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ABC went to court Tuesday in an attempt to halt the Federal Communications Commission’s early review of its TV licenses, claiming the move is an attack on the broadcast outlet’s right to free speech.

The Disney-owned network asked a U.S. District Court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the FCC’s action. The agency says it is investigating ABC stations over whether the company’s diversity and inclusion policies are in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.

But the suit alleges that the FCC is retaliating against ABC due to President Trump’s dissatisfaction with the network’s coverage of his administration. Trump has frequently threatened to have TV station licenses pulled when he believes he is treated unfairly on news and talk programs.

In late December, Trump posted on X that “If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows are almost 100% negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn’t their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say YES!”

The suit claims the FCC “has not been shy about openly coercing ABC into changing its programming,” citing comments made last fall by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks about the president.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways….to take action…on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC.”

Shortly after Carr made those remarks, two large TV station ownership groups had their ABC affiliates pull Kimmel off the air for a week after conservative blowback over the host’s comments regarding the shooting death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The licenses for eight ABC-owned TV stations, including KABC in Los Angeles, were originally scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031. The suit said the current review is “extraordinarily early” and “that timing underscores the Commission’s true purpose: coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration’s demands.”

Trump recently called for ABC’s TV licenses to be revoked after the network did not carry his July 16 prime-time Oval Office address on election fraud. Carr said the network’s decision would be taken under consideration in the license review process.

Broadcast outlets have long had the option to determine whether to carry a presidential address. ABC presented Trump’s speech on its news streaming platform, as did NBC.

Carr has also questioned whether “The View” should be classified as a news program, which is exempt from the equal-time rule for political candidates who appear as guests.

ABC has asked the FCC to rule on the status of “The View,” which received an exemption from the rarely enforced equal time provision in 2002.

ABC has maintained that “The View” books politicians based on newsworthiness and not partisanship.

GORKA Marquez has admitted he sometimes “can’t be a*sed” to have sex with fiancée Gemma Atkinson as he made yet another joke about their private life.

The Strictly dancer made the candid confession on the couple’s Lost In Translation podcast.

Gorka, 35, said: “Sometimes when Gemma says, ‘Do you want a cheeky one?’ I just think, ‘I can’t be bothered. For f***’s sake, Gemma!’”

He then quickly added: “But I bet she thinks that about me.”

The saucy exchange was sparked by a listener asking whether the couple ever don’t feel like recording their podcast.

They admitted there are days when they aren’t in the mood – prompting Gorka to compare it to their sex life.

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Gemma Atkinson reveals sad reason she won’t have any more kids with Gorka

STRICTLY SPICY

Strictly star Gorka shocks fans with X-rated comments to wife Gemma Atkinson

He later swapped back to talking about the podcast saying: “It’s like going for a run. You never feel like doing it, but you always feel better for it afterwards!”

Gemma, 41, chipped in: “You have to have those days where you think, ‘For eff’s sake,’ because then you appreciate the other days.”

It comes shortly after Gorka made headlines with another series of racy remarks to Gemma during a previous episode.

The loved-up pair were answering the question: “Who is fitter out of you both? And what are your strengths and weaknesses in fitness?”

Gorka then decided it was the perfect opportunity to make a string of cheeky comments.

As part of her answer, Gemma said: “I stretch every day. You’ve got to as you get older.”

Gorka winked and replied: “I stretch her out,” before asking: “Can I pipe you tonight?”

Gemma and Gorka met during the 2017 series of Strictly Come Dancing and announced their engagement in 2021.

The smitten pair share two children – Mia, six, and Thiago, two.

In a striking demonstration of support, hundreds of fired up Californians rallied in Santa Monica to speak out against the Trump administration’s attempt to wrest local control over the state’s beloved coastline.

The Golden State’s top environmental leaders, along with prominent elected officials, environmentalists, business coalitions, community activists, Indigenous groups and everyday citizens, packed a public hearing Monday before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coastal Management, which has been tasked with conducting an unprecedented investigation that could ultimately strip California of its power to say no to federal projects.

Experts see the investigation — framed as a performance review of the state’s coastal management practices — as a thinly veiled attempt by Trump officials to open California’s coast to more offshore oil drilling, more rocket launches and possibly even floating nuclear reactors. If the federal government succeeds, many worry it could set the stage for similar actions in other coastal states.

“I’m scared, not because we haven’t built something worth protecting — we have. I’m scared because this meeting is performance theater. In some ways, the decision seems already made,” said Maureen Ellenberger, a resident of Santa Barbara who said she is haunted by the possibility of another oil spill. “But I’m speaking today anyway, so there’s a record. So years from now… everyone will know we fought, that we did not consent.”

Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, speaks during a NOAA hearing as Larry Goldzband, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, awaits his turn to make comments.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Citing California’s “environmental extremism,” Trump officials are attempting to decertify the state’s authority under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, or CZMA. The act grants coastal states the right to review and object to any project in federal waters that clashes with state policy.

For the last five decades, the CZMA has been celebrated as a bipartisan co-management framework between coastal states and the federal government — and in California, the process had been relatively smooth through every presidential administration until Trump’s.

Tensions escalated in May when U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick declared that “California has repeatedly and unfoundedly obstructed spaceport development in bad faith” and announced that he was ordering a fresh evaluation of the state’s CZMA compliance using a “new approach.” He specifically instructed NOAA, which is under his purview, to take offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, spaceport infrastructure, desalination projects and undersea cables into consideration, citing national priorities and economic interests.

Performance reviews under the CZMA are not uncommon (most states are subject to a routine review every five to 10 years) but what’s unusual in this case is the callout to specific industries, as well as the politically charged nature of how the review was announced (state officials learned they were under review through a social media post from the U.S. Department of Commerce.)

What was also unusual was the fact California had also just undergone a routine review during the Biden administration.

A draft of that review, which was completed in 2024, but not finalized because of the change in administration, gave top marks to the three California agencies charged with implementing the CZMA — the California Coastal Commission, the California State Coastal Conservancy and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The review found no issues.

Joelle Gore, left, chief of the stewardship division at the NOAA Office for Coastal Management and Keelin Kuipers, right, acting director at NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, listen to more than four hours of public comments.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

The new Lutnick-ordered review began in earnest on Monday with the only hearing that people can attend in-person during the 45-day-public comment period. (Two virtual hearings will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, and NOAA is required to review all written comments that are submitted from members of the public through Aug. 22.)

More than 15,000 people have written comments so far, and for more than four hours Monday, surfers, fishers, marine scientists, community activists, business owners, real estate brokers and Californians from a wide swath of interest groups — many traveling from Marin, San Jose, Mendocino and other parts of the state — lined up to speak before NOAA’s acting director for coastal management.

Nobody in attendance spoke in favor of the federal review. As people in the crowd held up signs declaring “NO FEDERAL TAKEOVER” and “NO SELLOUTS FOR BIG OIL,” speakers expressed their love for the California coast and urged federal officials to take note of the state’s thriving marine economy.

The crowd erupted in whoops and applause after each person spoke their three minutes of public comments. A number of speakers, some moved to tears, expressed afterward that they had never been more proud to be a Californian.

“It was just example after example after example of how the state’s coastal management program is working — it was really putting into the record those facts and also just so many personal stories,” said Jennifer Savage, a longtime policy advocate for Surfrider Foundation who drove more than 670 miles from Humboldt to testify at the hearing. “It showed more than anything that being able to go to the beach is such a unifying shared joy in California.”

The State’s top environmental leaders also took turns speaking about how the CZMA has long facilitated open dialogue and collaboration between the state and federal government.

“We sincerely hope that this review is not merely a pretense for removing California’s ability to hold public hearings on offshore oil and gas projects,” said Kate Huckelbridge, executive director of the Coastal Commission. “California has received very little information about why this new federal review is being undertaken. Still, we welcome a fair and transparent evaluation. Our record speaks for itself.”

Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary for Natural Resources, provides public comment during a NOAA hearing.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Out of the more than 3,700 federal actions that have come before the Coastal Commission for review since the 1970s, the commission has aligned with the federal actions 96% of the time, Huckelbridge said.

Current and former coastal officials also spoke about their experiences with past reviews and questioned the unusual timing of this evaluation and how it doesn’t follow standard procedure.

“I have personally participated in several periodic reviews, and what has happened in this review is unprecedented and, quite frankly, bizarre. There is absolutely no basis for reopening the periodic review conducted in 2024,” said Jack Ainsworth, who had worked at the coastal commission for 34 years and led it for seven of those years. “I would also note that California is recognized as the gold standard for integrated coastal management in the United States and around the world.”

