John Mayer calls it “adult day care”: the historic recording studio behind the arched gates on La Brea Avenue where famous musicians have been keeping themselves — and one another — creatively occupied since the mid-1960s.
Known for decades as Henson Studios — and as A&M Studios before that — the three-acre complex in the heart of Hollywood has played host to the creation of some of music’s most celebrated records, among them Carole King’s “Tapestry,” Joni Mitchell’s “Blue,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Use Your Illusion” and D’Angelo’s “Black Messiah.”
In 1985, A&M’s parquet-floored Studio A was where Quincy Jones gathered the all-star congregation that recorded “We Are the World” in a marathon overnight session; in 2014, Daft Punk evoked the studios’ wood-paneled splendor in a performance of “Get Lucky” with Stevie Wonder at the 56th Grammy Awards.
A soundstage on the property has seen nearly as much history, including filming for TV’s “The Red Skelton Show” and “Soul Train” and the production of the Police’s MTV-defining music video for “Every Breath You Take.” More recently, Mayer and his bandmates in Dead & Company took over the soundstage to workshop their cutting-edge residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, not long after Mayer cut his most recent solo LP, 2021’s “Sob Rock,” at Henson.
“I used to come here even if I didn’t quite have anything to do,” says the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter known for his romantic ballads and bluesy guitar heroics. “I just wanted to be around music — to have a place to go as an artist to find some structure in my life.”
Now, with an eye on preserving the spot at a moment of widespread upheaval in the entertainment industry, Mayer and his business partner, the filmmaker McG, have finalized a purchase of the lot, which they bought for $44 million from the family of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and which they’ve renamed Chaplin Studios in honor of the silent-film giant who broke ground on it more than a century ago.
Their vision for Chaplin, which takes up half a city block between Sunset Boulevard and De Longpre Avenue, is ambitious. “We’re doing our best to create kind of a Warhol’s Factory thing of like-minded artists bumping into each other to do their best work possible,” says McG.
And the duo already have some powerful support behind them.
“A lot of my friends and I were very happy to see that Henson was being taken over by some great people,” Paul McCartney tells The Times in an email. The rock legend, who made 2001’s “Driving Rain” and 2018’s “Egypt Station” at Henson, admits that news of the studio’s changing hands left folks in his world “worried that it might not be handled sensitively.”
“However, we realize now we have no reason to be as John Mayer and McG seem to be doing a fantastic job in keeping the famous studio alive.”
Still, the challenges they face are real: Thanks to advances in cheap audio equipment — and with the economics of streaming having cut into once-lavish recording budgets — even A-list artists often opt these days to record at home rather than shell out to book into an old-line studio like Chaplin. (Consider that at least two of the songs nominated for record of the year at February’s Grammys ceremony — Billie Eilish’s “Wildflower” and Chappell Roan’s “The Subway” — were constructed primarily at home.)
“Everyone with a computer and a microphone has a studio,” Mayer says, and that’s not even accounting for the proliferation of music conjured up by AI out of the digital ether.
On the film side, the ongoing exodus of production from L.A. raises natural doubts about the ability to keep a soundstage busy with clients — doubts, one presumes, that led the owners of Occidental Studios near Echo Park to put that lot up for sale last summer.
“The real estate guys weren’t necessarily saying what a prudent business move this was,” says McG, who directed the 2000 blockbuster “Charlie’s Angels” and executive produced TV’s “The O.C.” “But it’s not about the dividend or the monthly spit-out. I admire John for throwing down.”
Says Mayer: “I love doing things that people tell me aren’t gonna work. That’s how I know I’m onto something.”
McG inside the soundstage at Chaplin Studios.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Mayer, 48, and McG, 57, are lounging on a December afternoon in Mayer’s ranch-hand-chic office, which occupies what once was the mill where wood for Charlie Chaplin’s movie sets was cut. Last night the co-owners threw a holiday party for the studio’s staff and friends; McG breakdanced — “My neck hurts today, but I got through it,” he says — while Mitchell turned up and played the piano in Mayer’s personal Studio C, where she liked to work in the ’70s.
