Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned the U.S. could “move on” from Ukraine-Russia peace talks in a matter of days.

“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,” he told reporters in Paris on Friday. “We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable.”

He made the comments just before leaving the French capital after offering the framework of a peace deal that reportedly received an “encouraging reception,” according to the State Department. Rubio was with special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg to meet with European leaders and discuss a possible peace deal for Ukraine.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Border czar Tom Homan has joined Attorney General Pam Bondi in refusing to say whether President Donald Trump’s idea to deport Americans to foreign jails is legal.

“I asked you about this the other day [and] you said you had just gotten back, you had not heard about it yet. Just to follow up, do you believe it would be legal to send American prisoners to foreign prisons?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Homan on Thursday.

“I’m in the deportation business, so I don’t think you’re talking about deportation. I think you’re talking about prisoner transfer or extradition,” he said. “That’s a question for Pam Bondi, the Department of Justice, U.S. Marshals.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng tore into Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his latest comments about people with autism.

In addition to making false—and insulting—claims about autism in a press conference on Wednesday, RFK Jr. also declared that he’ll have figured out “what has caused the autism epidemic” by September. And that he’ll “be able to eliminate those exposures.”

“Why are you even pretending to study it?” Chieng asked RFK Jr. in his Thursday monologue.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A top nutrition researcher at the National Institutes of Health is “retiring” early after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. allegedly censored reporting of his research.

Dr. Kevin Hall, a senior investigator at the NIH who studies ultra-processed foods, announced in an X post that he took an early retirement offer after Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services denied an interview request about his study from The New York Times.

“I had hoped to expand our research program with ambitious plans to more rapidly and efficiently determine how our food is likely making Americans chronically sick,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, recent events have made me question whether NIH continues to be a place where I can freely conduct unbiased science.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Former child star Haley Joel Osment was caught calling a police officer an antisemitic slur and a “Nazi” while being arrested for alleged public intoxication at California’s Mammoth Mountain ski resort last week. In bodycam footage obtained by the New York Post, Osment could be heard saying “I’ve been kidnapped by a f---ing Nazi” and “You are a f---ing k---” to the arresting officer. The Sixth Sense star was arrested for public intoxication and possession of an unidentified controlled substance in Mammoth Lakes on April 8, the Mono County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to People magazine Wednesday. He has since been charged with possession of cocaine and disorderly conduct. The Oscar-nominated actor was booked but is no longer in police custody. In a statement to the New York Post, Osment said he was “absolutely horrified” by his behavior and apologized to the Jewish community. “The past few months of loss and displacement have broken me down to a very low emotional place,” Osment said. “But that’s no excuse for using this disgusting word. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to absolutely everyone that this hurts. What came out of my mouth was nonsensical garbage—I’ve let the Jewish community down and it devastates me.” He continued, “I don’t ask for anyone’s forgiveness, but I promise to atone for my terrible mistake.”

Read it at The New York Post

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A foundation run by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has cut off funding for an Afghan women’s sewing circle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over its organizer’s views on Palestine and Israel.

The Muslim Women’s Coalition is a nonprofit that works to “empower Muslim women and girls through education, leadership, outreach, and wellness programs,” according to a fundraising page.

Harry and Meghan’s organization, the Archewell Foundation, awarded the Muslim Women’s Coalition a multi-figure grant to operate a sewing circle and support group for Afghan evacuees in Milwaukee in both 2023 and 2024, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The president of El Salvador staged a cheerful photoshoot on a restaurant patio to prove that the man mistakenly deported by the Trump administration is in good health.

Nayib Bukele published Thursday night the first photos of Kilmar Abrego Garcia since he was wrongfully shipped off to an El Salvador prison under President Donald Trump’s massive deportation blitz.

The odd setting was an apparent jab at Democrats and others in the U.S. who had speculated wildly for days that Abrego Garcia may have been hurt—or killed—during his incarceration in the country’s infamous CECOT mega prison complex.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

An E. coli outbreak last year linked to romaine lettuce killed one person and sickened dozens of others, but the Food and Drug Administration never told the public about it.

According to an FDA report obtained by NBC News, 89 people across 15 states fell ill in an E. coli outbreak in November, but the agency closed its investigation in February without publicly disclosing what happened or naming the companies responsible for the lettuce.

“There were no public communications related to this outbreak,” the report stated, adding that no companies were identified “because there was no product remaining in commerce.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Political analyst Nate Silver predicts Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the most likely candidate to top the 2028 Democratic presidential ticket.

