5/18/2023: Cocaine Bananas
PLUS: 27th Summit; Gisele & Shakira Do Miami; and Royal Car Chase
Today is Thursday, May 18, 2023.
It is the 138th day of the year.
227 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
ELON MUSK says the laptop class’ “work from home” culture is immoral and KIM JONG JUNIOR puts eyes in space – maybe. More in HIT LIST.
How have GARTH BROOKS and TRISHA YEARWOOD kept their marriage alive so long in the entertainment industry? Find out in SHOWBIZ.
TOM HANKS believes his acting career can last forever thanks to artificial intelligence and ALEC BALDWIN lands another gun-totin’ movie role. More in CASTING CALL.
YE’s new apparel modeled by his wife has raised some eyebrows. More in KARDASH.
HARRY and MEG say they were chased through Manhattan by paps for two hours! More in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
ELON MUSK says that the work-from-home culture popular with younger employees is “morally wrong” – because they still rely on the labor of people who have to get up and out of bed so they can live their lives in their houses.
“You’re going to work from home and you're going to make everyone else who made your car come work in the factory? You're going to make the people who make your food… they can't work from home? The people that fix your house — they can't work from home? But, you can? Does that seem morally right? That’s messed up,” he said during an interview with CNBC.
He said the so-called “laptop class” is living in “lala land” and stands on a “moral high horse,” adding that people are more productive at the office, anyway. [via CNBC]
SPEAKING OF LIVING IN LALA LAND AND MORAL WRONGS: Disgraced THERANOS founder ELIZABETH HOLMES has exhausted the appeals process to try to stay out of prison following her conviction.
An appeals court has rejected her bid to remain free pending appeal — she’ll report to prison on May 30. She was also ordered to pay $452 million in restitution, split with her one-time lover and partner in crime SUNNY BALWANI. [via Associated Press]
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A 53-year-old Nepali Sherpa named Kami Rita has clocked his 27th summit of Mount Everest, breaking his own record for the most ascents of the world’s tallest peak.
Earlier this week, a fellow sherpa tied that record. Now Kami is back on top.
WORTH NOTING: May is the prime season for scaling Everest. [via CNN]
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North Korean State Media released photos of autocratic leader KIM JONG JUNIOR examining a military spy satellite.
BUT WAIT: The rogue state would need to use rocket technology that the United Nations has banned it from using in order to get it into orbit.
HOWEVER: Recent tests suggest the North Koreans have this ability, anyway. [via Associated Press, New York Post]
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A Minnesota man accused of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by JUDY GARLAND in “The Wizard of Oz” has been indicted by a grand jury.
Federal authorities announced Wednesday that 76-year-old Terry Martin allegedly stole the slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005. They were recovered in 2018 during an FBI sting operation in Minneapolis, though no arrests were made at the time.
Of the many slippers worn by Garland in the 1939 musical, only four remain; the pair that were swiped and three others owned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian and an unidentified private collector.
The stolen pair, which were on loan to the museum, were insured for $1 million, but have a current market value of about $3.5 million, according to federal prosecutors. [via AP News]
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A police dog in Italy alerted his handlers to three tons of cocaine being smuggled into the country in a shipment of bananas.
The drugs arrived from Ecuador in a crate of about 70 tons of bananas, which was already noted as suspicious as the shipper listed on the label is not known to send that much fruit. Also, the port city at which the shipment was discovered is under control of the ‘Ndrangheta organized crime family.
Upon inspection of the crate, officers said Joel the K-9, pounced and began pawing at the load.
The cocaine, which authorities noted was “of the finest quality,” is worth about $900 million on the streets. [via ABC AU News]
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BREAKUPS
Rep. LAUREN BOEBERT has filed for divorce from her estranged husband JAYSON BOEBERT after 15 years of marriage.
She cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split and asked for privacy for their four children.
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RELATIONSHIPS
HOLLY MADISON and ZAK BAGANS are back together.
The former Playboy playmate and the “Ghost Adventures” star first started dating in 2019 before calling things off two years later.
Now it seems they have decided to rekindle things.
By the way -- she is 43 and he is 46.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW added 408 points (1.24%) to close at 33,420. The S&P added 48 points (1.19%) to close at 4,158 and the NASDAQ added 157 points (1.28%) to close at 12,500.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $72; BRENT CRUDE at $76.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.53 on Wednesday.
₿ BITCOIN was up over 1% on Wednesday, trading around $27,300.
🛩 There were more than 3,160 FLIGHTS delayed with, into, or out of the United States on Wednesday and more than 85 such cancellations.
💰Friday night’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $132 million jackpot or a $68.8 million cash payout.
SHOWBIZ NEWS
GARTH BROOKS and TRISHA YEARWOOD may have found the secret to a loving and lasting marriage: keep flirting.
Yearwood told E! News that Brooks was “flirting pretty hard” before the two walked the red carpet at the ACM Awards last week. They weren’t together prior to walking out as Brooks was hosting the event alongside country legend DOLLY PARTON.