At a NOAA hearing Monday, the crowd applauded after each speaker expressed their love for the California coast and urged federal officials to keep things the way they are.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

What happens after this week’s hearings will be uncharted territory, but experts say that if the review does end up taking issue with California’s coastal management program, the state should be given the opportunity to respond to any proposed changes. The process laid out in the law appears to include multiple steps and opportunities for discussion, they said.

At a rally outside the meeting room Monday, more than a hundred environmentalists gathered alongside congressmembers, county supervisors, Indigenous leaders, environmental justice groups and business coalitions to further amplify the many voices that represent California.

Toni Cordero, a board member of Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, Surfrider Foundation, and Environmental Defense Center, speaks at a rally before a NOAA hearing Monday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

“The Creator put us here to coexist and to collaborate in caring for our mother ocean and for all her relatives, all of her inhabitants and all those who call this coast home,” said Toni Cordero, a former tribal chair of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation who also served as a deputy state attorney general for more than 25 years. “We must remember them. It is their homelands, their well-being and their futures that are also at stake under the guise of ensuring compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act.”

The crowd waved signs and cheered again as Wade Crowfoot, California’s Secretary for Natural Resources, stepped up to speak.

“It has been clear from Governor Newsom to Attorney General Bonta to our legislators to our congressional delegation: California’s coast is not for sale, and a hostile takeover of our coast by the federal government… won’t be tolerated,” Crowfoot declared.

“So rest assured,” he said. “We stand in strong solidarity with everyone here today — whether you’re a tribal government, a local government, a conservation organization or just somebody that likes to get out and be on a beach that’s safe and healthy, we are making our voices heard.”

Someday, you might be able to ride a bike from the western San Fernando Valley to Long Beach along the Los Angeles River. But not yet.

The longest unfinished stretch is the eight miles from Elysian Park through downtown to Maywood. For decades, advocates of the path have tried to complete those eight miles along the concretized river.

Yet a decade later, the unrideable gap remains. The ambitious project remains mired in planning and bureaucratic complications, with groundbreaking still two years off and the cost nearly tripling to more than $1 billion — almost $24,000 per foot — documents reviewed by The Times show.

It looked like the prospects for the bike route to the sea were getting serious after Angelenos enthusiastically passed a half-cent tax for transit projects in 2016 that earmarked $365 million for the L.A. River Path.

At the time, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the lead on the project, priced out a simple path on one side of the river.

An aerial view of bicyclists where the Los Angeles River Path ends near Golden Shore and Shoreline Drive in Long Beach.

But by last year, the proposed designs were much wider and added seven pedestrian bridges. They also included sections where the path would be elevated above the ground, supported by beams. The changes responded to community input and comments from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and L.A. Department of Water and Power, among others. Estimated completion of the initial phase is not until 2031.

Navigating the web of nearby structures, like active rail lines and historic bridges, is part of what makes the construction so complex, Metro says. An original $75 million set aside for unforeseen expenses in 2016 swelled to $309 million last year, and the rising cost of construction also added to the high price tag.

Advocates for the path say this grander plan would be great, if there were a way to pay for it.

Yuval Bar-Zemer is a board member with Streets for All, a group that advocates for safer streets in L.A. He also is a downtown loft developer and commissioned studies that helped inform a far less expensive option that would run down near the flowing river, rather than up above. The path would be unusable during heavy rains, but Bar-Zemer and others say that would be less than 20 days each year.

This option was included in Metro’s initial scoping of the path in 2016 but has since been dropped, with the agency citing safety concerns. Bar-Zemer contends that safety features could be installed to make sure pedestrians have enough time to exit the pathway if water rises swiftly. He says he’s spent $350,000 of his own funds in engineering studies and advocacy to advance the path.

A pedestrian walks with an umbrella on the L.A. River Path near Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park.

“The benefits are so obvious, it’s such a home run and such a low-hanging fruit that for me, it’s like criminal not to make it happen,” he said.

Currently, bikers headed southbound run out of path where Riverside Drive crosses the L.A. River at Egret Park. From there, they’re forced to weave through high-traffic streets in neighborhoods including Lincoln Heights, Chinatown, Downtown L.A. and Boyle Heights before they find the path again in Vernon.

“It’s a huge chasm,” said Michael Schneider, founder and chief executive of Streets for All. He called the gap in the L.A. River path “a shame because it’s an otherwise amazing resource.”

Some 76,000 residents live within walking distance of the proposed path, and a million within three miles of the L.A. River, according to Metro estimates from 2022. Around 17% of working-age people who live within a bikeable distance already walk, bike or take transit in their regular commute.

An aerial view of downtown Los Angeles and the Sixth Street Bridge amid an unfinished eight-mile gap in the L.A. River Path.

More recent numbers could be higher since high fuel prices have motivated many to use transit, bikes, e-bikes and scooters. The path also could provide recreational benefits to an area that has some of the most limited access to green space in Los Angeles.

Metro had the eight-mile gap on its list of 28 projects it wanted ready for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. As costs soared, it quietly was taken off the list.

Yet there are recent signs of progress for the L.A. River Path.

In late May, the Metro board voted to create a committee that brings together all the players needed to push it to toward completion.

The Los Angeles River runs under the Sixth Street Bridge amid an unfinished eight-mile gap in the L.A. River Path in downtown Los Angeles.

Mayor Karen Bass chairs the Metro board. Despite the project’s stagnation, she continues to convey optimism.

“Angelenos voted in 2016 to make the L.A. River Path path a reality, and Mayor Bass is marshaling the resources necessary to eliminate further distraction that have threatened the project’s pace and cost,” her office said in statement.

Metro staffers are reviewing comments on the draft environmental impact statement, the agency said. They intend to recommend a path forward in the fall.

PRINCE HARRY has given his royal seal of approval to 2024 Britain’s Got Talent winner Sydnie Christmas.

He told Syd he “felt every word in the back of his throat” after she performed Tomorrow from Annie and Frank Sinatra’s My Way in front of him at David Foster’s charity gala in Canada over the weekend.

Both tracks have poignant lyrics about overcoming difficulties and being beaten down, which is rather apt for Harry, who has endured setback after setback recently.

Speaking from Canada, Syd told me: “When I was on stage, I joked about meeting his dad before adding, ‘Sorry he couldn’t make it. He sent me instead’.

“Oh my god – I say such silly things when I’m nervous, but Harry started laughing.

“When I got down off stage he just came forward and gave me a big cuddle.

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“And he went, ‘Sydnie, I felt every word. I really felt that in the back of my throat’.”

Revealing how the fifth-in-line to the throne ditched royal protocol, Sydnie continued: “He just went in for the hug and I was like, ‘Why not?’.”

Next week, the singer drop her new single Spirit, taken from her second album The Artist, which is due out on October 2.

Teasing the record, Syd said: “This is going to be different from what people know me for.

“I’m just trying to progress and make music that hopefully people like.

“The dream is just to continue touring and making music.

“It’s sounds so simple, but it’s difficult in this day and age.”

Denise has a Tiny secret

DENISE WELCH has revealed that US band Tiny Habits soundtracked Matty Healy and wife Gabbriette Bechtel’s first dance at their wedding last month.

The folk-pop trio were joined by Matty’s mum, Loose Women star Denise, during their show at London’s St Pancras Old Church on Friday when she let slip the news.

Clearly she’s a big fan now too, as she stayed for the gig and posed for a photo with the group afterwards.

The band, made up of Judah Mayowa, Cinya Khan and Maya Rae are good friends with The 1975 frontman Matty, who provided background vocals on their recent single, Anything He Was.

It will feature on their second studio album, Keepers, which is due out on August 28.

Tiny Habits met while at university in Boston and have since gained more celebrity fans in Marcus Mumford, Noah Kahan and Phoebe Bridgers.

They’re clearly doing something right.

Madge and Kylie set for 102nd top ten hit

POP legends Madonna and Kylie Minogue are on course for a big hit with their new single, Love Sensation.

Official Charts has revealed the track is currently at No8 in the midweek update.

If its popularity continues, it will become the 102nd Top Ten that the pop stars have scored between them – Madge’s 65th and Kylie’s 37th.

They debuted the tune, a remix of a song from Madonna’s Confessions II album, at WorldPride in Amsterdam earlier this month, right.

Meanwhile, Sam Fender and Olivia Dean are set to stay at No1 for a 21st week with Rein Me In, with only Shakira’s Dai Dai challenging them for top spot.

Usher: ‘I don’t do doubles’

USHER has been forced to hit back at claims that he had a body double perform on stage for him during his MetLife Stadium show in New York.

