A man from Florida set himself on fire outside the New York City courthouse where former President Donald Trump was on trial and died of his injuries on Saturday. The man, identified as Max Azzarello from St. Augustine, Florida, stood across the street from the courthouse as the jury finalized Trump’s trial.
Azzarello, 37, stood in the barricaded park, dumped an accelerant over him, then set himself on fire. Onlookers watched and screamed as flames engulfed Azzarello. A conspiracy theorist, Azzarello, was photographed with a poster that said, “Trump is with Biden, and they’re about to fascist coup us.”
Azzarello had also thrown pamphlets into the air before lighting himself on fire. The colorful pamphlets were titled “The True History of The World,” with a tagline that said, “Our only goal: Abolish our criminal government and replace it with one that serves all.”
In a Substack page linked in the pamphlet,...
Azzarello, 37, stood in the barricaded park, dumped an accelerant over him, then set himself on fire. Onlookers watched and screamed as flames engulfed Azzarello. A conspiracy theorist, Azzarello, was photographed with a poster that said, “Trump is with Biden, and they’re about to fascist coup us.”
Azzarello had also thrown pamphlets into the air before lighting himself on fire. The colorful pamphlets were titled “The True History of The World,” with a tagline that said, “Our only goal: Abolish our criminal government and replace it with one that serves all.”
In a Substack page linked in the pamphlet,...
- 4/21/2024
- by Ann Hoang
- Uinterview
On the heels of Sam Esmail’s apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind and December news reports that Mark Zuckerberg is constructing a 5,000-square-foot bunker under his ranch on the island of Kauai, the business of fortified shelters is booming.
Adding more fuel to the flames: escalating armed conflict around the globe and, closer to home, the ongoing onslaught of mass shootings and an increasingly fractious political landscape leading up to the presidential election on Nov. 5.
The one-percenters who can afford to pull out all the stops for self-preservation are doing so more than ever — often in a fashion that goes way beyond the submerged corrugated metal units seen on reality shows like Nat Geo’s Doomsday Preppers.
Aiming to protect themselves from potential threats including civil unrest, cyberattacks, nuclear bombing, power grid failure and drastic climate-change events, many work directly with general contractors to build kitted-out end-times bunkers, while...
Adding more fuel to the flames: escalating armed conflict around the globe and, closer to home, the ongoing onslaught of mass shootings and an increasingly fractious political landscape leading up to the presidential election on Nov. 5.
The one-percenters who can afford to pull out all the stops for self-preservation are doing so more than ever — often in a fashion that goes way beyond the submerged corrugated metal units seen on reality shows like Nat Geo’s Doomsday Preppers.
Aiming to protect themselves from potential threats including civil unrest, cyberattacks, nuclear bombing, power grid failure and drastic climate-change events, many work directly with general contractors to build kitted-out end-times bunkers, while...
- 2/12/2024
- by Ingrid Schmidt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Veni, vidi, vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered,” reportedly said Julius Caesar after an especially swift victory. Now, his words echo in Daniel Hoesl and Julia Niemann’s satire about a family so powerful it can get away with murder. Literally.
“Imagine you are above the law. You can do anything. It’s frustrating, because sometimes you want the world to wake up and yet nothing happens. It’s really funny and really sad,” Hoesl tells Variety.
“These people want to be stopped. They leave all these traces, so why does no one speak up? There is more than one Jeffrey Epstein out there.”
Premiering at Sundance and Rotterdam – and produced by Ulrich Seidl for Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion, with Magnify handling sales – “Veni Vidi Vici” takes a closer look at the Maynard clan where “family is everything,” but human life means nothing.
“Our main character always wins. It...
“Imagine you are above the law. You can do anything. It’s frustrating, because sometimes you want the world to wake up and yet nothing happens. It’s really funny and really sad,” Hoesl tells Variety.
“These people want to be stopped. They leave all these traces, so why does no one speak up? There is more than one Jeffrey Epstein out there.”
Premiering at Sundance and Rotterdam – and produced by Ulrich Seidl for Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion, with Magnify handling sales – “Veni Vidi Vici” takes a closer look at the Maynard clan where “family is everything,” but human life means nothing.
“Our main character always wins. It...
- 1/18/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
If you’ve turned on a television in 2023, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered a male tech billionaire with a penchant for breaking the rules. On “Succession,” there was Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), the Swedish maverick who rendered the titular question moot by swallowing Waystar Royco whole. “The Morning Show” featured Paul Marks (Jon Hamm), the aerospace magnate who flirted with both Jennifer Aniston’s Alex Levy and acquiring her employer. FX’s “A Murder at the End of the World” included Andy Ronson (Clive Owen), the mysterious genius whose Icelandic retreat takes a deadly turn.
All these characters are composites, with elements of multiple real-life oligarchs with an outsized influence on world affairs. Matsson has shades of Daniel Ek, Scandinavia’s most famous entrepreneur and the fellow proprietor of a streaming service; Marks using a morning show to promote his privately run rocket launch directly invokes Michael Strahan...
All these characters are composites, with elements of multiple real-life oligarchs with an outsized influence on world affairs. Matsson has shades of Daniel Ek, Scandinavia’s most famous entrepreneur and the fellow proprietor of a streaming service; Marks using a morning show to promote his privately run rocket launch directly invokes Michael Strahan...
- 12/12/2023
- by Alison Herman
- Variety Film + TV
Donald Trump is still very angry over the erroneous reporting about the financial losses at his Twitter clone, Truth Social, and in a new lawsuit filed Monday, the ex-president claimed that the reports were actually a vast media conspiracy involving “no less than 20 major media outlets.”
The lawsuit comes following reports this month that Truth had lost $73 million in 2023. That figure turned out to be incorrect; the company has actually lost $31 million.
