friend

MAFS star Charlene Douglas has revealed the heartbreaking “final days” she spent with her late friend Mel Schilling following her tragic death.

The relationship expert said she was left “devastated” as she opened up about their last moments together.

Mel Schilling has tragically died aged 54 after a brave battle with colon cancer.

The much-loved dating coach was known for her invaluable work on both the Married At First Sight Australia and UK versions of the show.

She worked alongside Charlene Douglas on Married At First Sight UK.

The TV star shared an emotional tribute, reflecting on their close bond and the impact Mel had on her life.

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Taking to Instagram, she wrote: “I’m both devastated and heartbroken to hear of the passing of my MAFS queen and friend Mel.

“I had the pleasure of spending time with Mel in her last days and will forever treasure the laughter, the memories and love we had for each other.

“Mel’s love for life, jokes and of course dancing will forever stay in my heart. What I wouldn’t give to be dancing to Beyoncé with you right now.

“Sleep in perfect peace Mel. Love you ♥️”

Mel was previously diagnosed with colon cancer in 2023, which later spread to her lungs and brain.

Her husband Gareth Brisbane announced the heartbreaking news today in an emotional Instagram post.

Alongside touching pictures of Mel, he said: “Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love.

“In her final moments, when I thought cancer had taken away her ability to speak, she ushered me closer and whispered a message for Maddie and me that will sustain me for the rest of my life.

“It took all of her remaining strength, and that gesture summed up our wee Melsie perfectly. Even then, her only thought was for Maddie and me.”

He continued: “This is a woman who became a new mum and a TV star at 42 — and nailed both.

“This is a woman who, through two years of chemotherapy, when she could barely lift her head from the pillow, never complained and never stopped showing courage, grace, compassion and empathy, and never missed a day of filming.

“To most of you, she was Mel Schilling — matriarch of MAFS and queen of reality TV. To Maddie and me, she was our wee Melsie: an incredible mum, role model, and soulmate.”

Tributes have poured in for the TV star since the tragic announcement.

Channel 4 hailed Mel as a friend who “radiated joy, warmth and optimism”.

Issuing a statement, it said: “Our thoughts and condolences are, first and foremost, with her family and loved ones.

“We’re privileged to be the channel that is home to Mel’s work, which was at the heart of Married At First Sight‘s phenomenal success, both in the UK and Australia.

“It reflected so much about her – her fierce advocacy for other women, her passion for healthy relationships and her mission to unite people in love.

“For many who work for Channel 4, Mel was not just a colleague but a friend, someone who radiated joy, warmth and optimism, who energized every room she walked into, with humour and positivity.

“Everyone who knew her will miss all this about her and much more. We share in the sorrow that we’re sure many viewers will now feel at this terrible loss.”

A FEMALE rapped has died aged 37 after suffering a heart attack as her devastated friends pay tribute.

Gianina Gheorghiu recently passed away with her close friends revealing she had been battling an alcohol problem.

Going by the stage name Chica Con Canna, the rapper dominated the scene in her country, forging an impressive career.

The news left her friends and fans devastated after her death was announced on March 9.

The Romanian rapper was huge in her local scene, collaborating with stars such as Tony Batrânu, Vladone and Mike Diamondz.

Her close friend Dana Marijauna spoke of her death in a heartbreaking tribute to the musician.

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Although there is no official confirmation on what caused the heart attack Dana believes she “did not win the fight against alcohol”.

The rapper stated: “With tears in my eyes, with a fantastic love for Chica, who did not win the fight against alcohol.

“A girl with great talent, the best female voice and interpretation in English in the world of Romanian rap, soulful, generous, strong character.

“In vain, alcohol did not take into account all its countless qualities.

“We love you even in a billion years.

“We were supposed to record new songs, but we will do it without physical presence.”

The star’s untimely death has left a void in the Romanian rap industry with a number of artists, including Dana, claiming they had future projects with her.

The rapper confirmed that the projects will go ahead in her memory.

