Boston

Oct. 27 (UPI) — A Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany was diverted to Boston over the weekend after a 28-year-old man stabbed two minors with a metal fork, federal prosecutors said.

Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, was charged Monday with one count of assault with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.

Lufthansa flight 431 departed Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 4:26 p.m. local time Saturday, en route to Frankfurt, Germany, but was diverted to Boston as it was flying over Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador, according to air traffic tracker flightaware.com.

According to federal prosecutors, the diversion was allegedly caused by Usiripalli.

Court documents state that following meal service, a 17-year-old boy who had been sleeping in a middle seat awoke to the suspect standing over him. Usiripalli allegedly stabbed the teen in the left clavicle area with a metal fork.

The suspect is then accused of lunging at a second 17-year-old boy who was sitting to the first victim’s right, stabbing him in the back of the head.

As flight crew tried to restrain Usiripalli, he allegedly “formed a gun with his fingers, put it in his mouth and pulled an imaginary trigger.”

He is also accused of slapping a female passenger and attempting to slap a flight crew member.

According to flightaware, the flight landed at Logan International Airport at 10:48 p.m. On its arrival, Usiripalli was arrested and taken into police custody, federal prosecutors said.

The Justice Department said Usiripalli, an Indian national, had no lawful status in the United States but had previously been admitted to the country on a student visa. He had been enrolled in a biblical studies master’s program.

He is to expected to appear in a Boston federal court at a later date.

If convicted, Usiripalli faces up to 10 years in prison, followed by up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Sept. 12 (UPI) — Philanthropist Josh Kraft has ended his campaign for mayor of Boston after being soundly defeated in a preliminary election against incumbent Michelle Wu.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to suspend my candidacy for mayor of Boston,” he wrote in a letter Thursday evening. “This campaign has never been about speeches or social media posts, talking points or talking heads. It has never been about Josh Kraft or Michelle Wu.”

“This campaign has always been about the future of Boston,” he continued.

Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, was stymied at the polls as fellow Democrat Wu scored 66,398 votes in the election results held Tuesday, to Kraft’s 21,324, according to Ballotpedia.

The other two candidates in the primary, Domingos DaRosa and Robert Cappucci, received 2,409 and 2,074, respectively.

“I respect Josh’s decision and thank him for caring about our city deeply enough to want to make it better,” Wu responded in a statement. “We are going to continue over the next two months and beyond to keep engaging our community members about the critical work in front of us and how we keep making Boston a safe, welcoming home for everyone.”

Kraft entered the race in February and has never held public office. He has most notably managed the philanthropic efforts of his family.

He stated that he will use his remaining campaign resources to partner with charitable organizations to work toward helping the humanitarian crisis at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, known locally as “Mass and Cass,” as well as toward the revitalization of the Operation Exit program that provides employment opportunities for previously incarcerated people.

Kraft closed his announcement by thanking his family and supporters.

“You reminded me every day why this city is worth fighting for,” he concluded. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

Sept. 5 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against the city of Boston, its Mayor Michelle Wu, the Boston Police Department and police commissioner over its so-called sanctuary city laws.

The Justice Department said in a press release Thursday that the practices in the Boston Trust Act, enacted in 2014, “interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of its immigration laws.”

The law allows Boston police to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement only “on issues of significant public safety, such as human trafficking, child exploitation, drug and weapons trafficking, and cybercrimes, while refraining from involvement in civil immigration enforcement,” the city said.

“The City of Boston and its mayor have been among the worst sanctuary offenders in America — they explicitly enforce policies designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “If Boston won’t protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will.”

The Department of Justice said Boston’s law allows the “release of dangerous criminals from police custody who would otherwise be subject to removal, including illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, and drug and human trafficking, onto the streets.”

In a statement, Wu vowed to not back down and said the “unconstitutional attack on our city is not a surprise.”

“Boston is a thriving community, the economic and cultural hub of New England, and the safest major city in the country — but this administration is intent on attacking our community to advance their own authoritarian agenda,” she said. “This is our city, and we will vigorously defend our laws and the constitutional rights of cities, which have been repeatedly upheld in courts across the country. We will not yield.”

The Justice Department has filed similar suits against Los Angeles and New York City.

In July, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Illinois, Cook County and Chicago over sanctuary laws.

