Today is Wednesday, August 21, 2024.
It is the 234th day of the year.
132 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
New details in the attempted assassination of DONALD TRUMP and DISNEY backtracks. Details in HIT LIST.
More fallout for DIDDY and ALICIA SILVERSTONE may have eaten a deadly berry. More in SHOWBIZ.
CHAPPELL ROAN says she will stick to singing because actors are “crazy.” Details in CASTING CALL.
KIM continues her justice crusade. More in KARDASH.
New coins depicting KING CHARLES hit circulation this week. Details in ROYALS
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HIT LIST
A report published by Louisiana Congressman CLAY HIGGINS last week reveals a new detail about the attempted assassination of DONALD TRUMP and murder of COREY COMPERATORE: before a Secret Service sniper killed the shooter on July 13, a SWAT operator from the Butler Police Department fired a shot that hit the gunman’s rifle, sending shrapnel into the shooter’s face, neck, and right shoulder.
The shot did not totally incapacitate the assassin, but did give the Secret Service time to get him in their sights and end him. [via Office of Clay Higgins]
MEANWHILE: In another video making the rounds on social media, the suspected shooter was captured on video hours before the shooting walking down a stretch of road. There’s not much to glean from the footage, but it is certainly a spooky coincidence. WATCH >
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NEXT WEEK: A private astronaut crew could become the first non-government personnel to conduct a spacewalk. The crew of four is scheduled to launch from Florida on August 26 for a mission called Polaris Dawn.
Mission commander JARED ISAACMAN made billions with his electronic payment company Shift4 – much like ELON MUSK made his first millions with PAYPAL.
Isaacman has bankrolled the research to develop private spacewalk technology independent of NASA and the government. He and the other three crew members will fly into space on board a SPACEX capsule and rocket.
“Whatever risk is associated with it, it is worth it,” Isaacman said in a press conference this week.
The three other crew include retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel SCOTT POTEET and two SpaceX employees, SARAH GILLIS and ANNA MENON.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule does not have an airlock, so all four will be testing the specialized suits that have been developed to withstand the harsh vacuum of space as the cabin is slowly depressurized. Isaacman and Poteet will then venture outside while tethered to the capsule if all goes to plan. [via Reuters, Polaris, Morning Martini]
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DISNEY is easing up on its legal tactics to get rid of a wrongful death lawsuit.
STEP BACK: In 2023, a woman ate a meal at a Disney park restaurant and tragically died from an allergic reaction. Her husband, Jeffrey Piccolo, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney.
But in court filings made public last week, Disney’s lawyers argued that because Piccolo signed up for Disney+ a few years ago, the terms of service for the streaming platform give the company blanket protection from lawsuits and that any disputes must be handled in arbitration.
After some public backlash and uproar, a Disney bigwig issued a statement taking a different approach. “At Disney, we strive to put humanity above all other considerations. … we believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” chairman of Disney Experiences Josh D’Amaro said in a statement.
Disney is waiving its right to arbitration and will proceed to court – for now. [via CNN]
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Earlier this month, a mural credited to street artist BANKSY appeared one morning on a gate to the London Zoo. The ensuing excitement drew crowds of visitors, impeding the zoo’s operations.
Now, management has had the gate removed and replaced with a replica. In a cheeky nod to the artist, they added a sign in British slang that says, “Banksy woz ere.”
The work depicts an ape propping up the gate while birds fly off and a sea lion makes an escape. [via Associated Press]
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Kristen Jackson, from Whitworth, England, awoke one morning last week to the sound of hooves on her roof, but it wasn’t Santa’s reindeer.
“I quickly jumped out of bed and went out the back door, and I went to the back garden area and looked up. And I was like, ‘Oh my god, there are sheep on the roof,’” she explained.
After the initial shock wore off, Jackson says she “burst out laughing” over the absurdity of it.
As for how the animals got up there, Jackson says her home is submerged into a hillside, so the sheep snuck over and were able to easily clamber onto her roof. [via METRO]
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DEATHS
MARIA BRANYAS, the world’s oldest person, has died at 117-years-old.
She passed away in her sleep on Tuesday, according to a statement from her family.
Branyas became the oldest known person in the world after the death of French nun Lucile Randon last year. The oldest person is now Japan’s Tomiko Itooka, who is 116.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 The DOW lost 61 points (0.15%) to close at 40,834 on Tuesday. The S&P lost 59 points (0.33%) to close at 17,816 and the NASDAQ lost 11 points (0.2%) to close at 5,597.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $73; BRENT CRUDE at $77.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.40 on Tuesday.
₿ BITCOIN ticked down Tuesday, trading just over $59,000.
🛩 There were more than 2,850 FLIGHTS delayed within, into, or out of the United States on Tuesday and more than 140 such cancellations.
💰A POWERBALL ticket sold in California matched all six numbers to win Monday’s $44 million jackpot. There is also the $21.7 million cash option. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $20 million jackpot or a $9.9 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
Adria English, who filed a civil lawsuit against SEAN COMBS earlier this year, also recently filed a police report against him, detailing many of the same sexual assault accusations.
