The Trump administration has escalated its attempt to micromanage the Smithsonian’s curation of American history by threatening to withhold support from federal agencies.

In a letter Friday to the institution’s Board of Regents, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley griped about “an ideological agenda that seeks to transform both the Smithsonian and the country,” saying administration officials “cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership” by “loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes, and making discretionary grants.”

Burgum and Haley take issue with the National Museum of American History’s Interpretive Plan, which they say “illustrates how Smithsonian and NMAH leadership has sanctioned a radical institutional ideology to permeate NMAH operations.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The boss of vintage navigation company MapQuest has revealed the stunning spike in figures its service has seen since defying Donald Trump.

Trump, 80, signed an executive order to change Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on August 27. The same day, MapQuest posted a map on X with the lake’s original name, and the caption “We’re not changing it.”

Both Google Maps and Apple Maps have bowed to Trump’s demands and changed the lake’s name for American users.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President Donald Trump has publicly humiliated scandal-laden Senate hopeful Ken Paxton in a series of brutal jabs.

Trump, 80, convened a crisis meeting with his most vulnerable Republican candidates and members in the paved-over Rose Garden on Wednesday evening as the party heads into a grim midterm season.

Paxton, 63, did not appear at the dinner, but Trump had plenty to say about him anyway—just not the sort of sales pitch the Texas attorney general’s Senate campaign is in dire need of. Instead, the looks-obsessed president rattled off a list of what he thinks makes Paxton so hard to like, starting with his appearance.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump tried to lift the lid on speculation over his hair, but his explanation didn’t quite add up.

The 80-year-old president addressed the widespread rumor that he dons a blond wig, sharing a story that he believes proves his mane is all natural during a speech at the White House Rose Garden Wednesday evening.

But Trump’s tale doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

An award-winning author has brutally predicted how President Donald Trump will be remembered.

Australian journalist and author Malcolm Knox’s 2024 book, The First Friend, is a historical thriller set in the 1938 Soviet Union, where a gangster mob runs a global superpower.

Knox has just released a sequel, The Second Child, set in 1945 during the final days of World War II, which explores paranoia, power struggles and survival while surrounded by madmen.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Disney star Carla Jeffery, best known for her role as Bree in the hit Zombies franchise, has died at 33. Jeffery’s death was announced by her manager, Carla Alexander, in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Carla Jeffery, who passed away on September 1, 2026, at just 33 years old,” Alexander wrote. A cause of death has not been disclosed, but Alexander told KTLA that more information would be released in the coming days. Jeffery was only 12 years old when she made her screen debut in Mo’Nique’s 2006 film Phat Girlz. The next year, she began a 10-episode run on Curb Your Enthusiasm over the show’s sixth and seventh seasons. Beginning in 2011, Jeffery had recurring roles in Disney Channel shows including Good Luck Charlie, Shake It Up! and Best Friends Whenever. She went on to star as one of the central characters in Disney’s Zombies musical trilogy beginning in 2018. The Daily Beast has reached out to Jeffery’s representative for comment.

Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage.

Read it at KTLA

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A health condition that Maine Sen. Susan Collins disclosed this spring was on full display in a lengthy video interview.

Collins, 73, sat down with Politico at a lobster shack in her home state, which she has represented in the Senate since 1997. The Republican, who is running for a sixth term, revealed in May that, throughout her time in the upper chamber, she has had a tremor, which she treats with medication.

“What I have is an extremely common condition that is called a benign essential tremor,” Collins told News Center Maine. “I have had it for the entire time that I have served in the United States Senate. It has absolutely no impact on my ability to do my job or on how I feel each day.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A top U.S. admiral gave a puzzling response when pressed on whether he would attack Canada if President Donald Trump ordered him to.

Samuel J. Paparo, who leads the U.S. Pacific Command, was asked at a joint military conference in Canada on Wednesday under what circumstances he would obey an order to launch military action against America’s northern neighbor, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

The admiral, visibly caught off guard, called the question “needlessly emotional” but avoided giving a straight answer.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.

Labor Day week is here, and the end-of-summer deals have already begun. Many Labor Day sales have already kicked off and will be live through Sept. 7, while other deals will end earlier.

There are tons of Labor Day and end-of-summer deals to sift through, and it can be overwhelming to figure out what’s worth shopping this week through the long weekend. Fortunately, we’ve done the work for you this year, so you can bookmark this page and reference it for all the best deals (we’ll be updating it daily!).

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Veteran political strategist James Carville says President Donald Trump is setting himself up for a massive blunder by staging his midterm convention “scam.”

The 80-year-old president and the ever-obliging Republican National Committee are putting on a two-day “midterm convention” in Dallas this month.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President Donald Trump may be mired in bad polls and a quagmire war, but there’s still one surefire way to put a smile on his face: golden gifts.

The 80-year-old president gleefully showed off his latest piece of Oval Office bling on Wednesday, after Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocy spotted two new telephones on the Resolute Desk and asked, “Is that a new phone?”

“Huh?” replied Trump, who reportedly has difficulty hearing, prompting Doocy to repeat his question.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ten years after O.J. Simpson was acquitted in the murder case that defined the ‘90s, his trial played out again on a smaller stage: the television set of a prank show called Juiced.

“It’s been kind of this mythological project that’s been lurking in the ether that nobody really knew about,” documentary filmmaker Rebecca Halpern told Obsessed: The Podcast. “But everybody kind of had heard little bits and bobs.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Pentagon has scrubbed internal documents after an explosive report was leaked that revealed pushback against Pete Hegseth’s orders.

The Washington Post had sparked an uproar with its report detailing concerns from top military leaders about the war, prompting a furious response from Pentagon officials, including the defense secretary.

In response, the Defense Department removed documents associated with the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), which had been kept on the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), sources told the Post.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Gentlemen star Theo James, 41, has shut down rumors that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, will join the cast for Season 3 of the hit Netflix series.

When asked about the possibility of an ex-royal appearing on the show, which follows Eddie (James), a British aristocrat who inherits his family’s massive country estate before discovering the underground cannabis empire it houses, James quipped, “Yes, Fergie is joining. She’ll be playing my love interest.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The legendary Rocky Horror Picture Show actor Tim Curry died of coronary artery disease, documents from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reveal. He died at the age of 80 late at night on August 25 in his Los Angeles home. The documents also list a history of stroke and kidney cancer as having contributed to the star’s death. No medical operations were performed for either his coronary artery disease, kidney cancer or history of stroke, the records show. Curry survived a major stroke in 2012 that caused paralysis in the left side of his body and short-term memory loss. The medical emergency left the star unable to speak for weeks and he spent the rest of his life using a wheelchair for mobility. Curry subsequently started focusing mainly on voiceover projects, withdrawing from public life and acting. “I don’t fear death,” the beloved actor told CBS Sunday Morning in October 2025. “I try to avoid it as I think we all do. But I suspect that in the end I will welcome it.”