As we talk, Mayer is sipping no fewer than three different smoothies — an approach he says he picked up from the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, who evidently would order multiple smoothies to ensure he wasn’t missing out on a new discovery.
“There’s something I relate to about that,” Mayer says, his Double RL boots propped on a coffee table in front of him. “I’m gonna have this smoothie and a little bit of these other smoothies to figure out: Does that smoothie beat this smoothie as my all-time-favorite order? What if there’s a smoothie out there in the world that you haven’t tried yet that could be your favorite?”
He puts down one cup and picks up another. “This one has wheatgrass in it,” he reports. “Not for me.”
The singer met McG, whose real name is Joseph McGinty Nichol, in 2024 through the studio’s longtime manager, Faryal Ganjehei. Each had ample experience on the lot: In the 1990s, McG shot music videos on the soundstage for the likes of Sublime and Smash Mouth; Mayer first recorded at Henson in 2005 when he cut a version of “Route 66” for the soundtrack to “Cars.”
“You’d think John and I would have known each other just from around here or from Ari Emanuel’s or whatever,” McG says. “But this was actually a bit of an arranged marriage” between two people who’d separately heard rumblings that the Jim Henson Co. might be looking to move its operations. (The company, which makes a variety of children’s television shows, is now headquartered at Studio City’s Radford Studio Center.)
“One year in, we’re still performing vigorous lovemaking,” McG says of his and Mayer’s union.
“Can’t wait to see that in Times New Roman,” Mayer adds.
Herb Alpert, left, and Jerry Moss at A&M headquarters in 1966.
(Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)
Charlie Chaplin, who was born in London, began building the lot in 1917 in a white-and-brown English Tudor style; he went on to direct some of his best-known films, including “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator,” on the property. After Chaplin left the United States in 1952, the lot was used for episodes of “The Adventures of Superman” and “Perry Mason.”
In 1966, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss bought the place and made it the base for their A&M Records; they converted two of the lot’s soundstages into high-end recording studios that drew the the likes of Sergio Mendes, the Carpenters, Stevie Nicks, U2 and John Lennon. Henson took over in 2000 and continued to cultivate what many of the studio’s regulars describe as a cozy family vibe.
“It was truly my home away from home,” says John Shanks, who produced hit records by Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus and Ashlee Simpson, among many others, at Henson. “My kids celebrated birthdays there — they knew where the candy was in Faryal’s office.”
Mayer and McG say they’re putting $9 million into improvements on the lot — “an up-to-speed-ovation,” the director calls it — but have no plans to make significant structural or stylistic changes. Ganjehei’s staff of around 22 engineers, techs and runners will stay on, as will artists who maintain offices and studios on the property, among them Daft Punk’s production company and the duo of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman.
“We’ve all seen places we loved get renovated and then you go, ‘Yeah, I don’t like it there anymore,’” McG says.
Such as?
“The Four Seasons on Doheny,” Mayer responds. “They took out the old dining room and put in a Culina, and it’s no fun anymore.” Of Chaplin, he says, “This place has a beating heart. All we have to do is effectively not kill it, right?” He laughs. “Just stay away from the big red button that says, ‘I got an idea.’”
Adrian Scott Fine welcomes that attitude.
“It’s what we like to hear — it’s not what we often hear,” says the president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to historic preservation. “When places transfer out of long-term stewardship, that always raises our spidey senses: What does this mean for the future? Sometimes they go into safe hands with the next owner. Oftentimes it means radical change, loss of character, maybe demolition or redevelopment. So we’re very hopeful when someone says that because it doesn’t happen enough in L.A.”
John Mayer, right, and McG inside Studio B at Chaplin Studios.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
As a show of historical continuity, Mayer and McG initially wanted to call the property Chaplin A&M. But Mayer says he couldn’t get Universal Music Group, which controls the A&M brand, to sign off on the name.