In a video and newsletter published to his Silver Bulletin Substack Thursday, Silver, along with former FiveThirtyEight podcast host Galen Druke, both landed on AOC.

“I think there’s a lot of points in her favor at this very moment,” Druke said, pointing to a recent Yale University poll that found AOC to have one of the highest favorability ratings among Democrats, second only to former Vice President Kamala Harris. “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has broad appeal across the Democratic Party.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Whether you’re traveling, dealing with noisy neighbors (or roommates!) at home, or just looking to upgrade your bedtime routine, quality sleep is essential. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to come by, especially if you’re not in the comfort of your bed. In fact, six out of 10 adults don’t get enough sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Thankfully, there’s a new wave of innovative, compact sleep devices designed to help you rest better wherever you are. As a travel and lifestyle writer, I’ve tried several of these devices, and they’re definitely not all created equal. From minimal white noise machines to high-tech sleep aids, I’ve rounded up the best portable sleep products that make winding down easier and staying asleep a breeze, wherever you are.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly drafting plans to end most of its routine food safety inspections and outsource the task to state and local authorities instead. Citing several federal health officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, CBS News reported Thursday that the FDA’s plans have not been fully finalized yet and may require congressional action to fund. Some sources claim the FDA had been planning to outsource inspections to states for years, so that they could focus on higher priority inspections instead. High-priority inspections that would likely remain under the FDA’s watch include visits to infant formula makers and inspections of foreign food facilities. The FDA already outsources some of its routine food inspections to 43 states and Puerto Rico. CBS’ sources likened the FDA’s plan to their Grade A Milk Safety Program, where states fund most of the inspections themselves and have agreements with the FDA in place on regulations to implement. Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, denied that the FDA was making plans to outsource inspections to states.

Read it at CBS News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Burgers aren’t the only beef Wendy’s is serving.

A source close to Katy Perry told People magazine Thursday that the fast food restaurant chain went too far with comments they made on the pop star’s trip to space—and that she deserved an apology.

“Wendy’s didn’t make a joke — they made a choice. Their recent posts on X aimed at Katy Perry were not only disrespectful, but blatantly inappropriate,” a source “close to the situation” told People.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A White House official asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate an audit into pillow tycoon Mike Lindell, a well-known Trump supporter, over concerns he was being inappropriately targeted.

Treasury official David Eisner reportedly wrote a letter to the IRS saying that the MyPillow CEO, “a high-profile friend of the President recently received an audit letter, from what I understand, his second in two years.”

According to the New York Times, the note added that Lindell was “concerned that he may have been inappropriately targeted.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Azealia Banks went from calling President Donald Trump her “f---ing hero” to a “f---ing mess.”

She posted her thoughts about the president on X Wednesday, writing: “Ok I think it’s time everyone who voted for Trump admit that we made a f---ing mess.”

Ok I think it’s time everyone who voted for Trump admit that we made a fucking mess

— Azealia Banks (@azealiaslacewig) April 16, 2025

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A federal appeals court said it was “shocking” that the Trump administration claimed it was unable to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

In a blistering ruling on Thursday, a three-judge panel unanimously agreed that a group of President Donald Trump’s top officials—including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi—must fulfill a judge’s request for sworn testimony about their failure to heed her order demanding Abrego Garcia’s return.

“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter,” the Fourth Circuit ruling said. “But in this case, it is not hard at all.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

An American veteran was fatally shot after he hijacked a small passenger plane in Belize Thursday and stabbed three passengers. At around 8:30 a.m. local time, Akinyela Taylor, 49, wielded a knife and lunged at three people, including one that he struck in the back and lungs. The latter passenger then shot Taylor dead, using a firearm that he was licensed to carry. All passengers were taken to the hospital to treat their injuries and the latter remains in critical condition. The tragic incident took place on a Tropic Air Belize plane that carried only 13 other passengers and was flying from Corozal to San Pedro. The flight made an emergency landing in Ladyville following the incident. Mid-hijack, Taylor had ordered the pilot to take him out of the country and demanded more fuel for the plane. U.S. officials do not know the cause or motive but are working with Belizean authorities. Taylor was refused entry to the country over the weekend and officials are investigating how he was able to get in. The Tropic Air CEO said in a statement that the pilot “acted with extraordinary courage and calm” and his actions were “nothing short of heroic.”