Read it at People

Read more at The Daily Beast.

FBI Director Kash Patel’s country singer girlfriend has been called out in court over a head-scratching claim about her drinking habits.

The claim came as part of a defamation lawsuit that Alexis Wilkins filed against MS Now back in May, alleging she was falsely smeared in an article that claimed Patel had ordered an FBI security detail to drive one of her friends home.

Wilkins, in arguing against the network’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claimed that the reporters knowingly defamed her in what she described as a “hit piece.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Scott Jennings suddenly seems much less optimistic about Sen. Mitch McConnell returning to the Senate when it reconvenes later this month.

Jennings, when pressed by CNN anchor Kasie Hunt about McConnell not being seen by the public in 80 days, also had to amend his answer about when he had last spoken with the 84-year-old Republican.

“I haven‘t spoken to him for several days, just to be clear. I know he‘s at home. I know he‘s still doing his recovery. The Senate goes back in on the 14th of September. I know they‘re fighting to get him back to work. I know he wants to go back to work, and I know he wants to finish his term, and it‘s his intention to do so. But there‘s two weeks between now when the Senate goes back,” Jennings began. “The man‘s a fighter. Overcoming polio proves that, and so my thoughts and prayers are with him. I hope he comes back to work. And there‘s some big, big issues coming up later this fall.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Vladimir Putin made a fool of himself with an intercom mishap.

The Russian president visited sailors aboard a fishing vessel on Wednesday, according to the Kremlin, but his attempt to make contact with the crew fell flat.

A video shared on X by the Belarusian media outlet NEXTA showed Putin, 73, failing to realize that the intercom he was using was one-way while asking the sailors if they could hear him.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts, 57, posed for a fashion campaign with her lookalike daughter for the first time.

Watts and her 17-year-old daughter Kai Schreiber both modeled for fashion house Simkhai’s fall collection.

The British-Australian actress shares Schreiber with her ex-boyfriend, actor Liev Schreiber, 58. The former couple, who were together from 2005 until 2016, also have a 19-year-old son, Sasha Schreiber.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Elon Musk is the richest man in the world. And, apparently, he’s the saddest.

That’s according to filmmaker Alex Gibney, who relayed the assessment from someone who worked closely with Musk. Gibney’s forthcoming film, Musk, was previewed by The Hollywood Reporter.

“Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, ‘He’s the most miserable man I’ve ever met.’ So he’s inflicting his misery on everyone else,” Gibney told the outlet.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Sir Rod Stewart’s wife has revealed new information about the rock legend after he canceled the rest of his 2026 tour.

Penny Lancaster told the Press Association that Stewart, 81, is “back at full speed in his day-to-day activities” but remains under strict doctors’ orders about the workouts he can and cannot do.

“But he’s going to come back stronger than ever,” Lancaster, 55, said. “He feels like he’s got a new lease of life.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The writers behind Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show are not quite ready to move out of the spotlight.

Weeks after Emmys host Mariska Hargitay revealed that the axed staffers would be penning this year’s ceremony, the team is reuniting again for an “intimate evening of comedy” at Los Angeles’ WeHo Bistro.

“Members of The Late Show writing team” will perform at the restaurant, which regularly hosts comedy shows, according to a new Instagram post. The news comes after the Bistro acquired The Late Show’s iconic sign at auction for $102,100.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Billy Ray Cyrus has revealed what he thinks about his daughter—now just known as Miley—dropping the last name he gave her.

Miley is the latest of pop stars going mononymous after changing all of her social media handles to just “miley,” and posting a new album promo photo with the caption “MILEY.”

The 65-year-old “Achy Breaky Heart” singer, who played her dad in the hit Disney show Hannah Montana, posted an old family photo of him with young Miley and her younger brother Braison on Instagram. In the caption, he wrote, “Family means more than ever now,” and that he always called his “little girl” Miley—“Just … Miley.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A Republican candidate for governor of Colorado has claimed that he had an in-person interaction with the devil.

Victor Marx, who barely scraped by to win his primary race in June, has been open about performing exorcisms. Talking Points Memo unearthed audio of Marx detailing one of these encounters, in which he proclaimed to have actually met with Satan during an exorcism via phone.

“Hey, I’ve met the devil,” Marx said on his podcast in 2020. “I’ve met Satan in person, through a person.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.

Rugs often serve as the low-profile centerpiece of any room, bringing color, texture, and personality to the space without having to redecorate the entire space fully. But between shedding pets and clumsy kids (and clumsy adults, for that matter), rugs definitely can take a beating. Unfortunately, while washing rugs in the washing machine is convenient, most rugs aren’t designed to make it out alive from a regular wash cycle—except for rugs from Ruggable. No trips to the laundromat required.

Ruggable, a premium yet practical rug brand that designs unique waterproof rugs, offers a variety of (actually chic) rugs that stay intact in the washing machine time and time again—including the brand’s premium shag varieties and bestselling collaborations. Skip the laborious spot cleaning and costly dry cleaning trips and just invest in one of Ruggable’s washable rugs—it’ll pay for itself in a few months. Best of all, you can score a discounted Ruggable rug for up to 30 percent off during its current Labor Day sale.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A Republican senator slyly alluded to Pete Hegseth’s alleged drinking habit as he blasted the defense secretary’s decision to force out top military brass.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis shared his appreciation for Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on Wednesday after his resignation this week, which he reportedly admitted in private comments had stemmed from frequent clashes with Hegseth.

In a message posted on X, Tillis, 66, also took aim at Hegseth’s leadership, using precise language to implicitly hint at the defense secretary’s rumored history of heavy drinking.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump has taken another swipe at Meghan Markle, saying he’s glad Prince Harry and his American wife have relocated to Britain.

Days after the couple returned to the UK—six years after stepping away from senior royal duties—the president hit out at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and questioned why the royal family would want to take them back.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s iconic theme park in East Tennessee, has revealed several new projects to honor the late country star.

“The curtain on this first act has fallen, and now time has come to start to talk about the journey forward, the next steps that we need to do,” Company President Eugene Naughton said in a press conference. “Because Dolly would be telling us to get back to work. She knew what she wanted Dollywood to be. She always wanted this to be a place of fun and togetherness, and most of all, as our love letter showed, she taught us here at Dollywood how to dream big.”

The park will soon include a reflecting pool and waterfall, featuring a sculpted guitar. This centerpiece will neighbor the park’s Chapel, which honors Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the doctor who birthed Parton in her family’s one-room cabin.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Amy Slaton looks nearly unrecognizable after losing more than 150 pounds.

The 38-year-old reality star’s dramatic transformation returned to the spotlight Tuesday as the ninth season of 1000-Lb. Sisters premiered on TLC.

