South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace insisted on calling transgender congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride a “man” during a contentious interview Wednesday, and even said that anyone who cross-dresses has a “mental illness.”

The attention-hungry congresswoman took exception to Scripps anchor Liz Landers reminding her that McBride identifies as a woman.

“She’s not a woman. It’s a man. She was born a man. She’s a man. She is biologically a male. That is science,” Mace said on Morning Rush, two days after she introduced a bill to ban transgender women from using women’s bathrooms in the Capitol and in House offices.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A banana duct-taped to a wall sold for a total of $6.2 million at auction on Wednesday night, shattering expectations for the viral work of art that first made headlines at Art Basel in 2019. The piece, entitled Comedian, was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and displayed at the Miami art festival—only to prompt one artist to take a bite out of the fruit and another visitor to vandalize the display. Three other editions of Comedian, which simply consists of a banana and a piece of duct tape placed exactly 160 centimeters above the floor, sold for $120,000 and $150,000 in 2019, but Sotheby’s estimated the latest piece’s value would fetch somewhere between $1 million and $1.5 million. Voracious bidders at Wednesday’s live auction quickly pushed the price tag above $5 million. Even the auctioneer, Oliver Barker, seemed shocked at the flurry of bids for the fruit. “These are words I never thought I’d say. Five million for a banana. It’s your expensive banana, Jen,” he said, speaking to one of the auction house staffers. “Don’t let it slip away,” the auctioneer quipped. Comedian’s price tag extended to over $6.2 million with the buyer’s premium fee attached. Cryptocurrency mogul Justin Sun quickly identified himself as the buyer, proclaiming Cattelan’s piece was a “cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community“ and announcing that he would soon ”personally eat the banana.”

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve bought the banana🍌 !!! @SpaceX @Sothebys I am Justin Sun, and I’m excited to share that I have successfully acquired Maurizio Cattelan’s iconic work, Comedian for $6.2 million. This is not just an artwork; it represents a cultural phenomenon… pic.twitter.com/lAj1RE6y0C

— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) November 21, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

It’s the question on everyone’s lips week after week: What about Britani? The incomparable star of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has made her grand return to the fold, blessing Mary “God” Cosby with her presence at an Audrey Hepburn dinner party from hell. Except, no one cares that she’s there.

Like most icons, Britani Bateman simply won’t be appreciated in her time. When her work is excavated from the Bravo ruins in 2248, only then will people realize her majesty.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Nikki Haley is no fan of Tulsi Gabbard being President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. potentially leading the Department of Health and Human Services, she made clear on her podcast Wednesday.

Haley, a Trump endorsee who touted his policies over his personality, seems to have a problem with just that. The DNI role “is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer,” she began.

“[Gabbard] opposed ending the Iran nuclear deal. She opposed sanctions on Iran. She opposed designating the Iran military as terrorists who say ‘death to America’ every single day,” Trump’s former United Nations ambassador said on SiriusXM’s Nikki Haley Live.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Elon Musk is backing former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s embattled bid for attorney general—despite the ongoing backlash to his candidacy due to a host of misconduct allegations that have swirled around the Florida Republican for years.

The billionaire posted on X: “Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind.”

In his recurring “Closer Look” segment Wednesday, Seth Meyers explained why he found the entire argument ridiculous.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump selected Matthew Whitaker, his former acting attorney general for three months during his first term, as his ambassador to NATO on Wednesday.

But before he was elevated to either position, Whitaker was involved with a sketchy company that marketed bizarre inventions—including a “masculine toilet” with extra space for well-endowed men.

For about three years, Whitaker served on the advisory board for World Patent Marketing, a company promoting inventions that was investigated, fined, and eventually shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Jesse Watters, the Fox News host who once declared that men shouldn’t be seen licking ice cream in public, was back Wednesday with another odd take: that men shouldn’t tell other men “happy birthday.”

On the occasion of President Joe Biden being born 82 years ago Wednesdsay, Watters explained why he would not be giving the customary message.

“Primetime would wish him a happy birthday, but we have rules here: Men don’t wish men happy birthdays," he said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Author Cormac McCarthy’s “secret muse” claims she would have “died young” had she not met the then 42-year-old author at the age of 16.

“I loved him,” said Augusta Britt, now 64, in an interview with Vanity Fair. She called him her “safety.” And the author appeared to love her, too, with Britt alleging that her likeness can be traced to over 10 of his novels.

According to Britt, she was “in and out of foster care” when she met McCarthy at a motel pool in Tuscon, Arizona, and their relationship began in 1977 when she ran away with him to Mexico.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz defiantly dismissed reports chronicling numerous allegations that he hosted drug-fueled sex parties, paid for sex and engaged in intercourse with a minor. Gaetz, who has long denied the accusations, was at the Capitol Wednesday meeting with Republican senators alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance, where he is said to have pleaded his case as Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Justice. “Senators have been giving me a lot of good advice. I’m looking forward to a hearing. Folks have been very supportive, and they’ve been saying we are going to get a fair process so it’s a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration,” Gaetz told reporters Wednesday afternoon, after the House Ethics Committee declined to release its report surrounding the allegations. “I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been focused on what we gotta do to reform the Department of Justice,” Gaetz said of the headline-grabbing committee meeting. “I’ve been meeting with senators, I haven’t been paying much attention to that,” Gaetz said, adding that while he hadn’t spoken with Trump on Wednesday, “I’ve had a great time with the vice-president elect.” When asked if he was confident his nomination would be confirmed by the senate, he simply replied, “it was a great day.”

GAETZ: Senators been giving me a lot of good advice. I'm looking forward to a hearing. Folks have been very supportive. They've been saying we're going to get a fair process. pic.twitter.com/dN9gIMj5b2

— Alan He (@alanhe) November 20, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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As any true audiophile already knows, Amazon Music Unlimited has long been a reliable destination for an elevated listening experience. With millions of high-quality songs and an unparalleled collection of top ad-free podcasts, the platform’s catalog is curated to capture both your attention and your imagination. Now, Amazon is raising the bar with an exciting update: Audible is officially joining Amazon Music Unlimited, cementing the brand’s status as an all-in-one audio hub.

Audible’s industry-leading catalog of audiobooks features an expansive selection of can’t-miss bestsellers, hot-off-the-press exclusives, and timeless classics to immerse yourself in. As an Amazon Music Unlimited subscriber, you’ll be free to select one book each month (of any length) and listen to it directly in the Amazon Music app. Whether you’re a fiction buff ready to dive into a thrilling new adventure or a non-fiction enthusiast looking to expand your horizons, Audible’s expansive collection is sure to have the right title that matches your tastes. Plus, when you’re ready to take a break from the book, you can seamlessly swap back to your favorite tunes and podcast episodes—all without having to leave the app. It’s all the audio that you’ll ever need, all in one place!

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Shaun White has an enviable abundance of energy. The five-time Olympian is launching the first professional snowboarding league in March 2025; he recently partnered with the “Protect the West” environmental initiative through his sportswear brand, Whitespace, and covertly planned a surprise marriage proposal. I caught up with him between a junket to Africa and his popping the question to his longtime girlfriend, actress Nina Dobrev, in New York City.

Retiring with an unrivaled number of gold medals at both the X Games and Olympics might be lifetime achievements enough for some athletes—or the many other records he holds as a pro skate and snowboarder. But it feels like White is just getting started on his most ambitious aspirations to date. His excitement about the plethora of projects he’s working on (and his affable personality) draws you in, with a dedicated entrepreneurism and a passion for giving back—whether to the sport he loves or the rich Western landscape where he grew up.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A leaked chart created by federal investigators shows a web of alleged Venmo payments made to various individuals by Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz—including some women who testified that they were hired for sex by the former Florida congressman.

