Selena Gomez stunned in satin at the 2025 Rare Impact Fund BenefitCredit: GettyThe singer draped in purple at the LA eventCredit: Getty
The former Disney star, who recently celebrated one month of marriage to music producer and songwritter Benny Blanco, launched the Rare Impact Fund in 2020 to raise funds and awareness for youth mental health globally.
According to Vogue, the event, hosted by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, raised more than $600,000.
Earlier in the week, Selena’s ‘unnecessarily cruel’ comments landed her in hot water.
The star came under fire for boasting that herbillion-dollar branddoesn’t “use real models” for its beauty campaigns.
While Selena, was attempting to deliver a positive message about how Rare Beauty highlights real, natural features, many took offence to the comments.
The company had used hundreds of different models since it launched in September 2020 – making many feel Selena’s comments disregard their talents and professions.
Her remarks caught the eye of one Rare Beauty model who spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about hearing Selena’s comments.
The model, who did not wish to be named due to fear of not being hired for future campaigns, has been working with the brand since 2024.
“I actually cried when I heard Selena’s comments,” the model claimed, who then added: “I was already having a bad day and was feeling really sensitive and emotional.”
She continued: “I was feeling nervous about some career stuff, and then I saw that video of her saying I’m not even a real model.
“It hit me at the worst time because now I’m like… ‘what am I even doing?’
“I thought this would be a big break for me, and to be told by the founder of the company that I look up to that I am not ‘real’ at my job?
“It’s degrading and embarrassing. The number of family and friends who sent me that clip after was mortifying.”
The global star launched the Rare Impact Fund in 2020 to raise funds and awareness for youth mental health globallyCredit: GettyThe event, hosted by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, raised more than $600,000Credit: GettySelena looked like one of the popular Quality Street treatsCredit: Alamy
SELENA Gomez and Hailey Bieber risked an awkward run in at a glam Hollywood galaCredit: GettyIt came just hours after the women exchanged swipesCredit: GettySelena attended the event alongside husband Benny BlancoCredit: Getty
The 28-year-old Rhode Beauty founder told WSJ Magazine she “doesn’t feel competitive with people she’s not inspired by”.
On Saturday, Selena, 33, spoke out, penning a post on her Instagram before quickly deleting it.
“She can say what she wants, it doesn’t affect my life whatsoever,” she snapped.
Just hours after Selena’s post, the two women appeared at the 2025 Academy Museum Gala in LA.
“I didn’t ask for that. When people want to see you a certain way and they’ve made up a story about you in their minds, it’s not up to you to change that.”
Actor, singer and businesswoman Selena Gomez and music producer Benny Blanco were married Saturday in California, according to posts the couple shared on Instagram.
Gomez shared a series of dreamily filtered photos of the couple on a lawn in wedding attire — Gomez in a white halter-styled gown and Blanco in a classic black tuxedo, both reportedly designed by Ralph Lauren — while embracing and holding hands as Gomez gripped a simple bouquet of white flowers. The caption simply stated the date — “9.27.25” — flanked by white heart emojis and audio of “La Vie En Rose” overlaying the display. “My wife in real life,” read a comment from Blanco on the post. By Sunday morning, the post had already racked up more than 17 million likes, including from stars like Sabrina Carpenter and Sydney Sweeney. (It’s unclear if the photos were taken the day of the ceremony or earlier.)
On Sunday, Blanco shared his own commemorative post on Instagram with a caption that read: “i married a real life disney princess.” The series of photos included the couple, in their wedding attire, lounging on a white sofa and a close-up shot of their left hands with the wedding rings that now adorn them.
The couple’s weekend extravaganza was held in Santa Barbara, according to Vogue, with Taylor Swift and Gomez’s “Only Murders in the Building” cast mates Steve Martin and Martin Short among the guests reportedly in attendance. Meryl Streep, however, spent her weekend in Milan for Fashion Week, filming scenes for the sequel to “The Devil Wears Prada.” Earlier this month, Gomez said on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” that Short would be the ring bearer. (We’re still hoping that’s true.) Other stars said to be invited are Ed Sheeran and Gomez’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” co-star David Henrie.