I’ve had my fair share of bad neighbors over the years. Ones who’d stomp their feet above my bedroom at odd hours of the night or who’d block my parking garage without warning every time they had guests over. Talking to friends in L.A., such experiences seem to be the norm rather than the exception — people either have gripes about their neighbors or no feelings at all. A Stanford study showed that the percentage of Americans who frequently interact with their neighbors declined among all age groups from 2017 to 2023.

As someone who doesn’t live near any family, I know that good neighbors can be a godsend. And though I’ve had some questionable ones, I’m lucky to have also had some of the best. Like Joseph, who let me borrow his portable air conditioner — and even installed it — when a heat wave hit Los Angeles. Or Mr. Art, who’d close my garage whenever I was in a hurry and forgot to do it. And my current neighbor, Ms. Cassandra, who always makes sure to save me a plate when she grills her mouthwatering barbecue ribs.

Neighbors can become your friends — or even your family. That’s why we’re looking for Los Angeles’ most neighborly neighbors. And we want you tell us about yours. What’s the most remarkable thing they’ve done for you, big or small? Did they lend you a cup of sugar when you were baking a five-layer cake? Did they offer you a ride to work? Did they babysit for you last minute? Or invite you over for a holiday dinner so you wouldn’t have to spend it alone?

Nominate your favorite neighbor below. We may feature them in a future story.

WASHINGTON — As Congress responds to President Trump’s attack on Iran, lawmakers who served on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan are making their voices heard in a war debate that has taken on intensely personal meaning.

Many admit mixed feelings, taking satisfaction in seeing vengeance taken on the leadership of an Iranian regime that has targeted U.S. service members for decades, yet fearful that another generation of soldiers could soon face the same combat experiences that they did.

“Do I take gratification? You know there’s the Marine side of me: Yeah, of course,” said Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, whose company suffered some of the heaviest losses on the U.S. side during the Iraq War. “I know they killed a lot of American soldiers, American Marines. But do I also understand that I have a responsibility not to let my lust for revenge drive my country into another war?”

Experiences in the post 9/11 wars are also coloring the decisions of the Trump administration, given that top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, were once deployed to Iraq.

Gallego, like others on Capitol Hill, leaned heavily on his firsthand experience of fighting in the wars after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as he assessed the Iran conflict. Lawmakers wore bracelets etched with the names of friends killed in battle, told stories of coming under attack from Iran-backed militant groups and reflected on their own life-changing injuries suffered during combat.

Veteran lawmakers are wary of war

While the initial votes on Iran saw Congress divide mostly along party lines, with Republicans backing Trump’s actions and Democrats warning of an extended conflict, veterans in both parties share deep reservations about entering the conflict.

“As somebody who knows a lot of friends that didn’t come home and a lot of Gold Star families, that’s why the week before the attack, I was actually one of the ones that was talking about caution and why we needed to avoid at all costs getting into another long, drawn-out Middle Eastern war,” said Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, a former Navy SEAL who left college to enlist the week after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Crane said his concerns were partially assuaged by briefings from the Trump administration that indicated to him the president is not planning a drawn-out war. He voted against a war powers resolution that would have halted attacks on Iran unless Trump got congressional approval.

But Crane said wars are never straightforward. “I’ve been on military operations that did not go to plan many times, and so I understand the nature,” he said, adding that he was calling for the Trump administration to approach the conflict with “humility and caution.”

Gallego and other Democrats worried that it was too late for that approach. They paid tribute to the six U.S. military members who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait and worried that there could soon be more American casualties. A seventh service member died on Sunday from wounds suffered during a March 1 attack in Saudi Arabia.

“War is dirty, and mistakes happen,” Gallego said. The longer the conflict drags on, he added, the greater the chance there will be for U.S. military members to be killed. He experienced that firsthand in Iraq when friends would be killed by seemingly random shots from enemy combatants.

Still, many Republicans argued that it was necessary to attack Iran to stop a regime that for decades has helped train and arm militant groups throughout the Middle East. Republican Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led the debate on the House floor against the war powers resolution.

Mast, who served as an Army bomb disposal expert, now uses prosthetic legs after receiving catastrophic injuries from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. “Me especially, many of my other colleagues, no one wants to see our military go into combat or war,” he said.

