Today is Friday, May 10, 2024.
It is the 131st day of the year.
235 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
FTX customers aren’t thrilled with a proposed payback program and college students express disdain for noisy activists. Details in HIT LIST.
ANDY COHEN and JOHN MAYER are just friends and ALEC BALDWIN wants his manslaughter charge tossed. More in SHOWBIZ.
Will POPE FRANCIS appear in “Sister Act 3? Find out in CASTING CALL.
KRIS JENNER drops a bomb in a sneak peek of the upcoming season of “The Kardashians.” More in KARDASH.
PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE take their show on the road, again. Details in ROYALS.
###
HIT LIST
The FTX payback plan proposed by the exchange’s new leadership will face a vote by 1600 claimants who have organized as a bloc to approve the plan.
Two leaders of this bloc have publicly called for the claimants to reject it -- even though recipients would be paid back 118% of the money they lost, calling it an “insult to creditors.”
GREEDY?: In fact, the proposed plan would prioritize repayment of FTX customers even over major creditors, which is almost as unheard-of in bankruptcies as claimants being paid back in whole plus interest. (Though the IRS would get an up-front, $200 MILLION payment).
But those customers do have a right to push for more, on the grounds that Bitcoin has risen from a value of around $16,000 when FTX collapsed to over $60,000 today.
BUT WAIT: The bilked customers fear that the terms of the agreement would leave FTX with the legal right to appoint a new board that rejects the payback plan even after a court approves it.
IN OTHER WORDS: It’s all still a mess. The good news is there are assets to make people whole -- now it comes down to who gets what, when, depending on the individual’s definition of “whole.” [via WIRED]
###
While activist students make a lot of news on college campuses to express their support for Hamas and against Israel, most of their peers would like them to pipe down.
At 81%, most students want those who participated in property destruction or participated in encampments on university property to be punished. Two-thirds say the occupation tactics are unacceptable and nearly 60% say the activists should have followed orders from the university to disperse.
Almost all respondents -- 90% -- said Jewish and pro-Israel students should not be blocked from attending class or excluded from any area of campus. [via Axios]
###
Federal prosecutors have announced charges against four flight attendants working for Delta Airlines who smuggled more than $8 MILLION in laundered drug money from New York to the Dominican Republic between 2015 and 2023.
The staff used a special screening process -- called the “Known Crewmember” -- that doesn’t X-ray their bags to ferry the cash without further scrutiny from security officials at New York’s JFK Airport.
All four, ranging in age from 24 to 42, were arrested on Tuesday. No word yet on court dates. [via NBCNews]
###
A 34-year-old woman spent the last year living in a small nook behind the sign of a Michigan Family Fare Supermarket store.
Contractors working on the store discovered the hovel after following an extension cord into the space, accessed through a small, 3-by-4-foot entrance door. Inside, the woman had a desk, clothing, food, and even a printer and houseplant.
Locals have called the woman the “Rooftop Ninja” for keeping up the scheme so long.
Police say the woman voluntarily left as soon as they arrived to investigate but turned down offers to be connected with public housing resources. The store is being a good sport and helping the woman recover the items she left behind. No charges are expected to be filed. [via USA Today]
###
Days after Miss USA Noelia Voigt resigned her crown, Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava has also quit.
While Voigt said her reasoning was due to mental health, Srivastava says her decision is because her personal values “no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”
Voigt, who was crowned last September, is the first title holder in the pageant’s 72-year history to voluntarily step down.
WORTH NOTING: Miss USA social media manager Claudia Michelle stepped down from her position on May 3, citing “workplace toxicity” and “bullying” from the current management. Insiders told the NY Post that all three women decided to quit together and “strategically timed their resignations.” [via NY Post]
###
BABY NEWS
HAILEY BIEBER is going to be a mom!
The model is a little over six months pregnant with her and husband JUSTIN BIEBER’s first child.
The couple announced the news Thursday on Instagram.
By the way -- she’s 27 and he’s 30.
###
BREAKUPS
Director SAM RAIMI’s wife, GILLIAN GREENE, has filed for divorce after 30 years of marriage.
According to the filing, Greene cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. There is no mention of a prenup.