The Burn singer’s fans were up in arms after his concert, claiming the man on stage singing was not Usher.

Posts about the claims started to go viral yesterday, with Usher forced to clarify it was him, writing: “How y’all come up with this? AI ain’t that advanced.”

It’s not the first time we’ve seen this recently.

Last month, a Blue fan got in touch to complain they didn’t think Simon Webbe had been performing with the band during a gig in London.

After a quick – and comical – conversation with their manager, we managed to clear up that it was the real Simon on stage.

Specsavers, anyone?

Taika moment to go offline

TAIKA WAITITI’S upcoming sci-fi film, Klara And The Sun, is set in a world with no internet.

But the Hollywood director admits he struggles to limit his time online – despite his best efforts.

Taika, below, told us: “When I’m writing, I tend to hang out too much on it, but you’ve got to really make an effort and go somewhere where there is no wi-fi – or just unplug the router and force it upon yourself.”

He added of the film, based on the best-selling book by Kazuo Ishiguro: “It’s set in the near future where we’ve ended up abusing our power with the internet and technology so much that they actually had to turn it off.

“No internet or AI – all the robots are analogue and not connected to anything at all. Basically, robots that are dumb.”

I’d love some internet breaks at times, but alas showbiz never sleeps.

Fans’ joy at long Weeknd

THE WEEKND has done a U-turn on his announcement early last year that he plans to retire – insisting he will keep performing “for ever.”

The Blinding Lights singer, inset, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, had said he wanted to put his alter-ego to bed, but in Stockholm on Saturday, he made it clear his current tour has reinvigorated his love for music.

Ad-libbing during one of his tracks, he sang: “I’ll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear.

“I tested retirement a little bit, and I don’t like the way it feels. Imma be here for ever with you.”

That will be music to the ears of fans who didn’t manage to get tickets for his five Wembley Stadium shows and two concerts at Dublin’s Croke Park in the next fortnight.

In the days since he charged a Los Angeles police officer with a crime for capturing evidence of his co-workers’ racist remarks, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman has been the subject of withering criticism from Mayor Karen Bass, former cops and even some of his own prosecutors.

The chorus of voices decrying the filing of 16 counts of felony eavesdropping against Officer Daniel Flores — who caught fellow officers on tape using slurs and making derogatory remarks about Asians, Mexicans, Black people and women in the LAPD’s Training Division in 2024 — say the charges will dissuade other officers from reporting corruption and raise questions about Hochman’s commitment to police accountability.

“The bottom line is that the alleged racist, sexist, and homophobic comments made are outrageous and unacceptable,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement to The Times on Tuesday. “While I understand that it is inappropriate and a crime to record colleagues without their consent, those charges certainly send the wrong message that calling out egregious behavior could land you in prison.”

Six L.A. County prosecutors — all speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the case candidly — also said in recent days they were shocked by Hochman’s decision to charge Flores.

One referred to the filing as “insane,” while another suggested Flores’ case should have been dismissed in the interest of justice.

On Friday, the district attorney’s office made public a 27-page motion asking for a lengthy preliminary hearing in the case. The filing alleged Flores deceptively edited the recordings to hide his own insensitive remarks. Several of the officers whom Flores taped said he often talked about wanting to win the “LAPD lottery,” meaning he intended to sue the department and retire on his winnings, according to the motion.

“[Flores] often starts the recordings in mid-conversation,” the district attorney said in an interview Friday. “Many people talk about the fact that he initiated some of these discussions, that he participated in some of these discussions. You’ll hear references to comments he made. Usually he has edited out his comments.”

The motion — which relies heavily on representations made by the officers whose comments Flores exposed — alleges Flores “manipulated conversations by initiating or participating in discussions about a particular topic before activating the recording device, then ceasing his own participation.”

Hochman said the recordings contain evidence that Flores made sexist remarks and referred to a group of people as “f—ing Crips.” It was not clear how referencing the infamous L.A. gang was, on its own, racist.

Flores’ attorney, Alan Jackson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Flores is due in court for an arraignment on Monday.

Some of Hochman’s own prosecutors said the charges look bad considering the district attorney’s suspect record in police accountability cases.

“Optics are terrible,” one prosecutor said, questioning whether Hochman was pressured to act by police unions, which made heavy contributions to his 2024 campaign.

Since taking office, Hochman has moved to dismiss a number of violent use-of-force cases against police and resolved others with lenient plea deals. He also either dismissed charges or offered no-jail plea deals to four former Torrance police officers who had been accused of crimes after they were implicated in the department’s infamous racist text scandal.

One prosecutor also said the Flores case is unwinnable and will certainly fail before a jury.

“Just because a law is broken doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to get 12 jurors in L.A. to convict,” the prosecutor said.

Flores turned over 122 recordings of his colleagues’ commentary to the LAPD Office of the Inspector General early last year, according to the motion filed Friday. An amended criminal complaint submitted in late July suggested the recordings were then used as evidence against Flores by LAPD officials who sought to punish him.

Flores has said he heard co-workers refer to Black people as “monkeys” who like grape soda and eat watermelon between basketball games, according to a retaliation lawsuit he filed last year. The suit claims Flores also heard colleagues call female officers “bitches” who couldn’t be trusted and alleged a supervisor said Mexican L.A. Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela died of septic shock because he “ate too many” tacos.

In the motion made public Friday, Hochman argued that Flores made the recordings, in part, to support his civil suit. Several of the officers quoted in the motion said Flores said he had anxiety about wearing a police uniform or going on patrol and wanted to retire to become a “stay at home Dad,” according to the motion.

The motion also provided more information about the alleged insensitive discussions than has been previously reported. One of the officers recorded by Flores admitted to describing a potential LAPD recruit as “rapeable” because they were “someone who could be taken advantage of,” according to the motion.

“The use of the phrase ‘rape’ was not in a sexual context,” the motion read.

The officers also suggested in the D.A.’s motion Flores was a habitual liar. He became embarrassed after he was caught fabricating or embellishing stories about playing college baseball, responding to protest scenes and an award he won in the police academy, according to the motion.

The motion said that an internal affairs sergeant found many of the allegations Flores made concerning officers in the recruitment unit improperly disqualifying candidates based on appearance and falsifying time sheets were not supported by evidence.

When he announced the charges last week, Hochman said that while the comments captured by Flores were deplorable, he couldn’t turn a blind eye to a blatant violation of the state’s two-party consent recording statute. With few exceptions, it is a crime in California to record a conversation without the consent of all parties involved.

Hochman said Friday that Flores is not protected by whistleblower laws because, although the recordings exposed bigoted speech, they did not prove evidence of a crime by any of the other officers. He also said the comments were not hateful in nature. At multiple points, the motion refers to the comments as “locker room” talk.

Many of the officers told investigators they made the crude comments “in a sort of joking, sort of locker room banter context. In hindsight these things are insensitive … but you’ll have for instance a Black individual making comments about Blacks,” Hochman said. “You’ll have an Asian individual making insensitive stereotypical comments about Asians.”

Hochman said the prosecution was meant to deter rogue police actions rather than silence whistleblowers. He likened what Flores did to a detective using illegal means to record a drug dealer or gang member.

Hochman said Flores should have reported his colleagues’ misconduct to internal affairs or the LAPD’s inspector general. But California Department of Justice records show there were 4,878 allegations of racial bias made against LAPD officers in the last decade, and the department upheld only three of those complaints.

Presented with those statistics at a news conference Thursday, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell did not respond directly to a question about how Flores could possibly have faith in an internal probe. McDonnell said Flores’ complaint triggered an investigation into 18 other officers, all but one of whom faced sustained disciplinary complaints.

He declined to say what sanctions the officers faced. An LAPD spokesperson declined to elaborate.

The district attorney’s office has been less aggressive in prosecuting those who made surreptitious recordings in the past.

When asked to pursue charges against those who secretly recorded several City Council members making racist remarks during a meeting at the L.A. County Federation of Labor’s headquarters, the district attorney’s office found a crime had been committed but referred the case to the L.A. city attorney’s office for misdemeanor filing in 2024. Ultimately, no charges were filed.

Last year, the D.A.’s office opted not to bring charges in a different case involving an LAPD officer in possession of a secret recording.

In that case, the ex-girlfriend of Brandon Tilford provided the department with an audio recording he had texted her in January 2024, according to a rejection memo by prosecutors. In the recording, an unidentified police officer is heard saying, “Officer walks through processing and goes, man, this is f— Planet of the Apes in here” in an apparent reference to Black inmates. Tilford texted his former girlfriend, “That’s my sgt btw lol.”

But prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to bring charges because the girlfriend couldn’t identify the officers in the recording or say who made it. Thus, prosecutors reasoned that they could not prove Tilford created the recording and did so without the others’ knowledge.

Retired LAPD Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said she understood why Flores “might feel compelled to gather evidence to substantiate serious allegations,” given how the department has handled past whistleblower cases.

“For me, the difficult question is not whether evidence should be gathered, but where the line should be drawn,” said Carranza, a 36-year department veteran who successfully sued the city several times for misogyny and sexual harassment. “Gathering evidence over days or even weeks to document ongoing misconduct is one thing. Doing so over many months raises different legal and ethical questions.”

Hochman said the sheer volume of recordings, and the fact that Flores is a sworn law enforcement officer, played a role in the decision to file felony charges.

The union that represents front-line public defenders also seized on the controversy, saying in a statement that Hochman’s decision sent a clear message to others who may want to report wrongdoing: “keep quiet, or you will be the one facing trial.”

The department has long had a policy that forbids retaliation against officers who report misconduct.

But in practice, LAPD insiders say, those who come forward with compromising information get little support. The department is facing scores of lawsuits by officers who claim they faced retaliation after speaking out in the form of poor job evaluations, harassment, demotions and even termination.

A LOVED-UP Pete Wicks has made a rare romantic comment amid his Olivia Attwood relationship – just a week after they went official.

The couple have been trying to keep their relationship under wraps for months, but thrilled fans recently when they finally hard launched their romance.

In the latest episode of his latest Staying Relevant podcast that he co-hosts with best pal Sam Thompson, 33, a smitten Pete, 37, talked about what makes him happy in a relationship.

The usually gruff reality star was asked what his “love languages are”, to which he replied: “Mine I would probably say are physical touch, quality time, and acts of service.”

Co-host Sam then agreed, and said that his was also “physical touch”.

The latest revelation comes just a week after Pete and his girlfriend Olivia, 35, FINALLY went Instagram official.

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Olivia Attwood wades into Lee Andrews mess & shares warning she gave Katie Price

The couple had been keeping fans guessing ever since the beginning of the year, but had been spotted out on several cosy dates.

It came when the former Towie star flew out to Ibiza as Olivia filmed a new series of her show, Bad Boyfriends.

Loved-up Pete then shared a series of black and white shots, which saw them cuddled up together.

In a perfect hard launch, he captioned the snaps with: “I guess someone has to go first…IBIZA” followed by a black heart emoji.

Best pal Sam was quick to comment: “Never thought I’d see the day YOU hard launch!! couldn’t be happier for you brother.”

Their romance started after Olivia revealed she had split from her husband Bradley Dack, 32, at the beginning of the year.

KATIE Price has made a rare reference to her infamous feud with Victoria Beckham – 26 years after their war over Dane Bowers. 

During the latest episode of her podcast The Katie Price Show, the 48-year-old shared her surprising true feelings about Victoria, 52.

Speaking to sister Sophie, 36, Katie insisted she is completely over their fall-out and would even welcome the chance to bump into her. 

She said: “I’ve got no issue with Victoria. 

“There’s no feud between us. Well, I don’t know if she has one against me. If I saw her, I’d say hello, I haven’t got a problem.”

In 2000, when Katie was still working as her glamour model alter-ego Jordan, the famous women went to war over Katie’s then-boyfriend Dane, 46. 

INK WAR

Katie Price reveals Harvey, 24, is getting first tattoo but sister is horrified

bling back on

Katie Price puts her ring back ON and reads book about ‘lying to yourself’

After Spice Girl Victoria and Another Level singer Dane launched their solo careers, they teamed up with True Steppers for garage anthem Out of Your Mind. 

It was Victoria’s first single after Spice Girls split and Katie later confessed their close working relationship during the mammoth promotional trail for the track sparked insecurities about her relationship with Dane. 

Writing in her autobiography Being Jordan, she said: “I thought something was going on, I thought, ‘is he obsessed with her?’”

Katie also took aim at Victoria during interviews, criticising her for wearing a fake lip ring during performances with Dane. 

And Posh was no better during the catfight, firing back: “Jordan does full frontals with her crotch and t**s out and she says I’m a bad influence by wearing a fake ring? I think she’s vile.”

Things between the warring women came to a head when, according to Katie, Victoria turned mean girl when she visited the players lounge at Manchester United, where Posh’s husband David, 51, played at the time. 

Katie maintains to this day that, upon spotting her, Victoria launched into a rendition of Who Let The Dogs Out. 

In 2024 Katie dragged up the past during an episode of her podcast, saying: “I remember them days with Victoria Beckham.

“When she sang Who Let The Dogs Out at me in the Manchester United Lounge.”

On the heels of the trailer reveal for the big-screen adaption of “Children of Blood and Bone,” the book’s author is claiming in a new video that an on-set ordeal traumatized her — and fans have been left with more questions than answers.

On Wednesday, Tomi Adeyemi upped the ante when discussing the ongoing behind-the-scenes drama that’s overshadowed the new film. Although the author, in her latest video on the falling-out, hinted at a painful ordeal that unfolded on set, fans are still scratching their heads as to what exactly happened and who was involved.

“I’m gonna post this so ideally I won’t have to talk about this anymore,” she said in a five-minute, 40-second video posted to social media. “And what I’m about to share is not a secret to the people involved. It’s a reality that I’ve had to live with for about a year and a half, and everyone involved, at least at the highest level, has been made aware of this reality, and they haven’t done anything to make it better. If anything, they’ve only antagonized me, and I accept that, but I also accept if I don’t say something, I think it’s just going to be worse.

“I’m not gonna speak on what I endured to make it through the young adult trilogy, and I’m not going to speak about everything that I also suffered through to make the adaptation a reality,” she continued. “I’m actually only going to speak about what happened after I left that set of my own film adaptation, hyperventilating and sobbing, and there are many witnesses, so it’s not really a secret.”

The author continued that, when she returned to America from an overseas filming location, she suffered “such severe somatic pain and so many panic attacks” that she knew she would never be able to watch the film.

“But as it is being marketed, and as I am still being antagonized behind the scenes, which is where I hoped all of this would stay, it’s become apparent to me that reality needs to at least be made known so that you guys can understand how this film — which I worked on to make it a little better for us to be alive — is also the worst thing I have ever had to live through, and I don’t wish to speak on it anymore.”

Adeyemi concluded that she never wants to hear about the film adaption again, and then she seemingly threw shade at director Gina Prince-Bythewood, whom she co-wrote the screenplay with, saying, “I don’t have anything to say about the people who made it. I do not care anymore. I’m trying to move on. This video might make it worse, but I don’t know how it can be any worse.”

Representatives for Prince-Bythewood and Paramount Pictures did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Earlier this month, the Nigerian American author posted a since-deleted video on TikTok that also left her followers puzzled in which she said there was a reason she stopped promoting the forthcoming film. Although she didn’t spell out the reason, she posted a screen shot of a February 2025 text exchange with one of the film’s stars, Amandla Stenberg, in which she told the actor not to use her name in interviews and then blocked her.

Stenberg, who is African American and Danish, had been at the center of a casting controversy due to claims that colorism was at play when she landed the role of Princess Amari. (Read more about the controversy here.)

On Monday, Paramount held a “Children of Blood and Bone” trailer launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. In a discussion moderated by “Master of None” actor Lena Waithe, Prince-Bythewood and the A-list cast talked about the making and almost-not-making of the film, and Prince-Bythewood seemed to reveal her stance on the fallout over Stenberg’s casting.

The director said her big-screen adaptation was “beautifully inspired by Nigeria and also inclusive of the whole diaspora. We wanted all of us to be able to see ourselves within this, just our complete and utter humanity, all the beautiful hues.”

In the comments section under Adeyemi’s Wednesday video, frustrated fans asked the author to be more transparent while others suggested maybe a non-disclosure agreement was hindering her ability to offer any specifics on the incident.

“Children of Blood and Bone” is slated to hit theaters Jan. 15.

WASHINGTON — President Trump and the Justice Department are asking the Supreme Court to toss an $83 million defamation verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault, saying he can’t be sued for comments he made while he was president.

It’s the second time Trump has asked the justices to nix damages awarded by a jury to Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host. The Supreme Court refused in June to hear his appeal of another verdict, for $5 million, that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

The latest case centers on comments Trump made during his first term as president. The Justice Department wants to invoke the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from being sued for doing their jobs.

