Brown

In an unexpected move, Boston traded the All-Star guard to division rivals Philadelphia for Paul George and draft picks.

Jaylen Brown’s time in Boston has come to a surprising end with the Celtics deciding to trade him to one of their most storied rivals.

Brown – the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season – is getting traded by the Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said on Wednesday night.

Boston is getting Paul George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.

ESPN first reported the trade agreement, and the terms were later confirmed by The Boston Globe.

Brown latest NBA star to be traded, joins Antetokounmpo, Leonard

Add this news to the list of blockbuster moves across the NBA so far this off season.

LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. All-Star-calibre players Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram are also on the move.

Now, this.

“Welcome to Philly, JB!” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro posted on social media. “Sixers get way better and, as a bonus, the Celtics got worse!”

It’s a move that breaks up what has been one of the league’s most successful 1-2 punches in Brown and Jayson Tatum, who helped carry the Celtics to the 2024 NBA title.

Tatum missed most of this past season while recovering from an Achilles tear that happened during the 2025 playoffs, meaning Brown had to carry even more of the load for Boston – and he wound up with career-best averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

It seemed, though, that Brown had felt underappreciated, especially after it became known that Boston had included him in trade talks with Milwaukee when Antetokounmpo was on the market.

“Nobody has won more combined regular-season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” Brown posted on social media over the weekend. He’s right: The Celtics have won 523 games with Brown in the lineup, including playoff contests, which is six more than Denver has won with Nikola Jokic over that span.

Brown now gets to be part of a squad in Philadelphia alongside guard Tyrese Maxey and centre Joel Embiid, someone who Brown recently called a flopper on a livestream.

“Joel Embiid is a great player. One of the best bigs in f****** basketball history flops,” Brown said. “He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”

Brown, Maxey (the league’s fifth top scorer this past season) and Embiid (a two-time NBA scoring champion) could become a positively frightening trio in Philadelphia, and the Celtics deciding to play a role in creating such a triumvirate only adds to the intrigue surrounding why they wanted to trade Brown in the first place.

The trade ends a tremendously disappointing two-year stint for George, who was traded with two years left on a four-year, $212m free-agent contract. The 36-year-old never approached his nine-time All-Star form in Philadelphia, and his tenure was marred by a 25-game suspension last season for flunking a drug test.

He averaged just 16.7 points in his two seasons in Philadelphia after topping the 20-point mark in nine straight seasons with Indiana, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers.

A civil jury says R&B star Chris Brown must face the music for the vicious dog attack that in 2020 left one of the two housekeepers working at his Tarzana home hospitalized with injuries to her face, arm and leg.

The Los Angeles jury on Tuesday found the 37-year-old Grammy winner liable in the years-long case and determined he must pay nearly $13 million to Maria Avila, whose sister Patricia Avila sued Brown and his Black Pyramid Co. in April 2021. Court documents reviewed by The Times on Wednesday show that Brown owes Maria Avila $12.9 million in damages including emotional distress and medical expenses. Brown must also pay $885,000 in damages to Patricia Avila, who was present during the dog attack on her sister, and $50,000 in damages to Maria’s husband.

Patricia Avila’s attorney Michael C. Murphy Jr. told The Times in a statement his team was “thrilled” by the outcome. “We are so happy for her and her family after everything they went through on that horrible day,” he said. “It was an honor to represent her.”

A legal representative for Brown did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on Wednesday.

Patricia Avila filed her civil suit against Brown in Los Angeles County Superior Court five years ago, suing the singer for premises liability, negligent infliction of emotional distress and strict liability. At the time, she was seeking an unspecified amount of damages including loss of wages, medical expenses and legal fees.

Avila alleged in her lawsuit that she and sister Maria Avila were hired in November 2020 as housekeepers at Brown’s home in Tarzana. The suit says the sisters were aware the singer owned dogs at the property and understood he kept the pets locked up in a different part of the home. According to the complaint, the incident occurred in December 2020 when Maria went to the home’s backyard to empty out a vacuum. There, she encountered the singer’s Caucasian shepherd, which “proceeded to viciously attack Maria,” the lawsuit said.

“Plaintiff [Patricia] fully recognized that the screams were coming from her own sister, knew that her sister went outside to empty a vacuum, and could hear that a dog was violently attacking her sister,” the lawsuit said. “The screams were so bad that it caused Plaintiff to immediately run outside, where she found her sister covered in blood while she was screaming and crying for help. Mr. Brown proceeded to call 911.”

The lawsuit said the dog attacked Maria around her eye, her left arm and had bitten into her leg. Paramedics responded to Brown’s home and transported the woman to a hospital, where she remained for multiple days and underwent two surgeries. Patricia Avila said in the complaint that she suffered emotional distress and had been unable to work as a result of the incident.

