Though The Tragically Hip knows how important it is for some people to play My Music At Work, they don’t seem to want Pierre Poilievre to use their tunes for his.
When band’s guitarist Paul Langlois was notified that The Tragically Hip’s 1993 hit song Fifty-Mission Cap was played at an event for Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre this weekend, he called the news “highly offensive.”
A fan wrote to Langlois on Twitter and claimed the song was played at a meet-and-greet with Poilievre on Saturday at the Grand Olympia Hospitality and Convention Centre in Stoney Creek, Ont., east of Hamilton.
Langlois replied: “We certainly did not know this — highly offensive if true (we’ll wait to make sure and potentially confirm this) and if so, this will be stopped.”
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We certainly did not know this – highly offensive if true (we’ll wait to make sure and potentially confirm this) and if so, this will be stopped
The response triggered a wave of online support and outrage for Langlois and The Tragically Hip. Some praised his slamming of Poilievre and the CPC, while other longtime fans felt blindsided by the political stance.
Still, despite Langlois’ claims that the band was unaware their music was used, the venue has since confirmed that it did have the rights to play The Tragically Hip’s music.
In a statement on Monday, The Tragically Hip took a softer stance than Langlois had expressed on social media, but still requested political parties directly ask to use their music.
“It is (and has always been) our expectation that brands, political parties, or public figures wishing to use our music for a campaign first seek our approval,” the statement reads. “When we began to see posts and tweets from the event this weekend, the specifics were unclear.”
“It has now been confirmed that Saturday’s event took place in a venue licensed by SOCAN, which means the venue pays a fee to ensure artists and musicians are compensated appropriately when music is played on site. As such, specific permissions were not required in this case. We did not have the full details in our earlier posts — and now consider this matter resolved.”
The Dungarees performing at Blue Jay Sessions leading up to Juno Awards in Edmonton
Despite claims of a resolution, discourse about Langlois’ upset over the Conservative Party playing Fifty-Mission Cap is still snowballing online.
On Sunday, Langlois (albeit seemingly reluctantly) clarified his first statement on Twitter.
“I hate to have to clarify this but here goes: We have always been highly offended by anybody who doesn’t ask for our permission to use our music for a brand, a political party, or a public figure of any sort,” he wrote. “It’s just common courtesy to ask, and it applies to anyone and everyone.”
I hate to have to clarify this but here goes: We have always been highly offended by anybody who doesn’t ask for our permission to use our music for a brand, a political party, or a public figure of any sort. It’s just common courtesy to ask, and it applies to anyone and everyone
Langlois then replied to several Twitter users, many of whom were against his stance on the CPC using the Hip’s music. The guitarist clearly found entertainment in egging on folks who had been outraged by his earlier tweets.
I am not suggesting that. Just a political campaign is what we’re talking about here right? We just don”t want to be a part of any of that. C’mon, like that doesn’t make sense???
“How offensive. Damn, and to think I was a hip [sic] fan. If I could take back every purchase, I would now,” read one tweet.
“Do it,” Langlois tweeted back.
At one point, the guitarist even wrote that “maybe I shouldn’t have commented publicly” but noted regardless he’s “kinda enjoyed all this a little bit.”
I’m sure no one asked, yes. Mistake certainly possible but we would know if someone asked right?like %100 we would know and we would’ve have given an answer (NO). And yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have responded publicly but I don’t know, I’ve kinda enjoyed all this a little bit so far
On Monday, Langlois posted his final tweet in the saga, and appeared to pose as an assistant named “Randolph” who claimed his boss was “sensitive and prone to lashing out.” It is unclear as of this writing if Randolph is a real person.
Langlois is definitely not the first musician to take issue with a politician using their music. Perhaps most famously, Bruce Springsteen insisted U.S. President Ronald Reagan cease using his song Born in the U.S.A. during his re-election campaign.
Last year, two members of the band Journey started a legal battle over the use of their song Don’t Stop Believin’ at events affiliated with Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
A deadly crowd crush at the Sunday night concert of Memphis rapper GloRilla claimed the life of a 33-year-old woman in Rochester, N.Y. Two other women remain in critical condition on Monday, and “still fighting for their lives,” police said.
Police believe the stampede erupted over false fears that there was a shooter in the venue, sending concertgoers surging for the exits. In total, nine people were injured.
Rochester Police Lt. Nicholas Adams told ABC News that police responded to the scene of the stampede based on initial reports of gunshots. But when police arrived at Rochester’s Main Street Armory, the injuries they observed weren’t consistent with gunshot wounds.
“At this time, there is no evidence to support a shooting having occurred inside the event,” Adams wrote in a statement. “The injuries appear to be as a result of a large crowd pushing towards the exits following accounts of individuals hearing what they believed to be gunshots.”
Police Chief David M. Smith later confirmed at a Monday press briefing that police “do not have any evidence of gunshots being fired or of anyone being shot or stabbed at the scene.”
Police believe the crush began just after 11 p.m., after the concert featuring GloRilla and Finesse2tymes ended. Three women were found critically injured, and one later died in hospital. Seven additional people were taken to hospitals and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
“What began last night as a night of live music and fun for the performer GloRilla ended in tragedy with one person dead and two more fighting for their lives,” the chief said.
Smith said police are investigating several potential causes for the fatal surge, including “possibly crowd size, shots fired, pepper spray and other contributing factors.”
Late Sunday night, GloRilla tweeted that she had just learned about the incident at her concert.
“I’m just now hearing about what happened wtf,” GloRilla wrote on Twitter, about an hour after police initially responded to the scene. “Praying everybody is ok.”
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A Twitter user who said she was at GloRilla’s Sunday night concert responded to her tweet, writing: “I don’t get what happened, I was in the middle of that crowd, but I didn’t hear any gunshots.”
She added that the crowd was walking out of the venue after GloRilla’s set “and then everyone started running outta no where it made no sense.”
I don’t get what happened, i was in the middle of that crowd, but i didn’t hear any gunshots, honestly we were all just walking out after glorilla preformed and then everyone started running outta no where it made no sense, sucks that it’s always something at the armory 😩😩
Mayor Malik Evans called the fatal stampede “a tragedy of epic proportions” and promised a thorough investigation. “We are going to hold people accountable for what happened last night, period,” Evans said.
GloRilla, a Memphis native whose 2022 song F.N.F. (Let’s Go) with Hitkidd was nominated for a Grammy for best rap performance, was among a number of artists to perform at the recent Grammy Awards Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary Tribute, which featured Missy Elliott, Ice-T, Busta Rhymes, Public Enemy, Nelly, Queen Latifah and Run-D.M.C.
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Fatal crowd surges have been a recurring disaster at concerts and other large events in the U.S. and around the world, including a 2021 concert by rapper Travis Scott in which 10 people died.
— With files from The Associated Press
What happened at Astroworld? The science behind crowd surges
Tom Sizemore, the “Saving Private Ryan” actor whose bright 1990s star burned out under the weight of his own domestic violence and drug convictions, died Friday at age 61.
The actor had suffered a brain aneurysm on Feb. 18 at his home in Los Angeles. He died in his sleep Friday at a hospital in Burbank, California, his manager Charles Lago said.
Sizemore became a star with acclaimed appearances in “Natural Born Killers” and the cult-classic crime thriller “Heat.” But serious substance dependency, abuse allegations and multiple run-ins with the law devastated his career, left him homeless and sent him to jail.
As the global #MeToo movement wave crested in late 2017, Sizemore was also accused of groping an 11-year-old Utah girl on set in 2003. He called the allegations “highly disturbing,” saying he would never inappropriately touch a child. Charges were not filed.
Despite the raft of legal trouble, Sizemore had scores of steady film and television credits _ though his career never regained its onetime momentum. Aside from “Black Hawk Down” and “Pearl Harbor,” most of his 21st century roles came in low-budget, little-seen productions where he continued to play the gruff, tough guys he became famous for portraying.
“I was a guy who’d come from very little and risen to the top. I’d had the multimillion-dollar house, the Porsche, the restaurant I partially owned with Robert De Niro,” the Detroit-born Sizemore wrote in his 2013 memoir, “By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There.” “And now I had absolutely nothing.”
