3/29/2024: Is This For Here or By Drone?
PLUS: SBF Sentenced; Spa Day; and The King’s Easter Speech
Today is Friday, March 29, 2024.
It is the 89th day of the year.
277 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
An update on last week’s brazen prisonbreak attempt in Idaho and a competing investigation into this week’s disastrous bridge collapse in Baltimore. Details in HIT LIST.
An explainer on the mounting accusations against SEAN COMBS in SHOWBIZ.
OLIVIA COLMAN gives up on a favorite role. Details in CASTING CALL.
KIM KARDASHIAN gets hit with another lawsuit. Details in KARDASH.
THE KING gives an Easter address in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
SAM BANKMAN-FRIED will spend the next 25 years in prison – though his lawers say he’ll continue to appeal his conviction.
In a bizarre sentencing hearing, the disgraced cryptodork said, in his own defense, he could have saved FTX from collapse given a few weeks of time, but acknowledged the shady in-house hedge firm would not have survived. He did not explicitly apologize for the pain caused to the exchange’s customers, though he acknowledged some of their suffering.
In response, Judge LEWIS KAPLAN said that in his decades in courtrooms, he had never seen a performance like SBF’s while he took to the stand in his own defense late last year. Kaplan pointed to SBF’s evasiveness, hair-splitting technicalities, and requests that prosecutors rephrase their questions as examples.
UP NEXT: The Bureau of Prisons will decide where SBF formally begins his sentence, but Kaplan said he would recommend that SBF gets locked up in San Francisco near his parents. [via Morning Martini, @InnerCityPress, @TeddySchleifer]
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FOLLOW UP: Four people have been charged in connection to last week’s attack that helped spring an Idaho inmate from custody during a medical transfer.
The escaped convict, Skylar Meade, and the gunman who helped initially free him, Nicholas Umphenour, were recaptured the day after the escape. They’re also connected to, but not formally charged with, the murder to two elderly men in northern Idaho hours after the escape.
Now, the owner of the car used to facilitate the escape from police custody has been charged with aiding and abetting an escape. 27-year-old Tia Garcia reported the vehicle missing to police hours after the shootout at the instruction of Umphenour, based on text message records.
Also facing charges is Tonia Huber, a woman accused of driving a getaway truck containing Meade when he was later busted. She also faces charges of eluding police and drug possession. [via Associated Press]
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Singapore has launched its own investigation into the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster, since the ship responsible for the crash is registered to a Singapore-based company.
The current working theory is that the ship, called the Dali, lost power while exiting Baltimore harbor, on a route bound for Sri Lanka, and subsequently smashed into one of the bridge’s supports.
Singapore’s Transport Minister said in a statement that they will determine whether the ship broke any of its laws as a result of the crash. [via Nikkei, Semafor]
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Three major American companies are partnering with a drone delivery startup called DroneUp to further revolutionize the on-demand economy revolution.
WALMART, CHIK-FIL-A, and 7-ELEVEN stores are part of a pilot program with startup company DRONEUP’s new system. Here’s how it works:
A customer orders online.
The company fulfills the order – whether it’s a box of pens or a chicken sandwich. Then, an employee then affixes a barcode sticker to the order and places it into a locker about the size of a parking space, which DroneUp calls a “DBX.”
A drone is programmatically dispatched to the locker, if it isn’t already waiting on its landing pad on top. Once the drone is assigned, the machinery inside the DBX loads up the drone.
The drone then proceeds to drop the package to the customer’s location.
Likewise, the DBX hub can be used as a pickup location in densely populated areas – especially college campuses.
Get a look at DroneUp drones and DBX hubs here >
DroneUp has begun testing the technology in Dallas and Virginia Beach and expects these trial companies to deploy the service in more markets before the end of the year. [via Axios, DroneUp]
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As BUD LIGHT tries to claw back its dominance of the American beer market, they face another hurdle: following decreased demand for the beer last year, retailers are giving them less space this summer for their product. Bloomberg reports Anheuser-Busch has lost up to 15% of its overall retail slots, gutting opportunities to sell its Bud Light and Budweiser flagship products.