The jury reached its decision after a two-week trial in Van Nuys.

As one legal saga appears to be coming to an end, another awaits Brown. The singer and his friend Omololu Akinlolu, a musician who performs as HoodyBaby), are set to stand trial in October for allegedly attacking music producer Amadou “Abe” Diaw in February 2023 at a London nightclub.
The singer, who notably assaulted ex-girlfriend and Fenty beauty mogul Rihanna the night before the 2009 Grammy Awards, pleaded not guilty last year in the Diaw case. He pleaded not guilty to one count of attempting to unlawfully and maliciously cause grievous bodily harm with intent, assault causing actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon.

Brown is performing with Usher on their joint North American stadium tour. The singers will take over Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium on Sept. 25 and 26.

The Boston Celtics are trading 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers for Paul George and a slew of draft capital in yet another blockbuster offseason move, a person with knowledge of the terms said Wednesday.

Boston also gets two first-round picks and two second-round picks, according to the person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet received league approvals.

It brings Brown’s tenure in Boston to an end after five All-Star appearances in a 10-season run that saw him play in more wins — counting regular-season and playoff games — than any other player in the league.

And it is another huge move being made via trade this summer, after Giannis Antetokounmpo went from Milwaukee to Miami, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram headlined a swap between the Toronto Raptors and the Clippers, and Ja Morant got traded to Portland by Memphis.

The trade breaks up what has been one of the league’s most successful 1-2 punches in Brown and Jayson Tatum, who helped carry the Celtics to the 2024 NBA title. Tatum missed most of last season while recovering from an Achilles tear that happened during the 2025 playoffs.

The 76ers also agreed to a $39-million, four-year deal with veteran forward Dean Wade.

Powell agrees to deal with the Bulls

Norman Powell has agreed to a two-year deal that could be worth up to $45 million with the Chicago Bulls, a person with knowledge of the talks said. Powell also received some interest from the Detroit Pistons, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract can’t be finalized until July 6.

The Bulls hold a team option for 2027-28. Powell spent this past season in Miami, where he became an All-Star for the first time and averaged 21.7 points in 58 games.

Vucevic agrees to rejoin the Magic

Nikola Vucevic is headed back to the Orlando Magic, agreeing on a one-year deal for just under $4 million, a person with knowledge of those talks confirmed.

Vucevic is second all-time on the Magic list in rebounds, third in points and fourth in games played. The 35-year-old center now joins a young core led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Orlando lost Moritz Wagner, Franz’s brother, in free agency to Brooklyn on a two-year deal.

Celtics to add Conley, Robinson

Mitchell Robinson just won a title with New York, and now the center will chase another in Boston.

The Celtics agreed to a $47.4-million, three-year deal with Robinson, a person with knowledge of that agreement said. And veteran guard Mike Conley Jr. also is headed to the Celtics on a one-year deal, a second person with knowledge of that agreement said.

Etc.

Forward John Collins agreed to a three-year contract with the Detroit Pistons, a person with knowledge of those negotiations told the AP. ESPN reported the deal is worth $51 million. He started his career in Atlanta, spent two seasons in Utah and played for the Clippers last season. … The San Antonio Spurs added forward Tobias Harris on a two-year deal worth about $31 million. … The Indiana Pacers have agreed to terms with Kelly Oubre Jr. on a two-year deal worth about $17 million.

AS one of Hollywood’s highest-earning actresses, Millie Bobby Brown has her pick of big-budget productions.

But she reckons British reality show The Celebrity Traitors would be the perfect platform for her secret manipulation skills — after she beat a lie-detector test.

The inquisitive actress took a polygraph with her Enola Holmes movie co-star Louis Partridge, who ended up in a real sweat as he was grilled.

But Millie, 22, remained so composed under questioning, that the machine failed to spot she was telling porkies.

The Stranger Things star, who earned nearly £20million last year, says: “I so want to be on The Traitors. I think I’d be really good.

“Do you know why? I did a lie-detector test with Louis, and Louis was sweating during the whole thing and could not lie.

“And then he said, ‘Her hands are getting cooler and she’s evading the questions’.

“Somehow, the report has come back, like, ‘She’s a pathological liar’.”

The BBC and its Traitors host Claudia Winkleman should get right on the telephone to Millie’s agent, because her appeal to young audiences is unrivalled by any other actress from these shores.

Millie, who grew up in Bournemouth, has been acting since she was nine.

For nearly a decade, she played telepathic Eleven in Strangers Things, which broke streaming records on Netflix before ending last December.

