Today is Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
It is the 128th day of the year.
238 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
Some good news for a famous fraudster and renters despair at home ownership prospects. Details in HIT LIST.
Check out who showed up to last night’s MET GALA in SHOWBIZ.
WILLIAM SHATNER would be open to reviving this iconic character and another “Pitch Perfect” movie might be in the works. Details in CASTING CALL.
KIM gets roasted at TOM BRADY’s roast. More in KARDASH.
The hardest working royal continues to earn her reputation. Details in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
Columbia University will not hold its main commencement ceremonies in the aftermath of weeks of anti-Israel protests. In an amusing bit of irony, the main ceremony was to be held on the site of the main encampment setup by Students for Justice in Palestine that was eventually cleared by police in recent days. [via Axios]
QUICK MATH: If a graduating senior in the class of 2020 went on to finish an undergraduate degree from Columbia, he would have had both graduation ceremonies canceled. The first amid the pandemic and the second one this spring.
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ELIZABETH HOLMES — of fraudulent blood-testing company THERANOS infamy — has earned more than two years shaved off her 135-month prison sentence.
She’s now set to be released on August 16, 2032. The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not publicly disclose specifics, but does typically allow inmates to earn earlier releases for good behavior and participating in work programs.
WORTH NOTING: Even if Holmes lives outside the walls of the prison in Byron, Texas, she’ll still be required to live under supervision for the remainder of her court-ordered sentence, typically in a house arrest or probation situation. [via NBC News]
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A melee between supporters for two competing soccer teams in Germany left dozens of police officers injured over the weekend.
During a match between Dynamo Berlin and Energie Cottbus, Dynamo supporters threw flaming garbage at Energie fans and burned scarves in their colors. Police deployed tear gas to subdue the scuffle.
BUT WAIT: 116 of the 155 reported officer injuries were from the very same tear gas they deployed. The rest suffered a combination of assaults and burns after being hit by pyrotechnics lobbed by rioters.
BY THE WAY: Cottbus won 2-0. [via ABC News]
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A survey conducted by the Federal Reserve shows an all-time low number of current renters who believe they’ll be able to afford a home someday, at 13.4%.
Just last year, more than two-thirds of respondents said obtaining a mortgage is “somewhat or very difficult”; that number is now 74.2%.
IT GETS WORSE: About 10% of respondents say they expect to pay more for rent in their current home in the next year. [via CNBC]
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A collection of letters written by HELEN KELLER are for sale at Moments In Time for $75,000.
Purchased for $54 at a rummage sale, the letters range from Keller’s childhood to adulthood, and reveal new details about her relationship with her mother, and how she broke barriers for people with hearing and vision impairments.
Keller was born blind, deaf and unable to speak in 1880. She didn’t let those things hold her back however, and became an advocate for people with disabilities up until her death in 1968. [via TMZ]
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW increased 176 points (0.46%) to close at 38,852 on Monday. The S&P increased 52 points (1.03%) to close at 5,180 and the NASDAQ increased 192 points (1.19%) to close at 16,349.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $78; BRENT CRUDE at $80.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.65 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN ticked down on Monday, trading around $63,500.
🛩 There were more than 4,385 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 128 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $306 million jackpot or a $140.1 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Celebs took part in fashion's biggest night last night at the 2024 Met Gala.
First to walk the steps of the iconic Metropolitan Museum Of Art were co-chairs BAD BUNNY, ZENDAYA, CHRIS HEMSWORTH and JENNIFER LOPEZ.
Vogue editor-in-chief ANNA WINTOUR also arrived early, posing at the stairs in a custom-made Loewe blazer adorned with red and yellow flowers, which she paired with a simple white gown.
The theme of this year’s event was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” with a dress code of “The Garden of Time.”
Check out all the looks of the night here >
MEANWHILE: Outside the Met a group of pro-Palestinian protesters got rambunctious, running through the streets, shoving each other and removing steel barricades blocking traffic leading to the event. [via X]
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A second “black book” belonging to pedophile JEFFREY EPSTEIN will soon hit the auction block.
Alexander Historical Auctions is set to list the book -- containing 220 high-profile names and contact info -- on May 15. Alexander owner Bill Panagopulos told The Daily Beast that he expects it to sell for between $100,000 and $200,000.