The document, obtained by The New York Times and corroborated by a lawyer representing some of the women, purports to show thousands of dollars in payments between 2017 and 2020, the same period during which several people included in the chart allegedly testified to a congressional committee that Gaetz and friends hosted drug-fueled sex parties.

The chart does not divulge why the money was sent.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ellen DeGeneres said that her recent stand-up special on Netflix would be her last. And now, after getting “kicked out of show business,” as she put it, the comedian has apparently self-exiled across the pond.

According to multiple reports on Wednesday, DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have put their Montecito, California home on the market and fled the country to Great Britain with no plans to return—a move spurred by the election of Donald Trump this month.

The Daily Beast has reached out to both DeGeneres and de Rossi for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Rand Paul has skewered Donald Trump’s plan to use the military to round up millions of undocumented immigrants once he takes office in January, calling it a “huge mistake.” The Kentucky senator criticized his fellow Republican in a Tuesday appearance on Newsmax. “I’m not in favor of sending the army in uniforms into our cities to collect people,” Paul told host Rob Schmitt. “I think it’s a terrible image and that’s not what we use our military for, we never have and it’s actually been illegal for over 100 years to bring the Army into our cities.” Paul explained that he thought local police and other domestic law enforcement should be the ones to carry out Trump’s plan, and he expressed worry about the image of “the housekeeper who’s been here 30 years” being arrested by a soldier in uniform. “I don’t see the military putting her in handcuffs and marching her down the street to an encampment,” he said. “I don’t really want to see that.” Trump on Monday doubled down on his deportation plan, as his team is reportedly looking into how to carry it out.

Read it at Politico

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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I’m becoming a curmudgeon when it comes to skincare; it’s difficult to sell me on new stuff—I’ve seen it all, folks. Naturally, I’m usually pretty hesitant about trying new skincare products (especially since I also have sensitive skin), so when I discovered a plastic surgeon-owned brand, KaramMD, I was skeptical. Sure, Dr. Amir Karam is a world-famous plastic surgeon with an undeniably stunning portfolio, but a plastic surgeon making skincare seemed like an astronomer doing astrology—very qualified in an adjacent field, but would it translate?

Regardless of my initial doubt, I acquiesced to my curiosity, especially because KaramMD promised to simplify my skincare routine, is suitable for sensitive skin, and is fairly affordable. The brand claims to gently target all signs of aging, including texture, fine lines, and firmness, with a cocktail of retinol, vitamin C, and other powerhouse ingredients. When I first received the KaramMD Trifecta (the brand’s three core products), I pessimistically looked for the worst: irritants and ingredients that did not warrant the price tag. Instead, I found my favorite label, ‘vegan,’ and I was instantly even more intrigued.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump has now slapped his name on a “limited edition” collection of guitars for his staunch MAGA supporters who would also happen to be music fans, he announced in a Wednesday post on Truth Social. “Only 1,300 of each Acoustic and Electric Guitars MADE — Some personally signed!” he urged. The “American Eagle Series” guitars retail at $1,500 for electric and $1,250 for acoustic versions, with the Trump Guitar website promising that all in stock guitars will arrive in time for Christmas. The guitars hand-signed by the president-elect himself retail for $10,000, with only 275 versions available. In addition to being inlaid with Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” phrase, the guitars come in a variety of colors, black, yellow, and red, and an American Eagle and flag design. The instruments also feature a 45 on the headstock, “signifying President Donald J. Trump’s historic term as President.”

Read it at Truth Social

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Rep. Nancy Mace is celebrating her successful campaign to ban her new colleague Sarah McBride from using the Capitol Hill bathroom corresponding to her gender identity by announcing a new goal: She wants to prevent transgender women from using women’s restrooms across the country.

After House Speaker Mike Johnson announced earlier today that “single-sex” facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings were “reserved only for individuals of that biological sex,” Mace gloated over her victorious push for the discriminatory rule and announced another new bill.

“Oh you thought threatening me would silence me?” the South Carolina Republican wrote on X. “No. I just doubled down and filed a new bill to protect women and girls across the entire country on all federal property everywhere.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Bill Belichick, one of the most successful head coaches in NFL history, might be eyeing a comeback next year with the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to chatter from football insiders. Belichick is preparing to return to a head coaching job in 2025, sources told The Athletic last Saturday. Rumors about his return have been circulating for months, and several teams have been floated as possible fits for the storied coach. The rumors that he might head to Jacksonville ramped up after the Jaguars suffered their worst defeat in franchise history on Sunday, losing to the Detroit Lions 52-6. “Belichick certainly has his eye on this Jacksonville opening,” The Athletic’s Dianna Russini said on the most recent episode of the sports publication’s Scoop City podcast. According to a column written by the host last weekend, Belichick’s desire for control over his team might rule out some of the other franchises searching for a new head coach, such as the Dallas Cowboys. On Tuesday, Russini said the Jaguars have “tons of respect” for the ex-New England coach—despite the fact that he has no immediate ties to Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. “But when you think about what they’re looking for and what they need there, it starts to make sense,” the host said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Russ Vought, a lead architect of the controversial Project 2025, as his choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.

A formal announcement has not yet been made.

Vought served in the same position for the last two years of Trump’s first administration, after having been the office’s deputy director.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Howard Stern discussed his conflicted feelings about Sonny Bono with Cher, after she revealed new details about their marriage and divorce in her newly released Cher: The Memoir.

“The relationship with Sonny in the book, there were times I loved Sonny, I became appreciative of Sonny and his skill because I didn’t know a lot about Sonny’s background, and then there were times I wanted to strangle him—because he did horrible things,” Stern said on The Howard Stern Show Wednesday.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A new name has reportedly entered the race for Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary. The president-elect is taking a look at Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, formerly a private equity investor and Trump’s previous ambassador to Japan, according to Axios. He resigned his previous position in Trump’s administration to make a run at the Senate—winning the tight Republican primary race on the back of an endorsement from his former boss. “Respected, loyal, and great on TV—the total Trump package,” a Republican source told Axios of Hagerty, who has close ties to Wall Street. Trump enjoyed spending time with the senator while he visited Mar-a-Lago this week, the publication reported. He also joined Trump at Tuesday’s launch of Elon Musk’s Starship rocket in Texas. Hagerty joins former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh and Apollo CEO Marc Rowan—who will meet with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago this week—as one of three purported finalists for the role. In addition to his Wall Street ties, Hagerty appears to have the backing of the online crypto community. The senator said in July that Bitcoin would “thrive” under Trump. #BitcoinBill trended on X today, while a slew of memes endorsing Hagerty made the rounds, including some that depicted him as Batman.

Read it at Axios

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Reality right now is not quite what many people expected it to be.

Political leanings aside, it’s not a stretch to say that, for most of us, the election results were a record-scratch moment: Wait, the world around me isn’t exactly as I had assumed?

Read more at The Daily Beast.

As The Simpsons airs its 36th season, one of its mainstays is stepping away. Pamela Hayden, the voice of Bart Simpson’s best friend Milhouse Van Houten, as well as bully Jimbo Jones, Ned Flanders’ son Rod, and Chief Wiggum’s wife Sarah, announced her retirement, according to Variety. Hayden has worked on The Simpsons since its very first episode in 1989. “People are always saying what a nerd he is. But one thing that I love about Milhouse is he’s always getting knocked down but he keeps getting up. I love the little guy,” Hayden said in a video uploaded to YouTube to announce her retirement, where she called her gig on the show “the best job in the world.” According to Variety, Fox will now begin the casting process to find new voices for her characters. Hayden’s final voice performance will be in the upcoming episode “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes,” airing Nov. 24.