She is now back as Sherlock ­Holmes’ detective sister in her third Enola Holmes movie, which lands on the streaming channel today.

Millie is also working on a host of ideas, producing projects alongside her 24-year-old husband Jake Bongiovi, who is the son of rock singer Jon Bon Jovi.

The couple, who married in May 2024, have a lot on their hands.

Not only did they adopt a baby girl last summer, they also have a huge menagerie of animals at their home in Georgia — including sheep, ponies, goats, cows and ten dogs.

Some critics have questioned whether Millie was too young to adopt at the age of 21.

But she says: “I love being a young mum because I’m able to run around and chase after her.

“And I love where I’m at right now. I never was the kind of girl to be, like, out on the town, you know? So it wasn’t just in my nature. I love living on my farm. I love sewing.”

Having missed out on a normal childhood because she grew up on sets with “men over 40 years old” talking about “grips” and “ladders”, Millie was not the most outgoing teenager.

But that has all changed since she met Jake.

Millie explains: “I can’t talk about, you know, ‘Oh my God, what bars do you like around this area?’. I lack a little bit of that.

“When I met my husband, he’s the most social butterfly, the complete opposite of me. I really tried to lean more into that.”

A lot of Millie’s time, though, is spent watching the telly at home — where ITV’s Love Island is her guilty pleasure. Although Jake is not so keen on the dating show.

She says: “Love Island. He’s like, ‘Millie, I don’t care about these ­people’. And I’m like, ‘Well, I do. And they just broke up’.

“Yeah, I’m a reality TV snob. I mean, I just watch every show out there.”

Film buff Jake would rather go to the cinema to watch a movie, but parenthood now makes nights out a bit tricky.

And Millie says she usually nods off if she settles down in front of a movie.

She reveals: “I have to have a coffee because I typically fall asleep. It’s not because of the film, it’s because I’m tired. I’m a mum.”

Even though she is still only 22, Millie is now almost a showbusiness veteran, having been in the industry for 13 years.

She is able to call on a host of big names for advice, including Top Gun and Mission Impossible megastar Tom Cruise.

Millie is also close to many of the actors she has appeared with on screen, including Winona Ryder, Matthew Modine and David Harbour who are her Stranger Things co-stars.

There is also Helena Bonham Carter, who is her character’s mum in Enola Holmes.

Millie says: “Winona will text every four months, but the longest message ever. However, Helena Bonham ­Carter, she is there for me whenever I need her, and I’m very, very ­grateful to her.

“Matthew Modine, my godfather. He officiated my wedding.”

Tom Cruise is also only ever a phone call away. Millie says: “I’m very lucky to call him my friend.”

Now, she is paying back the support she has received from industry greats by helping to mentor young talent.

Owen Cooper, 16, was thrust into the limelight when his debut performance in Netflix drama Adolescence led to a string of awards, including an Emmy last year.

Millie says: “He has my number, anytime he needs me, has any questions. He texts me, he’s like, ‘Hey, am I doing this magazine? Is this, like, one I should do?’.

“And I’m like, ‘Owen, do what makes you happy. If you’re not tired, do it. But if you’re tired, don’t do it.

“‘Don’t run yourself into the ground and listen to your parents and just enjoy it. But don’t push yourself’.”

Reports emerged at the end of last year about a claimed fall-out between Millie and David Harbour.

It was alleged that she had filed a bullying and harassment claim against the 51-year-old actor, who played her adoptive father in Stranger Things.

But there is no sign of tension in Millie’s interview to promote Enola Holmes 3, where she speaks warmly about David.

She says: “I’m very lucky. David Harbour’s a great person. I like to talk to him.”

The duo are teaming up again for a Netflix TV series, where David is a former FBI agent reunited with his daughter, played by Millie.

The actress insists the untitled project, which will be written by Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne, is “concrete”.

Millie adds: “The schedule is insane and it’s just placing things in the right place for my time and my schedule. But the David Harbour project is sooner than expected, I think.”

Most recently, Millie filmed a romantic comedy called Just Picture It and has written a book about her grandmother’s World War Two ­stories, called Nineteen Steps.

Whatever she is doing, the young actress and producer will make sure that everyone is comfortable with the working environment.

Discussing the main rules on set, the Gen Z icon says: “I don’t tolerate any bullying. I don’t tolerate any negativity.

“I have been in situations like that before and I only tolerate positivity, love, friendship, kindness, trust, communication.

“And I just will stop people in their tracks if I see that.

“I’ll just take them to the side and be, ‘This isn’t working’.

“I’ll just take them to the side and be, ‘This isn’t working’. We’re playing pretend, for goodness sake. My daughter plays pretend. This is meant to be fun.