The celebration comes nearly a year after Gomez, 33, and Blanco, 37, announced their engagement in December 2024. At the time of their engagement, Gomez shared the news on Instagram, captioning a series of photos of her ring with the words, “forever begins now.”
Gomez revealed in a cover story with Interview Magazine that she first met Blanco more than a decade ago, when she was about 16 or 17, to potentially collaborate on a song. (As a producer, Blanco has worked with numerous A-list pop stars, including Katy Perry, Sheeran, Kanye West and Maroon 5.)
But it wasn’t until years later that they finally worked together on the 2019 song “I Can’t Get Enough,” which also featured J Balvin and Tainy. In 2023, the couple confirmed their relationship and, that same year, worked together on her song “Single Soon.” Earlier this year, the couple released their first album together, titled “I Said I Love You First.”
SELENA Gomez has officially married Benny Blanco in a romantic ceremony with A-list guests.
The pair tied the knot in Santa Barbara, California, which The U.S. Sun exclusively learned would be the destination earlier this month.
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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco tied the knot in a romantic Santa Barbara, California, weddingCredit: Getty
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The couple said ‘I do’ surrounded by many A-list guestsCredit: Getty
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Selena recently shared photos from her bachelorette bashCredit: Instagram
The couple confirmed their engagement in December 2024, with Selena flashing her gorgeous diamond ring on social media.
Benny, 37, popped the question after weeks of speculation that they were engaged, following Selena’s showcase of her new bling on the Emmys red carpet.
It happened over a year after the pair’s romance began in June 2023.
Fans knew the wedding was near when Selena, 33, posted photos on Instagram from her bachelorette bash in late August.
Read More on Selena Gomez
The Lose You to Love Me singer looked happy while donning a white bikini and a short veil during the beach getaway.
She’d already appeared to settle into her new life with the music producer, as the U.S. exclusively reported in March that the pair took out an over $20million mortgage on their $35million Beverly Hills mansion.
The lavish purchase came shortly before the duo released their first joint album, I Said I Love You First, which dropped on March 21.
It was initially thought that Selena and Benny’s wedding would be a ways away, after the songwriter, born Benjamin Joseph Levin, told Rolling Stone that they were taking their relationship “one day at a time.”
At the time, the Virginia native said they were enjoying their engagement and not rushing to the altar.
Selena Gomez is engaged to her boyfriend Benny Blanco
Benny also gushed about being “so sure” that he was going to marry Selena and how his feelings for her were “very different” from anything he’d ever experienced.
The multi-Grammy Award nominee previously dated model Elsie Hewitt before becoming romantically involved with Selena.
Meanwhile, Selena has had numerous high-profile relationships over the years, including Nick Jonas, Charlie Puth, Zedd, The Weeknd, and Justin Bieber.
The former Disney Channel star had the longest relationship with Justin, whom she dated on and off for eight years before splitting for good in March 2018.
Justin and Selena’s Relationship Timeline
Here is what you need to know about Justin and Selena’s on and off again relationship throughout the 2010s.
December 8, 2010: Justin and Selena were spotted on an IHOP date in Philadelphia together, although Selena tried to shut down romance rumors saying they are just friends.
December 31, 2010: The pair spend New Year’s together in St. Lucia and were spotted kissing on a yacht.
February 28, 2011: Justin and Selena make their red-carpet debut at the Vanity Fair Oscars party.
May 2, 2011: Selena confirms their relationship to Seventeen.
November 2012: Justin and Selena break up for the first time due to “being apart so much” and “trust issues,” a source told PEOPLE at the time.
April 2013: The pair were spotted together again, engaging in PDA.
November 6, 2014: Selena confirms she and Justin split for the second time while On Air with Ryan Seacrest.
December 2014: Justin sparks romance rumors with Hailey Baldwin and is seen kissing her a year later on December 31, 2015, while in St. Barts.
August 2016: Justin begins dating Sofia Richie.
January 2017: Selena starts dating The Weeknd.
November 30, 2017: Selena splits from The Weeknd and reunites with Justin.
March 7, 2018: The pair take a break and Justin rekindles his relationship with Hailey soon after.
May 2018: Selena decided to walk away from the relationship.