“Absent this Court’s intervention, the sitting President is facing nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability for conduct that was well within the scope of his federal office,” federal attorneys wrote. “That alone deserves this Court’s attention.”

The appeal was filed electronically and is expected to be formally docketed with the court Wednesday.

Trump’s lawyers, meanwhile, argued that an appeals court “engaged in procedural contortions” to avoid addressing Trump’s claims that presidential immunity protects him from the $83 million award because he made the statements in question in 2019 while he was president.

The lawyers argued that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled in a manner that “cries out for this Court’s review in this unprecedented case” and called the damages “grossly excessive.”

“This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office,” the lawyers wrote.

Carroll’s lawyers have declined to comment on the latest Trump filing.

Trump has long argued he cannot be sued over comments he made about Carroll during his first term where he disavowed knowing her and attacked her motivations for going public with her story in a recent memoir. He’s also asking the Supreme Court justices to reconsider their rejection of his appeal in the $5 million verdict.

The appeal comes about two years after the Supreme Court granted Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

Carroll testified twice before New York juries that Trump sexually assaulted her in spring 1996 in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower. She first went public with the claims in a 2019 memoir.

She sued Trump for defamation after he accused her of making up the allegation to help book sales, adding that he’d never met her and “she’s not my type.” He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

A Manhattan jury awarded her $83 million in damages in January 2024. Lower courts have so far rejected Trump’s appeals to overturn the verdict, though the New York-based appeals court split over the decision and agreed to delay that payout until the Supreme Court weighs in.

In 2023, another jury said Carroll was entitled to $5 million after concluding that Trump had subjected her to sexual abuse in the department store encounter and for defamation for remarks he had made after his first term ended. That judgment has been paid.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

Whitehurst and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. Neumeister reported from New York.

Love Island fans have been left furious after dramatic scenes played out between Aidan and Priya and he tried to salvage his relationship with her after his “disrespectful” comment

Love Island fans have been left furious after dramatic scenes played out between Aidan and Priya. The couple had been going strong on the ITV2 reality dating show, but things went awry when Aidan made a comment about his significant other, claiming that she “pounced” on him when they were in bed.

The property broker, 23, came under fire from the public and his fellow contestants for the way he spoke, and swept the board on Wednesday night’s episode during the Graftie Awards, scooping up publicly voted titles of Flirtiest Performance, Plot Twist Award, and Raunchiest Moment.

After it all played out, Priya and Aidan had a heart-to-heart about where they are at as a couple as they went on their first date, with Aidan trying to explain that he doesn’t necessarily have feelings for the business development manager, 25, but still hopes to build some sort of future with her.

Speaking about his comment directly, she told him: “It makes a girl feel a certain type of way… it’s nasty.”

Later on, around the makeup table, the girls tried to persuade Priya that Aidan’s comment was “disrespectful” and opined that he would never have said it if he really did love her.

Taking to X, one fan said: “this series is just a priya humiliation ritual atp, and another said: “Priya… Calm down!”…. SORRY!???? Aidan bro dont piss me off”

A third wrote: “I’m sorry but Priya is not in the wrong. What Asian said is digusting.” A fourth said: “you definitely did deserve them aidan”

Other Islanders, including Jasmine, have accused the couple of being “fake” and viewers certainly had a lot to say about that as well.

One said: “Why can’t we vote couples out? I am so sick of mica and samraj and Aidan and priya they really don’t need any more time in there blowing their own horns saying there still there. ITS CAUSE WE CANT PUBLICLY VOTE.”

Another said: “Jas I like you but Julia’s opinion has f*ck all to do with her wanting to see Aidan and Priya together. We can all see that their connection isn’t real by the way Aidan carries himself. Please REST.”

Another said: “Jasmine wants Aiden’s validation so bad and it’s so disgusting to watch. This is a well educated woman embarrassing herself on live TV for bunch of losers. “

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The ongoing saga of the Cinerama Dome, among the most iconic movie theaters in Los Angeles, took another twist Tuesday. Reports surfaced that Sony and Alamo Drafthouse, the theater chain owned by the company, have been in talks to take over operation of the venue.

The theater and the adjacent 14-screen ArcLight Hollywood multiplex have been closed since March 2020. In April 2021 it was announced that the venue would not be reopening and it has sat dormant ever since, becoming the focus of intense public interest.

The news of Sony and Alamo’s interest in the property was first reported by Deadline. Representatives for Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A city hearing in May regarding alcohol sales at the site provided a rare opportunity for public comment on the property.

“I know that this has been hard and it has seemed like the citizens versus the ownership — that’s not what it is,” local preservation advocate Kim Cooper said. “People want to come together and help and bring this place back.”

The Dome has long been owned by the family of William R. Forman — the founder of Pacific Theatres — who opened the Dome in 1963. In an interview with The Times following the May meeting, Elizabeth Peterson-Gower, a land use consultant representing the venue’s owners, said the owners hoped to have a reopening time frame “in the near future.”

Sony purchased the Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse in 2024, with venues in major cities all across the U.S., including L.A. Though the Drafthouse chain was rooted in a fan-friendly ethos and a notoriously strict no-phones policy in its theaters, the company has recently come under fire for switching up the ordering system for its in-seat food service, forcing patrons to pull out their phones during a movie.

The Cinerama Dome news comes on the heels of a strong summer of moviegoing, as audiences have been flocking to theaters to see movies such as “The Odyssey,” “Toy Story 5,” “Backrooms” and “Obsession.” There has been a newfound attention on theatrical presentation and film formats, including the limited number of venues capable of projecting Imax 70mm or 70mm film, around the country.

Theatergoing in L.A. has been undergoing a renaissance of its own. The Alex Theatre in Glendale is showing a first-run movie with “The Odyssey” for the first time since 1991, while the American Cinematheque has relaunched the Village Theatre in Westwood under the new name the Directors Village to acknowledge the consortium of filmmakers who took over ownership.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told the Associated Press.

David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years, and one shared a voicemail with the AP from last winter in which he told her that he thought someone should slit her throat.

Brouillette’s troubling past further challenges how thoroughly the Department of Homeland Security has vetted recruits as it went on a hiring spree to help carry out President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the crackdown after retaking office, including 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was shot and killed by Brouillette on Monday while in his car near his home in the coastal Maine city of Biddeford.

DHS, which hasn’t released the name of the officer who killed Durán Guerrero, has said the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

Brouillette didn’t respond to text messages or an email seeking comment. Three relatives who said they had spoken to him since the shooting, including an ex-wife and daughter, said he told them he acted in self-defense.

When reached for comment about Brouillette’s record and his role in Monday’s shooting, ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that “[w]e will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers,” and that “[t]he ICE officer in question has nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training including use of force training.”

The White House referred all questions about the shooting and Brouillette to ICE.

A new career in ICE

Brouillette, 37, told his ex-wife Ashley Brouillette late last year that he had been hired by ICE. She said that because of his long history of psychiatric issues, she thought he was having a mental health episode and she didn’t believe him. She didn’t realize he’d been telling the truth until this week, when videos began circulating online of the moments surrounding the shooting.

Ashley Brouillette told the AP that she spoke to her ex-husband in a Facebook audio call, and he acknowledged that he had killed Durán Guerrero. Their 18-year-old daughter, Madison Brouillette, also told the AP that her father called her Wednesday and said that he shot and killed Durán Guerrero.

David and Ashley Brouillette were high school sweethearts who got married in 2007. She said she divorced him in 2009 because he had become physically violent with her, which began after she got pregnant with their daughter.

According to Ashley Brouillette, he once threw boiling water at her while she was holding their child — an incident her mother, Avis Collins, also recounted.

The abuse continued after she left him, she said.

David Brouillette doesn’t appear to have a criminal record in Maine, as a check with the Maine Department of Public Safety returned no records for him.

But hundreds of family court records obtained from the Augusta District Court clerk’s office detail years of allegations of physical and verbal abuse raised by his second ex-wife on behalf of herself and his daughters.

The ex-wife — whom the AP is not identifying because she fears retaliation — alleged that he had stalked and harassed her and physically and verbally abused his daughter, according to multiple requests for temporary protection orders. Brouillette tackled his teenage daughter and smashed spaghetti in her hair, and during another outburst, he dragged his daughter around the house as she cried, she said.

“Dave needs counseling or something for his PTSD & depression,” she wrote in an application for a temporary protective order on behalf of his teenage daughter that a judge granted in 2021.

In court filings, David Brouillette said that his second ex-wife had slandered him.

His oldest daughter, Madison Brouillette, said she also witnessed her dad’s volatility.

“I watched my dad struggle a lot with a lot of things,” she told the AP. She said she came home from school once and he told her he had been sitting on a tree stump with a gun to his head.

