12/12/2023: Greek Soccer Shocker ⚽
PLUS: Ura Gonna Need A Lotta Money; Gronk’s National Anthem; and Pay Up Princey
Today is Tuesday, December 12, 2023.
It is the 346th day of the year.
19 days remain.
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WHAT’S ON TAP
Americans gear up for a gangbusters Christmas travel season and pranksters steal part of a statue in Louisville. Details in HIT LIST.
JENNIFER ANISTON says MATTHEW PERRY was doing well the last time they spoke and TODD CHRISLEY gives his first jailhouse interview. Find out more in SHOWBIZ.
The 2024 GOLDEN GLOBE nominations have been revealed. Find out who is in the running in CASTING CALL.
The news, brought to you by YE. Find out what is going on with that in KARDASH.
PRINCE HARRY loses his latest court battle. Details in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
A new sushi restaurant and jazz club concept coming to Miami has its sights set on a sophisticated clientele – requiring a $10,000 membership fee just for the right to reserve a spot once a month at the spot.
Once inside, the restaurant, called Ura, expects to charge about $500 per head for a complete sushi meal.
While the extravagant experience shocks moderate sensibility, high-end, members-only restaurants are much more common in Japan. [via Tampa Bay Times]
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With two weeks to Christmas, AAA estimates 7.5 MILLION people will take flights to close out the year.
If the numbers hold, it’ll mark the busiest flight travel season on record and beat the 2019 record of 7.3 million flyers.
MEANWHILE: More than 100 MILLION people are expected to travel somewhere between December 23 and January 1. [via Bloomberg]
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Some pranksters stole the hat off a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Louisville, Kentucky, over the weekend.
The sculptor who made the piece noted on Facebook that whoever took it “had to be strong and determined to pry bronze from a base, good grief!”
Local police are asking for help identifying any leads. [via Courier Journal]
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Soccer fans in Greece will have to stay home to watch their favorite teams for the next two months, as the country looks to swiftly pass a new law to halt any in-public sports gatherings until at least February 12.
The emergency measure follows a riot last week believed to have been fomented by rabid sports fans and multiple violent altercations at recent matches, one of which hospitalized a police officer who was shot in the leg by a flare.
In the meantime, the 14 member teams of Greece’s Super League will be required to install additional security and identity-verification systems for all future matches. [via ABC News]
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Days after news broke about SHOHEI OHTANI’s blockbuster 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, more details have surfaced.
According to The Athletic, Ohtani will receive just $2 million per year for the 10 years, with $68 million each season getting deferred to be paid out between 2034 and 2043.
Sources say that Ohtani proposed the deal himself, because it will help the team be able to pick up other talent. [via The Athletic]
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BABY NEWS
CIARA and RUSSELL WILSON have welcomed their third child together -- her fourth -- a baby girl named Amora Princess Wilson.
The newborn joins big siblings, 6-year-old Sienna Princess and 3-year-old Win Harrison, along with Ciara’s eldest son, 9-year-old Future, whom she shares with her ex, rapper FUTURE.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW increased 157 points (0.43%) to close at 36,404 on Monday. The S&P increased 18 points (0.39%) to close at 4,622 and the NASDAQ increased 28 points (0.2%) to close at 14,432.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $71; BRENT CRUDE at $76.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.15 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN nosedived Monday, down nearly 6% and more than $2500 on the day, trading around $41,250 in the evening.
🛩 There were more than 2,930 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 1,000 such cancellations.
💰Two MEGA MILLIONS jackpot tickets were sold in Southern California. The winners will split the $395 million jackpot. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $20 million jackpot or a $9.6 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
JENNIFER ANISTON says MATTHEW PERRY was “happy” and “healthy” in his final days.
“He had quit smoking. He was getting in shape. He was happy -- that’s all I know,” she told Variety. “I was literally texting him that morning, funny Matty. He was not in pain. He wasn’t struggling. He was happy.”
Remember, Perry died on October 28 in an apparent drowning in his hot tub. He was 54. [via Variety]
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A judge has ordered that TIFFANY HADDISH not consume alcohol or illegal drugs following her recent DUI arrest, which was also her second in as many years.
She will also undergo random drug testing, according to court documents.
