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Thrill-seeker Orson Bourne visited a theme park in Italy, but later outlined several complaints and branded it the ‘worst’ he’d visited – but people don’t agree with his assessment

A thrill-seeker has expressed his frustration by admitting he “felt so disappointed” after visiting one of the most popular theme parks in Europe. Orson Bourne travelled to Italy and headed to Gardaland – a park in Verona owned by Merlin Entertainments, which also operates Alton Towers, Legoland and dozens of other resorts and attractions.

The resort boasts numerous rides and ‘lands’ dedicated to a variety of well-known franchises, including Jumanji, Peppa Pig and Peter Pan – but Orson was clearly unimpressed as he revealed in a review shared to TikTok. “Gardaland takes the biscuit, it’s the worst theme park I’ve ever been to,” he said in a video.

Orson he had to “penetrate a wall of Italian policing” prior to entry, such is the high level of security enforced by Gardaland’s owners.

He continued to complain, claiming that ropes had “cut off” half of the park on his arrival owing to their later opening times.

Orson’s first port of call was the Jumanji ride, however, he was clearly less than impressed. “All it was was screens, pitch-black corridors and emergency exit signs,” he said.

Next was the rollercoaster, Sharman, which again didn’t live up to it’s billing, according to Orson. “I spent 20 minutes queuing up, but found it actually opens at 12 – not 11, or at 10 when the park actually opened.”

Orson moved on to the newly remodelled Dragon Empire only to discover the China-themed area was also closed until 12pm.

Like its UK cousin, Alton Towers, meanwhile, Gardaland is also home to an Oblivion ride, which sees guests plummet vertically through a black hole underground. “Only a 40-minute queue to get into the queue – where you have to then queue for another 80 minutes,” Orson alleged, pointing that the park’s app only stated a 60-minute waiting time.

He added that whilst it is longer than the Oblivion back home, the Italian ride “lacked any forces”.

Orson gave another coaster – Blue Tornado – “a miss” due to its 120-minute waiting time, before slating the park’s policy on drinks – alleging staff prevented him from refilling his bottle with water. “Coffee machines at other kiosks we broken so I gave up and bought a Coke instead,” he added.

Hoping to cool off on a water ride, Orson was again put off by a “two-hour queue” on the Fuga da Atlantide log flume, before his second attempt to ride Sharman proved futile as the ride broke down an hour after he joined the queue.

Orson continued, moving on to the ‘wing coaster’, Raptor. “I waited 20 minutes in the single-rider line and it’s advertised at 80 [minutes],” he said. “It’s only one train though. It’s diabolical… one train for your main coaster.”

He closed: “I hate to be a grouch, but I think I’m going to leave. The park’s getting busier and it’s open until nine and I’m just not having fun, so what’s the point?”

Orson couldn’t resist riding steel rollercoaster, Mammut on his way out though – something that left him pleasantly surprised. “Credit where it’s due,” he praised. “A fantastic family coaster, though not so fantastic with the operations – I was told ‘no single riders’, but luckily I was able to squeeze on.”

He summed the day up in a caption: “Never has a park been so disappointing. Jumanji was so high on my bucket list for dark rides but the ride just wasn’t in a good state, it felt old and uncared for, 0 immersion and broke done frequently. As did most of the park, Its a shame as the park has the infrastructure to be an amazing place. I struggle to find a positive.”

Writing in response, however, others detailed their positive Gardaland experiences. “Love Gardaland, I live close by and go there each summer with the ticket from 6pm,” one person said. “Last time I did 11 rides (Shaman twice, Raptor, Oblivion, Jungle Rapids, Prezzemolo Magic House). I think parks in US are better, but for Italy it’s fine.”

Another praised: “You were just unlucky to go on a crowded day. I’ve always gone in October during the week and the longest I’ve waited for any attraction has been ten minutes. I love Gardaland, but you have to go when you know that children are at school and many are working.”

And a third TikTok user added: “I went to Gardaland multiple times. You went on a busy day without express so that explains the queues. In my later visits the operation were awesome and they were running all trains and everything was good. Raptor is pretty forceful in my opinion.”

One individual who agreed with Orson, hit out: “Happens when there is no alternative. There are only 2-3 big theme parks in the whole country with actual coasters, all of them are always so busy at the point that it isn’t possible to have fun.”

A Gardaland spokesperson said: “We truly value all feedback from our guests, as it helps us improve and offer the best possible experience at Gardaland Resort. We appreciate that this visitor’s experience did not meet his expectations, and we’re always committed to learning from such feedback to continue enhancing our guests’ enjoyment. Every season, we welcome millions of visitors who share very positive experiences, and we always strive to ensure that each guest leaves with great memories.

“Gardaland Resort welcomes around 3 million visitors every year and, in over 50 years of operation, has hosted more than 100 million people from all over the world. Our daily commitment is to offer memorable experiences to families and visitors of all ages, thanks to the quality of our attractions, food and beverage offerings, and the many dedicated services available.

“We understand that the guest’s visit took place during Gardaland Oktoberfest, one of our most popular seasonal events which – together with Gardaland Magic Halloween (currently underway) and Gardaland Magic Winter – has been attracting thousands of visitors for over 20 years, consistently receiving extremely positive feedback. As is the case in all major theme parks, waiting times can vary depending on attendance levels and attraction opening hours. An unfortunate single occurrence does not represent the experience that thousands of families enjoy at Gardaland every day, and we would be delighted to welcome this guest back to rediscover the magic of the Park.

“Confident that we will continue to offer magical and memorable experiences for all our guests, we remain available should the visitor wish to provide us with further details, so that we may look into this further.”

ACTOR Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted a man despite being told, “No, this is not right”, court documents allege.

The star is being sued at the High Court by the man known only as LNP, who says he suffered pain, anxiety and distress.

Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel, for LNP, says in papers filed at the court that the alleged assaults happened on about 12 occasions from 2000 to 2005.

She says: “Mr Spacey would place his own hand on the claimant’s leg without consent.

“The claimant would attempt to remove the hand and say, ‘No, this is not right’.”