In 2021, Business Insider reported that the address book includes names such as co-owner of the New York Jets SUZANNE IRCHA; billionaire CARL ICHAN; CHRIS CUOMO’s wife, CRISTINA GREEVEN; businessman JOHN CATSIMATIDIS; and AL GORE’s former mentor MARTY PEREZ. None of those listed are believed to be connected to the crimes committed by Epstein.
The auction comes just months after dozens of famous names appeared in a newly unsealed court document that included references to PRINCE ANDREW, BILL CLINTON, STEPHEN HAWKING, and more. [via Daily Beast, Business Insider]
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LANA DEL REY will headline her first-ever stadium show at Fenway Park, in Boston, on June 20.
The one-night-only affair follows her sold-out show at Coachella last month.
Del Rey is currently working on a new country album, called “Lasso.” [via Billboard]
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SIA filed to officially change her name from Sia Kate Furler to Sia Bernad, to have the same last name as her husband.
She and Dan Bernad tied the knot last year in Portofino, Italy -- at the same venue that KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN and TRAVIS BARKER said “I do” in 2022. [via The Blast]
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Country singer KELLIE PICKLER sold her 4-bedroom, 5-bathroom Nashville home for $2.6 million. The house is where she lived with her late husband KYLE JACOBS, who died by suicide.
Pickler and Jacobs bought the home in 2010 for $1.4 million.
MEANWHILE: Pickler was recently subpoenaed by her in-laws, Reed and Sharon Jacobs, over items belonging to their late son. Those items include, his gun collection, knife collection, Rolex watch, jewelry (excluding his wedding ring), Japanese swords, 2 guitars, file cabinets, family photos and his sheet music. Failure to do so could result in “punishment by fine and/or imprisonment,” per the notice [via Radar Online]
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BEN AFFLECK’s appearance at TOM BRADY’s roast has many asking if he underwent plastic surgery.
Comments on X about his face, specifically, included, “hard launching new face,” “fresh from a face lift” and “melty looking.”
As for Affleck’s roast, X users said he seemed “unhinged.” [via Page Six]
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With the recent cancellation of “Blue Bloods,” TOM SELLECK is eager to find a new gig or risk being forced to sell his 63-acre California ranch.
Selleck shared his fear on “CBS Sunday Morning” this past weekend, telling a reporter that while he has enough money to get by, there is no way he has enough to keep up with the sprawling ranch.
It was announced last year that “Blue Bloods” will come to an end after 14 seasons. Selleck played NYC Police Commissioner Frank Reagan for all of them. [via TMZ]
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CASTING CALL
A group of French film festival employees say they will strike if unemployment benefits are not extended to them. The group argues that with the “intermittent nature of [their] profession” they should be covered under France’s unemployment benefits plan.
Should talks fall through, a strike would affect the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, which is set to kick off on May 14. [via The Wrap]
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WILLIAM SHATNER says he is open to reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk in a future “Star Trek” flick.
“It’s an intriguing idea,” he said. “It’s almost impossible. But if it was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance…I might consider it.”
Fans of the franchise will remember that Kirk was killed off in “Star Trek: Generations,” though Shatner believes his body and brain might have been frozen to be revived years later. [via THR]
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A “Pitch Perfect 4” is (maybe) in the works.
Original star REBEL WILSON implied as much in a recent interview, saying “one is being developed,” adding, “I don’t know what the storyline’s going to be. I guess they’ve got to get the script right first…”
Fans should take her comments with a grain of salt, as scripts are developed in Hollywood all the time that never come to fruition. [via CinemaBlend]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN has become a pro at dealing with the haters, and she proved that on Netflix’s “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady.”
The reality star was one of a gaggle of celebs on hand to roast Brady -- and each other. When Kim reached the mic however, she was met with a chorus of “boos” from the audience. Taking it in stride, she allowed them to have their say before kicking off her jokes -- starting with a shot at fellow roaster KEVIN HART.
Brady took a few shots at her too, joking that Kim was nervous about being there because that meant she had to leave her kids with their dad aka YE. [via TMZ]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
PRINCESS ANNE has long maintained a reputation as the hardest-working member of the Royal Family — and at 73 years old, she’s still picking up the pace.