The book’s title was taken from a line uttered by his character in “Saving Private Ryan,” a role for which he garnered Oscar buzz. But he wrote that success turned him into a “spoiled movie star,” an “arrogant fool” and eventually “a hope-to-die addict.”
He racked up a string of domestic violence arrests. Sizemore was married once, to actor Maeve Quinlan, and was arrested on suspicion of beating her in 1997. While the charges were dropped, the couple divorced in 1999.
FILE – Actor Tom Sizemore salutes in honor of Memorial Day, a day early, at the Mexican-American All Wars Memorial in Los Angeles, Sunday, May, 29, 2011.
AP Photo/Nick Ut, File
Sizemore was convicted of abusing ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss in 2003 _ the same year he pleaded no contest and avoided trial in a separate abuse case _ and sentenced to jail. The former Hollywood madam testified that he had punched her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel, and beaten her in New York to the point where they couldn’t attend the “Black Hawk Down” premiere.
The sentencing judge said drug abuse was likely a catalyst but that testimony had revealed a man who had deep problems dealing with women. Fleiss called Sizemore “a zero” in a conversation with The Associated Press after his conviction.
Sizemore apologized in a letter, saying he was “chastened” and that “personal demons” had taken over his life, though he later denied abusing her and accused her of faking a picture showing her bruises.
Fleiss also sued Sizemore, saying she suffered emotional distress after he threatened to get her own probation revoked. Fleiss had been convicted in 1994 of running a high-priced call-girl ring. That lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.
Sizemore was the subject of two workplace sexual harassment lawsuits related to the 2002 CBS show “Robbery Homicide Division,” in which he played a police detective. He was arrested as recently as 2016 in another domestic violence case.
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Sizemore ended up jailed from August 2007 to January 2009 for failing numerous drug tests while on probation and after Bakersfield, California, authorities found methamphetamine in his car.
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“God’s trying to tell me he doesn’t want me using drugs because every time I use them I get caught,” Sizemore told The Bakersfield Californian in a jailhouse interview.
Sizemore told the AP in 2013 that he believed his dependency was related to the trappings of success. He struggled to maintain his emotional composure as he described a low point looking in the mirror: “I looked like I was 100 years old. I had no relationship with my kids; I had no work to speak off. I was living in squat.”
He appeared on the reality TV show “Celebrity Rehab” and its spinoff “Sober House,” telling the AP that he did the shows to receive help, but also partly to pay off accumulated debts that ran into the millions.
Many of Sizemore’s later-career films had a sci-fi, horror or action bent: In 2022 alone, he starred in movies with such titles as “Impuratus,” “Night of the Tommyknockers” and “Vampfather.” But Sizemore still nabbed a few meaty roles _ including in the “Twin Peaks” revival _ and guest spots on popular shows like “Entourage” and “Hawaii Five-O.”
A stuntman sued Sizemore and Paramount Pictures in 2016, saying he was injured when the allegedly intoxicated actor ran him over while filming USA’s “Shooter.” State records obtained by the AP showed that Sizemore was only supposed to be sitting in the unmoving car and that he “improvised at the end of the scene and drove away in his car.” Sizemore was fired from “Shooter” and the stuntman’s lawsuit was settled on undisclosed terms.
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In addition to his film and TV credits, he was part of the voice cast for 2002’s “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” video game. He also taught classes at the LA West Acting Studio, according to recent advertisements.
He is survived by his 17-year-old twin sons, Jayden and Jagger, and his brother Paul, all of whom were by his side when he died.
“I’ve led an interesting life, but I can’t tell you what I’d give to be the guy you didn’t know anything about,” Sizemore wrote in his memoir.
The cartoon empire built by Dilbert creator Scott Adams is quickly crumbling.
The latest fallout came Monday, when Adams’ distributor, Andrews McMeel Universal, announced it would cut ties with the cartoonist following his racist tirade about Black Americans.
In a joint statement, Andrews McMeel chairman Hugh Andrews and CEO and president Andy Sareyan said the syndication company was “severing our relationship” with Adams and condemned his remarks, saying “we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate.”
Last week, in a video shared to YouTube, Adams called Black Americans a “hate group” and suggested that white people should “get the hell away” from them. He was commenting on a poll from the right-leaning Rasmussen Reports that said 47 per cent of Black respondents disagreed with the statement, “It’s OK to be White.”
“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with white people — according to this poll, not according to me,” he said in the Feb. 22 video. “That’s a hate group.”
Hundreds of newspapers across North America have announced they will no longer run Dilbert on their funny pages, and Penguin Random House imprint Portfolio announced Monday it was dropping Adams’ forthcoming book, Reframe Your Brain.
Portfolio published Adams’ previous titles, including How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big and Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America.
Adams said Monday on YouTube that his distributor didn’t really have a choice because clients and other cartoonists were mad.
My publisher for non-Dilbert books has canceled my upcoming book and the entire backlist. Still no disagreement about my point of view. My book agent canceled me too.
Adams has long been active on Twitter, whose CEO, Elon Musk, was among the few to publicly back him. Adams also blogs regularly and puts out a regular podcast on YouTube.
For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re racist against whites & Asians.
Same thing happened with elite colleges & high schools in America.
He’s attracted attention for comments he’s made in the past, including saying in 2011 that women are treated differently by society for the same reason as children and those with mental disabilities — “it’s just easier this way for everyone.” He said 2016 GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina had an “angry wife face.”
Adams became a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump, saying Trump had a hypnotist’s skill in attracting followers. He said that stance cost him money in lost speaker’s fees.
He said he lost the primetime animated Dilbert series that ran on UPN for two seasons for “being white” when the network decided to target a Black audience, and that he lost two other corporate jobs because of his race.
The Anti-Defamation League said the phrase at the centre of the question was popularized as a trolling campaign by members of 4chan — a notorious anonymous site — and was adopted by some white supremacists.
It’s disturbing to see Musk attempt to defend Scott Adams’ racist remarks. As arguably one of the most visible public figures in America & owner of a large social media platform, his words carry tremendous weight. He should condemn bigotry, not defend it. https://t.co/Oo9gyCzzpH
(Rasmussen Reports is a conservative polling firm that has used its Twitter account to endorse false and misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccines, elections and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.)
Update: Since we’re now making the Sunday political talk shows here are the Ok To Be White? summary crosstabs.
Adams repeatedly referred to people who are Black as members of a “hate group” or a “racist hate group” and said he would no longer “help Black Americans.” On his podcast Monday, he called his “hate group” remark “hyperbole,” but maintained his advice that white people should “get the hell away” from Black people.
Meanwhile, many cartoonists have applauded the industry’s condemnation of Adams, and some have shared that they’re not surprised he’s being held to account.
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“I’m proud and happy to see publishers, magazines, and newspapers are dropping him because there should be no tolerance for that kind of language,” Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell, a cartoonist for The New Yorker, told NPR.
The editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, which dumped Dilbert last year, told The Associated Press that the comic strip “went from being hilarious to being hurtful and mean.”
Editor-in-chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz said in the newspaper that he had objected to a strip that said that in an effort to diversify workplaces, straight men should pretend to be gay.
“He kind of ran out of office jokes and started integrating all this other stuff so after a while, it became hard to distinguish between Scott Adams and Dilbert,” said Mike Peterson, columnist for the industry blog The Daily Cartoonist.
Prince Harry is sitting down for another chat about his bestselling and controversial memoir, Spare, and this time he’ll be speaking with a Hungarian-Canadian doctor.
Harry will join Canadian physician, author and trauma expert Gabor Maté for an “intimate conversation,” and the public can purchase tickets for the virtual event and submit questions for the prince to answer.
Join us on Saturday, March 4th for a virtual live conversation between Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex and Dr. Gabor Maté, renowned speaker and author of THE MYTH OF NORMAL: TRAUMA, ILLNESS, AND HEALING IN A TOXIC CULTURE. pic.twitter.com/4CpLloLwdT
Maté is a renowned addiction expert and the author of the recently published book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture. He, like Harry, is a bestselling author. His writings cover childhood development, the physical and mental impacts of stress, ADHD and addiction.
