bob Fosse—the doctor and his son use it in a negative light, but Oliver sees it as a compliment—which sends him into a Fosse-inspired fever dream, a la the death montage in All That Jazz. This is cute, but not as gripping as any of the stories related to Ben.

Oliver wakes up believing that he’s had an epiphany. Instead of a tired old play, he’ll turn Death Rattle into a musical. Charles and Mabel arrive at his apartment door in the middle of his realization with an even better idea: They’re ready to bring the podcast back. Though Oliver won’t turn away from his dreams of the musical, the podcast is probably a better fit for his declining health—especially as he grabs his chest in pain as the episode comes to a close.

Oliver needs to stick to the plot. No musicals, no strenuous activity, and no diversions away from cracking this case. That said, a musical episode of Only Murders—if done correctly—could be a lot of fun.

Clues From the Crime Scene

-Mabel is having visions of Ben in retro Girl Cop gear. Something feels a little fishy about this. Does Mabel know something we don’t? She knew an awful lot about the poisoning the first night. But I doubt Only Murders would actually make Mabel the prime suspect again, seeing as she was a suspect for quite some time in the first and second seasons.

-Greg was obsessed with Ben. Mabel and Charles are convinced he had nothing to do with the murder (see Clue 4 on this list), but Greg was at Ben’s place the night he died, hunting for new Ben relics. I just don’t feel like the Greg storyline is over quite yet. He’s such a good weirdo!

-Oliver was in the dressing room running lines with his lead star moments before Ben collapsed on stage. Again, I doubt any of the main trio are guilty. But Oliver should peel through his memory to see if there was anything suspicious about Ben’s dressing room the night he almost died and then did die.

-The biggest clue, however, is Ben’s opening night gift: handkerchiefs with rattles on them for everyone involved in the show. Greg (a completely uninvolved party) happens to have one of the handkerchiefs, which he confesses is Ben’s. He stole it from his apartment at the Arconia the day of the show. But in a photo Mabel took at the crime scene, Ben is holding another handkerchief. The murder, Mabel argues, had to have been committed by someone involved in the show—someone who had a hankie to spare.

The post ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 3, Episode 2 Recap: Harry Styles Makes a Cameo appeared first on The Daily Beast.

Only Murders in the Building Season 3 begins with one of the biggest shockers of the year. No, it’s not that Paul Rudd (playing superstar Ben) dies on stage during opening night of Oliver’s (Martin Short) production—that actually happened last year at the end of Season 2. It’s not that Brazzos, played by Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), is out of his wheelchair in the beloved TV reboot. Nor is it that Mabel (Selena Gomez) has finally dumped Alice (Cara Delevingne) for good.

Rather, it’s the jaw-dropping accusation that Meryl Streep cannot act. What kind of lie is Only Murders in the Building trying to sell us with this one?

The third season of the beloved Hulu mystery comedy begins with a cold open focusing on Streep’s new character, Loretta Durkin, an aspiring actress who, after over half a decade, has never been able to land the part. This is unbelievable in and of itself—that a lady like Meryl freakin’ Streep would never win over Hollywood—but Only Murders somehow creates a backstory that makes sense. Streep, who is already a big charmer in her new role, is able to portray Loretta as a bad actor. That must be the hardest feat for a really good actor.

Until she appears on Oliver’s stage. In her audition, Loretta is larger-than-life, perfect to play the nanny in Oliver’s production about a baby who becomes the only witness of a murder. She lands the role. The earth has harmony once again. Meryl Streep’s acting skills are heralded again, albeit later in life this time.

But Loretta proves why exactly she hasn’t been able to land a role: She thinks out of the box way too much. Her character, a simpleton Nanny, has been written with Scottish origins. So, at the first table read, she ditches the timbre with which she auditioned, swapping in a Scottish dialect. Oliver recoils. Then, she opts for French Canadian. Oliver demands she read it normally. Now, even her acting with a normal accent has gotten a bit funky.

Enough about Loretta, though—what’s going on with the new murder? This season flashes back and forth between the past and the present. In the former, Ben gets on everyone’s nerves with fart jokes and a bad attitude during rehearsals. In the latter, Ben has collapsed, dead, in the middle of opening night. There are a million different motives that could’ve led to his death. Everyone hates him!

In the past, Mabel, Oliver, and Charles—but particularly Mabel—are struggling to find a purpose after two smash hit seasons of their podcast, which shares the same title as the Hulu show. They haven’t been seeing each other recently. Mabel, whose aunt is selling her apartment at the Arconia, forcing Mabel to move to Brooklyn, feels extremely isolated. And, as Oliver so eloquently puts it, “Who are we without a homicide?”

Oliver and Charles have been too busy with Death Rattle (Oliver’s goofy play) to visit Mabel. Charles has a supporting role, which is dangerous, considering his tension with Ben. Then again, everyone seems to hate Ben. He arrives late. He has no patience for Loretta’s bad acting. “She’s a stinkaroonie,” Ben whines to Oliver after the first read through. “Give her the boot-ay!” Even Ben’s assistant can’t stand him.

