British rider Tom Pidcock is out of the Volta a Catalunya after crashing during Friday’s fifth stage.
The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider had what he described as a “horror” fall in a ravine after he went off the road, misjudging a corner during the penultimate descent of the day.
The 26-year-old eventually finished more than 29 minutes behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard.
But following medical checks, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the race.
“Due to his crash he suffered injuries, most likely bone and ligament damage in particular to his right knee and also right wrist,” said team doctor Lorenz Emmert.
“Unfortunately we had to make the decision to take him out of the race. Further clinical evaluation and imaging will follow in the next days.”
Pidcock won the Milano-Torino race earlier this month and was just edged out in the Milan-San Remo by world champion Tadej Pogacar.
“We did everything to try to make it to the start [of Saturday’s stage six] but it’s not possible,” said the two-time Olympic cross-country mountain bike champion.
“I fought to finish the stage yesterday to make sure I had the option to continue. Now the focus is on recovery, and I’ll be back.”
Tom Skinner, an entrepreneur who was on The Apprentice in 2019, appeared on Question Time in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, which featured a debate about social media giants
Tom Skinner came under fire on Question Time(Image: BBC)
The presenter of the topical debate programme accused Mr Skinner, 35, of being “part of the problem” amid the debate around the pros and cons of apps, such as TikTok and Instagram. The entrepreneur regularly posts videos to his 536,000 TikTok followers, including clips of him eating full English breakfasts at his favourite café. He told Question Time he also makes money by promoting products on Instagram, TikTok and other apps.
But Ms Bruce fronted him on his use of the platforms, suggesting he himself was actually playing into the challenges young people and their parents face with social media. Meta and Google were this week found liable for causing addiction in users in a landmark £2.2million legal case, which led to last night’s debate around how they government should help protect children from such addiction.
Addressing Mr Skinner, the host said: “As you said, you are benefiting from social media, you make part of your living that way and, part of the reason you are able to do so is because of the addictive algorithms that will push people towards yours (social media content)… It is giving you a platform, and job opportunities come your way because of it. In the nicest possible way, you are part of the problem.”
The remark led to a wry smile from Justice Minister Jake Richards, also on the panel in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. Dad-of-three Mr Skinner hesitated as he answered, eventually insisting his videos are harmless.
Ms Bruce, presenter of the programme since 2019, said: “How can you on the one hand say ‘people shouldn’t be doing it so much’ but, on the other hand, you are benefiting from it?” It left the entrepreneur stuttering again, before he went on to stress the importance of the roles parents should play in protecting children.
“It’s bad. It’s bad when people sit on their phone all day. I’ve seen it myself. I’ve done it myself, I sometimes know I’ve got to be up in four hours and I’ve sat there and I’ve scrolled my brains through, watching absolute nonsense,” Mr Skinner, from Romford, east London, said.
Other panellists defended Mr Skinner, arguing his clips are innocent and “do not drive the worst of the algorithms”. The case this week heard Meta and Google both were negligent in the design or operation of their platforms — including the “infinite scroll” feature that was claimed to trigger addiction in users.
The jury also decided each company’s negligence was a major factor in causing harm to a 20-year-old woman, who says her use of social media as a child addicted her to the technology and worsened her mental health struggles.
Both firms have strongly rejected the verdict and plan to appeal.Meta said: “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options”. A spokesperson for Google added: “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
Tom Hardy’s absence from Peaky Blinders movie explained – The Mirror
Need to know
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has disclosed he almost brought back Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomons for The Immortal Man
Peaky Blinders film almost brought back Tom Hardy for massive twist(Image: BBC)
Everything you need to know about Tom Hardy’s absence from Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has revealed he scrapped a massive twist that would have brought back Tom Hardy’s iconic character Alfie Solomons as a ghost.
The show’s writer originally considered revealing that Alfie had actually died from his gunshot wound on Margate beach. Knight briefly toyed with the idea that all of Alfie’s appearances since season four were just apparitions in Tommy Shelby’s mind.
“I thought, maybe [Alfie] appears, and we realise he’s been dead all that time,” Knight told the Hollywood Reporter. “Now, I nearly did that, and I didn’t do it, but that was a thought.”
The twist would have mirrored Tommy’s other ghostly visions, including his deceased first wife Grace. Knight noted that since the beach shooting, viewers have only ever seen Tommy and Alfie together alone, adding fuel to the theory.
Hardy’s busy filming schedule for Paramount+ crime drama MobLand may have also influenced the decision not to pursue this storyline.
Fans still have hope of seeing Alfie return as the series continues with at least two more instalments on Netflix and the BBC. Knight confirmed Duke Shelby will appear in the upcoming post-WWII Birmingham follow-up.
The creator teased: “Some of the characters that are in [The Immortal Man] will appear in that. But I’m under strict instructions not to talk about it except to say that it’s happening.”
ZENDAYA fuelled speculation she’s tied the knot with Tom Holland again tonight as she wore a gold wedding band to the Paris premiere of her new film The Drama.
She’s certainly lived up to the film’s name in recent weeks as the world clamours to know if she and fellow A-lister Tom, 29, are in fact man and wife.
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Zendaya looked incredible at the Paris premiere of The DramaCredit: GettyA gold band was visible on her ring finger fuelling marriage rumoursCredit: GettyTom Holland and Zendaya have been together for five yearsCredit: Getty
White was once more her colour of choice tonight in the French capital as she posed with co-star Robert Pattinson, 39.