“I’ve never seen fruit so close to the ground before,” he says of the idea to bring back A&M. “Everyone I spoke to did the thing that people at record companies do, where it starts to get very gauzy as it moves up the flagpole: ‘Listen, I get it, but I can’t get the person above me to see it.’” (Moss died in 2023, and a spokesperson for Alpert said he wasn’t available for an interview. A UMG spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.)
More disappointing, Mayer and McG say, was the Henson family’s decision to take down the 12-foot statue of Kermit the Frog — dressed as Chaplin’s Little Tramp character — that presided for 25 years over the lot’s front entrance.
“It was important to the Hensons to have Kermit — that was expressed very early on,” Mayer says of the statue, which the family is donating to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. “We might have had the delusion of a reprieve. But they didn’t change their mind.”
“I talk to people I know and they say, ‘My kids go to school on La Brea, and every day we drive by and say, “What’s up, Kerms?”’” McG says. “It saddens me that the people of Los Angeles won’t be able to share in Kermit looking over them. If I sold Randy’s Donuts to a barbecue place, I’d hope the barbecue guy would keep the giant doughnut. It’s in the ‘I Love L.A.’ video with Randy Newman, OK?
Until recently, a 12-foot statue of Kermit the Frog presided over the front entrance to the Henson property on La Brea Avenue.
(AaronP / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images)
“This isn’t a McG thing,” the director adds. “It’s not a John Mayer thing. With the greatest respect, it’s not even a Henson thing. Kermit, to me, had transcended all of that and become a part of the fabric of this community.”
Did they make that emotional case to the Hensons?
“We tried,” Mayer says.
And it fell on deaf ears?
“Indeed,” says McG. (A spokesperson at the Jim Henson Co. declined to comment.)
Mayer has seen the comments on social media blaming him for Kermit’s disappearance, which is no doubt why he’s eager to get the word out that it wasn’t his doing. Yet the singer — a tabloid fixture since the days when he dated Taylor Swift and Jessica Simpson — says he’s not tortured by his haters.
“They should be worried about what I think of them,” he says with a laugh. “Honest to God, sometimes I read stuff and I go, ‘If only you knew …’ And I don’t have to apply that to myself as a balm so I stop feeling bad. I’m at the age now where I’ve seen everything you could possibly write, and I’ve survived.”
Not so long ago, Mayer would happily jump into the rough and tumble of online discourse. “But don’t you find yourself scrolling away from things so obviously designed to outrage you?” he asks. The sun is starting to go down outside — this is the time of day, he says, when Chaplin’s bucolic grounds remind him of Montecito’s San Ysidro Ranch — and he’s getting slightly philosophical.
“Millennials had their brains ripped out by the things they read. Gen Z is beginning to go, ‘I think a lot of these are bots.’ And I think Gen Alpha will be the generation that looks and says, ‘There’s a whole bunch of clankers writing bulls—. We don’t care.’
“My years of trash talking or being critical of any artist in any way — I think they’re over,” he says. “It never felt as good as it feels to run into people in the hallway and be glad they’re here.”
The sense of community Mayer feels — and is trying to nurture — at Chaplin is one reason he’s optimistic the studio will succeed.
“I think we’re leaving an era of ‘I did it myself — aren’t you amazed?’ Look at Dijon onstage at ‘SNL,’” he says of the R&B singer and producer who led an expansive group of musicians through a vivid TV performance in early December. “We’ve heard our hands applauding the fact that people have done it alone, and now we’re turning the corner and loving collaboration again. And you can’t come into a place like this and do it alone.”
“I love doing things that people tell me aren’t gonna work,” John Mayer says.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Even so, bills wait for no vibe shift. Beyond the business of recording, Mayer and McG are eager to make Chaplin’s soundstage a destination for acts in need of rehearsal space — AC/DC was recently in there practicing — as well as for certain high-end live events.