Read it at Variety

Read more at The Daily Beast.

HBO doubled down on the involvement of J.K. Rowling in its Harry Potter reboot series, despite the long-running controversy over Rowling’s anti-transgender views. “J.K. Rowling has a right to express her personal views,” the company said in a statement Nov. 12. “We will remain focused on the development of the new series, which will only benefit from her involvement.” HBO’s position is a departure from the carefully worded statement its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, initially offered when Rowling first spoke about trans issues in 2020 to immense backlash. “Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture has never been more important to our company,” the company said at the time. Stars of the original franchise, like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, also released statements in support of trans rights. Since 2020, Rowling’s anti-trans ideology has become the core of her online presence. Variety found that Rowling posted or reposted anti-trans content more than 200 times since September, compared to eight posts about Harry Potter in the same time period. Now, under new leadership, Warner Bros. Discovery apparently doesn’t feel the need to distance themselves from Rowling. “We are proud to once again tell the story of Harry Potter — the heartwarming books that speak to the power of friendship, resolve and acceptance,” the statement said.

Read it at Variety

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The House Ethics Committee ended a two-hour long meeting in partisan chaos Wednesday–handing a victory, at least for the moment, to Matt Gaetz.

Michael Guest, the Republican chairman of the bipartisan, evenly split panel, told reporters there was no agreement to release the findings of a nearly three-year long investigation into the allegations that have plagued the former Florida lawmaker.

He also revealed that the report into Gaetz is not technically finished, somewhat of a surprise that the panel had not completed a comprehensive report after all this time.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Jim O’Heir has almost 200 acting credits to his name, appearing on dozens of iconic TV shows like ER, Friends, and Better Call Saul. But as he reveals in this episode of The Last Laugh podcast, he almost turned down the role of Jerry Gergich on Parks and Recreation because his agents worried it was too small.

O’Heir writes about his fateful decision to take a chance on what could have remained a “background” part in his new book Welcome to Pawnee, which is part-memoir, part-oral history and all-around love letter to the show that changed his life. The veteran character actor shares stories about auditioning for Ron Swanson, finding out he and Retta had been elevated to series regulars just as Paul Schneider (Mark Brendanawicz) had been let go, learning that Christie Brinkley had been cast as his wife, and why he believes the show is still comforting people in dark times nearly a decade after it went off the air.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Joe Scarborough has revealed that the key “takeaway” of the controversial meeting he and his fellow Morning Joe co-host, Mika Brzezinski, had with Donald Trump is the president-elect’s apparent concern with his shocking secretary of defense pick, Pete Hegseth.

A former Fox News host and military veteran, Hegseth has been among the most jaw-dropping selections out of a uniquely jaw-dropping crop of prospective presidential administration nominees—and the criticism has only grown since it emerged that in 2017 he paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault.

That revelation reportedly has Trump’s team second-guessing Hegseth as its nominee to head the Pentagon, and it was apparently possible for Scarborough to read the newfound reticence on Trump’s face when they met last Friday.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, who is set to become the first transgender member of Congress, says she’ll follow Speaker Mike Johnson’s recently-announced rule aimed at keeping transgender women like her out of the ladies room.

“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms,” McBride wrote in a statement posted to X. “I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. pic.twitter.com/bCuv7pIZBY

— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 20, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump’s education secretary nominee Linda McMahon previously resigned from a high-ranking education post after her qualifications began to publicly unravel.

In 2009, the former WWE CEO was confirmed to Connecticut’s state board of education following a contentious hearing, in which critics questioned her fitness for the role if she remained involved in professional wrestling’s often controversial TV content.

McMahon’s answers to a questionnaire about her background, reportedly reviewed by then-Gov. Jodi Rell, were touted in a bid to buttress her credentials. However, several of McMahon’s answers were later revealed to be lies.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Susan Smith, who admitted to drowning her two young sons 30 years ago, was denied parole on Wednesday after she sobbed and begged to be let free from prison. “I know that what I did was horrible. And I would give anything if I could go back and change it,” an emotional Smith said, speaking in front of the parole board on Zoom for the first time. “I love Michael and Alex with all my heart.” On Oct. 25, 1994, then 23-year-old Smith put her 3-year-old son Michael and 14-month-old son Alexander into her car and let it roll into a lake. She then told police a Black man carjacked her and kidnapped the children. But when the police confronted her, she admitted to the murders. “I am a Christian and God is a big part of my life. And I know he has forgiven me,” Smith, now 53, said. Smith’s ex-husband, David Smith, asked the board to deny her parole. “This wasn’t a tragic mistake. ... She purposely meant to end their life,” he said. “I’ve never felt any remorse from her for it.” Smith, currently serving life in prison, will now be eligible for parole every two years.

Read it at ABC News

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Day six of Bloomingdale’s 14 Days of Really Big Deals has arrived—and it’s bringing the heat. Just for today (hurry!), this beautiful cashmere travel wrap is a mind-blowing 50% off.

This luxurious and ultrasoft travel wrap is made with C by Bloomingdale’s exclusive cashmere, sourced from vendors in inner Mongolia who carefully hand-brush their goats. This delicate process allows for careful collection of the finest, softest fibers from each goat, ensuring exceptional smoothness and quality in every strand.

This exclusive piece, available only at Bloomingdale’s, offers a stunning selection of 16 colors like scarlet, cherry blossom, and dark evergreen. With such a wide range, you’re sure to find the perfect shade to complement your personal style–and a few to snag as gifts!

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Crocs were designed to seamlessly transition from land to water. Now the famous clogs are making their way to the living room with a Fuzz Lined slipper alternative. They feature a cozy interior that is comfortable indoors and a clog exterior that is forgiving when you need to step outside. The collection includes a variety of designs like holiday graphics, classic clogs, full-fuzz, and platform options. They are the perfect addition to any Croc-fanatic’s closet or a fun introduction for those who have yet to board the Crocs train.

Crocs is known for its loud and proud collaborations. For this holiday season, the Mickey Mouse Holiday Lined Clog is the obvious choice for the people on your list who bring the most cheer.

For the uninitiated, the Classic Lined Clog is a great starter gift. You can also create a mural of Jibbitz on the iconic shell to add that personal touch.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

MSNBC may not have its name for long.

The network, along with its sister business network CNBC, could have to change its name after its parent company Comcast announced on Wednesday it will spin off nearly all of its cable networks, splitting MSNBC from NBC News. The cable channels, which also include USA Network, the Golf Channel and a handful of websites such as Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, would become part of a new company tentatively named SpinCo.

But newly installed SpinCo CEO Mark Lazarus told MSNBC staffers on Wednesday that he did not know what would happen to the brand’s name, Variety reported.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Are you an amateur photographer, a curious learner, or a budding entrepreneur? Adobe Creative Cloud can take your photos, skills, or business to the next level. This premium suite encompasses over 20 Adobe apps. Normally, a one-year subscription is $59.99 a month. For Black Friday, Adobe is lowering the cost of a year’s subscription to just $29.99 a month.

Adobe Express and Lightroom are great for quickly editing photos–color adjustments, precise cropping, and removing unwanted background elements with generative AI. Use Photoshop and Illustrator to create gorgeous images and rich graphics for use online or in print. In addition to the apps, members also get access to over one million stock images, tens of thousands of fonts, and in-app tutorials to take their skills from novice to expert. Hurry, because this deal will expire on Friday (11/29). Jump in and let your imagination run wild today!

