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NEW YORK — After President Trump’s reported intervention, Paramount Pictures is set to distribute Brett Ratner’s “Rush Hour 4,” a project that Hollywood had eschewed after earlier sexual misconduct allegations against the director.

Paramount Pictures on Tuesday was in closing talks to distribute the film, according to a person close to the negotiations who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to announce a deal. Paramount would be stepping in to take a distribution fee on the film, not finance it.

In 2017, during the #MeToo movement, six women said Ratner sexually harassed them in a Los Angeles Times report. Warner Bros., which had a $450-million co-financing deal with his production company, severed ties with Ratner. Ratner, who denied the allegations, hasn’t produced a film this decade.

But on Sunday, Semafor reported that Trump personally requested Paramount take on “Rush Hour 4.” Paramount recently merged with Skydance in an $8-billion deal that required regulatory approval from the Trump administration. Trump has praised the studio’s new chair and chief executive, David Ellison, the son of Oracle executive chair and prominent Trump supporter Larry Ellison.

The White House didn’t immediately comment Wednesday.

Ratner had been shopping “Rush Hour 4” after Warner Bros., which released the three previous films in the franchise, passed on the project. The movie would reteam Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in the action-comedy series launched in 1998, with sequels in 2001 and 2007.

Ratner has managed to get one other film made: a documentary on First Lady Melania Trump. Earlier this year, Amazon MGM Studios acquired the film for a reported $40 million. It’s set to open in theaters Jan. 30.

Coyle writes for the Associated Press.

A high-ranking employee at the Department of Water and Power made staffers run personal errands for her, including purchasing tickets to a Snoop Dogg concert, according to the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission’s director of enforcement.

Renette Anderson, who has worked as an executive assistant to the DWP’s general manager since 2002, asked subordinates to book a plane ticket for her personal travel, make physical therapy appointments for her, purchase party supplies for a non-work party at her home and make a service appointment at a Mercedes Benz dealership for her personal vehicle, wrote the enforcement director, Kenneth Hardy, in an accusation document dated Nov. 4.

Anderson’s requests to two DWP employees, Brian Johnson and Angenee Reygadas, were made during work hours in 2022 and 2023, and the employees used city resources to fulfill the requests, Hardy wrote.

On June 22, 2023, after the Snoop Dogg & Friends concert at the Hollywood Bowl was canceled, Anderson asked Johnson to request a refund, Hardy wrote.

Hardy accused Anderson of seven counts of misusing her city position to create a personal benefit for herself. If the parties do not come to an agreement, the Ethics Commission will hold a hearing and decide what penalties to impose. Each count comes with a potential $5,000 fine.

John Harris, an attorney for Anderson, did not respond to a request for comment.

Paola Adler, a spokesperson for the DWP, said the department cannot comment on personnel matters but that it takes accusations of unethical conduct seriously.

Anderson serves as director of Equal Employment Opportunity Services and reports directly to Chief People Officer Tracey Pierce. Anderson was appointed to her role by a previous general manager, not by Janisse Quiñones, who has been in the role since May 2024, the DWP said.

“She has been the primary voice on all matters related to Equal Employment Opportunity, workforce diversity, and the fair and equitable treatment of over 10,000 employees,” according to Anderson’s bio on the website of the Stovall Foundation, where she is a board member.

The Los Angeles Fire Department is requesting a budget of more than $1 billion for the coming year, arguing that the additional funding is necessary to be prepared for wildfires like the one that devastated Pacific Palisades in January.

The request, which represents a more than 15% increase over this year’s budget, includes money for 179 new firefighting recruits and a second crew dedicated to fighting wildfires, as well as helitanker services to battle fires from the air.

In the immediate aftermath of the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes, top LAFD officials blamed a lack of resources and extraordinarily high winds for their failures in combating the flames.

United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, the union that represents the city’s firefighters, has long argued that the department is severely underfunded and is pushing for a half-cent sales tax that, if approved by voters, would generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Fire Chief Jaime Moore, who was appointed to his post earlier this month, wrote in a memo to the Board of Fire Commissioners last Friday that “the proposed budget will reinforce and accelerate operational enhancements implemented following the devastating Palisades wind-driven vegetation fire in January 2025.”