Read it at ABC News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Aaron Rodgers is okay with being off the field for now.

The 41-year-old quarterback said in a Thursday episode of The Pat McAfee Show that he’s diverted his attention away from football in order to focus on some urgent personal issues.

Rodgers’ future in the NFL has remained uncertain after he was cut by the New York Jets on Feb. 13. For a while he was on the hunt for a new team, telling TMZ that he wanted to make a return to the league for the 2025 season.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Robin Williams’ co-star in Mrs. Doubtfire will never forget the lessons the late actor taught him. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Thursday, Matthew Lawrence, who played Williams’ son in the ’90s classic, described working with the Oscar winner as the “biggest learning curve.” “I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but that moment there on set of Mrs. Doubtfire, that those six to eight months were the biggest learning curve anyone can get when it comes to making movies and being an entertainer,” Lawrence said, adding that Williams taught him the “type of compassion you need to have for people” and to not “judge until you walk in someone else’s shoes.” Williams, who was often vocal about his struggles with substance abuse, also warned Lawrence to not “put that stuff in your body.” “He really opened up with me, and I’ll never forget it,” Lawrence, now 45, said. “There were times he would just grab me and he’d be like, ‘Don’t put that stuff in your body. If I could go back and tell myself, this is why I’m telling you, don’t put that stuff in your body.’”

Read it at Entertainment Weekly

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Alicia Silverstone will return to the screen as Cher Horowitz in a sequel series to the hit movie Clueless on Peacock, Variety reported. Silverstone will also serve as an executive producer. Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, the co-creators of Gossip Girl, will be on the new project as writers and executive producers alongside Jordan Weiss, who wrote the Freaky Friday sequel, Freakier Friday, with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. The writer and director of the 1996 movie, Amy Heckerling, and the film’s producer, Robert Lawrence, will also join the project as executive producers. Silverstone joins a handful of other actors who are reprising iconic roles from the ’90s, notably Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a potential upcoming Hulu sequel show.

Read it at Variety

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Bill Maher sees President Donald Trump as king. So why wouldn’t he kiss the ring?

The comedian referred to the president as the one who wears the crown, defending his visit to His Majesty’s White House and saying he should be considered a “hero” for going there at all.

“We’re slowly becoming just much more of a monarchy, but you don’t want to talk to the king?” he said on a new episode of TMZ’s 2 Angry Men podcast. “You don’t even want to talk to him? That’s going to fix anything?”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Harvard academics have warned they will be forced to euthanize animals used for medical research because of Donald Trump’s $2.2 billion funding freeze.

They will also be forced to fire workers, and withdraw critical funding for cancer and ALS patients, CNN reported.

Professor Sarah Fortune, who has been researching tuberculosis for over a decade, received a stop-work order this week on a $60 million contract that involved more than a dozen labs and research animals in Pittsburgh. They include a group of monkeys—most likely rhesus macaques—who might now be euthanized.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A right-wing comedian is blaming the “woke mind virus” after he was accused of sexual harassment and blacklisted from Fox News, he said Thursday.

Tyler Fischer, a frequent Gutfeld! guest who regularly appears on Fox, claims his only “crime” was asking a woman out for coffee. But Fox, which faced its own wave of #MeToo accusations in 2017, disagrees, and Fischer says he has been banned from the network’s New York studios over the suspicious interaction.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will hear oral arguments about whether the Trump administration can move forward in restricting birthright citizenship.

In a brief order on Thursday, the Court said a hearing will take place on May 15 to address the Trump administration’s emergency request to have the Supreme Court lift the numerous injunctions that lower-court judges across the country have imposed on Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship.

The Court’s decision is rare and a win in itself for the Trump administration.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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John Frieda is known for its range of frizz-taming haircare products at affordable price points, including the bestselling John Frieda Frizz Ease Extra Strength Serum. Now, the haircare brand is tackling another common concern: hair thinning. The brand’s ULTRAFiller+ Hair Density Scalp Serum targets fine, thinning hair at the roots by nourishing the scalp with a potent blend of ingredients, including biotin, peptides, and caffeine. It also contains rosemary extract, a buzzy haircare ingredient that’s been shown to help combat hair loss. After all, hair growth starts at the scalp, and this targeted formula is designed to boost circulation and decongest follicles, resulting in more density and less shedding.

