5/1/2023: Overcrowding on Everest
PLUS: Hunter (Maybe) Goes to Court; Willie Nelson Turns 90; and Coronation Week
Today is Monday, May 1, 2023.
It is the 121st day of the year.
244 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
An Arkansas woman has been charged with selling stolen body parts on Facebook and 2023’s Mr. Irrelevant has been selected. More in HIT LIST.
President JOE BIDEN cracked jokes at Saturday’s White House Correspondents dinner and son HUNTER BIDEN is headed to court in Arkansas. More in THE SWAMP.
MICHELLE OBAMA backs up THE BOSS and JACK NICHOLSON sits courtside. More in SHOWBIZ.
MILA KUNIS may appear in the upcoming “Fantastic 4” film and fans think they have uncovered who the new James Bond may be. More in CASTING CALL.
YE has more legal drama on his hands. More in KARDASH.
KING CHARLES’ Coronation is less than a week away. Keep up on all things coronation-related in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
So far this year, 367 males and 96 females have been issued permits to scale Mount Everest in Nepal.
According to the director of Nepal’s Tourism Department, spring is the prime time to climb the tallest mountain in the world, with May being a peak month.
With such a high number of people attempting to reach the summit during such a small window, mountaineers are concerned about potential overcrowding. [via CNN]
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Remember Hope Carasquilla?
She’s the principal of a Florida school who got axed because 11- and 12-year-olds saw a picture of the statue of David – in which the subject is famously nude. When the dustup went public, the director of the museum where the statue is on display publicly invited her for a tour.
Now, she’s made good on that offer. The Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze released a statement noting Carasquilla’s visit last Friday. That statement also (correctly) points out that the statue of Biblical figure David has “nothing to do with pornography.” [via Washington Post]
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Chief, a seven-year-old pitbull, who went missing six years ago from his Georgia home, was found this weekend near the Kentucky border -- almost 500 miles from home.
After being picked up by a concerned citizen and taken to a local animal shelter where he was scanned for a microchip, his owner was contacted.
Tara Hillis said Chief vanished from her yard when he was just a year old in 2017. At first she says she thought someone stole him to breed him, but now assumes he escaped all on his own.
Chief and Hillis will be reunited today. [via World News Era]
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An Arkansas woman has been charged with selling 20 boxes of stolen body parts, including fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, and pieces of skin from medical school cadavers to a man she met on a Facebook group about “oddities.”
Candace Chapman Scott pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property and interstate transportation of stolen property after allegedly collecting $11,000 for the stolen body parts.
Scott accessed the body parts through her job at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, where she was tasked with transporting, cremation and embalming remains. The University of Arkansas would send remains of cadavers to the mortuary to be cremated, which is when Scott intercepted them.
As for the man she sent the pieces to, it is unknown if he will face any charges. [via NBC News]
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2023’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” the nickname given to the final pick of the NFL Draft, is Toledo defensive lineman DESJUAN JOHNSON.
Johnson was selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the 259th pick.
HISTORY OF BEING IRRELEVANT: The nickname was coined in 1976 by former football player PAUL SALATA, who said “it’s not a negative to be picked last in the NFL Draft; rather, it’s an honor to be drafted at all.” There is a whole week dedicated to “Mr. Irrelevant,” which includes a trip to Newport Beach, Disneyland and several media and charity events. [via CBS Sports]
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WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
10. Sisu: $3.2 million (new)
9. The Covenant: $3.6 million (down from 3)
8. Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two: $3.8 million (new)
7. Air: $3.9 million (down from 6)
6. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: $4 million
5. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi: $4.6 million (re-release)
4. John Wick: Chapter 4: $5 million (stayed at 4)
3. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.: $6.8 million (new)
2. Evil Dead Rise: $12.2 million (stayed at 2)
1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie: $40 million (stayed at 1)
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BABY NEWS
Actress BONNIE WRIGHT is expecting her first child with husband ANDREW LOCOCO.