The one-hour interview will be livestreamed the morning of March 4, starting at 9 a.m. PT, from an undisclosed location.
Maté tweeted about the event late last week, encouraging royal watchers to buy their ticket by March 1 for a chance to have a submitted question asked during the event.
Register by March 1 to submit a question, and you may see it answered live! Access is open to residents of most countries—visit https://t.co/DaBkzlLTa7 for tickets. #PrinceHarryMemoir
According to Vanity Fair, the pair will “discuss the difficulties of living with loss, as well as the importance of personal healing.”
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There are two levels of ticket pricing: $45.38 includes a copy of Spare, while $82.82 includes both Spare and Maté’s latest book.
Maté, 79, is considered one of the world’s leading voices advocating for alternative addiction treatment and has been a longtime supporter of the decriminalization of drugs.
His promotion of and use of the Amazonian plant ayahuasca to treat mental illness landed him with a warning in 2011. The drug is illegal in Canada, and Health Canada officials threatened to have him arrested if he didn’t stop using ayahuasca to treat his patients.
Last month, Harry’s Spare became an instant bestseller around the globe, capturing the number one position of the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list for six consecutive weeks. More than 1.4 million units of the English-language copy were sold on the first day it was available, making it the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time.
Copies of the new book by Prince Harry called “Spare” are displayed at Sherman’s book store in Freeport, Maine, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty / The Associated Press
Prince Harry has been clear about why he wrote the book, telling People last month: “My hope has been to turn my pain into purpose, so if sharing my experience makes a positive difference in someone’s life, well, I can’t think of anything more rewarding than that.
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“This book and its truths are in many ways a continuation of my own mental health journey. It’s a raw account of my life — the good, the bad and everything in between,” he continued.
Prince Harry says he tried to step back from royal duties privately, but there were leaks and stories planted
The release of the book last month, coupled with four promotional interviews given by the prince to various news outlets and talk shows, saw a division of opinion. Many were critical of his decision to publish so many intimate and, at times, unflattering details of life inside the British Royal Family. Others applauded him for his honesty and willingness to exposed the toxic relationship between Buckingham Palace and the U.K.’s tabloid media.
His interviews also focused on his strained relationship with his family, accusing members of his family of getting “into bed with the devil” to gain favourable tabloid coverage, claiming his stepmother Camilla, the queen consort, had leaked private conversations to the media and saying his family was “complicit” in his wife Meghan’s “pain and suffering.”
Harry insists he wants to salvage what remains of his relationship with his brother and father, King Charles III, but some have pointed out that airing his family’s dirty laundry in such a public — and furious — fashion might have the opposite effect.
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When Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson told a joke about an anti-vaccine conspiracy theory on Saturday Night Live this week, the audience was unsure how to react.
The joke, which has since created controversy online, was part of Harrelson’s SNL opening monologue. Harrelson, 61, told the audience he’d been sent a movie script with a clear, real-world metaphor.
“So, the movie goes like this: the biggest drug cartels in the world get together and buy up all the media and all the politicians and force all the people in the world to stay locked in their homes, and people can only come out if they take the cartel’s drugs and keep taking them over and over,” said Harrelson.
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The punchline: “I threw the script away. I mean, who is gonna believe that crazy idea! Being forced to do drugs? I do them voluntarily all day long.”
The New York audience released a round of tense laughter, clearly unsure how to respond.
Neither SNL nor Harrelson has commented publicly on the monologue.
Almost immediately after the episode aired, Harrelson’s joke became the subject of fierce debate online. Many social media users with anti-vaccine beliefs praised Harrelson. Others felt the joke was a harmful means of spreading false, anti-science rhetoric about the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Re Woody Harrelson and #SNL, whenever anyone spews anti-vax stupidity, I always think of the countless videos of traumatized/crying doctors, nurses and hospital workers who were climbing over bodies in Covid’s early days,” wrote Twitter user Ballark. “So yeah, f**k Woody Harrelson.”
the SNL cast backstage watching woody harrelson go on an anti-vaxx rant during his monologue knowing they have to do sketches with this man for the next hour
— elise | sarah snook’s emmy campaign (@bisexualcrises) February 26, 2023
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In Canada, over 80 per cent of the population (excluding Quebec) is fully vaccinated, according to statistics provided by the Canadian government. Over 83 per cent of Canadians have been administered at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination is most popular among Canadians over the age of 60.
Publisher Penguin Random House announced Friday it will publish “classic” unexpurgated versions of Roald Dahl’s children’s novels after it received criticism for cuts and rewrites that were intended to make the books suitable for modern readers.
Along with the new editions, the company said 17 of Dahl’s books would be published in their original form later this year as The Roald Dahl Classic Collection so “readers will be free to choose which version of Dahl’s stories they prefer.”
The move comes after criticism of scores of changes made to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other much-loved classics for recent editions published under the company’s Puffin children’s label, in which passages relating to weight, mental health, gender and race were altered.
Augustus Gloop, Charlie’s gluttonous antagonist in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — originally published in 1964 — became “enormous” rather than “enormously fat.” In Witches, an “old hag” became an “old crow,” and a supernatural female posing as an ordinary woman may be a “top scientist or running a business” instead of a “cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman.”
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FILE – Books by Roald Dahl are displayed at the Barney’s store on East 60th Street in New York on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Critics are accusing the publisher of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books of censorship after it removed colorful language from stories such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” to make them more acceptable to modern readers.
Andrew Burton / The Associated Press
In Fantastic Mr. Fox, the word “black” was removed from a description of the “murderous, brutal-looking” tractors.
The Roald Dahl Story Company, which controls the rights to the books, said it had worked with Puffin to review and revise the texts because it wanted to ensure that “Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today.”
While tweaking old books for modern sensibilities is not a new phenomenon in publishing, the scale of the edits drew strong criticism from free-speech groups such as writers’ organization PEN America, and from authors including Salman Rushdie.
Rushdie, who lived under threat of death from Iran’s Islamic regime for years because of the alleged blasphemy of his novel The Satanic Verses, called the revisions “absurd censorship.”
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Rushdie, who was attacked and seriously injured last year at an event in New York state, tweeted news of Penguin’s change of heart on Friday with the words “Penguin Books back down after Roald Dahl backlash!”
PEN America chief executive Suzanne Nossel wrote on Twitter: “I applaud Penguin for hearing out critics, taking the time to rethink this, and coming to the right place.”
Camilla, Britain’s queen consort, appeared to offer her view at a literary reception on Thursday. She urged writers to “remain true to your calling, unimpeded by those who may wish to curb the freedom of your expression or impose limits on your imagination.”
Dahl’s books, with their mischievous children, strange beasts and often beastly adults, have sold more than 300 million copies and continue to be read by children around the world. Their multiple stage and screen adaptations include Matilda the Musical and two Willy Wonka films based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a third in the works.
Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka on set of the 1971 film ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,’ based on the novel by Roald Dahl.
Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
But Dahl, who died in 1990, is also a controversial figure because of antisemitic comments made throughout his life. His family apologized in 2020.
Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, said the publisher had “listened to the debate over the past week which has reaffirmed the extraordinary power of Roald Dahl’s books and the very real questions around how stories from another era can be kept relevant for each new generation.”
“Roald Dahl’s fantastic books are often the first stories young children will read independently, and taking care for the imaginations and fast-developing minds of young readers is both a privilege and a responsibility,” she said.
“We also recognize the importance of keeping Dahl’s classic texts in print,” Dow said. “By making both Puffin and Penguin versions available, we are offering readers the choice to decide how they experience Roald Dahl’s magical, marvelous stories.”
Conservatives criticized from within their own ranks over political ad featuring ‘Willy Wonka’ spoof of Trudeau
By now, it’s likely you’ve heard of the movie Cocaine Bear, whose recent promotion seems to be more rampant than cocaine in the 1980s.