At the time, a source told Us Weekly: “Selena started seeing the bigger picture when it came to their relationship, like what was more important: her general happiness and her family and friends’ approval, or her being together with Justin, where no one really supported their relationship.”
A year earlier, the Sonny with a Chance alum told Miami’s Power 96.5 FM, “I’m the kind of girl that loves tremendously big. I just have always been that girl.”
“I will give my heart and my soul to the person that I love. It’s just how I operate.”
Benny has spoken about how he supports Selena and gained her trust following her past heartbreaks.
“I’m aware of her strengths and I’m aware of her weakness, and so what I’ve tried to do is surround her with things that help,” Benny said during the couple’s joint appearance on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast earlier this year.
He also admitted to nearly self-sabotaging their relationship in the beginning, saying, “I feel like it all happens for a reason. I feel like maybe me doing that is what disarmed her enough.”
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The lovebirds announced their engagement in December 2024Credit: instagram/selenagomez
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Selena and Benny recently splurged on a $35million Beverly Hills, California, mansionCredit: Getty
WASHINGTON — The day after immigration raids began in Los Angeles, Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) and three other members of Congress were denied entry to the immigrant detention facility inside the Roybal Federal Building.
The lawmakers were attempting an unannounced inspection, a common and long-standing practice under congressional oversight powers.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said too many protesters were present on June 7 and officers deployed chemical agents multiple times. In a letter later to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Torres said she ended up in the emergency room for respiratory treatment. She also said the protest had been small and peaceful.
Torres is one of many Democratic members of Congress, from states including California, New York and Illinois, who have been denied entry to immigrant detention facilities in recent weeks.
Jim Townsend, director of the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at Wayne State University in Michigan, said the denials mark a profound — and illegal — shift from past practice.
“Denying members of Congress access to facilities is a direct assault on our system of checks and balances,” he said. “What members of Congress are trying to do now is to be part of a proud bipartisan tradition of what we like to call oversight by showing up.”
Subsequent attempts by lawmakers to inspect the facility inside the Roybal Building have also been unsuccessful.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), who was with Torres the day she was hospitalized, went back twice more — on June 9 and on Tuesday — and was rebuffed. Torres and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) tried at separate times Wednesday and were both denied.
Gomez and other Democrats have pointed to a federal statute, detailed in yearly appropriations packages since 2020, which states that funds may not be used to prevent a member of Congress “from entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens …”
The statute also states that nothing in that section “may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” for the purpose of conducting oversight. Under the statute, federal officials may require at least 24 hours notice for a visit by congressional staff — but not members themselves.
Under ICE guidelines published this month for members of Congress and their staff, the agency requests at least 72 hours notice from lawmakers and requires at least 24 hours notice from staff.
The agency says it has discretion to deny or reschedule a visit if an emergency arises or the safety of the facility is jeopardized, though such contingencies are not mentioned in the law.
Gomez said an ICE official called him Tuesday to say that oversight law doesn’t apply to the downtown L.A. facility because it is a field office, not a detention facility.
“Well it does say Metropolitan Detention Center right here in big, bold letters,” he says in a video posted afterward on social media, gesturing toward a sign outside the building. “But they say this is a processing center. So I smell bull—.”
Department of Homeland Security police patrol the street after detaining a protester at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in downtown L.A. on June 12.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
If no one is technically being detained, Gomez said he rhetorically asked the official during their call, are they free to leave?
Torres visited the facility in February by setting up an appointment, her staff said. She got another appointment for last Saturday, but ICE canceled it because of the protests. When members emailed ICE to set up a new appointment, they got no response.
Gomez said he believes ICE doesn’t want lawmakers to see field offices because of poor conditions and lack of attorney access because of ramped-up arrests that have reportedly left some detainees there overnight without beds and limited food.
In some cases, lawmakers have had success showing up unannounced. On Friday, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) toured the Adelanto ICE Processing Facility, north of San Bernardino. After being denied entry to the Adelanto Facility on June 8, Chu and four other California Democrats were allowed in on Tuesday.
“Just because ICE has opened their doors to a few members of Congress does not excuse their inflammatory tactics to meet deportation quotas,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who visited Adelanto with Chu. “Accountability means showing a consistent pattern of accessibility, not just a one-off event.”