Plus, like John Frieda’s tried-and-true hero products, this Hair Density Scalp Serum offers 72 hours of weightless protection so you can say goodbye to flyaways and reduce the appearance of split ends without compromising volume and shine. The triple threat hair serum also offers heat protection, so you can use it before styling your hair with heat to reduce damage and breakage. Best of all? The formula works to volumize hair fast. Some reviewers state that the product has delivered visible results in just three to four weeks. If you’re looking for a hair serum that offers hair thinning defense, along with frizz support and heat protection, look no further than John Frieda’s ULTRAFiller+ Hair Density Scalp Serum.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Actor Ben Affleck couldn’t help but poke fun at his long-time pal Matt Damon, who has recently had fans lusting over his shirtless photographs while filming The Odyssey.

During the premiere of his own new movie, The Accountant 2, in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Access showed Affleck, 52, photos of Damon, 54, on the set for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie, leading him to tease his longtime collaborator.

“You see, this is the face that’s like, they just told him that there were photographers out there, so he’s like ‘I’m flexing my abs, are you watching me? Take my picture!’” Affleck quipped.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A House Republican slammed the Maryland dad wrongly deported to El Salvador as a “potential terrorist” during a Wednesday interview.

Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Dan Meuser told Fox Business host Cheryl Casone he couldn’t understand the furor over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation to a Salvadorian mega-prison in March, citing a 2019 police report that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released on Wednesday that claims he was a member of the MS-13 gang.

“Birds of a feather flock together,” Meuser said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A cable car crashed to the ground, killing four people, near Naples in southern Italy on Thursday, the Daily Mail reported. The incident occurred at Monte Faito, about 28 miles southeast of Naples. The horror began around 4:30 p.m. local time when media reported that the cable car had broken down, leaving two cabins—with roughly 15 passengers aboard—suspended in the air. Ente Autonomo Volturno (EAV), the company that runs the cable car, initially stated that all passengers were unharmed and in the process of being brought down safely. However, about an hour and a half later, the company lost communication with one of the cabins. EAV president Umberto De Gregorio later confirmed that the cabin at the mountain’s summit had fallen. “The cabin at the top has crashed, casualties are feared,” the chairman of the firm which operates the cable car service, De Gregorio, said, calling it “a tragedy.” In addition to the four passengers reported dead, a fifth person who was in the cabin that fell was evacuated by helicopter in serious condition, an Italian news outlet, Ansa, reported. Firefighters and mountain rescue teams are currently on the scene, but are having a difficult time because of the strong winds and poor weather conditions.

Read it at Daily Mail

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Cillian Murphy may not be the zombie in 28 Years Later, but the skeletal figure of the undead that the internet mistook for the actor still serves Hollywood Apocalypse chic.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

If Harvard University was hoping to smuggle Joe Biden onto campus without Donald Trump noticing, it didn’t work.

Biden’s appearance at the Ivy League school’s Institute of Politics was supposed to be a surprise.

Maybe the college authorities were worried about welcoming the former president at such a sensitive time, when it was going to war with the Trump administration, or perhaps they’d read the glut of books about his mental decline.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

CNN data guru Harry Enten revealed that most American voters want to deport all undocumented immigrants, as Democrats continue to fight for a wrongfully deported Maryland dad to be returned from El Salvador.

Enten said on CNN News Central Thursday that President Donald Trump’s stance on immigration is popular among voters, with 56 percent saying they want to deport all undocumented immigrants in 2025, compared to 38 percent at the start of Trump’s first term in 2016.

“This is an area where Donald Trump wants to focus because the bottom line is this is an area in which the American people, at least the bare majority of them, seem to like what he’s doing,” Enten said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Two people were killed and five others were hospitalized Thursday after a 20-year-old gunman opened fire at Florida State University just before noon, cops said.

Police said the lone gunman, Phoenix Eichner, was a student as FSU and the son of a deputy at the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.

He allegedly used one of his mother’s former service weapons in the deadly attack, police said during a press conference. His mom, Deputy Jessica Ikner, was allowed to purchase the gun for personal use after she moved on to a new service weapon.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A MAGA congressman was allowed a photoshoot Tuesday in the infamous El Salvador megaprison where President Donald Trump is stashing deportees.

A day later, a Democratic senator who wanted to speak to a constituent the Trump administration accidentally deported—Maryland dad Kilmar Abrego Garcia—was turned away by the Salvadoran government.