It’s not clear how the error occurred. The initial $73 million figure was attributed to a securities filing by Digital World Acquisition Corp, which is attempting to merge with Truth Social. The next day all report
The lawsuit, filed in Sarasota County, Florida on behalf of Trump Media & Technology Group, names several major news outlets, alongside more niche finance, politics or left-leaning websites as plaintiffs. Among them are MSNBC, Newsweek, CNBC, Reuters, The Daily Beast, the Miami Herald...
The lawsuit comes following reports this month that Truth had lost $73 million in 2023. That figure turned out to be incorrect; the company has actually lost $31 million.
It’s not clear how the error occurred. The initial $73 million figure was attributed to a securities filing by Digital World Acquisition Corp, which is attempting to merge with Truth Social. The next day all report
The lawsuit, filed in Sarasota County, Florida on behalf of Trump Media & Technology Group, names several major news outlets, alongside more niche finance, politics or left-leaning websites as plaintiffs. Among them are MSNBC, Newsweek, CNBC, Reuters, The Daily Beast, the Miami Herald...
- 11/21/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
It’s been three days of chaos for OpenAI, the major artificial intelligence firm, after the board of directors suddenly fired CEO Sam Altman on Friday, Nov. 17. Rumors have swirled, alliances have formed and crumbled, heart emojis have been tweeted, investors have scrambled, rivals (sorta) have pounced, employees have threatened mass resignations, and questions have been raised once more about the potential powers and perils of an AI-driven future. Even after all that, it’s safe to say the dust has definitely not settled.
For those trying to catch up,...
For those trying to catch up,...
- 11/20/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Sam Altman, a major figure in Silicon Valley‘s burgeoning AI industry who earlier this year testified before Congress on the dangers of the technology, has been removed as CEO of OpenAI, according to a company statement. The surprise firing has set off a flurry of questions about why a startup currently positioned for a valuation of up to $90 billion would cut ties with its chief executive.
Shortly after news of Altman’s ousting, the company’s president Greg Brockman, who earlier stepped down from the board, announced he was quitting.
Shortly after news of Altman’s ousting, the company’s president Greg Brockman, who earlier stepped down from the board, announced he was quitting.
- 11/17/2023
- by Miles Klee and Lorena O'Neil
- Rollingstone.com
Semafor founder Ben Smith’s book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, is set to get the docuseries treatment.
Atlas Media Corp., the non-fiction production company, has optioned the book for a docuseries.
Traffic chronicles the rise and heyday of digital media companies like BuzzFeed and Gawker Media.
But Smith looks at the digital media brands through the lens of the people who founded them, in particular Gawker’s Nick Denton and HuffPost and BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti. That focus on ego and competition between founders craving, well, traffic, would naturally lend itself to the personality-driven docuseries treatment.
Smith, of course, sat at the middle of that era. Smith wrote for Politico before becoming the first editor-in-chief for BuzzFeed, building out its news operation. he would go on to write the media column for The New York Times before founding Semafor last year.
Now,...
Atlas Media Corp., the non-fiction production company, has optioned the book for a docuseries.
Traffic chronicles the rise and heyday of digital media companies like BuzzFeed and Gawker Media.
But Smith looks at the digital media brands through the lens of the people who founded them, in particular Gawker’s Nick Denton and HuffPost and BuzzFeed’s Jonah Peretti. That focus on ego and competition between founders craving, well, traffic, would naturally lend itself to the personality-driven docuseries treatment.
Smith, of course, sat at the middle of that era. Smith wrote for Politico before becoming the first editor-in-chief for BuzzFeed, building out its news operation. he would go on to write the media column for The New York Times before founding Semafor last year.
Now,...
- 11/10/2023
- by Alex Weprin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When I first broke the story of Clearview AI in The New York Times in January 2020, people were shocked. Some were horrified. The tiny start-up had scraped 3 billion faces from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites without anyone’s consent to build a groundbreaking facial recognition app. Upload a stranger’s photo to Clearview’s app and it reveals online photos of them, with links to where they can be found. Thousands of police departments around the world were secretly using the app but no one seemed to know about it.
- 9/25/2023
- by Kashmir Hill
- Rollingstone.com
Jonathan Taplin has had more careers than most folks — Bob Dylan and The Band’s tour manager, film producer (the Last Waltz and Mean Streets) Wall Street entrepreneur, teacher at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. In an exclusive excerpt from his latest book, “The End of Reality: How 4 Billionaires Are Selling a Fantasy Future of the Metaverse, Mars and Crypto,” Taplin lays out the dangers of becoming complacent in the face of the fantasy worlds offered by the leading technocrats.
Four very powerful billionaires— Elon Musk, Peter Thiel,...
Four very powerful billionaires— Elon Musk, Peter Thiel,...
- 9/24/2023
- by Jonathan Taplin
- Rollingstone.com
Deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein scheduled multiple meetings with conservative financial operatives, including billionaire Peter Thiel and real-estate mogul Thomas Barrack, in the run-up to the 2016 election, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Over the course of his life, Epstein established connections throughout the upper echelons of politics, industry, and society, at the same time building a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls. In 2008 he leveraged those connections to secure a sweetheart nom-prosecution deal when faced with charges related to procuring underage girls for sex work. Epstein...
Over the course of his life, Epstein established connections throughout the upper echelons of politics, industry, and society, at the same time building a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls. In 2008 he leveraged those connections to secure a sweetheart nom-prosecution deal when faced with charges related to procuring underage girls for sex work. Epstein...
