With two words, Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown launched himself into controversy Thursday morning when he joked about being glad that Elizabeth Warren, his likely Democratic opponent in 2012, had never posed in the nude.
Brown was responding to a quip Warren made at a Democratic debate Tuesday. Asked how she had paid for college – compared with Brown, who once posed partially nude for Cosmopolitan – Warren said: “I kept my clothes on.”
Brown fired back during an interview onBoston radio station WZLX: “Thank God!”
The jab went over well with the host, who laughed, then tried to stoke the flames.
“That’s what I said,” the host responded. “I said, look, can you blame a good looking guy for, you know, for wanting to…”
Brown swept into office last year on a tea party wave that helped him take a seat that had been held by Edward M. Kennedy for nearly 50 years. Democrats will fight hard to win it back in 2012.
Warren has a strong following and is known for her consumer advocacy. Obama tapped her last year to set up a new consumer protection agency, but Republicans opposed letting her head the agency.
She entered the Senate race in mid-September after being heavily courted, but her nomination is not guaranteed – the Democratic primary field is packed with other contenders. Brown’s comment made him an easy target at a time when he’d be better off laying low and letting the Democrats fight it out.
Brown cut in with an attempt to soften the jab: “You know what, listen, bottom line is I didn’t go to Harvard. You know, I went to the school of hard knocks and I did whatever I had to do to pay for school.”
(Warren also did not go to Harvard, though she is a Harvard law professor.)
Brown went on to describe how he faced “real challenges growing up.”
“You know, whatever,” he said. “You know, let them throw stones. I did what I had to do. And but not for having that opportunity, I never would have been able to pay for school and never would have gone to school and I wouldn’t probably be talking to you, so, whatever.”
The host didn’t want to let Brown’s initial comment go, and Brown wasn’t going to take all the blame.
“That’s funny you throw that jab, because –“ the host began. But Brown again cut him off.
“You said it too!” Brown replied.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party was quick to respond, scolding Brown for the comment.
“Sen. Brown’s comments are the kind of thing you would expect to hear in a frat house, not a race for U.S. Senate,” executive director Clare Kelly said in a statement. “Scott Brown’s comments send a terrible message that even accomplished women who are held in the highest esteem can be laughingly dismissed based on their looks.”
AT the age of 66 – with 200million record sales behind him and millions in the bank – Simon Cowell could be forgiven for taking his foot off the pedal.
But six years after collecting his bus pass – and he loves buses – the music mogul is back, and on a mission.
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The Sun’s Clemmie Moodie grilled Simon Cowell in a hilarious game of ‘Ask Me Anything’Credit: GettyThe mogul even reveals how he has lost three stone thanks to a 600-calorie-a-day regimeCredit: Splash
His new Netflix show, aptly titled The Next Act, will see him scouring the country in the hope of discovering the planet’s biggest boyband.
Over the years, Simon has sat through hundreds of interviews, painstakingly answering the same, insipid questions.
But having been pals with him for 20 years, I wanted to do something a little bit different.
So we celebrated my 35th (plus a few years) birthday together at a McDonald’s after Si discovered I’d never visited a drive-thru before. His driver, Tony, took us in Simon’s decked-out Lexus, which comes complete with mini-bar and plasma-screen TV.
While there, I grilled Simon – who has son Eric, 11, with partner Lauren Silverman – in a hilarious game of “Ask Me Anything”.
In a chat that won’t be winning me a Pulitzer any time soon, Simon cheerily answered a raft of, erm, probing questions.
From bathing FOUR times a day and having all his filler dissolved, to how he has lost three stone thanks to a 600-calorie-a-day regime, no question was off limits.
Here, in his own words, is Simon as you’ve never seen him before.
SIMON’S DIET & LIFESTYLE
Simon trains or cycles daily now, and slashed his calories to less than 1,000 a day to be happier with his appearanceCredit: InstagramHe also reveals he’s never been tempted to try fat jabsCredit: Getty
FIVE years ago, Mr Cowell cut a very different figure.