The pair recreated their goofy on-screen chemistry as they high-fived and smiled in front of the cameras and were suitably dressed for the occasion; the new film is about a couple unravelling on their wedding week.
Stunning Zendaya, 29, looked a Hollywood siren through and through with her short curls and glamorous jewellery. Robert was groom-like in his stylish black suit.
Her golden band was previously on showat the 19th annual Essence Black Women inHollywood earlier this month.
And Zendaya addressed speculation during a recent appearance onJimmy KimmelLive.
The host asked the star if she was aware of AI photos circulating of her and Tom’s so-called ‘wedding’.
Zendaya replied: “Many people have been fooled by them.
“While I’ve been out and about in real life and people are like ‘oh my god your wedding photos are gorgeous’ and I was like ‘babe they’re AI’.
“They’re not real! They’re not real!”
Zendaya admitted that some loved ones had been fooled by them and also supposedly unhappy they were not invited.
Robert Pattinson and Zendaya are the lead roles in The DramaCredit: Getty
The US actress wore a bridal-style gown at the Los Angeles premiere. In fact it was the same frock she wore to the Oscars in 2015.
She claimed that she only chose the strapless Vivienne Westwood number to promote the movie — and to relive her first appearance at the Academy Awards as a teenager.
Zendaya told interviewer Maura Higgins, 35, on the red carpet: “We just happened to be wearing white a lot.
“But I didn’t want that to be the only theme.
“And I know that the phrase is, ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.’ So I started with something old.
“This is a dress that I wore when I was 18 years old to the Oscars actually — my very first Oscars.
“It was a very important moment for me in my life and my career but also for my family, for my folks.
“So that moment meant a lot for me so this felt like the right time to bring this one out of the archive.
“And also, it happened to be a wedding dress, so that worked out too.”
Zendaya has been dating her Spider-Man co-star Tom since 2021.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is Netflix’s number one film and writer Steven Knight has revealed a fan-favourite character nearly made a surprise comeback
Peaky Blinders film almost brought back Tom Hardy for massive twist(Image: BBC)
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has revealed he scrapped a massive twist that would have brought back Tom Hardy’s iconic character Alfie Solomons.
The Venom star portrayed the Jewish cockney crime lord of Camden from the hit drama’s second season on and had a complex relationship with the Birmingham gangsters.
After being shot in the head by Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy) on Margate beach, Alfie makes brief appearances in the fifth and sixth seasons of the hit BBC series.
Some fans may have been disappointed that Hardy didn’t make an appearance in Netflix’s new film The Immortal Man, which sees Tommy returning to Small Heath to take on his estranged son, Erasmus ‘Duke’ Shelby (Barry Keoghan), who has taken over the gang.
However, Knight has since revealed he originally considered the possibility of Alfie making an appearance – and it would have been a massive twist on the fate of the character.
“I had an idea, which I haven’t really spoken about,” he shared with the Hollywood Reporter.
“Ever since he was shot on the beach at Margate [in season four], you’ve only ever seen Tommy and Alfie together alone.”
The fifth season reveals that Alfie had actually survived the gunshot wound to the face after Hardy lobbied Knight to bring him back.
But, as Tommy regularly glimpses the ghosts of his past, including the lingering image of his first wife Grace (Annabelle Wallis), Knight briefly considered revealing that Solomons was simply another apparition Tommy had been communing with.
“I thought, maybe [Alfie] appears, and we realise he’s been dead all that time,” Knight went on.
“Now, I nearly did that, and I didn’t do it, but that was a thought.”
Hardy’s demanding schedule may have also contributed to Knight’s decision not to bring him back, as the star has recently been filming the Paramount+ crime drama MobLand since the end of Peaky Blinders.
Get Netflix free with Sky for Bridgerton Season 4
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‘Dearest gentle reader’, as the fourth season of Bridgerton follows second son Benedict love story, there’s a way to watch this fairytale-like season for less.
Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan. This lets customers watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes the new season of Bridgerton.
Thankfully, there is still a chance, albeit a slim one, that fans could see Alfie return alongside some other Peaky favourites as the series will be returning for at least two more series on Netflix and the BBC.
Knight confirmed that Duke will be appearing in the upcoming follow-up, which is set in post-WWII Birmingham, though it’s currently unknown if Keoghan will be reprising the role.
He also teased: “Some of the characters that are in [The Immortal Man] will appear in that. But I’m under strict instructions not to talk about it except to say that it’s happening.”
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is available to stream on Netflix.
March 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s border czar Tom Homan has confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to U.S. airports starting Monday, despite strong opposition from unions and Democrats.
Homan told CNN’s State of the Unionon Sunday that he was working on the plan’s execution with acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Transportation Security Administration Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill.
“So, we’ll put together a plan today and we’ll execute it tomorrow,” he said.
On Sunday, Trump threatened to send ICE agents to U.S. airports over a protracted fight with Democrats over Department of Homeland Security funding.
Funding for DHS lapsed Jan. 31 after Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the department open, with Democrats are demanding reforms in response to federal immigration agents deploying aggressive tactics during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The partial shutdown is affecting the TSA, which is under the DHS. Airports are reporting long lines and congestion due to a shortage in TSA staff, who haven’t been paid since DHS funding ran out.