Rep. Riley Moore splashed his social feeds with photos of himself posing in front of bare-chested prison inmates on a tour of El Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo. It was similar to a publicity stunt undertaken by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem two weeks ago, although she donned a $60 thousand Rolex for the occasion.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

We captured Emmy-nominated actress Melora Hardin’s and Emmy-nominated producer Keli Goff’s Uber ride to the Daily Beast’s Power 100—a luncheon for female leaders across industries. On the ride, the two entertainment pros discussed how they stay focused and who inspired them throughout their careers.

Hardin began the chat by admitting that the most surprising thing about her morning routine is that she is not, in fact, a morning person. She doesn’t start the day with a coffee, but prefers a large bottle of spring water. The conversation then turned to communication styles with Goff expressing an affection for emoji use “when there [...] are no words” and reflected that “sometimes [...] a bunch of hearts” sends a clearer message over text.

For a large portion of the ride, the women talked about female leaders who inspired them throughout their lives. Goff brought up a recent moment where she “felt like Joan Crawford coming down a staircase to stand up for herself.” Hardin echoed the previously well-known fact that she loves Barbra Streisand (and has heard Barbara is a fan of hers as well). Finally, both agreed that the kindness and relatability of Laura Ingalls (author of Little House on the Prairie) exemplified great leadership and that those traits should be appreciated more when assessing power and influence.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

We recorded a conversation between the Managing Partner of APL, NJ Falk, and Founder of In the Groove Susan K. Feldman as they shared an Uber to the Daily Beast’s Power 100—a luncheon for female leaders across industries. The women reconnected over fashion, crosswords, and childhood mantras that stay true to this day.

Both started the ride by bonding over their dedication to morning puzzles. Feldman admitted she always does a New York Times puzzle when she wakes up. That shared love of problem solving sparked a discussion about how perception and projection act as foils when dealing with issues. Falk underlined the importance of being methodical when managing complications in her day-to-day work.

One of the most interesting moments came when Falk reminded Feldmen that The Little Engine That Could was “a she” in the story. Falk said “I think I can, I think I can” has been a lasting motto in her life and career. Feldman brought up another “small, but mighty” inspiration in Mary Tyler Moore. She reflected how, regardless of her part, Moore had the studio wrapped around her finger—creating a lasting example of feminine power.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

We tagged along in an Uber with AmaWaterways President Catherine Powell and Snap Inc. Chief Creative Officer Colleen DeCourcy on their way to the Daily Beast’s Power 100—a luncheon for female leaders across industries. On the ride, they discussed leadership icons, fictional heroes, and how emojis enrich their relationships with their children.

The two executives spent a large portion of the trip highlighting women who have inspired them throughout their careers. On “lessons in leadership to bring back from the dead,” Powell mused that she’d love to share a car ride with Margaret Thatcher. DeCourcy brought up famed war correspondent Martha Gellhorn as one of the great thinkers she admires. They also mentioned summoning the feminine strength of fictional characters like Cayce Pollard (Pattern Recognition) and Wonder Woman.

When touching on her personal life, Powell explained how her 21-year-old son taught her not to use the 100 emoji (reasoning undisclosed). DeCourcy’s daughter sends the shell emoji to remind her to find little moments of joy each day, like looking for a shell on the beach. Although both are parents, Powell and DeCourcy commented on the importance of shelving their caregiving sides at work to ensure they don’t have to play “mom” at the office and home.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

We shared an Uber with Harper Wilde Co-CEO/Co-Founder Jane Fisher and illumyn/illumyn Impact CEO/Founder Jocelyn Mangan on their way to the Daily Beast’s Power 100—a luncheon for female leaders across industries. During the ride, they shared their experiences parenting and building female-powered businesses.

Mangan started by touching on the reality that there were not many female role models to look up to when she was a kid. She is, however, gratified that her daughter is growing up in a world with more representation of female leadership. Fisher is also a parent, which (for her) means she no longer needs an alarm in the morning—her son wakes her up every day like clock work.

Both women touched on their perspectives on building businesses through calm and chaos. Fisher keeps her mind centered by staying tactical when problems arise. Mangan uses her 30-year love of yoga as motivation to stay calm while leading. She says, “you [really] can’t stand on one long if you’re worried about a crisis.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

We took an Uber with Showrunner/Executive Producer Mimi Won Techentin and Cultique Founder/COO Sarah Jane Dhall to the Daily Beast’s Power 100—a luncheon for female leaders across industries. The culture definers chatted about how they honor strong women in their work and how to get motivated in the morning.