“If Anna Wintour’s gonna do ‘Women of Hollywood,’” McG says, “I need Anna Wintour going, ‘John, it’s got to be at your place.’”
Mayer says he’s fantasized about a sitcom or a talk show taking up residence on the soundstage.
“I hear John’s pretty good friends with Andy Cohen,” McG says of the Bravo host. “We’ll see where his show goes.”
“He looked at it,” Mayer says. “I think he needed more space to be able to do ‘Real Housewives’ reunions. Think about the number of Star Waggons you need for that.”
Yet music remains at the heart of Mayer’s ambitions for Chaplin, which he says he intends to own long enough to “sit down in a chair for a documentary several times, talking about other people’s records that were made here.” (Mayer himself says he’s been “defending the calendar of 2026” to record an album of his own.)
“Every time an artist drives through that gate, they’re taking an emotional risk,” he says. “Hoping they have a song in them but not being sure — it’s a very vulnerable state to be in. Everyone’s walking around, bumping into walls, thinking about what the rhyme is to that word. I want to make this the greatest place you could ever struggle.”
Charlie Frederick has reportedly signed up for Love Island: All Stars, eight years on from when he briefly appeared on the regular edition of the ITV2 dating show
Charlie Frederick is said to be heading back to the villa(Image: Surrey Advertiser)
Charlie Frederick has reportedly signed up for Love Island: All Stars. The reality star, 29, initially appeared briefly on the 2018 edition of the ITV2 dating competition, where he was coupled up with Hayley Hughes for a matter of days before being dumped from the famous villa.
Now, it’s thought that Charlie, who also appeared on Made in Chelsea as the best friend of Sam Holmes, is set to make a return to the villa after being persuaded by bosses to take part in the spin-off, which brings back memorable characters from the regular version of the series.
This year, the ITV dating show has had a huge format shake-up, with singletons heading out to South Africa for six weeks, rather than five as has been the case in previous years.
A source told The Sun: “Charlie’s been in the gym nonstop since he spoke to bosses about returning to the show. He went too early when he was on the 2018 series, the first time – this time he wants to find love!”
Following his initial stint on Love Island, Charlie claimed he would have progressed further in the competition had he not been coupled up with Hayley, and she described him as “bitter” after hearing his comments. Then, during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, the pair refused to sit with each other in the studio. At the time, Charlie explained: “We’re fine, we’re just frosty cause I’m a bit gutted to be honest. You just want to get your own piece across.
“I’m bitter and angry, not to her; I can’t hold a grudge. It is what it is. I feel like I’ve been hard done by, and my chance has been taken away from me. It was so much fun, I’m missing it.” Lorraine, who was visibly sensing the awkwardness, then jokingly told Charlie to “go away” so Hayley could come in. Charlie said it was “so awkward” as he gestured with his arms while walking out of the studio.
Hayley then appeared from the other side to avoid walking past Charlie. On her relationship with Charlie, she said: “Maybe near the end, I was a bit cold. I think that is something I need to work on. If I’m not interested in someone or can’t see it going any furthe,r I pull away.” After splitting from Hayley, Charlie had a relationship with Instagram model Natalie Clowes.
Insiders recently claimed that villa bombshell Yasmin Pettet is set to let the cameras follow her all over again, and she is currently being considered for a return to the villa when All Stars comes back to screens early next year, following her split from Jamie Rhodes. A source said: “ITV bosses are already starting to approach ex Islanders and they knew from the moment Yas stepped into the villa, she’d make the perfect ‘All Star’ – she’s one of the most controversial bombshells in the show’s history and will have absolutely no issue shaking up the villa for the second time, or treading on people’s toes.
“Now things are over with Jamie; she’s in very early, tentative talks. She’s not sure if going back to the show would be the right move, but she’s had loads of offers
Ciaran Davies finished runner-up with then-girlfriend Nicole Samuel, but they called it quits in December 2024. Bosses are now keen to get the Welsh hunk on board, although he is in the very early stages of negotiations right now.