“You know, let’s not yell or be upset or dwell on something that’s very, very small and minor.”

Years in showbiz, which is often unforgiving, has clearly taught Millie how to cope with relentless negativity.

The hatred she has experienced online led her to delete her social media in 2021 and leave someone else to deal with her digital output.

She explains: “I needed to hire someone for my mental health to take care of it for me.”

There is no escaping the trolls, though, and last year she called for the cruel comments about her appearance to stop.

There were dumb remarks online about her appearing to be aged 35 or 40.

Afterwards, Little Britain creator Matt Lucas apologised for posting, “No but, yeah but” — the catchphrase of TV “chav” Vicky Pollard — next to an image of Millie in a pink tracksuit top.

He admitted it was a misplaced gag.

Fortunately, Millie is now able to laugh off those brickbats, intended or not.

She says with a smile: “If you Google it, everybody says I look like a 50-year-old. And honestly, I am here for that.

“My mum looks amazing for 50. Gosh, I feel very much 22.”

Let’s all hope that is the truth, and that Millie has the youthful energy to keep up her incredible output on screen.

And with any luck, we will see her plotting away in a cloak inside a Scottish castle very soon.

• Enola Holmes 3 is streaming on Netflix from today.

MILLIE Bobby Brown has shown off her stunning figure as she celebrated the upcoming release of Enola Holmes 3 on Thursday night.

The actress, 22, who plays the titular character in the Netflix series, donned a mesh nude ensemble while attending the premiere’s afterparty in New York.

Flashing her toned stomach in an embroidered sheer crop top with a matching satin and mesh skirt, Millie posed for snaps at the TV bash.

In the series, which began in 2020, the Stranger Things star plays the teenage sister of Sherlock Holmes – with Enola on a search for her mother.

The third season is set to be released on July 1.

The appearance comes just weeks after Millie defended her husband, Jake Bongiovi, from dad-shaming trolls.

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Millie and Jake, who wed in 2024, announced last August that they had adopted a baby daughter together.

And earlier this year, images of the couple went viral as Millie was seen laden with her daughter’s car seat and two bags, as another saw her pushing a suitcase at the same time as her daughter’s pram.

Many fans were confused as to why Jake wasn’t helping her carry anything despite being there too.

Earlier this month, Millie addressed the backlash during an appearance on Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast.

On the show, she said: “Hi, I’m Millie Bobbie Brown and I’m not gonna lie, when did women become incapable of holding their own bags, car seats and stuff?…

“This stems from me holding all of my suitcases and bags and my kid and people are like, ‘Your husband doesn’t hold a single thing.’ And I’m like, ‘Because I’m three miles ahead. I have been planning this all night’….

“We’re all about empowering girls and, ‘You got it’ and ‘You don’t need a man’. But then when I’m like, ‘OK, I can carry my own things,’ people are like, ‘Where’s your husband?”

She added: “Nobody knows my husband. My husband is the most polite, sweet, will-do-anything-for-me. But he also knows I’m capable”.

Millie also shared that she hopes to one day have a biological child, but adoption was always something she wanted to do.

Matt Brown, who starred with his family in the Discovery reality television show “Alaskan Bush People,” was found dead in the Okanogan River in Washington state, law enforcement officials said Sunday.

Brown’s body was discovered Saturday by a group of private citizens who were conducting a search, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Brown’s brother, Bear Brown, said in a video posted Saturday on social media that fellow brother Noah had been with the search team, helped pull the body out of the river and identified him.

The official cause and manner of death is still to be determined by the coroner, the sheriff’s office said. But the Brown family believes Matt Brown died by suicide, Bear Brown said in the video.

Witnesses said they saw Matt Brown in or near the river and that he “took his own life,” Bear Brown said on social media.

“I would have never suspected he would hurt himself, honestly,” Bear Brown said in the emotional video. “He struggled for a long time.”

Bear Brown said his brother had battled with alcohol and drugs and that Matt Brown told him in their last conversation that he had “fallen off the wagon.”

The Brown family and their life in the Alaskan wilderness were the subject of the reality TV show “Alaskan Bush People,” which ran on the Discovery Channel from 2014 to 2022.

ZENDAYA looks a little bit stumped as she poses against a fallen tree trunk.

The Dune actress, 29, wore a plunging brown dress and matching PVC boots for the cover of Elle magazine.

Zendaya, whose partner is Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, also laid in the hay in a white cut-out dress.

She told the mag: “I think I do have wisdom to offer, but I also do still feel like a f***ing kid. Like, ‘What the f***, I’m about to be 30?

“I still feel like a child inside.”

A new Euphoria feud has emerged last month as Zendaya’s “tension” with a show star was revealed – and it’s not Sydney Sweeney.

