10/17/2023: The Ultimate Speed Trap
PLUS: Netflix Does Gaming; Tale of Two Memoirs; and Harry & Meg’s Motorcade
Today is Tuesday, October 17, 2023.
It is the 290th day of the year.
75 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED shut down internal dissent, even as he spent billions and Reese’s could be in hot water over a new contest. More in HIT LIST.
The FOO FIGHTERS are going on tour and TOMMY LEE used to drink a lot of booze. More in SHOWBIZ.
TAYLOR SWIFT sets a new box office record and a missing “Star Wars” prop has been found. More in CASTING CALL.
CARDI B is the latest celeb to put on some Skims. More in KARDASH.
HARRY and MEG needlessly expand their carbon footprint, against their own advice. More in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
One of SAM BANKMAN-FRIED’s former executive colleagues detailed in court on Monday the extravagant spending on celebrity endorsements and luxury real estate, paid for with customer investment funds.
That executive, NISHAD SINGH, said that SBF grew irritated when his spending directives were questioned.
Prosecutors showed over $1 BILLION in endorsement fees that went to the likes of TOM BRADY and LARRY DAVID. [via Axios]
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Fresh off the news that NETFLIX is getting into the brick-and-mortar store business, the company announced it is expanding its video game streaming offerings in the United States.
Customers in Canada and the United Kingdom got the first crack at game streaming in August, with the ability to play on computers and select streaming devices like the Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast to follow.
Expanded access in the United States began rolling out yesterday. Users operate the game with a controller app through a smartphone.
“We look forward to hearing feedback from our beta testers and sharing more as we continue on the road ahead,” the company said in a statement. [via Netflix]
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Some lawyers at Hershey’s might be out of a job after a consumer rights blogger suggested a recent promotion for REESE’S violates multiple state sweepstakes laws.
Promotional wrappers of the peanut butter and chocolate candies lure buyers with an offer: “You could win $25,000” – followed by the requisite “details inside” small print.
INSIDE THE WRAPPER: The contest rules make clear there’s no purchase necessary to participate – but the consumer rights folks argue that violates sweepstakes laws and turns the contest into a lottery, which would be subject to another whole slate of regulations.
The Federal Trade Commission refused to comment on whether it’s investigating. [via AP]
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A Georgia man has heaved sighs of relief after an automatically generated speeding ticket put him on the hook for a $1.4 MILLION fine.
The man, named Connor Cato, didn’t argue with the officer who pulled him over and dinged him for driving 90 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone. But upon closer inspection, Cato noticed the jaw-dropping penalty.
TURNS OUT: Ticketing officers don’t determine the fine for such excessive speed violations. The number was automatically generated, and the actual fine will be imposed during his December court date. [via WSAV]
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A letter signed by 14 U.S. Presidents -- landing it a spot in the Guinness World Records book -- is hitting the open market.
The original letter was sent by FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT on October 26, 1932 from the Governor’s Mansion in New York, detailing to a friend his recent campaign stops while stumping for the presidency. No official word on who has been shepherding the letter between presidents for their signatures.
The one-of-a-kind document has been signed by FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
The presidential parchment is going up for sale through Moments in Time for $175,000. [via MIT]
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW added 314 points (0.93%) to close at 33,984 on Monday. The S&P was up 45 points (1.06%) to close at 4,373 and the NASDAQ increased 160 points (1.2%) to close at 13,567.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $87; BRENT CRUDE at $90.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.60 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN surged on Monday, up over 5% and trading over $28,600.
🛩 There were more than 2,415 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 45 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $69 million jackpot or a $31.1 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Sources close to JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE claim he is “concerned” about what ex-girlfriend BRITNEY SPEARS wrote about him in her forthcoming memoir, “The Woman in Me.”
A recent story from Us Weekly stated that Spears “went hard” after Timberlake, but a publishing insider says the book is “not a takedown of anyone.”
FOR THE RECORD: Timberlake has every right to be concerned, as he received swift backlash from die-hard Britney fans after the release of the New York Times documentary “Framing Britney Spears.” He responded to the criticism with an apology to Spears -- which she did not accept.
“The Woman in Me” hits shelves on October 24. [via Page Six]
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WILL SMITH has “notifications off” ahead of the release of his wife, JADA PINKETT SMITH’s memoir.