Amy has documented her yearslong weight-loss journey alongside her sister Tammy Slaton, 40, since the series debuted in 2020. Together, the Kentucky sisters weighed more than 1,000 pounds when viewers first met them.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Trump-friendly CNBC host Joe Kernen has cornered Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about an eyebrow-raising deal being probed as a possible conflict of interest.

The deal is a $1.6 billion federal investment in USA Rare Earth. Lutnick’s former financial firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, now run by his sons, was selected to help raise the private capital needed to close the deal—and now it is drawing criticism from conservatives like Kernen.

Kernen said the deal appeared to be a conflict of interest. He asked Lutnick to address accusations that he influenced a transaction that benefited his sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, who were named chairman and executive vice chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald in May 2025.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Melissa McCarthy is showing off her dramatically slimmed-down figure—and an enormous pair of cherries—as she celebrates turning 56.

The Mike & Molly actress thanked fans for their well wishes in an Instagram video, wearing a comically oversized pair of stone fruit atop her head as she leaned into her latest year with characteristically over-the-top humor.

“Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes last week!! At 56 I’ve decided that subtlety is everything 🍒,” McCarthy captioned the post.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Elon Musk appeared unusually certain about the outcome of the 2024 presidential election before the results came in, according to a new documentary.

The bombshell claim comes from the mother of one of Elon Musk’s (many) children, Ashley St. Clair, who alleged in a forthcoming documentary that the Tesla tycoon had a “degree of certainty” about the 2024 election results before they came in that “I had never seen before.”

“He had told me [before the election] he was going to unleash the ‘anomaly in the matrix,’ ” St. Clair says in championed documentarist Alex Gibney’s film, Musk, which was previewed by The Hollywood Reporter.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

CNN’s chief data analyst has revealed that President Donald Trump’s own party is “outperforming” him in the polls.

Republicans are seeing better polling numbers than the 80-year-old president, even as Trump’s net approval rating plummets to record lows, Harry Enten said Wednesday in a warning to Democrats.

“Democrats are down on their knees. They’re begging, ‘Please, please, please allow this election to be about Donald John Trump’ because if you could see this right now, Republicans are actually outperforming President Trump,” he said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.

Whether you’re looking to create a shaded spot for outdoor date nights or family barbecues, you can transform any outdoor space with the world’s most popular modern pergola kit from Hanso Home. Its latest design, the Smart Motorized Louvered Pergola, is built with Category 5 hurricane-rated T6 aerospace-grade aluminum and features a laundry list of sophisticated design specs, including adjustable louvers to control the sun, a 100 percent rain- and rust-proof build, an optional remote-operated roof, and an enhanced LED lighting kit. The newest pergola is also engineered for 165 mph wind resistance, withstanding near-hurricane-force winds with louvers closed and hurricane-force winds with louvers open.

You don’t have to have a backyard villa to elevate your backyard space with Hanso Home’s new-and-improved pergola. Although the pergola does not come assembled (you can also hire their team to assemble it for you for an additional fee), it is easy to self-assemble with two people in two to four hours, which is one of the reasons that it’s a top choice for U.S. renovation contractors—along with the fact that adding a premium pergola to your yard can increase your home’s value by an average of $27,000, according to the brand. Best of all, the Fifth-Generation Hanso Horizon Smart Pergola is built to last for at least 30 years and is backed by a ten-year warranty.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Liza Minnelli is reflecting on her lifelong struggle with substance use disorder in a new post honoring National Recovery Month.

Minnelli, 80, wrote that she was “grateful to be alive” in the post. “Yes, even at 80…we can still be kids,” she also wrote. “I feel damn childlike on days that make me vulnerable to my disease…Substance Use Disorder.”

The EGOT winner and daughter of Hollywood legend Judy Garland has been open about her struggles with alcohol, prescription medications, and cocaine over the years, which she’s characterized as being genetically inherited from Garland. Minnelli wrote on Wednesday that she wouldn’t have made it to 80 without the supportive people in her life.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Alanis Morissette is suing her former tour manager, Keren Urinov, for extortion after Urinov allegedly threatened to frame the singer for drug trafficking unless Morissette provided her a 15-year employment contract.

Morissette, 52, is a seven-time Grammy winner known for her boundary-breaking 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, which sold 33 million copies globally and features hits like “You Oughta Know” and “Hand in My Pocket.” Rolling Stone called her “the undisputed queen of alt-rock angst,” and she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2026.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump has called a group of battleground-state Republican lawmakers to the White House as the party faces an increasingly ugly-looking midterm season.

Trump, 80, will host the members desperately fighting to hold onto their seats for a dinner on Wednesday night in the paved-over Rose Garden.

The meeting was first reported by Politico and confirmed by the Daily Beast.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.

Self-pleasure (and partnered play) should feel empowering, not overwhelming. With so many sex toy options on the market, finding the right fit can feel daunting, especially if you’re a newcomer. Womanizer’s bestselling Peach clitoral stimulator takes the guesswork out of pleasure with a cute, quiet, and compact design that doesn’t skimp on the power. Many traditional sex toys rely on direct contact for stimulation, but the Peach uses Pleasure Air Technology that surrounds the clitoris with soft, rhythmic pulses, creating mind-blowing sensations whether solo or with a partner.

Wrapped in velvety-soft, body-safe silicone, the Peach is shaped to fit naturally in your hand. With 14 intensity levels, you can fine-tune the pace—whether it’s soft and gentle or powerful and intense. Each level is perfectly balanced and offers the right settings for any mood.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

All products are selected independently by The Looker’s editors. If you click or purchase something from our post, we may earn a small commission.

I grew up with fine, relatively low-maintenance hair. Until my late teens, my haircare routine consisted of a daily wash with shampoo and conditioner I chose so randomly, I could’ve picked them with my eyes closed. The only thing I ever really had to pay close attention to was adding an anti-dandruff shampoo to keep my eczema-induced flaky scalp at bay.

Then I started coloring my hair at 19, and everything changed. The top half of my hair retains its moisture (too much so—it gets greasy well before the 24-hour post-wash mark), while the bottom half has become chronically dry, and my split ends look like whisk brooms.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump has put his name on steaks, buildings, casinos, and bibles. Now his image is on a $1 coin being sold to the public at an inflated price, with an inscription that appears to show the United States ending in 2026.

The U.S. Mint began selling rolls and bags of coins bearing Trump’s face on Wednesday, turning the president into something Americans can literally carry around in their wallets.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Richard Gere is celebrating getting older with the woman who keeps him young.

His wife, who is 33 years his junior, posted photos on Instagram showing how the couple spent the Pretty Woman star’s 77th birthday on August 31.

In the first photo, Alejandra Silva Gere, 43, embraced Richard while standing outside after dark. She wore a white dress for the occasion, paired with high open-toe heels, while her husband chose a gray button-up shirt, gray pants, and black dress shoes. The couple topped off their looks with colorful party hats.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President Donald Trump has officially nominated Hung Cao, a retired naval officer who is currently serving as acting secretary of the Navy, to fill the role permanently.