The representatives learned the facility is now at full capacity with 1,100 detainees, up from 300 a month ago. Chu said they spoke to detainees from the L.A. raids, who she said were not criminals and who are now living in inhumane conditions — without enough food, unable to change their underwear for 10 days or to call their families and lawyers.
Chu said the group arrived early and stood in the lobby to avoid a repeat of their previous attempt, when facility guards kept them off the property by locking a fence.
Tom Homan, President Trump’s border policy advisor, departs a meeting with Republican senators who are working to cancel $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress at the Capitol in Washington on June 11.
(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)
In an interview with The Times this month, Trump’s chief border policy advisor Tom Homan said members of Congress are welcome to conduct oversight, but that they must contact the facility first to make arrangements. The agency has to look after the safety and security of the facility, officers and detainees, he said.
“Please go in and look at them,” he said. “They’re the best facilities that money can buy, the highest detention standards in the industry. But there’s a right way and wrong way to do it.”
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for Homeland Security, said in a statement to The Times that requests for visits are needed because “ICE law enforcement have seen a surge in assaults, disruptions and obstructions to enforcement, including by politicians themselves.”
She added that requests for visits should be made with enough time — “a week is sufficient” — to not interfere with the president’s authority under Article II of the Constitution to oversee executive branch functions.
DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, flanked by Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Madison Sheahan, left, and acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons, speaks during a news conference in Washington on May 21.
“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants — and sometimes even U.S. citizens — for days at a time,” he wrote. “They are therefore facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.”
Townsend, the congressional oversight expert, said the practice goes back to when President Truman was a senator and established a committee to investigate problems among contractors who were supplying the World War II effort.
“That committee conducted hundreds of field visits, and they would show up unannounced in many instances,” Townsend said.
More recently, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) drove to the Pentagon in 1983 and demanded access to ask questions about overspending after being stonewalled, he said, by Department of Defense officials.
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to mean that Congress has wide authority to conduct oversight to show up unannounced in order to secure accurate information, Townsend said.
National Guard members stand at post at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 10.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said the Trump administration is trying to hide the truth from the public. Last week, Padilla was shoved out of a news conference, forced to the ground and handcuffed after attempting to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“The Trump administration has done everything in their power but to provide transparency to the American people about their mission in Los Angeles,” he said during an impassioned floor speech Wednesday in which he cried recounting the ordeal.
In an interview Wednesday with Newsmax, McLaughlin accused Democratic lawmakers of using oversight as an excuse to stage publicity stunts.
“The Democrats are reeling,” she said. “They have no actual message and so they’re doing this to get more attention and to manufacture viral moments.”
On Tuesday, Gomez wore a suit jacket with his congressional lapel pin and carried his congressional ID card and business card in his hand — “so there would be no mistake” as to who he was. He said he was concerned that what happened to Padilla could also happen to him. He was denied access anyway.
Gomez said federal officials should be fined each time they deny oversight access to members of Congress. He said he and other members are also discussing whether to file a lawsuit to compel access.
“When you have an administration that is operating outside the bounds of the law, they’re basically saying, ‘What recourse do you have? Can you force us? You don’t have an army. We don’t need to listen to you,’” Gomez said. “Then you have to put some real teeth into it.”
Times staff writer Nathan Solis in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
For years in this columna, I have repeatedly posed a simple challenge to Archbishop José H. Gomez:
Stand up for Los Angeles, because L.A. needs you.
The head of the largest Catholic diocese in the United States has largely stood athwart the liberal city he’s supposed to minister since he assumed his seat in 2011 but especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. He has railed against “woke” culture and refused to meet with progressive Catholic groups. When the Dodgers in 2023 honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag troupe that wears nun’s habits while raising funds for the marginalized, he led a special Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels that amounted to a public exorcism.
Most perplexingly, the Mexico-born archbishop stayed largely quiet as the Herod that’s Donald Trump promised to clamp down on legal immigration and deport people without legal status during his 2024 presidential run. As head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at the end of last decade, Gomez wrote and spoke movingly about the need to treat all immigrants with dignity and fix this country’s broken system once and for all. But his gradual turn to the right as archbishop has gone so far that the National Catholic Reporter, where I’m an occasional contributor, labeled him a “failed culture warrior” when they anointed him their Newsmaker for that year.