Competitor Molson Coors, which produces Coors and Miller products, says it saw its shelf space grow by a corresponding 10% over the last year.
WORTH NOTING: The shelf space does not necessarily impact beer sales at events, typically at venues with a major beer sponsor that typically only sells one-or-the-other’s products. [via Bloomberg]
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RELATIONSHIPS
CECILY STRONG is engaged – to some guy named Jack.
The SNL alum is notoriously tight-lipped about her private life, and in her memoir and in public since has only referred to her fella as “Jack,” so it might not even be his real name.
Anyway, she’s 40. Strong made the announcement during an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW added 47 points (0.12%) to close at 39,807 on Thursday. The S&P increased 5 points (0.11%) to close at 5,254 and the NASDAQ slipped 20 points (0.12%) to close at 16,379.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $83; BRENT CRUDE at $86.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.53 on Thursday.
₿ BITCOIN increased more than 1.7% on Thursday, trading around $70,700.
🛩 There were more than 4,550 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Thursday and more than 65 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $20 million jackpot or a $9.5 million cash payout. Saturday night’s POWERBALL drawing will be for a $935 million jackpot or a $449.7 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
New Music Friday
Beyonce, “Act II: Cowboy Carter”
Chastity Belt, “Live Laugh Love”
Halo Maud, “Celebrate”
J-Hope, “Hope on the Street Vol. 1”
Kenny Chesney, “Born”
Ride, “Interplay”
Sheryl Crow, “Evolution”
Sum 41, “Heaven :x: Hell”
Yot Club, “Rufus”
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There’s so much controversy and allegations of horrific behavior surrounding SEAN “Diddy” COMBS, it’s hard to keep it all straight, but here’s what we know.
LAST NOVEMBER: Combs settled a civil lawsuit accusing him of abuse and sex trafficking the day after it was filed.
DAYS LATER: Two more complainants filed separate lawsuits alleging sexual assault and revenge porn, suggesting Combs had extensive video footage of coerced and non-consensual sexual acts. Those suits remain pending.
ON DECEMBER 6: Another suit accused Combs of raping a 17-year-old girl in 2003.
IN FEBRUARY: One of Combs’ music producers, RODNEY JONES, filed an extensive lawsuit accusing Combs, his employees, and even his sons, of human and drug trafficking, sexual assault, and a handful of other despicable crimes.
ON TUESDAY: Jones amended his lawsuit and named CUBA GOODING JR. as a defendant, alleging that Gooding Jr. forced himself on Jones. Among other jaw-dropping claims, Jones alleges that he has recorded evidence of Combs admitting to murder. In a tragically ironic twist, Jones says he has the recordings because Combs insisted he frequently be recorded by Jones.
While there have not been formal criminal charges filed yet by the goverment, multiple sources across a variety of outlets have suggested that this week’s raid was focused on seizing the footage from security cameras placed around his properties. Jones’ lawsuit alleges that Combs keeps hidden cameras in every room of his house, and implies he uses this footage as blackmail, both against victims and perpetrators of unspeakable crimes.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in what will likely be a horrifying, long, and industry-upheaving investigation. [via Morning Martini]
MEANWHILE, IN FAMILY COURT: Among the people identified in RODNEY JONES’ lawsuit is DAPHNE JOY, who shares a son with CURTIS “50 CENT” JACKSON. Joy is mentioned, but not named as a defendant, for being paid a monthly fee as one of Combs’ sex workers.
In light of the suit, Jackson has filed for sole custody of their 11-year-old son Sire. [via US Weekly]
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JENNIFER ANISTON, SANDRA BULLOCK, and AMANDA ANKA were spotted Thursday leaving a high-end wellness spa in Connecticut that specializes in plastic surgery for the rich and famous.
Anka is the daughter of musician PAUL ANKA and married to JASON BATEMAN.