Moore’s request is the first step in a lengthy process to hammer out a city budget that requires approval by the City Council and the mayor. This year, the city had to close a nearly $1-billion shortfall caused largely by rising personnel costs, soaring legal payouts and a slowdown in the local economy.

City department heads often request amounts far higher than they eventually receive. With the city still in a budget crunch, the outlook for the LAFD’s request is unclear.

“The budget process is in its early stages. Reforms must continue to be implemented at the department and Mayor Bass looks forward to working with Chief Moore to strengthen the city’s emergency preparedness,” said Clara Karger, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass.

Genethia Hudley Hayes, who heads the civilian Board of Fire Commissioners, said Tuesday that she had not yet seen the request but that she generally supports a 15% increase in the LAFD budget.

“We need it,” she said. “The smart thing would be to let the public know what you are going to do with that money.”

In the days leading up to Jan. 7, LAFD officials decided not to order firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift — which would have required paying them overtime — and staffed just a few of the more than 40 engines available to aid in battling wildfires, despite warnings of life-threatening winds, a Times investigation found.

Then-Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said that commanders had to be strategic with limited resources while continuing to handle regular 911 calls.

An LAFD after-action report released last month cited “financial constraints” as a factor in pre-deployment decisions.

The Times also found that an LAFD battalion chief ordered firefighters to leave the site of the Jan. 1 Lachman fire, despite firefighters’ complaints that the ground was still smoldering. That fire later reignited into the Palisades fire.

Moore’s budget memo tied many of his requests to the Palisades fire.

The second wildland hand crew, which would include 32 positions for $2 million, would supplement a hand crew formed this year, after the Palisades fire. The crew’s 26 recruits, who are trained in wildfire fighting and management, establish fire lines to stop flames from spreading. Throughout the year, they do brush clearance around the city.

The helitanker lease, costing slightly less than $1 million, would support aerial attacks of flames that are difficult for crews on the ground to reach.

Moore’s budget request includes the reinstatement of the LAFD’s emergency incident technicians, who help coordinate responses to fires — positions that were cut in the last budget cycle. The after-action report described the LAFD’s disorganized response to the Palisades fire, citing major issues with staffing and communications.

In the fire’s aftermath, the LAFD’s budget was a subject of public debate, with some saying that Bass had reduced it. The 2024-25 budget actually increased slightly after firefighters received raises and the city invested in new firetrucks and other purchases. The budget increased again in 2025-2026.

Bass said she has committed additional resources to the Fire Department in each year she has been mayor.

The half-cent sales tax proposed by the firefighters union would go before city voters as a ballot measure next November.

By 2050, the sales tax would raise at least $9.8 billion, funding at least 30 new fire stations and new fire trucks, as well as adding 1,400 Fire Department employees, according Doug Coates, the acting president of UFLAC, and Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades.

A state judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva that alleged the county defamed him, violated his rights and unfairly flagged his personnel file with a “do not rehire” tag.

In a 26-page order, Superior Court Judge Gary D. Roberts on Wednesday granted a request by the county to reject the lawsuit under California’s Anti-SLAPP law, writing that Villanueva’s claims lack “minimal merit.”

The case’s dismissal is “a major victory,” according to Jason Tokoro, an attorney for the county.

“We are pleased that the Court agreed with the County that former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s claims are barred by California’s anti-SLAPP statute and had no merit,” he wrote in an emailed statement Thursday. “The County can now close this chapter.”

The decision marks the third time a court has dismissed Villanueva’s assertions that the county had treated him unfairly and caused him to suffer “humiliation, severe emotional distress, mental and physical pain and anguish, and compensatory damages.”

The complaint in Villanueva’s lawsuit filed in June said it was an “attempt to clear his name, vindicate his reputation, and be made whole for the emotional distress defendants’ actions have caused him.”

Villanueva previously tried to sue in federal court. In September 2024, a judge in the Central District of California rejected the former sheriff’s $25-million federal lawsuit over the allegations, then did so again in May after Villanueva refiled the case.

Villanueva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment.