- 8/30/2023
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
On Wednesday night, a flock of Republican presidential hopefuls will take the stage in the first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 cycle. Frontrunner Donald Trump has already declared that he has no interest in showing up for the debates, and every candidate behind a podium will be trailing him in the polls by dozens of percentage points. Despite the massive gap, one candidate is arriving to the Fox News stage on a wave of momentum: 38-year-old businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
In perhaps the clearest sign of the kind of political philosophy...
In perhaps the clearest sign of the kind of political philosophy...
- 8/23/2023
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
New Delhi, July 31 (Ians) Vitalik Buterin, the Russia-based co-founder of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum, has celebrated the cryptocurrency’s eighth birthday in Bengaluru with some ‘Masala Dosa’ and ‘Ghevar’ cake.
He was seen celebrating the birthday with Ethereum-based Blockchain platform Polygon COO Sandeep Nailwal and founder of CryptoRelief. “Celebrating Ethereum’s eighth birthday with Vitalik Buterin with Indian ‘Ghever’ as cake in Bengaluru. Happy Birthday, Ethereum!” Nailwal tweeted along with the pictures of Buterin relishing Ghevar and Masala Dosa.
“Also getting Vitalik do a bit of Bharat Darshanam,” he added.
Ghevar is a Rajasthani disc-shaped sweet made with flour, ghee, and milk, soaked in sugar syrup, while Masala Dosa is a South-Indian dish.
Founded on July 30, 2015, Ethereum has grown quickly to become the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
Several users in the comment section also wished the crypto firm a happy birthday.
“Happy 8th Birthday Ethereum! As Ethereum’s founder graces India,...
He was seen celebrating the birthday with Ethereum-based Blockchain platform Polygon COO Sandeep Nailwal and founder of CryptoRelief. “Celebrating Ethereum’s eighth birthday with Vitalik Buterin with Indian ‘Ghever’ as cake in Bengaluru. Happy Birthday, Ethereum!” Nailwal tweeted along with the pictures of Buterin relishing Ghevar and Masala Dosa.
“Also getting Vitalik do a bit of Bharat Darshanam,” he added.
Ghevar is a Rajasthani disc-shaped sweet made with flour, ghee, and milk, soaked in sugar syrup, while Masala Dosa is a South-Indian dish.
Founded on July 30, 2015, Ethereum has grown quickly to become the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
Several users in the comment section also wished the crypto firm a happy birthday.
“Happy 8th Birthday Ethereum! As Ethereum’s founder graces India,...
- 7/31/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
Elon Musk has pulled some lousy marketing stunts in his time, but this one reeks of desperation.
As Twitter‘s owner has hinted in recent months — and announced more formally on Saturday — the social platform will rebrand as “X,” ditching the company’s original name and iconic bird logo as it (theoretically) adds features including banking and shopping services. The idea, as Musk has outlined before, is to create an “everything app,” with all possible conveniences at users’ fingertips. His handpicked successor as CEO, Linda Yaccarino, is leading the hype for X,...
As Twitter‘s owner has hinted in recent months — and announced more formally on Saturday — the social platform will rebrand as “X,” ditching the company’s original name and iconic bird logo as it (theoretically) adds features including banking and shopping services. The idea, as Musk has outlined before, is to create an “everything app,” with all possible conveniences at users’ fingertips. His handpicked successor as CEO, Linda Yaccarino, is leading the hype for X,...
- 7/24/2023
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
Gas up the Learjets and break out the Moncler vests, it’s time for corporate chieftains to let their hair down, as only the one percent of the one percent knows how.
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, Warner Bros. Discovery honcho David Zaslav, Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple head Tim Cook, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are heading to Idaho in July to attend the annual “summer camp for moguls,” known more formally as Sun Valley. And Bob Iger, back on the throne at the Walt Disney Company, will also be touching down in the resort town after a brief, unhappy (for shareholders) interregnum. They’ll be mixing and mingling with other media barons, Silicon Valley heavyweights and political players at the media finance retreat hosted by Allen & Co.
Among those getting tapped to dust off their Brooks Brothers casual wear are two former treasury secretaries,...
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, Warner Bros. Discovery honcho David Zaslav, Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple head Tim Cook, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are heading to Idaho in July to attend the annual “summer camp for moguls,” known more formally as Sun Valley. And Bob Iger, back on the throne at the Walt Disney Company, will also be touching down in the resort town after a brief, unhappy (for shareholders) interregnum. They’ll be mixing and mingling with other media barons, Silicon Valley heavyweights and political players at the media finance retreat hosted by Allen & Co.
Among those getting tapped to dust off their Brooks Brothers casual wear are two former treasury secretaries,...
- 6/8/2023
- by Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
After years of delays, Neuralink Corp., a startup co-founded by Elon Musk and a small group of scientists in 2016, is set to begin human trials for an implantable brain chip that the tech CEO says will revolutionize humanity. And people are more than ready to lead the charge.
“I would love to be on the cutting edge of medical science, to be able to bridge the gap of humans and technology,” says Adam Woodworth, a 40-year-old security manager for a museum in Indianapolis who suffers from short-term memory loss due to a military injury.
“I would love to be on the cutting edge of medical science, to be able to bridge the gap of humans and technology,” says Adam Woodworth, a 40-year-old security manager for a museum in Indianapolis who suffers from short-term memory loss due to a military injury.
- 6/2/2023
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
This post contains spoilers for "Succession."
The latest episode of the modern Shakespearean tragedy that is "Succession" season 4 features Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) as unhinged as they've ever been. While Shiv (Sarah Snook) currently seems to have her head on straight, the Roy brothers are already going mad with power. Roman's going on an ill-advised firing spree, and Kendall, most alarmingly, is trying to figure out a way to cure aging. Dying is "bulls**t," Kendall says, and he's kind of got a point: the average person only gets around seventy to eighty years, and most of that time is spent sleeping or working. Doesn't seem particularly fair, does it?