On Aug. 13, Bondi sent a letter to Wu warning her that officials who obstruct federal immigration could face criminal charges or civil liability.

Wu responded on Aug. 19, citing the Chicago dismissal.

“Courts have consistently held, as recently as last month, that local public safety laws like the Boston Trust Act are valid exercises of local authority and fully consistent with federal law,” she wrote.

In August, a federal judge extended his preliminary injunction that blocks the Trump administration from withholding funds for 34 sanctuary jurisdictions.

Those cities include Boston, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles.

Bondi in August published a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions,” which she said “impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design.”

James E. Silcott, a trailblazing Los Angeles architect who, thanks to many gifts to his alma mater, Howard University, became the most generous benefactor to architecture students at historically Black colleges in the U.S., died July 17 in Washington, D.C. He was 95.

Silcott’s memorial service took place on Saturday at Howard; he will be laid to rest in L.A.’s Inglewood Park Cemetery on Sept. 6.

Silcott, who started in Los Angeles working for Gruen Associates alongside colleagues like Frank Gehry, made history as the first Black project architect for both Los Angeles County and UCLA. His successful legal battles with the county — he alleged that he had been unfairly terminated because of his race, and was later a victim of retribution for his lawsuit — shined a light on the entrenched barriers Black professionals faced in public institutions at the time.

Born Dec. 21, 1929, in Boston, to parents from the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Silcott grew up in the city’s Roxbury neighborhood during a time of limited opportunities for young Black people. Living in tenements and walk-ups, and making friends of all races and ethnicities, he learned self-reliance, resilience and cultural fluency, as he recounted in a 2007 oral history for Northeastern University’s Lower Roxbury Black History Project. After graduating high school, he worked as a hotel cook alongside his father. “I didn’t know what I wanted,” he said. But an aptitude test at a local YMCA pointed him toward architecture. After being rejected from several architecture schools, he received a lifeline via Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Silcott entered Howard — its architecture program was the first at a historically Black college to receive accreditation — in 1949. He came under the mentorship of Howard H. Mackey Sr., one of the most prominent Black architects and educators of the 20th century, known for instilling a sense of architecture’s civic purpose. Silcott’s studies were interrupted by three years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. Returning to Howard, he earned his 5-year bachelor of architecture degree in 1957.

Those years were marked by constant financial strain — often forcing him, as he put it, to decide “whether to buy books or buy food” — an experience that would later drive him, as a donor to Howard, to ensure that future students wouldn’t face that choice. He would never forget the role Howard played for him.

“He felt like when nobody else would take him, Howard took him,” said his niece Julie Roberts. “He really credits them for laying the groundwork and setting the path and changing the trajectory of his life.”

Silcott began his career working for architect Arthur Cohen in Boston before moving to Los Angeles — he always hated the cold, said his friends and family — in 1958. Joining Gruen Associates, one of the era’s most influential firms, he, among other efforts, collaborated with Frank Gehry on the design of the Winrock Shopping Center in Albuquerque. He would soon work at UCLA’s architectural and engineering office, becoming the school’s first Black project lead on buildings like the UCLA Boathouse (1965), with its light-filled, maritime-inspired form — including porthole windows and an upper story deck for viewing races. Also at UCLA he collaborated with Welton Becket and Associates on the Jules Stein Eye Institute (1966), with its clean-lined facade of pale stone columns and glass walls that opened to natural light while maintaining shade and privacy.

He later joined Los Angeles County’s Department of Facilities Management, where he would become a senior architect and help oversee projects like the Inglewood Courts Building (1973, another collaboration with Becket) and Los Angeles County Southeast General Hospital (1971), eventually renamed Martin Luther King Jr. General Hospital. As the only Black architect working in the county, Silcott’s good friend (and fellow Howard architecture graduate) Melvin Mitchell said he was not always welcome. “None of those men could ever imagine someone of Silcott’s race or color wielding that kind of power, despite the phony smiles and benign language used,” Mitchell said in his eulogy at Howard.

At the end of the decade Silcott was demoted and later laid off during budget cuts — a move he contended was racially motivated. The county’s Civil Service Commission eventually agreed, ruling in 1984 that he had been improperly terminated in order to preserve the jobs of white employees with less seniority, and ordering that he be reinstated with full back pay. “I had to fight for my job just to make sure the rules were applied fairly,” Silcott told the Los Angeles Times.