With the Only Murders trio’s loaded history, paired with the distaste Ben has left in everyone’s mouth, it should come as no surprise that he falls dead during his first monologue in the show. The only twist here is the fact that the death didn’t happen in the Arconia this time around. “At least he had the consideration to keep the body out of the building this time,” a snarky Uma (Jackie Hoffman) remarks.

At first, this new death seemed to be a welcome change for the show. Lightning barely strikes the same place twice, but does it ever hit three times in a row? To have yet another murder in the building seemed a bit preposterous.

Well, it turns out there was never a murder in the first place. Ben enters the afterparty (yes, Death Rattle still opts for an opening night party at the Arconia, even after Ben’s unsettling collapse) covered in blood and vomit. “Who farted?” he shouts, his signature entrance line. He did die, Ben explains, but he didn’t stay dead. Ben went into cardiac arrest for around an hour. He saw the white lights. He’s turned a new leaf on life. Ben vows to be a more thoughtful co-star before he exits the party, leaving everyone shell shocked.

Before Mabel, Charles, and Oliver even have a chance to collect their thoughts, in the elevator down to a visit at the Pickle Diner, they witness yet another grisly death. Blood drips onto Charles’ old man fedora—for a witty comedy show, this is a creative way to show a gruesome murder. The trio race out of the elevator right before Ben’s dead (yes, actually dead this time) body comes crashing down from above.

Was he killed before being pushed into the elevator shaft, or was the fall fatal? That’s unclear at this moment. What is crystal clear, however, is that the murder was in the building after all. Lightning does strike three times. And yet, Only Murders has found a way to make it feel fresh again.

The episode ends on a perfect note: “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” an exhausted Uma laments. Let the podcasting commence.

Clues From the Crime Scene

-This could come into play later in the season: Ben admits that cookies are his weakness. He’s obsessed with them, but they interfere with his diet.

-Ben has beef with everyone, but particularly Loretta, who he calls “a snake.” When Ben rises from the dead, Loretta isn’t too happy: “Ben may be back, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is a fucking asshole.” Still, Loretta’s anger seems too obvious to be the motive.

-Ben just moved into the Arconia, a tip from Oliver. Not sure if this is a clue, per se, but whoever killed him had to know his new apartment number. (Also, what a clever way to keep the murder in the building.)

-Mabel, who is on the hunt for a new murder to podcast about, thinks he was poisoned. This makes sense, considering he has his stomach pumped by the doctors. I’m guessing cookies.

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The post ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 3 Premiere Recap: Meryl Streep Can’t Act appeared first on The Daily Beast.

“It was also in consideration of the law,” Tanya Arja, a spokeswoman for the district said, per the report from Monday.

More specifically, the district’s plan addresses concerns over state law cracking down on sexual content in public schools. Instead of reading entire works, students will read excerpts from class works like “MacBeth,” “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet.”

Joseph Cool, a reading teacher at Gaither High School in Hillsborough County, cited the “raunchiness” in the legendary playwright’s works as cause for concern, adding, “that’s what sold tickets during his time,” the Times said.

By cutting back on entire works – and thereby avoiding instruction with these “raunchier” bits – schools hope to avoid any entanglements with the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, last year.

The law, initially reserved for lower grades, later expanded to grades K-12. It was coined by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” as the contentious measure removed discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation in public school classrooms across The Sunshine State and required instruction to be “age appropriate.”

DeSantis and other state Republicans dismissed the notion, arguing the law’s intentions were misrepresented.

Exceptions to crackdowns on sexual content are permitted for health lessons.

Embroiled in controversy, the law sparked districts to pull potentially inappropriate, law-violating materials from curriculum, including books with LGBTQ+ themes or sexually mature content.

The Tampa Bay Times said the Parental Rights law’s restrictions led the district to go back on its previous standard that required students to read two entire novels or plays – one in the fall and one in the spring – and instead opt for a new standard of reading one entire work along with multiple excerpts from others.

The report also said students can access the entire works with the help of parents, though teachers are instructed to steer clear of potentially inappropriate material at school. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Arja for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

Florida remains under the media’s lens for a slew of other education topics, including the state’s contention with the College Board over an AP African-American Studies course and attacks against DeSantis for allegedly “banning books.”

For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media

The post Florida school district curbs Shakespeare works in classrooms with concerns ‘raunchiness’ violates state law appeared first on Fox News.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be preachy, man-hating, and a #ZombieLie—alas it was all three,” Maher wrote on Twitter, referencing a term from his show defined as “political statements that are definitively proven wrong and yet refuse to die.”

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Maher recounts how Margot Robbie’s Barbie “fights the Patriarchy” including “the Mattel board who created her, consisting of 12 white men!” led by Will Ferrell as the film’s cartoonish CEO. But Maher has a bone to pick. The actual Mattel board of directors? Oh, he’s Googled it. And the body actually contains seven men and five women. “OK, not perfect even-steven,” Maher continues, “but not the way the board IN THE MOVIE—which takes place in 2023—is portrayed. And not really any longer deserving of the word ‘patriarchy.’ 

