6/13/2023: Ocean Bear 🐻
PLUS: Apple Vision … Lite?; Garth Brooks Backlash; and Charles in the Saddle
Today is Tuesday, June 13, 2023.
It is the 164th day of the year.
201 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
Bad news for a food delivery favorite and a Spiderman wannabe gets busted. More in HIT LIST.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER has been threatened by the grandkids of mob boss JOHN GOTTI, SLYVESTER STALLONE says ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER is the better action hero and NICK CANNON calls out 50 CENT’s weight. More in SHOWBIZ.
PAT SAJAK is retiring and FOX NEWS wants TUCKER CARLSON to shut down his new Twitter show. More in CASTING CALL.
The KARDASHIAN web is getting even more intertwined. More in KARDASH.
KING CHARLES is saddling up. More in ROYALS.
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HIT LIST
APPLE’s announcement about the forthcoming Vision Pro VR headset caused plenty of excitement and buzz last week – but also plenty of mockery for its $3,499 price tag.
Bloomberg reports that Apple is already working on a solution to that, and has plans to roll out a simpler version for a lower price – though of course no details yet on what a less powerful version would mean in terms of experience and quality.
WORTH NOTING: This makes sense for Apple, which slaps the “Pro” label on its higher-end offerings, like the MacBook versus the MacBook Pro. [via Mashable]
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Food delivery service GRUBHUB is downsizing its workforce, to the tune of 400 jobs representing 15% of its workforce.
The app has notoriously lagged behind competitors DOORDASH and UBEREATS, and the post-pandemic malaise likely hasn’t helped their bottom line, either.
WORTH REMEMBERING: Grubhub was purchased for $7.3 BILLION in an all-stock deal in 2021 by a Dutch holding company. [via NBC News]
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Officials in South Korea have detained a man in his 20s for scaling the outside of a 123-story building in Seoul on Monday.
George King-Thompson – a British native – was stopped by officials on a gondola-style lift as he reached the 72nd floor; that’s when they pulled him inside. King-Thompson reportedly told them he was going to base jump from the top; he even had a parachute in a backpack.
WORTH NOTING: The Lotte World Tower he tried to scale is the fifth-tallest skyscraper in the world, at 1,820 feet. [via Associated Press]
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The New York Mets have asked fans to name their new teammate -- an 11-week-old black Labrador veteran service dog. Over 6,000 votes were cast for the three names: Homer, Scout or Seaver.
And the winning name is…Seaver!
The Mets are the first MLB team to welcome a future service dog, and have raised $100,000 for the nonprofit America’s VetDogs, which pairs pups with veterans and first responders with disabilities. [via NY Post]
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Beachgoers in Destin, Florida were shocked when a black bear -- initially thought to be a dog -- waddled its way out of the ocean over the weekend.
While those nearby were stunned to see the animal, the bear seemed to be totally at ease on the crowded beach.
One eyewitness filmed the bear taking a swim and then walking up the beach, as stunned onlookers watched fearlessly. A person could be heard in the background of the clip yelling, “It’s a bear.” [via Today]
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DEATHS
SILVIO BERLUSCONI has died.
The media mogul and three-time Italian Prime Minister passed away Monday, according to his TV network Mediaset. Berlusconi was hospitalized on Friday for the second time in months for treatment of leukemia. He also suffered from heart ailments, prostate cancer and was hospitalized with COVID-19 in 2020.
He was 82.
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ESPN director KYLE BROWN has died.
He passed away “after suffering a medical emergency” over the weekend, according to the network. No further details were shared. Prior to his time at ESPN, Brown was a pitcher for Ohio State.
He was only 42.
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BABY NEWS
Actress UZO ADUBA is expecting her first child with husband, director ROBERT SWEETING.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2020, showed off Aduba’s bump at Sunday night’s Tony Awards.
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“SNL” alum ABBY ELLIOTT has given birth to her second child with husband BILL KENNEDY.
The baby boy, named William Joseph Lunney Kennedy arrived on June 9, according to an Instagram post from Elliott.