“If you don’t really, truly take care of yourself, there’s no way you can protect other people. And with my dad, he never wanted to get help,” she said.

An immediate relative of David Brouillette who spoke on the condition that their name not be used said he was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder as a child — a diagnosis that Ashley Brouillette confirmed. The immediate relative described him as “extremely mentally ill” and said he attempted suicide twice at age 12 and was hospitalized multiple times.

The relative said they’d been estranged for years after they broke off contact because they feared he would harm them. He did not respond to their outreach this week, the relative added.

A military deployment and law enforcement aspirations

Growing up in Gardiner, a city of about 6,000 people roughly 60 miles northeast of Biddeford, where Monday’s shooting occurred, David Brouillette was enchanted by law enforcement and the military, his relatives said.

High school yearbook photos show he was a member of the school’s Naval Junior ROTC, and he wrote that he planned to go to college and become a police officer.

Brouillette was initially rejected by military recruiters because of his mental health diagnoses, but recruiters encouraged him to go off his medications for a year and reapply, which he did, his immediate relative said.

He was eventually able to enlist.

According to U.S. military records, Brouillette enlisted as a chemical equipment repairer in the Maine Army National Guard but then changed jobs to be a medical logistics specialist. He was in the Guard from November 2007 until January 2010, according to records provided by the Pentagon.

A 2009 article in the Kennebec Journal listed Brouillette as a private in the Maine Army National Guard’s 152nd Maintenance Company in Augusta.

In January 2010, he joined the regular Army as a human intelligence collector. Brouillette deployed to Afghanistan from May 2012 to February 2013 and eventually left the Army as a sergeant in December 2015.

His immediate relative believes Brouillette’s time abroad worsened his emotional struggles: “Afghanistan destroyed him — trained him to be a killing monster, a machine. They took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine.”

Life after the Army

After his discharge, Brouillette held a hodgepodge of jobs — some in or adjacent to law enforcement — and was injured in an accident while training to become a firefighter, public records and court documents show.

Brouillette worked for the Maine Correctional Center — a medium-security prison — and for the state’s Health and Human Services Department, spending less than a year at each.

In 2019, court documents show, he was a police officer at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center near the state capital, Augusta. A Veterans Affairs department spokesperson on Thursday referred questions about Brouillette’s employment to DHS.

But by the end of 2021, he wrote in a text message included in court filings, he was broke, going to school full time and making money delivering food for DoorDash.

Brouillette was enrolled in a firefighting program at Southern Maine Community College and was struck in the head by a steel beam while unloading a trailer at a training facility, according to a lawsuit he filed over his injury.

He sustained a concussion and post-concussive syndrome, with symptoms including impaired memory, cognitive deficits, headaches, vertigo and light sensitivity, and was unable to complete the program, according to the lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

In recent years, court filings show, he was collecting disability pay through the VA. He also drove a truck but quit in January 2025, citing health issues.

In March 2025, Brouillette passed an exam to become a real estate sales agent. His license was active until December. In a Facebook post, Realty of Maine announced Brouillette would be working in the firm’s Bangor office.

“David lives in Maine after retiring from the United States Army,” said the post, which has since been deleted. Brouillette is no longer listed as an agent on the firm’s website. Messages seeking comment were left for Realty of Maine.

In March, the Maine agency that handles child support matters filed a lien against him, public records show. The filing suggests that Brouillette may have been in line for a permanent impairment or disability settlement.

‘I don’t think he sees himself as a killer’

In late 2025, around the time he joined ICE, his ex-wife Ashley said he left a three-minute voicemail mocking her for taking out a restraining order against him. According to the message she shared with the AP, he repeatedly called her “disgusting” and suggested that she and the other women and girls in her “bloodline” should die.

“And all of you should have your f— throats cut,” the voicemail said. “Yeah, you should. Am I threatening that I’m gonna do that? Nope. Nope. But do I think that you should have your f— throats cuts? Or should have had them cut? Yep.”

She said she broke off contact with him until Wednesday, when his picture began circulating online.

Ashley Brouillette reached out to his current wife on Facebook and they spoke on the phone for several minutes. Her ex-husband spoke with her, according to cellphone screenshots of the phone exchange she shared with the AP. He acknowledged he had fatally shot Durán Guerrero.

“He was asking if I could tell them that he was a good person and not to talk about the abuse and stuff that I had endured while with him and he said that the most important thing is his character right now,” she said.

She said he told her he is now hiding in protective custody.

“I asked him why he did it,” she said. “He said it was a justified shooting. The guy was trying to run him over with a car.”

His daughter also said he told her it was justified.

“I don’t think he sees himself as a killer,” Madison Brouillette said.

“I think he thinks that he genuinely did the right thing,” she added. “All he said was that he did what he had to do. He said that he had to protect himself.”

Brook, Sisak, Swinhart and Galofaro write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Will Weissert contributed to this report.

A man who allegedly sent Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray a profane message that included a racist slur has been fired after social media users figured out where he worked.

On Monday, the former Sparks player posted a screenshot on her Instagram Story of a DM she said she received following her team’s loss to the Indiana Fever on Sunday.

“People act like we make this s— up,” Gray wrote. “And the audacity to tell us as athletes to ‘shut up and dribble.’”

Her post included the sender’s user handle. Folks on social media discovered that the man worked for Hilton Grand Vacations and pressured the company to punish him for his alleged misdeed. Initially, the company wrote on X that it was investigating the matter and would “take appropriate action based on the findings of our review.”

Hours later, Hilton Grand Vacations posted that the person allegedly responsible for the racist message “is no longer with the company.”

“His behavior was in violation of multiple company policies and does not reflect our company’s values in any way,” Hilton Grand Vacations stated.

The Aces posted a statement Wednesday on X condemning the messages directed at Gray and offering support for those who stand up against such attacks.

“We stand behind those who have the courage to speak up for themselves,” the organization stated. “We are united with anyone who has been targeted by this type of unacceptable behavior.

“We stand with organizations, like Hilton Grand Vacations, that hold individuals accountable for racist conduct. We commend them for the swift manner in which they acted in addressing this manner.”

The WNBA reposted the Aces’ statement and said it “stands with Chelsea and every member of our league.”

“We unequivocally condemn racism and all forms of hate,” the league wrote. “There is no place for this behavior in sports or anywhere, and we remain committed to protecting the players and fostering an environment built on respect and inclusion.”

As part of the collective bargaining agreement reached in March, the WNBA introduced a no-hate campaign that included a stronger fan code of conduct that specifies punishments for online abuse of players and other inappropriate behaviors.

Still, Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas told reporters last month that she received death threats and racist abuse after an on-court incident in which her fist pressed into Fever star Caitlin Clark’s throat while they were scrambling for the ball. No foul was called at the time, but the WNBA later assessed Thomas a Flagrant 2 foul and suspended her for a game.

Speaking to reporters June 30, Thomas called out the league and commissioner Cathy Engelbert for not doing more to protect players off the court.

“Time and time again, players are going through this and the league remains silent,” Thomas said. “I’m sick and tired of it. It’s time for them to step up and have our backs.”

Engelbert released a statement following Thomas’ comments.

“We are aware of Alyssa Thomas’ comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community,” the commissioner said. “The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players.”

During last weekend’s Fever-Aces game, Gray drew a foul on Clark while driving to the basket, but her elbow also appeared to make contact with the Indiana star’s stomach. Clark doubled over after the whistle in what some said appeared to be an attempt to get a foul called on Gray, but none was called.

The racist message received by Gray did not appear to mention Clark or any specific incident.

Love Island fans were left “heartbroken” for Ellie Chadwick after it was reported that she had quit the series for good after a tumutlous romance with Finley Maddock

Love Island fans were left “heartbroken” for Ellie Chadwick after it was reported that she had quit the series for good and the reason why appeared to emerge during the latest episode.

The real estate videographer, 24, had been taking part in the hit ITV2 reality dating series and was enjoying a blossoming romance with Finley Maddock, but it all started to go wrong when he fell for a bombshell who entered the villa.

During Tuesday night’s episode of the series, Maya Jama told the Islanders they were to play a brand-new game called If You Know, You Know, in which the contestants had to wear blindfolds and headphones.

When their phone vibrated, each couple had to make their way to a podium to read out a controversial statement and then guess who it was who said it in the first place.

One couple read out the claim that “One half of this couple is secretly bored but too polite to admit it” and it was then that Finley said he was “a bit bored.”