Trump threatened on his Truth Social platform that ICE will perform security at airports where they will arrest undocumented migrants, raising questions about whether the agents are being sent only to relieve pressure on TSA or to carry out immigration enforcement at major travel hubs.
Homan on Sunday sought to frame the move as a way to alleviate congestion and move long lines of travelers though security.
Asked if ICE had the specialized training to inspect bags and passengers, Homan said he doesn’t expect the immigration agents to be ‘looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that.”
“But there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them from those jobs, and put them in the specialized jobs to help those lines,” he said, adding that discussions with the TSA concerning what security roles ICE agents would perform were ongoing.
“We will have a plan by the end of today … what airports we’re staring with and where we’re sending them,” he said, suggesting that the worst affected airport will be given priority.
“So it’s a work in progress, but we will be at airports tomorrow helping TSA move those lines along.”
He also confirmed that ICE agents will perform immigration enforcement at the airport, underscoring that their deployment is mainly to aid TSA.
Republicans have attempted to characterize the shutdown as Democrats prioritizing undocumented immigrants over airport security, while the Democrats have blamed Republicans for blocking more than half a dozen attempts to pass legislation to fund the TSA, including on Saturday. The GOP lawmakers say they want to fund the entirety of the DHS.
“Instead of sending ICE agents to harass travelers at airports, why don’t Republicans get their act together and agree to pay TSA workers like we’ve asked them to SEVEN TIMES now?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement on X on Sunday.
Vice President JD Vance accused Schumer of continuing “to hold TSA funding hostage.”
“Thankfully, ICE will bring sanity to our airports starting tomorrow, but it’s far past time for Democrats to fund DHS,” he said.
Following Homan’s interview, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., accused the Trump administration of using ICE “to strike fear and terror on our airports.”
“Mr. President, it’s pretty simple: if you want TSA agents to get paid (as they should), then pass the Democrats’ bill to fund TSA,” he said on X. “No need for your out-of-control paramilitary to do yet another thing they aren’t trained to do.”
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been informed it is among those where ICE agents will be deployed Monday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement.
The agents will report to the TSA and will be assigned to line management and crowd control within domestic terminals, he said, adding that federal officials have indicated that they are not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities.
“Our administration remains hopeful the Federal Government can soon find a way to fully fund TSA and pay their employees to resume standard operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — and all airpots we connect to,” he said.
The deployment of ICE agents is also being lambasted by the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest government worker union in the United States.
It accused the Trump administration of sending ICE agents to do the jobs of the more than 50,000 TSA employees who have worked without pay for more than five weeks.
It also expressed worry that the ICE agents will be undertrained for what they may be required to do, arguing that stationing them at security checkpoints will create security risks.
“Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.
“They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”
The leaders of several flight attendant unions also criticized the Trump administration on Sunday for using the TSA and frontline security officers “as pawns in this dangerous game,” stating that the DHS can use its billions of dollars in discretionary funding to pay them.
“This latest threat of ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 135 and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in a joint statement.
Tom Junod has devoted his long and distinguished career to writing about other people. He won two National Magazine Awards as a star feature writer for Esquire, GQ and ESPN: The Magazine, covering everything from athletes and movie stars to the victims of 9/11 with his elegant prose style. However, it took Junod years before he could tackle the toughest subject of all: His father, Lou, a decorated World War II veteran who fashioned himself as a kind of suburban Sinatra.
He was a hard-drinking philanderer who carried with him a complicated legacy that Junod untangles in his memoir “In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man.” I spoke with Junod about fathers and sons, and the difficulty of excavating his family’s fraught history.
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✍️ Author Chat
You pondered this book for years. Was there a moment when you finally said, “Right, time to write this now”?
There was definitely a moment, when my brother Michael had lunch with a woman named Muntu Law, who was one of my father’s lovers. It was the late summer of 2015. She told him, “Of course, you know your Dad and I had an affair for 11 years.” And he didn’t know that. He called me immediately after and asked me if I knew about the affair and I said yes. He asked me why I hadn’t told him, and I responded that I both knew and didn’t know. I knew it the moment Muntu stood up at my father’s funeral.
You intuited it?
Yes. There was a split there that I needed to reconcile and explore. There was too much unresolved stuff.
Your father’s story is shot through with a lot of tragedy. What is the writing process like for you? Was it an unburdening, a catharsis or something else?
When you unburden yourself, what you wind up doing is taking up much heavier burdens, which is what the book was. But it’s very interesting, because now I’m talking about my father with people in my family, and some of these discussions are difficult, but at least I’m talking about him with them. It was mostly pain, writing the book. Exposing your secrets isn’t particularly a relief, but it allows you to carry on your life without the necessity of being silent.
Tom Junod untangles his father’s complicated legacy in his memoir “In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man.”
(Lee Crum)
Your Dad is emblematic of this kind of postwar American male that served in the war and came home flush with triumph and a kind of male privilege. Would you agree?
To the absolute max. My dad was an extreme character, and I think what the war did for a lot of men was it allowed them to reinvent themselves and create themselves. I look at my dad as a completely self-created phenomenon.
He clearly carried himself like a star.
There’s a line in the book where I say that Dad was the only celebrity I’ve ever known.
What’s remarkable is that you broke the cycle. You write about your marriage to your wife, Janet, in the book, whom you met in college. You have been together for over 40 years.