The couple are already parents to two-year-old daughter Edith.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW added 189 points (0.56%) to close at 34,066 on Monday. The S&P added 40 points (0.93%) to close at 4,338 and the NASDAQ added 202 points (1.53%) to close at 13,461.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $67; BRENT CRUDE at $72.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.59 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN was trading around $25,900 Monday evening.
🛩 There were more than 5,890 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Monday and more than 510 such cancellations.
💰Tonight’s MEGA MILLIONS drawing will be for a $260 million jackpot or a $134.3 million cash payout.
SHOWBIZ NEWS
The fallout from FLOYD MAYWEATHER’s exhibition boxing match against JOHN GOTTI III is getting personal.
After the match ended in dual disqualifications and a fight in the ring between both fighters’ camps, Gotti’s sister NICOLETTE allegedly threatened Mayweather’s daughter on Instagram.
“I swear on my kids I’m coming for your daughter, it may be 2 years, 3 years from now but I’m coming…” she wrote.
John also called Mayweather his “enemy for life” on the social media app. [via Brobible]
WORTH NOTING: Nicolette and John are the grandchildren of mob boss JOHN GOTTI of the Gambino crime family.
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SYLVESTER STALLONE says ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER was the “superior” action movie star.
In response to reports that the two muscle men “really disliked each other immensely” during their peak in the ‘80’s, Stallone now says there is no question Schwarzenegger was the better action hero.
Schwarzenegger also has high praise for Stallone, saying in his new documentary, that “every time [Stallone] came out with a movie like ‘Rambo II,’ [he] had to figure out a way of outdoing [it].”
The pair ultimately combined their superior strength to star opposite each other in the first two “Expendables” movies and the 2013 film, “Escape Plan.”
Schwarzenegger’s three-part docuseries, “Arnold,” is currently streaming on Netflix. [via Variety]
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NICK CANNON didn’t hold back his thoughts on rapper 50 CENT’s weight while talking to the rapper’s ex-girlfriend, actress VIVICA FOX on a recent episode of his “The Daily Cannon” podcast.
After Fox said she would be open to dating 50 again, Cannon said, “You can like, fantasize about Fif from 15 years ago,” but that is “different [from] the fat 50 of today.”
Cannon’s co-hosts came to 50’s defense, saying they still find him attractive, to which the actor replied, “You looking at them pictures from ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’, now it’s get thick or die fryin’.”
Fans flocked to the comments to defend 50, with one writing to Cannon, “Calling him fat don’t change the fact 50 is 50 and you are just you.” [via Insider]
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GARTH BROOKS says Bud Light will be served at his new Nashville bar, Friends in Low Places & Honky Tonk.
When asked if the bar would be serving the controversial beer, Brooks said, “Yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. If you’re an asshole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway.”
The honky-tonk joint is due to open this summer. [via Variety]
IN RESPONSE: Some of his fans are upset that Brooks is planning to serve Bud Light at his new bar, after the brand’s collaboration with transgender influencer DYLAN MULVANEY. They have started a social media movement with #boycottgarthbrooks. [via Insider]
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Actor TENOCH HUERTA is denying sexual assault allegations made against him.
The “Black Panther” star has been accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, musician MARIA ELENA RIOS, who called him a “sexual predator.”
According to Tenoch, the two were in a “loving, warm and mutually supportive relationship” that was “entirely consensual at all times,” but after they split she started to “misrepresent” their relationship.
No word on whether or not Rios has gone to the authorities with her accusations. [via TMZ]
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NICK MINAJ and ICE SPICE’s new song “Barbie World” will debut on June 23.
The song, which features original “Barbie Girl” hitmakers AQUA, is on the “Barbie” soundtrack.
“Barbie” has a theatrical release date of July 21. The soundtrack will drop on that date too. [via Billboard]
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NOVAK DJOKOVIC is the new major singles title holder.
With his win on Sunday during the 2023 French Open, the 36-year-old tennis star broke a tie with RAFAEL NADAL for the most singles trophies in the history of men’s tennis.
He is also the first to win each Grand Slam tournament title at least three times, according to CBS.