After telling the New York Times that Jada’s memoir “woke him up,” he took to social media to address the attention regarding their marriage, saying, “Fun fact about me: I can take a nap almost anywhere,” alongside a video of him napping on a ship.
In the video sounds of a phone buzzing can be heard, which Will captioned “Notifications off.”
Jada’s memoir, “Worthy,” hits shelves today. [via Hollywood Life]
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One of TAYLOR SWIFT’s security guards has returned home to Israel to join the fight against Hamas.
The unnamed guard told a local Israeli news outlet, that he “couldn’t stand by while families were slaughtered and burned alive in their homes.”
According to the publication he was a member of the IDF before coming to the U.S. [via TMZ]
SUPPORTING THE CAUSE: Swift’s bestie, actress BLAKE LIVELY, and her husband, actor RYAN REYNOLDS, have given $1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross to “help children in Israel and Gaza.” [via THR]
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The FOO FIGHTERS will embark on their “Everything or Nothing At All Tour” next year.
Kicking things off in mid-July, the band will have several stops across North America, before ending at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on August 18.
Prior to the tour, the group is scheduled to perform at the London Stadium in London on June 20. [via NY Post]
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TOMMY LEE recently appeared on BILL MAHER’s “Club Random” podcast, where he revealed that he used to drink two gallons of alcohol a day -- mostly vodka.
“Your liver is on crutches at that point; it’s barely functioning,” Lee said, while noting how he can't believe he is alive and healthy.
While currently sober, Lee said his drinking was an issue as recently as 2019. [via TMZ]
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CASTING CALL
TAYLOR SWIFT’s “Eras Tour” concert film earned over $96 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, making it the highest-grossing music concert film of all time.
Rounding out the top three concert films are JUSTIN BIEBER’s “Never Say Never” at No. 2, which grossed $73 when it debuted in February 2011, followed by MICHAEL JACKSON’s “This Is It” at No. 3, which earned $72.1 million when it hit theaters in October 2009. [via Billboard]
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MILLIE BOBBY BROWN is ready to move on from “Stranger Things.”
In a recent interview with Glamour, Brown said that while filming the final season she couldn’t help but feel like it was her senior year in high school, thinking, “All right, let’s do this. Let’s tackle this last senior year. Let’s get out of here.”
She explained that the show took up a lot of her time, which prevented her from taking on other projects and “creating stories that [she’s] passionate about.” So now that filming has wrapped, she is ready to say “Thank you, and goodbye.”
Brown plays Eleven on the hit Netflix series, and has done so for seven years. The final season is set to premiere next year. [via Glamour]
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A new legal drama -- set in the “Suits” universe -- is in the works from series creator AARON KORSCH.
Insiders told Deadline that the show is “not a spinoff, a revival or a reboot, but more in the same vein of the ‘CSI’ and ‘NCIS’ franchises.”
The new show will feature new characters in a new location -- possibly Los Angeles. “Suits” was set in NYC, though it was filmed in Toronto.
The news comes as “Suits,” which ran from 2011 to 2019 on USA, has found a resurgence on Netflix. [via Deadline]
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A 20-inch X-Wing starfighter model from the original 1977 “Star Wars” film just sold for $3.13 million at auction, making it the most expensive “Star Wars” prop ever sold.
The model, one of four used for closeups in the movie’s final battle scene, was found in the home of Greg Jein, a visual effects artist who passed away in May 2022.
Built by GEORGE LUCAS’ special effects studio, the prop had been missing for decades, a visual effects historian told the New York Times.
Other items found in Jein’s possession included a Stormtrooper costume, production shooting scripts, and an assortment of action figures. All were included in the auction.
The buyer has not been identified. [via NYT]
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A new Nat Geo show, called Top Gun: The Next Generation, will give viewers an inside look at a group of U.S. Navy student pilots as they train to become fighter pilots.
The show will watch as the students “embark on some of the most challenging flight tests possible, including landing on an aircraft carrier at sea,” -- all part of the military’s Advanced Flight Training Program.
The best of the best will get to fly the world’s most advanced jet, the F-35C Lightning II.
A premiere date has not been announced. [via THR]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
CARDI B is the latest famous face to model for KIM KARDASHIAN’s Skims line, joining fellow musicians ICE SPICE and SZA.
For her part, Cardi modeled some undergarments from the brand's cotton collection, which launched Monday.