Haddish was charged with her first DUI in January 2022. [via Radar Online]
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TODD CHRISLEY recently spoke to News Nation, giving his first interview from behind bars.
He told correspondent Brian Entin that he is not being treated fairly by the guards, the food is “disgustingly filthy” and there are “rats” and “squirrels” in the “storage facility where the food is.”
Chrisley also said that someone took a photograph of him while he was sleeping and sent it to his daughter SAVANNAH CHRISLEY, asking for “$2,600 a month for [his] protection.”
In response to the claims, the prison told News Nation that they serve “nutritious food” and the facilities are “up to date.” [via News Nation]
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ROB GRONKOWSKI will be center stage at the upcoming LA Bowl, performing the national anthem ahead of Saturday’s game between UCLA and Boise State.
Gronk will also act as host for the game, replacing JIMMY KIMMEL, who hosted last year. [via People]
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Cambodians are ready to welcome ANGELINA JOLIE, and her kids, with open arms.
After saying that she is ready to leave “unhealthy” Los Angeles and put down roots in the Asian nation, locals have come forward with beliefs that she is their “patron saint” and even was Cambodian in a past life.
Of course, her move has been stalled by her ex-husband, BRAD PITT, and their seven-year custody battle. But now that things appear to be getting closer to some closure -- and the fact that their six kids are getting older -- insiders say the time to move may be happening sooner than later.
“If she is willing to give up her life in Hollywood to find happiness here with us after traveling so many places, we would feel very honored,” one woman told the Daily Mail. [via Daily Mail]
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HUGH GRANT has a recurring nightmare about using the loo in front of the late QUEEN ELIZABETH.
He opened up about the dream scenario on “The Drew Barrymore Show” telling her that he “was really good friends with the Queen and [they] used to just listen to records together,” but in the recurring dream, he ends up “on the loo in the middle of a big room with [her]. There was no screen door or anything like that.”
Grant’s appearance on the show was to promote his new film “Wonka,” in which he plays an Oompa Loompa. [via Decider]
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For their 18th wedding anniversary country singers TRISHA YEARWOOD and GARTH BROOKS sent each other flowers.
Making the sentiment even more special, the two reportedly wrote each other the exact same note.
Yearwood posted a photo of the floral arrangements on Instagram, captioning it, “When your husband sends you flowers and you send him flowers and the card says exactly the same thing! #happy18 #love #morethanever”
No word on what exactly was written on the cards, however. [via People]
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NICKI MINAJ announced dates for her North American and European 2024 “Pink Friday 2 World Tour” -- her largest tour to-date.
She will kick things off in Oakland in March, and wrap things up in Berlin in June.
“Pink Friday 2,” Minaj’s fifth studio album, dropped last Friday. [via Variety]
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CASTING CALL
The 2024 Golden Globe nominations were announced Monday.
Leading the pack is GRETA GERWIG’s “Barbie” with 10 nods, making it the second most-nominated in the 81-year history of the awards show. “Oppenheimer” wasn’t too far behind with eight nominations.
For TV shows, “Succession” landed nine nods, while “The Bear” and “Only Murders in the Building” got five apiece. [via Variety]
ALSO: Actress MERYL STREEP breaks her own record as the most-nominated actor in Golden Globes history with 33 total career nominations and nine wins. [via People]
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Ousted Fox New host TUCKER CARLSON is launching his own streaming service that he says will “tell the unadorned truth” for about $72 a year.
The Tucker Carlson Network will feature commentary, interviews, Carlson-flavored news reports and documentaries, including “The Tucker Carlson Encounter” and “The Tucker Carlson Interview.” The former will be a long-form conversation show, while the latter will be a more formal question-and-answer session.
Tucker announced his new venture on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” a podcast hosted by fellow former Fox News host MEGYN KELLY. [via WSJ]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
YE is reportedly working on setting up his own news channel.
According to The Sun, he has quietly been developing the idea for months and has even created a demo website to test the production on.
As for where the news channel would be based -- since Ye appears to be a man of the world as of late -- insiders say it would “be launched in the United States but his fans could tune in from anywhere around the world.” [via The Sun]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
PRINCE HARRY has been ordered to pay 50,000 British Pounds to cover court costs and attorney fees connected to his defamation lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, which owns the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.