While the doctor they visited does full-on facelifts, he also provides Botox for about $3,000 a pop. [via DailyMail]
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Model KARLIE KLOSS and venture capitalist husband JOSH KUSHNER are leading an effort to revive Life magazine.
Kloss’ media startup Bedford Media bought the digital and print rights to the magazine, with plans to revive it as a print magazine. “We see Life as an uplifting and unifying voice in a chaotic media landscape,” Kloss said in a statement.
Bedford Media is currently staffing up with plans to roll out the first content early next year. [via NY Times]
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STEVEN SPIELBERG called “Dune: Part Two” “one of the most brilliant science-fiction films” he had ever seen during an appearance on the “Director’s Cut” podcast.
Spielberg told “Dune” director DENIS VILLENEUVE he has joined the ranks of filmmakers who excel as “builders of worlds,” in the same echelon as Stanley Kubric, Tim Burton, James Cameron, and Christopher Nolan, among others.
The sequel has earned more than half a billion dollars worldwide. [via Variety]
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JOY BEHAR says she auditioned for “Saturday Night Live” in 1975.
SNL creator and longtime producer LORNE MICHAELS remains notoriously stoic during auditions, but Behar says even though he didn’t laugh, he told her the bit she performed was funny.
Behar said on the “Behind the Table” podcast – which is a companion show for people who just can’t get enough of “The View,” because apparently these people exist – that she didn’t actually want the SNL job anyway, and she ultimately got her wish. [via Deadline]
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EVA MENDES tells “Today” she has no regrets over pausing her acting career to be a stay-at-home mom with the two kids she shares with longterm partner RYAN GOSLING.
Mendes called the decision a “no-brainer,” adding that she and Gosling agreed he would continue to appear on camera and she would stay at home. Her last feature flick was “Lost River,” which Gosling wrote and directed. [via EW]
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CASTING CALL
Fans of British import “Heartstopper” on Netflix will have to go without OLIVIA COLMAN in season three.
Colman tells Forbes her schedule didn’t accommodate filming her role on the show. “I couldn’t fit it in. I feel awful about that,” she said, calling the show “one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been a part of.”
The third season is scheduled to premiere this fall. [via THR]
While Presidents JOE BIDEN, BARACK OBAMA, and BILL CLINTON headed to New York City on Thursday for what is expected to be the biggest single-day fundraiser in history, the three sat for an interview with the A-List hosts of the “Smartless” podcast.
JASON BATEMAN, WILL ARNETT, and SEAN HAYES previously interviewed Biden and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS on their show. No official word yet when the episode is expected to air. All three hosts are openly supportive of Biden’s reelection efforts. [via Morning Martini]
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KIM ZOLCIAK has a new reality show in the works amid her tedious divorce from KROY BIERMANN. Zolciak is shopping a concept to multiple streaming platforms and networks, but no one’s sure what the show’s focus might be.
One insider suggests the project will be called “To Hell and Back” and document Zolciak’s post-divorce money troubles and relationship struggles. [via Page Six]
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NETFLIX released the trailer for “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story,” a fictional take on the battle between Kellogg’s and Post Cereal to perfect a morning toaster pastry. The flick is JERRY SEINFELD’s first live action feature as a writer and director; he previously wrote and starred in “Bee Movie.”
An all-star cast joins Seinfeld, including MELISSA MCCARTHY, JIM GAFFIGAN, HUGH GRANT, and AMY SCHUMER in leading roles.
While promoting the movie on “The Tonight Show,” Seinfeld said working with Grant was difficult – but Grant said at the outset Seinfeld would hate working with him, even though Grant personally lobbied Seinfeld to appear in the movie, as the voice actor behind Tony the Tiger. The notoriously caustic British actor submitted his first audition tape in three decades to land the role.
The two were eventually able to bury the hatchet over dinner, where Seinfeld says they both got drunk and turned into “the greatest night.” [via EW]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
The estate of designer and artist Donald Judd has sued KIM KARDASHIAN and one of her favorite interior design firms, after Kim said in a two-year-old social media video that some of the furniture in the office of her women’s wear company SKKN was designed by Judd.
