The Daily Beast Latest Articles
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The House GOP Is About to Jam Senate Dems on the TikTok Bill Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Getty Images and TikTokTo the chagrin of middle-schoolers everywhere, the most extreme restrictions on TikTok are on a glide path to passage in Congress.The bill—which is now set to get a vote on Saturday and is expected to pass with strong bipartisan support—has animated distraught TikTok creators of all ages to call congressional offices and demand they oppose a ban on the popular video app.While the legislation is largely understood and referred to as a bill to ban TikTok, the truth is far more complex. The measure would not immediately ban TikTok. Rather, it would force its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app to a U.S.-based entity within nine months of becoming law, giving the president the option of stalling the elimination of TikTok for another 90 days.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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10-Year-Old Allegedly Confesses to Randomly Killing Stranger When He Was 7 Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via Getty ImagesA 10-year-old child in Texas nonchalantly confessed to killing a man when he was only 7 during a fight with one of his classmates, authorities said this week. The child, who has not been identified, said he shot and killed a sleeping stranger in 2022, providing an answer to a two-year-old murder investigation, police said. The strange turn of events began last Friday, when the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from a principal at Nixon Smiley Independent School District, who said a 10-year-old child had threatened to kill another student on the bus ride home the day before. Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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David Zaslav and the Tinseltown Tycoons That Just Keep Getting Richer Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyAs a money-losing Warner Bros. Discovery continues to slash its workforce and cut employee benefits, President and CEO David Zaslav took home just under $50 million last year, according to a proxy statement the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.Warner Bros. Discovery lost $3.13 billion last year, according to the proxy statement; it lost a whopping $5.36 billion in 2022.Still, Zaslav’s compensation package, which clocked in at triple the median pay of all S&P 500 CEOs, jumped 26.5 percent from 2022. It included a salary of $3 million; a cash bonus of $22 million; a stock award (tied to free cash flow, which doubled last year to $6.16 billion) of $23,078,769; and $1,623,777 under the heading “all other compensation”, for a total of $49,702,546.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Even Jury Selection Can’t Escape Trump’s Racism Jabin Botsford / GettyDonald Trump’s defense team reportedly believes that young Black men will help save the former president from a guilty verdict.Lawyers for the former president, who has the dubious distinction of being the first ex-commander in chief to be criminally tried, have been “hoping to spot sympathizers and will focus on younger Black men and white working-class men” as jurors, according to a recent New York Times report.The notion that young Black men might be more easily persuaded than other jurors—less prone to critical thinking and seeing through the defense’s smoke and mirrors—jibes perfectly with all the racist notions Trump has expressed over the years. Even in the midst of his own criminal trial, Trump’s anti-Black racism remains on full display.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Trump Fumes as Judge Orders Him to Sit Like a Dog Pool/Getty Images The first week of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City ended with a power move by the judge, who ordered the former president to take a seat—where he remained fuming in his chair until the judge left the courtroom.New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was wrapping up a contentious hour of debate with lawyers on both sides Friday afternoon, when he clarified that a contempt hearing—where he might punish Trump for repeatedly ignoring a gag order and continuing to publicly speak threateningly about witnesses and jurors—would commence Tuesday morning.But just as the judge neared the end of his sentence, Trump abruptly stood up—apparently thinking the day was over. Immediately, Merchan turned his face to the former president and said in a firm voice: “Sir, can you please have a seat.”Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Pro-Putin American Fighting Against Ukraine Has Been Killed (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS)Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old American who has been fighting with pro-Russian fighters against Ukraine since 2014, was kidnapped and killed, according to his battalion and Russian media reports.Russell, who was known by his call sign “Texas,” died in Donetsk, Margarita Simonyan, the head of pro-Kremlin RT, said in a Telegram post.“He fought there for our people,” Simonyan said. “Terrible. Kingdom of heaven.”Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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The Trump Trial Self-Immolation Is Part of a Startling Trend Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/GettyA conspiracy theorist from Florida who ranted online about the government set himself alight outside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump’s criminal trial was underway on Friday afternoon—the latest in an alarming string of recent self-immolations in the U.S.The courthouse self-immolation is at least the third instance in the past five months of an American setting themselves on fire in politically fueled protest, and the fourth in the past two years. Though the shocking incidents have varied in time, place, and motive, they all occurred outside major seats of power.Here are other recent self-immolations that made headlines.