Cao, a failed House candidate and failed Senate candidate, had been serving in the role in an acting capacity since former Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired in April.

Cao is seen as someone who is more in line with the views of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has clashed with military leaders as he has attempted to bring culture wars into the ranks.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are scrambling to fill a gaping hole in their senior military leadership.

The defense secretary, 46, has overseen the exit of top military figures on a scale not seen in modern times, with firings and walkouts galore as he reimagines the armed forces to fit his precise ideology and perception of masculinity.

There are now gaps at the top aplenty, one of which Hegseth and Trump, 80, are now scrambling to fill against the backdrop of the war in Iran: Navy secretary.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton has denied committing any crime after his suspension from his longtime job on the series.

Thornton, who’s been the series’ announcer for the past 15 years, told TMZ through his lawyer that he “did not engage in any illegal conduct,” following an alleged airline incident in May, after which he was questioned by authorities. According to the site, Thornton was reported by a fellow passenger while aboard an American Airlines flight—while wearing a Wheel of Fortune jacket.

The pilot alerted law enforcement to meet Thornton at the gate when the flight landed, and authorities questioned and released him. No further details about the allegations have emerged.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Comedian Nimesh Patel, 40, flames FBI director Kash Patel, 46, in his upcoming Netflix stand-up special Buy the Dip.

“Kashyap Pramod Vinod Patel is the first Indian director of the FBI. And that means something,“ Patel quipped in a sneak peek of the show. ”It means he’s also the last Indian director of the FBI.”

In what Netflix describes as a “no-punches-pulled special,” Patel discusses “the absurdity of parenting, the insanity of his Indian family, and the rampant corruption in D.C.” The hour of stand-up from SNL’s first Indian-American writer airs September 22.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Dolly Parton’s niece has shared why the legendary singer hid her cancer diagnosis before her death.

In a new interview, musician Jada Star revealed that her aunt “never wanted to worry anybody.”

“You know, we kind of kept all that stuff real private,” said Star, the daughter of Parton’s sister Freida. “I think it was just a shock on Tuesday.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump wants to rename a body of water halfway around the world after himself: the Strait of Hormuz.

The president, 80, took to Truth Social on Wednesday with his latest pitch as he remains trapped in a war with Iran, which has driven up costs for millions of already struggling Americans back home.

“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be ‘hotter’ than ever before! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump’s administration has been admonished for what insiders called an “embarrassing” and “pitiful” disaster response. Nepal and China are reeling after a huge mudslide devastated mountain valleys in the Himalayas. Believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse, it has killed at least 1,000 people and left more than 4,000 missing. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, which has seen around 85 Americans go missing, the U.S. State Department gave just $500,0000 in aid. That number has now been upped to around $3.6 million, which will be used to feed 10,000 affected homes. Some critics say it still falls short. A former USAID disaster response team director, Mark Ward, called the response “embarrassing for the United States and a bit of a slap at Nepal.” The Brookings Institution’s George Ingram agreed. “I was embarrassed for America,” the former House foreign affairs committee staffer said, calling the initial offering of half a million “pitiful.” Trump took a hammer to USAID upon his return to the White House, and what was left was absorbed by Marco Rubio’s State Department. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and State Department for comment.

Read it at The Guardian

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Vladimir Putin has been dealt a fresh battlefield blow as Ukraine says it trapped around 2,500 Russian troops on a strategic Black Sea peninsula.

Ukrainian troops said Moscow’s forces on the occupied Kinburn Peninsula had become largely isolated as drone attacks and remotely laid mines made it increasingly difficult to bring in ammunition, fuel and food, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Crimea.Realities project.

The setback comes more than four years into the Russian president’s grinding war in Ukraine, with Moscow still struggling to translate its offensives into major battlefield breakthroughs. Russian troops slightly accelerated their advance in August, but made only “slow and limited” gains, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Real Housewives of New York star Carole Radziwill said she had been totally in the dark about her ex-friend Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes with Jeffrey Epstein. At a preview event for Season 16, Radziwill called Maxwell a “horrible person,” even though she is mentioned as a friend of hers in the Epstein files. “Obviously, I didn’t know anything as no one, you know, 20 years ago would have known anything,” Radziwill said. She told Cohen that it was hard for her to swallow that Maxwell, a “friend at some point,” “was a horrible, horrible person doing horrible things.” Radziwill hinted that her connection to Maxwell will be covered in the upcoming season. “It’s not something I shy away from because I think, really, it’s important to talk about and be transparent about,” she said about her name being in the files. “I just think it’s an opportunity to talk about it. There’s real victims and survivors that were brave enough to stand up to these very powerful people.”

Read it at TMZ

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A top Democrat has revealed he’s leaning toward a 2028 presidential run.

Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and chief of staff to Barack Obama, is teasing that he is “more yes than no” about running for president because he can see the many “things that are ailing the country.”

Emanuel, 66, served as ambassador to Japan under the Biden administration and in Congress in the early 2000s. He thought he had done everything he wanted to do in politics—but he now tells Rolling Stone that his mind is changing after making rounds across the country.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Congo’s Ebola outbreak has now killed more than 3,000 people as the virus races through the country faster than health authorities can contain it, reports the Associated Press. Government figures released Wednesday show 6,186 confirmed cases and 3,007 deaths since the outbreak was declared a global health emergency in May. The outbreak, driven by the rare Bundibugyo strain, has spread across six provinces and is now Congo’s deadliest Ebola outbreak on record. The virus spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids and can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding, including from the eyes. The CDC said containment efforts “remained below established response targets,” warning that the rapid spread indicates “uncontrolled expansion of the outbreak.” Conflict, attacks on health workers, weak infrastructure, and population movement have hampered efforts to track infections. As a result, African health officials estimate that the true case count could be three times higher. No vaccine specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain or an approved treatment currently exists.

Read it at Associated Press

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Australian police are warning the public not to approach Below Deck Mediterranean star Nathan Gallagher after he allegedly fled the country while wanted on domestic violence charges. New South Wales Police say Gallagher, 28, is the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant and may pose a danger. Authorities released a mugshot as they appealed for information about his whereabouts. The warning came after Gallagher failed to appear in court Tuesday to face three charges stemming from an alleged confrontation with his former partner and Below Deck Mediterranean co-star Gael Cameron, with whom he shares a child. Gallagher was arrested in December after police responded to reports of an alleged assault involving a 29-year-old woman near Sydney. Court documents allege he covered Cameron’s mouth and nose, leaving her unable to breathe at times, according to Rolling Stone. He faces charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentionally choking a person without consent. Gallagher has said he has “made mistakes” but also has “evidence” that could present a different account.