Chief County Engineer Stephen J. Koonce, left, gestured as he discussed with James Silcott the details of the architect’s return to work, on March 15, 1984.

(Steve Fontanini / Los Angeles Times)

But the reinstatement was short-lived: within months, Silcott alleged that the county had retaliated by stripping away meaningful duties, among other retributions. “They had him working in a closet at one time,” said Roberts. Later that year, the Board of Supervisors approved a roughly $1 million settlement offer to resolve his federal discrimination lawsuit. The Times noted that his case had “become a rallying point” for those seeking greater equity in public employment. As Silcott later reflected, “This was never just about me. It was about making sure the next Black architect who comes along doesn’t have to fight the same battles.”

Silcott would later work as an architectural consultant to public agencies and universities while serving on several public boards, including the South Los Angeles Area Planning Commission, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals and the California State Board of Architectural Examiners.

He built a stylish home in Windsor Hills, where he would regularly host family, not to mention mayors, council members, and, later, former President Obama, said Mitchell.

In 1995 — retired as an architect — he took on minority ownership and a board seat at Kennard Design Group, one of the largest Black-owned architecture firms in the country, following the death of its founder (and Silcott’s good friend) Robert Kennard. “He didn’t hesitate,” said Gail Kennard, Robert’s daughter, who still leads the firm, and wanted to ensure the company’s stability at a difficult time. “He was always there to help. For advice, support, anything. Without hesitation he’d say, ‘I’ll do it.’ He just had that generous spirit.”

But Silcott’s greatest love, noted Kennard, was Howard — particularly its Department of Architecture — where he would go on to become a historically prolific philanthropist, and help mentor generations of aspiring architects.

“He would tell me stories about people who were coming up in the profession,” said Kennard. “He’d say, I found this new student and he or she’s my new project.”

Silcott’s ability to support the school financially grew out of skillful real estate investments, which began with a few buildings in Boston that he inherited from his mother. He managed and expanded numerous properties both in Boston and Los Angeles.

In 1991 he helped establish the James E. Silcott Fund, now valued at $250,000, offering emergency aid to Howard architecture students in financial distress. In 2002, he established the James E. Silcott Endowed Chair with an initial $1 million, bringing architects like Sir David Adjaye, Philip Freelon, Jack Travis and Roberta Washington to teach and mentor at Howard. And with a $1 million gift he funded the T. George Silcott Gallery, named for his late brother, providing a venue for exhibitions, critiques and public lectures. Silcott also made unrestricted contributions of hundreds of thousands more to Howard’s Department of Architecture, supporting scholarships, travel fellowships and capital improvements. By the end of his life, his contributions to Howard exceeded $3 million, making him, according to the school, the largest individual donor to architecture programs at historically Black colleges and universities in the country.

“Howard and its school of architecture was at the very center of his life,” said Mitchell, who noted Silcott’s gifts also helped keep the school afloat during difficult periods.

Silcott received the Howard University Alumni Achievement Award, the Centennial Professional Excellence Award and the Howard H. Mackey Dean’s Medal, named after his mentor. He also received the Kresge/Coca-Cola Award for philanthropy to HBCUs. In 2020, he was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows.

After a stroke in 2020, Silcott moved to Washington, D.C., to be under family care. He was placed in hospice in 2022, and put on a feeding tube, but lived three more years against the odds, noted Roberts, one of seven close nieces and nephews who called him “Uncle James.”

“He would not acknowledge that he wasn’t going to live forever,” said Roberts. Silcott remained engaged with Howard until his death.

With a camera trailing his every move, Nathan Chen glides across the ice at the same training center that fueled his Olympic dreams. Four years after winning Olympic gold, Chen is still the picture of power and artistry as he picks up speed to round a turn and circles an arm around his head.

“Is this a comeback?” Jean-Luc Baker, a 2022 Olympic ice dancer, playfully asks.

The reigning Olympic champion has not skated competitively since Feb. 10, 2022, when Chen landed five clean quadruple jumps to become the seventh U.S. man to win a figure skating singles gold medal.

He doesn’t intend to change that soon.

Six months before the Milano Cortina Olympics, Chen confirmed he will not defend his Olympic title. The two-time Olympic gold medalist hasn’t officially retired, but is ready to embark on a new career in medicine.

