5/15/2025: Hard Times for High Fashion

PLUS: The Pope’s Posts; Cassie Testimony Continues; and Hating Meg

Today is Thursday, May 15, 2025.

It is the 135th day of the year.

230 days remain.

Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash

WHAT’S ON TAP

NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: The RattleCam is back, if peeping on a snake den is your idea of a good time.

Find out what’s next for the MENENDEZ brothers in SHOWBIZ.

HBO Max returns and the second “GoT” prequel series gets pushed back. Details in CASTING CALL.

MEGHAN SUSSEX slides to a new low in the latest favorability poll. Details in ROYALS.

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It’s hard times for high fashion.

BURBERRY is gutting its global employee headcount over the next two years, aiming to layoff 18% of its workers by 2027. The reduction in force represents about 1,700 jobs. The company said it carried a net loss last financial year of about $4 MILLION.

Burberry hopes the streamlined workforce will boost its bottom line to the tune of $133 MILLION in annual savings. [via CNN]

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Residents of a San Francisco suburb seem to have a real-life Angry Birds situation on their hands.

Locals have been freaked out by an increase in dead birds littering yards. In one instance, security cameras show a bird perched on a power line, recording a loud popping sound, then watching the bird fall to its death.

Wildlife experts who performed an autopsy say at least some of the birds were shot by some kind of BB gun or slingshot.

However it’s happening, the results are grim; one resident tells local media, "So when they land and it happens, they just quickly explode and it's really violent." [via ABC News]

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POPE LEO XIV has posted to his X account, @pontifex, for the first time as Pontiff.

“Peace be with you all!” he wrote, adding, “This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world.”

MEANWHILE: During a meeting with representatives of Eastern Christian Churches on Wednesday, Father Bob said he would play a role in mediating peace among warring groups and nations if given the opportunity. “Let us meet. Let us talk. Let us negotiate. War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must be silenced, because they do not solve problems—they only make them worse,” he said. [via New Voice of Ukraine]

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RattleCam is back!

The 24/7 livestream gives reptile fans a sneak peek at hundreds of wild rattlesnakes living in a “mega den” at an undisclosed location in Colorado.

Viewers will get a glimpse of the snakes emerging from hibernation, shedding their skins, and maybe even giving birth, as many of the females are believed to be pregnant.

Live-streaming of the megaden started last spring, and grossed more than 2.5 million views. [via Axios]

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The ringleader of a mini crime syndicate that ripped off DOORDASH of more than $2.5 MILLION over the span of just four months over the 2020-2021 winter has pleaded guilty.

Reddy Devagiri recruited a former Doordash office employee – not just a driver – to hack into the company’s systems to run the con. As the LA Times explains:

The crew created fake customer and driver accounts. First, they would charge high-dollar orders to customer accounts, then — using the credentials of the employee they were working with — they would manually reassign orders to driver accounts that they controlled.

The fake driver accounts would report the status of the fictitious orders as delivered, causing a payment to go through to those driver accounts.

They would then further manipulate DoorDash’s software to toggle the status of the fake orders from “delivered” to “in progress.”

From there, they’d reassign the order to another driver account they controlled. This triggered multiple payments on an individual, nonexistent order. Officials said the process usually took less than five minutes, and was repeated hundreds of times for many of the orders.

Devagiri will next be in court September 16, facing 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His three co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty. [via LA Times]

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