The dispute began after Inspector General Max Hunstman claimed in 2022 that Villanueva engaged in a “racially based attack” by insisting on calling Huntsman by the name he was given at birth, Max-Gustaf. Villanueva also described Huntsman as a Holocaust denier, an allegation for which he did not provide any evidence and which the inspector general has denied.

The county investigated Huntsman’s allegation and slapped the former sheriff with the “do not rehire” label. Each year, a county panel recommends dozens of government employees be disciplined for a wide range of unethical behavior ranging from theft to privacy violations by adding “do not hire” or other restrictions to their personnel files.

In his state lawsuit, Villanueva argued it was unfair for him to be subject to a “do not hire” designation while multiple public officials who had engaged in illegal conduct avoided the tag. Villanueva has maintained that he never discriminated against or harassed anyone.

“The unprecedented decision by the Board to place Villanueva on a ‘Do Not Hire’ was the result of a defamatory charge of discrimination and harassment,” the former sheriff wrote in the June complaint.

Around the same time Huntsman made his allegation, Esther Lim, then-justice deputy for county Supervisor Hilda Solis, made a complaint alleging that Villanueva had a pattern of harassing women of color during livestreams on social media. The allegation also prompted an investigation and a “do not hire” tag, which Villanueva has disputed.

A judge on Monday allowed the continued deployment of more than 300 West Virginia National Guard members to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., as part of President Trump’s push to send the military into Democratic-run cities.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Richard D. Lindsay made the ruling after hearing arguments in a lawsuit by a civic organization that argued Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey exceeded his authority when he authorized the Guard’s deployment in August.

“The question before this court is whether or not state law allows West Virginia to do this,” Lindsay said. “… This court believes that the federal law allows for the request made by the president to the governor.”

West Virginia is among several states that sent National Guard members to the nation’s capital. While the state National Guard has said its deployment could last until the end of November, it is consulting with the governor’s office and others on the possibility of extending the stay.

Formal orders were issued last week extending the deployment of the District of Columbia’s National Guard in the city through the end of February.

“We are pleased with the judge’s decision,” Jace Goins, the state’s chief deputy attorney general, said outside the court in Charleston. “The National Guard are going nowhere. They’re staying in D.C. They’re not going to be redeployed to West Virginia.

“The judge made the determination that the governor made a lawful decision deploying the National Guard to D.C. by a lawful request of the president.”

The West Virginia Citizen Action Group, which filed the lawsuit, argued that under state law, the governor could deploy the National Guard out of state only for certain purposes, such as responding to a natural disaster or another state’s emergency request.

The civic group claimed that it was harmed by the deployment by being forced to refocus its resources away from government accountability and transparency. The state attorney general’s office sought to reject the case, saying the group has not been harmed and lacked standing to challenge Morrisey’s decision.

“It was a simple issue of a broad, lawful request by the president and a lawful deployment by the governor. That’s all,” Goins said.

Aubrey Sparks, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter, said she didn’t believe it was the correct decision.

“I think that West Virginia law is clear,” Sparks said. “I think what the state was permitted to do here is to skirt past West Virginia law simply because Trump asked them to. And that’s not how the law works. We remain deeply concerned about it.”

Trump issued an executive order in August declaring a crime emergency in the nation’s capital, although the Department of Justice itself says violent crime there is at a 30-year low.

Within a month, more than 2,300 Guard troops from eight states and the District of Columbia were patrolling under the Army secretary’s command. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist them.

Separately, a federal judge heard arguments Oct. 24 on District of Columbia Atty. Gen. Brian Schwalb ’s request for an order that would remove National Guard members from Washington streets. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Biden, did not rule from the bench.

Raby writes for the Associated Press.

Denise Richards’ estranged husband Aaron Phypers must continue to keep his distance from the actor and reality TV star as they move forward in their acrimonious divorce.

A Los Angeles judge on Friday granted the former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star’s request to make her temporary restraining order against Phypers permanent. Richards was granted a five-year restraining order that restricts Phypers from buying or owning guns, contacting her or abusing her, among other restrictions, according to People. The order will expire Nov. 7, 2030.

Legal representatives for Richards and Phypers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.

The judgment comes after months of contentious hearings that uncovered scathing allegations about their relationship including accusations of infidelity, drug addiction and abuse.