“Yes, there was one, and remnants of it remain,” Maher helpfully adds, “but this movie is so 2000-LATE.”

When Vanity Fair asked Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz how he feels about the way his company is depicted in the movie, Kreiz was unabashedly effusive. “We embrace self-deprecation,” he said. “I thought many parts of [the movie]—especially the Will Ferrell part—were very funny, hilarious at times. We take our brands very seriously and we take what we do very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves very seriously.”

But the board is not Maher’s only beef with Barbie. He also takes issue with the sequence that shows Barbies “pretending to act helpless and not know how to do stuff” in order to reclaim power over Barbieland from Ryan Gosling’s Ken. “Yes, that WAS a thing,” Maher continues. “I saw Barbie with a woman in her 30s who said, ‘I don’t know a single woman of any age who would act like that today.’” But before you cry mansplaining, Maher adds, “That argument is so old and so silly. Of course, none of us can know exactly what others go through life, but I can see the world around me, and I can read data.”

Then, he’s back to his favorite new rule—let Mattel be Mattel! “The real Mattel board is a pretty close mirror of the country, where 45% of the 449 board seats filled last year in Fortune 500 companies were women,” Maher concludes. “Truth is, I’m not the one who’s out of step—I’m living in the year we’re living in. Barbie is fun, I enjoyed it—but it IS a #ZombieLie. And people who don’t go along with zombie lies did not take some red pill—just staying true to CURRENT reality.”

It’s clear that Maher did not heed the warning of fellow comedian Marc Maron—who said on TikTok that the movie’s “comedy about men is inspired” and “any dude that can’t take those hits in that movie” are “a bunch of fucking insecure babies.”

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The post Bill Maher Beefs With “Preachy, Man-Hating” ‘Barbie’ Movie appeared first on Vanity Fair.

Cam Cameron is finally getting some love, and David Iacono is so here for it. The first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty was rough for Iacono’s sweet whale-loving character — he was all in for the perfect romance with Belly, but she clearly did not feel the same way about him. In the books, Cam disappears after Belly dumps him, but the series didn’t let Cam’s story end there. He reconnected with the Cousins crew in Season 2 of the TV series, and even got a second chance at love, a new development that Iacono sees as “some justification for Cam” after he “got done dirty” at the end of the first season.

Spoiler alert: This post discusses events up to and through The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2, Episode 6. Cam’s story in the new season of TSITP is totally new to fans. Instead of fading away as a nice but unremarkable memory for Belly of her first boyfriend, Cam actually reconnects with his ex in the series and becomes part of the core friend group. He stayed to work on the boardwalk on Cousins Beach rather than pursue his marine biology internship, so although he missed out on his dream job, he did wind up finding friendship… and maybe even love.

As Cam grew closer with everyone, he developed a particular interest in Skye, Conrad and Jeremiah’s reclusive cousin who’s attempting to come out of their shell. Finally, at the big blowout beach house party, Skye worked up the nerve to kiss Cam, creating a totally new relationship that didn’t exist in Jenny Han’s novels.

And nobody was more excited for that spark than Iacono. He tells Elite Daily why he expects fans to fall in love with Cam and Skye’s unexpected romance. “I think people really wanted Cam to end up with somebody,” Iacono says. “So while we were filming it, I was just excited for fans of the show to feel that catharsis. Some justification for Cam to be happy, because he kind of got done dirty by the end of the season.”

Of course, readers of Han’s books already know how the show’s central relationships turn out, but for Cam and Skye, the future is full of possibilities. See what unfolds as new episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty air Fridays on Prime Video.

The post David Iacono Supports Cam & Skye’s ‘TSITP’ Relationship appeared first on Elite Daily.

The primary hook for Only Murders in the Building has always been the oddly matched trio at its core: semi-retired TV actor Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), washed-up theater director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and millennial misfit Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez). Generation-gap comedy aside, watching Only Murders means you get to see one of the longest-running comedic pairings in the business doing what they do best every week, with the je ne sais quoi that Gomez brings along with her deadpan wit. Add to that the quirky residents and old New York charm of the Arconia, an apartment building that’s a world unto itself, and Only Murders immediately feels intimate and warm — quite like a good podcast.

For the uninitiated, a podcast is what fuels Only Murders in the Building’s action. Each season Charles, Oliver, and Mabel stumble across a murder in or around the Arconia, and podcast their way through their attempts to do some amateur sleuthing, usually getting far too close to the murderer in the process (and annoying the hell out of the cops). In the third season, which kicks off this week with two episodes, that murder happens on the stage of Oliver’s big Broadway return, when mega star Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) dies during his opening monologue — a death shown at the end of the second season.

In the two-episode premiere, Only Murders doesn’t miss a beat, dancing its way through red herrings, surprise twists, and mortal peril at a surprising pace, all while the jokes come fast. (Some examples: a 21 Jump Street parody called Girl Cop; a play about a murder where the suspect is a baby; a gag about how outlandish it is that someone would want to subscribe to Paramount Plus.) Despite dying before the season even started, Only Murders in the Building finds inventive ways to inject Paul Rudd’s goofy manchild energy into the show, and on the living side of things, Meryl Streep joins the cast as an actress who, ironically, has never gotten her big break.