Miami detectives took the report, but ultimately concluded that the evidence was lacking when it came to opening an investigation into human trafficking and other crimes mentioned.
The report was filed and forwarded to federal authorities, who are investigating the music mogul for similar accusations.
In response to English’s filing, Combs’ attorney said no matter “how many lawsuits [are] filed, it does not change his innocence.” [via The Mirror]
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MATTHEW PERRY was allegedly found unconscious by his personal assistant KENNETH IWAMASA on more than one occasion in the weeks leading up to his death last October.
According to his plea agreement, Iwamasa stated that he would inject Perry with “significant quantities of ketamine,” totalling around “6-8 shots per day,” and that he found the actor “unconscious at his residence on at least two occasions” prior to his death.
As previously reported, Iwamasa admitted that on the day of Perry’s passing he injected him three times in a four-hour time span. Before the final shot, Perry allegedly told him “shoot me up with a big one” -- which would ultimately be his final words. [via Page Six]
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NAOMI WATTS is releasing a new book, titled “Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known about Menopause.”
The book details the 55-year-old’s own experience with menopause, plus conversations she’s had with friends and experts on the topic.
Watts said her goal when writing it was to remove the “taboo surrounding the life stage.”
It hits shelves in January. Preorders are available now. [via The Cut]
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OJ SIMPSON’s longtime lawyer MALCOLM LAVERGNE wants to sell the late football star’s home in an effort to offset some of the debt he left behind.
According to LaVergne, the home is worth about $269,000, which will barely make a dent in the $33.5 million judgment Simpson owes his victims’ families in a wrongful death lawsuit. He is also hoping to sell some memorabilia, like Simpson’s Pro Football Hall of Fame ring and Rolex -- both of which have been missing since his death.
While trying to balance the books, LaVergne says Simpson’s family is getting in the way, and are not willing to part with much of his belongings. [via TMZ]
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Actress ALICIA SILVERSTONE bit into a red-yellow berry she found on a random bush while walking down the streets of England -- and filmed it all on TikTok.
After determining it was not a tomato, she showed off the inside full of seeds, and asked her followers what the mystery fruit could be.
“Jerusalem Cherry very poisonous in the Nightshade family,” one person wrote, while others agreed, calling it “toxic” and “dangerous” and “fatal.”
A Jerusalem cherry, also called solanum pseudocapsicum, is “harmful to eat” and can cause a person to experience symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, drowsiness, hallucinations and heart rate problems, according to the Northern New England Poison Center.
Silverstone has not posted anything since. [via TikTok]
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GENE WILDER’s Bel Air home is for sale with an asking price of $12,950,000. The 2,750-square-foot pad has four bedrooms, five baths, and a pool that overlooks the Bel-Air Country Club golf course.
Wilder bought the place in 1976 for around $300,000, following the release of his hit movie “Young Frankenstein.” He sold it in 2007 for $2.75 million and then ELON MUSK bought it for $6.75 million in 2013. Musk actually lived across the street, and used Wilder’s place only for parties.
In 2020, Musk put the house on the market for $9.5 million, with a stipulation that the buyers had to agree to keep the home as is. He would ultimately sell the place to Wilder’s nephew JORDAN WALKER-PEARLMAN, who grew up in the home, for $7 million.
The house is now back on the market amid rumors that Walker-Pearlman and his wife fell behind on loan payments. There are reports that Musk recently filed a notice of default on the place, which is an early step in the foreclosure process. [via Mansion Global]
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Actor MICHAEL MADSEN was arrested over the weekend after getting into an altercation with his wife at their Malibu home.
According to the LAPD, Madsen’s wife claims he pushed her and locked her out of their house. He was arrested, booked on misdemeanor domestic battery, and released on a $20,000 bond.
No word on if he returned home after posting bail. [via Deadline]
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WILLIAM SHATNER doesn’t wear socks, thinks Earth is flat and there are “entities” living on the Sun.
He stated as much during a recent interview promoting his new Fox Nation special, “Aliens Among Us?,” which takes a deep dive into all things extraterrestrial.
“No one has said, 'Excuse me, sir, are you an alien?' and the person says, 'Yes, I am from the planet whatever.' No one has done that. Why? Our film asks the question: What's going on?," he explained.
It is currently streaming on Fox Nation. [via The Sun]
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CASTING CALL
Singer CHAPPELL ROAN won’t appear in any shows or movies anytime soon because she believes Hollywood makes actors “[effing] crazy.”
“I say this with peace, and love, and blessings. Actors are [effing] crazy,” she told Interview Magazine. “I’ve been trained how to act, but it’s the most stressful thing in the world to me. I would rather get arrested,” she added.
Meanwhile, Roan’s debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” recently landed the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart. [via Interview]
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Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” will debut on September 19.
It follows the 1996 conviction of the Menedez brothers for murdering their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menedez. NICHOLAS ALEXANDER CHAVEZ and COOPER KUCH play the brothers, while their parents are played by JAVIER BARDEM and CHLOE SEVIGNY.