With KING CHARLES and PRINCESS KATE sidelined for cancer treatment, Anne has stepped up yet again, so far this year attending 172 official events through the end of April. That’s four more than she took on in the same period last year.
Overall, though, the new slimmed-down monarchy has been less visible in 2024, with 25% fewer official events including royal attendance year over year. [via DailyMail]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Tourism Day
Poem on Your Pillow Day
National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
National Teacher Day
National Cosmopolitan Day
Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day
World Asthma Day
National School Nurse Day
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ON THIS DATE
1794 - French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre institutes the Cult of the Supreme Being. It was a state-sanctioned and endorsed religion, with an emphasis on reason and logic, backed by an ethereal sentiment for some sort of deity.
To distance it from Christian faiths, Robespierre declared that the formerly biblical Sabbath would occur every 10 days, not 7.
Robespierre also acknowledged he designed the religion for social utility.
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1902 - The eruption of Mount Pele on the island of Martinique destroys the city of Saint Pierre.
A series of earthquakes and tremors preceded the blast. But the citizens of Saint Pierre were wrapped up in a local election, and did not take appropriate precautions. As the eruption became imminent, locals even came to the city center in order to witness the primary explosion. This, even as ash was pouring into the air.
The ultimate blast put enough dirt and particles into the air to bury the entire city in only five minutes. Only two survived: both were prisoners, protected in an underground jail cell.
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1915 - A German U-Boat torpedoes the British ocean liner, Lusitania.
Almost 1200 people drowned, including 128 Americans. The attack came as World War I ramped up, though the U.S. had remained uninvolved and uncommitted at that point. Germany defended the attack, citing their very public policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
The ship sank in less than 20 minutes.
America wouldn’t formally enter the war until April 1917.
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1945 - Exactly 30 years later, German and Allied diplomats meet to formally sign the Nazis' surrender, ending World War II. The meeting in France ended the German's conflict with European forces in the west and Soviet forces in the East.
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1992 - Michigan ratifies the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, making it law: Congressmen would no longer be able to vote themselves pay raises within that session.
The amendment was first proposed in 1789 by James Madison. Six states ratified it by 1791, but as more states were added to the Union, the number of state legislatures required to ratify a Constitutional amendment also increased.
It was then forgotten until 1978, when the Wyoming legislature ratified the amendment. In the late '80s, more states followed suit. Michigan's ratification sealed the deal.
Speaker of the House Tom Foley -- a Democrat -- opposed the measure and threatened a legal challenge. He eventually changed his mind.
Also on this day…
Space Shuttle Endeavor blasts off for the first time.
Endeavor replaced Challenger, and would be the last shuttle built by NASA.
It was built primarily from spare parts from Discovery and Atlantis. It was named for the HMS Endeavour, the ship captained by James Cook in the 1700s.
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2017 - MTV becomes the first major network to adopt gender-neutral categories for its TV and Movie Awards.
Emma Watson wins for best film ACTOR and Millie Bobby Brown wins for best TV ACTOR.
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2020 - Nearly two months into the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment claims in the US hit 33.3 million or 20% of the workforce.
Two months prior, unemployment was at 3.5% — a 50-year low.
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BIRTHDAYS
Julia Antonelli - actress, “Outer Banks” & “Every Witch Way” - 21
Jake Bongiovi - son of Jon Bon Jovi - 22
Elijah Nelson - actor, “The Thundermans” - 25
Tommy Fury - boxer - 25
Will Ospreay - wrestler - 31
Alexander Ludwig - actor, “The Hunger Games” - 32
Devin Sola - bassist, Motionless In White - 34
Maya Erskine - actress, “PEN15” - 37
Russell Dickerson - country singer - 37
Matt Helders - drummer, The Arctic Monkeys - 38
Robbie Jarvis - actor, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” - 38
J. Balvin - reggaeton singer - 39
Scheana Marie - reality star, “Vanderpump Rules” - 39
Alex Smith - football player - 40
Kevin Owens - wrestler - 40
Born On This Date
Owen Hart - wrestler - 1965 (d. 1999)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - composer - 1840 (d. 1893)
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