I always smile when watching Only Murders in the Building, not just because of the tremendously likable weirdos in its cast or the jokes it tucks in every possible corner, but because it’s just so wistful. There’s a touch of melancholy to the show and how it makes use of its older cast of characters, who have learned to cover up personal failings and insecurities with layers of eccentricity, refusing to let the world pass them by — sometimes at the expense of those close to them.

As Oliver and Charles, Short and Martin are egotistical and frequently tone-deaf, but they’re also full of regret. The murders they podcast about with Mabel — herself a woman adrift as a Latin American from a working class background in this building full of wealthy, white, older tenants — become avenues for exorcizing that regret, and learning to fill in holes that they’ve just become accustomed to living with.

In this, Only Murders in the Building is about remembering, a murder mystery about how everyone and everything — a victim, a community, a building, a city — has a story, and stories don’t often end when we think they do. There is comfort to be taken there when you’re worried that things might have passed you by. That’s something to smile about, even.

The first two episodes of Only Murders in the Building season 3 are now streaming on Hulu.

The post Only Murders in the Building is the only murder show I want to be friends with appeared first on Polygon.

Police said nearly 100 people were arrested after the violent clashes, which led European football’s governing body, UEFA, to postpone the Champions League qualifying third-round, first-leg match between the two sides that was due to be played on Tuesday in Greece’s capital.

According to police, the fight broke out more than an hour after the visiting team’s training session ended late on Monday and the team had left the AEK stadium in the Athens suburb of New Philadelphia under police escort.

About 100 to 120 Dinamo Zagreb fans showed up near the stadium, where AEK supporters had gathered, and fans from both sides hurled Molotov cocktails and stones.

Greek police said the 29-year-old victim, identified only as Mihalis, was transported from the stadium to an Athens hospital where he died.

Three Greek and five Croatian fans were injured and being treated while 98 people were arrested, police added.

Those injured included a minor who was hospitalised after being hit in the head by a stone, according to public television channel ERT.

UEFA deplored “in the strongest possible terms the appalling incidents” and expressed its sympathy to the victim’s family.

“Following yesterday’s violence and in consultation with the local authorities, UEFA has decided that the conditions for the match between AEK Athens FC and GNK Dinamo to go ahead tonight are not met,” the football body said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The match planned to be played tonight at Agia Sofia Stadium in Athens is hereby postponed.”

UEFA, though, said the second leg due to be played in Zagreb on August 15 would go ahead while an alternative date will be found for the postponed match – August 18 or 19 being the suggested possibilities.

‘Preventative measures’

Greek news agency ANA said an investigation had been opened and those arrested would appear before the state prosecutor on Tuesday.

AEK said in a statement that its fan was killed by “professional killers, organised criminals who crossed the country and arrived in New Philadelphia from Zagreb to join forces here with Greek criminal accomplices with the sole purpose of killing”.

Μιχάλη, η ΑΕΚ δε θα σε ξεχάσει ποτέ! Παραδειγματική τιμωρία για τους δολοφόνους και τους υπεύθυνους! pic.twitter.com/h0ug4XosVx

— AEK F.C. (@AEK_FC_OFFICIAL) August 8, 2023

Translation: Mihalis, AEK will never forget you! Exemplary punishment for the murderers and those responsible!

The Greek champions demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice and said it was “self-evident” that inaction “played a decisive role in this crime”.

Under a previous ruling by UEFA, Dinamo fans, who have a reputation for disorder, were barred from attending stadium matches.

Croatian media reports said about 200 fans had travelled to Athens, likely as tourists, despite the football ban.

Greece’s left-wing opposition party Syriza criticised authorities, saying police failed to control Dinamo supporters.

“The Croatian hooligans, who have a long history of links with the far right and violent attacks, crossed the country with one thing in mind – to cause trouble,” Syriza said.

“Were they kept under surveillance by the Greek authorities? Were any preventive measures put in place along their route?”

Dinamo condemned the incident.

“Such events are not in line with the values ​​and ethics we promote as a club and community,” the team said in a statement published on their website on Tuesday.

Fan violence

The incident comes in the week before Manchester City and Sevilla fans come to Athens for the UEFA Super Cup game, which is the traditional season-opener between the title holders of the Champions League and Europa League. The game is being played at Piraeus, a port city in the Athens urban area.

Violence has marred a number of previous Greek football matches, and last year the government increased the maximum sentence for crimes of fan violence from six months to five years after another stabbing death.

Alkis Kampanos, 19, was killed in February 2022 in the northern city of Thessaloniki during a fight between supporters of the city’s rival clubs Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK.

Last month, seven defendants were found guilty of his murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Five others received sentences of more than 19 years for complicity.

It was the third death due to fan violence in a three-year period in Thessaloniki alone.