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Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump’s camp issued a blanket rebuke of all inquiries made by author Michael Wolff, incidentally revealing that the writer was working on a new book about the incoming president. In a Wednesday statement, the team said the best-selling author of Fire and Fury, which chronicled Trump’s first administration, “reached out to a number of administration officials for his next work of “fiction.” They added, “He is a known peddler of fake news who routinely concocts situations, conversations, and conclusions that never happened.” In a preemptive strike against his next project, the camp said it has decided “not to respond to his bad faith inquiries, and we encourage others to completely disregard whatever nonsense he eventually publishes.” Wolff has not officially announced the subject of his next book, but there have been clues. In an interview with the Daily Beast, he shared that he has more than 100 hours of recorded conversation with the late Jeffrey Epstein, with the convicted sex offender mentioning Trump in several excerpts of the recordings. The Beast has reached out to Wolff for comment.

Read it at Trump Campaign

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Pollster Nate Silver called for President Joe Biden to step down and let Kamala Harris assume office, saying he does not appear capable of making “high-stakes” decisions.

“Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now?” Silver wrote on X Wednesday. “It’s a very difficult job. It’s a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months.”

Silver included an excerpt of a Washington Post article about Biden’s avoidance of reporters at the G-20 summit in Brazil. The article details how Biden ignored reporters despite “repeated efforts to engage him,” including one TV producer resorting to “writing messages on a large pad of paper” to show the president.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The illegal immigrant accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jose Ibarra, 26, on Wednesday was convicted on a range of charges, including three felony counts of murder, for attacking 22-year-old Riley as she was on a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus, the New York Post reported. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. Riley’s case became a flashpoint for the national debate on immigration during the presidential race; Ibarra entered the country illegally from Venezuela in 2022 and was allowed to stay while he pursued his immigration case. Republicans, including Donald Trump, have blamed President Joe Biden’s border policies for Riley’s death. Riley was found dead Feb. 22 on the Athens campus after not returning from a run. Prosecutor Sheila Ross said Ibarra randomly attacked Riley, intended to rape her and then killed her during a prolonged struggle. Judge Patrick Haggard delivered the verdict since Ibarra waived his right to a jury trial.

Read it at New York Post

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Whether it’s your father-in-law who insists he just wants “quality time” with the family—and who also seems to already have literally everything imaginable—or a new coworker you suspect might be gifting you with something but insists they’re not going to anyway, we’ve all experienced the pain and agony of trying to find gifts for people who don’t want anything.

Sure, you can honor their wishes and show up empty-handed to your holiday gathering (after all, it’s technically what they wanted, right?), but the fact of the matter is that most of us don’t feel comfortable arriving at a celebration or holiday party without at least something tangible in tow—even if it’s a generic greeting card and some random chocolates you picked up last-minute on the way there.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

I never want to hear the word “pigeon” again.

The Real Housewives of New York City has emboldened its biggest detractors with a farce so offensive that it leaves an unbearable stink atop the season as a whole. Last week, I erred on the side of caution, waiting to see how this pregnancy prank plays out before making a true judgment. Unfortunately, I have only soured further.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Richard Gere earned a scolding after he presented his middle finger to Today host Savannah Guthrie live on air Wednesday.

Suffice it to say, Guthrie was shocked.

“You just did an obscene gesture on this family morning show,” the wide-eyed NBC host told Gere, as she tried to obscure his hand with a stack of papers. “I’m bleeping you.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Seinfeld’s Wayne Knight told TMZ that since he’s lost over 100 pounds, his acting career has taken a nose dive. The actor, who played Jerry Seinfeld’s nemesis Newman, explained, “It takes time for people to accept you as you are and they find out whether or not you can still do things without being fat.” He’s not letting it get him down, however, adding, “You just have to accept the fact that you can’t sell something that you’re not.” As for how he lost the weight, Knight said he tried “everything that anyone could ever try from therapy to drugs to surgery to radiation to being taken by aliens.” One of the things finally worked, Knight said, though he “doesn’t know” which one. “I lose 10, I gain 50, I lose 100, I gain 12,” he said of his weight loss journey. From his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park to now, he’s lost “about 110 pounds.” Though it’s affected his career in a “bad way,” he said, he still has faith that Hollywood will “give an old skinny guy a shot.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The mother of the late Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins did not attend the premiere of the film because of Alec Baldwin’s “refusal to take responsibility” for the death of her daughter. Rust premiered Wednesday at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland, three years after Baldwin discharged a prop firearm, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death,” Solovey said in a statement to Deadline. “Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter. That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of “Rust,” especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter.” Hutchins’ father and sister also skipped the premiere. The family is represented by famed attorney Gloria Allred. Baldwin, who was cleared of a manslaughter charge in July, did not attend. The film’s armorer, Hannah Reed-Gutierrez, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. The film does not yet have a theatrical release date. Melina Spadone, a representative for Rust Movie Productions, told the Daily Beast that suggestions anyone was profiting off Hutchins’ death was “disappointing.” “The decision to complete ‘Rust’ was made with the full support of Halyna’s family. The Camerimage festival celebrates the artistry of cinematographers; it is not a festival for buyers. None of the producers of Rust stand to benefit financially from the film,” she said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

After the co-anchors of MSNBC’s Morning Joe announced Monday that they had met with president-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago the previous Friday as part of what they dubbed a “new approach” for covering him, many viewers of the program turned their focus elsewhere, according to Nielsen data.

The numbers, obtained by Mediaite, show that after Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski broke the news shortly after 6 a.m., 38 percent of those in the 25-54 demographic had stopped watching by the next hour.

Given the show’s early morning time slot, viewership typically rises from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. President Joe Biden has been known to tune in regularly.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon left the spectacle of televised wrestling more than a decade ago, but her new appointment to Donald Trump‘s administration has brought fresh scrutiny to her time presiding over the testosterone-charged industry.

McMahon on Tuesday was tapped to lead the Department of Education as she and her husband, the embattled Vince McMahon, are embroiled in a sex scandal, something of a developing trend in the second Trump administration.

Last month, a group of five former “ring boys” named the McMahons in a sex abuse lawsuit along with World Wrestling Entertainment and its parent company, TKO Group. The John Does alleged that from the 1970s to the 1990s, former WWE announcer Melvin Phillips Jr. groomed and sexually assaulted them and other minors, without any consequences from his employer.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The New York Post, Donald Trump‘s onetime “favorite newspaper,” has told the president-elect to ditch his embattled Cabinet nominees Matt Gaetz and Tulsi Gabbard.

“Gaetz and Gabbard are dreadful,” wrote the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid’s editorial board in Wednesday’s print edition. “We plead that he rethink them.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

If anyone was worried Cher’s two-part memoir would be another empty celebrity vanity project, rest assured: The woman has lived.

More stories and interviews have emerged since Cher: The Memoir, Part 1 was released on Tuesday, bringing with it bombshell allegations that ex-husband Sonny Bono was controlling and stole her money.

The anecdotes reveal the independent streak that helped Cher, born Cherilyn Sarkisian, become one of the most iconic pop stars in the world.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate MAGA hardliner and former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to serve as the U.S. ambassador to NATO. Whitaker spent roughly three months leading the Justice Department during Trump’s first term, following the resignation of Jeff Sessions. He was a vocal critic of the Mueller investigation before Trump tapped him to temporarily lead the Justice Department. “Matt will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability—He will put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump said in a statement. A former tight end for the University of Iowa football team, Whitaker has been an aggressive media surrogate for Trump and has echoed the president-elect’s view that other NATO members don’t spend enough on defense, blaming European countries for spending money on “socialized medicine and other experiments.”

Trump’s new pick for ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, thinks European countries “take advantage of the United States” by wasting money on “experiments” like “socialized medicine” pic.twitter.com/PHWcmbAcFb

— Ben Coates (@bencoates1) November 20, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Joy Behar is seeing Trump everywhere, including in connection with The View’s wonky teleprompter on Wednesday.