I think a lot of people are surprised by that when they read the book. People just thought I had it, you know — that I was successful and I was able to handle difficult situations. Back in the summer, I gave a copy to my friend, Lisa Hanselman, who I worked with at Esquire and GQ for a long time. And she called me up one morning and just said, “I didn’t know.” And that meant a lot to me. In my mind, it’s one of those things that justifies the effort it took to write the book.
(This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
📰 The Week(s) in Books
In “AlphaPussy,” Gina Gershon’s real-life stories deal with “themes of manipulation, survival, and moving around and being able to stand on your own two feet.”
(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)
Mark Athitakis is agog over Lauren Groff’s new story collection “Brawler,” a book that “blends the depth of the long view and the drama of the pivotal moment.”
Acclaimed nonfiction writer Daniel Okrent has written “Stephen Sondheim: Art Isn’t Easy,” a short, sharp biography of Stephen Sondheim for Yale’s “Jewish Lives” series, and Julia M. Klein approves. “[Okrent] seeks to liberate Sondheim’s reputation from the encrustation of myth and to demystify his relationships, while offering a succinct analysis of his achievements,” she writes.
Actor Gina Gershon has written a freewheeling memoir called “AlphaPussy,” which looks back on her San Fernando Valley childhood as a proving ground for dealing with male toxicity as a woman in Hollywood. “I’m not that tough,” Gershon tells Cat Woods. “But I’d learned how to maneuver a lot just from growing up in the Valley, and it was a crazy time to be living there. So I thought about the stories that led me to be able to steer myself through toxicity.”
Finally, Yvonne Villarreal sat with Christina Applegate to discuss her new memoir, “You With the Sad Eyes.” “This book is not cathartic for me — let’s just go there,” Applegate says. “I just needed to dump this s— out somewhere.”
📖 Bookstore Faves
Casita Bookstore in Long Beach prioritizes stories from unrepresented and marginalized voices, says owner Antonette Franceschi-Chavez.
(Antonette Franceschi-Chavez)
An inviting literary haven in Long Beach, Casita Bookstore prioritizes stories from underrepresented and marginalized voices from the BIPOC, immigrant, LGBTQ+ communities and what store owner Antonette Franceschi‑Chavez calls “other historically silenced communities.” I spoke with Franceschi‑Chavez about what readers are excited about now.
What kind of clientele do you get in the store, typically?
Our clientele is wonderfully diverse, but they share a common desire for stories, knowledge and community that center voices often underrepresented in mainstream spaces. We see a strong mix of local community members, educators, families and young readers, along with writers, activists and creatives who are drawn to our focus on books by [underrepresented and marginalized writers].
What’s selling right now?
That’s a difficult question, because we get a wide range of reader personalities. I can say that one of the top-selling trends in adult reading right now is dystopian fiction. Some of the top sellers in our bookstore are “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler, “Chicano Frankenstein” by Daniel Olivas and Agustina Bazterrica’s “Tender Is the Flesh.”
Is there still a place for bookstores as community builders?
Of course! Indie bookstores are vital community hubs. Even in the digital age, bookstores provide physical spaces for connection, conversation and shared experience. You can’t replicate that type of connection online. We’re also living in a time when voices are being silenced or punished for speaking out about social justice, oppressive actions and, overall, what’s right. Bookstores are here to lend their spaces, share those stories and bring attention to needed causes. I’ve seen many bookstores, including ours, function as fundraising and donation hubs, protest art spaces, open-mic venues to allow for communities to unite in shared social causes.
Fake is the operative word. Tom Brady’s beef with Logan Paul, Paul’s beef with Rob Gronkowski and Brady’s beef with World Wrestling Entertainment all are as fake as plant-based meat.
It’s also so much fun.
That’s the consensus opinion of fans and participants alike to the promotional shenanigans ahead of this weekend’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and next month’s WWE WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Brady used the word himself, calling wrestling “fake B.S.” Wednesday night at the Flag Football Classic draft at a Beverly Hills hotel. The comments came shortly after Brady went on Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast and told the WWE star in no uncertain terms that he was not on the same athletic level as NFL players.
Paul took exception, pointing out that he played linebacker in high school. He is on the flag football roster of Team Wildcats alongside NFL quarterbacks and captains Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels, so inquiring minds can evaluate Paul’s gridiron bona fides during the three-team flag fun televised at 1 p.m. PDT Sunday on Fox Sports.
In addition to Team Wildcats, the inaugural flag football event features a team led by Brady and Jalen Hurts called Founders and another consisting of the U.S. men’s national flag football roster.
In promoting the venture, Brady poked the enormously popular WWE organization, telling Paul, “You know, I love WWE. It’s very cute. But honestly, this is like real football. This is just real competition.
“I’m glad you’re going to be there and finally participate in a competition that matters.”
Brady upped the ante after Sports Illustrated playfully asked how many WWE wrestlers it would take to sack him.
“They wouldn’t even get near me,” he replied. “Plus, if I had a good offensive line, they’d punch those guys right in the throat and they’d probably be crying.”
All a deft segue to WrestleMania 42, which many followers suspect is positioning Brady to be some sort of scripted villain during the WWE’s annual five-day extravaganza. Last year WrestleMania 41 attracted more than 100,000 fans to Allegiant Stadium, generating roughly $65 million in ticket revenue and reaching a global audience with more than a billion social media views.