The series is a follow up to “Dahmer -- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” [via Variety]
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM KARDASHIAN took a minute out of her busy schedule to give a shout out to formerly imprisoned singer David Jassey on Instagram.
“David Jassy also spent 15 years inside San Quentin prison where I got to meet him and spend time with him learning about his music program and Ear Hustle podcast,” she wrote.
Kim also updated followers on her law school journey, captioning a photo of some notes, “I can’t deal w all these [effing] hearsay exceptions! My least favorite subject in law school!” [via Instagram]
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
The first coin depicting KING CHARLES hit circulation in the United Kingdom this week.
One side includes the monarch in profile; on the other, a series of animals and plants, depending on the denomination, to promote His Majesty’s interest in various conservation efforts across Britain:
– 1 pence: hazel dormouse
– 2 pence: red squirrel
– 5 pence: oak tree leaf
– 10 pence: the endangered capercaillie
– 20 pence: puffin
– 50 pence: salmon
– One Pound: two bees
– The two Pound coin varies even further, with four different mintings: a rose (for England); a daffodil (for Wales); a thistle (for Scotland); a shamrock (for Northern Island)
The Royal Mint produced 3 MILLION Pounds worth of coins since last fall, which will flow into circulation over the course of the year. [via BBC]
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Brazilian Blowout Day
National Finance Brokers Day
National Senior Citizens Day
International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism Day
National Spumoni Day
Poet’s Day
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ON THIS DATE
1831 - A slave named Nat Turner leads a rebellion against his owner in Southampton County, Virginia.
Over 70 enslaved and free blacks eventually joined the uprising, which traveled between plantations killing whites and freeing slaves. In total, 55 were killed.
Though the rebellion was squashed in two days, Turner remained on the lam until October 30. He would be tried, sentenced to death and hanged on November 11.
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1878 - 100 lawyers from 21 states gather in Saratoga Springs, New York and form the American Bar Association.
The organizations sought to normalize ethical codes for lawyers. Today there are more than 410,000 members, organized out of the association's Chicago headquarters.
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1888 - William Seward Burroughs receives a patent for his adding machine. He was a bank clerk working in New York who was determined to simplify the monotonous process of adding and printing sums for records.
While working at a machine shop, Burroughs developed his first machine, which he continually simplified over the years and later founded the American Arithmometer Company.
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1911 - The Mona Lisa goes missing from the Louvre in Paris. It took two years to track down the real culprit after some were falsely accused -- including one Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso.
The real thief was a museum employee named Vincenzo Peruggia. He was an Italian patriot who thought the masterpiece painted by Leonardo belonged in his home country.
The theft was simple: he waited in a broom closet for the museum to close, then yanked the painting off the wall and smuggled it out under his jacket.
The thief was hailed as an Italian hero, and only spent six months in jail.
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1944 - The Dumbarton Oaks Conference begins in Washington, D.C.
The meeting included American, Soviet, and British delegations, and later Chinese representatives. The delegates were designing what would become the United Nations.
Later, meetings at Yalta and San Francisco would solidify the UN Charter and Security Council.
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1959 - An executive order authorized by President Eisenhower makes Hawaii the 50th state in the union.
Today the state commemorates the occasion with Hawaii Admission Day.
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1993 - NASA inexplicably loses contact with the Mars Observer, which was scheduled to orbit Mars and completely map the planet.
A commission later concluded that a fuel pressurization tank ruptured, causing the spacecraft to spin wildly out of control.
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2008 - The US Women’s Soccer team beats Brazil 1-0 to take home the gold at the Beijing Olympics.
Striker Carli Lloyd scored the game winning goal in extra time.
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2020 - Actress Lori Loughlin is sentenced to two months in prison for her role in the college admissions scandal.
Her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, was given five months for his role in the scandal.
The pair pleaded guilty in May to fraud charges related to their efforts to have their daughters admitted to the USC as rowing recruits, despite not actually taking part in the sport.
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BIRTHDAYS
Alex Cooper - podcast host, “Call Her Daddy?” - 30
Jesse Rutherford - pop singer, The Neighbourhood - 33
Bo Burnham - comedian - 34
Hayden Panettiere - actress, “Nashville” & “Heroes” - 35
Kacey Musgraves - country singer - 36
Usain Bolt - Olympic runner - 38
Brody Jenner - reality star & son of Caitlyn Jenner - 41
Joe Gorga - reality star, “RHONJ” - 45
Kelis - R&B singer - 45
Serj Tankian - metal singer, System of a Down - 57
Kim Cattrall - actress, “Sex and the City” - 68
Loretta Devine - actress, “Grey’s Anatomy” - 75
Born On This Date
Stephen Hillenburg - director, “SpongeBob SquarePants” - 1961 (d. 2018)
Kenny Rogers - country singer - 1938 (d. 2020)
Wilt Chamberlain - basketball player - 1936 (d. 1999)
Princess Margaret - UK royal, youngest daughter of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth - 1930 (d. 2002)
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