Read it at The Sun

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A widower has been mauled to death in his own home by a bear. Benjamin Halona, 67, from New Mexico, was killed in August while he was recovering from a seizure that had hindered his mobility. The tamale seller’s stepson Casey—the child of his wife Bernadine who had died from illness six months prior—had gone to the post office when the attack took place. When he returned home, he found the door ajar despite being sure Halona had locked it behind him, and found a bear inside the house. Halona’s niece, Samantha Vandever Casey, and his sister, Gloria Halona, said Casey hid in his bedroom, barricaded the door with heavy items, and hid in the closet before calling them and emergency services. When the women arrived, the bear was outside, and they honked the horn of their car to scare it away before it was shot by a police officer. It was a “horrific scene,” and “was a lot for us,” Samantha said. “He was a really strong person,” Gloria told the Guardian. “And, even though he didn’t have a lot, he was happy.” In a statement, the Navajo Police Department said the bear, which are sacred to the Navajo Nation, fled into “nearby woods. The bear was located and neutralized. Unfortunately, the male victim succumbed due to injuries.”

Read it at The Guardian

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A doorbell camera captured the moment a congressional staffer was struck by lightning as he walked to his car. The shocking footage shows Thomas Fahmy, who works for the Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, being struck on his foot as he walks while holding an umbrella. The video shows him fall after the strike, get back up, then walk to his neighbor’s home to take shelter until an ambulance arrived. Miraculously, Fahmy survived the strike without suffering burns—though he said he felt tingling, numbness, a burning sensation, and severe pain in both of his feet. Malliotakis, who represents Staten Island in Congress, expressed relief in a statement that Fahmy, who lives and works on Staten Island in Malliotakis’ local office, survived the strike. For his part, Fahmy said he spent one night in the hospital and, after being discharged, went to buy a Mega Millions lottery ticket.

Read it at NBC News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Kash Patel’s FBI took the highly unusual step of asking federal air marshals to spy on one of President Donald Trump’s enemies during a transatlantic flight.

Former Democratic congressman and California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell was one of Trump’s most outspoken critics before he ended his campaign and resigned from Congress over allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct.

He has denied the allegations but remains under state and federal investigation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Soap opera star Chris McKenna keeps getting killed off—and he’s not thrilled about it.

The 48-year-old soap star joined the cast of ABC’s General Hospital in February 2025, replacing Charles Measure as WSB Chief Jack Brennan. McKenna’s tenure on the show proved short-lived; he wrapped in June after his character was found floating dead in a pool.

“This is the third soap that has either written me off or killed me off,” McKenna told TV Insider. “I did my last episode in June, so I’ve had a few months to adjust.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is “very happy” with the casting of Ink, a new movie about the rise of his British tabloid The Sun, his daughter said. Murdoch’s second-eldest daughter, Elizabeth, told Guy Pearce, who is playing him in the film, that he was pleased with the casting choice. “I had some messaging with Elizabeth [Murdoch], his daughter, and she said ‘Dad’s very happy that you are playing him.’ But he hadn’t seen the film at that point,” Pearce said. Sinners’ Jack O’Connell plays editor Larry Lamb, while The Crown actress Claire Foy co-stars as a female executive at The Sun. The film is adapted from James Graham’s stage play, which Murdoch attended. “He came to see the play twice,” Graham recalled. Murdoch, however, did not share his reaction to the play. “He’s very good at not giving anything away which I think is one of his secrets,” Graham said. The film is slated to be released in theaters on Dec. 11 before going out on Netflix on Jan. 8.

Read it at The Hollywood Reporter

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Mayday (September 4, Apple TV) is so unintentionally—if, given its title, aptly—distressing that it’s difficult to pinpoint its worst element. Is it the fact that this odd-couple action-comedy features main characters who aren’t actually at odds? Is it its absurd and off-putting Cold War politics, which posit the U.S. as not as great as it thinks it is and the Soviet Union as better than it was portrayed stateside? Or is it the fact that one of our great Shakespearean actors has stooped to Ryan Reynolds’ unfortunate level?

The answer is that it’s all of the above, as Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s follow-up to Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is, from every perceivable angle, misbegotten. Without a single witty moment to alleviate its perfunctory (albeit well-staged) centerpieces, and boasting a story rife with laughable USA-USSR equivocations, it’s a mirthless mess whose ideas about 1980s international relations are almost as lousy as the incessant one-liners spouted by Reynolds, who reconfirms that, outside of the Deadpool franchise, his sarcastic schtick only works in small doses.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Stiffer muscles, less restful sleep, and achy joints. Nothing dramatic, just your body asking for a little more support than it used to. If you’re looking for a practical starting point, iHerb is the answer. It stocks over 50,000 products across supplements, vitamins, and beauty, with free shipping on U.S. orders above $25. Right now, the retailer’s 30th anniversary sale is on. You can save up to 30% across 600+ products. This isn’t about chasing a younger body. It’s about staying capable enough to carry groceries or get up from the floor without hesitation.

These highly potent softgels are loaded with Vitamin D3 to support strong bones, healthy calcium absorption, and a steady immune system. It’s a small daily habit with a big impact.

Collagen production naturally slows with age. Sourced from 10 types of collagen, Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein supports joint health, skin elasticity, and gut health. Two scoops give you 20g of protein, and it mixes easily into a morning smoothie.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

More Americans than ever now believe corruption is widespread across the U.S. government.

A new Gallup poll found that nearly nine in 10 Americans now believe corruption is prevalent across the government—a 10-point increase from the same survey last year, in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Those figures mean the United States has the highest level of perceived government corruption among countries with advanced economies, according to Gallup, which polled 1,000 Americans in May and June.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Pete Hegseth is accused of setting the military up for potential disaster as the fallout of his ego-driven overhaul of top leadership spills into public view.

The 46-year-old former Fox News host has masterminded a massive purge within the Defense Department that saw Army Secretary Dan Driscoll walk out on Monday, raising fears about a lack of experienced leadership at the top of the military.

It comes as the Pentagon burns through resources—both material and human—in its fight with Iran, which has now dragged on for over six months despite President Trump initially projecting it to last four to five weeks.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The marathon saga of Senator Mitch McConnell’s mysterious disappearance hit a disturbing new milestone on Wednesday after the 84-year-old senator’s prolonged vanishing act fueled rampant speculation and sparked outrage among critics.

The Kentucky senator has not been seen by the public in 80 days since he was rushed to the hospital on June 14, and it has now been nearly a month since the Republican’s team last provided an update on his recovery.

The extraordinary cover-up has become the talk of Congress, with confusion growing over why the veteran lawmaker has insisted on keeping his Kentucky constituents and his party in the dark.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Elliot Page has opened up about how his career hasn’t changed in the way one would expect, after starring in “one of the greatest movies ever made.”