And the movie’s title is pretty succinct to what it offers – there is a bear and she does a whole lot of cocaine.
What you may not know, however, is that Cocaine Bear is based on a true story.
These are the true events that inspired what’s sure to be one of 2023’s most wild flicks.
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The real cocaine bear dates back to the 1980s (of course)
In 1985, ex-narcotics officer-turned-drug smuggler Andrew Thornton (played by Matthew Rhys) came up with a drug smuggling operation that involved dropping packages of cocaine from Colombia out of a Cessna 404 Titan plane into the Tennessee Valley in Georgia.
However, on a September flight that year, Thornton dropped several duffel bags of cocaine – about $2 million worth – from the plane mid-air, somewhere over Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia.
Kentucky.com reports that Thornton got spooked when he thought he heard federal officers talking about following the plane on the radio. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Thornton fell to his death when he jumped out of the plane and his parachute failed to open.
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His body was found on a neighbourhood driveway in Knoxville, Tenn., wearing a bulletproof vest, night vision goggles and Gucci loafers, as well as carrying $4,500 in cash and knives and guns. He also had several bags of cocaine strapped to him.
The abandoned plane, meanwhile, crashed into the hills of North Carolina.
Bear meets drugs
Over the course of several months, police found the ditched cocaine, and it’s here where the real-life story and movie plotline depart.
In both the true events and the movie, yes, a bear did get into the ditched cocaine. But while the movie bear goes berserk and embarks on a gory, cocaine-fuelled killing spree, the fate of the real bear was definitely less lively.
The retired medical examiner who performed Escobear’s necropsy at the time, recently said that he discovered the bear’s “stomach was literally packed to the brim with cocaine. There isn’t a mammal on the planet that could survive that. Cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure, stroke. You name it, that bear had it.”
Despite the internal damage to the bear, the examiner said he was shocked at how well the exterior of the bear appeared and decided to contact a taxidermist friend. Once Escobear was stuffed, she was gifted to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, reports the Louisville Courier Journal, where she was displayed in the visitor center behind a plaque that did not mention her hard-partying ways.
But that’s not where this odd, true tale ends.
Escobear travels the Southern U.S.
At one point, in the early 1990s, park employees were forced to evacuate the area due to an approaching wildfire. As they scrambled to leave, they took some of the centre’s artifacts, including the stuffed bear, and stored them in a nearby town.
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However, the artifacts went missing soon after, and while some were eventually recovered from a Nashville pawn shop, Escobear was nowhere to be found.
An investigation eventually found that country singer Waylon Jennings had purchased Escobear from the pawn shop and gifted it to a friend in Las Vegas. When the owner of Escobear died in 2009, Escobear was sold at an estate auction for an uncontested opening bid of $200.
Most recently, Escobear was purchased by a souvenir “fun mall” called Kentucky for Kentucky, and will call the shop home for the foreseeable future. The store has gone all-in on the story of the drugged-up bear, offering plenty of Cocaine Bear merch for sale, including a punny “blow” globe, Cokey the Bear patches, beer koozies and Valentine cards.
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She’s also available for photo ops and comes with a warning sign hung around her neck:
“Don’t do drugs or you’ll end up dead (and maybe stuffed) like poor ‘Cocaine Bear.’”
In what can only be described as truly impeccable timing, Netflix dropped their latest true-crime offering just hours before the main character in the case was called to the stand at his own double-murder trial.
And while the title of the three-part documentary ostensibly references the 2021 killings of Alex Murdaugh’s son, Paul, and wife, Maggie, the episodes focus on series of tragic accidents, mysterious deaths, brutal murders and financial crimes that all converged to take down a family that seemed to believe they were above the law.
The case at hand
Alex Murdaugh is currently on trial for the murders of 52-year-old Maggie and 22-year-old Paul. He is accused of shooting Paul twice with a shotgun and Maggie five times with a rifle at the family’s hunting lodge on June 7, 2021.
On Thursday, he tearfully told the South Carolina courtroom that he maintains his innocence, but admitted that he lied about when he last saw his family members.
Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh took the stand in his own defence at his double murder trial Thursday to present his version of events. He denied killing his wife and son.
The Associated Press
“I would never intentionally do anything to hurt either one of them,” Murdaugh said, tears running down his cheeks, mucous dripping out of his nose.
Taking the stand five weeks into his trial, Murdaugh admitted he lied to police about being at the hunting property’s dog kennels with his wife and son shortly before the killings, but he blamed his addiction to opioids for clouding his thinking and creating a distrust of state law enforcement agents.
Prosecutors contend that Murdaugh killed his wife and son because he wanted sympathy to buy time to cover up his financial crimes that were about to be discovered. He faces roughly 100 other charges — from stealing from clients to arranging his own shooting on the side of a highway.
And while Murdaugh’s trial will likely last at least another week, and it could be some time before the jury shares a verdict, the downfall of the Murdaugh dynasty began many years ago.
Where the story begins
For 86 years, the Murdaugh family were the unofficial rulers of South Carolina, with three generations controlling the local prosecutor’s office from 1920-2006 for the Beaufort, Jasper, Hampton, Allendale and Colleton counties.
Alex Murdaugh’s great-grandfather, grandfather and father all served as the region’s solicitor (known as a district attorney in other states), while the rest of the family ran a successful litigation firm in Hampton, making the Murdaugh family powerful on both sides of the law.
And while Alex Murdaugh was not appointed solicitor, the docuseries examines how the civil litigation lawyer used his power to influence and manipulate those around him.
On Feb. 24, 2019, Paul Murdaugh, along with five friends, was travelling home by boat after a night of heavy drinking when he crashed into a bridge footing, throwing them overboard. One of the teens, 19-year-old Beach, went missing and her body was found washed up on shore five days later.
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Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal reveals the shocking true story of how the accidental death of a teenage girl led to two more murders and exposed a century of corruption by one of South Carolina’s most prominent families. Now on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/rU6QbeFrhY
Murdaugh Murders interviews the other teens that were on the boat that night, including Paul’s girlfriend Morgan Doughty, Beach’s friends Miley Altman and Connor Cook, and Beach’s boyfriend Anthony Cook. They all say that Paul had been drinking excessively that night and detail how, after the accident, they witnessed Alex Murdaugh attempting to use his influence and power to protect his son.
The case gained so much attention that this was one situation the Murdaugh family could not control, and a month later Paul was indicted on charges of boating under the influence.
Paul pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies, and according to several documentary sources, tried to pin one of his friends as the boat’s driver that night. The documentary also explores how Paul was not given a field sobriety test, taken to jail for booking, or even handcuffed.
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The Beach family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaugh family and a hearing in the case was supposed to go ahead the first week of June 2021. If found guilty, Paul was facing 25 years in prison. However, he didn’t live long enough to face court.
The gravesite of Mallory Beach.
Netflix
On June 7, Alex Murdaugh called police to report that he found his wife, Maggie, and Paul shot dead at the family’s hunting property in Islandton, S.C. Murdaugh told investigators that he returned to the sprawling estate late at night after visiting his elderly mother and found the bodies of his wife and son.
Police began investigating Paul and Maggie’s deaths and, two weeks later, on June 22, announced that they were reopening an investigation into a 2015 death of a local teen, citing new information gathered while investigating the deaths of the slain Murdaughs.
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Paul, Maggie and Alex Murdaugh pose together in an undated photo.
Courtesy / Netflix
On July 8, 2015, the body of 19-year-old Stephen Smith was found dead in the middle of Sandy Run Road in Hampton County. Investigators ruled the death of the openly gay teen as a hit-and-run, but his family doubted the ruling from the beginning.
The documentary reveals how, in early August 2015, shortly after Smith’s death, authorities received several tips that Smith and Buster Murdaugh, Alex’s eldest son, may have been involved in a secret romantic relationship. While there have been no recent updates from police in the reopened case, sources in the documentary allege that many in the area believe that the Murdaugh family may have had something to do with Smith’s death, and believe the Murdaughs wanted to cover up a homosexual relationship tied to the family.