She called it a “breach of trust and exploitation by a powerful man in a position of responsibility on a much younger man”.

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Ms Gumbel said that LNP had suffered “pain and suffering at the time of the abuse itself, which was exacerbated by feelings of embarrassment, shame, dirtiness and confusion”.

He also suffered “anxiety and distress and mild post-traumatic symptoms from the abuse”.

She said: “The assaults were committed in circumstances of breach of trust and exploitation by a powerful man in a position of responsibility on a much younger man.

“The claimant seeks to claim aggravated damages.”

Oscar-winner Spacey, 66, has previously denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour and wrongdoing.

He has yet to file a defence to the claim.

Available for over a year

It’s a bit of a mad one with Wayne this episode that includes Liverpool v Man Utd chat, his birthday weekend, opinions on England and Marcus Rashford, and meet-ups with 50 Cent and Ed Sheeran.

Wayne takes us inside his 40th birthday bash, but who did he dress up as? Which songs did he belt out on karaoke? And who ended up with a nasty injury?

Musician and Liverpool fan Jamie Webster joins Wayne, Kelly and Kae to discuss why their rivalry with Manchester United is the biggest in English football. But who is this match more important for: Arne Slot or Ruben Amorim?

Jamie’s appearance on the show leads to a number of musical revelations from Wayne: how did he end up on stage with 50 Cent? And Why did Coleen have to step in when he tried to change an Ed Sheeran song?

Wayne gives his thoughts on England’s World Cup qualification and explains why he’s pleased the players are less certain of their places under Thomas Tuchel. He also has strong words for Marcus Rashford’s recent comments about the “inconsistent environment” at Old Trafford not helping his form.

Meanwhile, we discover what led Wayne and Jermain Defoe to watch his entire wedding DVD together while they were away at the 2010 World Cup and what was Wayne gutted to find out on the last day at Glastonbury?

You can watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube, iPlayer, as well as listen on BBC Sounds.

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For those who know of the spectacle that is Juan Gabriel there is no explanation necessary, for those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.

A new Netflix docuseries attempts to capture the magic of the frequently bedazzled genre- and gender-defying showmanship of “El Divo de Juárez,” who died at 66 of natural causes in 2016, while also investigating the internality of the man behind Gabriel — Alberto Aguilera Valadez.

Juan Gabriel was known for his epic stage performances, where he was often accompanied by an orchestra, dancers and dozens of mariachis dressed in tight jackets and sombreros, while belting out such hits as “Hasta Que Te Conocí,” “El Noa Noa” and “Amor Eterno.”

His colorful outfits and flamboyant dance moves drew speculation about his sexuality, but he famously preferred to remain coy on the issue and to this day remains a queer icon throughout the Latin American world.

“Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will,” which premieres Oct. 30, utilizes a goldmine of hundreds of thousands of personal and never-before-seen voice recordings, photos and videos of one of Mexico’s most revered singer-songwriters, giving audiences a holistic look at the pain, joy, contradictions, artistry and genius that informed Gabriel’s worldview and perception of himself.

The project is director María José Cuevas’ second production with the streaming giant — her 2023 documentary feature “The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders” recounted the story of famous Mexican serial killer Juana Barraza, who was sentenced to 759 years in prison for killing 16 elderly women and the suspected killing of dozens more.

Cuevas’ implementation of the juxtaposed duality of Juan Gabriel and Alberto Aguilera Valadez was inspired by his insistence that the two entities were distinct yet symbiotic, as was shown in a 2014 filmed self-interview the singer conducted.

“In order to understand the greatness of Juan Gabriel, I had to know Alberto. He always played with that duality,” she said. “From a very young age he would say in interviews that he invented Juan Gabriel to shield Alberto, he invented an idol in order to protect his private identity.”

In an interview with The Times, Cuevas spoke about her personal connection to the famed singer, the overwhelming archives she had access to and the ways in which Juan Gabriel united and continues to unite people to this day.

This interview was translated and edited for length.

What was your relationship to Juan Gabriel before taking on the task of directing this documentary?

I remember clearly turning on the TV [when I was young] and seeing video clips of Juan Gabriel with his red sweater and white jeans. I later had the opportunity to go to his first performance at the Palacios de Bellas Artes in 1990 with my parents. One is accustomed to going to Bellas Artes for opera, ballet, classical music and the concert began with that formal tone, but there reached a moment where audience members couldn’t keep up the facade of elegance and everyone let their hair down.

For me that moment was incredibly revelatory, I finally noticed that he was a whirlwind in every sense of the word. I didn’t realize at the time that I was present at a such an important cultural milestone. When I watched it in retrospect, from all the camera angles we were privy to for this documentary, I got goosebumps and I wish I could go back to being 18 years old and experience it with the intensity that I have for his music now.

I think that Juan Gabriel always transports us to something personal, but also to something collective. In Mexico, Juan Gabriel’s death was a very collective experience. You would go out into the street and you would hear his music in cars, the corner store, coming out of neighbors’ houses.

How did you gain access to the vast collection of archived materials that are present in the documentary?

That’s really the treasure of the project. Juan Gabriel’s story has already been told, but what makes this project unique is that it’s a story told by [the recordings and photos] he left behind. One of the first things he did after reaching success wasn’t just to buy his mom a house, but also to buy himself a Super 8 camera. From then on he picked up the habit of recording his everyday activities as Alberto Aguilera and later on he always had a camera following around as Juan Gabriel.

From our first meetings with Netflix, I figured we should ask Gabriel’s family if they had anything to share with us. I thought maybe it would be a photo album that was laying around, maybe a box of memorabilia or a few cassettes. So it was to our great surprises when they sent us over a photo of a warehouse with shelves full of every different kind of film. It was crazy. And that’s when I remembered that Juan Gabriel’s close friend and actor Isela Vega was helping him catalog all of his videography.

I never imagined that within those videos that we’d find the public persona of Juan Gabriel and the private persona of Alberto Aguilera. Another elucidating moment was that Juan Gabriel reached a moment where he became conscious of the level of his celebrity and that it wasn’t a coincidence that he recorded most of his life. And there reached a moment where I realized he saved all these recordings so that one day people could revisit all his saved materials and they could reconstruct his personal story through what he left behind.