Businessman Phypers, 53, filed to divorce Richards, 54, in July after six years of marriage. He cited irreconcilable differences and requested spousal support. According to court documents, Phypers said he has earned no money since closing down a business last year and estimates “Starship Troopers” actor Richards makes more than $250,000 a month from several business ventures including brand deals, TV and OnlyFans content. Phypers has asked to keep their assets and debts as separate property, including his power tools, motorcycle and sports car, legal documents showed.

Richards and Phypers began dating in 2017 and married in September 2018 in a private ceremony in Malibu. They share no children, though Richards has three: two daughters she shares with ex-husband Charlie Sheen and a teenage daughter she adopted as an infant. Phypers was previously married to “Desperate Housewives” star Nicollette Sheridan from 2015 to 2018.

Weeks after Phypers filed for divorce, Richards fired back and offered a damning account of their marriage. She accused her estranged spouse of abuse, death threats and possession of unregistered weapons in a request for a temporary restraining order that was granted by the Los Angeles County Superior Court in July. Phypers, who denied the allegations, at the time was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Richards and her car, workplace and home, and was told he could not possess firearms or body armor.

“Wild Things” actor Richards referred to abuse that allegedly occurred during their marriage, including between July 4 and July 14, after she had moved out of the family home and into three townhouses that she uses separately as a studio, an office and her residence.

Since July, the pair have fiercely traded barbs in public statements and legal documents. Phypers accused Richards of cheating on him with another man and of scaring his parents when she arrived at their Calabasas home in early August to retrieve her dogs, among other allegations. In court documents, Richards accused Phypers and his family of refusing to vacate that Calabasas abode after allegedly failing repeatedly to pay rent for the property. She also accused the Canadian and his family of trashing the home.

Amid their legal battle, Phypers was arrested in October after a heated courthouse hearing. Law enforcement took Phypers into custody and charged him with two felony counts of injuring a spouse and two felony counts of dissuading a witness by force or threat, according to TMZ. He was swiftly released after posting $200,000 bond.

Times assistant editor Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Friday he’s considering granting Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy as he sat down with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House. “We’re looking at it because its very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said.

Orbán said it’s a “vital” issue for his landlocked country, and said he planned to discuss with Trump the “consequences for the Hungarian people” if the sanctions took effect.

In comments on Friday, Orbán said he would present Trump with several “suggestions” for implementing an exemption.

“I’m not asking for some kind of gift from the Americans or some kind of unusual thing. I am simply asking for the realization that the sanctions recently imposed on Russian energy puts certain countries like Hungary, which do not have access to the sea, in an impossible situation,” Orbán said on state radio. “I’m going to ask the president to acknowledge that.”

A large delegation of cabinet members, business leaders and numerous right-wing political influencers with close connections to Hungary’s government accompanied Orbán to Washington. The delegation rented a 220-passenger commercial jet from Hungarian carrier Wizz Air for the journey.

Prior to Orbán’s arrival on Thursday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a resolution calling on Hungary to end its dependence on Russian energy.

The resolution was co-signed by 10 senators including Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, as well as Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware. It “expresses concern that Hungary has shown no sign of reducing its dependence on Russian fossil fuels,” and urges Budapest to adhere to a European Union plan to cease all Russian energy imports into the bloc by the end of 2027.

“Europe has made extraordinary progress cutting its energy ties with Moscow, but Hungary’s actions continue to undermine collective security and embolden the Kremlin,” Shaheen wrote in a statement. The resolution, she continued, “sends a clear message that when it comes to buying Russian energy, all allies should be held to the same standard, and that includes Hungary.”

On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Washington that he will sign a bilateral nuclear energy cooperation agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Hungarian state news agency MTI.

The deal will involve Hungary’s first-ever purchases of American nuclear fuel, which it currently buys from Russia, and introduce U.S. technology for the on-site storage of spent fuel at Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant. The agreement will also include cooperation on small modular reactors.

After arriving in Washington, Orbán and some of his top officials met with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who in September was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after an election loss. Orbán posted on social media: “We stand firmly with the Bolsonaros in these challenging times — friends and allies who never give up. Keep fighting: political witch-hunts have no place in democracy, truth and justice must prevail!”

Megerian and Spike write for the Associated Press. Spike reported from Budapest