Buster Murdaugh, the son of Alex Murdaugh, listens as his father testifies in his own trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 in Walterboro, S.C.
The Associated Press
An attempted hit job?
After Paul and Maggie’s deaths, things quickly began to fall apart for Alex Murdaugh.
The very next day, after being confronted by a longtime friend and fellow lawyer over the alleged theft, Murdaugh called 911 from the side of a road near his home, telling the dispatcher he had been shot in the head. A shooter, he claimed, had pulled up beside him while he was inspecting a flat tire. The bullet had grazed his head, causing only a superficial wound, and he was treated in hospital.
Two days after allegedly being shot at, Murdaugh issued a statement saying that he would be resigning from the law firm and entering rehab, citing an opioid addiction.
“The murders of my wife and son have caused an incredibly difficult time in my life. I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret. I’m resigning from my law firm and entering rehab after a long battle that has been exacerbated by these murders. I am immensely sorry to everyone I’ve hurt including my family, friends and colleagues. I ask for prayers as I rehabilitate myself and my relationships,” read Murdaugh’s entire statement.
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A major confession
One week into his rehab treatment, Murdaugh confessed to police that he was the mastermind of his own shooting. He told police that he had orchestrated his shooting as part of a botched assisted suicide plot.
On Sept. 13, 2021, Murdaugh told police that he had hired a former client, distant cousin and drug dealer, 62-year-old Curtis “Cousin Eddie” Smith, to shoot and kill him. The reason, he said, was so that Buster, his surviving son, could claim a $10 million life insurance payout. Police arrested and charged Murdaugh and Smith, but Murdaugh was released on bond and sent back to rehab to finish his program.
Buster Murdaugh, the only surviving son of Alex Murdaugh, wipes away tears as witnesses are called in Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder at the Colleton County Courthouse on Jan. 26, 2023.
Joshua Boucher / The State/Pool/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Smith, to this day, denies shooting Murdaugh. His lawyer, Aimee Zmroczek, told media last month: “I believe that when he (Alex Murdaugh) lured Eddie out to the side of the road, he was gonna kill him and blame (the deaths of Paul and Maggie) on him … I firmly believe that was what was gonna happen.”
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Another mysterious death
Two days after sending Murdaugh back to rehab, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced they were opening a criminal investigation into the mysterious death of the Murdaugh family housekeeper.
Two-and-a-half years after Stephen Smith’s death on Feb. 26, 2018, longtime housekeeper for the Murdaugh family, Gloria Satterfield, died.
According to the Satterfield estate lawyer, Eric Bland, her death was described as a “trip and fall accident” at the Murdaugh home, where she had served for more than 20 years as an employee.
According to a pair of affidavits released on Oct. 16, 2021, Murdaugh allegedly went to Satterfield’s sons following her death, under the guise of altruism, and convinced them to sue his insurance companies with the promise he would admit fault so they would get a large settlement. The sons said they didn’t see a dime of the money and claimed Murdaugh conspired with two fellow lawyers to have the insurance payout diverted to his own account.
Murdaugh Avenue, a dirt road as seen on Sept. 16, 2021, connects Moselle Road to S.C. Hwy. 63, also known as Sniders Highway. The intersection is about 3 miles from Alex Murdaugh’s Islandton home, where on June 7, he found his wife Maggie and son Paul murdered.
Drew Martin / The Island Packet/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
A month later, on Nov. 19, 2021, Murdaugh was charged with almost 30 counts over the Satterfield wrongful death settlement. His bond was set at $7 million and he remained in jail.
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At a hearing the following month, Murdaugh’s lawyer said his client agreed to pay $4.3 million to the Satterfield family.
The documentary speaks with Satterfield’s family, who believe her death was not investigated properly and have suspicions of foul play by the Murdaugh family.
Last year, authorities announced plans to exhume Satterfield’s body. (As of this writing, it’s not publicly known if this was ever completed.)
“The decedent’s death was not reported to the Coroner at the time, nor was an autopsy performed. On the death certificate the manner of death was ruled ‘Natural,’ which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident,” the coroner’s request to the law enforcement division said.
Murdaugh’s eventual murder charges
Through December of 2021 and into January of 2022, dozens more criminal charges piled up against Murdaugh, all relating to allegations of defrauding clients of millions of dollars. By the end of January 2022, Murdaugh faced 71 charges stemming from accusations that he defrauded victims of nearly $8.5 million in various schemes.
Between January and June of 2022, things were quiet. Murdaugh was indicted on four more crimes related to a scheme to defraud multiple insurance companies in March. While all of this was happening, Murdaugh remained in prison.
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During this time, investigators told media that Murdaugh was a person of interest in the murders of Paul and Maggie, and no additional suspects had been named.
On July 12, the South Carolina Supreme Court announced that Murdaugh had been disbarred and two days later, on July 14, Murdaugh was indicted on two counts of murder and two weapons counts in connection with the killings of his wife and son.
What’s happening now?
Between last summer’s charges and now, Murdaugh has been charged with further financial crimes related to tax evasion, money laundering and computer crime.
On Jan. 23, Murdaugh’s trial for the murders of his wife and son began in Walterboro, S.C.
Alex Murdaugh listens to testimony during his double-murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Feb. 10, 2023.
Joshua Boucher / The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Meanwhile, the docuseries’ filmmakers, Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason, say they have uncovered additional crimes since they began putting the series together in the fall of 2021 — and they’re hoping Netflix greenlights a second season of the show.
“There is so much more to tell in this story,” Furst told Vanity Fair. “There are additional crimes that have occurred that we have the scoop on — corruption that goes far wider than Hampton, South Carolina. That goes to the state and to the federal level.”
Sami Zayn knows it will be loud. A Montreal wrestling crowd for a WWE event never disappoints when it comes to jacking up the decibel meter.
But the Montreal-area wrestler doesn’t fully predict just how loud the fans will be at Bell Centre when his music hits and he walks to the ring for his highly-anticipated, main-event match with WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns in Saturday night’s Elimination Chamber.
“I’m trying to keep my expectations low,” Zayn said during a media appearance at a downtown Montreal hotel on Friday morning.
“Historically speaking, the Bell Centre has been extremely, extremely kind to me. There is just something about Montreal, the way they treat one of their own, it’s second to none. But I’m also trying to not bank on it, so as to not set myself up for disappointment.
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“But all signs are pointing to it’s going to be pretty wild.”
Zayn, a Laval, Que., wrestling star, has been on fire in WWE for the past eight months or so after he became part of the Bloodline storyline in WWE that features the likes of Reigns, the tag-team champion Usos and manager extrordinaire Paul Heyman.
The storyline has gripped the interest of wrestling fans around the world, leading to an increase in TV ratings and social media buzz. It’s also put a rocket on Zayn’s stardom that hits its highest point Saturday night at the premium event known as Elimination Chamber, in front of his home fans and a sold-out Bell Centre.
“It’s pretty remarkable to end up in this position being a guy who is a product of local Montreal wrestling some 20 years ago,” he said.
“I just ended up in the right place, at the right time,” said Zayn.
“And it just so happened to be, this fight, that people are really anticipating, everywhere in the world …. it just so happens it has landed in Montreal. That just makes it triple special.”
Fans hoping Zayn beats Reigns to become WWE’s world champion might have to hold their enthusiasm. Zayn is the clear underdog against Reigns, a world champion for more than 900 days now.
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But Zayn said he’s ready for this moment at Bell Centre and allows himself to wonder — what if he does pin Reigns to become the face of WWE?
“We know what wrestling is. It’s sports, it’s entertainment, it’s a hybrid of the two,” Zayn said. “For a lot of people, it’s the ultimate moment, to reach that championship. I’m not a person who lives and dies by the championship, and not someone who is going to view this incredible 20-year career as a failure if I don’t win the championship.
“However, if I were to win that championship, especially in Montreal, I think that’s the kind of cherry on top that you take with you forever. It doesn’t get better than that.”
As for being in the spot on the card he is and becoming the latest Quebec-wrestling product to main event the WWE stage (Montreal’s Kevin Owens has also held this spot), Zayn said being from La Belle Province and a Canadian means a great deal to him and others.