Page appeared on the On Film...With Kevin McCarthy podcast following his turn as Sinon in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster epic The Odyssey, where he said the offers haven’t been rolling in despite the film’s mega success.

“I think it’s a little tricky for me to get cast right now,” Page said. The actor came out as transgender on social media in 2020. “I think that’s probably for obvious pretty obvious reasons,” he continued before quipping, “The Canadian thing.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Entourage creator Doug Ellin is defending his show, cast, and crew after star Debi Mazar came out with eyebrow-raising allegations.

Mazar played fiery press agent Shauna Roberts on the wildly popular, Emmy-winning HBO series but said her experience with the show was “toxic.” During an interview with The Times, the actress described the show’s first season as “a joy-fest” that went downhill.

“In the third season, the set was a testosterone-fuelled environment. I’m tough, but it got toxic towards the end for me,” Mazar said. “I’d had my second baby, and they didn’t like that I got fat, even though I got skinny again.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Oil executives and Venezuela experts alike are scoffing at President Donald Trump’s $100 billion scheme to ramp up oil production, casting doubt on whether the deal will yield meaningful crude.

The White House rolled out the arrangement this week, securing a 35 percent stake for the federal government in North American Blue Energy Partners, an oil outfit selected to drill in Venezuela.

“F--k all, what is this?” an anonymous high-ranking oil executive told Politico. “This thing is way too big for a company with no capabilities and no credibility.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s absence from work has reached the 80-day mark—but bettors are less confident than ever that he will actually resign.

The odds of McConnell stepping down before the Nov. 3 midterms have cratered to just seven percent on the prediction market Kalshi, which has accepted millions in wagers on whether the 84-year-old senior senator from Kentucky will still be in office come Election Day.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Workers have begun dismantling one of the Kennedy Center’s most beloved sculptures, tearing apart the towering artwork as the Trump administration presses ahead with its bid to remake the national performing arts center.

Photos showed the startling scene on Wednesday, as the artwork “Blue,” the 2019 sculpture by acclaimed American artist Joel Shapiro, began being wrapped, cut apart, and hauled away from the grounds of the D.C. institution.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Hollywood star George Clooney has blasted Pete Hegseth after the defense secretary body-shamed a young Canadian cadet online.

Speaking to reporters at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, Clooney was asked for his views on the current political state of the U.S., and he offered the generous response of: “We’re in a moment of time that’s unfortunate.”

“There’s a great word: kakistocracy, which is a country run by the least qualified people,” Clooney, a vocal Donald Trump critic, added. “I think maybe we have a kakistocracy right now, but we’ll get through it.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A second victim of the flash flooding at the Grand Canyon has been identified as search efforts increasingly shift toward recovery. Brent Rosenkranz, a 42-year-old martial arts studio owner remembered as a “loving husband and father of three boys,” was found dead after a torrential downpour engulfed the canyon’s South Rim, a family spokesperson told the New York Post. Rosenkranz was part of a group of three hikers camping at the national park when the deadly flash floods started. Search and rescue units found the body of his other hiking companion, 46-year-old Texas chiropractor John Giusti, but they are still searching for others, including his friend Timothy Smith, 52. Rosencranz’s sister has set up a GoFundMe that has raised $18,000 for his widow, Elisha, and their two boys. “There are no words that can truly express the heartbreak of losing a husband, a father, a son, a brother, and a friend in such a sudden and devastating way,” the GoFundMe profile says. “Please pray. Pray for Elisha. Pray for her three boys. Pray for our entire family as we walk through this unimaginable loss.”

Read it at New York Post

Read more at The Daily Beast.

It was not par for the course. Word started to spread when golfers in D.C. noticed trees being taken down at a beloved public golf course, East Potomac Golf Links—especially a distinctive and much admired cherry tree on the 14^th hole.

Cherry trees are iconic in the nation’s capital. When a number of them had to be removed two years ago from the nearby Tidal Basin, a scraggly survivor, dubbed Stumpy, won the nation’s hearts, to the point where its cuttings were used to grow genetic clones.

Two large sycamores were also reported downed at the fourth hole, and things “snowballed” on social media, says Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC Preservation League, the group that is suing to stop President Trump’s takeover of the golf course—which he wants to renovate for his rich friends’ championship tournaments. The president had already consulted with a well-known golf course architect, Tom Fazio, and was seen waving his plans around as he toured the course, rhapsodizing about how great it would be after his renovation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump’s war in Iran is set to exacerbate the financial hardships of tens of millions of Americans, as gas prices over Labor Day are set to be the highest on record.

GasBuddy has forecast average gas prices of $4.03 per gallon over the holiday period, 87 cents higher than in 2025 and above the previous record high of $3.83 a gallon in 2012.

The president’s Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as Ukraine bombing Russian oil refineries with drone strikes, have contributed to the rise in gas prices around the world.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Fired Fox host Emmanuel Acho attacked NFL legend Michael Strahan after the 54-year-old had his fifth child.

Acho, a 35-year-old former NFL linebacker, denounced Strahan’s foray into late fatherhood, saying, “There comes a point where even well-intended parents might be setting their kids up for jokes.”

“I’m just thinking like, if you have a kid at 55, 54, whatever the case is, are you putting your child in a position to get clowned?” Acho said on his podcast Speakeasy. “Now you’re Strahan, so you’re Strahan; it doesn’t matter.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health is under fresh scrutiny after Kremlin footage showed a dark mark on his left hand.

The mark was visible as Putin, 73, addressed schoolchildren and students in a video released on Sept. 1 to mark the start of Russia’s school year, known as Knowledge Day. Putin can be seen partially covering the mark with his right hand while repeatedly gesturing toward the camera, The Moscow Times reported.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump’s Justice Department has conflated two completely separate areas of the law in its revenge case against James Comey, the former FBI director argued in a new filing.

Comey was indicted in April on two counts of making threats against the president’s life after he took a picture of seashells arranged on the beach to spell out “86 47” and posted the photo to Instagram with the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”

The number 86 is sometimes used as slang for tossing something out or getting rid of it—especially in the context of restaurant kitchens—but the government accused Comey of calling for Trump, who is the 47th president, to be killed.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump wants to crush The Swamp. The leaks, the sneaks, and the secrets are all there. Our writers, David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, Sarah Ewall-Wice, and Laura Esposito, are sifting through the ooze so you don’t have to. Don’t miss out.

In this week’s news from the ooze: Karoline Leavitt, Milo Yiannopoulos, Salena Zito, August Doricko, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Wayne Erkkinen, Leon Black, Henry Bacon, Casey Wasserman, Piers Morgan, and Zohran Mamdani.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Comedian Mario Adrion, 32, performed live on stage just three days after undergoing a hair transplant.

The former German model entered the American zeitgeist in 2021 after a viral American Idol audition, where he performed an original song wearing nothing but a red-and-white Speedo.