Jane Dhall spent her childhood looking up to Melissa Joan Hart’s character in Clarissa Explains It All, whose persona was centered on knowing her stuff. Similarly, Won Techentin tries to create Murphy Brown-esque characters that embody a say-it-like-it-is mentality. The two also touched on who they’d most like to invite to join their shared Uber—the verdict was Angela Merkel for an insider look at world affairs and Stevie Nicks for an iconic singalong.

They also discussed how they get motivated in the morning to lead their various projects. Jane Dhall praised the benefits of Pilates while Won Techentin introduced a novel (and revolutionary) combination—meditation while wearing a red light therapy mask.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Drake has updated his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group to include Kendrick Lamar’s performance of “Not Like Us” at the Super Bowl halftime show, claiming it introduced the song to millions of new listeners and caused “even more people to be duped into believing that Drake was a pedophile.” The infamous diss track, which Drake’s legal team claims had its streams artificially inflated by bots, served as the climax to Lamar’s halftime show, which was viewed by a record-breaking 133 million people. During the performance, which was preceded by a quip about the lawsuit, Lamar looked straight into the camera while rapping, “Say Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” but censored a line shortly afterward that alluded to the Canadian rapper being a “certified pedophile.” In the updated filing, Drake’s lawyer claims the self-censorship was because “nearly everyone understands that it is defamatory to falsely brand someone a ‘certified pedophile.’” UMG, which represents both Drake and Lamar, responded to the updated lawsuit with a lengthy statement in which it dismissed the suit as “baseless” and claimed Drake was “being misled by his legal representatives into taking one absurd legal step after another.” The label also offered Drake an ominous warning and told him to “be careful what you wish for” should the lawsuit proceed.

Read it at The Hollywood Reporter

Read more at The Daily Beast.

One of the best developments in recent American big-studio animation has been the realization that these films aren’t required to show off. It’s also been one of the worst developments, as the new movie Sneaks—about sneakers that talk (really)—proves.

Movies like Turning Red, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Lego Movie, and especially Sony’s Spider-Verse series are less enamored of photorealistic blades of grass or tufts of hair, instead choosing to embrace a variety of designs, textures, and motion styles that often have as much in common with hand-drawn or stop-motion animation as formerly cutting-edge eyesores like Shrek. Outside the U.S., the form is getting even more daring: Flow was made with open-source software and just won the Oscar for feature animation!

Read more at The Daily Beast.

]]>https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-next-budget-cuts-take-aim-at-poor-toddlers/https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-next-budget-cuts-take-aim-at-poor-toddlers/Thu, 17 Apr 2025 16:32:46 +0000

A leaked draft of the Department of Health and Human Services’ next budget shows that the Trump administration plans to eliminate a storied toddler health program among other major cuts, according to The Washington Post.

The proposal, which was generated by the Office of Management and Budget, would slash overall HHS spending by about a third, from $121 billion to $80 billion.

One of the programs to be eliminated is Head Start, the long-running initiative that provides toddlers from low-income families with education and health services. It began in 1965 as part of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “war on poverty.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Trump administration’s five-page extortion letter threatening to withhold federal funding for Harvard if the university does not comply with onerous ideological demands was addressed to its president , Dr. Alan Garber.

It was also addressed to the most senior member of its board of governors, Penny Pritzker.

Pritzker is also widely viewed as the dominant member of the ultra-wealthy Pritzker family that was Donald Trump’s partner in his first big real estate deal in Manhattan back in 1975.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Jon Stewart thinks Stephen Miller is getting a bit too excited about the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

“To see the ghoul of ghouls, Stephen Miller, just get f---ing hard talking about, it’s shocking,” Stewart said at the top of his Weekly Show podcast Thursday.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

CNBC has brutally fact-checked President Donald Trump’s claims that his tariffs are making the U.S. billions of dollars every day.

The network spoke with officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who appeared to contradict Trump’s claims that his levies are having the desired effect. Before he put a 90-day pause on his supercharged “Liberation Day” duties, Trump claimed, “We’re making a fortune with tariffs—$2 billion a day."

However, CBP officials told CNBC Monday that “since April 5, CBP has collected over $500 million under the new reciprocal tariffs, contributing to more than $21 billion in total tariff revenue from 15 presidential trade actions implemented since Jan 20, 2025.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Easter is coming up, but President Donald Trump thinks the savior is already here.