“I just want to open doors to kind of see what’s the best sort of approach for me,” Chen told The Times. “And frankly, at this point in time in my life, I’ve already accomplished enough in skating that I’m quite satisfied with my career.”

A six-time national champion and three-time world champion, Chen put an exclamation point on his career with a dominant performance in Beijing. He set the world record in the short program. He conquered demons from a 2018 disaster in which he finished fifth to win his first individual Olympic medal. He became the first singles skater in Olympic history with two gold medals in the same Games after helping the United States to a victory in the team competition.

Then Chen slipped seamlessly back into life as a student, finishing his bachelor’s degree at Yale, where he started before the Games. He began applying to medical schools while helping launch Your True Step, a series of skating seminars with Baker, who placed 11th in the 2022 Olympic ice dance competition with partner Kaitlin Hawayek, and choreographer Sam Chouinard. After giving instruction on and off the ice to roughly two dozen young athletes, the first question Chen received Friday during a post-camp Q&A was about which medical school he was going to attend.

Whichever one wants him, Chen responded with a chuckle.

Chen, who said taking the medical college admission test was even more nerve-racking than competing at the Olympics, is interested in cardiology or oncology, specifically related to genetics. He’s curious about cardiothoracic surgery, but worried about the potential work-life balance sacrifices.

The concern isn’t that Chen is scared to dedicate himself completely to a particular job. He just wants his next project to be as fulfilling as skating was.

“The basis of being a doctor, I think, is to help people,” Chen said. “I think that’s something that I didn’t necessarily feel as an athlete, that I felt was a little bit lacking, and I get a little bit of that sense doing YTS.”

The skating camps, which began in 2024, have brought Chen and Baker to rinks in Irvine, Boston, Detroit and Seattle. They came up with the idea while attending a pre-Olympic camp in 2022 so the longtime friends could remain close to each other and to the sport. Baker, 31, knew the Beijing Games would likely be his last Olympics. Chen wasn’t sure at the time.

Nathan Chen listens to the national anthem while standing on the top step of the podium after winning gold in men’s figure skating at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

Still only 26, Chen could be entering his physical prime. The sport has remained open to older competitors as technique has progressed. But the window of opportunity to realistically win is small, Chen acknowledged, as athletes push the limits toward jumps that were once unimaginable.

Leading up to the 2022 Olympics, Chen dabbled with a quadruple axel during practice, but stopped training it as the Games approached. While he came close to landing it, he was comfortable knowing no one else had the daring jump yet.

Only seven months after those Games, Ilia Malinin landed the world’s first quadruple axel in competition at 17 years old. Now the favorite for Olympic gold in 2026, the 20-year-old American has won consecutive world championships.

While Malinin, who also trains at Irvine’s Great Park Ice with Chen’s former coach Rafael Arutyunyan, landed six quadruple jumps at the 2025 world championships, Chen watched from afar.

The event took place in Boston, where Chen was completing a post-baccalaureate program. Instead of feeling like he was missing out, Chen was relieved he didn’t have to feel the stress of competition.

He’s content to enjoy what could be a golden era of U.S. skating from the sideline. The United States claimed three of four world championships in 2025, the most ever for the country in a single world championship. Alysa Liu made an improbable return from a two-year hiatus to become the first U.S. woman to win the world championship since 2006. Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third consecutive ice dance world title. Malinin, known as “the Quad God,” became the first American man to win back-to-back singles world championships since Chen, who won three.

Chen, the one-time “Quad King,” is happy to pass his crown.

The Philadephia Phillies beat the Boston Red Sox after a catcher interference ruling with the bases loaded – a way of winning a game not seen in the major leagues since 1971.

With the scores level in the borrom of the 10th inning, Red Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez was deemed to have interfered with the swing of Phillies batter Edmundo Sosa – sending him to first base and “walking in” a walk-off run as the baserunners all advanced.

WATCH MORE: Pitcher catches 105mph ball without looking

Walker Buehler owned our city. When the Dodgers ran out of arms last fall, he instantly reimagined himself as a closer and slayed the mighty New York Yankees in the final inning of the World Series. In the championship parade, he donned the jersey of fellow Fall Classic hero Orel Hershiser. He and catcher Will Smith auctioned the ball used for the final out and donated the $414,000 in proceeds toward wildfire relief.

From the day he arrived at Dodger Stadium as a rookie in 2017, Buehler exuded confidence. Tommy Lasorda had to goad Hershiser into becoming a bulldog. Buehler always had been one.