Gomez’s devolution was especially dispiriting because L.A. Catholic leaders have taught their American peers how to embrace Latino immigrants ever since Archbishop John Cantwell helped refugees from Mexico’s Cristero War resettle in the city in the 1920s. Clerical legends like Luis Olivares and Richard Estrada transformed La Placita Church near Olvera Street into a sanctuary for Central American immigrants during the 1980s and 1990s in the face of threats from the feds. Gomez’s predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, long drew national attention for attacking anti-immigrant legislation during his sermons and marching alongside immigrant rights protesters, a cross to bear that Gomez never warmed up to.
Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries appeared in a viral video proclaiming the righteous, if well-worn, message that no human being is illegal, but also that “we stand with anybody who’s demonized or left out, or excluded, or seen as disposable … it’s kinda how we roll here.” His fellow Jesuit, Dolores Mission pastor Brendan Busse, was there with activists during a June 9 migra raid at a factory in the Garment District that saw SEIU California president David Huerta arrested for civil disobedience.
I especially admired Father Peter O’Reilly, who was a priest in the L.A. Archdiocese for 44 years before retiring in 2005. The 90-year-old cleric was at Gloria Molina Grand Park on June 8, the day protesters torched Waymo cars, just blocks away from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. O’Reilly told a television station in his native Ireland afterward that it was important for him be there to let immigrants know “we were with them and for them.”
Gomez? The archbishop put out a weak-salsa statement around that time about how he was “troubled” by the raids. His Instagram account urged people a few days later to light a candle and pray for peace. That same day, Diocese of Orange Bishop Kevin Vann and his auxiliary bishops posted a letter condemning the raids, which they maintained “invoke our worst instincts” and “spread crippling fear and anxieties upon the hard-working, everyday faithful among us.”
You know things are upside-down in this world when O.C. is more down for immigrant rights than L.A.
Faith leaders lead a prayer vigil in Gloria Molina Grand Park on June 10 to stand in support of community members facing immigration raids in Los Angeles.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
I wanted to blast Gomez last week but held back, praying that he might change for the better. So I’m happy to report he’s starting to.
On June 10, the same day he posted his Instagram call for prayer, the archbishop also attended an evening interfaith vigil along with Boyle, Busse and other faith leaders to tell a crowd of over 1,000 people, “Immigration is about more than politics — it is about us, the kind of people we want to be.” Gomez asked all parishes in the L.A. Archdiocese the following day to hold special Masses with L.A.’s current immigration troubles in mind. He led the lunchtime one in the cathedral, telling parishioners during his homily, “We want to go out and console our neighbors and strengthen their hearts and encourage them to keep the faith.”
Gomez saved his most stinging remarks for this Tuesday in his regular column for Angelus News, the archdiocese’s publication. While not able to resist a shot at the Biden administration, the soft-spoken prelate nevertheless said of Trump’s raids: “This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes.” Accompanying his thoughts was a photo of a young woman holding a sign that read, “Jesus was an Immigrant” in front of California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear.
“For him to show up was meaningful,” Busse said. Since Trump’s inauguration, Dolores Mission has hosted training for the rapid response networks that have alerted people about immigration raids. “But I hope there’s more. The diocese has a huge capacity for organizing, and I hope that his leadership can move people in a large way.”
Busse said the first instinct of too many religious leaders is “to step back into a place of safety” when controversy emerges. “But there’s also an invitation to be brave and courageous. What we need to do is step into the situation to bring the peace that we’re praying for.”
Joseph Tómas McKellar is executive director of PICO California, a faith-based community organizing network that co-sponsored the interfaith vigil last week where Gomez spoke. The nonprofit used to teach citizenship and English classes in the L.A. Archdiocese and McKellar remembered Gomez attending a gathering of social justice groups in Modesto in 2017 as an active participant “in these small group conversations.”