There’s a moment in the documentary where we’re at one of his concerts and there are men of all orientations in the crowd that are asking JuanGa to marry them. That seemed particularly powerful to me because in that moment the veil of machismo seemed to fall.

Yeah, I think an important part of making this portrait of Juan Gabriel was understanding the context of Mexico in the ‘80s. It was very conservative, very machista and then all of a sudden this guy drops in with all this talent and charisma and he says, “Here I come, get out of the way because I’m gonna conquer everyone.” And that wasn’t so simple at that time. He showed his greatness at any and every stage he was put on. He was able to win over people in every social class in a very elitist Mexico. He won over everyone from the most macho man to women.

Even greater than the achievement that was his performance at Bellas Artes were his performances in palenques when he was young. Palenques being these circular stages where you can’t hide because you’re standing right in the middle of everything. And he would take the stage late at night when everyone was already drunk and they were audiences that were, in general, very machista.

Suddenly a very young Juan Gabriel would appear to perform rancheras. I always say he was a provocateur, but also a seducer because of his ability to win over a crowd. There were audiences that would yell derogatory things at him and that’s when he’d really play with the audience.

It feels almost impossible not to be moved by the music as you watch your documentary.

He’s really magnificent. I remember throughout the whole process of making the doc and I was watching the intimate home videos of Alberto Aguilera and it really reminded me that Juan Gabriel was a human like everyone else [not just this grand entertainer]. I’d put any concert of his and I was bowing at the altar of a star. It’s amazing what a powerful character he was up on that stage.

And how have you seen JuanGa’s legacy represent something very specific in the U.S.?

For Latinos in the U.S. he’s such an important figure because his work pulls people back to their roots. One of his greatest accomplishments as a performer was when he filled the Rose Bowl in 1993. In that moment he showed his influence and strength within the Latino world. He’s absolutely one of the key figures in Latin music.

Oct. 16 (UPI) — A Fulton County, Ga., grand jury has indicted Kelvin Lanier Evans for allegedly breaking into a vehicle rented by Beyonce‘s choreographer and stealing two suitcases during the summer.

Evans, 40, is accused of breaking into choreographer Christopher Grant’s rented 2024 Jeep Wagoneer on July 8 while Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter tour made a stop in Atlanta, CBS News reported.

Local prosecutors on Thursday confirmed that a grand jury indicted Evans on charges that accuse him of breaking a window to access the vehicle and stealing two suitcases.

One or both of the suitcases contained the hard drives on which unreleased music, plans for tour video footage and set lists for respective tour dates were stored.

They also contained jewelry, clothing and other valuables that have not been recovered.

Officers with the Atlanta Police Department arrested Evans on Aug. 26 and held him at the Fulton County Jail, according to Newsweek and local police records.

Evans has remained jailed in lieu of a $20,000 bond.

Grant reported the theft upon discovering the vehicle’s rear window was broken and the two suitcases were missing.

“They have my computers, and it’s really, really important information in there,” he said while reporting the theft to 911.

“I work with someone who’s of a high status,” he added. “I really need my computer and everything.”

The grand jury indicted Evans on Monday, and he is charged with criminal trespass and entering a vehicle with intent to commit theft, ABC News reported.

A preliminary hearing initially was scheduled for Thursday but was canceled after the grand jury indicted Evans.

Evans has a local arrest record dating to January 2002, with several more since, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office.

His prior arrests include several for theft, armed robbery, assault, drug possession and other criminal violations.

Beyonce won a 2025 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for her Cowboy Carter release.

“Frankenstein” has haunted Guillermo del Toro since he was a kid who barely reached the Creature’s knees. Back in 2011, the writer-director was already tinkering with a version of the monster that resembled a blend of Iggy Pop and Boris Karloff with jagged sutures, gaunt wrinkles and a crushed nose. Since then, Del Toro has made changes. The 2025 model is played by Jacob Elordi, a 6-foot-5 actor often cast as the ideal human specimen in movies like “Saltburn” and who here howls to life with handsome features and rock star swagger. But your eyes keep staring at his pale, smooth seams. He doesn’t look hand-stitched — he looks a little like a modern android.

Of course he does. The decades have given Del Toro time to think about what truly scares him. It’s not monsters. He loves all disfigured nasties, be they swamp creatures, eyeball-less ogres or bolt-headed Hellboys. It’s tech bros, like the ones weaseling into Hollywood, who give their every innovation a sterile sheen.

“Frankenstein” is the director’s lifelong passion project: He doesn’t just want to make a “Frankenstein” but the “Frankenstein,” so he’s faithfully set his adaptation in the past. But he’s adjusted the wiring so that 1850s Europe reminds us of Silicon Valley. The result is the best movie of his career.

This Baron Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) is a short-sighted egomaniac who barks over his critics while jabbing the air with his fingers. “I fail to see why modesty is considered a virtue,” he says with a snort.

And Del Toro has written Victor an enabler: a deep-pocketed investor named Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz) who struts into Victor’s science lecture hunting for a whizkid to crack the code to immortality. With his gold-heeled shoes and a confidence that he’s too rich to die, Waltz’s wealthy arms dealer is a 19th century take on venture capitalists like Bryan Johnson and Peter Thiel who’ve been poking into the feasibility of pumping their veins with young blood.

“Don’t be a reasonable man,” Henrich advises Victor. The assumption is — and remains — that tycoons and geniuses deserve to run rampant. Great success demands an indifference to the rules. And if you’re wondering whether money or brains has more power, there’s a scene in which Henrich uses a chamber pot and smugly orders Victor to “flush that for me.”

Del Toro is wired into the outrage in Mary Shelley’s sly 1818 novel, a nightmarish satire about men who care only about yelling “first!” without asking what horrors come next. Centuries ago, she warned of man’s ill-considered rush to create artificial intelligence. Today, Dr. Frankenstein’s descendants keep promising that AI won’t destroy civilization while ignoring Shelley’s point, that the inventor is more dangerous than his monster.