Adding the greatest quarterback of all time would only boost those numbers. Introducing a surprise antagonist has long been a key ingredient of the WWE recipe, and at this point Brady surfacing is all but expected.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion has morphed into a glue guy, whose employment as a Fox Sports NFL television analyst, part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and key partner with Fanatics binds him with almost every major stakeholder in the Flag Football Classic and WrestleMania 42. Every stakeholder except the WWE.
That gives Brady license to take good-natured shots at wrestling for now and positions him to become a high-profile heel at WrestleMania 42.
It’s no coincidence that both events are in partnership with Fanatics, the outfit that has grown from designing and manufacturing licensed fan gear into a ubiquitous global digital sports platform and e-commerce company.
That leaves only the feigned feud between Paul and Gronkowski — Brady’s longtime pal and New England Patriots teammate. It started when Gronkowski labeled Paul a “flake” on a podcast a few days ago after Paul made a $1-million boxing challenge to NFL players and subsequently backed out of a fight with former running back Le’Veon Bell.
The tongue-in-cheek beef culminated in a verbal volley at the flag football draft with Gronkowski jawing at Paul while balancing a paper plate stacked with hors d’oeuvres and Paul shouting back over the head of 5-foot-5 comedian Kevin Hart, who somehow found himself in the role of peacemaker.
“No one can tackle me. So if Logan Paul wants a piece of me, I’m down to throw it down on the field and even throw my fist and just go at it, an all-out brawl on the flag football field,” Gronkowski said with an impish grin.
Crazy how Fanatics posted a video of the exchange so quickly. It had racked up 250,000 views as of Friday morning. Just Gronkowski and Paul following Brady’s lead, knowing their job descriptions include promotion as well as performance.
Zendaya and Tom Holland exchanged their vows in a luxurious ceremony off the Italian coast attended by previous “Spider-Man” duos Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone and Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst and officiated, obviously, by Robert Downey Jr.
At least that’s what one improbable image fantasized in a recent slew of AI-generated “wedding photos” circulating online.
“Tomdaya” (Tom + Zendaya) fans in recent weeks took it upon themselves to conjure up photos from the “Spider-Man” co-stars’ supposed nuptials, further stoking speculation that the betrothed stars, both 29, had said their vows. The phony wedding photos began making the rounds on social media after Law Roach, Zendaya’s longtime stylist, claimed earlier this month that “the wedding’s already happened.” Zendaya broke her silence on the photos and wedding rumors on Monday, telling late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that “many people have been fooled by them.”
The “Challengers” and “Dune” star, promoting her upcoming film “The Drama,” told Kimmel that the viral AI images caused people to approach her and congratulate her for the “gorgeous” ceremony and had even duped people in her close circles.
“Babe, they’re AI,” she recalled telling loved ones. “They’re not real.”
“Odyssey” co-stars Zendaya and Holland were first romantically linked in 2021, years after first sharing the screen in 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” Zendaya memorably teased her engagement to the British actor at the 2025 Golden Globes, when she stepped out on the red carpet with a ring on that finger. At that awards show, when former Times columnist Amy Kaufman asked the actor if she was engaged, Zendaya flashed her ring, smiled coyly and shrugged her shoulders.
Earlier this year, eagle-eyed fans had their eyes on another ring. Tomdaya wedding rumors began gaining traction when Zendaya was spotted on Feb. 18 with a plain gold band on her left ring finger in place of her engagement diamond. Weeks after that, stylist Roach made his bold claim, one he danced away from at the 2026 Academy Awards on Sunday.
When the Hollywood Reporter asked Roach about his comment during the Oscars red carpet, he turned his attention elsewhere. “I think the weather’s really amazing today, it’s so sunny it’s a little warm but it’s beautiful,” he said.
During her late-night spot, Zendaya did not confirm or deny whether she and Holland had tied the knot but instead offered a video to “clear the confusion.” The video, a wedding scene from “The Drama,” shows Zendaya’s character posing alongside co-star Robert Pattinson’s, though his face is obscured by a picture of Holland.
“That was real footage,” she quipped. “That was real, I was there.”
Sure, it’s a quarterback’s league, but a major focus of the upcoming NFL draft will be about getting to the quarterback. This class is loaded with talented pass rushers, and teams figure to take advantage of that early and often. This mock draft has edge rushers off the board with the second, third and fourth selections.
How appropriate that the April 23-25 draft will be held for the first time in Pittsburgh, birthplace of the Steel Curtain.
The Steelers, incidentally, take a receiver in this mock — and there are lots of talented prospects at that spot, too. This contemplates the Rams selecting USC receiver Makai Lemon, although it’s entirely possible that the sure-handed Trojans star will already be gone by the time the 13th pick rolls around.
The Chargers, meanwhile, take an offensive lineman to address the need that haunted them all last season after they were ravaged by injuries up front.
One look at how the draft could unfold:
1. Las Vegas Raiders: QB Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) — Tom Brady loves him. The Raiders are trying to build something, and this Heisman winner figures to be a cornerstone.
2. New York Jets: Edge Arvell Reese (Ohio State) — Jets had zero interceptions and four takeaways last season, both NFL records, and think Reese has some Micah Parsons qualities.
