plaintiff

When Lane Kiffin dials a number, the person on the other end usually answers and takes the call.

Todd Monken crossed paths with Kiffin many times while both crisscrossed the country for decades, taking this job and that, as head coaches and assistants at top colleges and in the NFL.

Monken became an NFL head coach for the first time in January, taking over the Cleveland Browns. Kiffin is about to begin his first season as the Louisiana State head coach, so Monken didn’t know why Kiffin’s number popped up on his screen over the weekend.

“I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out to me a week ago,” Monken told reporters Sunday. “Now I know. I didn’t call him back. I guess I should have.”

Kiffin called to tell Monken something the rookie NFL coach learned later in the day. Dae’Quan Wright, a tight end the Browns waived Sunday morning, plans to play for LSU if he clears waivers, his agents told ESPN.

Dae’Quan Wright of the Cleveland Browns warms up before a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills at Huntington Bank Field on Aug. 22.

(Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)

Wright, who went undrafted after playing for Kiffin at Mississippi, is believed to be the first player to have an agreement to return to college football after signing with an NFL team. He was with the Browns for fewer than two weeks after the Philadelphia Eagles signed him as an undrafted free agent and placed him on waivers in early August.

Although Wright didn’t play in the Browns’ two preseason games, he suited up Saturday against the Buffalo Bills because injuries to other players created a potential need. He never left the sideline.

Another NFL player being courted by Kiffin, however, saw action. . Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie linebacker Jack Pyburn recorded two sacks in a preseason victory over the New York Jets on Friday.

Pyburn, who also went undrafted after playing three years at Florida and his senior year at LSU, can regain his college eligibility if he terminates his contract with the Bucs and repays earnings. Pyburn’s deal guaranteed him $115,000 and included a $15,000 signing bonus.

LSU could pay him an estimated $1 million for his NIL, exceeding the NFL full-season rookie minimum of $885,000.

“I’m kind of caught in the middle of a whirlwind,” Pyburn told the Athletic, “and I’m just trying to play football.”

Wright and Pyburn are two of about 30 athletes who filed a lawsuit in Louisiana and were granted a temporary restraining order to return to college for one more season.

The lawsuit challenges new NCAA eligibility rules that give athletes a five-year window to compete in college sports. The plaintiffs are 2022 high school graduates whose college eligibility expired last spring under the previous rules. The NCAA did not include them in implementation of age-based eligibility, prompting lawsuits.

Several state courts have ruled in the players’ favor, and they have eligibility in the upcoming school year until appeals are ruled on. Most of the plaintiffs are basketball players, but Wright and Pyburn are two of 16 football players benefiting from the temporary restraining order granted by Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court.

A lawsuit filed in Northern California federal court by former high school football player Dominik Calhoun against the California Interscholastic Federation was dismissed for a second time on Thursday after a hearing held by Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler, who granted an 84 motion.

The judge will allow the plaintiff to file an amended complaint by Sept. 10. There’s also the chance to appeal.

Calhoun has been challenging CIF rules on high school transfers and NIL.

The CIF had stopped considering possible changes in several policies, including transfers, while the lawsuit played out.

The question is whether discussions will resume about possible transfer reforms that were discussed in April of 2025.

Christian metal band Demon Hunter is suing Netflix, alleging trademark infringement associated with the streamer’s hit film “KPop Demon Hunters.”

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Hyde Lane, the corporate entity for Demon Hunter, against Netflix, Netflix Studios and AEG Presents, the live-entertainment division of AEG, with claims that the defendants have “created a substantial likelihood of confusion” among consumers.

The metalcore band — which was formed in 2000 out of Seattle by brothers Ryan and Don Clark — claims the success of the 2025 urban fantasy flick has “eclipse[d]” the group’s “established identity” and “commercial fate,” especially as plans for a KPop Demon Hunters global concert tour were announced in May in partnership with AEG Presents.

Hyde Lane originally trademarked “Demon Hunter” in 2014 under entertainment, namely live performances. To date, the band has released 12 studio albums and amassed more than 348,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Several of its early music videos, including popular tracks like “Dead Flowers” and “Someone to Hate,” have garnered millions of views on YouTube.

In 2022, the company submitted other trademark protections for recorded music and merchandise.

By comparison, Netflix filed 10 applications under the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for “KPop Demon Hunters” for merchandise purposes starting in August 2025.

Hyde Lane has “been forced to surrender control over its commercial identity simply because Defendants have greater resources and a larger marketplace footprint,” the lawsuit states.

In the suit, the plaintiffs cite instances where there has been “consumer confusion.”

On Feb. 26, 2026, someone requested a refund after purchasing $500 tickets to a Demon Hunter show in Albany, N.Y., believing it was for a KPop Demon Hunters concert, according to the suit. “If I dont get it refunded I will not be able to purchase tickets to the actual ‘K pop demon hunters show,’” the email read.

On March 16, 2026, a producer from “Inside Edition” emailed Demon Hunter manager Ryan J. Downey to request an interview with songwriter Yu Han Lee (of KPop Demon Hunters) following the Oscar win for original song, the lawsuit states.

Additionally, the plaintiffs say the Christian band has been incorrectly tagged in connection to various KPop Demon Hunters content.

“Due to Defendants’ wrongful actions, Demon Hunter’s established identity is becoming increasingly obscured within recorded music, live touring and merchandise-related channels due to overlapping use by the KPop Demon Hunters brand,” the lawsuit states.

Hyde Lane is requesting Netflix and Netflix Studios be held liable for infringement, although no specified amount was listed in the suit.

The complaint arrives a year after the 2025 animated musical “KPop Demon Hunters” — which centered on Huntrix, a music trio who hunt demons — reached unprecedented heights, becoming Netflix’s most-watched animated original movie. Earlier this year, the film’s focus track, “Golden,” became the first K-pop song to win an Oscar.

Plans for the “KPop Demon Hunters” sequel are already underway as the lawsuit makes its way through the California court system.

WASHINGTON — A federal district judge said Tuesday that paint tests on a 19th-century historic landmark building next to the White House can go ahead, advancing President Trump’s plans to add a new coat of white paint to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, for now.

Trump has suggested the massive building be painted as part of his push to remake and beautify the nation’s capital. Planners said the paint job would cost at least $7.5 million.

The proposal to paint the building has alarmed preservationists, architects, historians and others who argue that granite is not meant to be painted and that paint would trap moisture and degrade the stone.

U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich said plaintiffs in an ongoing case had not shown that minimal tests planned for the historic building would cause irreparable harm if those tests go ahead.

The plaintiffs, which include cultural preservationist groups, had sought a restraining order and a temporary injunction to stop the Trump administration from conducting tests and other preparatory work.

At issue was whether that work would get ahead of a larger question before the court over whether the General Services Administration could delegate its authority for such a project to the Executive Office.

“The plaintiffs’ motion rises and falls on irreparable harm,” Friedrich said from the bench. The test areas would include about 8 square feet of the building’s massive exterior and several panels that can’t be seen by the public, she said.

Friedrich said that while she was allowing that test to move ahead, she would not hesitate to step in and rule if the administration moved beyond the limited testing. She asked the parties to provide a status report by next Tuesday and ordered regular reports following that.

Gregory Werkheiser, a lawyer with Cultural Heritage Partners and one of the plaintiffs, said that while he and others challenging the painting plan were disappointed, “the reasons we brought this case are untouched by today’s decision.”

The larger issue, he said, is whether “the president has taken power illegally from the GSA and put it in his office in terms of this project and the implications of that. If that holds true for historic properties around the country, that could be devastating.”

Fields writes for the Associated Press.