Victor, a stunted man-child who drinks milk served by a sommelier, is frozen in the I’ll-show-him stage of growing up with an abusive father (Charles Dance) who whipped him when he got a wrong answer on his schoolwork. Victor’s name, we’re reminded, means “winner,” a symbol of the pressure he’s under to excel.

Isaac plays him with a pitchman’s exuberance that sags as the corners of his mouth wrench down in disappointment. He’s hacked how to make a disembodied head moan in agony. But having rarely felt affection, Victor doesn’t know how to generate that emotion at all. Worse, it hasn’t occurred to him to think past the triumph of his product launch, that his Creature can’t be readily unplugged. The only kind characters in the movie are a rural blind man (David Bradley) and the moth-like Mia Goth, double-cast as Victor’s mother, Claire, and his brother’s fiancee, Elizabeth. A convent girl with a creepy streak, Elizabeth sees beauty in biology, leaning over a corpse’s flayed back to appreciate the intricacy of its ventricles. But the more she studies Victor, the less impressed she gets.

Because Shelley came up with “Frankenstein” as an 18-year-old newlywed who’d just lost a baby, her message gets boiled down to gender: Women birth life, men mimic it. Really, the feminine strength of the book lies in its foxy, shifting narration that opens with a prologue from an Arctic explorer who’s gotten his sailors trapped in the ice, before transitioning to Victor’s story and then the Creature’s. Like a hostess who secretly loathes her guests, Shelley encourages her characters to flatter themselves and expose their braggadocio.

Del Toro has kept that tactic and he’s kept the book’s structure. But within that framework, he’s changed nearly everything else to make Victor more culpable. Unlike the 1931 film, there’s no Igor and no excuse of accidentally using the wrong brain. This Victor does his own dirty work and what goes wrong is his fault. Meanwhile, Del Toro amps up the action, starting the film off with a ghastly great sequence in which Elordi’s Creature punches a sailor so hard his spine snaps into a backward somersault.

“What manner of devil made him?” the Captain (Lars Mikkelsen) exclaims. Victor guiltily explains why he played God.

Being a futurist isn’t bad. Henrich, an early adopter of daguerreotype cameras, shoots photographs of women posing with skulls like he’s paving the way for Del Toro’s whole filmography. But pompous Henrich and Victor don’t appreciate that their accomplishments are built on other’s sacrifices. When the cinematographer Dan Laustsen pans across a battlefield of dead soldiers, it feels like a silent scream. Henrich made his fortune killing these men; now, Victor will salvage their body parts.

Del Toro delights in the kinetic gusto of the tale, the grotesquerie of cracking limbs and blood sloshing about Victor’s shoes. In the laboratory, dead leaves and buzzing flies whirl through the air as if to keep up with the inventor’s wild ambitions and Alexandre Desplat’s swirling orchestral score. The production design by Tamara Deverell is superb as are the costumes by Kate Hawley, who shrouds Goth in dramatic chiffon layers and dresses laced to highlight her vertebrae. (This movie loves bones as much as Sir Mix-A-Lot loved backs.)

As Victor rudely flings around torsos and limbs, it’s clear that he only values life if it’s branded with his name. So yes, of course, Elordi’s Creature looks good. He’s been assembled from the choicest bits of man flesh to show off the talent of his creator, not so different from Steve Jobs caressing samples of brushed aluminum. When Elordi’s Creature pleads for a companion, a sliver of sculpted abs peeking out from under five hulking layers of wool and fur, you expect half the audience’s hands to shoot up and volunteer.

Elordi has adopted one or two of Karloff’s mannerisms: the arms outstretched in search of warmth, the lurching walk. You can see that he’s a tad lopsided on the left side, presumably because Victor couldn’t find matching femurs. Mostly, he’s his own monster, neither the calculating serial murderer of the book nor Karloff’s reactive, animalistic killer, but a scapegoat who finally starts leveling his foes with bone-breaking efficiency.

Towering over Victor by almost a foot, Elordi’s Creature dwarfs his creator physically, morally and emotionally. There’s anguish in his eyes, and when Del Toro shows us the world through his perspective, humanity itself appears anti-life, a pestilence that destroys without hesitation.

There’s a pack of digital wolves that just looks silly. Otherwise, you trust how intensely Del Toro has doted upon every detail. I was flummoxed by a row of servants flanking young Victor (Christian Convery) who appeared to be wearing gauzy bags over their heads. What are those for? My theory is it’s a tribute to the veil Karloff sported during lunch breaks, so as not to frighten any pregnant secretaries on the Universal lot.

Eschewing mobs of pitchfork-wielding villagers, Del Toro focuses on Victor’s inability to parent his unholy son. And while the end stretch gets a bit too stiff and speechy, particularly with a line that Victor is the “true monster,” I loved the moment when the Creature, venting on behalf of all frustrated children however big they‘ve grown, growls, “The miracle is not that I should speak but that you would listen.”

This deservedly anticipated “Frankenstein” transforms that loneliness into stunning tableaux of Victor and his immortal Creature tethered together by their mutual self-loathing. One man’s heart never turned on. One can’t get his heart to turn off. Ours breaks.

It felt like the kind of thing that must happen in Hollywood all the time: a hundred bucks to be a movie extra.

Austin Beagle, 31, and Nevada Barker, 30, said they were trying to sign up for food stamps this spring when someone offered them a background role outside a county social services office in Long Beach. They thought the gig seemed intriguing, albeit a bit unusual.

The offer came not from a casting director, but a man hawking free cellphones. The filming location was, oddly enough, a law firm in downtown Los Angeles.

Like many DTLA clients, Austin Beagle and Nevada Barker signed a retainer agreement that entitles the firm to 45% of their payout.

(Joe Garcia / For The Times)

Maybe this was how actors were recruited here, they figured. The couple had recently moved from the remote ranching town of Stinnett in the Texas panhandle, and the recruiter seemed to appreciate their Southern drawl. They hopped on a bus, excited to make $200 between them.

“They said we’d be extras,” said Beagle, who was unemployed at the time. “But when we got to the office, that’s not what it was at all.”