Then he added, “But Iran’s terror, which has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans, it has to stop.”

Trying to push soldiers to forefront of war debate

Important questions loom for Congress as the conflict with Iran unfolds and spreads to other parts of the Middle East. The price of the operation is already likely running into the billions of dollars, likely forcing the Trump administration to soon seek billions in funding from Congress. The outbreak of war has also scrambled global alliances and the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Shadowing it all is the potential of another drawn-out conflict. Lawmakers said they owe it to their fallen comrades to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“To me, it’s to speak out. It’s to say another generation should not go fight in an open-ended, ill-conceived regime change war in the Middle East,” said Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, his hand moving to a bracelet etched with the names of friends who were killed during his two Army combat tours in Iraq.

Others remembered how frustrated they became with Washington during their service, especially as soldiers tried to fight with insufficiently armored vehicles and not enough troops.

“I know what it was like to be on the very end of the receiving line of the decisions made in Washington,” said Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who entered the Army as a private before being promoted to a captain and deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Crow said that front-line soldiers often suffered “because people stopped asking tough questions. People stopped being held accountable. Congress stopped voting on it.”

Another veteran, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, said that was one of the reasons she sought a congressional seat in the first place. As a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the Illinois National Guard, Duckworth lost her legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

“I ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating once again, I’d be in a position to make sure that our elected officials fully considered the true cost of the war,” she said. “Not just in dollars and cents but in human lives.”

Groves writes for the Associated Press.

One of the biggest takeaways from the biography “Judy Blume: A Life” may not be in the story itself but in its author. Because of her frank talk about puberty and sexual awakenings, Blume’s work is usually associated with young female readers. Her biographer, Mark Oppenheimer, is a middle-aged father of five.

He says he received minimal pushback on the idea that a man should be allowed to write Blume’s definitive life story. If the whole point of her books is that there should be no shame in body awareness, what service does it do to say only a woman has the authority to write her story? Plus, although her books aren’t selling as well as they used to — who’s are? — Oppenheimer’s biography points out that there are still plenty of parents who will throw a copy of her seminal “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” at their kids rather than have the menstruation talk or risk any misinformation that may be online.

“No good writer should be ghettoized,” Oppenheimer says during a recent Zoom call with The Times. “If you’re a good writer, you shouldn’t be marketed just to girls or just to boys or just to white people or just to straight people. Good art should be for everyone.”

It is intrinsic and impossible not to parlay Blume’s stories of sibling rivalries, first loves, friends and frenemies, and (most famously) puberty with what was going on in your life when you read them. Books like “Deenie” and “Superfudge” and “Margaret” are also remarkably malleable enough so that, even if a kid picks them up decades after their release or cannot relate with a parallel experience, they can become placeholders and explainers for what must be going on in the minds of their classmates. Last year, TV creator Mara Brock Akil adapted “Forever,” Blume’s 1975 story of the kind of mutually shared devotion that feels like it will last eternally, into a miniseries set in 2018 Los Angeles.

“I think for many of us, Judy’s books are our first crush or our first love and they do hold a special place that no book we read in our world-weary, cynical 40s can hold,” says Oppenheimer.

Some of this can be attributed to time and brain space. Oppenheimer discovered Blume’s work when he was a child. He’s now a parent, with a career and all the other time-sucks that come with adulthood.

“The books I read as a child imprinted on me in a way that books today don’t,” he says. “I probably remember more plot points of the first Judy Blume books that I read than I do of any book I’ve read in the past five years.”

But what of Blume herself? Can America’s mom also be a three-dimensional person who makes her own mistakes? Discovering her four adult novels — especially “Wifey,” a book about a gilded-caged suburban housewife that even Oppenheimer describes as “a very salacious, one might say, smutty, adult novel” that even some of Blume’s collaborators wanted her to publish under a pseudonym — or watching documentaries about her like 2023’s “Judy Blume Forever,” in which she is seen joking about masturbation with employees at her Key West, Fla., bookstore, can seem as evasive and dangerous as reading your mom’s diary.