After his performance, all three judges, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan, joined Adrion on stage to compete with him in a runway battle.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Legendary golfer Tiger Woods had his driver’s license suspended for five years Wednesday after reaching a plea deal in his Florida DUI case. The charges followed a March crash in which he hit another vehicle and rolled his Land Rover. The 50-year-old athlete appeared at Martin County Courthouse alongside his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump. Woods changed his earlier not-guilty plea after prosecutors reduced the DUI charge to reckless driving. Woods was arrested March 27 after his Land Rover clipped a trailer being hauled by a truck and rolled onto its side on Jupiter Island, Florida, north of Palm Beach. An arrest report said Woods had been traveling at high speed on a residential road with a 30 mph speed limit and caused about $5,000 in damage. Woods told authorities he had been looking at his cellphone and changing the radio before the collision. Deputies at the scene said he appeared impaired, but a Breathalyzer test registered no alcohol. Woods refused a urine test. Deputies also found two pills in his pants pocket, later identified as the opioid hydrocodone. Neither Woods nor the other person involved was injured.

Read it at CBS News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A wandering alligator was the cause of a horrific late-night car crash that killed a Florida deputy’s daughter—hours before she was scheduled to be sworn in as a law enforcement official. After a Mercedes hit an alligator on I-95 in Titusville, Florida, Cassi Taylor, 20, tried desperately not to plow into the crash, overturning her Toyota Tacoma in the process. She was thrown from the truck as it flipped, and a hit-and-run driver struck her while she lay on the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators confirmed she had not been wearing a seatbelt. Taylor had worked at her father’s Indian River County sheriff’s office as a civilian corrections assistant for a little over a month before she was killed. “We are saddened to share the news of the death of one of our newest team members,” the sheriff’s office said on Tuesday. The alligator was also killed in the tragedy. The Mercedes driver was not injured, and officials are still searching for the driver who fled the scene.

Read it at The New York Post

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Police in Thailand have been locking up prostitutes as thousands of U.S sailors and Marines disembark after more than eight months trapped aboard a crisis-strewn ship.

The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived on Wednesday at Laem Chabang Port, near Pattaya, for a five-day “rest and relaxation” stop.

But after months of grueling conditions at sea, the long-awaited break in a world-famous sex-tourism hot spot comes under a cloud of restrictions.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier arrived in Thailand on Wednesday looking rusty and beat up after a nightmare deployment.

The ship is heading back to its home port of San Diego after being replaced by the Japan-based USS George Washington. The ship’s arrival at Laem Chabang Port in Chonburi province comes weeks after concerns were raised about the welfare of the crew of about 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard.

The Abraham Lincoln left San Diego on Nov. 21 last year and has spent almost all of the 286 days since at sea, making only brief stops in Guam in December and in Oman to replenish supplies as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran raged on.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ted Cruz has lamely praised Donald Trump’s “political genius” for coming up with the humiliating nickname that helped destroy the senator’s presidential campaign a decade ago.

Cruz and Trump have ridden a political rollercoaster, going from allies in 2015 to bitter rivals during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, when Trump branded the Texas senator “Lyin’ Ted.” The pair eventually reconciled, with Cruz becoming a Trump loyalist in the Senate.

Now, Cruz is attempting to spin the most humiliating chapter of their feud in his own favor.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The writer behind the classic slasher movie Friday the 13th, Victor Miller, has died at 86. His son, Ian, confirmed to Variety that he died in Alameda, California, on Monday, but no cause of death was given. He also paid tribute to his father in an Instagram post, describing him as “almost always the smartest, funniest person in whatever room he was in.” Ian said a celebration of the screenwriter will be held in November, “on Friday the 13th, of course.” Miller wrote the screenplay for the 1980 picture, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, that spawned multiple sequels featuring its masked villain, Jason Voorhees. During an interview for a Friday the 13th fan site, Miller said the idea for the movie was heavily influenced by John Carpenter’s 1978 classic, Halloween. “The idea for the summer camp came from my instinct that we needed a location where young adults would be cut off from all adult help, the basic idea in Halloween,” he said. Miller also wrote for TV shows like General Hospital and was part of the team that won three Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding drama series writing for All My Children.

Read it at Variety

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Republicans are rolling out the excuses to skip Donald Trump’s midterm convention, which the president has organized in a desperate attempt to give the GOP a much-needed election boost.

Trump is set to headline the second day of the televised event in Dallas next week in an attempt to galvanize voters amid continuing expectations that the GOP is going to suffer an electoral wipeout in November’s crucial elections.

However, at least 45 Republican candidates and members have told Politico they will skip the Sept. 9-10 event, dubbed “Trumpapalooza,” with dozens still unsure whether they will bother to attend.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Stanley Kubrick’s daughter has debunked fervent rumors about Eyes Wide Shut, the erotic thriller that would become the director’s last picture.

Vivian Kubrick, 66, has insisted that the movie never contained a mysterious 20 minutes of cut footage. In a lengthy thread on X, she weighed in on the persisting discourse. “You know, this is as good a time as any to finally address the missing 20 minutes from Eyes Wide Shut,” she wrote.

“There has been a lot of speculation that some 20 minutes were removed from Eyes Wide Shut after he died. This will be very disappointing to many people, but I certainly did not hear anything about a missing 20 minutes at the time, nor have I heard anything since that would confirm such a section ever existed,” she continued.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Vladimir Putin has vowed revenge after Ukraine humiliated the Russian dictator with a new drone attack on a major oil hub.

A barrage of long-range drones on Tuesday left the vast Ust-Luga fuel terminal in flames. The terminal, on the Baltic Sea near St. Petersburg, can process 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

It was the latest attack on Russia’s energy infrastructure as Kyiv focuses on economic targets four years into Putin’s war—a strategy that appears to be taking a toll on the 73-year-old president.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A British far-right provocateur who was shackled and deported by ICE over the weekend has revealed his bank balance in a bizarre social media move.

Milo Yiannopoulos, who repeatedly cheered on ICE during Trump’s brutal second-term migrant crackdown—including declaring on X that the “Justice system should be just ICE”—was detained last Friday after overstaying a visa and deported the following day.

On Wednesday, posting from the U.K., the 41-year-old British commentator shared a screenshot of a Wells Fargo Premier account containing $4,923,630.64. “Just for the sake of argument,” he wrote.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump has ordered the tearing down of a popular statue in the latest step of his MAGA makeover of the Kennedy Center.

The National Park Service will close an area around the performing arts hub on Wednesday and bring in a crane to yank Joel Shapiro’s Blue from the grounds.

The dancing figure becomes the latest casualty of Trump’s redesign of the center on the banks of the Potomac. Internal documents obtained by The New York Times suggest that the sculpture was tapped early in Trump’s second term for removal.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s wife inadvertently revealed that he wasn’t given the top Cabinet position on merit.