The PICO California head said Gomez’s recent reemergence from his years in the political wilderness “was deeply encouraging. … Our bishops and the leaders of our denominations have a special responsibility to exercise prophetic leadership. The prophets are the ones who denounce what is broken in this world, but also announce a different vision. I do see him more embracing more that call and that challenge to reflect.”
An archdiocese spokesperson said Gomez was unavailable for comment because he was at a retreat for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Earlier this week , the group released a reflection declaring, “No one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard in communities throughout the country in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement activities.”
I have no expectations that Archbishop Gomez’s politics will ever fully reflect L.A.’s progressive soul. He remains the only American bishop affiliated with the orthodox Opus Dei movement and sits on the ecclesiastical advisory board for the Napa Institute, an organization of rich Catholics that has labored mightily over the past decade to tilt the church rightward. Its co-founder, Orange County-based multimillionaire developer Tim Busch, wrote earlier this year with no irony that Trump’s administration “is the most Christian I’ve ever seen” and told The Times in 2023 that Gomez “is one of my closest advisors.”
But I’m glad Gomez is moving in the right direction, right when the city needs him the most. I continue to pray his voice gets bolder and stronger and that the region’s millions of Catholics — and all Angelenos, for that matter — follow the archbishop’s call to action to help immigrants while pushing him to do more.
I hope Gomez keeps in his heart what Busse told me near the end of our chat: “If the faith community doesn’t stand up when there’s a moral issue to stand up for, then I don’t know what happens.”
In the midst of the inaction, one mom — Angeli Rose Gomez — pleaded with officers to take action or let her go in to get her two children and nephew. She was apprehended and handcuffed, but ultimately talked her way out of arrest before she sprinted inside the school to grab the kids.
Videos on social media captured the moments that Gomez brought her sons and nephew out of the school. The Texas field worker and mother of two was quickly dubbed a hero in national and local publications for her courage.
The new documentary film “Uvalde Mom” follows Gomez after becoming nationally recognized — while examining the forces at play in the Uvalde community which allowed for the shooting to take place, as well as the aftermath of such a tragedy.
“All I wanted that day was my kids to come out of the school alive, and that’s what I got,” Gomez says in one pivotal moment in the film. “I don’t want to be called a hero. I don’t want to be looked at as the hero because the only job that I did that day was being a mom.”
The feature’s director Anayansi Prado was “moved” and “horrified” by what had happened and felt motivated to make a film about the event after seeing members of the affected families on TV.
“I saw that there were Latinos, they were Mexican American, that it was a border town, that it was an agricultural farming town, and that really resonated with me and with communities I’ve done film work with before,” Prado told The Times.
Prado began reaching out to people in Uvalde shortly after the shooting, but didn’t hear back from anyone for over two months due to the inundation of media requests everyone in the city was receiving. The only person to reply to her was Gomez.
Ahead of the film’s screening Saturday at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, Prado spoke with The Times about the process and the challenges of making her documentary.
This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.
Was the idea always for this project to be a feature-length film? Or were there talks of making it a short or a series?
I’ve always thought about it as a feature because I really wanted to dive in and understand Uvalde as a character. I wanted to understand the history of the criminal justice system, the educational system. I knew I wanted to make something that was going to be of a longer form rather than just a piece that was about Angeli or something. And a few people told me this would make a great short, but as I uncovered more about Uvalde, I was like, “No, Uvalde itself has its own history, just like a person.”
When it came to choosing Angeli, was she the first and only person who responded to your outreach?
I think the people in town were oversaturated with media coverage, and Angeli was the one that got back to me. What was really interesting is that I learned on that first trip [to Uvalde] about her backstory and I learned about how the criminal justice system had failed her. I saw a parallel there of how the system failed the community the day of the shooting and how it was failing this woman also individually. I wanted to play with those two stories, the macro and the personal. Once I learned who she was, beyond the mom who ran into the school, I was like, “I have to tell this woman’s story.”
How did you go about balancing her personal stuff and the failures that happened on a larger scale?
So much of the way the film is structured is reflective of my own experience as a filmmaker. It was a sort of surreal world, these two worlds were going on: what was happening to Angeli and then what was going on outside with the lack of accountability and the cover-up. So that informed the way that I wanted to structure the film.