###
BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW increased 331 points (0.85%) to close at 39,387 on Thursday. The S&P increased 26 points (0.51%) to close at 5,214 and the NASDAQ increased 43 points (0.27%) to close at 16,346.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $79; BRENT CRUDE at $84.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.64 on Thursday.
₿ BITCOIN ticked up on the day about 2%, trading around $62,500.
🛩 There were more than 5,630 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Thursday and more than 160 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $331 million jackpot or a $153.1 million cash payout. Saturday night’s POWERBALL drawing will be for a $36 million jackpot or a $16.8 million cash payout.
###
SHOWBIZ NEWS
New Music Friday
Alec Benjamin, “12 Notes”
Dreamer Boy, “Lonestar”
Jordan Rakei, “The Loop”
Kings of Leon, “Can We Please Have Fun”
Milan Ring, “Mangos”
Ricky Montgomery, “Rick(y)”
Villagers, “That Golden Time”
Youbet, “Way To Be”
###
ANDY COHEN and JOHN MAYER are close…but not that close.
Cohen discussed his longtime friendship with Mayer, telling The Hollywood Reporter that despite their shared affection for one another there is nothing going on under the sheets.
Speculation about the two started last year after Cohen told HOWARD STERN that the two are “in love with each other.” He later followed it up by swearing on his children’s lives that nothing sexual has ever happened between them. [via THR]
###
One day after DRAKE’s security guard was shot in a drive-by shooting, a guy was arrested trying to break into his Toronto mansion.
According to the Toronto Police, the person was “apprehended under the Mental Health Act.”
It is not known if the rapper was home at the time.
UPDATE: As for the shooting, still no word on a suspect or a motive. [via Page Six]
###
ALEC BALDWIN is once again asking a judge to throw out the involuntary manslaughter charges against him.
His defense team claims that due to his lack of awareness of “any level of risk that the gun was loaded with live ammunition, he is innocent as a matter of law.”
This, of course, all stems from the fatal on-set shooting of “Rust” cinematographer HALYNA HUTCHINS.
A decision will be made by the court on May 17. Should there not be a dismissal, Baldwin will stand trial this July. [via Deadline]
###
Final numbers from MADONNA’s recently wrapped “Celebration Tour” determined that it was her highest-grossing tour in over a decade, bringing in more than $225 million.
Her highest-grossing tour of all time was 2012’s “MDNA Tour,” which earned $305.2 million.
Madge’s career total earnings across all her tours is $1.6 BILLION. [via Billboard]
###
TRAVIS KELCE isn’t sure why actress JANA KRAMER is talking about him on her “Whine Down” podcast, even going so far as to say he doesn’t even know who she is.
Insiders told TMZ that the tight end was “taken aback” by her comments about how he is “always drunk,” and thinks she is only talking about him to “clout-chase.”
There were no comments on his relationship with TAYLOR SWIFT, however, which Kramer said is all for PR purposes. [via TMZ]
###
World Champion Surfer KELLY SLATER is launching his own skincare line, called Freaks of Nature.
Inspired by all of his hours spent under the sun, the line consists of three products: the Deeper Dive Moisturizer, the Daily Defender Sunscreen and the Peak Performance Sunscreen.
The Freaks of Nature line is available now. [via People]
###
CASTING CALL
POPE FRANCIS might appear in the forthcoming “Sister Act 3,” according to star of the franchise WHOOPI GOLDBERG.
After finding out Francis is a fan of the films, Goldberg extended an invite for him to have a role. He replied, saying that he will see what his schedule looks like.
The original “Sister Act” film hit the big screen in 1992 with the sequel following a year later.
No word on a release date for the third movie. [via NY Post]
###
A new movie centered on “Lord of the Rings” character Gollum is in the works.
According to Variety, ANDY SERKIS will reprise his role as the small, slimy creature in the film, which is tentatively titled “Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum.”
Meanwhile, an animated Middle-earth movie, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is due out this December. It is set 200 years before the events of “The Hobbit.” [via Variety]
###
BRADLEY COOPER is producing a documentary about care providers for PBS.
“Caregiving” examines both systemic issues within the care system, and shares personal stories of people who care for loved ones.