The post UEFA postpones AEK Athens-Dinamo Zagreb match after fan killed in brawl appeared first on Al Jazeera.

France’s all-time leading scorer, Le Sommer struck once in each half as her country moved into a showdown with co-host Australia in Brisbane on Saturday for a place in the semifinals.

A three-goal burst in nine minutes took the game away from Morocco, with Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and Le Sommer all scoring to give France a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium.

Le Sommer headed in a fourth in the 70th to complete the win and end Morocco’s campaign.

The Moroccans became the first Arab nation to advance to the knockout stage.

The Atlas Lions were the first Arab team to register a win in the competition by beating South Korea in the group stage. They followed that by upsetting group winner Colombia to advance to the round of 16 at the expense of No. 2-ranked Germany.

But overcoming France, one of the tournament favorites, was a step too far for Reynald Pedros’ team.

Diani opened the scoring in the 15th minute when left unmarked in front of goal to head in Sakina Karchaoui’s cross from the left.

It was Diani’s fourth goal of the tournament after her hat trick in France’s 6-3 win over Panama in its final Group F match.

Dali scored five minutes later after Diani cut back from the right. Dali struck a first-time shot low into the corner to beat Morocco goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi.

And France was 3-0 up when Diani blocked the attempted clearance of Nesryne El Chad into the path of Le Sommer to convert.

Le Sommer got a second goal when heading in at the far post from Vicki Becho’s looping cross with 20 minutes left in regulation.

France lost a friendly to Australia leading into the tournament. The teams will meet again after the Matildas advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Denmark. Star striker Sam Kerr returned from calf injury to make her first appearance at this World Cup as a second-half substitute against the Danes.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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More AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup

The post France ends Morocco’s run and advances to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup appeared first on ABC News.

France’s all-time leading scorer, Le Sommer struck once in each half on Tuesday as her country moved into a showdown with co-host Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.

Goals from Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali and Le Sommer saw the French take a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium.

In the 70th minute, substitute Vicki Becho crossed from the right for Le Sommer to head in her 92nd international goal at the back post to complete the win.

The Atlas Lionesses were the first North African or Arab team to qualify for a Women’s World Cup. After an opening 6-0 mauling to Germany, Morocco went on to beat South Korea and group winner Colombia to advance to the round of 16 at the expense of world number two-ranked Germany.

But overcoming France, one of the tournament favourites, was a step too far for Reynald Pedros’s team.

France will next face Australia, which is co-hosting the tournament with New Zealand.

The Matildas advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Denmark 2-0 on Monday, with star striker Sam Kerr returning from a calf injury to make her first appearance at this World Cup.

The post France end Morocco’s Women’s World Cup run to advance to quarter-finals appeared first on Al Jazeera.

Kadidiatou Diani opened the scoring on the quarter-hour mark and it was 3-0 just after the midway point in the first half as Kenza Dali and Le Sommer added further goals.

Veteran striker Le Sommer, who is France‘s all-time top scorer, netted again 20 minutes from time before a crowd of 13,557 as Les Bleues advanced to the last eight with a minimum of fuss.

They will now play Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, with the winners of that going on to play either England or Colombia in the semi-finals.

While France are desperate to win a first major women’s international title, Morocco came into this game with the pressure off, their World Cup already a huge success.

Their coach, the former French international midfielder Reynald Pedros, named an unchanged starting line-up following the 1-0 win over Colombia that sealed their place in the knockout phase.

Renard made five changes from the France side that beat Panama 6-3, including recalling Sakina Karchaoui at left-back.

Karchaoui, whose parents are Moroccan, set up the opener with a great run down the left flank, a quick exchange of passes with Selma Bacha, and a cross for Diani to nod in.

It was Diani’s fourth goal at the tournament after her hat-trick against Panama in the final group game.

The second goal arrived in the 20th minute as Diani cut the ball back for Dali to sweep home a first-time finish in off the far post.

And it was 3-0 three minutes after that following a defensive error, with Nesryne El Chad trying to clear but only succeeding in playing the ball off Diani, who set up Le Sommer.

At that point Morocco might have feared an even heavier defeat than the 6-0 hammering they received from Germany in their first game.

However, France took their foot off the pedal after that and only scored once more.

In the 70th minute substitute Vicki Becho crossed from the right for Le Sommer to head in her 92nd international goal at the back post.

(AFP)

The post France beat Morocco to set up clash with Australia at Women’s World Cup appeared first on France 24.

Speaking in a voiceover, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) later jokes that “being a series regular is not in Samantha’s contract,” seemingly foreshadowing Cattrall’s future on the SATC revival And Just Like That — in which she was not cast as a series regular.

However, to the delight of longtime fans, it was announced in May 2023 that Cattrall will finally reprise the character of Samantha Jones by making a cameo in And Just Like That Season 2. The actor was initially not asked back for the SATC reboot after she declined a third Sex and the City movie, sparking a public falling out with her former cast mates.