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This comes as insiders told the Daily Mail Zendaya has a rocky relationship with the actress, who apparently flirted with her man Tom Holland on set.

But now, it seems Zendaya has clashed with another member of the Euphoria team.

Eager fans have long questioned why the new series of the show has taken so long to air – but it seems the real reasons have finally surfaced.

The creator of the HBO series, Sam Levinson, recently told fans the delay between season two and three was a result of strikes, the in-demand cast and finding the right way to pay tribute to Eric Dane and Angus Cloud.

However, a source told Vanity Fair the delay between series sparked serious tension behind the scenes, creating a rift between Sam and Zendaya.

Vanity Fair’s source claimed the once close collaborators grew apart and Zendaya was less involved with development of the third season.

• The July/August issue of ELLE UK is on sale from 18 June.

Eight years after going off the air, “Sofia the First” is getting another opportunity to find out what being royal is all about.

Disney’s first preschool princess returns for a new set of adventures in “Sofia the First: Royal Magic” premiering Monday on Disney Jr. The following day, eight episodes will stream on Disney+.

The sequel series finds Sofia — once again voiced by Ariel Winter — leaving home to attend the Charmswell School for Royal Magic. Rapunzel makes a guest appearance in the premiere episode and Moana, Jasmine, Cinderella, Aurora and Elena of Avalor will all stop by over the course of the first season.

According to Disney, “Sofia the First” still holds the record for the top three cable TV telecasts for girls ages 2 to 5 with more than 3 billion hours watched since the series premiered. The trailer for “Sofia the First: Royal Magic” was viewed 7.54 million times on social media in the first 24 hours after it was released. The show’s theme song, which has been updated for the new series, remains popular on TikTok among teens who first watched the show as preschoolers.

Series creator and executive producer Craig Gerber says the show’s tone is one of the reasons for its enduring popularity. “The charm, the humor and the storytelling was simple enough for [children] to understand, but sophisticated enough to stick with them as they were growing out of the key demographic,” he says. “They remember [the show] very fondly and it becomes a source of comfort for them.”

Rapunzel makes an appearance in the premiere episode of “Sofia the First: Royal Magic.”

(Disney)

Originally there were discussions to have a spin-off series with a whole new set of characters going to Royal Prep, the school Sofia graduated from in the first series. But soon Gerber realized that a sequel series was the way to go because of the love for the character. “It became clear that the real exciting part of coming back to this world would be to follow the further adventures of Sofia and bring her to a new audience,” he says.

Sending Sofia to a new school was the obvious choice. “We thought it would be very exciting and fresh for her to go to a school where she could focus on learning magic and mastering the powers inside her,” Gerber says. “In the first series, she learned what being royal is all about. In this series, she’s going to learn what being the most magical princess is all about.”

Winter was 12 years old when she auditioned for the role 15 years ago. At the time, she said Sofia’s voice was close to her own — what she thought she would sound like if she were a princess. But even all these years later, it was easy for her to find the voice again because she never really stopped doing it.

“If people told me that they had a child who loved Sofia, I would be like, ‘Oh, do you want me to make a voice recording for them?’ I’d make at least one of these a week, maybe more,” she says. “The show meant so much to me and I know it meant so much to so many people. To know that I am going to get to help influence another generation of kids in a positive way is just so exciting.”

In addition to Winter, all of the original cast is returning, including Sara Ramirez as Sofia’s mother Queen Miranda, Darcy Rose Byrnes as Sofia’s stepsister Amber, Wayne Brady as her beloved rabbit Clover, Eric Stonestreet as her flying horse Minimus and Tim Gunn as the castle steward Baileywick.

But a whole new series and location also means new characters. Here’s a look at three of the new characters who will be entering Sofia’s world.

Eden Espinosa as Zandrya

Eden Espinosa voices Zandrya, the new villain in “Royal Magic.”

(Disney)

Broadway star Eden Espinosa, perhaps best known for playing Elphaba in “Wicked,” will be voicing the new villain Zandrya. “She is loud, bratty, confident and powerful,” Espinosa says.

“We wanted Zandrya to have that entitled air,” Gerber says. “As if all of the magic should just be given to her and she shouldn’t even really have to work for it. She is a sorceress that is after magical items to give her more power. And because Sofia is becoming more and more confident in her magical abilities, Zandrya has a hard time getting what she wants.”

As master of disguise, Zandrya takes a different form each time she appears in an episode — the better to fool Sofia and get her hands on the magic amulet. That means Espinosa, who also voiced the Queen of Hearts in Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland Bakery” and Cassandra on “Tangled,” gets to take on a new voice with each new episode.

