Tyler

Jan. 16 (UPI) — Attorneys for alleged Charlie Kirk murderer Tyler Robinson on Friday argued that a prosecutor should be removed from the case due to a claimed conflict of interest.

Robinson, 22, and his legal team were in the Fourth Judicial District Court to seek the removal of an unnamed prosecutor because his daughter attended the Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem when Kirk was shot and killed.

The daughter also is a potential witness against Robinson and was about 85 feet from Kirk when he was shot, and the Utah County Attorney’s Office sent law enforcement to protect her upon learning of the shooting, Robinson’s attorneys argued during an Oct. 24 hearing.

They moved to remove the prosecutor from the case and at the very least want him off the case until the motion is either approved or denied.

The prosecutor and his daughter are not “immune to [the] trauma” arising from the shooting, which could lead the prosecutor to make personal rather than professional decisions, Robinson said, as reported by KTVX.

The prosecutors dismissed Robinson’s claim, saying the prosecutor’s daughter is an adult and there is no conflict of interest in his remaining on the case.

The young woman reacted to the shooting in a “comparatively minor emotional” manner compared to those who were close to Kirk when the shooting occurred, the prosecutors argued.

She has no personal knowledge of the murder, they argued, and is just one of thousands of witnesses who attended the event and saw the shooting unfold.

They also said Robinson’s attorneys have not provided any evidence to support their claim of a conflict of interest.

Robinson’s defense attorneys moved to have the court send its motion to the Utah Attorney General’s Office instead of continuing with Friday’s motion hearing.

That request caused an about 45-minute delay in the motion hearing, and Judge Tony Graf asked the defense and prosecution if an evidentiary hearing with witnesses should be scheduled to further litigate the motion.

Graf said there is insufficient evidence to refer the case to the Utah attorney general, and Robinson’s attorneys asked that he allow more evidence to be entered until the motion is decided.

The motion hearing ended with no ruling given, but an evidentiary hearing could be scheduled and include witnesses before Graf rules on the motion to remove the prosecutor from the case.

Tyler Higbee has played in 12 NFL playoff games during his 10-year career, so the veteran tight end knows, better than perhaps any other Rams player, what lies ahead.

Higbee was part of two teams that advanced to the Super Bowl.

“Don’t listen to the outside noise,” Higbee said when asked to describe the formula for a Super Bowl run. “You don’t look at the ifs, the what-could-be’s. You just come in, work, and take it a day at time. … Keep peaking week after week.”

The Rams, seeded No. 5 in the NFC, begin the playoffs on Saturday against the No. 4 Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Higbee, who returned from injured reserve and starred in last Sunday’s season-finale victory over the Arizona Cardinals, figures to be a key player as the Rams attempt to avenge a Week 13 loss to the Panthers.

Higbee was scheduled to play limited snaps against the Cardinals, but with rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson a late scratch because of a hamstring issue, Higbee played 48 snaps and caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in a 37-20 victory.

“I was just excited the ball found me,” he said. “Glad I could contribute to help us get a win.”

Coach Sean McVay was happy to have Higbee back.

“You could just see there’s a swag,” McVay said, “there’s a confidence.”

Higbee, 33, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2016 and has been an integral part of the offense ever since McVay was hired in 2017. Higbee and right tackle Rob Havenstein, an 11-year veteran who is on injured reserve, were members of McVay’s first team that have been on the roster for all seven playoff appearances under the ninth-year coach. Long snapper Jake McQuaide, a 15th-year pro who was part of McVay’s first four seasons, was signed at midseason.

Higbee has 386 career catches, 27 for touchdowns.

But Higbee’s value to the Rams goes beyond production.

“It’s just the human being too,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “The human being that celebrates for everybody.”

Midway through this season, the Rams evolved from an offense that primarily utilized one tight end to a scheme that utilizes as many as three at a time.

“Everybody has their own flavor,” Higbee said, “their own things that they’re great at.”

In 10 games, Higbee has 25 catches, three for touchdowns.