The couple said they arrived at the lobby of Downtown LA Law Group. A Times investigation published earlier this month found seven plaintiffs represented by the firm who claimed they received cash from recruiters to sue the county over sex abuse, which could violate state law. Two said they had never been abused and were told to manufacture their claims.

Downtown LA Law Group has denied any involvement with the recruiters who allegedly paid plaintiffs. The firm said in a statement it would never “encourage or tolerate anyone lying about being abused” and has been conducting additional screening to remove “false or exaggerated claims” from its caseload.

Four days after The Times’ investigation was published, the firm asked for a lawsuit on behalf of Carlshawn Stovall, one of the men who said he fabricated claims, to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be refiled.

The firm requested a second case spurred by Juan Fajardo, who said he made up a claim using the name of a family member, to be dismissed with prejudice on Sept. 9 after Fajardo says he told lawyers he wanted to drop the lawsuit.

Now, with Beagle and Barker, two more have come forward to allege they were told to invent the stories that led to their lawsuits.

Austin Beagle and Nevada Barker said they’d been in Southern California only a few months when they were flagged down outside a social services office where they were hoping to enroll in food stamps. The couple have since moved back to Stinnett, Texas.

(Joe Garcia / For The Times)

The couple said that when they arrived at DTLA’s offices in April, a man came down to the lobby with a clipboard and gave them a piece of paper to memorize before going upstairs. They assumed this was the role they’d be playing — with room to go off script.

“They told us to say that we were sexually abused and harassed by the guards in … Las P? I can’t think of the institution’s name,” said Beagle, who added he was told to say the incidents occurred around 2005.

“The worse it was the better,” he recalled being told.

On April 29, Downtown LA Law Group filed a lawsuit against the county on behalf of 63 plaintiffs, including Beagle and Barker, who claimed they were abused at Los Padrinos, L.A. County’s juvenile hall in Downey. The couple are now part of the $4-billion settlement.

Allegations of potential fraud and pay-to-sue tactics have rocked both L.A. County government and powerhouse law firms, which are scrambling to figure out how to salvage the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history.

Perhaps no group has been shaken more than sex abuse victims themselves, who fear allegations of false claims could derail what they hoped would be a life-changing settlement.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Jimmy Vigil, 45, who sued the county in December 2022 for alleged sexual abuse by a probation officer at a detention camp in Lancaster.

Vigil said he was repeatedly molested as a 14-year-old and forced to masturbate in front of other teens while the guard watched.

“It makes me feel disgusted,” said Vigil, now a mental health case manager in Ventura County. “You have absolutely no clue what I went through. You have no clue how hard I have strived in life to make it to where I am at today.”

Jimmy Vigil, now a mental health case worker in Ventura, said he was repeatedly molested as a teenager and forced to masturbate in front of other teens.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Barker and Beagle said that after memorizing the card with the basics of their story, they were taken upstairs to a room at DTLA’s office where about 20 people were waiting. Everyone seemed confused, they said.

They “were asking us ‘Hey, did y’all promise to get paid? And we said ‘Yeah, somebody told us that we’d get paid $100 if we come in,” Beagle said. “Everybody was just concerned about getting paid whatever they were promised.”

DTLA said in a statement it has “never directed, nor do we have any knowledge that anyone was ever paid, hired, or brought to the DTLA office, or was asked to memorize a script of any kind under the guise of filmmaking,”

“We are not filmmakers,” the firm said. “No one authorized on behalf of the firm has ever promised or implied movie extra work as a means of retaining clients.”

Beagle and Barker said they were called in together to a glass cubicle where a woman spent 15-20 minutes asking them questions about their story of abuse. Barker said she struggled to come up with details because “it was all made-up stuff.”

Beagle said he thought maybe the staffers in the law firm were also acting, pretending not to know this was “a fake thing.”

“Like, they were testing us all out to see if we knew how to act — just play the part,” Beagle said. “Like, this was a trial thing.”

The couple said they were befuddled at the interaction but figured they’d done enough to get their money; the receptionist told them to come back in a few hours to collect.

The firm said, in some circumstances, it provides “interest free loans to clients once they have retained our services.”

Beagle and Barker said they frittered away two hours at Pershing Square a few blocks away until around 4 p.m. It was only when they came back to the firm, they said, that it became clear there was no movie.

A man named Kevin paid them $100 each, and told them they were part of a massive settlement involving juvenile halls they’d never heard about until that afternoon. The man told them they could get $100 for each additional person they referred to go through the same process, Beagle said.

“We walked out thinking I don’t know how legit this is and we might even get f— in trouble for it,” Beagle said.

Like most sexual abuse lawsuits, the suit was filed using only plaintiffs’ initials. The Times reviewed paperwork that DTLA provided to Beagle and Barker, which they signed in order to become clients on April 21 and to opt into the L.A. County settlement on May 29.

Under the settlement, each plaintiff could be eligible for anywhere from $100,000 to $3 million. Retainer agreements for Beagle and Barker reviewed by The Times show DTLA would get 45% of their payout.

Beagle and Barker said they aren’t banking on getting any money from L.A. County. After all, they said, they grew up in Texas, more than a thousand miles away from the abuse-plagued facilities.

“We need it, but it’s not ours. It’s like finding a wallet,” Barker said. “Return it.”

A Times investigation published earlier this month found plaintiffs represented by Downtown LA Law Group who claimed they received cash from recruiters to sue L.A. County over sex abuse. Four now say they were told to make up the claims.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Among some survivors, there is a palpable fear that the fraud allegations will steamroll the settlement, overshadowing the fact that many county-run facilities were home to unchecked abuse and torpedoing their chance of receiving a life-changing sum.

The Times interviewed eight victims for this article represented by Slater Slater Schulman, ACTS LAW Firm, McNicholas & McNicholas, and Becker Law Group. Many said they were aghast at learning the worst years of their life may have become fodder for quick cash.

“It felt like a kick in the gut,” said Trinidad Pena, 52. “For somebody just to lie about it was just sickening.”

