Malik

Players placing bets on games is taboo. Innumerable sports fans were educated on this point in 1989 when hits king Pete Rose received a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball for betting on games while he was a manager.

Or upon watching “Eight Men Out,” the 1988 film about MLB’s Black Sox Scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to lose the 1919 World Series.

Or from recent incidents, including Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley’s suspension in 2022 for a year for betting on NFL games and Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter’s lifetime ban in 2024 for betting on NBA games, giving gamblers confidential information and taking himself out of a game to affect bets.

Rose’s ban was rescinded this year, but not until after he died, with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred reasoning that the lifetime part of the ban was no longer applicable.

Former Lakers guard Malik Beasley presumably can take solace in being alive Friday when he learned that he is no longer a target of the federal gambling investigation that his attorneys said harmed his reputation and cost him millions in potential earnings.

Attorneys Steve Haney and Mike Schachter told ESPN that they were informed by the court conducting the investigation that Beasley is not suspected of gambling on NBA games during the 2023-24 season.

“Months after this investigation commenced, Malik remains uncharged and is not the target of this investigation,” Haney told ESPN. “An allegation with no charge, indictment or conviction should never have the catastrophic consequence this has caused Malik. This has literally been the opposite of the presumption of innocence.”

It was reported one day before the official start of free agency in June that Beasley was under investigation by the Eastern District of New York. And, yes, Beasley was a free agent after averaging 16.3 points a game with the Detroit Pistons and setting a franchise record with 319 three-pointers.

Result? The three-year, $42-million contract the Pistons had on the table to bring back the 28-year-old nine-year veteran was rescinded. Other suitors turned their backs as well.

Two months later, most teams have spent the money for free agents. The maximum Beasley can re-sign with the Pistons for is one year and $7.2 million. Several other teams can offer a similar or slightly more lucrative deal, but Beasley likely will sign a one-year deal.

Beasley posted a SnapChat story Aug. 6 before he had been exonerated, and he couldn’t help but sound bitter.

“People are judging me,” he said on the video. “Have I made some mistakes in my life? Yes. Am I proud of those mistakes? No. I’m human, but I know what I know… I just gotta stay positive, stay low key.

“I’ll tell you one thing, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder. I’m ready to destroy anything in front of me to prove again that I belong in this league. For those who know me, I work too hard. I work every day. I put basketball before anything.”

Beasley pleaded guilty to a felony charge of threats of violence and was sentenced to 120 days in jail in 2020. The NBA suspended him for 12 games. The three-point-shooting expert played 24 games for the Lakers in the 2022-23 season, averaging 11.1 points a game.

Beasley drew the attention of the gambling investigation when a sportsbook detected heavy betting on his statistics beginning in January 2024, according to ESPN.

A Jan. 31 game involving the Milwaukee Bucks — the team Beasley played for at the time — raised suspicions, according to ESPN’s gambling industry source. The odds on Beasley recording fewer than 2.5 rebounds shortened significantly at sportsbooks leading up to the game. Beasley, however, finished with six rebounds, and those suspicious bets lost.

PERRIE Edwards has revealed how her ex Zayn Malik contacted her after his split with Gigi Hadid – and how her footballer fiance Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain reacted to this.

The Little Mix star’s very public engagement to first love Zayn, now 32, fell apart before millions of fans.

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Just one year after Zayn found fame in One Direction on The X Factor, Perrie burst onto the scene on the same show in 2011.

Both teenagers at the time, they met when 1D returned to perform on the ITV singing contest that her band Little Mix went onto win.

Just months later, the young stars were a fully fledged couple, sharing sweet selfies from places like Disneyland.

But it was never plain sailing as Zayn was alleged to have cheated with an Australian waitress in a London club, and was later hit with more claims of infidelity.

In 2013, he demonstrated his commitment by getting a portrait of Perrie tattooed on his arm and even bought her mum a house in Dorset.

But in 2015, they split — and she was left devastated, with reports at the time that he had ended their almost four-year romance by text.

The ordeal inspired one of Little Mix’s biggest hits, the chart-topping Shout Out To My Ex.

‘TOXIC’ RELATIONSHIP

Now 32, the mother-of-one, who is happily engaged to her fiancé, footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. has discussed her “toxic” relationship with Zayn.

Speaking on this week’s Paul C. Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast, she said: “I think definitely, at the time, I thought everything we experienced in our relationship was normal. Because it was my first relationship, first love.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this is how it’s supposed to feel. It’s supposed to feel a little bit toxic. In some ways, this is probably normal, right?’.

“And then, when I became single, I was almost thinking, ‘I never, ever want to go through that again’. I didn’t even want to meet anybody. I was like, that’s me done. I don’t think I could bear that pain.

“But now, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, that probably wasn’t good’. And I’ve noticed it a lot.”

Perrie also talked about how her past pain affected the early days of her relationship with Alex, who she started dating in 2017 – two years after her Zayn split.

“Like in the start of the relationship, I would handle things differently with Alex, and he’d come at it with such a level head that it would throw me,” she said.

On what kind of man Alex is, Perrie continued: “He’s very mature. He’s very laid back. He’s very level-headed.

“He’s not the type to get mad or get angry or get funny about things. It might sound boring to some, but it’s so unproblematic.”

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ZAYN GETS IN TOUCH

Following his split from Gigi, Perrie said Zayn got back in touch with her – something that left her “uncomfortable”, especially when she had to tell Alex.

She shared: “My ex reached out and I didn’t know how to handle the situation. I’d only been with Alex like a year and a half, two years. And I felt a bit uncomfortable about it.