Author Mark Oppenheimer

(Lu Arie)

There have been other books about Blume and her work, most notably Rachelle Bergstein’s 2024 deep-dive “The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us.” But Oppenheimer’s biography is a more straightforward tracing of Blume’s life and career. He starts with her childhood when she was encouraged to read Philip Roth at home and went to sleepovers at friends’ houses that were more about body awakenings. He discusses her stifling first marriage, which gave her the last name she carries with her to this day and her two children but is also where she hung her college diploma and another award over her washing machine as reminders of her intellect. There’s talk of her second marriage, which Blume has always been reluctant to discuss, as well as the two abortions that resulted from it. And there are details on her life with her third husband, the polymath George Cooper.

Oppenheimer relied on past news stories about Blume, as well as a collection of her work and professional correspondences that are archived at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library and, probably most informatively, his own interviews with Blume and her friends and family. (Although Blume did agree to speak with Oppenheimer for his book, she declined our request to interview her for this story about that book).

“I think that the difficult subjects are sometimes the ones that make her more relatable,” Oppenheimer says of his subject. “I think most of her fans will find it interesting and admirable that she speaks so candidly about her abortions, about especially her divorce from her first husband, which came as she was getting involved in the [second-wave] women’s movement, about her early same-sex experiences, about masturbation as a girl; these are things we would expect Judy Blume to be candid about.”

Oppenheimer matches how these life events correspond with the ones of Blume’s characters because, for better or for worse, she almost always was an author who wrote what she knew even if her fandom transcended it. What her books lack in character diversity, they make up for in specificity. And that, in turn, also makes them relatable.

“Judy found incredibly compelling human drama in books about the New Jersey suburbs, and that’s a testament to her strength as an artist,” Oppenheimer says.

Writer Judy Blume at her nonprofit bookstore Books and Books on March 26, 2023, in Key West, Fla.

(Mary Martin / Associated Press)

Examining and reexamining Blume’s work as an adult also gave Oppenheimer a better perspective of her writing style. Blume didn’t begin to try to write professionally until she was a married mother of two and some have criticized her work for not being as flowery and polished as others’.

“All of her books tend to take a fairly tight focus on the characters,” Oppenheimer says. “They don’t tend to pull back and look at large societal forces or changes going on in the country or the world. And that’s fine. You know, the same could be said of Jane Austen.”

Perhaps the best example of this is Blume’s own religious foundation. Her most autobiographical novel, “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself,” has a protagonist who is paranoid that she sees Adolf Hitler on park benches and whose life is imprinted with stories of a relative who followed her mother into the concentration camps and the neighbors sitting shiva (a time of mourning) for their daughter who got pregnant with her non-Jewish boyfriend. And yet, Oppenheimer notes, Blume is not always immediately thought of as a Jewish writer. Nor have most of her readers been Jewish.

“I think that her Judaism is there, if you know where to look,” says Oppenheimer, who spends the early part of his biography looking at how the synagogue and religious community were a normal part of a young Blume’s life. He adds that “she is somebody who speaks really, really well across religious, cultural and racial differences, and that’s partly why she has sold tens of millions of books.”

Oppenheimer acknowledges that Blume’s characters may not be diverse enough by today’s standards; that they don’t usually discuss “gender identities or sexualities; children of multiracial backgrounds; children who have disabilities.” They can also feel like time capsules to other dimensions; his 12-year-old daughter was scandalized by how normative bullying was after she read “Blubber,” Blume’s 1974 novel about tween mean girls and body shaming.

He adds that some of today’s bestselling young adult novels, like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series about a teen demigod or Suzanne Collins’ dystopia-set “Hunger Games” books, are “contemporary realism [that] focus on extraordinary or unusual circumstances.” And while he’s happy for these books’ popularities, he says that some subjects may be better told by kids who also aren’t tasked with saving the world. (I am pretty sure I learned more about male puberty from Blume’s 1971 story “Then Again, Maybe I Won’t,” which is as much about wealth divides and questionable friend choices as it is about a 13-year-old boy’s inner monologues about her awkward adolescence).