On Sept. 18, Pena said, she was eating a pancake breakfast at a homeless services center in Long Beach when she learned she had something in common with a woman sitting on the picnic bench next to her.

Both had filed lawsuits against L.A. County alleging sexual abuse at county-run facilities. Both of them were part of the county’s $4-billion settlement. But she was the only one, she believed, who had actually been abused.

The woman told her she’d been paid $20 to sue by a woman who hung around on the sidewalk outside the community center clutching a clipboard, she said.

The Times could not reach the recruiters allegedly responsible for paying plaintiffs for comment.

Trinidad Pena, who sued in 2022 over sex abuse, said she was jarred to find herself at breakfast with a woman who told her she’d been paid to sue the county.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Pena sued L.A. County in December 2022 over an alleged rape when she was 12 by a staff member at MacLaren Children’s Center, a shuttered youth shelter now infamous for predatory staff. No amount of cash is going to erase the scars from that, she says. But it would help.

Last month, Pena traded in her New Orleans shotgun apartment for the streets of Southern California, where she was raised. The move was, she said, a Hail Mary attempt to get medical treatment through the state’s public benefits for a cyst sprouting behind her right eye that made her vision wobble and her head crackle with pain.

She is currently living on $1,206 a month in and out of her van with a failing shunt in her head, which doctors implanted to treat her cyst. She eats mostly the nonperishable Trader Joe’s snacks she brought from Louisiana.

A six- or seven-figure settlement could help save her life, Pena said.

“I’m going to have myself a hell of a Charlie Sheen party and take a nosedive off a balcony at the Chateau Marmont if I do not get some sort of relief,” said Pena, who says she grew up in foster care near the legendary West Hollywood hotel.

Part of what has made the false claims so infuriating, victims say, is that L.A. County youth detention facilities were indeed home to horrific abuse decades ago.

Kizzie Jones, 47, said she’s on antidepressants as a result of a female probation officer who allegedly molested her twice a week and groomed her with bags of chips and bottles of conditioner.

Robert Williams, 41, says he has no friends — a near-total isolation he said traces back to repeated sexual assaults in the shower he suffered as a teen.

Mario Paz, 39, said a guard molested him under the guise of soothing his genitals with milk after he was pepper sprayed while naked. The abuse, he says, has left him traumatized to the point that he is unable to change his children’s Pampers.

All three of them filed lawsuits against the county alleging sexual abuse by county probation officers.

Mario Paz, 39, said his time at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall left him traumatized and damaged the relationship he has with his own children.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“For someone to capitalize on something that they never endured or never experienced, I think it’s a travesty,” said Cornelious Thompson, a 51-year-old community health worker, who sued the county in December 2022.

When he was around 13 at Los Padrinos, Thompson says he was put on psychiatric medication that knocked him out. He woke up in his unit sore with his pants hanging by his knees, bleeding. It took him years to tell anyone.

He said he recently lost his job with a contractor for the county’s health department due to budget cuts. The county had to slash spending, in part, to pay for the $4-billion settlement.

It was “bittersweet,” he says, losing his job because the county was finally paying for what he said he endured as a teenager.

Only now, a new fear has crept in as two more people say they made up claims: Will he still be believed?

Police Scotland

Claire Leveque

Police Scotland

‘Quite unimaginable violence’

‘Hard to comprehend’

A presenter has revealed he is the recognisable voice behind the Channel 4 programme introductions we see most days – and shared what a day in the life looks like

When sitting down to watch television on a night, we get used to seeing repeated adverts, familiar channel logos, and presenters. One voiceover artists has shared what really happens before you hear programme introductions on Channel 4.

Sam Darlastone works as a presenter on Kiss radio and has his own podcast called Embarrassing For No Reason. He also works as a voiceover artist, whose voice you may recognise in between programmes on Channel 4. Now he opened up about how it works. On Instagram, he shared a video of him introducing what was on. Sam said: “If you’ve heard this sort of thing on TV, this is how it comes together. So you may have heard that or something similar on TV before that is called a trending menu.”

READ MORE: ‘I’m an American living in the UK and one common thing here is suspicious back home’

Explaining, the presenter added: “So trending menus actually start way before they reach the voice overs here at Channel 4, the team will pick three shows to focus on, some will be old some will be new, well most will be new.”

He noted there will be a mix of genres included in the announcement. He shared: “When I finally get there [to the Channel 4 studios] my job is to spend the afternoon scripting, which sometimes surprises people because in certain voiceover rolls you wouldn’t write your own script, but for these we do.”

Sam added he will be giving a brief with a time slot, typically around 20 seconds, and three programmes to talk about.

He noted: “Then we head down to the recording booth – or some people call it the dungeon.”

He claimed he records with the video of the show in front of him. He also previously admitted that sometimes he makes mistakes and doesn’t always get it perfect on the first try.

“Great to put a face to the voice,” commented one. “I love this geeky stuff,” said another. One called Sam “the coolest guy for the coolest channel”.

“Love a good insight into some art being made,” wrote a third. Another added: “Love listening to your voice.”

Another wrote: “You’re the Channel 4 voiceover! I’ve heard your voice loads while watching Friday Night Dinner and Channel 4 Player.”

One other said: “I will never hear your channel 4 voice overs the same again.”

“I’ve often thought about this – and no can see the face to the voice,” one other added.

MANCHESTER UNITED are one of multiple Premier League clubs interested in Jobe Bellingham, younger brother of Real Madrid star Jude.

Bellingham, 20, followed in his brother’s footsteps when he left newly-promoted Sunderland to join German giants Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

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But now, according to reports from German outlet Bild, the midfielder’s next move could bring him back to the UK.

The highly-rated prospect has struggled to find minutes under manager Niko Kovac after starting in the opening two games of the season.

He has played just 74 minutes in the four league games since those games, and could grow frustrated at the lack of opportunities at the club, having been the main man at Sunderland last season.

These frustrations didn’t take long to boil over, with Jobe’s father Mark Bellingham reportedly storming to the dressing room to confront club officials after the youngster was substituted at half-time in their season opener against St Pauli.

The fallout from the scene saw the families of all players banned from the dressing room at Signal Iduna Park.