Prior to that, it was reported that Jess Harding, who won series 10 of the regular series alongside Sammy Root, is also in talks lined up for the next competition, when it kicks off in South Africa next year.
Alima Gagigo is also said to be in meetings with bosses about a comeback, just weeks after she competed in series 12 of the programme and was dumped on Day 24. Andrada Pop, who was a bombshell in Casa Amor earlier this year, has also been approached by producers.
Single Islanders from across the 10 years of the show will return to the famous Villa in South Africa, but this time they’ll be in the villa for six weeks instead of five.
Speaking on the renewal, Mike Spencer-Hayter, Creative Director at Lifted Entertainment, said: “Love Island: All Stars has quickly established itself as a stand-alone hit, keeping fans of the show gripped by iconic Islanders from the past 10 years returning for another chance to find love. We are very excited about series 3, and you can expect the twists and turns to continue in All Stars, after an incredible smash hit summer series.”
The second series of Love Island: All Stars aired earlier this year and was won by Gabby Allen and Casey O’Gorman. The series also saw the reunion of Ronnie Vint and Harriet Blackmore – but it didn’t come without complaints.
Charlie Smyth celebrated his new three-year contract as he kicked 17 points in the New Orleans Saints’ 29-6 win over the New York Jets.
Former Gaelic footballer Smyth was rewarded for his match-winning kick against the Carolina Panthers with a spot on the Saints’ 53-man roster, along with a new deal.
The 24-year-old either had to be permanently promoted to the roster or released having been elevated from the Saints’ practice squad on three previous occasions.
Smyth had his best showing in the NFL in Sunday’s win over the Jets as he kicked five field goals and landed two extra point attempts.
“I want to give great credit to the offence and defence today. We are starting to play some real complementary football here,” Smyth said after the win.
“The support from everyone in New Orleans has been unreal. This team has stuck together and that is why the wins have started to come.”
In Smyth’s four NFL outings to date, the Saints have won three times and he has had a successful onside kick, which had a 7% success rate, a match-winning kick and 17 points in a single game.
PHOENIX — Camdyn Glover used to be a quiet conservative. She worried what her teachers would think or if she would lose friends over her convictions. But she said something changed when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September, and she started crying in her classroom at Indiana University while other students cheered and clapped.
“We can’t be silenced,” Glover decided.
Now she’s visiting Phoenix with her parents and brothers for this year’s Turning Point USA conference, the first to take place since Kirk’s death. Although the organization became a political phenomenon with its masculine appeals to college men, it’s also been expanding outreach to young women like Glover. The shift is poised to accelerate now that Turning Point is led by Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, who has embraced her new role at the helm of a conservative juggernaut with chapters across the country.
If successful, the organization that helped return President Trump to the White House could narrow a gender divide that has been a persistent challenge for Republicans. Turning Point offers a blend of traditional values, such as encouraging women to prioritize marriage over careers, and health trends pushed by online influencers.
Glover, 18, said discovering Turning Point in high school gave her an appreciation for dialogue when she felt like an outcast for her beliefs, such as being anti-abortion. At her first conference, she feels like she’s found a political and cultural home for herself.
“They want to promote a strong independent woman who does hold these values and can go stand up for herself,” she said. “But it’s also OK to do it in heels, put some makeup on, wear a dress.”
‘If Erika can do it, I can do it’
One of Glover’s classmates, Stella Ross, said she stumbled upon Charlie Kirk on TikTok in the months before the last presidential election.
She already felt like her perspectives were being treated differently on campus and thought she was receiving unfairly low grades in her political science classes. A devout Catholic, Ross said she was inspired by how Charlie Kirk wasn’t afraid to weave his evangelical faith into his political arguments.
She also noticed how many women posted comments of appreciation on Erika Kirk’s videos, and she joined Indiana University’s Turning Point chapter in the same month that Trump won his comeback campaign.