Nadal, who missed the tournament due to injury, congratulated Djokovic on Twitter. [via CBS]
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CASTING CALL
PAT SAJAK is leaving “Wheel of Fortune.”
News broke Monday evening that the longtime host plans to retire after the 2023-24 season. He has hosted the game show since its debut in 1981.
Sajak will serve as a consultant for the show for a few years after leaving the on-camera gig. [via Hollywood Reporter]
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Fox News has sent former primetime star TUCKER CARLSON a cease and desist letter over his Twitter show that launched last week, as he is still under contract with them through next year.
Carlson’s attorney released a statement on the letter, saying the network is ignoring the “interests of its viewers” while “doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry.”
Despite the letter, an insider told Deadline that Carlson’s next episode will drop today on Twitter. [via Deadline]
WORTH NOTING: If Fox News wins, it would mean that Carlson would be off the air until after the 2024 election.
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Instagram user KI Vinci reimagined “Harry Potter” characters as mafia members with some A.I.-generated art.
The images of Harry, Ron and Dumbledore were recreated to look like members of the Sicilian Mafia featured in “The Godfather.”
Using Vinci’s post as inspiration, ScreenRant imagined what a “Harry Potter”-”Godfather” crossover would look like.
Instead of growing up in Little Whinging, Harry would hail from Brooklyn, but still attend Hogwarts. Dumbledore would be more mobster-like -- similar to MARLON BRANDO’s Don Vito Corleone in “The Godfather” -- and would have worked his “way up Hogwarts hierarchy through more violent and nefarious means.”
Draco would still be Potter’s nemesis and Voldemort would stay a central antagonist, using Dumbledore’s connections to “expand his own illegal businesses.” [via ScreenRant]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
TATUM THOMPSON was initially Tatum Kardashian.
Insiders told TMZ that after her son’s birth, KHLOE KARDASHIAN gave him her last name, rather than his dad, TRISTAN THOMPSON’s.The assumption is that the decision was due to Tristan’s latest affair, during which he impregnated another woman.
Khloe did eventually change the name -- legally -- to Thompson, so that he would have the same moniker as big sister TRUE THOMPSON.
WHAT’S MORE: Insiders also said that Tatum wasn’t initially his first name. It is not known what he was originally named.
Sounds like Khloe had some major changes of heart after kid #2. [via TMZ]
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Rapper TYGA and BLINK-182 drummer TRAVIS BARKER are working on some new music together.
Insiders told TMZ that the pair have been spending a lot of time in the studio, and plan to release some new tunes soon.
This isn’t the first time the duo have collaborated. They already have a song together called “100.” [via TMZ]
KARDASHOPUS TENTACLES: Travis is married to KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN and Tyga previously dated KYLIE JENNER. The latter also shares a son, KING, with ANGELA WHITE (formerly Blac Chyna), who was engaged to, and shares daughter DREAM KARDASHIAN with, ROB KARDASHIAN.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
KING CHARLES is bringing back a tradition for this weekend’s Trooping of the Colour parade to celebrate his birthday: He’ll appear on horseback.
His mother, the late QUEEN ELIZABETH, last appeared on her horse for the event in 1986, when she was 60 years old. After that, she was driven in a carriage – but at the time the palace said it was because her favorite horse of 18 years had retired from duty.
The King will then inspect a military parade and appear on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch a military flyover. [via AFP]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Weed Your Garden Day
International Axe Throwing Day
World Softball Day
National Sewing Machine Day
National Call Your Doctor Day
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ON THIS DATE
1373 - Great Britain and Portugal agree to the Treaty of Windsor.
The most important element of the pact forms the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.
It is the longest-running modern alliance in history. Thanks to their agreement, Great Britain also fought against French and Spanish invaders into Portugal in 1807.
It also brought the UK into the Napoleonic Wars until 1815. In the First World War, the alliance impelled Portugal to assist Great Britain.
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1525 - Rebel monk Martin Luther weds escaped nun Katharina von Bora.
von Bora was one of the 12 nuns he broke out of a Cistercian convent two years earlier by hiding them in herring barrels.
This of course clashed with the Catholic rule of celibacy for clergy, a doctrine Luther had long condemned.