“If what you’re looking for is realism that isn’t focused on obvious external differences, but rather on interiority,” Oppenheimer says, “then Judy Blume still remains one of the premier novelists that you would want to read.”

Friedlander is a pop culture and entertainment journalist based in Los Angeles who hates coffee but loves Coke Zero.

Jennifer Runyon, a film and television actor known best for her roles on “Ghostbusters,” “A Very Brady Christmas” and “Charles in Charge,” has died. She was 65.

Runyon died Friday, according to a Sunday statement reportedly posted to her social media account, which has since gone private.

“This past Friday, our beloved Jennifer passed away. It was a long and arduous journey that ended with her surrounded by her family,” the statement read, according to ABC7. “She will always be remembered for her love of life and her devotion to her family and friends. Rest in peace our Jenn.”

“Bewitched” actor Erin Murphy shared in a Sunday post on Facebook and Instagram that Runyon died “after a brief battle with cancer.”

“Some people you just know you’ll be friends with before you even meet,” Murphy wrote in her tribute. “She was a special lady.”

On the 1980s sitcom “Charles in Charge,” Runyon portrayed Gwendolyn Pierce, a fellow college student of the show’s titular live-in housekeeper (portrayed by Scott Baio) and the target of his affections.

In his Facebook tribute, fellow “Charles in Charge” actor Willie Aames described Runyon as a “dear dear friend, muse, and encourager.”

“From the moment we met on set all those decades ago- I knew you ‘got me,’” wrote Aames. “Watching you slip away these last few months was one of the hardest times of my life… I can still hear your voice so clearly. No one will ever be able to fill the massive hole that’s been left in our hearts… ever.”

A Chicago native, Runyon made her television debut as Sally Frame in the long-running soap opera “Another World.” She also appeared in episodes of “Magnum, P.I.,” “Quantum Leap” and “Murder, She Wrote.” Runyon also portrayed the grown-up Cindy Brady in “A Very Brady Christmas.”

Her film credits include the 1984 classic “Ghostbusters,” where she appeared as one of the students participating in the ESP study conducted by Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman.

On Instagram, Runyon’s daughter Bayley Corman, an actor who has appeared on TV shows such as “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” “Bel-Air” and “Running Point,” described her mother as “the kindest most compassionate person i’ve ever known.”

“All of the best parts of me came from you,” Corman wrote in her tribute. “i would give anything for one more day together.”

The House of Pies, a Los Feliz institution, is bustling on a chilly January morning.

It wouldn’t be shocking if some of the patrons here for breakfast were casually chit-chatting about the cultural behemoth that “KPop Demon Hunters” has become. After all, the 2025 animated saga about three music stars fighting otherworldly foes is now the most-watched movie ever on Netflix; “Golden,” its showstopping track, has since become the first Korean pop song to ever win a Grammy.

But for Danya Jimenez, 29, who sits across from me sipping coffee, the reception to the movie she began writing on back in 2020 isn’t entirely surprising, but certainly delayed.

“When we first started working on it, I was like, ‘People are going to be obsessed with this. It’s going to be the best thing ever,’” she recalls. But as several years passed, and she and her writing partner and best friend Hannah McMechan, 30, moved on to other projects. They weren’t sure if “KPop” would ever see the light of day. Production for animation takes time.

It wasn’t until she learned that her Mexican parents were organically aware of the movie that Jimenez considered it could actually live up to the potential she initially had hoped for.

“Without me saying anything, my parents were like, ‘People are talking about this’ — like my dad’s co-workers or my aunt’s friends — that’s when I started to realize, ‘This might be something big,’” she says.

“But never in my life did I think it would be at this scale.”

“KPop Demon Hunters” is now nominated for two Academy Awards: animated feature and original song. And that’s on top of how ubiquitous the characters — Rumi, Mira and Zoey — already are.

“Everyone sends me photos of knockoff ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ dolls from across the border,” Jimenez says laughing. “My friend got me a shirt from Mexicali with the three girls, but they do not look anything like themselves. She even got my name on it, which was awesome.”