3. Arizona Cardinals: Edge David Bailey (Texas Tech) — As pass rushers go, the Cardinals have Josh Sweat, who isn’t particularly happy, and a bunch of young guys who have struggled to stay healthy.
4. Tennessee Titans: Edge Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami) — Although they have been collecting defensive linemen, the Titans still need help at the edge. Also could use a supporting cast for Cam Ward.
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love carries the ball against Pittsburgh in November.
(Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)
5. New York Giants: RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) — John Harbaugh doesn’t always draft for need, and he loves to pound defenses with a running game. Love is the best in this class.
6. Cleveland Browns: OT Monroe Freeling (Georgia) — The Browns are completely rebooting their offensive line and had hoped to sign Packers free agent tackle Rasheed Walker, instead nabbed by Carolina.
7. Washington Commanders: S Caleb Downs (Ohio State) — The Commanders could use help at virtually every position — everything but QB — and a game-changing defensive back would get a warm welcome.
8. New Orleans Saints: LB Sonny Styles (Ohio State) — Saints might go receiver here, but Saints need a defensive stalwart too. If Love and Downs are gone — as they are in this mock — Styles would be a fit.
9. Kansas City Chiefs: WR Carnell Tate (Ohio State) — The cupboard is bare at receiver with just Xavier Worthy and Jalen Royals, so the Chiefs are desperate for some help there. Not the first time.
10. Cincinnati Bengals: CB Mansoor Delane (Louisiana State) — The Bengals are bringing back virtually their entire offense and have spent the offseason coming up with ways to improve their historically bad defense.
11. Miami Dolphins: WR Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State) — The Dolphins are trading Jaylen Waddle to Denver for another pick, so they immediately address their need for another playmaking receiver.
12. Dallas Cowboys: CB Jermod McCoy (Tennessee) — The Cowboys traded for Rashan Gary, which addressed their need at edge. Here’s a chance to upgrade at corner.
Wide receiver Makai Lemon runs with the ball during USC’s pro day on March 12.
(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)
13. Rams: WR Makai Lemon (USC) — Having raided Kansas City’s defensive backfield, the Rams can stay put and take a receiver, or maybe trade up for a long-term bookend to Puka Nacua.
14. Baltimore Ravens: G Olaivavega Ioane (Penn State) — The Ravens have an opening at both guard and center, so they turn their attention to the interior of their offensive line.
15. Tampa Bay: Edge Keldric Faulk (Auburn) — The Buccaneers are sorely lacking when it comes to generating pressure off the edge, and Haason Reddick hasn’t been the answer.
16. New York Jets: WR Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana) — The Jets need a No. 2 receiver to line up opposite Garrett Wilson and command some attention on the outside.
17. Detroit Lions: Edge Akheem Mesidor (Miami) — The Lions need someone they can pair with Aidan Hutchinson to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and Mesidor has a lot of potential.
18. Minnesota Vikings: S Dillon Thieneman (Oregon) — Harrison Smith is 37 and the Vikings need to start planning for the future at that position; they need another defensive back.
19. Carolina Panthers: OL Spencer Fano (Utah) — Fano can play all five positions on the offensive line, and that’s awfully enticing for a franchise with an injured left tackle and in need of a center.
20. Dallas Cowboys: LB Jacob Rodriguez (Texas Tech) — Micah Parsons is gone, and the Cowboys allowed 6.1 yards per play last season, second worst in the league. They need help all over.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers: CB Avieon Terrell (Clemson) — A receiver would be nice, but the Steelers can get one later. Terrell gives the Steelers depth and potentially a long-term bookend to Joey Porter Jr.
Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa prepares for a snap against Louisville in October.
(Doug Murray / Associated Press)
22. Chargers: OL Francis Mauigoa (Miami) — With all the problems the Chargers have had cobbling together an offensive line, they need to focus on protecting Justin Herbert.
23. Philadelphia Eagles: S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren (Toledo) — Reed Blankenship, a fixture in Philadelphia’s defense and a QB in the secondary, signed with Houston as a free agent.
24. Cleveland Browns: CB Colton Hood (Tennessee) — The Browns addressed their offense with the sixth pick and now can focus on a defensive position of need. Corner is key.
25. Chicago Bears: CB Chris Johnson (San Diego State) — Tyrique Stevenson is the fourth-most-targeted corner in the league. The Bears need to upgrade at that spot opposite Jaylon Johnson.
26. Buffalo Bills OL Kadyn Proctor (Alabama) — Buffalo wants to run the ball, and Proctor is an outstanding downhill run blocker. He can also move inside and benefit a team that needs interior help.
27. San Francisco 49ers: OT Blake Miller (Clemson) — The 49ers have to plan for their future at both tackle spots. Miller is durable and a particularly adept pass blocker.
28. Houston Texans: OT Caleb Lomu (Utah) — Houston’s offensive line has been a problem for years and that’s not going away. Lomu is young but terrific in pass protection. Good news for C.J. Stroud.
29. Kansas City Chiefs: Edge Cashius Howell (Texas A&M) — Kansas City’s pass rush has declined two years in a row. The Chiefs need help in a lot of areas, but getting to passer is vital.
30. Miami Dolphins: Edge T.J. Parker (Clemson) — The Dolphins have an underwhelming cluster of pass rushers, led by Chop Robinson. They need help pressuring the quarterback so they will be looking for an edge rusher.