And it was not the only distraction affecting the youngster off the field, following news emerging on Monday that Mark and Jobe’s mother Denise Bellingham have appeared to separate after more than twenty years together.

United would pose an interesting option for the Stourbridge native to rekindle his meteoric rise, with their midfield struggles being one of their biggest issues under Ruben Amorim this season.

There is a sense that despite having much left to prove on the biggest stages, Bellingham could make an instant impact at Old Trafford.

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However, if game time is the deal-breaker in Dortmund, then tales such as that of the consistently snubbed teenager Kobbie Mainoo could be a warning sign to steer clear.

Bellingham joined the Germans in summer for a fee of £27million, and it is hard to picture the Red Devils getting him for anything less than that.

Another club interested in the England youth international’s services is reportedly Crystal Palace, who were also interested in him while he was with the Black Cats.

Palace have been excellent this season, sitting four places above United in sixth, despite having European football to contend with.

He could partner Eagles starlet Adam Wharton, or potentially open the door for an exit for the 21-year-old, who United are also interested in.

A MAN has been charged with manslaughter following the death of a 43-year-old man last month.

Michael John Edwards died in hospital after he was taken by an ambulance from the scene in a life-threatening condition.

Met Police and ambulance were called to reports of an altercation in Southwark just before 3am on Saturday, September 13.

He was believed to have been in the area for the Crystal Palace v Sunderland match.

Edwards from Nuneaton, Warwickshire was taken from the scene to a central London hospital.

He died from injuries four days later on Wednesday, September 17.

Lewis Macleod, 36, appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Monday where he was charged with manslaughter in connection with Michael’s death.

He had previously been charged with one count of causing grievous bodily harm.

A trial will begin at Inner London Crown Court on April 13, 2026.

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MANCHESTER UNITED wonderkid Jim Thwaites has been hailed as a “cheat code” by fans.

The youngster has been added to first-team training by manager Ruben Amorim.

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Thwaites, 17, plays in central midfield and has already seen comparisons to United legends David Beckham and Paul Scholes.

Reports have claimed that he trained with United’s senior players on Friday.

This came following his brilliant performances in the youth sides so far this season.

It is claimed that he is viewed as one of the most technically good players in the academy.

It is added that Amorim and his coaching staff have been impressed in the sessions he has had with the first team.

Thwaites has also been likened to Barcelona and Spain midfielder Pedri with his ball skills.

This is extended to his passing vision as he often breaks defensive lines with his through balls.

The midfielder also possesses plenty of ability in carrying the ball forward up the pitch.

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There is said to be some hope among the coaching staff that he can continue to impress and get an opportunity in the first team this season.

Thwaites has made 48 appearances across the United U18s and U21s, scoring 12 goals and assisting four times.

He was a part of the U18s side that won their age category Premier League in the 2023/2024 season.

Videos of his performances have started to flood social media, leaving plenty of fans optimistic over his potential.

Clips of his matches showed he was comfortable on the ball and able to beat opposition presses multiple times.

One fan posted: “Jim Thwaites is a first-phase cheat code.

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“Press him at any speed, from any angle, he will find a solution and move his team up the pitch.”

A second wrote: “This is more of what we need in our midfield.”

A third commented: “I am always happy watching this boy play, very good player.”

A fourth said: “They not ready for this Michael Carrick regen.”

Another added: “Like Scholes and Beckham wrapped into one.”

Thwaites appeared for United in the pre-season 1-0 defeat to ASEAN All-Stars and left a good impression on Amorim.

The manager suggested that there would be “space” in the squad for players like the teenager.

He said: “I think Jimmy [Thwaites], in the last 15 minutes, as a midfielder, he wants to play.

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“It doesn’t matter how many minutes. These kind of young kids are really important. They will have space in our team.”

Meanwhile, United will be itching to get back on the pitch to try and keep the momentum after beating Sunderland before the international break.

Their first match will be away at Anfield against the reigning Prem champions Liverpool.

This will then be followed by clashes with Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest.

TOURISTS were left stunned as a man brazenly urinated on a Vatican altar during Holy Mass – in full view of hundreds of worshippers.

The shocking act of desecration unfolded inside St Peter’s Basilica on Friday morning.

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The unidentified man climbed the steps of the Altar of Confession – one of the most sacred spots in Catholicism, where the pope himself traditionally celebrates mass.

Once at then top, he dropped his trousers to his ankles and began urinating over the holy site, according to Corriere della Sera.

The disgusting scene took place during the 9am Holy Mass where stunned visitors looked on in disbelief.

Security officers raced towards the man as the crowd gasped.

Cops grabbed him and dragged him away from the altar as he finished his vile act.

But before they could escort him out, the man bent down so he could pull up his jeans – flashing his bare backside to the horrified onlookers.

The clip, filmed by shocked tourists, has since gone viral online.

“That is absolutely shocking and deeply disrespectful,” wrote one viewer.

“This is vile,” said another.

“There is definitely not enough security here,” a third person added.

It remains unclear whether Pope Leo XIV was present at the time.

The Vatican has not yet released an official statement.

But according to reports, the Pope was “shocked” when he heard what had happened.

The Altar of Confession sits directly beneath Michelangelo’s dome and is considered one of the holiest places in the catholic world.

It’s where the pope often celebrates major masses – and where, in April, Pope Francis was laid in response for public viewing before his funeral.

Because of its significance, the Altar has repeatedly been targeted by intruders in recent years.

In February, a man climbed onto the same altar and knocked six candelabras to the floor.

In February, a man climbed onto the same altar and knocked six candelabras to the floor.

In June 2023, a naked Polish man leapt onto the altar during Mass.

He didn’t speak or cause further damage, but he had the words “Save children of Ukraine” scrawled across his back.

Following that stunt, the Vatican held a penitential rite to cleanse the grounds – a ceremony required under canon law to restore sanctity after desecration.

Friday’s incident has sparked renewed questions about security inside one of the world’s most sacred and most visited churches.

St Peter’s Basilica attracts millions of visitors each year, with tourists often crowding the altar area to witness the grandeur of Vatican ceremonies.