By his own admission, he was “puffy” and unhappy with his appearance.
To overcome it, he dramatically upped his workout regime — he trains or cycles daily now — and slashed his calories to less than 1,000 a day (bar today’s “cheat day”).
CM: Do you have a gastric band?
SC: No! I did have a LINX band put in though which stops the acid going up into my chest.
And I cut out sugar, dairy, red meat, gluten . . . I had the diet of a school boy, and was told by a dietician it was the worst diet he’d ever seen.
I have four 90-calorie beers a day, but pour half the beer out and make it a shandy.
I basically eat the same things every day. Breakfast is a green, protein smoothie with fruits, a lot of blackcurrants, porridge and tea, and lunch is half a hot cross bun.
I eat dinner at about 4.30pm and because I wake up at 9.30, 10am, I can go 17 hours without eating: Intermittent fasting.
CM: Have you ever tried the fat jab?
SC: No, I’ve never been tempted, sorry.
CM: How many push-ups can you do?
SC: About 40 in one go. I have these two little bar things and every day I do somewhere between 300 and 600. If I’m really going for it, a thousand.
CM: Will you show us?
SC: No, Clemmie, I am not doing press-ups in McDonalds’.
SC: No! Everyone always thinks I have but I haven’t. I used to have filler but then one day I saw a picture of myself and thought, “Oh God, I look like a real weirdo”.
So I had everything dissolved.
CM: How old would you like to be when you finally, you know, cark it?
SC: I said earlier this year that I age backwards. So instead of being 66, I consider myself to be 64. Next year I will be 62.
I think I can live to 100. If I can remove all my stress, carry on with the diet and, you know, we’re discovering new stuff all the time.
CM: Do you biohack?
SC: Well I’ve started on peptides now — I’m on NAD+ [an amino acid said to promote cell turnover and longevity] and am feeling really good for it. I also take Boots Dual Defence [nasal spray] daily and can’t remember the last time I had a cold.”
SIMON’S BITS & BOBS
Simon with his four dogs, Pebbles the Alsatian, Squiddly, Diddly and DaisyCredit: instagram/simoncowellThe TV star, above with son Eric and partner Lauren Silverman, also says he prays every night, and believes in guardian angelsCredit: Getty
SC: I love dogs, sometimes more so than humans. If you love them, they are so loyal and love you unconditionally back.
I have four now: Pebbles the Alsatian, Squiddly, Diddly and Daisy, who is a rescue from Barbados, so she really hates the winter months. They’re like my babies.
So, cloning isn’t as easy as I thought. They don’t just turn up as sweet little puppies in a box. There are ethical concerns so you have to get a donor dog and it’s essential you keep and look after that donor dog, which I absolutely would do.
Otherwise, it’s not right and people who are cruel to animals are the most disgusting people in the world. They are sickos. They deserve custodial sentences — it just upsets me so much.
CM: What’s the funniest thing you have ever read about yourself?
SC: Probably something you wrote about me.
CM: Do you read below-the-line comments?
SC: Absolutely not. I’ve a theory that the really bad comments, whoever posts them, if they’re guys, they have blue duvets with a lot of stains on them. Always dark blue. Living with their mum and dad with filthy duvets. So I refuse to read them.
SC: Yes, yes. Eric got some PJs, which I promise you are the softest pyjamas I’ve ever touched in my life. And they’re really cute. They’re from Primark!
SC: Um, well, I fly commercial. But in a flat-down bed. I don’t fly private jet.
CM: Do you pray?
SC: I pray every night, yeah. I believe that we have a guardian angel. I believe in God and in the powers of the universe. It’s all combined. And I’m definitely going to heaven. I hope so.
There’ll be my old dogs, all my old friends, my mum and dad.
CM: How many mirrors do you have in your house?
SC: Lots. But actually, I don’t really think I’m that vain.
CM: What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done?
SC: Like what?