The co-hosts had just closed out its first Hot Topics segment, which ended with a heated exchange between Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin. The argument—over the benefits of school choice for low-income children—had gotten so contentious that “no one can hear anything that’s being said,” moderator Whoopi Goldberg, shouted, before forcing herself in between the two hosts to call for a commercial break.

To make matters worse, at the top of the show, Goldberg turned to the camera to do her opening remarks, but there were no words on the teleprompter. When the show returned after the break, Goldberg tried to address the “messy” first segment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

All four surviving members of the former boyband One Direction gathered in Wolverhampton on Wednesday for the funeral of their bandmate Liam Payne, who died in Argentina last month after falling from his hotel balcony. Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson were all in attendance, reportedly the first time all of them were in the same place since the band’s final concert in 2015. After Payne’s death, the four singers issued a joint statement saying they were “completely devastated” by “the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.” They did not attend as a group but arrived separately, Styles with comedian James Corden, Horan with his girlfriend, Amelia Woolley, and Malik and Tomlinson apparently alone. Other celebrities in attendance included Simon Cowell, the music producer who put One Direction together.

Read it at Daily Mail

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Behind every powerful politico in Washington, D.C., is a supportive spouse in way over their head. Yet these nine women (and counting) have vowed to follow their husbands off and into the deep end of Trumpland.

Will they sink or swim? With beauty, brawn and grace, here’s how these MAGA women could win favor across America’s 50 states.

‘Mrs. MAGA’ Melania Trump

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The incoming Los Angeles County district attorney who will have major influence over the fate of Lyle and Erik Menendez has warned the brothers’ supporters—who include Kim Kardashian—that they may not understand all of the facts and law in the case.

The brutal Beverly Hills murders of Kitty and Jose Menendez in 1989 have electrified the nation all over again since Netflix released Monsters, Ryan Murphy’s dramatized version of the saga, in September, and put out a companion documentary with the brothers speaking from behind bars.

Incoming Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told the Daily Beast that he has not watched the Netflix shows, which have sparked a clamor for Erik and Lyle Menendez, 53 and 56, to be freed, but said that he feared people may have been misinformed by the programs and also by misleading news coverage of the case. He said that he is committed to getting “this one right.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ted Danson portrayed himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm for more than two decades. But it wasn’t until close to the end of the show’s run that he realized he was playing a jerk.

On Late Night with Seth Meyers to promote his new Netflix series A Man on the Inside, Danson recalled a scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm in which he overheard Larry David calling him a “real a-----e.”

“I was like, wait, what?” Danson said, explaining that he never read the parts of the script outlines—or watch the show, apparently. When he asked another co-star, Jeff Garlin, about his character’s reputation within the world of the show, Garlin said, “Oh, you’re just the worst human being on the planet, Larry hates you!”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

King Charles may be reduced to plundering Prince Andrew’s rental home, the latter having refused to obey his older brother’s orders to vacate the Royal Lodge.

“The Royal Collection, which owns quite a lot of the treasures inside there, may say, ‘Well, we can’t be confident that this place is safe anymore,’“ Robert Hardman, a biographer of the king, said on the Palace Confidential podcast, according to the New York Post. “They’ll start taking the paintings and some of the furniture away.”

Which is to say, this process hasn’t started yet, but given Andrew’s obstinance about moving out of the Royal Lodge—the mansion where he holds a 75-year lease—it’s not too hard to imagine it as the natural next step for the brothers. They’ve been feuding over this for months.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Sebastian Stan is on an island, he revealed in a recent Q&A, when it comes to promoting the Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, as no other actor wants to have to discuss his role in the film—or Trump.

While discussing the movie in Los Angeles this week, Stan said he had the opportunity to take part in Variety’s popular “Actors on Actors” interview series, in which actors interview one another, but no other actor was willing to discuss Trump.

“They were too afraid to to go and talk about this movie,” he said on stage next to Apprentice director Ali Abbasi, “So I couldn’t do it.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

For those worried that there just isn’t enough Trump-branded merch on the market, fear not: Lara Trump is launching her own clothing line. “The LT Brand by Lara Trump Collection isn’t just activewear—it’s a celebration of strength, resilience, and patriotism,” the president-elect’s daughter-in-law wrote in a promotional Instagram post Tuesday. She added that the brand will support “American workers and factories” as the clothes will be “handcrafted in the USA because I believe in bringing jobs back home and making a difference where it matters most.” Lara, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee and wife of Donald Trump’s son Eric, isn’t the first family member to launch their own line of clothing. Ivanka Trump had her own namesake fashion brand, but announced in 2018 that she would be shutting it down to focus on her work in Washington as part of her father’s first administration. Lara, on the other hand, appears to be starting her fashion brand as she’s being seriously discussed as a potential replacement for Marco Rubio—who Trump has tapped as his secretary of state—in the United States Senate.

Read it at Instagram

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Lauren Sánchez didn’t seem overly thrilled to be asked about her wedding plans with Jeff Bezos during an appearance on NBC’s Today show Wednesday.

The billionaire Amazon founder’s fiancée had cheerily spoken to co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie about her philanthropy and her plans to go on a rocket flight with an all-female crew. She was discussing how Bezos’ own trip to the edge of space had been “very impactful for him” when Guthrie asked: “How’s wedding planning? Is it fun?”

Sánchez let out a scream and looked away before answering: “So you asked…”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Pete Hegseth brought his mistress-turned-wife to a Republican prayer call Tuesday evening in a bid to salvage his flailing nomination as Donald Trump’s defense secretary.

According to CNN, the devout Christian former Fox News host told listeners on the call—held following reports he paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017 to head off a lawsuit—“This is a battle that is just beginning.”

Hegseth’s lawyer said the woman’s allegations are baseless, amounting to a “successful extortion,” and that she and his client had a consensual sexual encounter after he held a speaking event in Monterey, California.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

An ominous shadow nears the boat. Passengers whisper, “Wow!”

The approaching humpback whale could raise its head and capsize the vessel Netflix rented to show journalists the wonders of the sea. Instead, the behemoth swims beneath and deeper into Monterey Bay.

The underwater world is revealed in Our Oceans, a five-part series premiering on the streamer on Nov. 20.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump went to Texas to watch a spaceship launch tower catch a moving rocket booster with the tenderness of a parent cradling their newborn baby, but all he got instead was 33 rocket engines crashing into the ocean.

On Tuesday, the president-elect joined his campaign donor turned government efficiency advisor Elon Musk to watch his private rocket company SpaceX’s latest test flight of the Starship vehicle system.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee who is accused of paying for sex and sleeping with a 17-year-old, shouldn’t be “disqualified” for his alleged behavior.

Graham, a leading Trump yes-man in the Senate who has begged his fellow Republicans to “give Matt a chance,” sidestepped a question by a CNN reporter about a House Ethics Committee probe into Gaetz’s behavior by trying to attribute the allegations against him to the press.

“No, no, no. Nobody should be disqualified because of a media report,” Graham said Tuesday, when pressed about whether Gaetz is qualified for the country’s top law enforcement job.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

This one goes out to all my Trump homies. To the MAGA voter, the Trump supporter, the fascist-curious, the Red Stater, the Fox News viewer, the boat parader, the “Let’s Go Brandon” flag flier, the “f--- your feelings” T-shirt wearer.

To the mighty 49.8 percent: congratulations! You got your man. Orange Julius is about to once again rest his ample a-- behind the Resolute Desk. My question to all you is simple: What are you hoping to get out of Trump II? When this second go-round has concluded, how will you determine whether it was a success? And what makes you think this time will be any better than the last?