Colby Parkinson has 43 catches, eight for touchdowns, both career bests. Davis Allen has 24 catches, three for touchdowns, and Ferguson has 11 catches, three for touchdowns.

“We’re all very selfless,” Parkinson said. “No one is out there looking for individual success. We’re out there looking for team success.”

With Stafford at the controls, a receiver corps that includes stars Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, the running back duo of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and four productive tight ends bolstering the offensive line, the Rams averaged a league-best 30.5 points and 394.6 yards per game.

“This is the deepest tight end room I’ve ever been a part of,” Higbee said. “We’ve got the guys to do it, and we’ve shown that we can do it and the offense can go while we do it.

“And that will just present more opportunities.”

Higbee has 31 postseason receptions for 302 yards and two touchdowns, including one against the Philadelphia Eagles in last season’s divisional-round defeat.

Higbee did not play in the 31-28 loss to the Panthers on Nov. 30 because of the ankle injury suffered two weeks before against the Seattle Seahawks. So he is looking forward to making an impact any way that he can on Saturday for a team stocked with players that he said play for each other.

“At this level,” he said, “the more you can get guys that want to play for each other rather than just their families and the name on their back, makes a tighter team and in my opinion makes for a better team.”

Sometimes an album cover could be worth a thousand words. And the Grammys finally agree.

The 2026 ceremony will be the first time in 53 years that the award for best album cover will be presented. Previously, the award for a recording package included the album’s visuals and physical materials. Last year, Charli XCX earned the accolade for the virality of “brat” and its distinct mucus-y green.

However, this year, the categories for boxed/special limited-edition packages will be combined into a single recording package category, with album covers receiving their own trophy.

This category isn’t exactly new. At the first Grammys in 1959, Frank Sinatra’s “Only the Lonely” received the award for album cover. It was presented every year until 1973, when the Siegel-Schwall Band won for its self-titled album. After that, the category was renamed album package and then changed again in 1994 to recording package.

The nominated albums for art cover include Tyler the Creator’s “Chromakopia,” Djo’s “The Crux,” Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Perfume Genius’ “Glory” and Wet Leg’s “Moisturizer.” From the nostalgic white plastic chairs that grace Bad Bunny’s sixth studio album to Tyler the Creator’s masked longing gaze on his cover, an album’s artwork is often essential to the listening experience.

“When a cover in a campaign hits right,” said nominated photographer Neil Krug to the Associated Press, “it’s part of the language and the fabric of what makes a great record a great record.”

Krug has a history of photographing covers for artists like Lana Del Rey and Tame Impala. He’s nominated for shooting the cover of “The Crux, ” by Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”), who goes by the musical moniker Djo. The image includes a chaotic menagerie of an old hotel and a crowded street, including everything from Djo himself hanging from a window, a kissing couple and a parking ticket dispute.

“Anything that we could come up with, we were just like throwing it at the canvas,” Krug told the Associated Press.

This split of categories is meant to better recognize music in the digital age. Grammy rules state that albums do not need to exist physically to be considered for this category, unlike in the recording package category. (Though this year every album nominated for the award is available on vinyl and CD).

“In today’s digital world, album covers are arguably more impactful than ever. Chances are, there’s an iconic cover that’s instantly recognizable to you, even if you never owned the physical album. Their cultural significance is undeniable,” said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., in an interview with Grammy.com.

Recording Academy voters are tasked with judging the cover’s creativity and design elements. Once the winner is determined, trophies will go to the album’s art director and the designers, photographers and illustrators will receive a certificate.

In addition to the album cover category, the country album category has also been split into two groups: traditional country and contemporary country. (Last year, Beyoncé won country album for “Cowboy Carter.”) The new artist category has also been expanded to include performers who were featured on previous album of the year nominees, if they are featured on less than 20% of the album.

The Grammys kick off on Feb. 1 at Crypto.com Arena.

Those who snub Father Time like to say that 50 is the new 30. A different Father — Benedictine priest Maximilian Maxwell— sprinkled holy water in the end zone before his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday with the AFC North title on the line.