That made it shocking, frankly, to hear Buehler talk after the Angels dazed him in a five-run first inning Monday at Angel Stadium. They beat him, he beat himself, whatever.

But among the words uttered by the one-time Dodgers ace with the supreme confidence were these: “I think I can still pitch in the major leagues.”

Buehler’s earned-run average is 6.29, the highest of any American League pitcher with at least 60 innings.

That leaves the Red Sox with this unsettling dilemma: They are a game and a half out of an American League wild card — and only a game ahead of the Angels — so can they afford to keep Buehler in their starting rotation?

“We’ll talk about it,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Walker Buehler tosses his glove and cap into the dugout as he leaves the field after giving up five runs in the first inning of a 9-5 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium on Monday.

(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)

Buehler does not shy from accountability, or from the question of whether he worries that the Red Sox might move him to the bullpen, at least for a spell.

“Yeah, I think you have to,” he said. “At some point, there are 26 guys that are going to help this team hopefully make the playoffs.

“If you’re not one of them, I don’t really think it matters what you’ve done in years past.”

In his previous start, Cora noted before the game, Buehler had failed to retire eight batters with two-strike counts.

In this game, after the Red Sox handed him a 3-0 lead, Zach Neto hit Buehler’s first pitch over the center-field fence. The Angels scored the remaining four runs with two outs. In all, the Angels scored five runs on two hits, two hit batters and four walks.

Buehler hit the Angels’ No. 7 batter with two strikes, walked the No. 8 batter with two strikes, and walked the No. 9 batter with two strikes. Then he hit Neto to force home a run.

“It’s embarrassing,” Buehler said. “It’s just not who I want to be as a baseball player. Obviously, I’d rather get whacked around than do that.

“Somehow, this year, I’ve managed to do all the negative things you can. I’ll keep working. It’s just tough to let down our team, especially with the first inning that we had.”

The Dodgers signed Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to replace Buehler and Jack Flaherty in their rotation. Snell and Sasaki are on the injured list. Flaherty has a 4.83 ERA and an AL-high eight losses for the team with the best record in the majors, the Detroit Tigers.

Buehler has started 13 games, more than anyone on the Red Sox except Garrett Crochet and more than anyone on the Dodgers except Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May. Buehler’s ERA in seven games since returning from an injured list stint for what the Red Sox called shoulder bursitis: 8.59.

Cora insists that Buehler’s stuff and velocity are fine, and that mechanics and execution are the issues. Buehler walked a career-high seven in his four innings on Monday, more than he walked in 15 innings in the 2024 postseason. Opposing batters have an OPS over 1.000 against his four-seam fastball.

“Honestly, his stuff is good. It’s really good,” Cora said before the game. “The one thing we always talk about is the misses. If you look at his four-seamer, when he goes up, it’s actually a non-competitive pitch.

“If we can tighten that up — and that’s with more repetitions, of course — he’s going to be OK. Hopefully, it starts soon.”

After the game, Cora said he is “100%” sure Buehler is not pitching hurt. Buehler, asked if he is pitching through anything, said: “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Buehler is in his first full season after his second Tommy John surgery. The track record for pitchers returning to their previous performance level after a second such surgery is not encouraging. Shohei Ohtani is trying the same thing this season.

For the Dodgers last October, after returning for an abbreviated season, Buehler threw 10 shutout innings in the league championship series and the World Series. I asked him whether the comeback might be harder over the course of a full season. That was the context for volunteering his remark about his ability to pitch in the majors.

“I think, in all honesty, it’s a lot easier to stay good than to get good,” he said. “The guys on the other side of the field from me drive nice cars, get paid a lot of money to be really good at what they do. Outside of a couple swings, I think largely I beat myself, which is just not something that you can do here.

“I think it’s in there. I think my arm still moves good. I think I can still make the ball move. I think I can still pitch in the major leagues.

“At some point, the belief, it gets hard to keep tricking yourself. At some point, I have got to put some results up there, for myself, but also for this organization.”

Walker Buehler sits in the dugout after being pulled in the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners on June 17.

(John Froschauer / Associated Press)

That is the reality, and the reason for the talk about whether the Red Sox might remove him from their rotation.

“I’m a guy open to doing whatever needs to be done,” he said.