After graduating from Loyola Marymount University in 2018, Jimenez and McMechan quickly found their footing in the industry, as well as representation. But it was their still unproduced screenplay, “Luna Likes,” about a Mexican American teenage girl obsessed with the late chef and author Anthony Bourdain, that tangentially put them on the “KPop” path.

“Luna Likes” earned the pair a spot at the prestigious Sundance Screenwriters Lab, where Nicole Perlman, who co-wrote “Guardians of the Galaxy,” served as one of their advisors. Perlman, credited as a production consultant on “KPop,” thought they would be a good fit.

Jimenez didn’t see the connection between her R-rated comedy about a moody Mexican American teen and a PG animated feature set in the world of K-pop music, but the duo still pitched. Their idea more closely resembled an indie dramedy than an epic action flick.

“If [our version of ‘KPop’] were live-action, it would’ve been a million-dollar budget. It was the smallest movie ever. Our big finale was a pool party,” Jimenez says. “We had all of the girls and the boys with instruments, which obviously is not a thing in K-pop, and everyone was making out.”

Even though their original pitch wouldn’t work for the film, Maggie Kang, the co-director and also a co-writer, believed their voices as two young women who were best friends, roommates and creative collaborators could help the movie’s heroines feel more authentic.

“Maggie had already interviewed all of the more established writers, especially older men,” Jimenez says. “She knows the culture. She knew K-pop, she’s an animator. She just needed the girls’ voices to come through, so I think that’s why we got hired.”

Kang confirms this via email: “It’s always great to collaborate with writers who are the actual age of your characters! Hannah and Danya were exactly that,” she says. “They were very helpful in bringing a fresh, young voice to HUNTR/X.”

Neither Jimenez nor McMechan were K-pop fans at the time. As part of their research, they both started watching K-pop videos, but it was McMechan who got “sucked into the K-hole” first. Still, it didn’t take long until the video for BTS’ “Life Goes On” entranced Jimenez.

“K-pop is a river that you fall into, and it just takes you,” Jimenez says. BTS and Got7 are her favorite groups. For McMechan, the ensemble that captivates her most is Stray Kids.

In writing the trio of demon hunters, the co-writers modeled them after themselves. The characters’ propensity for ugly faces, silliness and a bit of grossness too, stems from the portrayals of girlhood and young womanhood that appeal to them. Jimenez, who says she was an angsty teen, most closely identifies with the rebellious Mira.

“I have a monotone vibe,” says Jimenez. “People always think that I’m a bitch just because I have a resting bitch face,” she says. “But as you can see in the movie, Mira cares so much about having everyone be really close. I feel like that’s how I’m with all my friends.”

Characters with strong personalities that are not simplistically likable feel the truest to Jimenez. In “Luna Likes,” the prickly protagonist is directly inspired by her experiences growing up, as well as the bond she shared with her dad over Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” show.

“There’s a pressure to show that Mexicans are nice people and we’re hard workers. I was like, ‘Let’s make her kind of bitchy and very flawed,’” Jimenez says about Luna. “She’s a teenager in America and she should be given all the same opportunities — and also the forgiveness for being an ass— and [as] selfish at that age as anybody else.”

Hannah McMechan, left, and Danya Jimenez, co-writers of “KPop Demon Hunters,” met in college.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Though their upbringings were markedly different, it was their shared comedic sensibilities that connected Jimenez and McMechan when they met in college. The two were close long before deciding to pen stories together. “Having a writing partner is the best. I feel bad for people who don’t have a writing partner, no offense to them,” says Jimenez.

McMechan explains that their writing partnership works because it’s grounded on true friendship. And she believes they would not have gotten this far without each other. While McMechan’s strong suit is looking at the bigger picture, Jimenez finds humor in the details.

“Danya is definitely funnier than me,” says McMechan. “It’s really hard to write comedy in dialogue versus comedy in a situation because if you’re putting the comedy in the dialogue, it can sound so forced and cringey. But she’s really good at making it sound natural but still really funny.”