The dramatic scenes aired shortly after it was reported that Ellie had walked out of the villa for good, and shocked fans instantly took to social media to predict it was the catalyst.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: “Finley has said he is bored of Ellie ??” and another said: “I don’t want to believe Ellie self-evicted for a man who literally said he got bored of her.”

Another said: “Omg Finley said that and they were all in ears to take Ellie back woow see how they are all in each other’s business but will be coming for Julia!”

Another wrote: “Oh was that boring comment to do with why Ellie left?” and a fifth said: “Finley said he’s bored with Ellie! That boy just keeps humiliating her!” On Facebook, one fan explained: “The received a statement that said this couple is one sided and one person is bored, which Finley had said to Kav in private apparently and it never came out, Ellie was clearly upset.”

Another replied: “OMG that heartbreaking for Ellie” and left a sad face emoji to emphasise how they felt. Just before the episode aired, it was reported that Ellie chose to quit the programme altogether, reportedly stemming from hearing the results of a viewer poll for favourite boy and favourite girl, even though she was not dumped by the public.

A source said: “Viewers have seen Ellie threatening to leave across recent episodes, so the news of her now quitting won’t feel like a surprise.

“But in real time, her and Fin reconnected at the recoupling a few days ago so her decision to now leave is a shock. Viewers will see the dramatic action play out in an episode soon.”

The reality star had threatened to quit before, when it looked like Finley had begun to take an interest in Elicia Bailey. In Tuesday night’s episode, she was apparently back together with him, but that was all filmed days ago, and now Ellie has actually left.

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “The whole fallout of the vote was electric and is going to make for amazing TV. Everyone was devastated that Ellie left, and viewers will definitely be left scratching their heads.”

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MEXICO CITY — Argentina may be the last Latin American team standing in the World Cup, but don’t expect many fans in Mexico to be cheering for La Albiceleste — the lads sporting the classic white and blue stripes.

“There’s no way I want the Argentines to win,” said Roberto García, 55, who owns a clothing shop in the Mexican capital. “How can one sympathize with a team that has such a supremacist, racist discourse?”

The Argentine squad — reigning world champions led by seemingly ageless superstar Lionel Messi — faces off Wednesday in a semifinal match against England. Argentina is seeking its fourth World Cup, which would put it in a second-place tie for global titles with Germany and Italy, trailing only Brazil and its five cups.

But Argentina’s performance in the 2026 World Cup has again put the spotlight on a contentious fact of life in world soccer: The current of disdain that the Argentine side has long inspired among a certain segment of Latin American fans, especially those in Mexico.

Reynaldo Flores Jr., 10, center, reacts during the final minutes of a round of 16 knockout match between Mexico and England during a World Cup watch party at Chapter One in Santa Ana on July 5.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

A combination of factors are to blame: Mexico’s repeated World Cup losses to Argentina, a series of questionable refereeing decisions seeming to favor Argentina, Messi’s massive media presence and ongoing discourse on social media — where legitimate analysis coexists with passionate opinions and misinformation.

Deeper cultural resentments are also a factor. Many in the region have long complained that Argentines, many of whom have predominantly European ancestry, think they’re better than the rest of Latin America.

Critics say that Eurocentric superiority complex was on display this summer when Argentine journalist Eduardo Feinmann declared on air, after Mexico was eliminated in a close match with England: “I detest Mexicans, I detest them with my soul. … The envy they feel for us, not only in football but in everything.”

Feinmann’s comments sparked such widespread ire that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum weighed in, calling his remarks “appalling.”

Later, Feinmann said his words were not directed at the Mexican people — while musing that Sheinbaum had bigger things to worry about, like combating narco-trafficking, violence and corruption.

The World Cup by its nature stokes nationalism, and the deployment of stereotypes and even outright racism has long been a feature of the tournament. Last week, for example, a former Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, sparked outrage when he said that the French national soccer team, which includes members with African immigrant backgrounds, “does not have any French players.”

At two Argentina matches during this year’s tournament, fans from the country were recorded hurling racist slurs at an African American streamer. Online critics were quick to dredge up comments by a former Argentinian leader as proof of the country’s bias. “The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from the ships … from Europe,” former Argentine President Alberto Fernández said in 2021.

A boy wearing an Argentina jersey waves American flags as fireworks explode during the annual Independence Day Celebration in the predominantly Latino community of Lynwood on July 3.

(Mario Tama / Getty Images)

Many Argentines say they, too, are appalled by such comments. “We reject it completely,” said actress Karenina Ivankovic, 37. “But you’ll find rude people everywhere.”

She moved from her native Argentina to Mexico City 13 years ago, and said she is shocked by the wave of “xenophobia” directed at her countrymen during this year’s tournament.

People have sent her nasty messages online, and strangers have stopped her on the street to tell her they hope Argentina loses. And she said several Argentine friends were physically attacked at a festival in Mexico City organized by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body.

People love Argentine music, Ivankovic said. They love Argentine beef.

“But during the World Cup,” she said, “they hate us.”

She thinks that may in part be because of how serious Argentines take their fútbol.

“Argentina lives in crisis,” she said. “Economic crisis, political crisis. Soccer is something that unites us. We say there’s no better hug than after Argentina has scored a goal.”

But at the end of the day, she said, people need to relax and remember that what’s at stake is just a tournament trophy.

“It’s become very political and personal,” she said. “But it’s just a game.”

Even some fans in Mexico express remorse about the wave of anti-Argentine sentiment — much of which has been playing out, sometimes crudely, online.

“It’s too bad that all this hate directed at the Argentines doesn’t allow us to appreciate that they have the best player in the world, Messi,” said Carlos Romero Díaz, 37, a car salesman here who was rooting for the South Americans. “Yes, Argentina generates a lot of anger, but at the end of the day, they score goals and win games.”

While Mexico has never won a World Cup, Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca has been the site of some of Argentina’s greatest soccer triumphs, notably its championship in the stirring 1986 World Cup.

Argentina player Diego Maradona outjumps England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to score with his “Hand of God” goal as England defenders Kenny Sansom (top), Gary Stevens (center) and Terry Fenwick look on during the 1986 FIFA World Cup at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

(Getty Images)

A quarterfinal match between Argentina and England featured two of soccer legend Diego Maradona’s greatest hits: the so-called “Goal of the Century,” by all accounts a masterpiece strike; and Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal, an illegal hand-goal that was allowed to stand because no referee saw the infraction.

But Mexico’s losses to Argentina have left a strong mark too. No other team has eliminated Mexico as many times in a World Cup.

After Argentina defeated Mexico 2-0 during group play in the 2022 World Cup, a video from inside the Argentine locker room began circulating, showing Messi — who scored one of the goals — taking off a soccer boot while a Mexican jersey lay on the floor.

Mexican boxer Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez interpreted the scene as the Argentine captain deliberately kicking the jersey and accused him of disrespecting Mexico — an allegation that Messi denied.

Years later, Messi acknowledged that the incident had altered the perception some Mexican fans had of him.

“I’ve always felt very loved by the people of Mexico. I’ve never disrespected anyone,” he said during an interview with “Simplemente Fútbol.”

Although Mexico is at the center of much of the debate, critical sentiment toward Argentina has taken hold among fans from other Latin American countries.

Social media has been flooded with posts from users in Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador and Peru questioning refereeing decisions or expressing disapproval of Argentina, while messages mocking rival teams also proliferated from Argentine accounts.

As Argentina continues its quest for another World Cup title, the debate over whether it has simply been the best team in the tournament or also the one most favored by circumstances will continue to dominate soccer conversation in Latin America.

Staff writers Linthicum and El Reda reported from Mexico City and McDonnell from Boston. Special correspondent Sánchez Vidal reported from Mexico City and special correspondent Andrés D’Alessandro from Buenos Aires.

A top spokesperson for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass left her administration Monday after a brief tenure, joining a growing list of communications aides who have departed over the past nine months.

Kolby Lee, who started as Bass’ director of communications in February, said he was resigning to spend time with family and loved ones.

“I’m very grateful to Mayor Bass for giving me the opportunity to be part of her team and serve the people of Los Angeles,” Lee said in a statement.

Bass’ communications office said in a statement to The Times, “We thank Kolby for his contribution to the office and wish him and his family well.” Bass is running for reelection against City Councilmember Nithya Raman.

The departures began in October, when Zach Seidl, Bass’ longtime deputy mayor of communications, left for the private sector.

Press secretary Clara Karger left in January after working for the mayor for nearly three years.

Bass then brought on Amanda Crumley to replace Seidl. But Crumley lasted little more than a month, leaving in March.

Lee started as communications director shortly before Crumley’s departure, serving for about five months.