While organizing a new church, Luther and his wife had six kids. She made extra money by running the family farm and opening their home to boarders.
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1805 - The Lewis and Clark expedition is well underway.
Meriwether Lewis and a small scouting crew of four came upon the Great Falls of the Missouri River. Lewis took note of the falls' heights - the tallest of which he accurately estimated to be 90 feet -- but before he could make further observations, a grizzly bear chased him into the river. He reportedly threatened the beast with a spear, which scared it away.
Ultimately it took a month to find a decent portage around the river. Their crew had to make eight trips back and forth through 18 miles of bugs and grizzlies to get six canoes and all their baggage to the other side.
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1888 - Congress green-lights the creation of the Department of Labor.
Fifteen years later it would be made part of a new department: the Department of Commerce and Labor. Thirteen months later, it would become the Bureau of Labor within the Commerce and Labor Department. Nine years after that, the Bureau of Labor in the Department of Commerce and Labor broke off as its own Department of Labor.
The bureaucracy today is nothing new.
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1920 - The US Post Office declares that children cannot be sent by parcel post.
The ruling came after several instances of babies being mailed from one place to another.
One such example took place in 1914 when a mother shipped her baby from Stillwell to its father in South Bend, Indiana. The child traveled in a container marked “Live Baby.” The trip cost 17 cents.
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1948 - Babe Ruth says a public good goodbye at Yankee Stadium.
He was sick with throat cancer that was not going into remission. While veterans of the 1923 team played a two-inning exhibition against other former players, Babe could only watch. When the announcer finally called Babe to the plate, he shed the camel hair coat on his shoulder, and using a baseball bat for his cane, he hobbled to home plate.
The applause was thunderous.
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1966 - The Supreme Court decides in Miranda v. Arizona.
It establishes that all criminal suspects are entitled to know their rights before interrogation.
Have you seen enough “Law & Order” to recite it?
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you."
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1970 - The Beatles clean up the music charts. Their album “Let It Be” hits #1 and would stay there for a month.
The single “Long & Winding Road” from the album also hits #1, where it stays for two weeks.
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1977 - James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., is re-captured after a jailbreak two days earlier.
It was his second time on the FBI Most Wanted Fugitives list. Only one year was tacked on to his 99-year sentence for the escape.
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1981 - Marcus Sarjeant tries to attack the Queen of England.
He fires six blank shots from a revolver at the monarch, who was on her horse in a parade. The shots startled the steed, but the queen regained control.
Once cops and onlookers subdued the attacker - who was just a teenager - the Queen continued along on the parade! The kid, when tackled, reportedly said, "I just wanted to be famous."
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1997 - A jury sends Timothy McVeigh to his death for planning and executing the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.
He would be executed four years later.
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2010 - The Japanese Hayabusa space probe returns to Earth from a nearby asteroid.
The probe was the first to successfully return dust and materials from an asteroid.
The data collected is still being studied today.
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BIRTHDAYS
Sir & Rumi Carter - Jay-Z & Beyonce’s twins - 6
Coco Arquette - daughter of Courteney & David - 19
070 Shake - rapper - 26
Aaron Taylor-Johnson - actor, “Nocturnal Animals” - 33
Cody Walker - actor, “Furious 7” - 35
Kat Dennings - actress, “2 Broke Girls” - 37
Mary-Kate Olsen - actress, “Full House” - 37
Ashley Olsen - actress, “Full House” - 37
Luke James - R&B singer - 39
Chris Evans - actor, “The Avengers” - 42
Steve-O - reality star, “Jackass” - 49
Rivers Cuomo - rock singer, Weezer - 53
Tim Allen - actor, “Home Improvement” & “Last Man Standing” - 70
Stellan Skarsgard - actor, “Thor” & “Mamma Mia!” - 72
Malcolm McDowell - actor, “Clockwork Orange” - 80
Born On This Date
John Nash - mathematician, subject of “A Beautiful Mind” - 1928 (d. 2015)
Red Grange - football player, “Galloping Ghost” - 1903 (d. 1991)
Martha Washington - 1st First Lady - 1731 (d. 1802)
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