“I was like, wow, if Erika can do it, I can do it,” Ross said.
Ross has career aspirations of her own — she interns with Indiana’s Republican Party and aspires to be a press secretary for a governor or president. But she hopes to have flexibility in her job to be fully present with her children and believes that a traditional nuclear structure — man, woman and their children — is “God’s plan.”
When she thinks of Erika Kirk, “it’s really cool to see that she can live out that balance and it makes me feel like that could be a more realistic future for me because I’m seeing it firsthand.”
A new messenger
Erika Kirk often appeared alongside with her husband at Turning Point events. A former beauty pageant winner who has worked as a model, actress and casting director, she also founded a Christian clothing line and a ministry that teaches about the Bible.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, she said she had fully bought into “boss babe” culture before Charlie showed her a “healthier” perspective on life. Now she leads the multimillion-dollar organization, which she said at a memorial for her husband would be made “10 times greater through the power of his memory.”
The political gap between young men and women has been growing for years, according to a recent Gallup analysis. Not only have women under 30 become more likely to identify as ideologically liberal, they’ve also embraced liberal views on issues such as abortion, the environment and gun laws.
The schism was clearly apparent in the last presidential election, where 57% of male voters under 30 supported Trump, compared to only 41% of women under 30, according to AP VoteCast.
Turning Point has been working to change that, hosting events like the Young Women’s Leadership Summit and urging attendees to embrace traditional family values and gender roles.
Charlie Kirk said earlier this year that if a young woman’s priority is to find a husband, she should go to college for a “MRS degree.” Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric at University of North Georgia, said Erika Kirk could be a more effective messenger because she was focused on her career before meeting her husband.
“I do think her story resonates more because she tried it out and can tell them it is not for them,” he said.
Some conservative women are turned off by this approach. Raquel Debono, an influencer who lives in New York City, described the event as a “Stepford wives conference,” featuring women in pink floral dresses.
She said Turning Point’s emphasis on being traditional wives “leaves out a lot of women who work,” she said, “and I think they’re going to lose all those voters, honestly, in the next election cycle if they keep it up.”
Debono founded her own organization, Make America Hot Again, where she throws parties intended to make voters feel welcomed into the conservative movement and allow them to get to know people who share their politics.
‘Big time’ growth for some chapters
Aubree Hudson had been president of Turning Point’s chapter at Brigham Young University for only two weeks when she visited nearby Utah Valley University for an event with Charlie Kirk.
She said she was standing only about six feet away when he was fatally shot. She ran to find her husband, who was at the back of the crowd, and they fled to her car.
Hudson, 22, is from a rural farm town in southwestern Colorado. Her conservative convictions are rooted in her family’s faith and patriotism. A copy of the U.S. Constitution hangs in her parents’ home, and her father taught her to value God, family and country, in that order. Her mother stayed at home, telling her children that “you guys are my career.”
Since Kirk’s assassination, Hudson said the number of people — particularly women — getting involved with the organization jumped “big time.”
Emma Paskett, 18, is one of them. She was planning to attend the Utah Valley University event after one of her classes, but Kirk was shot before she made it there.
Although she wasn’t very familiar with Turning Point before that point, Paskett said she started watching videos of Kirk later that night.
Paskett considers Erika Kirk to be a “one in a million” role model, and her role as a leader was a driving factor in signing up.
“That’s exactly what I want to be like,” she said.
Govindarao writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed to this report from Washington.
PHOENIX — Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization that Charlie Kirk turned into a political juggernaut, will convene its flagship conference on Thursday for the first time since the assassination of its charismatic founder, testing the durability of a fractious movement that helped return President Donald Trump to the White House.
Kirk served as a unifying figure on the American right, marshaling college students, online influencers and Republican politicians. But now the party’s populist wing is skirmishing over the meaning of “America First” and the future of a decade-old movement defined more by the force of Trump’s personality than loyalty to a particular ideological project.