Authorities have not said whether the man has been arrested or charged.

The Vatican’s Holy See Press Office is yet to comment publicly.

The shocking desecration comes amid a wider crackdown on tourists and foreign visitors in Italy.

Earlier this year, the Italian government tightened citizenship laws, making it far harder for Australians and other foreigners to get passports by descent.

In Venice, officials doubled the entry fee for day-trippers and expanded the days it applies.

Last year, two unruly tourists caused outrage after stripping off and swimming in front of a cemetery.

They were spotted by commuters leaving their clothes on the banks of the San Michele Cemetery before plunging into the water.

The Isola di San Michele is home to both a cemetery and a church, and is the burial site of several famous figures, including Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky.

The repeated stunts and security breaches at major religious sites have raised concerns about how well such locations are being protected.

Friday’s stunt – carried out at the heart of the Vatican – is likely to intensify calls for a security overhaul.

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Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist, Elijah Wynder also scored a goal and the Galaxy beat FC Dallas 2-1 on Saturday night.

Pec put away a shot from nearly the penalty spot to give the Galaxy (6-18-9) a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute.

Dallas (10-12-11) is eighth in the Western Conference with 41 points, three behind seventh-place Portland. Salt Lake and Colorado are tied with 40 points.

Logan Farrington was shown a straight red card in the 16th minute and Dallas played a man down the rest of the way.

Wynder slipped behind the defense and ran onto a long ball ahead played by Pec and then scored on a shot from the edge of the penalty area that deflected off goalkeeper Michael Collodi, who had charged off his line, to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.

Anderson Julio put away a first-touch finish — off a cross played by Samuel Sarver — from the center of the area to make it 1-1 in the 52nd.

The Galaxy had 67% possession and outshot Dallas 13-9.

Kyren Williams did not know if the questions would come, but if they did he was prepared.

The Rams running back was less than a week removed from fumbling at the one-yard line during a 26-23 overtime defeat by the San Francisco 49ers.

Now he is in Pacific Palisades, preparing to work with youth flag football players practicing for the first time since last January’s wildfires.

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Gary Klein breaks down what to expect from the Rams as they prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday before flying to London ahead of their Week 7 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“If they ask me, ‘Man, why did you fumble?’” Williams said, raising the pitch of voice to resemble a child’s, “I’m going to tell them exactly why it happens — because it happens.

“They’re wondering more than anything. They’re not trying to knock you down. So for me, tell them how it was, be accountable. Be honest about it and tell them, ‘Man, mistakes happen. … I’m going to grow from this mistake and it’s not going to define who I am.’”

Williams, 25, is eager to get back onto the field on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens and show that he has moved on from his mistake.

The third-year pro, who received a $23-million extension before the season, is an integral part of an offense that features quarterback Matthew Stafford, the NFL’s leading passer, and receiver Puka Nacua, the league’s leading receiver.

Williams has rushed for 368 yards and a touchdown. He has 16 catches for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

In three-plus regular seasons and three playoff games, Williams has touched the ball as a running back or receiver 805 times. He has fumbled 11 times.

Williams was not the only running back to fumble against the 49ers. Backup Blake Corum dropped the ball on a pitch play.

But Williams’ miscue came at a more dramatic moment.

The Rams were trailing 23-20 when Stafford drove them to the three-yard line with just more than one minute left in the game. Williams took a handoff and plowed toward the goal line, but the 49ers knocked the ball from his grip and recovered the fumble.

Rams running back Kyren Williams, center, loses the ball on a fumble late in the fourth quarter against the 49ers on Oct. 2.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Williams also was stopped on a fourth-and-one play at the 11-yard line in overtime to end the game.

Afterward, he blamed himself for the fumble that he said cost the Rams the victory. The feeling lingered into the next week.

“Throughout the game, I had great ball security,” Williams said. “The one time that I saw pay dirt, I saw green, and I let up and I saw what happened.

“So for me the lesson I learned throughout the situation is, man, you can’t be comfortable until all double zeroes are on that clock.”

Coach Sean McVay said the Rams would take steps to improve ball security. But he stood by Williams.

“Love that guy.” McVay said. “I’m riding with him, and we have to figure out a way to improve, and he’ll be the first to take accountability, which is why you want to put your arm around him and be right there with him.”

As Williams moves forward, he anticipates sharing lessons learned from the situation during his charitable work.

Rams running back Kyren Williams instructs young flag football players in Pacific Palisades on Oct. 7.

(Gary Klein / Los Angeles Times)

Last Monday, Williams met with Molly Higgins, the Rams executive vice president of community impact and engagement, and told her that he wanted to commit to an event or an opportunity every Tuesday of the season.

“After a tough game on Thursday night, for him to want to sit down on Monday, I was fully prepared to say, ‘Hey, we can take a beat,’” Higgins said. “But he was like, ‘No, I want to sit down.”

Said Williams: “I know how when I was little, seeing people who I wanted to be like, how I was inspired and impacted and motivated. … So for me it’s remembering who I was and kind of trying to go above and beyond.”

Williams plans to do the same on the field when the Rams attempt to bounce back against the Ravens.

The fumble against the 49ers will not define him.

“I’m not happy that it happened the way that it did,” he said. “But I’m able to grow from the situation. I’m able to overcome it and show people that like, man, I’m so much better than what I put out there.

“So I can’t wait.”

Of course, injury could definitively intervene in the destination of the Golden Boot, but there are two reasons why Haaland is such a strong favourite for the award so early.

First, the number of goals he has already scored – and, just as importantly, the number and quality of chances he is getting. And second, the slow start his usual rivals for the prize have made.

A player’s expected goals number (xG) signifies how many goals a Premier League player has historically scored from the number and quality of chances he has had.

It is not a number randomly picked by statistics boffins, but by Premier League history.

And if we look at players’ xG in the Premier League so far this season from normal play, the Norway forward is getting so many more good opportunities to score than anyone else.

Indeed, even if Haaland were no better at finishing chances than anyone else in the league, he would still have scored more than twice as many goals as everyone else.