Of course, this is all undercut by the fact that Kendall and Roman's newfound anger at death is the result of their father's supposedly unexpected passing (in the best episode of the series thus far). Logan (Brian Cox) got to live 84 years,...
The latest episode of the modern Shakespearean tragedy that is "Succession" season 4 features Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) as unhinged as they've ever been. While Shiv (Sarah Snook) currently seems to have her head on straight, the Roy brothers are already going mad with power. Roman's going on an ill-advised firing spree, and Kendall, most alarmingly, is trying to figure out a way to cure aging. Dying is "bulls**t," Kendall says, and he's kind of got a point: the average person only gets around seventy to eighty years, and most of that time is spent sleeping or working. Doesn't seem particularly fair, does it?
Of course, this is all undercut by the fact that Kendall and Roman's newfound anger at death is the result of their father's supposedly unexpected passing (in the best episode of the series thus far). Logan (Brian Cox) got to live 84 years,...
- 5/1/2023
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
J.D. Vance, the ‘hillbilly’ venture capitalist and now Republican Senator from Ohio, frequently rails against the menace of Big Tech and its alleged bias against conservatives. Less frequent are his discussions about his investments in smaller tech firms — and how his calls to hobble giants such as YouTube could boost companies like Rumble, in which Vance has boasted he was the “first outside investor.”
A new report from the Tech Transparency Project (Ttp), previewed by Rolling Stone, takes aim at this disconnect, highlighting Vance’s “self-serving” advocacy for legal reforms...
A new report from the Tech Transparency Project (Ttp), previewed by Rolling Stone, takes aim at this disconnect, highlighting Vance’s “self-serving” advocacy for legal reforms...
- 4/12/2023
- by Tim Dickinson
- Rollingstone.com
In the days following the failure and government acquisition of the embattled Silicon Valley Bank, it didn’t take long for conservative political pundits to find ways to blame their more liberal counterparts. In this case, the bank – despite being best known for catering to Silicon Valley’s startups and tech bros – is being blamed for its own downfall due to its diversity, equity and inclusion (Dei) initiatives.
Breaking down the right-wing finger-pointing, MSNBC’s “All In” host Chris Hayes slammed the rhetoric as being “comically preposterous” and “offensive.”
“The Trump-aligned Republican Party has to come up with a cover story that papers over this inherent ideological contradiction, and it’s not an easy task,” Hayes said in Tuesday evening’s program. “And I have to, credit where due, tip my hat to them, because they landed on a truly, comically preposterous one: Folks, we’ve got an outbreak of woke banks.
Breaking down the right-wing finger-pointing, MSNBC’s “All In” host Chris Hayes slammed the rhetoric as being “comically preposterous” and “offensive.”
“The Trump-aligned Republican Party has to come up with a cover story that papers over this inherent ideological contradiction, and it’s not an easy task,” Hayes said in Tuesday evening’s program. “And I have to, credit where due, tip my hat to them, because they landed on a truly, comically preposterous one: Folks, we’ve got an outbreak of woke banks.
- 3/15/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rocked the financial market on Friday, with many marveling at how quickly it seemed to happen. But Seth Meyers wasn’t at all surprised it happened, nor was he confused about who was responsible for it. The “Late Night” host joked that the meltdown is basically just the latest mystery “in a super boring game of Clue.”
If you haven’t been following Svb’s collapse, here’s what you need to know. On Wednesday, the bank told investors it needed to raise just over $2 billion to offset $1.8 billion in losses. On Thursday, dozens of Svb’s venture capital clients — at the urging of, among others, billionaire Peter Thiel — started pulling their assets from the bank.
In the end, these customers withdrew a staggering $42 billion, and as a result Svb was left with a negative cash balance of $958 million. So, on Friday morning, regulators...
If you haven’t been following Svb’s collapse, here’s what you need to know. On Wednesday, the bank told investors it needed to raise just over $2 billion to offset $1.8 billion in losses. On Thursday, dozens of Svb’s venture capital clients — at the urging of, among others, billionaire Peter Thiel — started pulling their assets from the bank.
In the end, these customers withdrew a staggering $42 billion, and as a result Svb was left with a negative cash balance of $958 million. So, on Friday morning, regulators...
- 3/14/2023
- by Andi Ortiz
- The Wrap
What caused the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank? You may think the disastrous bank run that led to the implosion of Sbv was spurred by the effects of deregulation, rising interest rates, and panic among customers—and actual economists would agree. But over at Fox News the demise of the country’s 16th largest bank was actually the fault of their favorite boogeyman: Diversity.
On Monday night, Fox host Tucker Carlson blamed the death of Svb, a California bank that catered to tech startups, on “diversity, equity, and inclusion...
On Monday night, Fox host Tucker Carlson blamed the death of Svb, a California bank that catered to tech startups, on “diversity, equity, and inclusion...
- 3/14/2023
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
In financial documents filed Friday, Roku disclosed that it had approximately $487 million held by Silicon Valley Bank, the Northern California financial powerhouse that failed this week, sending shockwaves throughout the region’s economy.
That number, Roku said, represents approximately 26% of its cash and cash equivalents, and the company will be able meet its pending financial obligations for at least “the next 12 months and beyond.”
Santa Clara-based Silicon Valley Bank was closed on Friday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, a spectacular and rapid end to what had for decades been one of the pillars of financing in the white hot tech industry economy.
Also Read:
Group Black Emerges as 3rd Potential Buyer for BET After Tyler Perry and Byron Allen
It’s a complex and still developing story but what’s known is that on Wednesday, the bank told investors it needed to raise just over $2 billion...