The suit accuses the newspaper of libel for claiming his public relations team was trying to influence their reporting on his ongoing legal quest to get government-supported security when he travels to Britain.
While he has not totally lost the suit, he did lose his bid to get the judge on the case to rule without holding a trial – a move that now costs him the 50,000-some-Pounds in fees.
NEXT: The judge says a full trial will proceed early next year. [via DailyMail]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Ding-A-Ling Day
National Poinsettia Day
Gingerbread House Day
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ON THIS DATE
1787 - Pennsylvania is the second state to ratify the new Constitution.
With so much religious and ethnic diversity in the state, this was no easy feat. Powerful anti-federalist voices frequently clashed with their federalist counterparts. One staunch proponent of the new constitution was James Wilson, who would later sit on the Supreme Court.
As one of the largest states, in both size and population, Pennsylvania could have stood to lose by joining a united conglomerate of states. But ultimately the federalist cause won out.
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1862 - The USS Cairo is the first ship ever to be sunk by an electrically-detonated naval mine.
The ironclad vessel was actually searching for mines in the river. When it came close enough to a floating mine hidden just below the surface of the water, Confederate soldiers spying from the shore blew it up.
It took 12 minutes to sink. Miraculously, no one was injured.
The Cairo would be raised from the bottom of the Yazoo River in 1964.
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1901 - Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi sends the first radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean.
It was just one letter -- Morse code for S.
But the transmission was successful nonetheless. Marconi would win the Nobel Prize in physics in 1909.
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1913 - Da Vinci's masterpiece “The Mona Lisa” is recovered two years after being stolen from the Louvre Museum.
It was found inside the hotel room of an Italian waiter living in Florence named Vincenzo Peruggia. He had spent some time working at the Louvre, and was complicit in the August 1911 heist.
Peruggia would spend just 14 months in jail for the crime.
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1980 - A notebook that once belonged to Leonardo Da Vinci sells for $5.1 million at auction.
It was dated to 1508. The 72 loose pages contained notes and drawings relating to the physics of water.
The notebook sold for more than an original Gutenberg Bible, which went for $2 million two years earlier.
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1989 - Leona Helmsley is sentenced to four years in prison, 750 hours of community service, and a $7.1 million fine for years of evading taxes.
The wealthy woman and her real estate mogul husband were known for living in gaudy penthouses and mansions, and treating their staff terribly.
Many of their business partners complained about the Helmsleys not paying bills on time, if at all.
It finally caught up with them when Leona was sent to jail -- she served two years of her four-year sentence.
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2000 - The US Supreme Court issues its ruling in the landmark case Bush v. Gore.
The High Court ruled that the method Florida's Supreme Court outlined for recounting ballots violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also ruled that there would not be enough time to develop a fair recounting process for the ballots.
Not that it mattered -- after the fact, all recounts showed Bush as the winner anyway.
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2015 - 196 countries reach a deal — the Paris Agreement — at the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris to limit the rise in global average temperature.
In the 12-page document, members agreed to reduce their carbon output ASAP and to keep global warming “well below 2 degrees Celsius.”
It would go into effect the following April.
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2022 - Emma Tucker is appointed editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal.
She succeeds Matt Murray, who took a senior role at News Corp.
Tucker is the first woman to lead the paper.
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BIRTHDAYS
Sky Katz - actress, “Raven’s Home” - 19
Lincoln Melcher - actor, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” - 20
Britain Dalton - actor, “Avatar: The Way of Water” - 22
Miguel Bernardeau - actor, “Elite” - 27
Jaime Lorente - actor, “Money Heist” - 32
Dawin Polanco - pop singer - 33
Kate Todd - actress, “My Babysitter’s a Vampire” - 36
Mayim Bialik - actress, “Blossom” & “The Big Bang Theory” - 48
Jennifer Connelly - actress, “A Beautiful Mind” & “Top Gun: Maverick” - 53
Regina Hall - actress, “Scary Movie” & “Girls Trip” - 53
Madchen Amick - actress, “Twin Peaks” & “Riverdale” - 53
Bill Nighy - actor, “Pirates of the Caribbeans” films - 74
Dionne Warwick - pop singer - 83
Born On This Date
Bob Barker - game show host, “The Price Is Right” - 1923 (d. 2023)
Frank Sinatra - pop singer - 1915 (d. 1998)
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