31. New England Patriots: TE Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon) — Mike Vrabel has already tipped his hand about his interest in this class of tight ends. Give Drake Maye another weapon at the position.
32. Seattle Seahawks: RB Jadarian Price (Notre Dame) — Two ball carriers from the same college backfield in the opening round? The defending Super Bowl champions need to start reconstructing a backfield.
HARTSVILLE, S.C. — Rachel Minus is not impressed by the Democratic presidential candidates. They’re just recycling tired talking points for African American voters like her, she said — with one curious exception.
The South Carolina millennial is all in for Tom Steyer, a Bay Area billionaire who’s been caricatured by critics as the definition of a rich, entitled white guy.
“I get the feeling he cares about us,” Minus said, as she waited for Steyer to take the stage here at the Jerusalem Baptist Church, a black congregation dating to the late 1800s. “The other candidates say things that are lip service. We have seen it year after year with the Democratic Party. So when they keep repeating the same talking points, you listen to it and it falls on deaf ears. He’s genuine.”
That sentiment is especially significant in a state where about 3 in 5 Democratic voters in the presidential primary four years ago were African Americans. Steyer’s aggressive spending here and in Nevada bought enough support in state polls to allow the former hedge-fund manager to qualify for last week’s nationally televised Democratic debate, much to the annoyance of some rivals and a chorus on social media.
As a campaigner, his personal politicking is uneven and he is prone to rambling. His one viral moment came when Steyer was caught on camera post-debate, awkwardly trying to greet rivals Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren even as the two were in the middle of a heated, private exchange.
“You got caught in the crossfire!” Congresswoman Alma Adams joked at a news conference Saturday morning next door in Charlotte, N.C. (The event was about Steyer’s plan for investment in historically black colleges and universities, but the two never got around to talking about the endorsement or the policy details.)
Steyer knows something about organizing in minority communities. In the years before running for president, he built a national advocacy machine that galvanized community activists, registered young voters and persuaded Californians to raise billions in taxes — all to advance the causes of social justice, action against climate change and affordable healthcare.
Although Washington insiders generally dismiss his recent momentum as likely to be short-lived, some of this area’s political denizens aren’t so sure.
“People are saying, ‘This guy, maybe we ought to look at him,’” said Bruce Ransom, a political science professor at Clemson University. “Is it enough to prevail in February? Doubtful. But if the candidates come into the election here all bunched up and he has an established foothold, then who knows?”
A recent Fox News poll showed that Steyer has moved into second place in South Carolina, with 15% support among likely Democratic primary voters. While that’s 21 percentage points behind former Vice President Joe Biden, Steyer is running a “high-tech, high-touch” campaign, said Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina political strategist unaffiliated in the race. “He’s got some soldiers on the field who know how to do war in South Carolina.”
Ninety percent of the campaign’s nearly 100 organizers are from South Carolina. They are in all of the state’s 46 counties, and more than half are organizing neighborhoods within 10 miles of where they were born. “Instead of bringing in folks from other states who need to learn the lay of land, our team is literally organizing their friends, their family and their neighbors,” said Brandon Upson, Steyer’s national organizing director.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, a national co-chair of rival Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign, said he’s received more mail from Steyer than all the other candidates combined. (Bloomberg made a strategic decision to not compete in South Carolina, focusing his campaign instead on bigger states that vote later.)
At events in both North and South Carolina over the weekend, Steyer told diverse crowds that the media has gotten him all wrong. “I know that when I’m described in the press, I’m often described as a rich person or a billionaire,” Steyer told black leaders in Charlotte. “I think I’m a different person from that two-dimensional stereotype.”
He talked of his mother’s work as a tutor in a Brooklyn detention center. He stressed the community bank in Oakland that he ran with wife Kat Taylor, who puzzled some attendees at Steyer’s events by abruptly bursting into song, sometimes Billy Joel’s “Summer, Highland Falls,” when she introduced him. At every stop, he talked of the urgency of reparations for descendants of enslaved people. Steyer is not the only candidate emphasizing issues of race but he is doing so most persistently in South Carolina.
The anger Steyer seems to instill among President Trump’s supporters in inland South Carolina so intrigued Democrat Paula Wise, an African American insurance company employee, that she came to see him over the weekend. “It tells me this is somebody I really need to look at,” she quipped.
Not one of the many Democratic voters interviewed in the state were troubled by Steyer’s use of his deep bank account to gain traction.
“It is like a knife,” said Shalon Jordan, 40, a tax preparer in Hartsville. “You can use the knife to hurt somebody. Or you can make a great meal. If he is going to make a great meal with his billions, then that is a good thing.”
Supporters talk openly about the transactional nature of politics. As Johnnie Cordero, the head of the Democratic Black Caucus of South Carolina, announced his endorsement in Florence, he praised the hiring Steyer has done — from the Democratic Black Caucus of South Carolina.
“Part of what makes you a serious candidate for African Americans in South Carolina is the fact that you put your money where your mouth is,” Cordero said. “Why is it alright for a billionaire donor to support the Democratic Party, but that same billionaire donor cannot put his money where his mouth is and support a campaign for himself?”
Steyer raised the topic of his hedge-fund fortune only to press his case that he, as a financial titan, can best call out Trump as a fraud. And he distinguished himself from the other billionaire in the race, former New York Mayor Bloomberg.