When asked what the key to their long-lasting marriage is, Yearwood replied, “friendship, laughter and mutual respect -- and just love.” [via Fox News]
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BEYONCE’s mom TINA KNOWLES-LAWSON had to be rescued during her daughter’s recent concert in Brussels, Belgium.
According to eyewitnesses, Tina was “hoisted out” of the Club Renaissance section -- an exclusive section on the floor for top tier ticket holders -- by six medics and a couple of fans after her exit was blocked by concert goers. After being set back on her feet outside of the chaos, she apologized to nearby fans for the interruption.
It is unclear why Bey’s mom was in the section, though one fan suggested that she wanted to intermingle to hear what fans were saying about the show.
As previously reported, Beyonce is currently on her “Renaissance World Tour.” [via NY Post]
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GISELE BUNDCHEN and SHAKIRA were spotted enjoying a bite to eat in Miami this week.
The newly-single ladies were joined by their kids, who all seemed to get along as they chowed down on some sushi.
As previously reported, Bundchen split from TOM BRADY after 13 years of marriage, while Shakira called off her 11-year relationship with soccer star GERARD PIQUE. Both breakups occurred last year. [via TMZ]
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Diamondbacks pitcher ZAC GALLEN killed a bird with one of his warmup pitches on Wednesday night.
As Gallen threw a hard curveball to the catcher, a bird flew right in its path. A video of the pitch shows the bird being struck and then falling to the grass.
Insiders told Bally Sports Arizona the Gallen felt really bad about the unfortunate accident.
WORTH NOTING: Gallen is not the first pitcher to kill a bird with a pitch. In 2001, RANDY JOHNSON off’d a dove with his fastball. [via Bally Sports]
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Reality star KIM ZOLCIAK-BIERMANN says she wants her estranged husband KROY BIERMANN drug tested, claiming his pot smoking is putting their four kids at risk.
According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kim is asking a judge to force Kroy to submit to a five-panel hair follicle drug screen.
The request comes amid an already contentious divorce with Kroy seeking full custody of the kids. [via TMZ]
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CASTING CALL
Thanks to artificial intelligence TOM HANKS says even after he dies he can continue to appear in films.
On an episode of “The Adam Buxton Podcast,” the actor chatted about the future of A.I. in terms of filmmaking.
“Anybody can now recreate themselves at any age they are, by way of AI or deep fake technology…I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but my performances can go on and on and on,” he stated.
When asked if audiences would be able to tell the difference between the real Hanks and an A.I. Hanks, he replied “Without a doubt people will be able to tell, but the question is, will they care?” [via People]
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Season 2 of “Sex and the City” reboot “And Just Like That…” will hit Max (formerly HBO Max) on June 22.
The streamer announced the premiere date with a promotional image featuring Carrie Bradshaw (SARAH JESSICA PARKER) and her gal pals sitting at a table with the tagline, “Pull up a chair, it’s gonna be a feast.”
Fans are eagerly awaiting the return of JOHN CORBETT’s character Aidan, who was previously engaged to Bradshaw. [via ET]
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ALEC BALDWIN will star in a new film about Kent State students who were killed during campus protests against the Vietnam war.
“Kent State” will “bring to life the violent and tragic events of May 4, 1970, when four students were shot and killed by the National Guard during a campus protest,” the official description reads.
Baldwin will play Kent State president Robert I. White. [via Hollywood Reporter]
BY THE WAY: Baldwin just wrapped filming on “Rust.”
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The 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards have been postponed amid the ongoing writers’ strike.
According to ET, the awards ceremony will no longer air on CBS on June 16. Also, the Creative Arts & Literature awards ceremony, which was set for June 17, will not take place on that day.
No word on a potential future date.
As previously reported, the writers’ strike began on May 2 after the Writers Guild of America failed to reach an agreement with major Hollywood studios over contracts. [via ET]
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CONAN O’BRIEN is taking his talents on the road in a four-episode international travel series called “Conan O’Brien Must Go.”
The show will follow the former late night host as he travels across the globe, visiting new people he has met through his podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan.”
The show will air on Max (former HBO Max), along with Conan’s previous travel series “Conan Without Borders,” which initially aired on TBS. [via Hollywood Reporter]
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COURT CASES
BRYAN KOHBERGER has been indicted by a grand jury for the murders of four Idaho University students.
The indictment allows prosecutors to skip the previously scheduled preliminary hearing on June 26.
Kohberger, who was arrested in December, faces four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary. He is expected to enter a plea next Monday. [via People]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
YE’s wife BIANCA CENSORI modeled a piece from his new Yeezy fashion line, and it leaves little to the imagination.
In one photo, Censori is wearing only a black square of material across her chest, a black cross covering her butt crack, a strip of black covering her other private area and some thigh-high black leggings.
Comments on the look ranged from those calling it “very un-Christ like” to those wondering how one would “use the bathroom”. [via TMZ]
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Hulu has renewed “The Kardashians.”
The famous family has landed another 20-episode season on the streamer.
Meanwhile, Season 3 is set to premiere on May 25.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
Reps for PRINCE HARRY and MEGHAN MARKLE said on Wednesday that the couple spent two hours in a dangerous car chase trying to evade paparazzi in New York on Tuesday night.