“I’m a starting pitcher. I’ve been a starting pitcher my whole life. I don’t necessarily think that changing that is going to somehow magically fix everything.”

Something’s gotta give. Could be his results, could be his role. Whatever the case, he’ll always have last October.

The Boston Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in a blockbuster deal.

Devers’ agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, confirmed that the slugger had been traded to San Francisco. ESPN reported that the package of players going back to the Red Sox includes starter Jordan Hicks and left-hander Kyle Harrison.

Devers, 28, is one of baseball’s most feared hitters. He is batting .272 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs in 73 games after he connected for a solo drive in Boston’s 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

Devers, a three-time All-Star, agreed to a $313.5 million, 10-year contract in January 2023, but his relationship with the Red Sox began to deteriorate when the team signed third baseman Alex Bregman during spring training.

Devers insisted he was the team’s third baseman before switching to designated hitter. When Triston Casas was sidelined by a season-ending knee injury, the Red Sox approached Devers about filling in at first base. He declined, and suggested the front office “should do their jobs” and look for another player.

A day after Devers’ comments to the media about playing first, Red Sox owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and manager Alex Cora.

Bregman has been out since May 23 with strained right quadriceps, similar to his left quad strain that cost him 58 games for the Houston Astros in 2021.

The Red Sox improved to 37-36 with their three-game sweep against New York. But they are fourth in the AL East, trailing the division-leading Yankees by 6½ games.

Devers first signed with Boston as an international free agent in August 2013. He was 20 when he made his major league debut with the Red Sox on July 25, 2017.

He helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series and led the team in RBIs for five consecutive seasons from 2020-24. He has finished in the top 20 in voting for AL MVP five times.

Devers is not the first Red Sox All-Star to be traded away: The team sent Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2020 season — just a year after he won the AL MVP award and led Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and its fourth World Series title since 2004.

Days after Alex Cooper accused her former college soccer coach of sexual harassment, Boston University has responded.

The host of the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast, who made the allegations in a two-part Hulu documentary that premiered Tuesday after screening Sunday at the Tribeca Film Festival, played Division I soccer at the university for three years, during which time Cooper claims coach Nancy Feldman made inappropriate comments about her body and sex life, engaged in controlling behavior and touched her thigh.

“Nancy Feldman was someone I trusted. Someone I believed in. Someone who was supposed to help me grow. Someone who was supposed to protect me,” Cooper wrote Thursday on Instagram. “But instead she made my life a living hell and abused her power over me.”

In the same post, Cooper said she reported the abuse to athletic director Drew Marrochello, who she said ignored her complaints. The university addressed the allegations in a statement obtained Thursday by People and other news outlets.

“Boston University has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment. We have a robust system of resources, support and staff dedicated to student wellbeing and a thorough reporting process through our Equal Opportunity Office,” the statement reads. “We encourage members of our community to report any concerns, and we remain committed to fostering a safe and secure campus environment for all.”

While Cooper’s documentary began as a way to show behind-the-scenes footage of her 2023 Unwell Tour, a visit to Boston University — specifically the soccer field — brought her emotions back to the surface, she said in Tuesday’s brief episode of “Call Her Daddy” titled “My College Soccer Trauma.”

“The minute I stepped on that field, I felt so small,” Cooper said. “I felt like I was 18 years old again, completely powerless, with no voice.”

Cooper said “everything changed” when she discovered that other women had alleged similar experiences with Feldman. She decided that she needed to speak out after talking to one of the women.

“If a woman in my position, who has power and a platform, is still fearful, is still scared of speaking out about my own lived experience of sexual harassment, how the hell will any other woman feel safe and confident to come forward?” Cooper asked in the episode.

Since “Call Her Alex” premiered, TikTok user @sizzlinghotsarah shared her own experience with Feldman, alleging that the soccer coach harassed her for her sexuality. Cooper responded to the post, “I’m sick I’m so sorry she did this to you. Reaching out to u privately.”

Feldman retired in 2022, but Cooper claims the harassment continues under her successor.

“Call Her Alex” also traces her journey to becoming one of the top podcasters in the world. Featured in the documentary are Cooper’s former co-host Sofia Franklyn, husband Matt Kaplan, lifelong friend Lauren McMullen, who is an executive producer on the podcast, and Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports — the previous home of “Call Her Daddy.”