As fans sit tight for Cattrall’s long-awaited comeback, co-star Parker has teased what viewers can expect from the Season 2 cameo. “It’s a really opportune moment in the story, [a] consequential event happening in Carrie’s life, that Samantha rings and they have this quick, lovely, sentimental, funny call,” Parker told Entertainment Weekly. “And it just feels normal and really nice, and I’m glad that we could manage it and work it out and get it sorted time-wise and schedule-wise.”

Cattrall’s fallout with Parker reportedly began during the early 2000s, and as mentioned, tensions between the pair only intensified when the former withdrew from a third Sex and the City movie. During a 2023 interview with the Sunday Times, Cattrall revealed that she has now “moved on” from her falling out with Parker, Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), and Kristin Davis (Charlotte York), despite not interacting with any of the cast while filming her And Just Like That cameo.

The post A ‘Sex And The City’ Storyline Predicted ‘And Just Like That’ appeared first on Bustle.

So are the people behind the Gran Turismo movie. The familiar phrase “based on a true story” is slathered all over its marketing — in some cases, even presented as part of the film’s official title. That awkward straining for legitimacy echoes throughout the film. In a year when confident, authentic video game adaptations have risen to the top of the heap both in theatrical release and on television, and Greta Gerwig has turned cinema-as-sponcon into a multifaceted art form, Sony’s movie brings us crashing back down to Earth.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9 and Elysium director, tech innovator, and wannabe video game creator), Gran Turismo is a broad, trashy, true-ish sports drama that has a lot less in common with The Last of Us or The Super Mario Bros. Movie than it does with triumph-of-the-brand advertorial like Air, Ben Affleck’s biography of a sneaker. Its closest cousin is Tetris, Apple’s retelling of Nintendo’s tussle with the Soviet Union over the marketing rights to the classic puzzle game. Just like Tetris, Gran Turismo solves the conundrum of how to adapt a game without any characters: by unearthing a compelling human story behind it. And just like Tetris, it strays pretty far from both truth and plausibility in its overcooked take on real-life events — then self-consciously frames those events with video game-y graphics, to remind everyone of their unreal inspiration.

Gran Turismo is a fictionalized account of the rise of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a British teen who dreamed of being a racing driver as he played racing games in his bedroom, then made that dream into a reality. In 2011, he won the GT Academy’s top prize: a contract to drive for a real Nissan motorsports team. Since then, he’s built a reasonable career as a pro: He raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans several times, and currently competes in Japan’s Super GT series.

The movie compresses, reorders, and massages the details of his story until they (a) resemble the tried-and-true beats of a sports biopic, and (b) serve the needs of the production’s marketing partners. After all, it wouldn’t do to show Mardenborough practicing on a period-appropriate PlayStation 3 rather than a modern-era PS5, or driving open-wheel Formula 3 cars around dreary British motordromes instead of racing a branded Nissan around glitzy Abu Dhabi. The movie has some laughable inventions, like a police chase around the streets of Cardiff that’s more Grand Theft Auto than Gran Turismo. (“Cop avoidance achieved!” shouts the on-screen graphic.)

But the big moments are all true, or true enough. The GT Academy program was indeed the brainchild of a Nissan U.K. marketing exec, who had to convince both Gran Turismo mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi and Nissan’s motorsports division of its genius. That actual exec, Darren Cox, may not have looked as slick as Orlando Bloom does in the role, but he was as persuasive a salesman. (Still is, if his producer credit alongside Mardenborough and Yamauchi is anything to go by.) Mardenborough did indeed score third place in his class at Le Mans, compete in an all-GT Academy team of sim drivers, and survive a horrific accident, as the film shows — albeit not in the order the film shows it, or under the circumstances the filmmakers contrive.

There is one particularly troubling aspect to the way American Sniper co-writer Jason Hall and Creed III co-writer Zach Baylin frame the accident, a freak occurrence at the Nürburgring circuit that killed a spectator. While the crash did happen pretty much as depicted, Hall and Baylin’s screenplay time-shifts it in order to stage it as a defining, motivating setback on Mardenborough’s hero’s journey to his Le Mans podium. The actual accident happened years later — arguably a tasteless reframing of a fatal event.

The film’s best invention is Harbour’s character — chief engineer Jack Salter, whom Nissan drafts to train the young racers and keep them safe. There’s nothing original about the character or his arc: He’s a cussed has-been who coulda been a contender, straight out of the sports-movie playbook. But Harbour invests him with an ornery warmth, and he both works up all the biggest laughs and creates the film’s most touching moments with Madekwe.

The film’s script reduces most other characters to ciphers whose only role is to illustrate one gamer’s rise to greatness. The most egregious example of this is perfunctory love interest Audrey (Maeve Courtier-Lilley). Mardenborough’s parents, Steve (Djimon Hounsou, wearing his most disapproving frown) and Lesley (a rather sweet Geri Halliwell-Horner — yes, Ginger Spice) might have had more to them in some drafts, but they’re given short shrift in the edit.