Though she had been writing stories for herself as a teen, Jimenez didn’t consider it a career path until as a high schooler she watched the romantic comedy “No Strings Attached,” in which Ashton Kutcher plays a production assistant for a TV series.

“He is having a horrible time. But I was so obsessed with movies and TV, and I was like, ‘That looks incredible. I want to be doing what he’s doing,’” she recalls. “And my dad was like, ‘That’s a job.’”

Danya Jimenez grew up in Orange County.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

As an infant, Jimenez spent some time living in Tijuana, where her parents are from, until the family settled back in San Diego, where she was born. And when she was around 5 years old, Jimenez, an only child, and her parents relocated to Orange County. Until then, Jimenez mostly spoke Spanish, which made for a tricky transition when starting school.

“I knew English, but it just wasn’t a habit,” she recalls. “I would raise my hand and accidentally speak Spanish in class. My teachers would be like, ‘We’re worried about her vocabulary.’ That was always an issue, so it’s really funny that I turned out to be a writer.”

As she points out in her professional bio, it was movies and TV that helped with her English vocabulary, especially the Disney sitcom “Lizzie McGuire.”

Jimenez describes growing up in Orange County with few Latinos around outside of her family as an alienating experience. She admits to feeling great shame for some of her behaviors as a teenager afraid of being treated differently and desperate to fit in.

“I would speak Spanish to my mom like in a corner because I didn’t want everyone else to hear me speak Spanish,” Jimenez confesses. “If my mom pulled up to school to drop me off playing Spanish hits from the ‘80s or banda, I was like, ‘Can you turn it down please?’”

Like a lot of young Latinos, she’s now taking steps to connect with her heritage, and, in a way, atone for those moments where she let what others might think rob her of her pride.

“During the pandemic I cornered my grandma to make all of her recipes again so I could write them down,” she recalls. “Now I have them all written down on a website. Or if my mom corrects me for something that I’m saying in Spanish, I now listen.”

At the risk of angering her, Jimenez describes her mother as a “cool mom,” and compares her to Amy Poehler’s character in “Mean Girls.” Raised in a household without financial struggles, Jimenez doesn’t often relate to stories about Latinos in the U.S. that make it to film and TV. Her hope is to expand Latino storytelling beyond the tropes.

“That’s very important to me, to just tell Latino stories or Mexican stories in a way that’s just authentic to me and hopefully someone else is like, ‘Yes, that’s me,’” she says. “A lot of people have certain expectations for Latino stories that I’m not willing to compromise on.”

Though they still would like to make “Luna Likes” if given the chance, for now, Jimenez and McMechan will continue their rapid ascent.

They’re “goin’ up, up, up” because it is their “moment.” They recently wrapped the Apple TV show “Brothers” starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson that filmed in Texas. They are also writing the feature “Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman” for Tim Burton to direct, with Margot Robbie in talks to star.

“I feel like I’ve just been operating in a state of shock for the past, I don’t know how many months since June,” says Jimenez in her signature deadpan affect. “But if I think about it too much, I’d be a nervous wreck.”

Kara Braxton, who won two WNBA championships during a 10-year career, has died at age 43.

“It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of 2x WNBA Champion Kara Braxton,” the WNBA said in a statement Sunday. “Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and former teammates at this time.”

No cause of death has been given.

Born in Jackson, Mich., along with twin sister Kim, Braxton played high school basketball at Jackson High for one season and at Westview High in Portland, Ore., for three seasons.

Braxton, a 6-foot-6 center-forward, played at the University of Georgia from 2001-2004, earning SEC freshman of the year and first-team all-conference honors in 2002. She averaged 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds a game during her three seasons with the Bulldogs.

“Rest in peace Kara,” Georgia basketball posted on X.

Braxton was selected by the Detroit Shock at No. 7 overall in the 2005 draft. She spent 5 1/2 seasons with the team, winning the WNBA championship in 2006 and 2008 and earning her only All-Star nod in 2007. She also played for the Phoenix Mercury from 2010-11 and the New York Liberty from 2011-14, finishing with career averages of 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.