Cooper has become known for her revelatory interviews with everyone from Hailey Bieber and Paris Hilton to Monica Lewinsky and Jane Goodall. Last year, Cooper sat down with then-Vice President and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris — chronicled in the documentary.

Cooper created her own podcast network, Unwell, in 2023 and has hired emerging talent including Madeline Argy, Owen Thiele and Alix Earle, who abruptly left in February. In August 2024, Cooper signed a $125-million deal with SiriusXM.

Ron Washington took a page out of the characterized version of himself from the 2011 film “Moneyball” when asked about how difficult it would be to revive the Angels’ sputtering offense.

“It’s hard,” the Angels manager said Friday. “It’s very hard.”

His response probably sounds familiar to “Moneyball” fans. In the film, the version of Washington, played by actor Brett Jennings, visits Scott Hatteberg — portrayed by Chris Pratt — at his home. Billy Beane — played by Brad Pitt — and Washington try to sell Hatteberg, a free-agent catcher with the yips, on playing first base.

“You don’t know how to play first base,” Beane says.

“That’s right,” Hatteberg replies.

“It’s not that hard, Scott. Tell em, Wash,” Beane quips.

“It’s incredibly hard,” Washington responds.

Finding ways to improve the Angels’ productivity at the plate could prove even more daunting. They have the second-most strikeouts (622) and second-fewest walks (163) in MLB. Washington understands it’s a problem, but acknowledges the solution isn’t easily attainable.

“Adjustments is something in the game of baseball that’s never ending, so we just got to keep making adjustments,” Washington said. “That’s it. If I knew, if anybody knew the adjustment to make to get an offense going, you would never see offense putter. That’s baseball. You just got to keep adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting, adjusting, readjusting.”

The Angels held the third-worst batting average (.229) and fourth-worst on-base percentage (.301) in MLB a year ago. Three months into the 2025 season, they’ve regressed. The team’s batting average stands at .225 heading into Monday and the team’s on-base percentage is considerably lower over last year at .287.

During the Angels’ eight-game winning streak in May, it seemed as if hitting coach Johnny Washington — in his second year with the team — discovered something to help the offense click. They tallied a .291 batting average and averaged almost eight runs a game.

The Angels then lost five consecutive games and entered Monday having lost nine of their last 14.

“I think it’s come down to guys just continuing the process with trying to simplify guys’ approaches, keeping it with their strengths, giving these guys the best chance to succeed versus a given pitcher, and continue the game plan,” Johnny Washington said. “Been doing it all year. There are some youth, but there’s a ton of growth taking place. I know it hasn’t been pretty at certain times, but it’s a great group.”

Angels manager Ron Washington talks to Chris Taylor during a win over the Mariners on Friday.

(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)

In their last two series against Boston and Seattle, there were encouraging signs on offense. The Angels scored five or more runs in four of the six games, and cut down on their strikeout totals, with seven or fewer strikeouts coming in four games.

Chris Taylor, who struggled at the plate since signing with the team on May 26, began making hard contact — going two for three in two of three games against the Mariners, homering for the first time this season on Saturday.

Sunday, however, proved to be much different. In the Angels’ 3-2 loss to the Mariners, the lineup struck out a season-high 18 times.

“I think it’s kind of just like snapping out of it,” said first baseman Nolan Schanuel on Friday, a day after the Angels returned from a six-game trip in which they averaged more than five runs a game. “We had a good stretch, got cold for a little bit, and snapped out of it and started to hit again.”

Infielder Kevin Newman, who has a team-low .200 on-base percentage and a .186 batting average (minimum 50 at-bats) added: “We’re pretty streaky, probably more streaky than we’d like to be. We’d like to definitely find some consistency, especially here at home.”

It’s no coincidence that the Angels are finding a little more success at the plate with Mike Trout back in the lineup.

Activated off the injured list on May 30, Trout has played as if he wasn’t out for a month with a bone bruise in his knee. He hit .476 across six games against Cleveland and Boston and has gotten on base in nearly half of his at-bats this month (.429 on-base percentage). On June 2 against Boston, the 33-year-old carried the Angels to victory with a three-hit, three-RBI game — hitting his second home run since returning from injury.

“It’s good to be able to at least hit and contribute,” Trout said, adding that his time on the injured list over the last two seasons had been frustrating.