During Lee’s time in the administration, Bass was also receiving pro bono communications help from Yusef Robb, an outside consultant who worked on her 2022 campaign.

Robb was not paid by the city for his work and served in an unofficial role providing comments on important issues, including Bass’ involvement in damage control surrounding the 2025 Palisades fire.

Lee provided comment to The Times in a story published Saturday about Robb’s work for the Bass administration at the same time that he is a crisis communications consultant for Lineage Logistics, the company whose Boyle Heights warehouse erupted in flames last month, inundating the area with toxic smoke and rotting food odors.

Luke Wilson has reportedly welcomed his first child with girlfriend Kendall Yates.

The new parents were spotted with their baby at a Tuesday press event for Wilson’s upcoming Netflix series, “The Hawk,” according to People and Page Six. The “Bottle Rocket” actor and his partner brought their newborn daughter in a carrier to the Newport Beach reception and introduced her to Wilson’s castmates and other attendees, per the outlets’ sources.

Representatives for Wilson did not immediately respond on Thursday to The Times’ request for comment.

Wilson, 54, and Yates, 24, have reportedly been linked since at least 2023. They have mostly kept their relationship away from the spotlight, but attended an afterparty for the Los Angeles premiere of Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” together in 2024.

The “Idiocracy” actor has addressed his desire to have kids and his role as an uncle over the years. In a 2007 People interview, Wilson — then single — mentioned he “definitely want[ed] [kids] at some point.” In 2023, while promoting “Merry Little Batman,” Wilson spoke about being “a pretty good uncle” to brother Owen Wilson’s kids.

“They’re great little kids,” Wilson said of his nephews in an interview with Conan O’Brien in 2020. “The kind that make me want to have some kids of my own, which I should get on sooner rather than later.”

“I just don’t want to be one of those dads that has to pay somebody in the neighborhood to throw the football with his kid because I can’t,” he joked.

NEW YORK — E. Jean Carroll can be paid the $5.8 million that was set aside after a jury found three years ago that President Trump sexually abused her in 1996 before he became president and defamed her after she publicly revealed the attack, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order that says the money can be paid to Carroll, along with interest that has grown since the verdict.

Carroll’s lawyers had requested the disbursement after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the 2023 civil verdict.

Trump had resumed defamatory attacks against Carroll as his lawyers considered asking the high court to reconsider its decision.

Both sides’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The jury reached its verdict in a trial that Trump did not attend after Carroll testified that she was sexually abused by him in the dressing room of a Manhattan luxury department store after a flirtatious and friendly chance encounter between them turned violent.

Carroll, 82, first talked about the attack publicly in 2019 in a memoir while Trump was president. He repeatedly insisted that he never knew Carroll. He also accused her of trying to sell books at his expense and having political motives.

Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll by a separate Manhattan jury after a January 2024 trial at which Trump briefly testified.

At that trial, Kaplan required the jury to accept the findings of the previous jury and only determine how much money, if any, Trump owed Carroll for comments he made about her as president.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press.

DAPHNE, Ala. — Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been arrested on drug possession charges in Alabama after police say they pulled him over for erratic driving and found marijuana and meth in his vehicle.

It’s the latest legal trouble for the ex-Tallahassee mayor, who narrowly lost to Republican Ron DeSantis for governor in 2018 and was once considered a rising star of the Democratic Party.

Gillum, 46, was arrested on July 2 in Daphne, about 11 miles east of Mobile on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. He is charged with marijuana possession and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, the Daphne Police Department said. Jail records show he was released on July 3.

Court records for Gillum’s case were not yet available, the Baldwin County Clerk of Court’s office said. Information on a lawyer who could speak on his behalf wasn’t immediately available.

A message seeking comment was left for the local district attorney’s office.

Gillum is a co-host of the politically themed Native Land Pod, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News and Information Podcast in 2025. A message seeking comment was left for the podcast’s production company.

In a news release, the Daphne Police Department said officers stopped Gillum’s vehicle around 10:45 p.m. and initiated a probable cause search after one of them noticed a glass pipe on the center console.

They found several rolled marijuana cigarettes and three packages of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, police said.

Gillum, who served as mayor of Florida’s capital from 2014 to 2018, came within less than a percentage point of being elected the state’s first Black governor, losing to DeSantis by fewer than 34,000 votes.

In 2020, Gillum was found in a Miami Beach hotel room with a man who had apparently overdosed on drugs. Police said Gillum himself was too inebriated to talk about what happened.

The man survived and no one was ever charged with a crime for the overdose, but Gillum withdrew from public life for months afterward while seeking treatment for alcohol abuse and depression. Months later, he told a TV interviewer that he had to come to grips with what he had done.

“So much of my recovery has been about trying to get over shame,” Gillum said on the Tamron Hall talk show in September 2020.

In 2022, Gillum was indicted on federal conspiracy and wire fraud charges for allegedly funneling tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations through third parties back to himself for personal use.

A 2023 trial ended in a hung jury on those charges and an acquittal on charges that Gillum lied to undercover FBI agents posing as developers who paid for a 2016 trip he took with his brother to New York, including hotel rooms, meals, a boat tour and a ticket to the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.”

A woman who previously dated Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a Politico report released Monday.

Platner denied the allegation and said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.

“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said in a video released on social media.

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn’t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response.

An email and phone message from the Associated Press seeking comment were sent to Platner’s campaign on Monday.

“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said in his video.

As of Monday, Platner had canceled a handful of campaign town halls planned in Maine.

Several lawmakers and groups that have supported Platner, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and the organization he founded, Our Revolution, as well as Rep. Ro Khanna, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Khanna has supported Platner through several scandals but said last month on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that “if there was evidence of violence, I would not support him. If there was evidence of sexual assault, I’d have zero support for him.”

Platner secured the nomination to become Maine’s Democratic Senate candidate last month, but state law does include a provision for Democrats to replace him ahead of the general election.

According to the statute, party officials may select a new nominee if a candidate who won the primary withdraws by 5 p.m. July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.

The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interview with Politico.

Kruesi writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday posted a falsified image of former President Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, waving before boarding an Air Force One that had been spray-painted with graffiti.

It came months after another post by the president that showed the couple as primates in a jungle. That one was deleted after stiff, bipartisan backlash.

The latest image shows the Obamas smiling and waving at the top of stairs alongside a baby blue and white presidential plane with graffiti painted on it that included the Democrat’s campaign slogan “Yes We Can,” “Obama” and “BLM,” short for Black Lives Matter. The post also shows graffiti in Arabic on the plane that says the phrase “alhamdulillah,” which means “praise be to God” or “thank God.”

The use of graffiti is a coded message to remind people of crime and urban decay and has been used in racist messaging against Black people in the past.

Trump has a yearslong record of intensely personal criticism of the Obamas, and of using incendiary, sometimes racist, rhetoric. That includes everything from feeding the lie that Obama was not born in the United States to crude generalizations about majority-Black countries and posts that have sparked anger on his Truth Social website.

The president’s post of the Obamas as primates came in February, during the first week of Black History Month. It was removed following widespread criticism from civil rights leaders and Republican senators. Trump refused to apologize, however, and a staffer was later blamed for making the post.

This time, the presidential plane is a sensitive topic since Trump last week took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One — a retrofitted Boeing 747-800 worth $400 million gifted by Qatar. The aircraft’s trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky was replaced with Trump’s preferred color scheme: a navy-blue belly with red and gold stripes.

After giving a speech on the National Mall in Washington to mark Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on Saturday night, Trump had no public events Sunday and spent the day at his golf club in Virginia. He’s scheduled to leave Monday for Turkey to attend a summit with NATO allies.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Nor did a spokesperson for the Obamas.

Sunday’s post also followed one from last month when Trump shared an doctored image of Obama’s new presidential library in Chicago so that it looked like the building had a large bag of garbage on top and was surrounded by a wasteland. “The Obama Library ten years from now will be a ‘Mecca’ for those who hate America! President DJT,” he wrote then.

Trump has frequently criticized the Obama library in public comments, and he posted the library image twice on his social media platform.

The Air Force One image was part of a series of Sunday posts Trump made on Truth Social, including a past picture that appeared to show Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni grinning and gazing upward at Trump under the words “RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED.”

That, too, could touch off a new firestorm at this week’s meetings in Turkey, since Trump had suggested that Meloni asked “over and over” for a photo with him during the recent Group of Seven summit.

Trump’s comments prompted Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to cancel a subsequent, planned trip to Washington, while Meloni called Trump’s account “completely fabricated,” saying “Italy and I never beg.”

Weissert writes for the Associated Press.