During an appearance on The Katie Miller Podcast, hosted by the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Duffy was asked about the conversation that took place when Donald Trump offered him the job.

Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy interjected and began answering for her husband, saying he was only given the role of transportation secretary because nothing else was available.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Concert workers have been left injured in a forklift accident while dismantling the stage after Ed Sheeran’s gig at Detroit’s Ford Field on Saturday night. The Detroit Fire Department was called to the stadium shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday, with all six workers taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Staff told Click On Detroit the forklift “lost control” and struck several people near a vehicle tunnel as crews were clearing the venue. One worker, who was hit in the chest, said the incident “happened in a split second” and that he had “never experienced anything like that.” Another was released Sunday after spending the night in hospital. Two patients were initially listed as being in serious condition, while four were stable, but none of the injuries appeared life-threatening. Ford Field stadium said one injured person was its employee and announced a review. “Ford Field has begun a full review and is cooperating with the appropriate authorities and with the event’s production partners,” the stadium said. Sheeran’s Loop Tour resumes Sept. 4 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Read it at Click On Detroit

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Petulant President Donald Trump has melted down over a minute-long ABC News segment about his disastrous war in the Middle East.

The network’s chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce, reported on Tuesday evening that the Trump administration was looking to “turn up the economic pressure” on Iran as the two countries traded military strikes for the first time since June.

Bruce was referring to comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during an earlier interview with FOX Business’ Larry Kudlow at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

All four living former U.S. presidents have confirmed their attendance at a ceremony in New York next week to commemorate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which Donald Trump has decided to skip for a typically petty reason.

Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, who was president at the time of the 9/11 attacks, will all attend the event at the World Trade Center site marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks, The New York Times reported.

Trump was initially also set to appear at the event at Ground Zero. However, the Times previously reported that the 80-year-old president bailed after being told he would not be allowed to deliver one of his rambling speeches at what is supposed to be a somber occasion to remember the nearly 3,000 people who were killed that day.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

CNN host Kaitlan Collins has flagged a “telling” reaction from House Speaker Mike Johnson after he was grilled on Donald Trump’s war against Iran.

On The Source on Tuesday, Collins discussed how the president’s war, which has now lasted for six months, was negatively impacting his Republican voting base.

Trump started the war on Feb. 28, sending gas prices sharply higher. The national average in the U.S. is now around $4.09 per gallon, according to data from AAA Gas Prices, up from $3.19 a year ago.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Four-year-old comments made by Hollywood star Anne Hathaway have ignited belated MAGA outrage.

Hathaway, who is currently pregnant with her third child, shared her thoughts on abortion when she appeared on The View in November 2022.

During the segment, co-host Joy Behar read out an Instagram post Hathaway made in July that year to mark the 16th anniversary of her film The Devil Wears Prada. The actress noted in the social media post that the young females in the movie were able to build their lives and careers “in a country that honored their right to have choice over their own reproductive health.” She added, “See you in the fight.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A workout video that Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, shared with the world has received a harsh online reception.

Pirro, 75, on Tuesday became the latest Trump administration official to film and post their exercise routine, following in the footsteps of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth, Sean Duffy, Kash Patel, and Mehmet Oz. It wasn’t immediately clear if Pirro was the first woman to join in on the trend.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Courtesy of Wonder Woman 1984, Death on the Nile, and Disney’s live-action Snow White—as well as her disastrously received “Imagine” pandemic video—Gal Gadot has been the subject of meme-fueled mockery for years.

With The Runner, however, it’s not the actress’ performance that deserves derision but, rather, the film’s atrocious direction. Shot and edited in the most gratingly frantic manner imaginable, Kevin Macdonald’s race-against-time streaming thriller (September 2, Prime Video) is a non-stop assault on the senses that fails to generate the anxious momentum it craves. Flashy, insistent, and altogether pretentious, it’s a fine example of migraine cinema.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Progressive Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey fended off a challenge by Rep. Seth Moulton in a race that inverted a 2026 trend of younger Democratic primary candidates being more liberal. Markey, 80, comfortably defeated Moulton, 47, with about 65 percent of the vote to Moulton’s 35 percent, according to the Associated Press. Moulton campaigned largely on generational change, acknowledging in a campaign ad that he and Markey “want the same things,” while moving to the right of Markey on healthcare. But Markey, who was in the House for 37 years before joining the Senate in 2013, has maintained solid approval ratings. He was also endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and many more labor unions and local officials, including the mayor of Boston. “Generational change isn’t about compromising, to do the small things better,” Markey said in his victory speech. “It’s about fighting to do the big things best.” Perhaps Tuesday’s outcome was foreshadowed six years ago, when Markey showed his electoral strength in a similar race. That year, he successfully ran to the left of primary challenger Joseph Kennedy III, 35 years his junior. That resulted in the Kennedy family’s first recorded loss at the ballot box in Massachusetts.

Read it at The Associated Press

Read more at The Daily Beast.

New Apple CEO John Ternus bent the knee to President Donald Trump just hours after taking over the reins from Tim Cook.

Ternus, 51, took the helm of the $4 trillion tech giant on Tuesday, replacing Cook, 65, after his 15-year tenure. Cook has moved into the role of executive chairman.

If Ternus, who will be paid a $3 million salary plus bonuses that could take his overall package to almost $60 million, is looking to put his own stamp on Apple, he appears to be keeping at least one key part of Cook’s playbook intact: dancing to Trump’s tune.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Tim Cook’s successor at Apple is set to receive a staggering payday. John Ternus, who was named in April to replace Cook as the tech giant’s CEO, will be eligible for annual compensation valued at a whopping $58 million. The company’s former senior vice president of hardware engineering will receive a $3 million annual salary, plus a prorated restricted stock unit (RSU) award with a target value of $2.5 million and an annual equity award with a target value of $55 million to be granted in the 2027 fiscal year, according to an SEC filing. Seventy-five percent of Ternus’ equity award will be granted in performance-based RSUs, while the remainder will be granted in time-based RSUs. Cook, who took on the role of Apple’s executive chair after stepping down as CEO, will receive a $2 million salary, plus an annual equity award with a target value of $45 million. In a message shared with Apple employees on his final day as CEO, Cook said he had “enormous comfort” with Ternus taking the reins, according to Bloomberg.

Read it at The Wrap

Read more at The Daily Beast.

GOP congressman Chuck Edwards melted down after his colleagues voted to censure him over his creepy treatment of two young female staffers.

Edwards, 65, vented his frustrations on X following the Republican-majority House’s near-unanimous vote to censure him on Tuesday, saying that he does “not accept the conclusion” produced by his colleagues.

“The Committee found no sexual activity, no proposition, no quid pro quo, and no violation of federal sexual harassment law,” the North Carolina representative wrote. “It then crossed the gap between those facts and a finding of sexual harassment through inference.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.