Trout’s impact isn’t lost on teammate Taylor Ward.

“Having Mike back is — I mean, unbelievable, right,” Ward said. “A guy that can carry the offense.”

Taylor Ward, right, is congratulated by Mike Trout, left, after hitting a two-run home run against the Mariners on Sunday.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Schanuel said he has watched Trout’s daily regimen closely since joining Angels two seasons ago. Ron Washington, who became the Angels’ manager last year, said he has marveled at how the three-time MVP prepares and trains. But even he was surprised at how quickly Trout began to contribute coming off injury.

“He still does things that other people on the baseball field can’t do,” Ron Washington said. “No doubt about it. You can get a 70% Mike Trout and it’d be 100% of a lot of players in this league. So hey, I was surprised, but then again, I’m not — because we are talking about Mike Trout.”

Even with Trout back, the Angels still have room for improvement. Although he’s hitting .241 with 14 home runs and 31 RBIs entering Monday, Logan O’Hoppe has walked just eight times, leading to a .273 on-base percentage. Luis Rengifo holds the second-lowest on-base percentage in the league at .242.

Will Trout’s return continue to rejuvenate the Angels’ offense and help them close the 5½-game gap to the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West? Time will tell.

“One of the greatest players of our generation,” Johnny Washington said about Trout. “He’s been a huge help to our offensive group, to us as coaches and as well to the players”

BOSTON — Ceddanne Rafaela curled a home run around the Pesky Pole in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday and the Boston Red Sox rallied after trailing four different times to beat the Angels 11-9.

The Angels blew 4-0, 7-5, 8-7 and 9-8 leads, with Rafael Devers bouncing a chopper between the gloves of second baseman Chris Taylor and shortstop Zach Neto behind second base to tie it 9-9 in the eighth.

Each of the first three times the Red Sox scored, the Angels answered with runs of its own. But after walking Mike Trout to lead off the ninth, Cooper Criswell (1-0) got the next three batters out to give Boston a chance to walk it off.

In the bottom half, Abraham Toro singled with one out and Rafaela hit a 308-foot liner over the short wall that goes from the foul pole toward the bullpens in right.

Taylor Ward had four RBIs for the Angels, who were going for the three-game sweep.

Key moment

Before recording his first out, Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito allowed four runs on two doubles, two singles and a homer. Then Angels starter José Soriano gave up four singles and two walks to make it 4-3 before striking out Rafaela on his 25th pitch of the inning.

David Hamilton’s two-run double with one out gave Boston a 5-4 lead.

Key stat

Combined, the starting pitchers, allowed 14 runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Up next

The Angels are off Thursday, with RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.34 ERA) slated to start the opener of a three-game series against Seattle on Friday night. The Red Sox are off Thursday before starting a three-game series in New York against the Yankees.

BOSTON — Automatic runner Zach Neto scored on Taylor Ward’s bases-loaded double-play groundout to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings on Tuesday night.

Nolan Schanuel had two RBIs and Neto added two hits and an RBI to give the Angels consecutive wins for the first time since capping an eight-game win streak on May 23.

Kenley Jansen (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win a night after getting a save and Reid Detmers got his first save.

Schanuel led off the 10th with a sacrifice bunt that was bobbled by reliever Zack Kelly (1-2), allowing Neto to advance to third. Mike Trout then walked to load the bases.

Kelly went 3-0 to Ward before he grounded into the double play. But it allowed Neto to score to put the Angels in front.

Ceddanne Rafaela had two RBIs for Boston. Jarren Duran also had an RBI.

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi pitched five innings plus three batters, giving up three runs and eight hits with five walks. He also struck out five, including his 900th major league strikeout.

Zach Neto leans away from an inside pitch in the ninth inning.

(Robert F. Bukaty / Associated Press)

Boston’s Brayan Bello ended a five-game streak of not making it through at least five innings. He lasted six innings, giving up three runs and seven hits.

Key moment

With Boston trailing 3-1 in the sixth, Trevor Story led off with a walk. Rafaela then jumped on Kikuchi’s 89 mph slider, driving it 426 feet over the Green Monster for his fifth homer of the season. It was Kikuchi’s final hitter of the game.

Key stat

Boston drops to 6-17 in one-run games this season.

Up next

Angels right-hander José Soriano (4-5, 3.41 ERA) faces Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito (1-1, 4.78) in the series finale.