The 32-year-old “Harry Potter” star announced the news on Instagram, with a photo showing off her baby bump.
Wright and Lococo, a 39-year-old Senior Buyer for Soccerloco, got married in 2020.
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RELATIONSHIPS
TISH CYRUS, mom of MILEY, is engaged to actor DOMINIC PURCELL.
The 53-year-old “Prison Break” star popped the question in Malibu over the weekend, according to several outlets. Tish also confirmed the news on Instagram.
Tish, who is 55, was previously married to BILLY RAY CYRUS. She filed for divorce last year after 28 years of marriage.
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THE SWAMP
President JOE BIDEN took the stage at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ dinner to call for the release of American journalists being held by foreign governments.
In particular, Evan Gershkovich is being held by Russian officials and Austin Tice is detained in Syria.
Of course, Biden got in jabs at former President DONALD TRUMP, potential 2024 rival RON DESANTIS, and the news media – which, as Politico reported last week, Biden thinks doesn’t feature enough voices that support him. [via CNN]
MEANWHILE, IN ARKANSAS: First Son HUNTER BIDEN is expected to appear before a judge in Batesville, Arkansas today, in a hearing connected to a suit filed by the mother of one of his children – which the Biden family does not publicly acknowledge – for disregarding court orders and withholding evidence from her attorneys.
On Friday, Hunter Biden’s attorneys filed a motion requesting that he be able to appear by videoconference, which the judge denied. [via 4029TV, KARK]
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW added 272 points (0.8%) on Friday to close at 34,098. The S&P added 34 points (0.83%) to close at 4,169 and the NASDAQ added 84 points (0.69%) to close at 12,226.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $76; BRENT CRUDE at $80.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.61 on Sunday.
₿ BITCOIN ticked up over the weekend over 0.6% and trading over $29,400.
🛩 There were more than 6,340 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Sunday and more than 620 such cancellations.
💰Tuesday night’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $52 million jackpot or a $27.7 million cash payout. Tonight’s POWERBALL drawing will be for a $60 million jackpot or a $32.3 million cash payout.
SHOWBIZ NEWS
Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end TRAVIS KELCE wants to take his athletic talent to the wrestling ring.
The two-time Super Bowl champion told TMZ that he is working on landing a role with the WWE, after watching his friend, fellow football player GEORGE KITTLE rock it at WrestleMania.
Kelce said he is currently in talks with current WWE star MIKE MIZANIN aka The Miz to try to get something worked out. [via TMZ]
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A silkscreen portrait created by ANDY WARHOL of former running back OJ SIMPSON has hit the auction block as part of an “Athletes” series from Phillips auction house.
Signed by both men, the art is described as “a trajectory of celebrity and tragedy” by the auction house. Prior to being added to the auction, it will be on public display from May 6-15 in NYC.
Phillips expects the portrait will sell in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. [via AP News]
WORTH NOTING: The highest price a Warhol painting has ever gone for at auction was 2022’s sale of “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” from 1964, which sold for $195 million.
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MICHELLE OBAMA played backup vocals for BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN at his concert Friday night in Barcelona.
Obama and her friend, actress KATE CAPSHAW belted out his hit “Glory Days.”
The night before the concert, Obama, Capshaw and their respective husbands, BARACK OBAMA and STEVEN SPIELBERG, were all spotted grabbing a bite to eat in the city. [via TMZ]
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Celebs gathered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles over the weekend to celebrate WILLIE NELSON’s 90th birthday.
NEIL YOUNG, GEORGE STRAIT, MIRANDA LAMBERT, THE CHICKS, CHRIS STAPLETON and others took the stage to serenade the crowd, while actors OWEN WILSON, HELEN MIRREN, ETHAN HAWKE and JENNIFER GARNER emceed the event.
At one point, Nelson invited SNOOP DOGG on stage, yelling “Come out and roll one with me Snoop,” before the two belted out their stoner hit, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”
The country legend officially turned 90 on Saturday. [via AP News]
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JACK NICHOLSON was spotted sitting courtside Friday night at Game 6 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies. He was joined by his son Ray, and grandson, Duke.