In the video, Kim says that a table and chair set were originally designed and made by Judd, known for his minimalist aesthetic, who died in 1994.
Judd’s estate alleges that the design firm, Clements Design, built and sold knockoffs of Judd’s design and tried to pass the items off as originals.
For their part, Clements says it communicated with the Judd estate last year to highlight the key differences between their designs and Judd’s, and were blindsided by the suit.
The suit seeks a public acknowledgment from Kim about the error and payment from Clements on any money they made from allegedly selling Judd’s pieces as originals. [via Page Six, TMZ]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
KING CHARLES did not attend a Maundy Thursday church service yesterday, sharing instead a video message with the congregation at Worcester Cathedral that was later shared online.
"We need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us, especially in a time of need," the monarch said in part, but did not specifically mention his own or PRINCESS KATE’s recent cancer diagnoses.
The Firm says the King will attend Easter services with QUEEN CAMILLA on Sunday. [via BBC]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
Good Friday
International Mermaid Day
World Piano Day
National Smoke and Mirrors Day
National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
PayDay It Forward
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ON THIS DATE
1806 - Congress approves the construction of the Cumberland Road.
The route would connect Cumberland, Maryland and Wheeling, Virginia through the Appalachian Mountains.
The bill was approved only after the government had accumulated enough funds for the entire project — this was even before a federal income tax existed.
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1951 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of spying on America, on behalf of the Soviet Union.
The trial was short, lasting only 23 days.
The most damning evidence came from David Greenglass, Ethel's brother. He testified that Julius had set up a meeting to pass along information to another Soviet informant about the American nuclear weapons program.
Little evidence ever surfaced against Ethel, but prosecutors convinced the jury she was pulling the strings of the whole operation.
The couple was later executed.
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1961 - After a years-long trial — known as the Treason Trial — Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria.
Mandel and 139 other anti-Apartheid leaders were arrested and charged with treason in December of 1956.
He would be arrested again the following year for his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and serve a 27-year sentence.
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1973 - The last American troops leave Vietnam, two months after the signing of the Vietnam Peace Agreement.
Meanwhile, some 7,000 bureaucrats stayed behind as South Vietnam continued fighting with the North.
The American withdrawal ended more than a decade of fighting.
Four years later, Saigon fell to the communists in the North.
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1989 - I. M. Pei’s pyramid-style entrance to the Louvre opens in Paris.
The pyramid, which stands 70 feet tall, took four years to construct.
At the time, the structure was not well-received, with many calling it “an annex to Disneyland.”
Today, it is a well-known symbol of Paris.
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2019 - Democrat activist Lucy Flores accuses Joe Biden of sexual harassment, including unwanted kissing and touching. She said Biden made the advances while the two campaigned in Nevada in 2014.
Flores called the interaction “awkward and disturbing.”
Biden, who was Vice President at the time of the incident, said that it was never his “intention” to make Flores feel uncomfortable.
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BIRTHDAYS
Atiana De La Hoya - reality star & daughter of Oscar De La Hoya - 25
Aron Piper - actor, “Elite” - 27
Jennifer Capriati - Olympic tennis player - 48
Lucy Lawless - actress, “Xena: Warrior Princess” - 56
Elle Macpherson - model - 60
Jill Goodacre - model - 60
Maggie Baird - actress, “Bones” & “The West Wing” - 65
Brendan Gleeson - actor, “Gangs of New York” - 69
Marina Sirtist - actress, “Start Trek: The Next Generatio” - 69
Walt Frazier - HOF basketball player - 79
Born On This Date
Scott Wilson - actor, “The Walking Dead” - 1942 (d. 2018)
Sam Walton - founder of Sam’s Club & Walmart - 1918 (d. 1992)
Cy Young - HOF pitcher - 1867 (d. 1955)
John Tyler - 10th POTUS - 1790 (d. 1862)
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