Fifty is the new 30 also applies to field goals. More than 70% of kicks over 50 yards are successful these days, a dramatic increase in accuracy from only five years ago. Excuse Maxwell for thinking divine intervention might be necessary should a last-second missed kick determine the outcome.

A 44-yarder is a chip shot for most NFL kickers, including Ravens rookie Tyler Loop, who had made 90% of his attempts — including eight of eight from 40-49 yards — when the ball was snapped with three seconds to play and Baltimore trailing 26-24.

Two words coined when Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard attempt that cost the Buffalo Bills Super Bowl XXV in 1991 once again were screamed on a television broadcast: “Wide right!”

Another memorable miss came from a kicker regarded as the best in the NFL 20-some years ago. Brash, outspoken Mike Vanderjagt of the Indianapolis Colts led the league in scoring in 1999 and four years later became the first kicker in history to make every kick in a full season: 83 of 83 on field goals and extra points.

Yet he botched a boot with 21 seconds to play during a playoff game in 2006, enabling the Steelers to upset the Colts. Pittsburgh went on to win the Super Bowl and Vanderjagt was replaced by Adam Vinatieri. He never regained his form.

Here’s hoping Loop rebounds better than Vanderjagt or Norwood, who was released a year after the historic miss and never played again. Loop was All Pac-12 in 2023 at Arizona, where he holds records for longest field goal (62 yards) and success rate (83.75%). He was the Wildcats’ G.O.A.T. before becoming the Ravens’ goat.

Loop, 24, didn’t duck the media, leaving the impression that he won’t let this failure define him.

“Just want to say I’m super grateful to Baltimore, the organization and the city, just how they embraced me this year has been incredible,” he said. “Just for it to end like that, sucks, and I want to do better.

“Unfortunately, the nature of the job is you have makes, and those are awesome, and unfortunately, you have misses, and for that to happen tonight sucks.”

The specialized nature of kickers can place them on the periphery of team bonding, but Loop’s teammates and coaches were supportive in the aftermath of the season-ending loss.

Coach John Harbaugh walked alongside Loop from the field to the locker room, with his arm around his back comforting him. Quarterback Lamar Jackson downplayed the impact, telling reporters, “He’s a rookie, you know. It’s all good. Just leave it in the past.”

Only time will tell whether Loop can do just that.

An actor who appeared in Tyler Perry’s “Boo! A Madea Halloween” allegedly confided in the media mogul about health concerns and financial woes months before filing a $77-million sexual assault lawsuit against the billionaire actor-director last week.

The actor, identified in court documents as Mario Rodriguez, sued Perry on Thursday for sexual assault and sexual battery in connection to multiple alleged encounters from 2015 and 2019. The 23-page civil complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims that Rodriguez cut off contact with Perry in 2019 and that through 2024 the director “would randomly reach out to Mr. Rodriguez.”

Screenshots of text messages, obtained by several outlets including the Associated Press, seem to show otherwise.

Rodriguez initiated text conversations with Perry as recently as August of this year. In a statement Monday, Rodriguez said “people are pointing to messages where I was polite, grateful, or vulnerable — and trying to use that to discredit me.”

“Survivors often stay cordial. They often ask for help when they feel desperate,” he added. “That does not mean abuse didn’t happen. Those text messages were sent to Perry at a time when I was especially vulnerable as can be seen from the context.”

The Associated Press reported Monday that Rodriguez expressed gratitude to Perry in a message sent during Thanksgiving 2024. “Just know that I love you and I thank you for everything, I appreciate you to the moon,” Rodriguez said in one message, according to screenshots published Monday by TMZ.

In a separate string of texts sent Aug. 31, Rodriguez informed Perry of his ongoing health issues, adding that he did not have health insurance. “I know I promised you I would never ask you for anything, but if it is what I think it is, I don’t think I could do it on my own because I barely pay my bills,” Rodriguez said in one message, according to TMZ.

“I just can’t go to the doctor because I can’t even afford it,” Rodriguez said in another August text message. “I don’t want anything. I just wanna be OK. Scared brother.”