The spokesman described the chase as “near catastrophic” and said it resulted in “multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.”
One member of the security team told CNN that he had never experienced anything like it.
BUT WAIT: At some point, Harry and Meg switched from their chauffeured black car to a yellow taxi. A man who claims he drove that taxi said the drivers following them were not aggressive. “We were just making left turns and right turns and that’s it,” though he added the former working royals appeared shaken.
WORTH NOTING: The Sussexes are good tippers at least; they left $50 for a $17.50 fare. [via CNN]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Notebook Day
World Arak Day
National Cheese Souffle Day
International Museum Day
National Visit Your Relatives Day
Global Accessibility Awareness Day
National No Dirty Dishes Day
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ON THIS DATE
1756 – Great Britain declares war on France, beginning the Seven Years' War.
Fighting had actually started between the empires two years earlier, in North America, largely over territorial disputes.
Thanks to alliances and treaties spanning the globe, one conflict exacerbated another. Soon, Great Britain, Prussia, and Portugal were at war with France, Spain, Austria, Russia, and Sweden.
In America, the squabble was mainly over the Ohio Country. Both France and Britain claimed it … as did the Iroquois Indians . . . and the Ohio tribes.
Seven years later the countries agreed to the Treaty of Paris to end the conflict.
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1832 – Edwin Beard Budding receives a patent for the first lawnmower.
The British inventor observed textile workers using shaving machines with rotating blades to trim extra threads off of fabric.
Budding took the concept and applied it to lawnmowers.
Invented in 1830, his first model was built of cast iron and required two workers: one to push and one to pull. Gears transferred the human power to three spinning blades.
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1860 – At the Republican Party Convention in Chicago, delegates elect Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for President of the United States. Lincoln had only previously served one term as a representative and had lost two bids for the Senate.
Hannibal Hamlin, a former governor, representative, and senator from Maine, would be his running mate.
Lincoln would win the general election later that year, beating out Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, to whom he lost the bid for senator two years prior.
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1896 – The Supreme Court rules in favor of the Separate-but-Equal Doctrine to enforce racial segregation.
In the majority ruling, Justice Henry Billings Brown declares that blacks have erroneously concluded that being forced into segregated facilities somehow means they're inferior and that segregation is a simple matter of public policy.
It wasn't until Brown v. Board of education - whose anniversary was yesterday - that the separate-but-equal doctrine was deemed unconstitutional.
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1897 – Archibald Constable and Company publish the novel “Dracula.”
The horror novel, penned by Bram Stoker, was actually part of a fad. Notable authors like Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, and H.G. Wells were turning out stories about fantastical creatures terrorizing the British Empire in a genre called Invasion Literature.
Though Stoker certainly did not invent the vampire, his story thrust the vampire into pop culture. From that point on, vampires were off into hundreds of incarnations around the globe, including film and stage adaptations, Count Chocula cereal, and eventually even the “Twilight” saga.
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1933 - The first MLB All-Star Game is announced.
It would be played that July at Comiskey Park as part of the Chicago World Fair.
Fans selected players to compete.
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1974 – India becomes the first country outside the five UN Security Council nations to successfully detonate a nuclear explosion.
The weapon's codename was Smiling Buddha.
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1980 – A giant earthquake triggers the eruption of Mount Saint Helens in Washington state. The volcano had been dormant for more than a hundred years. A series of smaller earthquakes had caused smaller, shorter emissions, but it had become clear that gasses and magma were building inside the north face.
After the initial rupture, pressurized magma blasted rock debris, gasses, and molten rock at speeds up to 670 miles an hour. Some reports suggest the flying boulders broke the sound barrier.
The blast lasted little more than thirty seconds, but destroyed 230 square miles. Fifty-seven died. Two hundred houses, 27 bridges, 17 miles of railroad and 185 of highway were destroyed. Cleanup cost nearly $3 billion.
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2004 – Arizona Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson becomes the 17th pitcher to throw a perfect game.
At 40-year-old he is the oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game; surpassing Cy Young who was 37 when he threw his perfect game in 1904
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2018 - K-Pop band BTS release their third album “Love Yourself: Tear.”
It sells over 135,000 units in the first week, marking the band’s highest-charting album in the Western market.
It was also the first Korean album to top the US albums chart.
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BIRTHDAYS
Addison Holley - actress, “Little Charmers” & “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” - 23
Megan Goodman - actress, “Haunted Hathaways” - 25
Luke Black - pop singer - 31
Ryan Cooley - actor, “Degrassi: The Next Generation” - 35
Jens Bergensten - video game designer, worked on Minecraft - 44
Jack Johnson - rock singer - 48
Teresa Giudice - reality star, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” - 51
Tina Fey - actress, “30 Rock” & “Mean Girls” - 53
George Strait - country singer - 71
Reggie Jackson - baseball player - 77
Brooks Robinson - baseball player - 86
Born On This Date
Pope John Paul II - 264th Roman Catholic Pope - 1920 (d. 2005)
Perry Como - pop singer - 1912 (d. 2001)
Frank Capra - director, “It’s a Wonderful Life” - 1897 (d. 1991)
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