Thousands of people are expected to gather for the four-day meeting in Phoenix. Vice President JD Vance, media personalities and a handful of Trump administration officials are slated to appear, plus Christian rock bands and pastors. Attendees will have the chance to take selfies with popular figures and participate in discussions about political organizing, religion and conservative critiques of American culture.
Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, will have a prominent role as the organization’s new leader. The conference promises to be an extended tribute to her husband, who many on the right see as a martyr for conservatism and Christianity after he was slain at only 31 years old.
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged with shooting and killing Kirk while he spoke at Utah Valley University in September, appeared in court last week. Robinson has not entered a plea. Authorities say he told his romantic partner that he killed Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
The last time Turning Point held its AmericaFest conference, weeks after Trump’s comeback victory one year ago, the MAGA movement was ebullient as Republicans prepared for a new era of total control in Washington.
Now the party faces challenging midterm elections, with Trump constitutionally prohibited from running again and his more ideologically motivated acolytes positioning to steer the movement after he leaves office. Meanwhile, conservatives have been roiled by conflicts over antisemitism in its ranks, which Trump has declined to mediate.
A lineup of MAGA influencers
Turning Point is known for highly produced events that feel more like rock concerts or megachurch services than political rallies, complete with pyrotechnics and floor-shaking bass.
The speaker lineup is a who’s who of conservative influencers and pastors, including some who have openly feuded with each other in recent weeks. It includes some of the biggest names in MAGA media, including Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Jesse Watters, Steve Bannon, Ben Shapiro and Jack Posobiec.
The jockeying for influence has accelerated since Kirk’s death, which left a void in the organization he founded and in the broader conservative movement.
“Charlie was the unifying figure for the movement,” conservative commentator Michael Knowles said at a Turning Point event just weeks after Kirk’s death.
“The biggest threat right now is that without that single figure that we were all friends with, who could really hold it together, things could spin off in different directions,” Knowles said. “We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Among the fissures that has deepened since Kirk’s death is whether Republicans should continue its unflinching support for Israel and the war in Gaza. There are also concerns about whether the movement should accommodate people with anti-Jewish views.
The schism burst into the open when the head of the influential Heritage Foundation, Kevin Roberts, defended Carlson for conducting a friendly interview with podcaster Nick Fuentes, whose followers, known as “groypers,” see themselves as working to preserve a white, Christian identity in America. Roberts’ comments sparked outrage from some Heritage staffers, senators and conservative activists.
Fuentes had long feuded with Kirk, who worked to marginalize Fuentes within the conservative movement. Groypers enjoyed crashing Turning Point events to spar with Kirk.
Carlson and Shapiro, who has sharply criticized Fuentes and Carlson, are both scheduled to speak on Thursday, the first day of the conference.
Turning Point has also faced turmoil over conspiracy theories spread by Candace Owens, a former employee who hosts a top-rated podcast. Owens has alleged without evidence that Israeli spies were involved in Kirk’s death and that he was betrayed by people close to him. Authorities say Robinson acted alone.
Asked about Owens and others spreading conspiracy theories during a CBS News town hall, Erika Kirk responded with one word: “Stop.” She said Owens is making money off her family’s tragedy, adding that conspiracy peddlers risk tainting the jury pool and allowing her husband’s killer to get away with it.
Last weekend, with the Turning Point conference looming, Kirk and Owens agreed to a temporary detente until a private meeting. It didn’t last long.
After the meeting on Monday, Owens said on her show that she and Kirk spoke for 4 ½ hours but she still doubted that Robinson acted alone. Kirk wrote on X that they had “a very productive conversation” and it was “time to get back to work.”
While grieving her husband, Erika Kirk has slowly stepped up her public appearances. She spoke at the funeral, memorably forgiving her husband’s alleged killer, and at a Turning Point event in Mississippi in October.