Perry attorney Alex Spiro said Monday in a statement: “I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is nothing but a 77 million dollar money grab scam.”

The Rodriguez suit comes after “The Oval” actor Derek Dixon sued Perry in June, alleging quid pro quo sexual harassment, sexual battery, retaliation and more. Dixon is seeking $260 million in damages.

Rodriguez alleges in his lawsuit that Perry, 56, leveraged his Hollywood stature “to abuse and sexually assault people who hope to secure roles in his movies,” echoing claims Dixon made in his June filing. Rodriguez also alleges that Perry did not rehire him for further projects because he rejected the director’s sexual advances. Rodriguez and Dixon are both represented by attorney Jonathan J. Delshad.

According to the new lawsuit, Rodriguez started out as a model before a trainer approached him at a luxury gym in 2015 and put him in contact with Perry for a potential role in “Boo! A Madea Halloween.” Before Rodriguez auditioned and secured the minor role, Perry allegedly informed him, “I’m not a bad person to know and have in your corner” and touted the idea of more roles in the future.

The lawsuit alleges the mogul first sexually assaulted Rodriguez in Perry’s Los Angeles home in 2015. The two began drinking together before Perry invited the actor-model to his home theater to watch a movie, the document says. Perry, who instructed Rodriguez to leave his phone in the kitchen, allegedly asked the actor about his personal life and proceeded to hug him and compliment his appearance. He allegedly began rubbing Rodriguez’s shoulders and chest while making sexual noises, the lawsuit said. After Rodriguez attempted to distance himself, Perry allegedly continued touching the actor, “rubbing his inner thigh right next to his penis,” the complaint says.

The filmmaker’s sexual assaults persisted, the lawsuit alleges, in the years after he and Rodriguez wrapped the “Madea” film in 2016. Rodriguez returned to L.A. and stayed in contact with Perry, who invited Rodriguez to visit his home again to discuss future projects, the filing says.

“After a couple of visits, Mr. Perry then again began to make more sexual comments to Mr. Rodriguez” about his appearance, “and to ask him graphic sexual questions” including whether he had ever had sex with another man, the lawsuit says. Perry allegedly grabbed Rodriguez’s leg near his genitals again, the complaint says.

In November 2018, Rodriguez accepted another invitation from Perry to discuss a potential role in the TV series “The Oval.” They met for dinner in Beverly Hills, where Perry allegedly asked “So what are we? What are we doing?” before the director instructed Rodriguez to meet him at his Los Angeles home later that evening.

Conversations about potential collaborations took a sexual turn, the lawsuit says, when Perry asked Rodriguez whether he liked oral sex and if he had given oral sex to a man. Perry allegedly tightly hugged Rodriguez, tried to unbuckle the actor’s pants, reached into his underwear and grabbed his penis, according to the complaint. Before Rodriguez left Perry’s home in a rideshare, the filmmaker placed $5,000 in his pocket, the suit says.

Perry continued to invite Rodriguez to his Los Angeles home under the guise of work and sexually assaulted the actor over the following months, the lawsuit says. After another incident in April 2019, the suit says, Rodriguez stopped communicating with Perry.

Perry allegedly became infuriated by Rodriguez’s efforts to keep his distance and sent the actor expletive-filled texts. The lawsuit includes screenshots of the alleged exchanges, including one in which Rodriguez apologizes for not staying in touch with the director due to personal matters.

“I deserve a text at [least] once a month,” Perry texted Rodriguez, according to the lawsuit. He also asked the actor about his physical training and requested to see pictures, the complaint said.

Regarding his surfaced texts to Perry, Rodriguez added in his statement that “continued financial support and access are not inconsistent with abuse — they are often part of the power dynamics that follow it.”

He added: “The existence of financial assistance does not disprove harm. It is entirely consistent with the complex realities survivors face after abuse.”

Rodriguez also sued Perry for intentional infliction of emotional distress and sued “Boo! A Madea Halloween” distributor Lionsgate for negligent retention.