The subject hits home for Cooper, who helped care for his father after his cancer diagnosis. “Raising this conversation on a national level will help, and together, I believe we can make a difference,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Caregiving” will premiere next year. [via THR]
###
THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
In a recently released trailer for the upcoming season of “The Kardashians,” KRIS JENNER tells her family that a recent health scan found “a cyst and like a little tumor.”
Of course nothing more was shared in the clip that also saw her daughters break down over the news.
Season 5 of “The Kardashians” premieres on May 23 on Hulu. [via Page Six]
WORTH NOTING: Jenner and her boyfriend COREY GAMBLE attended the Met Gala this week and she appeared perfectly healthy.
###
WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE land in Nigeria today for a three-day tour that will include events for the prince’s Invictus Games Foundation.
They’re traveling at the formal invitation of Nigeria’s top military official — but the nation has made clear their visit is in no way connected to the British Royal Family.
Their itinerary includes meeting with injured servicemen, a “women in leadership” event sponsored by the World Trade Organization, and a basketball clinic, among other events, before heading back to California on Sunday. Reporters and film crews are expected to be in tow. [via ABC News]
###
DAY OF THE YEAR
National Shrimp Day
Mother Ocean Day
National Military Spouse Appreciation Day
International Day of Argania
National Small Business Day
National Clean Your Room Day
National Provider Appreciation Day
Child Care Provider Day
National Golf Lovers Day
World Lupus Day
National Public Gardens Day
Stay Up All Night Night
One Day Without Shoes Day
###
ON THIS DATE
1775 - The Second Continental Congress convenes to form a coherent strategy in the first weeks of the Revolutionary War.
Fighting had broken out weeks earlier at Lexington and Concord, but no official army had been assembled. Battles were left to loosely organized militia.
By next July, Congress would draft and approve the Declaration of Independence.
###
1869 - The Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads are formally joined. The merger allowed mass transportation across the continent for the first time without having to resort to wagon trails.
It also marked the beginning of the end of the Wild West, which would be infused with the more cosmopolitan character of the American East.
The construction of the two railways was mired with death and tragedy. Most workers were Chinese immigrants who worked 12 hour days across mountain terrain. Entire work crews were sometimes lost to avalanches or explosions.
###
1877 - The White House gets its first telephone, during the Hayes administration.
It was installed in the telegraph room. Only the Treasury Department had a direct line into the White House, whose number was 1.
The Oval Office got a direct phone line 50 years later during the Hoover Administration.
###
1977 - Joan Crawford dies of a heart attack.
The infamous mother's treatment of her children was dramatized in the film "Mommie Dearest."
###
1990 - The Chinese government releases the Tiananmen Square protestors who had been rounded up the previous June for daring to speak against it.
It is estimated that more than one million protestors had marched by May of 1989. Beginning in June, the Chi-Coms started deploying troops to forcefully shut them down.
The official statement upon the release of the political prisoners: "Lawbreakers involved in the turmoil and counter-revolutionary rebellion last year have been given lenient treatment and released upon completion of investigations."
###
1994 - Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa’s first black president.
###
2017 - Apple becomes the first company to be worth more than $800 billion.
The milestone comes just over two years after the company hit $700 billion.
###
2020 - Global cases of COVID-19 surpass 4 million with more than 270,000 deaths.
###
BIRTHDAYS
Gosselin Sextuplets - kids of Jon & Kate - 20
Halston Sage - actress, “How to Rock” & “Neighbors” - 31
Zach Roloff - reality star, “Little People, Big World” - 34
Lindsey Shaw - actress, “Pretty Little Liars” - 35
MC Ride - rapper - 46
Kenan Thompson - actor, “SNL” & “All That” - 46
Erik Palladino - actor, “ER” - 56
Bono - rock singer, U2 - 64
Paige O’Hara - actress, “Beauty and the Beast” - 68
Mark David Chapman - assassin of John Lennon - 69
Miuccia Prada - fashion designer - 75
Born On This Date
Young Pappy - rapper - 1995 (d. 2015)
Sid Vicious - punk singer, Sex Pistols - 1957 (d. 1979)
Fred Astaire - actor, “Royal Wedding” & “Swingtime” - 1899 (d. 1987)
John Wilkes Booth - assassin of President Lincoln - 1838 (d. 1865)
###