Meanwhile, Gran Turismo fans will enjoy seeing Yamauchi (as played by Giri/Haji’s Takehiro Hira) gazing stoically upon press conferences, racing cars, and the curve of the asphalt. The film’s relationship to the games is the oddest thing about it. It opens with a minutes-long ad for the series, and closes with credits featuring manufactured footage of Polyphony Digital engineers scanning in cars’ bodywork and recording their engines’ growls, as if the games’ authenticity still needed underlining. The script is awash with back-of-the-box talking points about the games’ realism, while sound effects and graphics get callouts.

And the movie’s whole premise is the realization of Yamauchi’s long-held dream that his love of cars and motorsports could bleed out of his games and enter the real world. In his pitch meeting at the start of the movie, Danny’s lament about the decline of car culture — “people would rather be on their phone in the back of an Uber than behind the wheel” — could have come directly from Yamauchi’s most recent press tour.

And yet there’s nothing of the games’ spirit here. Gran Turismo games express their automotive passion in a way that’s scholarly, precise, tasteful, and a little quirky. They’re scored with elevator jazz and presented with exquisite finesse. They find their excitement in moments of thrilling verisimilitude: reflections gliding across paintwork or car suspensions shuddering over curbs. By contrast, Blomkamp’s movie is brash and amped-up. (Though it does have a pretty good running joke involving the Muzak stylings of Enya and Kenny G.) His direction of the racing scenes (much of them shot practically rather than built digitally) apes camera angles from the games, but cuts them together in a frenetic, noisy style that’s enthralling at the start of the film and wearyingly samey by the end. It honestly feels more like a Forza or Need for Speed movie than a Gran Turismo adaptation.

Worse, the games’ cool self-possession is completely lost amid the insecure gamer power fantasy that has blighted video game-themed movies from Pixels and Ready Player One in the 2010s all the way back to The Wizard and The Last Starfighter in the 1980s. In this fantasy, a nerdy boy gets mocked for playing with his joystick in his bedroom, but he eventually uses gaming skills to save the day, win the prize, and get the hot girl, proving the doubters (usually his parents) wrong. Mardenborough’s story is unfortunately a perfect vehicle for this narrative, and the filmmakers lean into it in the most cringeworthy way — not just in the cheesy graphics and lines like “How are we doing, gamers?” and “Press play, dude!” but in setting up the primary antagonist as a preening racer who leads an entirely fictitious campaign against sim drivers infiltrating the sport.

Gamers aren’t an oppressed minority anymore — if they ever were in any venue outside of their own heads and the media reflecting their fantasies. This kind of aggrieved posturing isn’t a good look in 2023. Geek culture won. Mardenborough’s story is real, and has a much more significant dimension than victory in some imagined gaming culture war. Games gave this kid from a low-income family a viable and affordable route into one of the world’s most elitist sports. Gran Turismo could have used this inspiring true story to show how video games open up possibilities and remove barriers in the real world. Instead, it just uses it to score points.

Gran Turismo opens in U.S. theaters in limited release on Aug. 11, with a nationwide expansion on Aug. 25.

The post The Gran Turismo movie veers into full-on gamer cringe appeared first on Polygon.

As part of the new regulations, referees will add the exact time lost in goal celebrations, substitutions or injuries to the stoppage time. In previous seasons, the policy was to aggregate a nominal period of time.

There were eight minutes of added time in the second half of Arsenal’s victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield, while several matches in the second-tier championship’s first round of games had 10 or more minutes of added time.

“From the managers and players, we have shared our concerns for many years now that there are too many games, the schedule is overcrowded, and it’s at a dangerous level for players physical and mental wellbeing,” Varane said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Despite our previous feedbacks, they have now recommended for next season: longer games, more intensity, and less emotions to be shown by players,” the World Cup winner said.

“We just want to be in good condition on the pitch to give 100 percent to our club and fans. Why are our opinions not being heard?” he added.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola also criticised the officiating changes after the Premier League champions conceded an equaliser in the 11th minute of stoppage time.

“What is their opinion, we have to accept it. Now the games will be 100 minutes, that’s for sure,” Guardiola told reporters on Sunday.

“It never happened today and it was eight minutes. Imagine if they extend for goals and every time you score a goal in a game [that is] 4-3. You put 30 seconds, 45 seconds on for seven goals, tomorrow morning, 9am, I am here, playing,” he added.

Football ruling body FIFA found 10 minutes and 11 seconds of added time were played on average in Qatar, an increase on the average for the previous World Cup finals in Russia, but also found effective playing time was up in Qatar by more than four minutes compared with Russia.

However, the effect of the extra added time on players over a sustained period has already been highlighted by their global union FIFPRO, which reported earlier this year that the changes would amount to the equivalent of up to three extra games per season for players with the highest existing workloads.

The Community Shield also demonstrated how officials would enforce new rules established to improve the behaviour of players, managers and fans, with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta being shown a yellow card for protesting against a refereeing decision on the touchline.

“I just said, ‘Listen, I cannot change my behaviour in three days,’” Arteta told reporters of his yellow card.

The post Man United’s Varane says players’ welfare ignored over added time rules appeared first on Al Jazeera.