“She’s the most fun character to play,” she says. “Voiceover has always been a dream of mine ever since I saw ‘Little Mermaid’ when I was I think 10.”

Espinosa says Zandrya is “the most fun character to play.” The actor has to take on a new voice whenever her villain takes on a different form.

(Disney)

As in the original series, music will play a big part in “Sofia the First: Royal Magic.” In fact, there will be twice as many songs, with each 11-minute episode getting its own number. “What I love about the songs I’ve gotten the privilege to sing is that they feel current,” Espinosa says. “They feel like it’s on the pulse of what’s happening now. They are bops. The challenge is I have to sing the songs in the voice that I’m in for that episode.”

“We’re very lucky to work with folks like Eden, who can take any personality, any voice and still manage to hit all the notes and convey the acting and and really give a fun, rollicking performance,” Gerber says.

And, like Elphaba, Zandrya might be a little misunderstood. “I think as humans we have all sorts of things going on underneath the surface,” Espinosa says. “While she has a very clear mission and intention, I do know that she has moments in interacting with Sofia that she has reflections that make her think.”

Yvette Nicole Brown as Lady Saddlespur

Yvette Nicole Brown voices Lady Saddlespur, Sofia’s new teacher.

(Disney)

Yvette Nicole Brown is one of Gerber’s go-to performers. She’s been the voice of Chief Faye Fireson on “Firebuds” and Luna on “Elena of Avalor.” So it was an easy yes for Brown when Gerber asked her to be the voice of Sofia’s new magical creature teacher and flying derby coach Lady Saddlespur.

“If I’m doing a show, I’m gonna find room for her,” Gerber says of Brown. “Lady Saddlespur is a fun foil for the kids as she pushes them to be better students.”

“She is a Southern belle,” Brown says of her onscreen alter-ego.“She’s very proper. She believes that everything at Charmswell should be done just so.”

Brown says her favorite part of animation is that it encourages her to tap into her child-like side. “When we were kids, we lived in this place of wonder,” she says. “I remember the first shows I watched. I remember ‘Captain Kangaroo,’ ‘Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood’ and ‘Sesame Street.’ Those performers have stayed with me my entire life. The honor of getting to be one of the first voices that these babies hear is everything.”

Brown is also delighted by the life lessons the show imparts. “Lessons about accountability, sharing, kindness, regulating your emotions and following directions. The importance of school and learning and being careful and gentle with animals and other people and their feelings. I think it’s a great stepping stone for the babies to learn how to be productive, caring members of society, which is what we’re all supposed to be trying to be.”

Nate Torrence as Pepper

Nate Torrence voices Pepper, Sofia’s puppy-unicorn.

(Disney)

Pepper is Sofia’s pet puppy-unicorn. Nate Torrence, who is also the voice of Clawhauser in the “Zootopia” movies, says nothing sounds more adorable than “the collab of a puppy and unicorn.”

Gerber has wanted to create such a character since the original series. “He’s there for comic relief to a large degree,” Gerber says. “And also to give us that little bit of daily magic because Sofia can talk to animals.”

“He’s a pretty lovable guy,” Torrence says. “Even though he plays a little air-headed, he actually is really witty. It’s that old-school Abbott and Costello kind of timing or Charlie Chaplin because there’s so much physical comedy going on with Pepper.”

Because he’s getting to voice a character for so many episodes, Torrence says he’s felt more growth with Pepper than many of the other characters he’s played. “I do think they’ve allowed my voice to be a new kind of voice in the world,” he says. “I get to have a bit more attitude and sass. To be a part of a franchise like this is a nice little dream come true for me.”

A Labour MP said: “Not sure voters in Wigan, Wandsworth, Salford or Sunderland voted Reform because they thought we needed more advisers from a different era of Labour politics. I think this shows that Keir doesn’t even understand the problem, never mind the solution.”

Brittany Brown looks strong.

She looks confident.

She looks capable of achieving her dreams.

That’s how Brown looks in the mural painted in her honor at Vista del Valle Elementary — and it’s how the 31-year-old U.S. sprinter feels in real life nearly two years after winning a bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But that’s not always how she felt decades ago during her time as a student at the Claremont school.

“I grew up very sickly,” Brown told The Times last month while visiting Vista del Valle for a mural unveiling ceremony. “I had asthma. I had pneumonia, bronchitis. … I never thought I’d be running because I just was not the person that would be running. I was told to stay inside, not go outside.”

U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown celebrates winning the bronze medal in the women’s 200-meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Former Vista del Valle Elementary student Brittany Brown wears her 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal at the school’s district track and field competition April 24.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

Brown’s family also faced housing uncertainty and financial struggles during that time. They moved around a lot, and sometimes Brown and her family — mother Yo-Landa, father Wayne, older sister Brandi, twin brother Brandon and younger brother Bryan — found themselves living in a hotel room near the elementary school.