In terms of the personal, it was a journey to gain Angeli’s trust. At some point at the beginning, she wasn’t sure she wanted to participate in the film, and so I told her, “You don’t owe me anything. I’m a stranger, but all I ask is that you give me a chance to earn your trust.” And she was like, “OK.” From there on, she opened up and, pretty quickly, we became close and she trusted me. I was very cognizant [of] her legal past and even the way she’s perceived by some folks. I also didn’t want Angeli to come off as a victim and people to feel sorry for her, but I still wanted to tell her story in a way where you get mad at the system for failing her.
What kind of struggles did you have trying to get in communication with some of the officials of the city?
We used a lot of news [archives] to represent that part of the story. The [authorities] weren’t giving any interviews, they were just holding press conferences. So access was limited, but also the majority of the time that we were filming, we were very low-key about the production — because Angeli was on probation and there was retaliation for her speaking to the media. We tried to keep it under wraps that we were filming, so not a lot of people knew about it [besides] her family. Obviously other folks in town [were] part of the film, like her friend Tina and family members. Outside of that, it was too risky to let other people in town know what was going on.
Ultimately I wanted to make [“Uvalde Mome”] a personal portrait. I was just very selective on the people that we absolutely needed to interview. I’m happy with Tina, who’s an activist in town, and Arnie, a survivor of the shooting and a school teacher, [plus] Angeli’s legal team. I felt like those were people we needed to tell a fuller story. But we just couldn’t be out in the open making a film about her and let people know.
What kind of reception have you gotten from people of Uvalde that have seen the film?
We had our premiere at South by Southwest, which was great. A lot of folks came from Uvalde and spoke about how, almost three years later, a lot of this stuff is still going on. Every time Gov. Greg Abbott came on-screen, people would scream, “Loser!” It was really moving to have those screenings.
As was expected from the folks who are not fans of Angeli, there was some backlash. It’s the same narrative you see in the film of, “She’s a criminal, don’t believe her.” It’s a town that is an open wound. I just try to have compassion for people. Ultimately, Angeli’s story is the story of one person in Uvalde of many that need to continue to be told. And I hope that other filmmakers, journalists and other storytellers continue to tell the story there, especially with the lack of closure and accountability. I’m happy that the film is putting Uvalde back into the headlines in some way; that way we don’t forget about it.
Had you ever spent an extended amount of time in Texas before?
I had been to Texas, but I hadn’t done a project in Texas. Because I’m an outsider, it was very important for me to hire a 100% local Texas crew for this film. My crew was entirely Texas-based, from our PAs to our sound to our DPs. I also wanted to have a majority Texas-born Mexican American crew so that they could guide me. We began production in September of 2022 and the atmosphere was very tense.
This is a story that is deeply rooted in the Latino community and the tension about the law enforcement in Uvalde. What was it like dealing with that tension and how did you personally feel that when you went into the town?
When I got to Uvalde, I saw that the majority of the Latino community had been there for several generations. You would think a town with that kind of Mexican American history, and them being the majority, that they’d be pretty cemented and represented, right? It was really eye-opening to see [how] these folks are still considered second-class citizens. A lot of them are being repressed. And then you have folks that get in positions of power, but they’re whitewashed in line with the white conservative agenda. So even those that are able to get into positions of power don’t lean towards the community. They turn their back on it.
I heard from folks that the history of neglect was what led to the response that day at Robb Elementary. And they’re like, “Yeah, that’s what happens on that side of town. You call the cops, they don’t come. Our schools are run-down.” You really see the disparity. This was a Mexican American community that had been there for a long time. It’s fascinating how the conservative white community, even if they’re the smaller part of the population, they can still hold the power.
Federal Communications Commissioner Anna M. Gomez traveled to Los Angeles this week to sound an alarm that attacks on the media by President Trump and his lieutenants could fray the fabric of the 1st Amendment.
Gomez’s appearance Wednesday at Cal State L.A. was designed to take feedback from community members about the changed media atmosphere since Trump returned to office. The president initially expelled Associated Press journalists from the White House, for example. He signed an executive order demanding government funding be cut to PBS and NPR stations.
Should that order take effect, Pasadena-based radio station LAist would lose nearly $1.7 million — or about 4% of its annual budget, according to Alejandra Santamaria, chief executive of parent organization Southern California Public Radio.