“I think we produce some of the all-time best. Montreal, specifically,” he said, referring to top-level wrestling stars. “We have a pretty good track record. Something in the water? I don’t know.”
Barney the purple dinosaur is bringing the I Love You song to a whole new generation of kids — while also hoping to capitalize on the nostalgia of older fans.
The toy company Mattel announced their plans to relaunch the Barney franchise on Monday. The announcement came with a new photo of the anthropomorphized, lilac T-rex, who has been given a makeover from a real-life giant mascot into a wide-eyed, animated character.
The relaunch kicks off with a brand-new animated series, set to debut globally in 2024. Targeted at pre-school aged children, the program will take viewers on “music-filled adventures centred on love, community, and encouragement.” Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, a producer and distributor of children’s content, will co-produce the series alongside Mattel.
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Barney’s rebrand will extend beyond the new TV show. Mattel also announced plans for Barney to star in films and YouTube content, release music and sell kid’s products including toys, books and clothing. Adult fans, including millennials who grew up with Barney (or at least the ones who don’t find the friendly dinosaur cringe-worthy), will be able to buy merch too, as adult apparel and accessories are currently in the works.
“Barney’s message of love and kindness has stood the test of time,” said Josh Silverman, Chief Franchise Officer and Global Head of Consumer Products at Mattel. “We will tap into the nostalgia of the generations who grew up with Barney, now parents themselves, and introduce the iconic purple dinosaur to a new generation of kids and families around the world across content, products, and experiences.”
Barney’s revival is not the only Mattel reboot hoping to capitalize on the nostalgia factor. The company recently relaunched its Monster High property and the popular Masters of the Universe franchise from the 1980s.
So, whether you love him or hate him, Barney still wants to be “a happy family.” Won’t you say you love him too?
—
Nelvana and Global News are both properties of Corus Entertainment.
After months of uncertainty, actor Ezra Miller is still at the helm for DC Comic’s upcoming film, The Flash.
In a new trailer released during the Super Bowl on Sunday, Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, reprises their role as the ultra-speedy superhero the Flash.
Miller, 30, previously portrayed the Flash, also known as Barry Allen, in 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League.
According to a press release for the film, The Flash sees Barry Allen use his superpowers to travel back in time in an attempt to change the past and save his mother.
“But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation,” the press release reads.
In the trailer, the Flash meets his alternate dimension doppelgänger as well as both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as Batman.
Keaton played the caped crusader in Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman. Affleck put his own spin on the gravelly voiced superhero first in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, then again later that year for a brief cameo in Suicide Squad. In 2017, Affleck also played Batman in the ensemble film Justice League, alongside Miller.
Last year, there was ample speculation over the future of Miller’s involvement with DC and Warner Bros. A string of arrests and erratic behaviour from Miller, including allegations of assault, grooming and burglary, left studio execs reportedly concerned.
Miller publicly apologized in August. In a statement to Variety, they said a period of “intense crisis” prompted their recent actions and said they’re now seeking mental health treatment.
“Having recently gone through a time of intense crisis, I now understand that I am suffering complex mental health issues and have begun ongoing treatment,” Miller explained. “I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behaviour. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”
In January, Miller agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of trespassing after they were accused of burglarizing a Vermont home and stealing several bottles of alcohol last year.
Also last month, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran said Miller is “completely committed to their recovery.”
“We are fully supportive of that journey they are on right now,” Safran said, adding the studio would discuss Miller’s future “when the time is right.”
“But right now, they are completely focused on their recovery. And in our conversation with them, in the last couple of months, it feels like they are making enormous progress,” he said.
TheFlash will be released in theatres on June 16, 2023.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will have to give testimony under oath as part of a defamation case brought by Samantha Markle, the Duchess’s half-sister, a judge has ruled.
The couple filed a motion to block their depositions in the case, in which Samantha is seeking damages over what she claims are “malicious lies” told about her during Harry and Meghan’s 2020 televised Oprah Winfrey interview and the 2020 biography Finding Freedom.
Presiding district court judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed the motion Tuesday, ruling that Meghan “does not show that unusual circumstances justify the requested stay, or that prejudice or an undue burden will result if the Court does not impose a stay,” Britain’s PA Media news agency reported, as cited by CNN.
“Defendant Markle does not satisfy the high standard required to stay discovery pending the resolution of a dispositive motion.”
A deposition is a formal testimony from a witness or someone involved in a case, given outside of court but under oath.
Samantha, 58, is suing Meghan for US$75,000, claiming defamation in the interview when her younger half-sister said she grew up as “an only child.”
FILE – Samantha Markle, Meghan Markle’s half-sister, is interviewed on U.K. show ‘The Wright Stuff.’.
The Wright Stuff/YouTube
The “false and malicious lies,” the filing says, subjected Samantha “to humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale,” and spread “lies worldwide” about their father, Thomas Markle.
Samantha additionally accuses Meghan of misrepresenting their sibling relationship, alleging that Meghan gave the impression that they were “virtual strangers” growing up and that Samantha had “no relationship whatsoever with her sister Meghan.”
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The claim contends that Meghan had “frequent and regular contact with her sister Samantha throughout her childhood,” reports BBC, and that Meghan constructed a “false rags to royalty narrative” that was damaging to both Thomas and Samantha.
Key takeaways from Prince Harry’s explosive memoir ‘Spare’
She also denies Meghan’s claim that Samantha changed her last name to Markle after news first broke in 2018 that Meghan and Prince Harry were dating.
Peter Ticktin, a lawyer for Samantha, told The Independent on Tuesday in a statement that, “as to whether we will need Harry’s deposition, that decision is yet to be made.”
“Obviously, if the Duchess should want to call him, we would need to take his deposition,” he said. “Otherwise, we will probably still want to inquire as to some issues.”
The planned depositions come following the Sussexes’ Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, and the publication of Harry’s revealing memoir Spare last month.
In the documentary series, the former Suits actor claimed she hadn’t seen Samantha “for over a decade” and had little to no relationship with her.
“I don’t know your middle name. I don’t know your birthday,” Meghan told the cameras. “You’re telling these people you raised me, and you coined me ‘Princess Pushy?’ I hadn’t had a fallout with her. We didn’t have a closeness to be able to have that. And I wanted a sister!”
Prince Harry reveals reason for sharing how many people he killed in Afghanistan
After a months-long investigation, Dances with Wolves actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse was arrested and charged on suspicion of running a cult and sexually assaulting a multitude of young Indigenous girls over the last two decades.
The Las Vegas home of Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, and his five wives was raided on Tuesday evening, according to The Associated Press, which first reported the story. Chasing Horse was arrested and taken into custody.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) said Chasing Horse was arrested on six charges: sexual assault of a child less than 16 years old, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sex trafficking of an adult and child abuse/neglect.
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He is also accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for other men who paid him.
Chasing Horse, 46, has not commented publicly on the charges against him.
Las Vegas police work near the home of former actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in North Las Vegas.
AP
A 50-page search warrant by the LVMPD and obtained by The Associated Press accused Chasing Horse of being the leader of a cult called The Circle.
Chasing Horse, who is best known for his role as the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film Dances with Wolves, is recognized by many as a healer and spiritual leader. Police allege Chasing Horse used this influence to abuse Indigenous girls in the U.S. and Canada.
Las Vegas police identified at least six victims, some as young as 13, in the search warrant. Police allege one of Chasing Horse’s wives was offered to him as a “gift” when she was 15, while another became his wife after turning 16.
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“Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions,” the warrant reads.
The allegations of abuse by Chasing Horse reportedly began in the early 2000s.
According to the warrant, he was banished in 2015 from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Mont., amid allegations of human trafficking.
The LVMPD investigation is ongoing.
Canadian impact and possible victims
In a release on Wednesday morning, the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service in Alberta said it has been collaborating and sharing information with the LVMPD as part of the investigation.
The release added there may be other victims in Alberta. The Tsuut’ina Nation police are working with the Calgary Police Service and other police agencies across the province to help those who may want to come forward.