Prior to the game, Lakers star LEBRON JAMES chatted with the actor. Fellow actor LARRY DAVID was also seen shaking Nicholson’s hand.
It was Nicholson’s first Lakers game since 2021 and his first public appearance in over 18 months. [via ET]
FOR THE RECORD: The Lakers won 125-85.
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CASTING CALL
Only three weeks since it debuted and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has already grossed over a BILLION dollars globally in ticket sales.
As of Sunday, the movie had raked in $490 million in North America and $532 million internationally.
There are only five films in the billion-dollar club, with many reaching the milestone during the pandemic. They are, “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
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Rumor is…MILA KUNIS is in talks to play The Thing in a new “Fantastic 4” flick.
According to Twitter user @MyTimeToShineH, who is known to get the inside scoop about all things movie-related, Kunis is in talks to play a “female version of Ben Grimm.” For those unfamiliar, Grimm is the name of the guy who becomes The Thing (a giant orange rock person) who helps Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman and the Human Torch fight the bad guys.
Previously, The Thing has always been played by a male actor, but @MyTimeToShineH says director MATT SHAKMAN is “looking at Jewish actors, both male AND female” for the role. [via TMZ]
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MOLLY RINGWALD recently revealed that she turned down playing what would become JULIA ROBERTS’ role in “Pretty Woman.”
“I didn’t really like the story,” she told The Guardian. “I felt like there was something icky about it.”
Ringwald also said she didn’t land roles in “The Silence of the Lambs” or “Working Girl,” because she “didn’t really feel like darker roles were available to [her].”
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: “Pretty Woman” was a huge success, earning Roberts an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. [via Guardian]
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007 fans think they have uncovered who will be the new James Bond.
Speculation started after an Instagram video of actors STANLEY TUCCI and RICHARD MADDEN went viral. In the video, the “Citadel” co-stars were sipping martinis (Bond’s drink of choice) as Tucci asked Madden, “How’s yours?” to which Madden replied “Delicious.”
Fans flooded the comment section with comments such as, “There you go, the new James Bond” and “To the gods of 007 this is a new brainer.”
Other names that have been in the running for the role include PAAPA ESSIEDU, JAMES NORTON, REGE-JEAN PAGE, TOM HARDY and HENRY CAVILL. [via Deadline]
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LAWRENCE JONES will help fill in the spot left vacant by TUCKER CARLSON on Fox News Channel.
The 30-year-old, who is the youngest black solo host of a program in cable news, hosts “Lawrence Jones Cross Country,” which airs on Saturday nights.
For the time being, he will take over the 8 pm Monday night spot that once belonged to Tucker as a rotating line-up of anchors cover the other week nights. [via Page Six]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
YE is counter-suing his former business manager who claims the rapper failed to pay a $300,000 retainer fee plus 18-months worth of fees totaling $5.4 million.
Thomas St. John, who only worked for Ye for a few months, says he is owed the full 18-months worth of payments per the contract they signed. According to Ye, he doesn’t owe anything because when the contract was signed, he was “sleep-deprived, stressed, anxious and under duress” amid his ongoing divorce from KIM KARDASHIAN.
Ye is asking a judge to toss out St. John’s suit and order him to return the $900,000 he was paid. [via Daily Mail]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS: CORONATION WEEK
The “Stone of Destiny” has made it back to England for KING CHARLES’ coronation on Saturday.
The 335-pound ancient artifact – which sounds like the premise of the next Marvel movie – was used as a throne of sorts for Scottish kings during their coronations until the late 13th Century. That’s when King Edward I apparently took the stone to Westminster Abbey after his victory over Scottish forces in 1296, where it remained until 1996. Then, the English government allowed it to be returned to Scotland, as long as they’d return it for future coronations.