Her mother told The Times that the school and the community provided invaluable support during those trying times.

“I think emotionally, it took a toll on her,” Yo-Landa Brown said. “But, of course, she was always joyful. She was very observant. She was kind. I could tell she used to cry a lot, but we all just tried to keep things calm and collected around her.”

U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown, a bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is all smiles after winning a ribbon in the Vista del Valle track meet as a fourth grader in 2007.

(Brandi Brown)

The mural ceremony was held April 24 immediately after the school’s 50th annual district track meet, where Brown interacted with the participants and handed out ribbons. Vista del Valle Elementary hosts all seven elementary schools in the district each year for the meet. It was as a fourth-grade participant at the same event nearly 20 years ago that Brown discovered she loved to run — and also that she was very good at it.

“I remember running just felt very freeing. Like it just felt like, ‘OK, I’m not the sick kid. I can just try and do something,’” said Brown, who holds the Claremont High School record in the girls 100-meter and 200-meter races. “And I was also winning, so that helped as well. … Running has brought me opportunities I never thought I would ever experience.”

The mural was painted by local artist Xiucoatl Mejia, who attended Claremont Unified School District schools from kindergarten (Sumner Elementary) through high school (Claremont High). He has painted several murals at district schools in recent years and was already working with first-year Vista del Valle principal Charles Boulden to start an after-school art club for the students.

The two men thought it would be great to have a mural on campus to tie in with the half-century anniversary of the district track meet. The realization that one of the country’s top sprinters was a Vista graduate who got her start at the same meet served as further inspiration.

The mural depicts an adult Brown running while wearing a Vista track uniform and carrying a torch. A large group of children runs behind her, with some of those kids resembling students from the art club.

People gather in front of a mural featuring U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown prior to its unveiling ceremony April 24 at Vista del Valle Elementary in Claremont.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“It just made sense to include some of the kids who were in the class and make it a little bit more custom to the school and personal to these kids,” Mejia said.

Third-grader Levi Adams said being depicted in a mural on a school wall is “special because when you’re older you can go back and look at it.”

Second-grader Holland Ly agreed that “it’s pretty special” to be featured in a painting that “many people” will see through the years.

Art club students also helped paint the mural.

“I had the kids lay out the whole track,” Mejia said. “I wanted them to do that very specifically, because I wanted them to understand that that’s the foundation for the race in our scene. … I wanted them to have that part in it, and be able to look back on it and see it.”

The theme of the piece initially was victory, Mejia said, but it evolved.

“As it progressed, the theme kind of changed into carrying the torch and paving the way for a better future for our youth and for our communities,” Mejia said. “It became a lot bigger than what initially it was. It became something that is a little bit more powerful than any singular victory. It was a collective victory with everyone.”

Boulden thinks the mural ended up being a tremendous success.

U.S. sprinter Brittany Brown holds up her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics surrounded by, from left: mother Yo-Landa Brown, twin brother Brandon Brown, brother Bryan Brown, grandmother Jeanette Royston and sister Brandi Brown.

(Brandi Brown)

“I couldn’t be happier with how it is — the colors, how vibrant it is and what it represents to me,” the principal said. “I see perseverance in there, and I see chasing dreams, and I see kids chasing after somebody who’s chasing their dreams as well.”

Brown is also thrilled with how the first mural in her honor turned out.

“I think it’s really good! I’m really, really happy with it,” said Brown, who is currently training in Los Angeles with the long-term goal of competing for the U.S. again in the 2028 Summer Olympics. “I love the colors. It even has my choker — I wear a choker when I run a lot. It has the little, fine details, so I think that was really cool.”

Her mother said she thought it was “really touching” that Mejia included images of current Vista students in the painting.

“Yes, Brittany is the Olympian, but now you have the next generation involved,” Yo-Landa Brown said. “Their stories will continue to live on and they will remember that. And that will give them the inspiration to be better and to do better in their lives. I thought that was phenomenal. I felt so thankful that he was able to capture that.”

Wearing her Olympic medal around her neck, Brown addressed the student body at the mural ceremony and became emotional while talking about the hardships she overcame while attending the school.

Olympian Brittany Brown hands out ribbons and high-fives to participants in Vista del Valle’s annual district track and field meet April 24 in Claremont.