CM: I don’t know, have you ever wet yourself?
SC: No Clemmie, I haven’t wet myself.
CM: What’s your biggest bugbear?
SC: People with bad breath.
CM: Have you found the new One Direction in your Netflix show?
SC: Well, I don’t know. All I know is that if people like them as much as I like them — and I really, really do have a bond with these boys — then I will be so happy.
They’re real, they’re not privileged, they have no leg-up, apart from this.
One of them is still working in a fast-food restaurant. They’re just lovely, funny boys.
SC: No because I read things like I wear boosters in my shoes. I probably last Googled myself seven or eight years ago.
CM: When did you last get the Underground?
SM: “Erm, probably not this century. But I do love a double-decker bus, the top deck.
CM: What jeans do you wear?
SM: I wear Giorgio Armani ones, and I’ve only got one pair. People don’t really think I have legs because they always see me sitting down.
CM: How many T-shirts do you own? And do you get a discount code on them?
SC: I have 200 identical charcoal grey Derek Rose T-shirts. I do get a pretty good deal on them actually, yes. I don’t have to think about anything then.
CM: What’s your most annoying habit?
SC: Apparently I snore. But actually, I chew gum really loudly and it drives everyone mad. It’s a chewing gum called CB12. It really irritates everyone.
CM: What irritates you the most?
SC: I have a thing about smells, and hygiene. You smell good by the way. So do you two in the front [points to Sophie, The Sun’s producer, and Tony, his long-term driver].
I want to make a new show actually called The Most Disgusting Show In The World to show people what we actually eat and breathe, and how disgusting we really are. Like, all the bed bugs in our beds, that freaks me out. Everything does.
I’m allergic to them so I have to get my mattress and carpets steamed all the time to get rid of the dust mites or whatever.
SIMON’S CHEAT McDONALD’S ORDER
His McDonalds’ order is a double Filet-O-Fish and small fries, but he removes the bun and cheeseCredit: McDonalds
A DOUBLE Filet-O-Fish and small fries – eaten only after sanitising his hands (and mine).
He says: “Excitingly, we’re going into unknown territories now with the double fish burger. This is quite new, so I am very eager to try it.”
He then proceeds to remove the bun, and cheese, and pick at two slivers of lightly-battered fish patties. And has three fries.
Simon Cowell: The Next Act is available to stream now on Netflix.
Dec. 10 (UPI) — A South Carolina atheist is suing for the right to serve as a poll worker without having to swear an oath to God.
James Reel alleges a requirement that citizens make a statement of belief in a monotheistic deity or forgo working at the polls violates the constitutional rights of nontheists or those who worship more than one deity.
The Greenville County resident became passionate about defending the American form of governing after observing negative political rhetoric during the 2020 election designed to undermine public trust in the electoral process, according to his suit. Reel decided to train as a poll worker.
But after completing three online courses in December 2023 and beginning in-person training, Reel learned he would be required to take an oath that ends with “so help me God.” He asked instead to be allowed to use a secular affirmation, which is a solemn vow without reference to a religious deity, but election officials denied the request.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national nonprofit based in Madison, Wis., stepped in last year to help.
In letters to the South Carolina Election Commission and the Greenville County Voter Registration and Elections Board in late 2024 and early 2025, foundation staff attorney Madeline Ziegler said Reel does not want to profess a belief in a god, “which would make a mockery out of the oath and the solemn promise to support both the federal and state constitutions.”
The distinction between an oath and affirmation is critical because the opportunity to substitute an affirmation is required under federal law, Ziegler said.
“Article 6 of the United States Constitution prohibits the government from requiring any kind of religious test for public office, including to volunteer as a poll worker,” she wrote.
The required oath of office for public officials is in Article III, Section 26 of the South Carolina Constitution and in Title 7, Chapter 13 of the state code.
It says: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of this State, to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been appointed, and that I will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties thereof, and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of this State and of the United States. So help me God.”