New York Liberty’s Kara Braxton grabs the ball between Indiana Fever’s Tammy Sutton-Brown, left, and Tamika Catchings on Sept. 17, 2011.

(Mel Evans / Associated Press)

“We mourn the loss of Kara Braxton, a former Liberty player whose presence and passion left a lasting impact on our organization and the women’s game,” the Liberty wrote Sunday on X. “Our hearts are with her family, friends, teammates, and all who were touched by her spirit. Her impact will not be forgotten.”

Braxton is survived by her husband Jarvis Jackson and two sons, Jelani Thurman and Jream Jackson.

Thurman, a tight end who played three seasons at Ohio State before transferring to North Carolina last month, posted a number of tributes to his mother on his Instagram Story, including a photo of her kissing him as a baby at a Shock media day photo shoot.

“imma miss my queen,” Thurman wrote to accompany another photo, which appears to show him as an older child wearing his mother’s No. 45 jersey to school.

Thurman also posted video of an interview from around the time Ohio State won the 2024 national championship in which he was asked what lessons he learned from his mother that helped get him to that point.

“Man, she taught me always go hard,” Thurman said. “There’s one goal, you know what you need to go to do.”

DAVID Beckham’s close pal Dave Gardner appears to have confirmed which team he’s on when it comes to the Brooklyn Beckham family feud.

The football star’s best friend and former agent shared a photo to mark Cruz Beckham‘s 21st birthday – and seems to have taken aim at the other side.

The sports agent, 49, shared the photo on social media standing with a suited-and-booted Cruz and Marc Anthony.

The long-time family friend wrote: “Have a great day mate. Love ya Cruzie.”

Latino star Marc Anthony was at the heart of the Beckham wedding drama where he is said to have called Victoria Beckham, 51, to the dancefloor, rather than Nicola, 31, for the first dance.

He allegedly referred to the mother-of-the-groom as “the most beautiful woman in the room”, which left the bride ‘in tears’.

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He recently broke his silence on the allegations which played a part in “ruining” Brooklyn and wife Nicola Peltz’s wedding.

Brooklyn, 26, accused his mum of “hijacking” his and Nicola‘s special moment and claimed she danced “inappropriately” leaving him “embarrassed”.

Marc has been a long-time family friend of the Beckhams, meeting David when he played for Real Madrid around 2005.

Four-time Grammy winner Marc, who is one of Jennifer Lopez’s exes, had offered to perform at the wedding as a gift to the couple.

The family, minus Brooklyn, celebrated Cruz’s birthday last week at The Maine Mayfair in London.

He was joined by his parents as well as siblings Romeo, 23 and Harper, 14, as well as his girlfriend Jackie Apostel, 30 and Romeo’s partner, Kim Turnball, 24.

Meanwhile Brooklyn was busy hosting his very own food festival in Miami, Florida.

Proud dad David appeared to take a swipe at Brooklyn as he praised his youngest son Cruz as “fiercely loyal to family” in a birthday tribute.

The 50-year-old took to Instagram to share an adorable video of some of Cruz’s best moments over the years.

Proud dad David shared a heartfelt caption for his boy as he began: “Happy 21st birthday to my little boy – not so little anymore but the proudest thing that I am of you is the person and the man that you have become.

Seemingly taking a dig at Brooklyn, he continued: “You are kind, considerate and fiercely loyal to your family, friends and everyone around you which makes you a very special person.”

Picture-posting Dave‘s exes include actress Liv Tyler and former Hollyoaks star Davinia Taylor – who he both shares children with.

He recently attended David’s swanky 50th birthday celebrations with his partner, Victoria’s Secret model Jessica Clarke.

Dave met his pal David during his stint at Manchester United Youth Club and the pair have been close from the age of 14.

The footie star was also best man at his wedding in 2003 and made godfather to his son.

Marc previously told The Hollywood Reporter: “They’re a wonderful, wonderful family. I’ve known them since before the kids were born. I’m godfather to Cruz.

“I’m really close to the family. But I have nothing to say about what happened there. It’s extremely unfortunate how it’s playing out — but (how it’s playing out) is hardly the truth.”