The president used an Easter prayer service in the White House’s Blue Room Wednesday evening to roll off a list of his achievements, saying he has enjoyed “maybe the best three months ever for a president.”

“With God’s grace over these past three months—and we have had a great three months; they say maybe the best three months ever for a president and an administration,” Trump said. “We’ve achieved more than most administrations do in four years or even eight years.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Bobby Brown says it’s “My Prerogative” to hate the Britney Spears version of his song. But fans of the pop diva aren’t having it.

Brown appeared on Club Shay Shay, a podcast hosted by football champion Shannon Sharpe, to talk about R&B, his career, and why he isn’t a fan of artists sampling his music.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump’s tariffs and outbursts targeting Europe are contributing to a drop in demand for Netflix on the continent, analysts say.

Alejandro Rojas, an analyst with Parrot Analytics, told the New York Times that softening European demand for Netflix “seems to reflect anti-American sentiment.”

“For instance, Denmark Q1 net adds estimates declined more than 80 percent after Trump’s comments about Greenland,” Rojas told the DealBook newsletter, referring to the estimated number of net new subscribers added in the first three months of the year.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

United States citizen Lisa Anderson, a doctor in Connecticut, has revealed she was sent an email by the Department of Homeland Security telling her, “It is time for you to leave the United States.” Anderson, 58, who was born in Pennsylvania, told NBC Connecticut that she is now carrying her passport around at all times and hiring an immigration attorney. “It does make me concerned there are a lot more people out there like me who probably also thought this was spam, who probably didn’t realize, ‘I have a problem,’” she said. Anderson isn’t the only U.S. citizen sent an email saying they have to leave. Days earlier, Boston immigration attorney Nicole Micheroni received the same email from the DHS giving her only a week to leave the country. DHS officials told NBC that the department has been issuing notices to undocumented citizens, and “if a non-personal email, such as an American citizen contact, was provided by the alien, notices may have been sent to unintended recipients.”

Read it at NBC News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Tina Fey responded to Lorne Michaels’ suggestion that she could “easily” replace him as the executive producer of Saturday Night Live by calling her former boss “irreplaceable.” Fey, 54, who served as SNL’s first female head writer before going on to create shows like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, told The Hollywood Reporter in the new interview that it was “nice” of Michaels to say last year that she “could easily” be his successor. “And I love him very much,“ she added, before calling the 80-year-old creator of the 50-year-old franchise ”irreplaceable." She added, “His set of gifts and skills are entirely unique. His eye for talent! He’s one of the last three people in show business who actually understand everything. I’ll leave it at that.” Fey’s former “Weekend Update” co-anchor and frequent collaborator Amy Poehler also resisted weighing in on the possibility but did say, “I will say that I feel like there are very few things that Tina wouldn’t do well in this world.” Michaels had previously indicated he would retire from SNL after its 50th anniversary special but has since walked that back and has said he currently has no plans to give up his powerful post.

Read it at The Hollywood Reporter

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Following a visit by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), AmeriCorps Interim Director Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi placed hundreds of its employees on leave Wednesday, saying in a memo that AmeriCorps staff would be placed on leave immediately, according to Politico. An AmeriCorps employee who received the memo expressed concern about the impact: “I worry about the impact that this will have on grantees, members, and volunteers who have committed themselves to providing service for Americans,” the employee said. This comes after DOGE members visited AmeriCorps’ Washington, D.C., headquarters more than a week ago to announce its plans to cut the workforce by “up to 50 percent or more.” Around half of AmericaCorp’s 600 employees have already accepted deferred resignations. An employee told Politico that only a few program heads and senior officials are still active after Wednesday. The agency also terminated the contracts of 1,500 volunteers from the National Civilian Community Corps, a community service program for young adults, placing them all on administrative leave until April 30.

Read it at Politico

Read more at The Daily Beast.

John Ullyot, a top Pentagon spokesperson for the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, has resigned after a wave of controversies.

One of the most zealous supporters of the Trump administration’s purge of DEI-related content from government websites, Ullyot was demoted after the purge of a webpage about legendary baseball star Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in Major League Baseball.

Ullyot’s resignation comes at a turbulent time for the Pentagon. Three senior staff members have been placed on administrative leave as part of an investigation into press leaks following the Signalgate, in which a journalist was mistakenly added to a top secret top-level administration group chat on the commercial messaging app to plan military action in Yemen.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

First Lady Melania Trump’s beloved Birkin bags will become more expensive starting next month thanks to her husband’s trade war.