To be appointed as a poll worker, state code requires citizens to take a training course conducted by one of the 46 county boards of voter registration and elections. Howard Knapp, the now former executive director of the election commission, said current policies and procedures make no particular reference to the contents of the oath, which must be signed by the prospective poll worker.
Although the commission has the authority to set policy on the conduct of elections by the county boards, “this grant of authority does not extend to a power to create election related policies and procedures that contradict explicit statutory requirements, and then instruct the county boards to ignore what is clearly stated in the code,” Knapp said in a January letter.
He added the commission has limited oversight authority over the boards, which are independent county government offices.
Bob Schaffner, chairman of the Greenville County Voter Registration and Elections Board, responded to the foundation that the board is subject to South Carolina laws and standard procedures determined by the State Election Commission in the Poll Manager Handbook issued to all poll workers.
The board is unaware of any specific complaint and the issue has never been raised in his 28 years of service, said Schaffner, who recently retired. He said in a March letter that the South Carolina attorney general might be a better agency to get clarification on state law.
After the requests for a secular affirmation were rejected, South Carolina attorney Steven Edward Buckingham and foundation attorneys Sam Grover and Kyle Steinberg acting as co-counsel filed suit on Reel’s behalf.
The suit, filed Oct. 8 in United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, names as defendants Jenny Wooten, executive director of the South Carolina State Election Commission; Conway Belangia, director of Voter Registration & Elections in Greenville County; and the Greenville County Voter Registration & Elections Board. Wooten and Belangia are being sued in their official capacities.
The lawsuit alleges violations of Article VI and the First Amendment’s free speech, free exercise of religion and establishment of religion clauses. Reel is seeking a permanent injunction against requiring poll workers to swear “so help me God” and the provision of a secular affirmation.
The suit says the state of South Carolina routinely allows attorneys, jurors, witnesses and many others to make a secular affirmation as a matter of conscience.
The oath mandate bars a growing number of people from serving as poll workers, according to the suit, which cites a 2024 Pew Research Center report that says about 28% of the population is religiously unaffiliated. In South Carolina, approximately 16% are unaffiliated.
Foundation Co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor called the oath requirement a “discriminatory and blatantly unconstitutional practice.”
“Jim Reel, a veteran who wants to continue serving his community as a poll worker, should be congratulated, not barred simply because he is an atheist,” Gaylor said.
In answers to the suit filed late last month, the defendants deny they are violating individuals’ rights and assert their actions in their official capacity were taken in good faith in compliance with existing state law and the South Carolina Constitution. They also argue they have immunity from being sued and ask that the suit be dismissed.
The lawsuit and foundation letters cite previous complaints about requirements to swear an oath referencing a belief in God to qualify to serve in a position or run for an office.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1961 that the states and the federal government could not force a person to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion because the requirement violated the Constitution.
The justices found in favor of Roy Torcaso, a Maryland man whose appointment as a notary public was revoked after he refused to take an oath declaring the existence of God.
In 1992, Herb Silverman’s application to be a notary public in South Carolina was denied because he crossed out the words “so help me God” on the form. He filed suit, and the state Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that the religious test requirement to hold public office violated the U.S. Constitution.
The foundation has brought two similar lawsuits recently. James Tosone, a nontheist, ran unsuccessfully for the New Jersey Senate in 2017 and 2021 and for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, and each time, he had to swear “so help me God” because there was no secular option for candidates for public office.
Since 2022, Tosone had sought to run for election, but was no longer willing to take the oath. The foundation, which alleged the secretary of state and the state of New Jersey were coercing a statement of belief in a monotheistic deity by requiring nontheists or those who worship more than one deity to swear “so help me God, filed suit in federal court in October 2023. The suit was settled in about a month after the state agreed to adopt a secular affirmation option.
In 2021, the foundation sued Alabama for requiring people who were registering to vote to sign an oath on a form that concluded, “so help me God.” A settlement allowed voters to check a box declining to include those four words.