That number, Roku said, represents approximately 26% of its cash and cash equivalents, and the company will be able meet its pending financial obligations for at least “the next 12 months and beyond.”
Santa Clara-based Silicon Valley Bank was closed on Friday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, a spectacular and rapid end to what had for decades been one of the pillars of financing in the white hot tech industry economy.
Also Read:
Group Black Emerges as 3rd Potential Buyer for BET After Tyler Perry and Byron Allen
It’s a complex and still developing story but what’s known is that on Wednesday, the bank told investors it needed to raise just over $2 billion...
- 3/10/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
The Maga movement still had Big Tech in its sights at Cpac 2023 — but they aren’t sure how or when to pull the trigger, or if the gun is even loaded.
The ultra-conservative conference has long been captured by Donald Trump, serving as a perennial opportunity for the president’s ramblings and personal quibbles to become urgent initiatives for his followers. Starting around 2019 and continuing through 2021 and 2022, after the Capitol riot and Trump’s blacklisting on all the major social media sites, one of those top directives was smashing tech...
The ultra-conservative conference has long been captured by Donald Trump, serving as a perennial opportunity for the president’s ramblings and personal quibbles to become urgent initiatives for his followers. Starting around 2019 and continuing through 2021 and 2022, after the Capitol riot and Trump’s blacklisting on all the major social media sites, one of those top directives was smashing tech...
- 3/6/2023
- by Tom McKay
- Rollingstone.com
This week, Tom Brady, an NFL quarterback of some note, announced for the second time that he would be retiring from professional football. I’ll believe it when I see it, because about a year ago I wrote an aggravated goodbye-to-Brady piece, watched him return to the game, and then learned about how he only retired as part of a lengthy scheme to personally wield total control over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ football operations. He can act like he’s done but I know he will be throwing pigskin around for the Niners next year,...
- 2/4/2023
- by Corbin Smith
- Rollingstone.com
Gawker is shutting down for a second time.
After first shutting down following a lawsuit from wrestler Hulk Hogan, the pop culture and satire website was acquired by Bustle Digital Group CEO Bryan Goldberg in the summer of 2018 for 1.35 million. Bustle relaunched the site in July 2021, with editor in chief Leah Finnegan at the helm.
Finnegan tweeted that the site is now shuttering again.
“Well, after an incredible 1.5 years, Bdg has decided it is done with Gawker 2.0. Can’t say enough about how proud I am of the site and all the brilliant people who worked to create it, and what a staggering shame this is. I had an absolute blast, and I love you,” Finnegan said in her tweet Wednesday.
The Writers Guild of America, East, which represents Gawker staffers, said about 40 staffers were laid off, including eight members from Gawker, while the others were part-time workers from Bdg’s Women and Lifestyle sites.
After first shutting down following a lawsuit from wrestler Hulk Hogan, the pop culture and satire website was acquired by Bustle Digital Group CEO Bryan Goldberg in the summer of 2018 for 1.35 million. Bustle relaunched the site in July 2021, with editor in chief Leah Finnegan at the helm.
Finnegan tweeted that the site is now shuttering again.
“Well, after an incredible 1.5 years, Bdg has decided it is done with Gawker 2.0. Can’t say enough about how proud I am of the site and all the brilliant people who worked to create it, and what a staggering shame this is. I had an absolute blast, and I love you,” Finnegan said in her tweet Wednesday.
The Writers Guild of America, East, which represents Gawker staffers, said about 40 staffers were laid off, including eight members from Gawker, while the others were part-time workers from Bdg’s Women and Lifestyle sites.
- 2/1/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
To ring in 2023, the social video site Rumble announced an exclusive partnership with Donald Trump Jr. Beginning in late January, the former president’s eldest son will bring to the platform a biweekly livestream show, Triggered with Don Jr., riffing on current events and, presumably, seeking to own the libs. The press release and media coverage touted the multiyear, seven-figure signing as a coup for the company, which went public last September, valued at more than 2 billion. In marketing terms, the deal conveyed momentum for an underdog business looking to...
- 1/15/2023
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
GOP flop Blake Masters has been tapped by the Republican National Committee to serve on an advisory council conducting a midterms postmortem and helping shape the party’s 2024 strategy, according to a report from Politico.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has allegedly brought in a slew of advisers, including both successful and unsuccessful 2022 candidates to serve on the new “Republican Party Advisory Council.” Members alongside Masters include Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Representatives-elect Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) and John James (R-Mich.), and senator-elect Katie Britt (R-Ala.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has allegedly brought in a slew of advisers, including both successful and unsuccessful 2022 candidates to serve on the new “Republican Party Advisory Council.” Members alongside Masters include Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Representatives-elect Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) and John James (R-Mich.), and senator-elect Katie Britt (R-Ala.
- 11/29/2022
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Less than three months after its public debut, the “anti-woke” banking startup GloriFi is canceling itself.
The company has laid off employees and informed them the end is nigh, via an email from Chief Marketing Officer Cathy Landtrop obtained by the Wall Street Journal. Landroop cited “financial challenges related to startup mistakes, the failing economy, reputational attacks, and multiple negative stories,” as reasons for the downfall.
The Journal reports the company’s fate was sealed Friday when a funding arrangement fell through.
Pitching itself as a financial institution that allowed...
The company has laid off employees and informed them the end is nigh, via an email from Chief Marketing Officer Cathy Landtrop obtained by the Wall Street Journal. Landroop cited “financial challenges related to startup mistakes, the failing economy, reputational attacks, and multiple negative stories,” as reasons for the downfall.
The Journal reports the company’s fate was sealed Friday when a funding arrangement fell through.
Pitching itself as a financial institution that allowed...