First, the pretty good news—whenever it hits the asphalt, Gran Turismo (in theaters August 11) vrooms about with sleek, muscular precision. Blomkamp duplicates the video game’s shiny aesthetics both in terms of environments (all sun-dappled, leaf-strewn, twisty-turny roadways) and super-charged rides, whose tires squeal, gears shift and motors hum with requisite power.

Save for bookending CGI shots in which its protagonist becomes virtually encased in a holographic vehicle (and/or has his nuts-and-bolts ride vanish in mirror-image fashion), the director’s automotive action feels real, and it’s embellished by just the right amount of freeze frames, slow-motion, and graphical flourishes (dotted-line course trajectories, pole position text displays). It’s not quite as ferocious as Ford v Ferrari but, in this specific regard, it gets the job done.

Unfortunately, that’s about the only thing Gran Turismo does right. Jason Hall and Alex Tse’s screenplay is a jalopy that (to steal a phrase used by its characters) coasts along on rails. Jann (Archie Madekwe) is a teenager who sells underwear at a clothing store in order to raise enough cash to buy Gran Turismo peripherals, the latest being a sweet steering wheel that lets him become fully immersed in his favorite title—a notion visualized by the aforementioned computer-generated flourish.

His obsession with staying inside to play online games doesn’t bug his nondescript mom Lesley (Geri “Ginger Spice” Horner) but it bothers his dad Steve (Djimon Hounsou), a football vet who’s frustrated that his older son isn’t more like his younger athletic sibling Coby (Daniel Puig). Jann and Steve’s dynamic is explicated in about two seconds via the first of innumerable hackneyed exchanges, and it sets up the paint-by-numbers daddy issues that will motivate Jann for the remainder of his odyssey.

It must be said, however, that character motivation is a generic concept in Gran Turismo, considering that everyone is driven to win by stock impetuses: to be the best; to stick it to arrogant rivals; to overcome past traumas; to prove the worthiness of underdogs; and to earn fathers’ respect and love. Jann mostly just adores Gran Turismo and, because he’s so good at it, he lucks into the opportunity of a lifetime: to play in a single online race whose winner will be invited to the GT Academy, where he’ll compete against other simulator champions for a chance to race for Nissan in the legitimate big leagues.

This contest is the brainchild of marketing executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), whose pitch to his Nissan superiors is simply exposition directed at the audience, and whose ability to single-handedly sell this risky idea is almost as supernatural as Jann’s driving talent.

Jann is initially pitted at the GT Academy against international opponents that include a jerky American, but his real adversary is Nicholas Capa (Joshua Stradowski), a cocky rich kid whose entire being is epitomized by his glimmering gold car and matching team uniform. Nicholas is the spoiled upper-crust foil to working-class Jann (whose dad now toils at a trainyard), and he’s also an enemy of sorts for Jack Salter (David Harbour), a mechanic and former accomplished driver who quits Nicholas’ pit crew because he’s a take-no-shit good guy, and who reluctantly agrees to partner with Moore because, like the gamers he’s hired to train, no one believes in him.

As the gruff mentor who puts down Jann as a means of challenging (and improving) him but, deep down, has genuine faith in him, Harbour is tasked with delivering the proceedings’ many third-rate inspirational speeches. That he does so with this much conviction is impressive, although it does little to change his dialogue’s corniness.

Jann is faced with numerous obstacles in Gran Turismo, from making the Nissan team and earning a pro license to coping with a tragic accident and facing his fears—and fulfilling Jack’s unfinished business—at Le Mans. At every turn, truisms and hyperbole vie for advantage. “I’m unstoppable,” proclaims Jann about his Gran Turismo prowess. “It’ll tear him to pieces,” warns Jack about having an inexperienced gamer drive a race car at 200mph. Later, he hammers home the distinction between gaming and professional athletics by exclaiming, “This is reality!”

When Jann takes his featureless new girlfriend Audrey (Maeve Courtier-Lilley) to Tokyo, where he’d always wanted to visit, she states, “You manifested this!” And before the finale, Steve tells his son that he’s “proud” of him, Jann declares, “Let’s be immortal!” and Jack admits, “You made me a believer…Let’s go show the world!”

Those quotes are spoilers only if you think Gran Turismo is interested in surprising its audience—which it definitely is not. From its overarching structure to its every interaction, the film adheres to tired formula, such that there’s no reason to pay attention to any moment in which characters speak to each other or do something besides drive very, very fast on scarily winding roads. A handful of easter eggs are strewn throughout (such as cutesy PlayStation sound cues) in case fanboys didn’t already feel properly pandered to by this wish-fulfillment saga. Those uncomfortable with a controller in their hand—or who enjoy drama written in more than one crude dimension—will find this “drama” just about intolerable.

Following 2021’s Demonic, Blomkamp at least confirms that he can handle the technical demands of a high-octane studio project. There’s no bright side, however, to the continued Hollywood misuse of Hounsou, who’s miles better than the mush he’s saddled with by this wreck.

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The post ‘Gran Turismo’ Review: Disastrous Movie Is Like Speed Racing in a Jalopy appeared first on The Daily Beast.