(Etienne Laurent / For The Times)

“I really just want them to know you can create beautiful stuff, even in the struggle,” Brown told The Times afterward. “It’s going to be a lot harder, but you can still create beautiful stuff in the struggle. And I definitely have created a different life for me. …

“I never thought the little girl in the hotel would freaking have a mural. I never thought, like a little asthma girl, you know, someone who wasn’t allowed outside, that this would be my story. So it’s definitely crazy. That’s what I want them to know.”

Brown’s message seems to have resonated with the students. Fifth-grader Kaylee Mency said Brown’s story of her childhood struggles “really meant a lot to me because she still kept going even though her life wasn’t as good.”

Fifth-grader Eliana Ocegueda added: “She went to this school and now she’s an Olympian. It’s really inspiring and it kind of makes you think about you can be anything you want to be.”

Trevor Brown needs to beat his alma mater, Hart High, to win the Foothill League baseball title.

Brown, a first-year head coach at West Ranch, has his team at 8-3, which is tied for first place with Castaic going into Friday’s regular-season finale against Hart at West Ranch.

West Ranch defeated Hart 6-5 earlier this week.

Brown was a standout catcher for Hart, then went on to star at UCLA and played briefly with the San Francisco Giants.

They say catchers make the best managers, and Brown is another example of using his catcher’s experience to help with coaching.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have barred medical marijuana dispensaries within 600 feet of homes, saying it stepped on the powers of cities and counties that already have authority to regulate pot shops.

The governor also signed 28 measures into law, making it easier for California firms to sell wine over the Internet and allowing bars to infuse alcohol with fruits and vegetables for use in cocktails.

Brown has until Oct. 9 to act on nearly 600 bills sent to him by the Legislature this year and has already wielded his veto pen several times, complaining about the state imposing too many standards on communities and families.

On the medical marijuana issue, the governor noted that he had previously signed a measure giving cities and counties clearer authority to regulate the location and operation of dispensaries.

“Decisions of this kind are best made in cities and counties, not the State Capitol,” Brown wrote in his veto message.

The bill was SB 847, by state Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), who said he wanted to allow cities to chose their own regulations and to protect children living near such facilities from second-hand smoke.

The governor signed a bill Wednesday allowing wine merchants without stores to obtain a special state license to sell to customers over the Internet or by telephone or direct mail. Assemblyman Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) introduced AB 623 because current law provides for an alcohol wholesaler’s license but requires holders to periodically sell to other retailers, even if they only want to sell directly to customers on the Internet.

The governor also signed a measure eliminating a state prohibition against bars and restaurants providing infused alcoholic beverages, with fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices added to spirits for flavor.

Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), author of SB 32, said the restrictions were decades old and were intended to address health concerns about the infusion process. Modern methods make the practice safe, he said.

On another measure, Brown exercised his veto pen and took a swipe at its author in the process.

With budget cuts forcing many state parks to close or reduce operations, Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) proposed that the state post details of potential park closures on a website and respond to any efforts from the private sector to help keep them open.

Brown said the idea in Harman’s bill, SB 386, was good but didn’t require a state law.

“What parks do need is sufficient funding to stay open — something I feel compelled to note the author and his colleagues refused to let the people vote on,” Brown wrote in his veto message, referring to Republican opposition to putting tax extensions on the ballot.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com

ATLANTA — U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Georgia Democrat and the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has died. He was 80.

Scott, who was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party, was once a leading voice for Democrats on issues related to farm aid policy and food aid for consumers and a prominent Black member of the party’s moderate Blue Dog caucus. But he faced criticism and concerns in recent years because of declining health, enduring a primary challenge in 2024 and facing another one at the time of his death.

Democrats on Capitol Hill praised the longtime lawmaker.

“The news of Congressman Scott’s passing is deeply sad,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday.

“David Scott was a trailblazer who served district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House Ag Committee,” Jeffries said. “He cared about the people that he represented. He was fiercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

News of Scott’s death came during the Congressional Black Caucus’ weekly luncheon on Capitol Hill. The Black Caucus’ chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke, told lawmakers at the outset of the meeting, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Many lawmakers in the room, some of whom had served with Scott for decades, were shocked and saddened by the news.

Scott’s death slightly widens Republicans’ narrow House majority going into the thick of this midterm election year.

The congressman was not especially active on the campaign trail in 2026. But he had been dismissive of pressure to retire.

“Thank God I’m in good health, moving and doing the people’s work,” Scott said in 2024.

David Albert Scott was born in rural Aynor, South Carolina, on June 27, 1945, in the era of Jim Crow segregation. He graduated from Florida A&M University, one of the nation’s largest historically Black college campuses — and in office he was an outspoken advocate for federal support of HBCUs. Scott also earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

He was already a veteran state lawmaker in Georgia before being elected to Congress in 2002.

Barrow, Brown and Amy write for the Associated Press. Brown reported from Washington.