- 11/21/2022
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
“Hillbilly Elegy” director Ron Howard admits he was “surprised” by J.D. Vance’s embrace of Donald Trump and the GOP’s conservative ideology during his recent successful campaign for Ohio senator.
“To be honest, I was surprised,” Howard told Variety at the Academy’s Governors Awards Saturday in Los Angeles. “When I was getting to know J.D., we didn’t talk politics because I wasn’t interested in that about his life. I was interested in his childhood and navigating the particulars of his family and his culture so that’s what we focused on in our conversation. To me, he struck me as a very moderate center-right kind of guy.”
Howard directed the film adaptation of Vance’s bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” released as a Netflix film in 2020. Vance’s book chronicled his family’s struggles with poverty and...
“To be honest, I was surprised,” Howard told Variety at the Academy’s Governors Awards Saturday in Los Angeles. “When I was getting to know J.D., we didn’t talk politics because I wasn’t interested in that about his life. I was interested in his childhood and navigating the particulars of his family and his culture so that’s what we focused on in our conversation. To me, he struck me as a very moderate center-right kind of guy.”
Howard directed the film adaptation of Vance’s bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” released as a Netflix film in 2020. Vance’s book chronicled his family’s struggles with poverty and...
- 11/20/2022
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
One week after taking Twitter private in a 44 billion deal, Elon Musk tweeted that the social media giant “needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world,” describing this as “our mission.” Many were quick to point out that just days earlier, he’d shared a conspiracy theory from a right-wing fake news site about the brutal attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, in the couple’s San Francisco home.
Musk deleted the tweet, but he hasn’t stopped engaging with...
Musk deleted the tweet, but he hasn’t stopped engaging with...
- 11/14/2022
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
Tucker Carlson has a type. He likes hardline nationalists who can cosplay anti-elitism while pretending they didn’t go to an Ivy, or have an heiress mother, or have the richest people in the country funding their campaign. He likes the kind of candidate who blends hateful nativism and a fear of the impending collapse of Western Civilization, with mockery of blue-haired, cat-owning coastal liberals.
Turns out Tucker’s type may not be super electable.
As Republicans scramble to find an explanation for their poor midterm showing, finger pointing abounds.
Turns out Tucker’s type may not be super electable.
As Republicans scramble to find an explanation for their poor midterm showing, finger pointing abounds.
- 11/12/2022
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Incumbent Senator Mark Kelly has defeated far-right Republican challenger Blake Masters, AP reports, denying conservatives a seat they sunk millions into and dealing yet another blow to former President Donald Trump’s endorsement power. Kelly’s win puts Democrats just one victory away from sealing control of the chamber and with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote, their party can retain Senate control by cinching either the Nevada race or next month’s Georgia runoff.
Masters is one of two extremist Senate candidates who ran behind the backing of right-wing investor Peter Thiel,...
Masters is one of two extremist Senate candidates who ran behind the backing of right-wing investor Peter Thiel,...
- 11/12/2022
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Democrat Tim Ryan’s efforts to capture a U.S. Senate seat in Ohio ended in defeat on Tuesday night as Ryan lost to Republican J.D. Vance.
To many Democrats, Ohio looked like a lost cause. To Ryan, it was the Democrats, not Ohio, who were lost. His party had a branding problem, Ryan reasoned, one that had alienated the working-class voters in his Youngstown-based congressional district. Those voters had cast their ballots for both Donald Trump and Ryan in 2020, and Ryan had bet his run for U.S. Senate...
To many Democrats, Ohio looked like a lost cause. To Ryan, it was the Democrats, not Ohio, who were lost. His party had a branding problem, Ryan reasoned, one that had alienated the working-class voters in his Youngstown-based congressional district. Those voters had cast their ballots for both Donald Trump and Ryan in 2020, and Ryan had bet his run for U.S. Senate...
- 11/9/2022
- by Kara Voght
- Rollingstone.com
Elon Musk has been doing a lot of talking about the changes he wants to make to Twitter, including personally charging Stephen King 20 8 a month to keep his little blue checkmark.
But news of another incoming change has surfaced, and we’re not sure whether it’s Musk’s doing or if it was already in the works before his Oct. 27 takeover.
According to the Washington Post, Twitter engineers are working on a feature that would let users charge people to watch videos they upload to the site.
The whole shebang is considered high-risk, per an internal email from Twitter’s Product Trust team obtained by the Post. Problematic aspects include “risks related to copyrighted content, creator/user trust issues, and legal compliance,” the team said.
The feature (called Paywalled Video) may or may have originated with Musk; we don’t know. We do know—at least, according to the...
But news of another incoming change has surfaced, and we’re not sure whether it’s Musk’s doing or if it was already in the works before his Oct. 27 takeover.
According to the Washington Post, Twitter engineers are working on a feature that would let users charge people to watch videos they upload to the site.
The whole shebang is considered high-risk, per an internal email from Twitter’s Product Trust team obtained by the Post. Problematic aspects include “risks related to copyrighted content, creator/user trust issues, and legal compliance,” the team said.
The feature (called Paywalled Video) may or may have originated with Musk; we don’t know. We do know—at least, according to the...
- 11/2/2022
- by James Hale
- Tubefilter.com
Lima, Oh. — A typical Democrat wouldn’t be here.
It’s the final stretch of his Senate race, and Tim Ryan is spending one of the campaign’s last Saturdays in Allen County, where Trump won by a mammoth 40 points two years ago. Most in his party believe the white working-class voters here have been permanently lost to the GOP. But Ryan made his way to this cavernous union hall in northwest Ohio because he hasn’t given up.
On stage, the 10-term congressman stood before a crowd of just a few dozen.