We already know his first administration was a disaster: multiple impeachments, a million dead Americans, the economy in the toilet, jobs lost, a final job approval rating of 34 percent, etc. No wonder you want him back. After all, with a record like that, there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The State Department announced on Wednesday that the U.S. embassy in Kyiv would close after receiving “specific information” that Russia was planning a “potential significant air attack.”

The department further advised all U.S. citizens in Ukraine’s capital to be “prepared to immediately shelter [in place] in the event an air alert is announced.”

As reported on Monday, Ukraine struck a Russian ammunition depot using long-range, American ATACM missiles, after U.S. President Joe Biden gave approval for Kyiv to use the long-range weapons to strike targets in Russia. Days later, Biden also authorized the shipment of anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine, a controversial policy departure given the risk mines pose to civilians.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Florida attorney representing two women who were witnesses in both the federal investigation and House Ethics Committee probe into Matt Gaetz said the former congressman paid them more than $10,000 for sex.

ABC News obtained committee records of several payments from Gaetz from May 2018 to late January 2019, each between $200 and $650. Corresponding notes to each include the terms “gift,” “reimbursement,” “love you,” and “Joy!”

Leppard told ABC on Monday that in early 2019, Gaetz paid for two women to travel across state lines to New York to watch his appearance on Fox News' Outnumbered, see the Broadway show Pretty Woman: The Musical, and have sex with him.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

When he was once asked if he would pardon his son, President Joe Biden said no. It’s time for him to rethink that answer.

His successor wants to stack the DOJ with an AG loyalist who’s been investigated for sex trafficking plus three lawyers on the Trump family payroll.

Hunter Biden is facing a maximum sentence of 25 years on firearms charges, and a maximum of 17 years for tax charges. Does anybody think he could get a fair shake from the incoming Trump crowd?

Read more at The Daily Beast.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is waiting to decide whether to grant clemency to the Menendez brothers until the incoming Los Angeles County district attorney has finished reviewing the case.

Nathan Hochman’s landslide victory earlier this month cast doubt on whether Lyle and Erik Menendez could soon be released after serving more than 30 years in prison for brutally murdering their parents, Kitty and José, at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.

The brothers, now 56 and 53, had petitioned the governor for clemency after new evidence came to light that their father had allegedly sexually abused them for years, while their mother allegedly stood by and did nothing.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that he wouldn’t be withdrawing his controversial nomination of former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general.

“No,” the president-elect told reporters in Texas when asked whether he would reconsider Gaetz in light of the controversies surrounding his candidacy.

The selection took many—including some Republican senators—by surprise last week.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Rafael Nadal was visibly emotional and had tears in his eyes as he bid farewell to the world of professional tennis on Tuesday. The 22-time Grand Slam champion was given a standing ovation after his 6-4, 6-4 loss to the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, and the crowd chanted his name in unison as they marked the end of his last tournament. “The way that I would like to be remembered more is like a good person from a small village in Majorca where I had the luck to have my uncle as a tennis coach,” Nadal told the crowd during a special presentation. “I had a great family who supported me in every moment. I was a kid who followed their dreams, worked as hard as possible to be where I am today. At the end of the day, a lot of people try their best every single day, but I’m very lucky to have the life I have to live because of tennis,” he added.

Rafa forever ❤️💛#DavisCup #Rafa #GraciasRafa pic.twitter.com/mX6OL2omzS

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) November 19, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Comcast is set to spin off its NBCUniversal cable and entertainment networks like MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. An announcement of the spin-off of those assets, which generated $7 billion in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, is expected Wednesday. The spin-off, which may take about a year, wouldn’t include NBC News, Bravo, or the Peacock streaming service. Several leadership changes will follow. Mark Lazarus, the chairman of NBCUniversal’s media group, will be chief executive of the new publicly traded company, according to the Journal. CFO Anand Kini will have the same role there, and CCO Donna Langley will become chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios. Comcast, which acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, earlier this year opted not to explore a merger with Paramount. Comcast said last month that it was looking into making a spin-off of assets.

Read it at The Wall Street Journal

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was long defined by Kyle Richards and her aspirational marriage, one of the few seemingly unaffected by the curse that has doomed so many cast members who have gotten divorced while on the show. Now, she’s estranged from her husband as she discovers a late-in-life lesbianism (allegedly…), while her former bestie Dorit Kemsley has become her biggest enemy.

Finally, after years of stagnation, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is traversing the unknown. The entire cast is single and ready to mingle—and more importantly, ready to fight to the death. OK, this is Beverly Hills. They’re simply arguing in person instead of confessionals, and I’ll take it.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance are interviewing candidates for FBI director, Vance said Tuesday in a now-deleted post on social media.

Vance seemingly revealed the team was already conducting interviews in the X post, where he defended himself for missing a vote to confirm Judge Embry Kidd, President Joe Biden’s judicial nominee for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Vance’s comments indicate Trump is likely preparing to fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray before the end of his 10-year term in office.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Sean “Diddy” Combs was smiling when he strode into the 15th floor courtroom on Tuesday afternoon, in part because he was able to stride at all.

Judge Arun Subramanian had just approved a defense request that the rapper and business mogul be allowed to attend the hearing without shackles and Combs began by hugging each of his three lawyers. He then sat down at the defense table in a short-sleeved tan prison uniform, tan being the new orange.

In court, the matter at hand was one that might conceivably end up giving Combs more cause for cheer.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

An anonymous celebrity sued Tony Buzbee, the Texas attorney representing the alleged victims of hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, accusing the high-profile attorney of running an extortion scheme against him. The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, the law firm representing the client, only identified as “a celebrity and public figure who resides in Los Angeles,” told CNN. The suit accused Buzbee of “shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him or else publicly file wildly false horrific allegations against him.” It called accusations lobbed against the celebrity John Doe as “baseless,” and a “weapon in a calculated plot to destroy Plaintiff’s high-profile reputation for profit.” Buzbee is representing a number of clients in multiple lawsuits against the Bad Boy Records founder—at one point claiming his firm was preparing legal action for as many as 120 victims of the hip-hop mogul. “The case filed against my firm is not only without legal merit, it is laughable,” Buzzbee said in a statement posted on social media on Monday. The Texas attorney called the suit an “aggressive attempt to intimidate or silence me and ultimately my clients” and disputed the lawsuit’s claim that he demanded money from the accuser.

Read it at CNN

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Covering the ongoing fallout from Donald Trump’s controversial pick of Matt Gaetz as the new attorney general, Jimmy Kimmel in his monologue Tuesday found himself rooting for a long-time foe.

“Things are already nuts,” Kimmel said. “If you want to know what the Republican Party is right now, this is a tweet from Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think this says it all. She’s defending Matt Gaetz...”

Kimmel read aloud Greene’s post, where the congresswoman argued that if her House colleagues wanted to release Gaetz’s ethics report, then they should release all the ethics reports they have on every House member.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team are reportedly preparing a list of alternative candidates for Secretary of Defense in case Trump decides to drop Pete Hegseth, Vanity Fair reported Tuesday, citing two anonymous insiders. Trump’s inner circle are reportedly frustrated with Hegseth after allegations of sexual assault came to light just days after his nomination was announced. Despite the report, Trump has given no indication he intends to withdraw Hegseth’s nomination. “People are upset about the distraction,” one of the sources told the magazine. “The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest.” Police in Monterey, California confirmed that Hegseth was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth has repeatedly denied the allegations against him, and the Fox News host was not charged after the 2017 incident. It’s not the first time officials on the transition team have expressed doubt over the nominee. Another source told The Washington Post on Friday that Hegseth “hadn’t been properly vetted” and they were worried more things could come to light in the future.