“The point of all these actions is to chill speech,” Gomez told the small crowd. “We all need to understand what is happening and we need people to speak up and push back.”
Congress in the 1930s designed the FCC as an independent body, she said, rather than one beholden to the president.
But those lines have blurred. In the closing days of last fall’s presidential campaign, Trump sued CBS and “60 Minutes” over edits to an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, alleging producers doctored the broadcast to enhance her election chances. CBS has denied the allegations and the raw footage showed Harris was accurately quoted.
Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, upon taking office in January, revived three complaints of bias against ABC, NBC and CBS, including one alleging the “60 Minutes” edits had violated rules against news distortion. He demanded that CBS release the unedited footage.
Gomez, in an interview, declined to discuss the FCC’s review of the Skydance-Paramount deal beyond saying: “It would be entirely inappropriate to consider the complaint against the ’60 Minutes’ segment as part of a transaction review.” Scrutinizing edits to a national newscast “are not part of the public interest analysis that the commission does when it considers mergers and acquisitions,” she said.
For months, Gomez has been the lone voice of dissent at the FCC. Next month, she will become the sole Democrat on the panel.
The longtime communications attorney, who was appointed to the commission in 2023 by former President Biden, has openly challenged her colleague Carr and his policies that align with Trump’s directives. She maintains that some of Carr’s proposals, including opening investigations into diversity and inclusion policies at Walt Disney Co. and Comcast, go beyond the scope of the FCC, which is designed to regulate radio and TV stations and others that use the public airwaves.
The pressure campaign is working, Gomez said.
“When you see corporate parents of news providers … telling their broadcasters to tone down their criticisms of this administration, or to push out the executive producer of ’60 Minutes’ or the head of [CBS] News because of concerns about retribution from this administration because of corporate transactions — that is a chilling effect,” Gomez said.
Wednesday’s forum, organized by the nonprofit advocacy group Free Press, was punctuated with pleas from professors, journalists and community advocates for help in fending off Trump’s attacks. One journalist said she lost her job this spring at Voice of America after Trump took aim at the organization, which was founded more than 80 years ago to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II.
The Voice of America’s remaining staffers could receive reduction-in-force notices later this week, according to Politico.
Latino journalists spoke about the difficulty of covering some stories because people have been frightened into silence due to the administration’s immigration crackdown.
For now, journalists are able to carry out their missions “for the most part,” said Gabriel Lerner, editor emeritus of the Spanish-language La Opinión.
But he added a warning.
“Many think that America is so exceptional that you don’t have to do anything because fascism will never happen here,” Lerner said. “I compare that with those who dance on the Titanic thinking it will never sink.”
The White House pushed back on such narratives:
“President Trump is leading the most transparent administration in history. He regularly takes questions from the media, communicates directly to the public, and signed an Executive Order to protect free speech on his first day back in office,” spokesperson Anna Kelly said. “He will continue to fight against censorship while evaluating all federal spending to identify waste, fraud, and abuse.”
FCC Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Capitol Hill.
(Alex Wroblewski / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Traditionally, the five-member FCC has maintained an ideological balance with three commissioners from the party in power and two from the minority. But the senior Democrat — Geoffrey Starks — plans to step down next month, which will leave just three commissioners: Gomez, Carr and another Republican, Nathan Simington.
Trump has nominated a third Republican, Olivia Trusty, but the Senate has not confirmed her appointment.
Trump has not named a Democrat to replace Starks.
Some on Wednesday expressed concern that Gomez’s five-year tenure on the commission could be cut short. Trump has fired Democrats from other independent bodies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Gomez said if she is pushed out, it would only be because she was doing her job, which she said was defending the Constitution.
Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) applauded Gomez’s efforts and noted that he’s long appreciated coordinating with her on more routine FCC matters, such as ensuring wider broadband internet access.
“But now the fight is the survival of the free press,” Ruiz said.
He noted that millions of people now get news from non-journalist sources, leading to a rise of misinformation and confusion.
“What is the truth?” Ruiz said. “How can we begin to have a debate? How can we begin to create policy on problems when we can’t even agree on what reality is?”