Sgt. Nancy Farmer of the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service told reporters on Tuesday that Chasing Horse traveled across Canada attending powwows, including those held in the Tsuut’ina Nation.
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Sgt. Nancy Farmer of the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service speaks at a news conference on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Craig Momney/Global News
She also said his name has appeared in various social media posts and the agency is trying to piece together where he’s been.
These reasons led the police service to believe there may be more victims in Canada, but details are scarce because the investigation is still in the early stages.
“You can see that all over social media. It’s not a surprise to anybody. We’re paying special attention to this as we move forward in our investigation,” Farmer said.
“It is our understanding that he traveled not only throughout the U.S. but certainly throughout Canada and attended powwows, celebrations as well as (Sundance Film Festival).
“We’re hoping that some of the victims will come forward and work with us here so we’re able to provide support, either through a formal investigation or a support system because of the trauma they experienced.”
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Farmer added the police service is reviewing historical sexual assault files and working with a dedicated Crown prosecutor. The investigation will look at files as far back as 10 to 15 years ago.
The Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service has also contacted other provinces and other Crown prosecutors, according to Farmer.
However, she said officers will be taking special care when investigating sexual assault incidents.
“There are no statute of limitations for criminal sexual assault, and we encourage anyone who has been a victim to report it even if it’s been many years since the incident occurred,” Farmer said.
“We’re seeing if these people live on our nation and if we should be reaching out to them, obviously respecting the fact there could be a level of trauma.
“We have to be very considerate and kind when we’re moving forward on something such as this.”
The Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service said it encourages anyone who has been a victim of criminal sexual offences and other serious crimes to report the incident, even if many years have passed.
Anyone with information on this or other incidents is asked to contact the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service at 403-521-9660 or info@tsuutinapolice.com, the Calgary Police Service at 403-266-1234 or a local RCMP detachment.
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Those affected can also contact the following resources below:
Stoney Corrections/ Victim Services- 403-238-5649
Alberta Mental Health Helpline 1-877-303-2642
Native Youth Crisis Hot Line – 1-877-209-1266
Community Resources – 211 Alberta
Crisis Text Line – Text CONNECT to 741741
Family Violence – Find Supports – 310-1818
Health Link – 811
Kids Help Phone – 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868
For centuries the mystery surrounding Bigfoot has captured the imaginations of people across North America, but one data analyst now says there might be simple mathematical equation to explain the sightings.
In a new preprint study published online in bioRxiv, data analyst Floe Foxon writes that many sightings of elusive Sasquatch-looking figures could actually be black bears walking on their hind legs.
The study, poetically titled “If it’s there, could it be a bear?,” suggests that supposed Bigfoot sightings in Canada and the U.S. tend to increase when there’s a high population of black bears.
“Sasquatch sightings were statistically significantly associated with bear populations such that, on the average, one ‘sighting’ is expected for every 900 bears. Based on statistical considerations, it is likely that many supposed Sasquatch are really misidentified known forms,” Foxon wrote.
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In coming to his conclusion, Foxon looked at existing Sasquatch sightings data across North America, running statistical tests against bear populations in each province and state while adjusting for land area and human population.
A map created to back his findings shows Bigfoot sightings overlapping with black bear populations, particularly on the West Coast.
Choropleth maps for sasquatch reports, black bear (Ursus americanus) populations, and human populations in the United States and Canada.
Floe Foxon
However, Florida and Texas seem to report a lot of Sasquatch sightings despite low black bear populations, and Floxon explains that in those cases people are likely spotting other animals or, perhaps, even other humans.
And while Foxon has offered a reasonable explanation for Bigfoot sightings, there’s another mythical monster folklore that he can’t quite explain.
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Trent University Sasquatch Society in Peterborough on the lookout for Bigfoot
In a separate preprint paper, also published online in bioRxiv, Foxon used math, once again, to demonstrate that the Loch Ness monster probably isn’t an eel, like many have hypothesized over the years.
He told the Telegraph that spotting a three-foot eel in the loch would be a one-in-50,000 chance, so spotting an animal close enough to be even considered the size of Nessie would basically be zero.
Although the chance of finding either is “vanishingly unlikely,” Foxon told the Telegraph, it “would be arrogant to say there is no chance.”
Foxon’s theory likely won’t stop people from ongoing attempts to prove Bigfoot’s existence. For decades, enthusiasts have been hunting for the folklore beast in the hopes of capturing airtight photo or video footage.
And while more and more North Americans have become interested in the beast’s existence over the years, the legend in Canada is rooted in Indigenous history, and the First Nations consider the mythological creatures sacred.
Each tribe has its own set of beliefs. For the Sts’alies Nation on the West Coast, the Sasquatch is a protector of their land and an entity not to be meddled with, while the Haida people view it as a supernatural being to be respected.
To date, wildlife government agencies in Canada have not acknowledged the existence of Sasquatch, and the mythical creature remains the stuff of campfire stories and conspiracy theorists.
A new lawsuit filed against Marilyn Manson alleges that the rocker sexually assaulted an underage girl multiple times on his tour bus and threatened to kill her family if she told anyone about it.
The woman — who filed the suit anonymously under the name Jane Doe — claims that Manson (whose real name is Brian Warner) assaulted and raped her many times over the course of four years, from 1995 to 1999.
The woman, who is now 44, also brought claims against the shock rocker’s former record labels, Interscope Music and Nothing Records, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in New York’s Nassau County Supreme Court.
She alleges that the labels knew about Manson’s abusive nature and “celebrated and promoted (it) for their collective financial gain,” reports USA Today.
The labels “were well aware of [Manson’s] obsession with child pornography and pedophilia and his desire to expose children across America to sexual themes,” the suit charges.
“This lawsuit goes beyond the named predator and targets the record labels that packaged and profited from their artist’s criminal behavior, and it is an indictment of the music industry for maintaining a culture that celebrates, protects, and enables sexual predators,” Doe’s attorney, Karen Barth Menzies, said in a statement provided to USA Today.
According to the complaint, Doe first met Manson in 1995 outside a concert venue in Dallas, Texas. She, along with three other underage female fans, were waiting to meet the singer.
The musician allegedly asked them “what each of their ages were, what grades in school they were in, and where their parents were at the time,” before inviting Jane Doe “and one of the other younger girls onto the tour bus,” reports Pitchfork.
Nurse speaks out over staffing crisis in program helping sexual assault victims
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On the bus, the lawsuit reads, “Warner performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff (Jane Doe), who was a virgin at the time, including but not limited to forced copulation and vaginal penetration.”
The lawsuit continues, “One of the band members watched Defendant Warner sexually assault Plaintiff. Plaintiff was in pain, scared, upset, humiliated and confused. After he was done, Defendant Warner laughed at her. Plaintiff is informed and thereon alleges that all of the sexually abusive and harassing conduct alleged herein was done to satisfy Defendant Warner’s own prurient sexual desires. Then Defendant Warner demanded Plaintiff to ‘get the f— off of my bus’ and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family.”
The suit continues, reports Pitchfork, saying that after the alleged assault, Manson’s manager gave Doe Manson’s contact information and urged her to “stay in touch.” Manson, it is alleged, began calling Doe at home, “soliciting Plaintiff to send explicit sexual photos of her and her friends to his fan club, Satan’s Bakesale.”
The suit goes on to detail other descriptions of alleged abuse, including another sexual assault on his tour bus in 1995, as well as multiple instances of sexual coercion and abuse in 1999, when Doe was 19 years old.
Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood are pictured in 2006.
John Shearer/WireImage
“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood wrote on Instagram at the time, although it appears the post has now been deleted. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission.
“I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”
Shortly after Wood’s post, Manson was dropped by his record label. Several other women came forward with similar allegations and at least four of them filed lawsuits. Two of the lawsuits were dismissed, and just last week a settlement was reached on another.
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Manson has also filed a defamation lawsuit against Wood and her girlfriend, Ilma Gore, accusing the pair of fabricating sexual abuse allegations to ruin his reputation.