An entrepreneur and podcaster, she often appeared with her husband at Turning Point events. The former 2012 Miss Arizona USA has also worked as a model, actress and casting director, and she founded a Christian clothing line, Proclaim, and a ministry that teaches about the Bible.
Before her husband’s death, she talked openly about prioritizing her family ahead of her career and described a marriage with traditional gender roles. Now she’s taking on the demanding job leading Turning Point, an organization that resonated in particular with young men.
At a memorial for her husband, Erika said “Charlie and I were united in purpose.”
“His passion was my passion, and now his mission is my mission,” she said. “Everything that Turning Point USA built through Charlie’s vision and hard work, we will make 10 times greater through the power of his memory.”
Kicker Charlie Smyth says “we’re looking pretty good” as he looks to secure a place on the New Orleans Saints’ permanent 53-man roster.
Former gaelic footballer Smyth kicked a winning 46-yard field goal with six seconds left in his home debut against the Carolina Panthers, which was his third NFL appearance.
Smyth landed a 56-yard field goal and made an onside kick on his NFL debut against the Miami Dolphins, and also featured against the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.
After three practice squad elevations already this season, NFL rules state the 24-year-old would need to be signed to the 53-man roster in order to feature against the New York Jets on Sunday.
“I think we’re looking pretty good on that right now,” Smyth told BBC Sport NI’s Thomas Niblock on his contract situation.
“I’m delighted to have had those moments over the past few weeks, and hopefully I can help the team going forward.”
Smyth said he is letting “everyone else deal with that in the background” as his focus shifts towards Sunday’s game with the Jets at the Superdome.
“The hope is that I’ll get into the 53 next week, that’s the plan,” Smyth said.
“I would like to think I’m playing this week, so we’ll just let that take care of itself and I’ll stay focused on what I do, which is kicking a ball.”
Cameron Menzies angrily punched a drinks table after a five-set defeat by highly rated Charlie Manby in the first round of the PDC World Championship.
The 26th seed from Scotland hit the underside of the table three times before holding his hand up in apology to the Alexandra Palace crowd as he left the stage.
Menzies, 36, was pictured with blood pouring from a gash on his right hand.
He had led 1-0 and 2-1 in sets before 20-year-old English debutant Manby fought back and clinched victory with his seventh match dart.
Former Premier League champion Glen Durrant – commentating on the subsequent match for Sky Sports – said: “Charlie Manby is a superstar in the making. Sometimes you can build a player up at 20 years old. We thought it was going to be the match of the afternoon and it delivered.
“But it wasn’t the ending we all want to see. For Cameron Menzies, I think he will regret that for the rest of his life. It was not a good watch.”
Co-commentator Stuart Pyke added: “I agree, [it was] an extraordinary reaction but we saw him walking off stage and he did put up his hand in apology. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.
Players can be sanctioned under Darts Regulation Authority rules for aggressive, disruptive or abusive behaviour.
It is the second year running that Menzies has been knocked out in the first round after he broke down in tears during and following his exit to Leonard Gates last December.
Menzies later revealed his father Ricky had been ill in hospital at the time, and spoke before this tournament, external about the recent death of his uncle.
Charlie Smyth kicked a 47-yard field goal with six seconds left on the clock to give the New Orleans Saints a 20-17 win over division rivals the Carolina Panthers.
The former Gaelic footballer from Mayobridge in County Down was making his third career start at the Superdome and also kicked a 42-yarder as well two extra points in the win.
The Saints had trailed 17-7 in the third quarter but Smyth’s first field goal of the game brought them back within a score.
Chris Olave’s touchdown grab then gave Smyth the opportunity to tie the game with the 24-year-old duly adding the extra point to make it 17-17 with two minutes and eight seconds remaining.
The Panthers could only manage one first down on their next drive to give the Saints the ball back and the chance for a second straight win.
Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough led New Orleans into position with the Saints’ cause aided by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty called on the Panthers’ Lathan Ransom.
Smyth’s kick then gave the side their fourth win of the season and second in succession after last week’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