Read it at Vanity Fair

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The small boat containing the four actors swiveled listlessly, this way and that, in the closing minutes of a recent performance of Swept Away (Longacre Theatre, booking to May 25, 2025).

We knew—thanks to this Broadway musical’s prologue—that out of Mate (John Gallagher Jr.), Big Brother (Stark Sands), Little Brother (Adrian Blake Enscoe), and Captain (Wayne Duvall), only Gallagher Jr.’s character survived. Whatever preceded the deaths of the others was murky and mysterious—their unquiet spirits beseeched Mate to tell the truth and their story.

In this 90-minute show, directed by Michael Mayer, the folk-rock score of the Avett Brothers is a rich pleasure (and sung beautifully by a talented cast, particularly its four principals). However, the story (by John Logan) and staging of the ill-fated sailors—on board a whaling ship that leaves New Bedford, Massachusetts, sometime around 1888—creaks a little more ominously.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped longtime ally and the former CEO of WWE, Linda McMahon, to lead his education department—an agency he has previously vowed to shutter.

McMahon, 76, served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term in office and has played a key role as the co-chair of his transition team.

During Trump’s time out of office, she served as the chair of two key groups that helped propel him back to the White House: Super PAC America First Action and the America First Policy Institute, a think tank dedicated to enacting and marketing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policy agenda.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Republicans on Tuesday ripped JD Vance, Marco Rubio and others for their absences from the chamber, which allowed Senate Democrats to ram through key Biden judicial nominees.

Vance (R-OH), the vice president-elect, and Rubio (R-FL), Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of State, weren’t the only GOP senators missing, but they were singled out.

Interesting timing … VANCE is currently in the Senate chamber https://t.co/th1d9AmInL

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) November 19, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Full House actor Dave Coulier addressed the backlash from John Stamos’ post supporting his cancer journey in a statement posted to Instagram Tuesday.

Stamos posted photos of himself wearing a bald cap while shaving Coulier’s head. After a wave of backlash, Coulier addressed the “negative comments” in the wake of Stamos’ post.

“This is how we are handling a very tough time,” the actor wrote. “I’m a comedian and humor is what drives me. John knows how to cheer me up and I laughed out loud when he arrived wearing a bald cap—being a true loving friend and brother.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Pop icon Cher shared two key words of advice Lucille Ball gave her about her marital and professional strife with her late ex, Sonny Bono: “F--- him.”

During an appearance on NBC’s The Today Show on Monday, co-host Hoda Kotb asked the songstress about reaching out to television legend Ball in the 1970s as her romantic and musical partnership with Bono was cratering.

“What did she tell you to do?” Kotb asked.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Vice President-elect JD Vance is planning to meet with senators alongside some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, according to multiple reports.

Vance’s trip comes as Republicans scrutinize some of Trump’s more controversial picks for top Cabinet positions, including former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense.

Vance is expected to bring along some of the nominees, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was nominated for the role of UN Ambassador, and retired Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, his pick for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, CNN first reported citing unnamed sources.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Travel can be a total pleasure, bringing you to exciting and beautiful new places, reuniting you with friends from days gone by, and expanding your understanding of other cultures and the wider world itself. But frequent travel, especially mandatory travel for work, can be something of a drag.

Air travel can be a painstaking process, what with the commute to the airport, the snail’s pace of the security line (not to mention the rather degrading security checks themselves), the frequent delays, the hours spent sitting, the stale air and the jet lag.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Bachelor star Maria Georgas dispelled a pair of rumors Tuesday when she denied that she had split up with—or ever dated—comedian Pete Davidson. She also threw cold water on reports that The King of Staten Island star is currently in rehab. “Never dated Pete. False rumor! I’m friends with his sister. Case closed,” Georgas wrote on her Instagram story Tuesday. “Just spoke to his sister he’s not in rehab and has been sober for months,” the reality star continued. The Sun first reported Monday that Davidson had checked into a rehab in Florida following a split with Georgas. The reality star appeared on Joey Grazeidei’s season of The Bachelor earlier this year. Along with an anonymous insider source, The Sun pointed to Georgas’ comments on Davidson’s sister’s Instagram as evidence of their romance, which they claimed lasted a few months. “Can’t believe this s--- it’s very insulting to his recovery and my mental health,” Georgas added on Instagram. “He’s literally home.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump announced the shocking addition of talk-show personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to his new administration on Tuesday, handing him the reins to overhaul the country’s Medicaid and Medicare programs.

“I am very pleased to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator,” Trump said in a statement.

“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once said the COVID-19 pandemic felt “very planned,” providing telling insight into the mind of the man who may soon be running U.S. health agencies.

Kennedy’s remark came during a 2020 news conference at the peak of the pandemic, The Bulwark reported Tuesday. The comment was made years before Kennedy announced his presidential run and went unreported at the time.

The resurfaced clip revealed that Kennedy, 70, once flirted with the fringe conspiracy that the 2020 pandemic—which left 1.2 million Americans dead—was the result of a concerted effort by government officials to kill or control citizens.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

The yellow brick road is a long one. At the end of it are high expectations. The kind that, one might say, defy gravity. Honk-honk.

Some of us have been traveling that golden highway for our entire lifetimes, taking our initial skips down it the first time we saw Dorothy Gale’s house begin to pitch, staying the course when Elphaba flew off the handle, and now clicking our heels for this full-circle moment: the film adaptation of the Wicked musical, finally, after two decades of teasing and, more recently, one of the most exhaustifying press tours in recent memory, hitting theaters.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Incoming Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr threatened on Tuesday to upend Skydance’s planned merger with Paramount Global over CBS' refusal to release the transcript of its 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.

Carr noted to Fox News host Dana Perino how the FCC gave broadcast networks “free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves” in exchange that “they have to serve the public interest.” He then brought up a conservative watchdog’s complaint to the FCC over 60 Minutes’ editing of its Harris interview last month, saying it would become a factor in how the agency reviewed the transaction.

“I’m pretty confident that that news distortion complaint over the 60 Minutes transcript is something that is likely to arise in the context of the FCC review of that transaction," he said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A Republican senator who Trump World is praising for changing his mind and supporting Matt Gaetz has not decided whether to back the scandal-plagued former congressman, he tells the Daily Beast.

“No, I never said I was going to vote for Gaetz, that is absolutely not true,” Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said in the Capitol on Tuesday.

Mullin, a former professional MMA fighter who frequently clashed with—but never physically fought—Gaetz when the two served in the House together, pushed back hard when questioned by a Daily Beast reporter.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Martha Stewart is setting the record straight on which journalist she really wants dead.

The lifestyle mogul revealed on CNBC that it was actually Constance Hays, a business reporter at The New York Times, who she was glad was dead, not New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser.

Stewart took the opportunity to clear the air while talking about SNL host Charli XCX’s “hysterical” reference to her during the show’s opening monologue.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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If you’re a menstruating person and haven’t tried ‘period underwear’ yet, you’re missing out on one of the best advancements in period care to date. Our favorite brand? Knix. Whether you experience a light flow or an ultra-heavy flow, Knix has created a line of leakproof underwear (with six absorbency levels) offering 100 percent coverage to support you each month. Available in a wide range of cuts and styles (all with a slim and discreet design), each pair combines nylon and spandex for an ultra-soft and comfortable feel.

Plus, depending on the style and absorbency level you opt for, they come in various colors, from pink lemonade to black. Thanks to their patented leakproof areas, the underwear can absorb flows equivalent to those of nine super tampons without leaks. They are easy to wash in a washing machine with cold water and tumble dry on a low setting. Of course, Knix’s leakproof underwear isn’t just for keeping you dry and comfortable while you’re on your period, but they’re also great for keeping sweat at bay and keeping you dry if you’re prone to leaks. Overall, the moisture-wicking and fluid-absorbing undies are a game-changer—you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Just like the man who nominated him, Donald Trump’s pick for transportation secretary Sean Duffy has a history as a reality star. And in 1997, he made the most of his time on MTV’s The Real World: Boston, as the show’s most sex-crazed cast member.