No word yet if its involvement in the coronation will be purely ceremonial or formally incorporated. [via CBS News, Edinburgh Castle]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Purebred Dog Day
Lei Day
May Day
National Chocolate Parfait Day
International Workers Day
School Principals’ Day
Global Love Day
National Mother Goose Day
School Bus Drivers Day
Therapeutic Massage Awareness Day
National Executive Coaching Day
New Home Owners Day
Early May Bank Holiday
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ON THIS DATE
1891 - Legendary pitcher Cy Young wins the first game played at Cleveland’s League Park.
The Cleveland Spiders beat the Cincinnati Redlegs 12-3.
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1920 - Babe Ruth records his first homerun with the Yankees.
The run was scored over his former team, the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees would win the game 6-0.
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1926 – Ford Motor Company regularizes the work schedule for factory-level workers.
It began with a five-day, 40-hour work week, which later extended to the corporate offices as well.
The carmaker was also the first to pay its workers well, when in 1914 it doubled the average pay to $5 a day. The move immediately boosted morale and productivity.
It is important to note the company did this without tax incentive or government mandate.
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1931 – President Hoover ceremoniously dedicates the Empire State Building.
From Washington, Hoover flipped a switch, supposedly turning on the lights of what was at the time the tallest building in the world. In reality, someone in New York powered up the building simultaneously.
The building project was a boon to the economy during the Great Depression, not only for the workers who built and maintained it, but also those who would work inside.
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1941 – Cinema classic "Citizen Kane" is first released.
The film fictionalizes the life and exploits of media mogul Randolph Hearst. Hearst was livid, and prohibited his newspapers from promoting the film.
Without the publicity, and as a testament to Hearst's influence, the movie initially flopped.
Since then it has grabbed the top spot on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest movies ever.
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1960 - A spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers is shot down over the Soviet Union.
With the Cold War in full force, this put a crack in already fragile relations between the two countries. President Eisenhower was irate, especially after his lieutenants told him that the Soviets did not possess technology sophisticated enough to take down a plane that flies at such high altitudes.
At first the U.S. claimed that the shot-down plane was conducting weather experiments, but then Soviet Premier Khrushchev put not only the plane but Francis Gary Powers on TV.
Eisenhower would have to admit that the US was indeed spying.
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1963 – James Whittaker becomes the first American to summit Mt. Everest.
Whittaker's feat came ten years after Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the peak.
Stacy Allison would be the first American woman to reach the peak in 1988.
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2003 – The first of a record-breaking plague of tornadoes breaks out across the United States.
By May 31 of that year, more than 500 tornadoes would be recorded nationwide, shattering the previous monthly record by 100.
Thirty-eight people died as a result, which is miraculous by some metrics. Scientists attribute the relatively low death toll to none of the twisters reaching the fierce F5 status.
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2019 - New York City officially names a street Sesame Street in honor of the show’s 50th anniversary.
The street is located at the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway.
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BIRTHDAYS
Lizzy Greene - actress, “A Million Little Things” - 20
Rema - pop singer - 23
Victoria Monet - pop singer - 34
Nicholas Braun - actor, “Succession” - 35
Drew Sidora - actress & “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star - 38
Farah Fath - actress, “Days of Our Lives” - 39
Jamie Dornan - actor, “Fifty Shades of Grey” - 41
Wes Welker - football player - 42
James Badge Dale - actor, “24” & “The Departed” - 45
James Murray - comedian - 47
Alex Van Pelt - football player - 53
Wes Anderson - director - 54
D’arcy Wretzky - rock bassist, The Smashing Pumpkins - 55
Tim McGraw - country singer - 56
Nick Feldman - musician, Wang Chung - 68
Ray Parker Jr. - rock guitarist, “Ghostbusters” - 70
Born On This Date
Gianna Bryant - daughter of Kobe - 2006 (d. 2020)
Scott Carpenter - astronaut, Mercury-Atlas 7 - 1925 (d. 2013)
Calamity Jane - frontierswoman - 1852 (d. 1903)
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