Hermès is raising the prices of its goods starting May 1 to compensate for President Donald Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on European imports, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

The company’s chief financial officer said prices would go up “across the division of the business,” though the exact amount is still being calculated.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A former spokesman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been arrested and charged with alleged indecent exposure. Fred Piccolo, 47, was arrested Tuesday and charged with “exposure of sexual organs,” a third-degree felony under Florida law. Piccolo had worked in 2020 as DeSantis’ communications director but resigned in December of that year after he suggested in a tweet that the media had created a false narrative about the deadliness of COVID-19. Up until this week, he was working as the marketing director for the “anti-woke” New College of Florida in Sarasota. A spokeswoman for the school said he had been fired Wednesday. Even before his arrest on Tuesday, Piccolo was facing criminal proceedings in three other indecent exposure cases. He was accused of exposing himself three times over a 12-day period last summer to employees at a Banana Republic and a Dillard’s clothing store in Sarasota’s Mall at University Town Center. Eric Reisinger, an attorney for Piccolo, told Axios his client was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease a decade ago and claimed his medication is “causing Mr. Piccolo to behave in a manner inconsistent with his established character.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

]]>https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-planning/https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-planning/Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:25:31 +0000

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is up to something. The latest evidence? AOC raised nearly $10 million in the first three months of 2025, a stunning total for a House member and almost two-thirds of what she raised total in 2023 and 2024 combined. These funds came from more than 250,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of $21. Know what that sounds a lot like? The fundraising haul of a presidential candidate. It’s not just the money. (Although the money absolutely matters!) Consider a few other things: Ocasio-Cortez is currently on a national campaign tour with Bernie Sanders that seems, for anyone paying attention, like a passing of the torch from one liberal giant to another, while 2028 polls—admittedly very early ones—of the Democratic primary field show that she is very much in the top tier. I don’t know what AOC’s next political step is, but she’s clearly got her eye on her political future—and is putting the pieces in place to get what she wants.

Want more ball and strike calling—no matter what uniform the batter at the plate is wearing? Check out Chris Cillizza’s Substack and YouTube channel.

Read it at Substack

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Harvard said no. No to government minders, no to intellectual dishonesty, no to conservative DEI.

In a forceful letter of rebuke to the Trump administration’s threat to withhold federal money from the university if it does not acquiesce to a series of “ham-handed” demands—including government audits to monitor “ideological capture”—Harvard president Alan M. Garber basically told the government to f--k all the way off. He said it in a more Harvard way, but that was the message.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President Trump erupted at the Federal Reserve chair on Thursday after the central bank boss warned that Trump’s tariffs will hurt the American economy.

Jerome Powell, speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago on Wednesday, said “the level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated,” which will cause “higher inflation and slower growth.” U.S. stocks tumbled as Powell spoke.

“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” Trump raged in response, writing on Truth Social.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Kristi Noem has threatened to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students unless it hands over information on all of its student visa holders’ disciplinary records and protest participation.

In the latest salvo of President Donald Trump’s war against the Ivy League university, the homeland security secretary “wrote a scathing letter demanding detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities,” DHS said Wednesday in press release.

If the university doesn’t comply by April 30, 2025, it will “face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification,” according to the press release.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

“ Don’t say it! Don’t f---ing say it! Don’t you f---ing say it, because I’ll hunt you down!”

Nathan Lane is yelling at me in jest. Well, I hope in jest. Certainly in jest? He’s reached that kettle-whistle boiling point that’s become his comedy trademark; you can practically see the steam coming from his ears in the Zoom screen when we talk.

I am cracking up at the hilarious histrionics of it all, and so are the actors flanking him on the screen: Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham, his co-stars in the new Hulu comedy Mid-Century Modern.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Music may traditionally soothe the savage beast, but in Sinners, it rouses the world’s devilish monsters to emerge from the darkness, sing a menacing song or two, and feast on the living.

Pairing director Ryan Coogler with his Black Panther and Creed leading man Michael B. Jordan, this original period-piece nightmare, in theaters April 18, has style and swagger to burn, as well as a couple of tantalizing ideas buried beneath its gory surface. Unfortunately, it never coherently articulates (or draws connections between) its various concerns, proving a handsomely horrific vampire bloodbath that, ahem, bites off more than it can chew.