Now a former congressman and ex-Fox News contributor, Duffy has been fairly open about his experience as one of seven strangers picked to live in a house together for America’s entertainment. He met his wife, also a Fox News personality who starred on The Real World: San Francisco, Rachel Campos-Duffy, at an all-stars version of the series.

“We got married, fell in love and now have nine kids,” Duffy said in a 2019 Youtube interview. “We are the most prolific Real World couple of all time. No one beats us.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace said that her proposed resolution to ban transgender women from using the women’s bathrooms on Capitol Hill “absolutely” targets Sarah McBride, while a slew of Republican lawmakers have made hateful remarks about trans people in support of their colleague’s efforts.

McBride is a Delaware representative-elect who, after decisively winning an at-large election, will soon become the first-ever openly trans person in Congress.

Biological men do not belong in private women’s spaces. Period. Full stop. End of story. pic.twitter.com/IhR7kExkBU

— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 18, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump called on Republican senators to vote against judges appointed by Joe Biden, as Democrats attempt to push as many appointments through while they still hold the majority. “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. “Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line—No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” On Monday, Republicans dragged votes out for hours on the Senate floor to halt the appointment of nine federal judges. Democrats plan to possibly work through weekends and the Christmas recess to confirm as many judges as possible. They have already confirmed 216 lifetime appointments. The confirmation process should be made easier by the absences of key figures in the Senate— including vice president-elect JD Vance and Sen. Marco Rubio, who is Trump’s secretary of state pick. Independent Sens. Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who often compromise the Democrats’ slim majority, have also been absent for key votes.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

MSNBC’s Morning Joe turned off comments on their social media platforms and stopped posting clips of the show, following backlash from hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski’s announcement that they met with Donald Trump. Scarborough and Brzezinski revealed Monday that they met the president-elect on Friday at Mar-a-Lago, the first time they had all spoken since March 2020. Viewers of Morning Joe— who are generally anti-Trump— expressed their disappointment of the meeting. MSNBC contributor Jennifer Rubin called for a boycott of the show. However, Brzezinski defended the move. “For those asking why we would speak to the president-elect during such fraught times, I would ask back: Why wouldn’t we?” she said on Monday. The pair doubled down on their decision during Tuesday’s show. Scarborough said that the reaction to the meeting showed him “for the first time what a massive disconnect there was between social media and the real world.”

.@Morning_Joe has turned off replies to tweets and hasn't posted clips from the show the last two mornings. A sign that Joe and Mika's trip to Mar-a-Lago isn't going over well.

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2024

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Marjorie Taylor Greene made a sensational allegation that her Republican colleagues in Congress have covered up “sexual harassment and assault claims” by paying off victims with taxpayer money.

The MAGA diehard made the revelation as a growing number of GOP politicians have expressed reservations about Donald Trump’s choice to appoint the scandal-scarred ex-lawmaker Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.

“For my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate,” she began. “If we are going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own that Trump has appointed, then put it ALL out there for the American people to see.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

An Italian village is hoping to attract Americans upset over Donald Trump’s re-election by offering houses for one euro (94 U.S. cents), CNN reported Tuesday. The town of Ollolai, located in the mountains of Sardinia, first started the scheme in 2018, but only 10 homes have been bought so far. Ollolai’s mayor, Francesco Columbu, told CNN the town created a website advertising the houses specifically to lure Americans. “Are you worn out by global politics? Looking to embrace a more balanced lifestyle while securing new opportunities?” the website reads. Columbu said, “of course, we can’t specifically mention the name of one U.S. president who just got elected, but we all know that he’s the one from whom many Americans want to get away from now and leave the country.” He said the town hall has recently received 38,000 requests for information on the houses, mainly from the United States. The town offers three different packages for possible expats: free temporary accommodation for digital nomads, the one euro homes, and ready-to-live homes for $105,000. Columbu said that while they can’t exclude any specific nationalities, they are hoping Americans in particular will revitalize the town, which currently has just over a thousand residents.

Read it at CNN

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump has given one of the top contenders for Treasury secretary a different gig in his administration—a decision that may ruffle some feathers inside his inner circle.

Howard Lutnick was announced as Trump’s Commerce secretary. It’s an important job, but is not the position of leading the U.S. Department of the Treasury that Lutnick had long been vied for.

“I am thrilled to announce that Howard Lutnick, Chairman & CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, will join my Administration as the United States Secretary of Commerce,” Trump said. “He will lead our Tariff and Trade agenda, with additional direct responsibility for the Office of the United States Trade Representative.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski surprised many of their fans Monday with their admission that they recently broke bread with Donald Trump—at Mar-a-Lago, no less. Over the last few years, the Morning Joe co-hosts have been among Trump’s most vocal critics. From my vantage point, they have also been among his biggest helpers. The question now is whether other loud voices in liberal media will continue aiding and abetting the president-elect in his second term.

Here’s what I mean.

For years, I defended colleagues against complaints from conservative friends alleging liberal bias in the press. But this past election, any semblance of objectivity flew out the window. There were too many examples to count, but the biggest was obviously the lack of serious coverage of President Joe Biden’s decline, which I’d heard rumors about well over a year ago—and I wouldn’t call myself one of the most connected journalists. The Morning Joe crew has known Biden for years, and could have been well-positioned to pick up on any slips in his mental acuity long before the rest of us.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Sex toys are a fun and spicy way to add more excitement to the bedroom. However, most are designed for solo pleasure—which is a lot less exciting.MysteryVibe solved this issue with its Tenuto 2 vibrator. Now, MysteryVibe has improved its design and effectiveness in the new Tenuto Mini.

The secret to the Tenuto Mini is the three robust motors that deliver powerful vibrations on key erogenous zones at the head or base of the penis. It’s made with a water-resistant and flexible silicone that fits most penis sizes, soft or hard. The vibrations stimulate the penis to increase blood flow and arousal for harder erections.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Cynthia Erivo told Armchair Expert’s Dax Shepard she was “annoyed” that he’d been so “bold” as to ask her how she wipes in the bathroom with her nails so long. During Erivo’s recent appearance on the podcast, Shepard asked the Wicked star the self-described “inappropriate” question, which prompted her pushback, even though she ultimately answered. “No one’s afraid to ask it. Everybody asks that question,” she replied, before explaining “nobody uses just their fingers to wipe their backside. You use tissue” and “you wipe.” Shepard was unwilling to drop it, however, asking follow-up questions about how she positions the toilet paper on her fingers. When she answered that she simply uses the “pads of her fingers,” Shepard replied, “Then you’re just feeling the little tickle of the nails on the crack of your butt sometimes?” When Erivo then told the host she was “annoyed” by the implication that she might not “smell great,” Shepard assured her, “No one thinks that.”

Read it at New York Post

Read more at The Daily Beast.

A hacker has reportedly gained access to damaging testimony against Matt Gaetz, including that of the woman who said she had sex with Donald Trump’s controversial attorney general pick when she was 17, and from another woman corroborating that account.

The unidentified individual downloaded a digital file containing 24 exhibits that was being shared between lawyers whose clients have testified against Gaetz, a person close to the situation told The New York Times.

The person, using the name Altam Beezley, downloaded the file on Monday at 1:23 p.m., the unnamed source said. But when a lawyer reached out to the email associated with the apparent pseudonym, they received an automated response saying the account does not exist.

Read more at The Daily Beast.