Speaking to Elle about the shapewear, Cardi said the garments make her feel “snatched yet comfortable.” [via Elle]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
Climate change crusaders PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE reportedly employed a seven-vehicle motorcade to drive around one city block while in New York City last week.
Express reports that they “left a garage near the Equinox Hotel, took a left on 33rd Street and lopped the block ending up around 200 feet from where they started.”
WORTH REMEMBERING: In 2019, the couple issued a statement that said in part, “every choice, every footprint, every action makes a difference.” [via Express]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Mulligan Day
National Pasta Day
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Forgive an Ex Day
Wear Something Gaudy Day
Spreadsheet Day
National Playing Card Collection Day
Black Poetry Day
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ON THIS DATE
1777 - Continental General Horatio Gates captures almost 6,000 British soldiers at Saratoga, New York.
More than 20,000 American forces were on hand to surround the relatively small group of Redcoats and Hessians. Rather than being decimated, their general negotiated surrender.
The men would remain in captivity, and pledged to never again serve the Crown in North America.
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1835 - The Texas Rangers are founded -- the border guards, not the baseball team.
The corps of lawmen kept watch over the Brazos and Trinity Rivers, which outlined part of the independent republic's territory.
They were especially important during Texas' war with Mexico. Settlers along the frontier were especially in danger from Mexican troops or even hostile Indians.
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1912 - The First Balkan War is set into motion, when Serbia and Greece declare war on the Ottoman Empire.
The Turkish powerhouse still controlled much of Southeastern Europe, including smaller countries like Montenegro and Macedonia.
Even when the Ottomans were driven out and countries' borders redrawn, the situation remained chaotic with new independent states struggling to govern themselves.
War would break out again in 1913, after Bulgaria was ticked off that it didn't get more land in the deal -- though they would be quickly defeated.
All of the tumult eventually impelled the world into its first global war.
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1931 - Al Capone gets 11 years in prison for tax evasion and is slapped with an $80,000 fine. The sentence marked the beginning of the end for the infamous gangster.
Though Elliot Ness' "Untouchables" were successful in breaking up Capone's bootlegging enterprises, the FBI finally busted Capone for not paying taxes.
Capone began his sentence in Atlanta, but word got out he was given too good of treatment, so he was transferred to Alcatraz. He would be released in 1939 for good behavior, having spent the last year of his sentence in the hospital (for syph).
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1974 - President Ford outlines his reasons for pardoning his predecessor Richard Nixon.
When Ford took office, he famously said that the "long national nightmare" was over.
Since there was no precedent for Ford's handling of the indictment hanging over Nixon's head, he took action to move forward, noting an endless trial would only serve to polarize the country.
In response to the pardon, Nixon apologized for not acting more decisively in the handling of Watergate, lamenting that it turned from a political scandal to a national tragedy.
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1989 - A 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocks San Francisco.
It lasted 15 seconds. Millions of people witnessed the disaster on TV, since Game 3 of the World Series was being hosted in San Francisco.
It began just before the start of the game -- the sportscasters turned into news anchors, reporting from the stadium.
63 died and more than 3,000 were injured. 100,000 buildings sustained damage.
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2004 - The Taipei 101 skyscraper becomes the tallest high-rise in the world when it's fixed with an extra-tall tower on top.
It would hold onto the title for six years, until 2010 when the Burj Khalifa would open in Dubai.
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2006 - The US population reaches 300 million.
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2015 - Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer.
He hit the milestone with his 324th goal in a 3-0 win over Levante.
The record was previously held by club legend Raul.
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BIRTHDAYS
Erin Kellyman - actress, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” - 25
Witney Carson - dancer, “DWTS” - 30
Charles Oliveira - MMA fighter - 34
Chris Motionless - metal singer, Motionless in White - 37
Felicity Jones - actress, “The Theory of Everything” “Rogue One” - 40
Eminem - rapper - 51
Chris Kirkpatrick - pop singer, NSYNC - 52
Wyclef Jean - rapper - 54
Ziggy Marley - reggae singer - 55
Mike Judge - director, “Office Space” - 61
Alan Jackson - country singer - 65
Mae Jemison - first African-American woman to travel to space - 67
Born On This Date
Norm MacDonald - comedian - 1959 (d. 2021)
Rita Hayworth - actress, “Cover Girl” - 1918 (d. 1987)
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