“And I remember sweating and panicking, thinking, ‘I’ve got to tell him that obviously I’ve spoken to him.’ And I would be terrified… And he was like, ‘Okay, well, I really appreciate you telling me, thank you for letting me know. That’s fine. Like, hopefully he doesn’t contact you again.’

“And I was thinking, ‘Okay, cool. That’s it.’”

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Perrie is now embracing life as a wife-to-be, and a mother-of-one.

The singer and her fiance Alex welcomed their son Axel, four, in 2021, and the pair are enjoying being parents.

The footballer asked Perrie to marry him in 2022, when he got down on one knee on holiday.

The happy couple have been together since November 2016, although they didn’t make their relationship public until February 2017.

A ONE Direction fan caught up in a Zayn Malik ‘cheating’ scandal has finally spoken out after keeping quiet in 2012.

13 years after a “leaked call” circulated social media, an American fan – who is now a married mother ans successful makeup artist – has claimed that she is the woman who was caught up in the scandal that took place at the height of the band’s popularity.

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In 2012, an audio clip of a man inviting a group of women up to his hotel room went viral.

At the time, fans claimed the man was Zayn, who was dating Perrie Edwards.

Due to the man on the call having a Northern accent and Zayn being from Bradford, fans were convinced it was him.

Another “clue” that left fans thinking the man on the other end of the call was Zayn was because he mentioned a friend called Harry who wanted “booty”.

At the time of the rumours swirling, Zayn did not address them.

But 13 years on, Tricia Corona has claimed she was the woman on the phone and detailed her version of events.

Taking to TikTok to describe meeting Zayn and the rest of the boys at a One Direction event at a Walmart store, she recalled: “We’re standing in line and Zayn’s making eyes at me.”

She then explained how her pals told her to give Zayn her number.

“Like the hoochie that I am – or that I was I should say because I’m a happily married woman now – I wrote my number down and I stuck it right in my bra,” she recalled.

She then claimed that as she reached the front the queue, Zayn said: “I like your jubblies [breasts].”

Tricia then recalled: “I pulled my number right out of my dress, slid it across the table and said ‘if you wanna hang out later – call me’.”

She the alleged that Zayn told bandmate Harry to put the note “in his pocket”.

Tricia then recalled how when she and her pals were driving home, she received a call.

“I answer and you can hear all of them yelling and giggling and talking,” she alleged.

“I say hello and they don’t say anything and hang up,” she went on.

Tricia then claimed that the prank call happened an “absurd amount of times”.

But then she allegedly got a call from Zayn at midnight asking her to join him at his hotel in Philadelphia. 

She agreed and her and her pals drove back.

“He’s calling me every two minutes ‘where are you? How far away are you? You have to be quicker – you have to get here fast because we do have to leave.’

“We finally get to Philly and he calls and he’s like ‘we left, we had to go, I told you. We’re going to New York City why don’t you come meet us there?’.”

Tricia then claimed Louis Tomlinson called her and said: “Don’t shoot the messenger, our tour manager has put his foot down and he says no girls back to the hotel tonight.”

Tricia then explained how she sent Zayn a text saying: “If you want to rebel against your babysitter tonight, let me know and we’ll still come.”

She then alleged that he replied saying: “F**k the babysitter, come anyway.”

Tricia and her friends then drove to New York and arrived at gone 2am.

Zayn allegedly then told hotel staff hat she was their makeup artist so she was allowed to their room.

Tricia claimed that no NDA [nondisclosure agreement] was involved but said her mother had heard the leaked audio and was upset – which is why she never spoke out at the time.

“It was not funny at the time,” she said, adding how Zayn had “his own stuff going on”.

Tricia added: “And yes he is a celebrity and all that but he is still very much a person and I didn’t want to throw him under the bus like that. 

“So you can use your imagination I guess about what happened when I got up there. 

“That’s the story of Crystabel Riley,” she concluded.

The Sun has reached out to Zayn Malik’s representatives for a comment.

Fans of the band, who were familiar with the leaked call from 13 years ago, were quick to react.

One person said: “I’VE BEEN WAITING YEARS TO HEAR STORIES LIKE THIS.”

Another added: “I have been waiting 13 years for this story.”

And a third wrote: “I never thought i’d ever be given this information. what a gift.”

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Veteran NBA player Malik Beasley is under federal investigation relating to gambling allegations in connection to league games, according to multiple media reports.

According to ESPN, which was first to report the investigation, the allegations are from the 2023-24 season when Beasley played for the Milwaukee Bucks. ESPN cited a gambling industry source who said that at least one prominent U.S. sportsbook noticed unusually heavy betting interest on Beasley’s statistics starting around January 2024.

“There have been no charges against Malik,” Beasley’s attorney, Steve Haney, told the Associated Press. “It’s just an investigation at this point. We hope people reserve judgment until he’s charged — or if he’s charged. It’s not uncommon for there to be a federal investigation.”

Haney told ABC News that he understands that the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York is leading the investigation. A spokesperson for that office declined to comment for this article.

On Sunday, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement that the league is “cooperating with the federal prosecutors’ investigation” into Beasley.

Beasley has played for six teams during his nine-year NBA career, including a stint with the Lakers during the 2022-23 season. He played for the Detroit Pistons last season, averaging 16.3 points a game and setting a franchise record by making 319 three-point shots during the regular season.

In April 2024, the NBA banned then-Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter after finding that he had violated numerous league rules in relation to sports betting, including limiting his participation in one or more games and disclosing confidential information to bettors. Porter eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and has yet to be sentenced.