It’s the final stretch of his Senate race, and Tim Ryan is spending one of the campaign’s last Saturdays in Allen County, where Trump won by a mammoth 40 points two years ago. Most in his party believe the white working-class voters here have been permanently lost to the GOP. But Ryan made his way to this cavernous union hall in northwest Ohio because he hasn’t given up.
On stage, the 10-term congressman stood before a crowd of just a few dozen.
- 10/27/2022
- by Kara Voght
- Rollingstone.com
Trevor Noah had plenty to say about the new conservative dating app, The Right Stuff, during Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show.”
The app was created by three former Trump officials and is backed by right wing billionaire Peter Thiel. Noah’s segment began with a clip from a Fox News interview with Jon McEntee, one of the founders, who claimed he was motivated to create the app because “girls would just get up or leave abruptly” during dates after learning that he and his friends worked for the Trump administration.
“To be fair, you can’t assume these women left the date because of your politics. You can’t assume that,” Noah teased. “I mean, let’s be honest. President Trump staff got fired like every week, right? Every single week they were getting fired. Maybe they just didn’t want to date someone who was about to be broke.
The app was created by three former Trump officials and is backed by right wing billionaire Peter Thiel. Noah’s segment began with a clip from a Fox News interview with Jon McEntee, one of the founders, who claimed he was motivated to create the app because “girls would just get up or leave abruptly” during dates after learning that he and his friends worked for the Trump administration.
“To be fair, you can’t assume these women left the date because of your politics. You can’t assume that,” Noah teased. “I mean, let’s be honest. President Trump staff got fired like every week, right? Every single week they were getting fired. Maybe they just didn’t want to date someone who was about to be broke.
- 10/4/2022
- by Katie Campione
- The Wrap
Thursday’s episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” kicked off with a gag about the new conservative dating app, The Right Stuff, that imagines how brutal the prospects for single people really would be on such a service.
If you’re just catching up, “The Right Stuff” was created by three former Trump officials and is backed by right wing billionaire Peter Thiel. If you visit the site, which launched this month, it is of course chock full of the tired, tiresome culture war trolling conservatives deploy on social media — other dating services are “woke” and have “pronouns” and are full of people “offended by everything,” blah blah blah. Read more about it here.
Anyway, as always the cold open began with a news supercut explaining the matter, then came the gag, a fake commercial that begins with repurposed footage from a real The Right Stuff ad, featuring...
If you’re just catching up, “The Right Stuff” was created by three former Trump officials and is backed by right wing billionaire Peter Thiel. If you visit the site, which launched this month, it is of course chock full of the tired, tiresome culture war trolling conservatives deploy on social media — other dating services are “woke” and have “pronouns” and are full of people “offended by everything,” blah blah blah. Read more about it here.
Anyway, as always the cold open began with a news supercut explaining the matter, then came the gag, a fake commercial that begins with repurposed footage from a real The Right Stuff ad, featuring...
- 9/23/2022
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Trump-backed Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters defended 9/11 trutherism, urged his peers not to vote, and called health inspectors “bullshit” while he was a student at Stanford in 2006, according to a trove of emails obtained by Huffpost.
At the time, Masters was living in Columbae, a community-run vegan housing cooperative at Stanford. He frequently posted in the group’s email listserv on myriad topics, including 9/11 skepticism.
“I just want to point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a ‘conspiracy theorist’ or a ‘revisionist historian,’” Masters wrote. “The story...
At the time, Masters was living in Columbae, a community-run vegan housing cooperative at Stanford. He frequently posted in the group’s email listserv on myriad topics, including 9/11 skepticism.
“I just want to point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a ‘conspiracy theorist’ or a ‘revisionist historian,’” Masters wrote. “The story...
- 9/7/2022
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Politico’s parent company Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner emailed his top executives shortly before the 2020 election to ask if any of them would “want to get together for an hour in the morning on November 3 and pray that Donald Trump will again become President of the United States of America,” according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
When asked about the email by the Post, Döpfner initially denied its existence, then admitted it was him who wrote it after he was shown the message. However, Döpfner maintains...
When asked about the email by the Post, Döpfner initially denied its existence, then admitted it was him who wrote it after he was shown the message. However, Döpfner maintains...
- 9/6/2022
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Arizona has been a hotbed of false claims of election fraud since President Biden edged Donald Trump there in 2020. Many of the conservatives fueling these claims decided to see if they couldn’t get elected to positions of power so they can help rig future elections. The state’s Republican voters indulged them on Tuesday, handing the party’s nomination for Senate to Blake Masters and for secretary of state to Mark Finchem. However, as of early Wednesday morning, the race for the gubernatorial nomination remained too close to call,...
- 8/3/2022
- by Ryan Bort
- Rollingstone.com
Blake Masters, whom former President Donald Trump recently endorsed for Senate in Arizona, said during a podcast appearance earlier this year that “Black people, frankly” are responsible for America’s gun violence problem.
“We do have a gun violence problem in this country, and it’s gang violence,” Masters said on the “Jeff Oravits Show” on April 11, the Daily Beast reported on Sunday. “It’s people in Chicago, St. Louis shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly. And the Democrats don’t want to do anything about that.
“We do have a gun violence problem in this country, and it’s gang violence,” Masters said on the “Jeff Oravits Show” on April 11, the Daily Beast reported on Sunday. “It’s people in Chicago, St. Louis shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly. And the Democrats don’t want to do anything about that.
- 6/6/2022
- by William Vaillancourt
- Rollingstone.com
If you’re looking to take a summer film analysis course for free, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson have graciously offered that opportunity. The invaluable film theorists, who previously hosted a selection of their digital books on PayPal, have now made them available at no cost in protest of Peter Thiel’s campaign contributions to J. D. Vance and other Maga cretins. “[We]e see no reason to add to PayPal’s revenues, not even the few cents it receives from a purchase here,” notes Bordwell on his site.