“We have totally different backgrounds and experiences,” Steyer said as his campaign bus rolled through rural South Carolina. “If someone as rich as Bloomberg wants to represent Democrats … he especially needs to embrace a wealth tax.” Bloomberg, whose fortune dwarfs that of Steyer, says rich people should pay higher taxes, but he has pilloried wealth-tax proposals as Venezuelan-style socialism.
Both Steyer and Bloomberg emphasize the “climate emergency” more than other candidates. After a spate of natural disasters in the South, the issue seems to be catching on for Steyer. “Four years ago that may not have resonated here,” said Benjamin, the Columbia mayor. “Now it resonates a lot. We have seen several years of what were supposed to be ‘once in a lifetime’ events.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, left, and Tom Steyer at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Columbia, S.C.
(Sean Rayford / Getty Images)
Steyer is betting that his money will enable him to outlast Biden, who enjoys the most support among African American voters of any Democratic candidate, and that a weak showing by the former vice president in Iowa or New Hampshire, the first states to vote, will weaken Biden’s base of support in the South.
It’s a long-shot gamble, but Steyer takes encouragement from voters like Wes Simmons, a 64-year-old business consultant who was among the roughly 200 people in Charlotte who came to hear him Friday night.
“Biden is showing his age,” Simmons said. “He is not as sharp, not as quick. And Trump is a mean-spirited campaigner. There are folks wondering, what is the alternative? What else is out there?”
Tom Brady‘s return to the football field will take place on U.S. soil.
Right here in Los Angeles, to be specific.
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic, featuring Brady and a slew of other NFL stars and athletes, will take place March 21 at BMO Stadium, the venue that is also slated to host flag football during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on the same date, but at a location more than 8,000 miles away at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia.
No official reason for the relocation has been given, although the move was made amid increased tensions in the Middle East after the United States and Israel began military strikes against Iran this month. Last week, Iran used two drones to strike the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city.
The event will feature three 12-player teams. Brady, the retired seven-time Super Bowl champion and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will co-captain the Founders FFC team, which will be coached by Denver Broncos’ Sean Payton.
A second team, Wildcats FFC, will be co-captained by Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, with San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan coaching. During a March 18 draft, the two teams will be built from a pool of athletes that include Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, former Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr., four-time Super Bowl-winning tight end Rob Gronkowski and WWE star Logan Paul.
The third team in the event is the U.S. national flag football team, the reigning IFAF flag football world champion coached by Jorge Cascudo and captained by Aamir Brown and Darrell “Housh” Doucette.
Northern California Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), whose congressional district was carved up in the redistricting ballot measures approved by voters last year, announced Monday that he would not challenge fellow Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of Elk Grove. Instead, he plans to run in the Democratic-leaning district where he resides.
“It’s true that I was fully prepared to run in [McClintock’s district], having tested the waters and with polls showing a favorable outlook in a ‘safe’ district. But doing what’s easy and what’s right are often not the same,” Kiley posted on the social media site X. “And at the end of the day, as much as I love the communities in [that] District that I represent now – and as excited as I was about the new ones – seeking office in a district that doesn’t include my hometown didn’t feel right.”
Kiley, 41, currently represents a congressional district that spans Lake Tahoe to Sacramento. He did not respond to requests for comment.
But after California voters in November passed Proposition 50 — a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to counter Trump’s moves to increase the numbers of Republicans in Congress — Kiley’s district was sliced up into other districts.
As the filing deadline approaches, Kiley pondered his path forward in a decision that was compared by political insiders to the reality television show “The Bachelor.” Who would receive the final rose? McClintock’s new sprawling congressional district includes swaths of gold country, the Central Valley and Death Valley. The district Kiley opted to run in includes the city of Sacramento and the suburbs of Roseville and Rocklin in Placer County.
Kiley was facing headwinds because of the Republican institutional support that lined up behind McClintock, 69, who has been in Congress since 2009 and served in the state Legislature for 26 years previously. President Trump, the California Republican Party and the Club for Growth’s political action committee are among the people and groups who have endorsed McClintock.
Conservative strategist Jon Fleischman, a former executive director of the state GOP, said he was thrilled by Kiley’s decision, which avoids a divisive intraparty battle.
“If you open up the dictionary and look for the word conservative, it’s a photo of Tom McClintock. He is the ideological leader of conservatives, not only in California but in Congress for many, many years,” Fleischman said, adding that the endorsements for McClintock purposefully came because Kiley was considering challenging him.
Kiley, who grew up near Sacramento, attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. A former Teach for America member, he served in the state Assembly for six years before being elected to Congress in 2022 with Trump’s backing. But he has bucked the president, notably on tariffs. He also unsuccessfully ran to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom during the 2021 recall, and has been a constant critic of the governor.
Kiley is now running in a Sacramento-area district represented by Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove). Democrats in the newly drawn district had a nearly 9-point voter registration edge in 2024. Bera is now running in the new version of Kiley’s district.
In Kiley’s new race, his top rival is Dr. Richard Pan of Sacramento, a former state senator and staunch supporter of vaccinations.
“Kevin Kiley can try to rebrand himself, but voters know his extreme record,” Pan said in a statement. “He has stood with Donald Trump 98% of the time and was named a ‘MAGA Champion.’ The people of this district deserve better than political opportunism disguised as moderation. This race is about who will actually fight for healthcare, public health, and working families. I’ve done that my entire career. Kevin Kiley has not.”