Jay Leno reportedly broke several bones in a motorcycle accident last week, only months after he suffered serious burns to his face, chest and hands in a garage fire.
The former Tonight Show host told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was knocked off his motorcycle on Jan. 17. The fall broke Leno’s collarbone and two ribs and cracked both of his kneecaps.
“But I’m OK!” Leno told the outlet. “I’m OK, I’m working. I’m working this weekend.”
Leno, 72, said the accident occurred when he was working on a vintage vehicle. While test-riding a 1940 Indian motorcycle, Leno said he noticed the smell of leaking gas.
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“I turned down a side street and cut through a parking lot, and unbeknownst to me, some guy had a wire strung across the parking lot but with no flag hanging from it,” he said, sharing how he was clotheslined by the wire and knocked off the motorcycle. “So, you know, I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
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The garage fire at Leno’s Los Angeles home was also started while the comedian was working on another vintage vehicle, a 1907 White Steam Car, in November 2022. When the car’s fuel line clogged, Leno laid under the vehicle to blow air through the line. He told Today host Hoda Kotb that he got a “face full of gas” and then caught on fire.
He was treated for third-degree burns at Grossman Burn Center in West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles. He remained in care for 10 days.
Leno said he did not discuss his motorcycle accident publicly because news coverage of his garage fire was so widespread.
“You know, after getting burned up, you get that one for free,” Leno said. “After that, you’re Harrison Ford, crashing airplanes. You just want to keep your head down.”
Despite his injuries, Leno is still performing standup comedy. He is preparing to headline at the Encore Theater in Las Vegas for the first time on March 31. The performance will be his first appearance in Las Vegas since the fire in November.
Anna “Delvey” Sorokin is attempting to shake off her fraudster image with a new reality TV show entitled Delvey’s Dinner Club.
The series will see the Russian-born fake heiress host “celebrities, moguls and glitterati” for dinner parties at her New York City apartment, where she is currently on house arrest for overstaying her U.S. visa.
In a press release, the show’s producers Butternut and Wheelhouse described the unscripted series filmed in Sorokin’s residence as “one of the hottest tables in town — invitation-only, intimate dinners at her home.”
Sorokin, now 32, will discuss a myriad of topics with her guests in each episode, including her own criminal past, rehabilitating her public image and the isolation she experienced as a result of her house arrest.
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Anna ‘Delvey’ Sorokin poses for a photo at her home on Nov. 16, 2022, in New York City.
Getty Images
“There’s nothing like the experience of bringing together a curated group of friends to share life stories and enjoy a great culinary experience,” Sorokin said in the press release. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Wheelhouse and Butternut to bring my vision to a wider audience and share a glimpse of the real Anna Delvey.”
Sorokin, who used the name Delvey while posing as a German heiress with an over US$60-million fortune, spent nearly five years in prison for grand larceny and theft.
In 2018, a profile of Sorokin for The Cut revealed her to be a con artist who swindled over $200,000 from banks, friends and others to keep up her appearance as a high-profile New York socialite. At the time, she had been attempting to establish the Anna Delvey Foundation, “a membership club experience” focused on organizing a contemporary art collection.
Her story was the inspiration behind the popular Netflix docudrama Inventing Anna. Producer Shonda Rhimes reportedly paid Sorokin $320,000 for the rights to her name.
Sorokin told Page Six that she has big ambitions for her new reality show, including a list of dream guests like Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Madonna and Elon Musk.
A platform or release date has yet to be announced for Delvey’s Dinner Club.
Pink Floyd fans are hitting back against anti-LGBTQ2 trolls who have criticized the band for being “woke” for reinventing their iconic rainbow logo as part of their 50th anniversary celebration.
Last week, the British rockers released a deluxe box set of their 1973 hit album Dark Side of the Moon, updated with a fresh take on the album’s original art — the widely recognizable prism refracting light.
The band posted the adapted minimalist version of the logo to Facebook, which now features the number 50 inside the prism, with the 0 filled in with a rainbow.
Some of the band’s so-called fans took the new logo as a statement of support for the LGBTQ2 Pride movement and lashed out at the band in the comments.
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Actor George Takei, along with many others, shared some of the reactions to the Facebook post.
The furor from the right over the 50th anniversary post by Pink Floyd as “going woke with rainbows” is peak MAGA ignorance. It’s a prism of their own making, as it were. pic.twitter.com/MJp2B8cxx9
“Lose the rainbow, you’re making yourself look stupid!” wrote one detractor, with another person replying, “from this moment i (sic) don’t listen to this band.”
Another person weighed in with, “are you going woke with rainbows, is there a straight flag, I want equal representation, don’t get me wrong, we should all be true to who we are. Peace.”
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For every comment calling the band out of their “woke agenda,” however, there were dozens of comments mocking these fans and reminding them of the original Dark Side imagery.
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Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ record with its original design.
Reading Eagle / Getty Images
“I heard if you listen to it backwards you can hear boomers complaining,” joked one person on Facebook.
“Judging by some comments, many of you took the ‘we don’t need no education’ line to heart,” wrote another, calling to mind another famous Pink Floyd song.
Others pointed out that Dark Side of the Moon was released in 1973, five years before Gilbert Baker created the Pride flag.
Twitter also had a field day, with plenty of people cracking jokes about the outrage.
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If you are complaining because Pink Floyd is using a rainbow to celebrate Dark Side of the Moon, you were never an actual fan, and now everyone knows you’re an idiot too. #PinkFloydpic.twitter.com/CMhyYXwJK6
In exactly four weeks, Super Nintendo World will open at Universal Studios Hollywood and it’s looks to be any classic gamer’s dream come true.
The park will be situated in the same area as the Jurassic Park and Transformers rides, in Universal’s lower lot. However, unlike it surrounding rides, Super Nintendo World will offer an environment that fully immerses guests inside a Nintendo game.
Guests explore during a preview of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California, on January 13, 2023.
Chris Delmas / Getty Images
A sneak peek of the park, captured by Getty Images, certainly looks the part of the Super Mario Bros. games. Players enter through a green warp tube and on the other side are presented the Mushroom Kingdom, complete with steep pixelated cliffs, blocky green grass and yellow question mark blocks.
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People enter Super Nintendo World for the tech rehearsals on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, CA.
Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Instagram video from the Guardian‘s Oliver Wainwright shows moving toadstools and spinning coins on the cliff, as well as swaying Piranha Plants and travelling Shellcreepers.
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From there, guests enter into the main attraction, where they can tour rooms themed to Yoshi’s Story and Super Stars before heading to Bowser’s Castle.
A first look at the first-ever theme park land themed to a video game franchise at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Super Nintendo World on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA.
Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
A tour of Bowser’s trophy room is first, before guests learn the rules for the game they’ve paid to play — Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.
A large Bowser is seen inside a recreation of his castle at the first-ever theme park land themed to a video game franchise at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Super Nintendo World on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA.
Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
According to press materials, the ride/game is the first major implementation of augmented reality technology in a U.S. theme part attraction. Guests will wear visors that allow them to interact with the ride’s virtual items.
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Guests will be seated four to a vehicle. Universal notes riders will be playing alongside Mario and his pals, and will be taken through underwater courses as well as those among the clouds. Although not yet revealed by Universal, the Los Angeles Times says an encounter with the game’s infamous “Rainbow Road” also takes place.
Guests ride Super Mario Kart during a preview of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California, on January 13, 2023.
Chris Delmas / Getty Images
The guests will compete against Team Bowser for the Golden Cup.
And while the ride is technically the biggest draw in the Mushroom Kingdom, Universal promises interactive games and activities where guests can collect digital coins and complete challenges to obtain keys from Koopa Troopas and Goombas.
People eat at the Toadstool Cafe at Super Nintendo World on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, CA.
Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Hungry adventurers can also find an array of themed dishes like Super Mushroom Soup, Piranha Plant Caprese and Princess Peach Cupcakes at Toadstool Cafe.
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You can experience it all yourself when it opens on Friday, Feb. 17.
Video Games in the classroom and other school technology