Freely available books include On the History of Film Style, in which Bordwell “scrutinizes the theories of style launched by André Bazin, Noël Burch, and other film historians” and looks at a wide-ranging span of cinema; Planet Hong Kong, an essential text featuring analysis on works from Wong Kar-wai, King Hu, Stephen Chow, Johnnie To; and many more. There are also books...
Freely available books include On the History of Film Style, in which Bordwell “scrutinizes the theories of style launched by André Bazin, Noël Burch, and other film historians” and looks at a wide-ranging span of cinema; Planet Hong Kong, an essential text featuring analysis on works from Wong Kar-wai, King Hu, Stephen Chow, Johnnie To; and many more. There are also books...
- 5/18/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The critical burst of momentum began last month, with Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson gossiping about a prominent Republican’s penis. It has climaxed, for now, with one the most egregiously zealous converts to the cult of authoritarian Trumpism finally on the inside track to securing a seat in the United States Senate.
J.D. Vance won Ohio’s Republican primary for Senate on Tuesday, riding Trump’s home-stretch endorsement to best fellow Maga devotee Josh Mandel and state Sen. Matt Dolan, who ran a more traditional conservative campaign while Vance...
J.D. Vance won Ohio’s Republican primary for Senate on Tuesday, riding Trump’s home-stretch endorsement to best fellow Maga devotee Josh Mandel and state Sen. Matt Dolan, who ran a more traditional conservative campaign while Vance...
- 5/4/2022
- by Ryan Bort and Asawin Suebsaeng
- Rollingstone.com
On April 11, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard reported to a Fairfax, Virginia, courtroom for a long-awaited defamation trial that would air all the dirty laundry of their tumultuous marriage. The first three weeks of testimony have offered a cascade of eye-popping revelations, with Heard, through her attorneys, accusing Depp of sexual assault, while one of Depp’s bodyguards testified that he witnessed the actress throw a Red Bull can at her ex as well as punch him in the face. Also laid bare were Depp’s astronomical salaries (including 22.5 million...
- 5/3/2022
- by Tatiana Siegel
- Rollingstone.com
The Wall Street Journal on Friday dug into the circumstances of Elon Musk’s 44 billion purchase of Twitter, as well as those who had his ear and may have convinced him to go through with the move.
Among them are billionaire GOP donor Peter Thiel and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey made it known to Musk that the social media site should have private ownership, according to people familiar with the matter. (Twitter was privately owned for its first seven years of existence.) Dorsey resigned last November, having faced...
Among them are billionaire GOP donor Peter Thiel and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey made it known to Musk that the social media site should have private ownership, according to people familiar with the matter. (Twitter was privately owned for its first seven years of existence.) Dorsey resigned last November, having faced...
- 4/29/2022
- by William Vaillancourt
- Rollingstone.com
The old man in the paratrooper beret is up at the front of the church with Ohio Senate Candidate Josh Mandel and he is yelling. “I fought the Communists!” he yells. The back of his jacket says Usaf Pararescue. “In Laos, in Cambodia…” Things get a bit indistinct here but it comes back around. “That’s what the cabal was doing! They were trying to take the lives of … of little babies!” Josh Mandel is clapping as the man embraces General Mike Flynn and just absolutely hollers the last line,...
- 4/22/2022
- by Jack Crosbie
- Rollingstone.com
Garrett Soldano released a pretty strange campaign ad last fall. The only words spoken in it came from a voice aggressively asking, “Who?” and a chorus twice chanting “We The People!” in response. The rest of the ad was 45 seconds of footage of Soldano firing various weapons at a gun range, set to a heavy, looping guitar riff.
Soldano is not running for sheriff, or even for a seat in the state House. He’s a Republican running to become the next governor of Michigan.
Soldano is not running for sheriff, or even for a seat in the state House. He’s a Republican running to become the next governor of Michigan.
- 4/13/2022
- by Ryan Bort
- Rollingstone.com
Udpate (2/15): A jury has unanimously rebuffed Sarah Palin’s claim that The New York Times and its former opinion section editor defamed her in a 2017 editorial. The decision came after 13 hours of deliberation, and notably followed the judge’s decision to dismiss the case after declaring Palin’s lawyers did not provide enough evidence to meet the “actual malice” standard in defamation case. The judge, however, decided to not inform the jury of his decision and let them reach a verdict partly because he expected Palin’s team to appeal the ruling.
- 2/15/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
San Francisco, Feb 8 (Ians) Venture capitalist and PayPal Co-founder Peter Thiel is stepping down from Meta’s (formerly Facebook) board of directors after two decades. According to reports, Thiel is retiring in order to focus on November’s US midterm elections. He, however, did not disclose his next move. “Thiel has served on our board for […]...
- 2/8/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
One day after Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account was suspended over Covid-19 misinformation, Rand Paul announced that he’s fed up with Big Tech. To emphasize his fist-shaking, he declared he’d be joining a Donald Trump-backed video-streaming platform called Rumble.
Why Rumble? Adored by the far-right, Rumble is a Canadian video-sharing platform that launched in 2013 but saw serious growth during the Covid-19 pandemic: The company’s monthly viewership soared from 1.6 million users in fall 2020 to 31.9 million by the end of 2021’s first quarter. It’s...
Why Rumble? Adored by the far-right, Rumble is a Canadian video-sharing platform that launched in 2013 but saw serious growth during the Covid-19 pandemic: The company’s monthly viewership soared from 1.6 million users in fall 2020 to 31.9 million by the end of 2021’s first quarter. It’s...
- 1/4/2022
- by Samantha Hissong
- Rollingstone.com
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