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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CNN's Laura Coates Draws High Praise for ‘Breathtaking’ Coverage of Trump Trial Fire CNNShortly after it was announced that the entire jury had been empaneled in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial on Friday, CNN anchor Laura Coates was interviewing a legal expert about what the jurors could expect in the weekslong case.Little did she know that moments later she would have to dramatically cut that conversation short in order to pivot to a man setting himself on fire outside the lower Manhattan courthouse where the ex-president’s trial is taking place.Coates’ quick journalistic impulses and composure while live-reporting a self-immolation and the attempts of first responders to extinguish the flames has drawn widespread praise from journalists and media observers, including conservatives who typically have nothing but disdain for CNN.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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God Help Us, People Are Actually Thirsting After Mark Zuckerberg Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyIn the year of our lord 2024, the scourge of AI has become inescapable, even in pop culture. There’s a robo-character named “Max” catfishing on The Circle, A24 is using the tech to make movie posters, and these days we can’t even tell if a Drake diss track is real. Now, AI has given us an even bigger challenge to overcome.Soon after Mark Zuckerberg posted a video announcing updates to Meta’s AI assistant, a doctored image of him (perhaps also altered by AI?) went viral. From there, it was absolute chaos as X users took it all in—from the cool-guy vibes to the scruff to the empathetic smile. And then, the unthinkable happened: people began thirsting after Mark Goddamn Zuckerberg.Anyone who has spent even five seconds looking at the real Mark Zuckerberg should be able to tell that Hot Zuck—the Stefan Urquelle to Regular Zuck’s Steve Urkel—has had a little Facetune-style work done to him in that photo. His jaw is thicker, his forehead has had a little digital botox, and the edit has also capped his teeth with some nice, white veneers. Most importantly, you can actually see the light of life in his eyes. The only real bit of drip in this photo is the chain, which is, unfortunately, 100 percent real. Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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These ‘May the Fourth’ Gifts Are Jedi Tested and Approved Scouted/The Daily Beast/Retailers.Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.‘May the Fourth’ (aka Star Wars Day) is almost here, and for Star Wars fans, this is their 12/25. Finding a cool gift for Star Wars lovers can be tough. I should know; I’m one of them. I became a fan a long time ago (2002) of this incredible galaxy far, far, away and have a treasure trove of Star Wars merch that would make a Hutt jealous. The number one gift on any Star Wars devotee’s list is being able to use the force. While none of these gifts can top that feeling, they certainly come close.Don’t forget to check out our coupon site to find more deals, including Nordstrom Rack coupons, Macy’s coupons, Overstock coupons, and adidas coupons.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Trump Trial Self-Immolator Posted Dizzying Manifesto Online Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/St. Augustine Police DepartmentThe man who doused himself with accelerant and set himself ablaze outside Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial on Friday published an online manifesto, declaring that he self-immolated to warn the world about an “apocalyptic fascist world coup.”The self-immolating conspiracy theorist was identified by cops as Max Azzarello, a 37-year-old from St. Augustine, Florida, who was in critical condition on Friday afternoon. He declared online that his act was an “extreme act of protest ... to draw attention to an urgent and important discovery.”His Substack manifesto is a dizzying document that rails against cryptocurrency, New York University, the Clintons, and the world’s governments—warning readers that they are “victims of a totalitarian con” akin to a massive Ponzi scheme.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Trump Trial Finally Has a Jury—After a Week of Hiccups Photo by Curtis Means/Getty ImagesDonald Trump’s criminal trial is full steam ahead, with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office set to start presenting its case Monday before 18 jurors–a dozen on the panel and six alternates.After a relentless, four-hour questioning session on Friday that screened 22 potential jurors, lawyers on both sides exhausted all of their legal challenges and ultimately settled on the five alternates who remained to be chosen.Unlike most trials, which keep a couple of extra jurors present just in case one calls out sick, this high-profile court battle needs a deep bench to account for the overwhelming cloud of fear that hangs over the proceeding.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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‘Sleepy Don’ Dozes Off in Court AGAIN Reuters/Maansi SrivastavaApparently Donald Trump needs to catch up on some sleep, as the former president appeared to doze off in a New York City courtroom yet again on Friday. This time around, reporters noted that Trump’s head repeatedly dropped, and he closed his eyes for quite some time.It’s at least the third time Trump has been spotted catching some ZZZs during the first week of his high-stakes hush-money trial, which centers around his alleged plot to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair. Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Meghan Markle Starts Shooting Her Netflix Cooking Show Two Miles From Home SUZANNE CORDEIRO / Getty ImagesMeghan Markle has started filming her Netflix cooking and homemaking show, and her 50-strong production team have rented a property two miles from her home to shoot the series.The revelation comes just days after Meghan sent out a limited edition of 50 pots of homemade American Riviera Orchard jam to close friends and top influencers, some of whom posted about the sweet treat on their Instagram Stories.Now, DailyMail.com has published official paperwork showing that Meghan’s crew of 50 are filming not at her and Prince Harry’s palatial home but in a nearby property located just two miles from them.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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How Trump Screwed Up His Lawyers’ Ability to Do Their Jobs Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty Donald Trump’s antics are finally catching up with him.That is, of course, true in the New York criminal trial as a whole, where Trump may be found guilty of past misconduct. But Trump’s antics are also catching up with him in a narrower, but quite meaningful way.In the New York case, the prosecutors said Thursday that they would not be providing to Trump’s legal team the names of the first three witnesses that the prosecutors would be calling to testify. Trump’s lawyers objected. Judge Juan Merchan sided with the prosecution, saying that he couldn’t fault the prosecutors for refusing to identify the witnesses, given Trump's history of criticizing and potentially intimidating witnesses.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Whiplash as Russia Toasts Derided Marjorie Taylor Greene as Their Top New Hero Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyIn recent years, clips from Tucker Carlson’s shows were prominently featured on many Russian state TV shows, with hosts and guests clinging to his every word and even surmising he might be the only American they don’t want to kill.After Carlson’s flat-footed interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by caustic comments from both the host and the subject, the bloom was off the rose.Similarly, Mike Johnson’s arrival as the 56th Speaker of the House was cheered on state TV with the anticipation that—at Trump’s request—he would block U.S. aid to Ukraine. For months, Johnson did just that, prompting state TV host Olga Skabeeva to describe him as “our Johnson.” His recent reversal of this stance prompted Russian propagandists to debate whether he was “bought” or simply “bent over” by the Democrats.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Iran’s Nuclear Program Could Speed Up After Strikes With Israel Reuters There are many creatures in the animal kingdom—from weasels to spotted skunks to ostriches—that perform a dance to intimidate their enemies.This week, we saw generals in both Israel and Iran perform their own weasel dances. They made a great show, flexed their muscles in the most visible possible way, and did so with the apparent objective of sending a message to their adversaries.Both sides launched aerial attacks at one another. But there is plenty of evidence to suggest, in both cases, the objective of the attack was more to ward off a war than to trigger one.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Clara Bow Expert Unpacks Taylor Swift’s ‘Profound’ Allegory Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty While Swifties were determined to stay up till midnight to find out which of the 16 (or is it 31?!) songs on The Tortured Poets Department were about Joe Alwyn, historian David Stenn was focused on what the singer had to say about another star: Clara Bow. One lyric in particular left him speechless.“‘Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours,’” he remarks, “That’s poetry, that’s profound.”The author and historian, who wrote the Clara Bow biography Runnin’ Wild in 2000, jumped on a midnight call to discuss his thoughts on the song as well as the parallels between Bow and Taylor Swift’s careers. Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Taylor Swift Surprises Fans With Kim Kardashian Diss Track Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management/Steve Granitz/FilmMagicTaylor Swift is throwing fuel on a years-long beef with Kim Kardashian with new track “thanK you aIMee,” which fans have promptly noticed capitalizes the letters K-I-M in the title.With her surprise deluxe album drop Friday, Swifties were little prepared for the obvious Kim K diss track, in which Swift sings that her “saintly” mother wishes the “bronze, spray-tanned” antagonist dead.Swift goes on to say in the song that she “screamed ‘Fuck you, Aimee’ to the night sky” and she “can’t forgive the way you made me feel,” before ultimately concluding that “there wouldn’t be this, if there hadn’t been you”—a sentiment she previously expressed in her Time “Person of the Year” interview last year. Back then, she’d credited her success with the “catalyst” of “having my life’s work taken away from me by someone who hates me,” before detailing her side of their longstanding beef. Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Biden’s Cannibal Quips Slammed by Papua New Guinea Experts Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via GettyPresident Joe Biden’s baffling suggestion that his uncle might have been eaten by cannibals after a plane crash off Papua New Guinea during World War II has, unsurprisingly, not gone over great with the people who actually live there or have carefully studied the region’s history.The Democrat made the comments Wednesday while discussing the fate of Ambrose Finnegan, whom he affectionately referred to as “Uncle Bosie.” “He got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be—there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea,” Biden said.The comments immediately drew scrutiny as, for one thing, they seemed to be a major departure from the Pentagon’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s version of what happened to Finnegan. The war records say his plane went down for “unknown reasons” on May 14, 1944, during a courier flight heading to New Guinea.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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‘American Idol’ Star and Grammy Winner Mandisa Dies at 47 Getty Images/Slaven VlasicThe beloved Christian musician Mandisa, who was a finalist on season 5 of American Idol and won a Grammy, died on Thursday, the Christian rock radio station K-Love announced. She was 47.A cause of death for Mandisa, whose full name was Mandisa Lynn Hundley, was not released, but a statement announcing her death said that her “struggles are over.”“Even more than her music, the Platinum-selling singer will forever be known for her huge heart and sincerity,” the statement said. “Mandisa loved Jesus, and she used her unusually extensive platform to talk about Him at every turn. Her kindness was epic, her smile electric, her voice massive, but it was no match for the size of her heart.”Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Back on the Job: Prince William Pops Up at WWII Hero’s Funeral Karwai Tang/GettyPrince William made his second public appearance since Kate Middleton’s cancer announcement as he attended the funeral of a World War II veteran on Friday morning.The Prince of Wales visited Hereford Cathedral to honor the life of Maj. Mike Sadler, the last remaining airman of the U.K.’s original Special Air Service (SAS) regiment, an elite task force founded in 1941. Sadler, who passed away in January at the age of 103, was a gifted navigator who used the stars to guide his comrades across large spans of North Africa. He was memorialized in the BBC drama SAS: Rogue Heroes, played by House of the Dragon actor Tom Glynne-Carney.William joined Sadler’s family and friends to pay his respects.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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David Spade Feels ‘Ambivalent’ About Chris Farley Biopic Jeff KravitzDavid Spade voiced his concerns about the upcoming Lorne Michaels-produced biopic about late comedian Chris Farley this week on his and Dana Carvey’s Superfly podcast.“I had heard some whispers about this for a long time,” Spade said on Friday’s episode, and shared his hopes for what the biopic will focus on in Farley's life. It was recently announced that Farley would be played by Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser. “I’ve run into this guy Paul, very nice guy,” Spade continued. “I think he’s been wanting to do this for a while. I don’t know how, I’m a little ambivalent about it.”Playing Farley had indeed been a longtime dream role for Hauser, who told The Daily Beast in 2022, “No one alive will do or can do what I would do with that part. And that doesn’t mean they’re not talented or good. It just means if that movie is getting made, I’m the guy.” He even demonstrated his spot-on Farley impression during the podcast interview. Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Trump Bellyaches About ‘Sitting in a Courthouse’ All Day Michael M. Santiago/GettyDonald Trump kicked off Day 4 of his criminal hush-money trial in a familiar fashion: with the airing of grievances.“They’ve taken away my constitutional rights to speak and that includes speaking to you,” the former president told reporters as he arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. He insisted Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order—which bars him from taking shots at prosecutors, jurors, court staff, and their families—“has to come off.”Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Ukraine Claims it Blasted 1st $40M Bomber Out of Russian Sky Vladimir Vladimirov TelegramUkraine claims to be behind the fiery crash of a long-range Russian bomber on Friday morning, an incident which Moscow has attributed to a technical problem with the aircraft.“For the first time, the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, destroyed the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber,” Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleschuk said in a statement. He said the bomber carries cruise missiles “which Russian terrorists use to attack peaceful Ukrainian cities.”Russia’s Ministry of Defense said the Tu-22M3, which reportedly cost around $40 million, crashed in the Stavropol region to the east of the annexed Crimean peninsula on Friday morning as the aircraft was returning from a combat mission. “According to preliminary data, the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction,” Russia’s RIA Novosti reported.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Tesla Is Recalling Thousands of Cybertrucks Over Scary Accelerator Fault Liu Ranyang/China News Service via GettyTesla is recalling thousands of its Cybertrucks over a problem with the accelerator pedal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Friday.The auto safety regulator said the pedals in certain Cybertruck vehicles have a pad that “may dislodge and become trapped by the interior trim,” in turn causing the truck to “accelerate unintentionally, increasing the risk of a crash.” A total of 3,878 Cybertrucks are being recalled to fix the issue.Part of a safety recall report said the fault on Cybertrucks manufactured between November 2023 and April 2024 said the accelerator pad can become dislodged when “high force” is applied to the pedal. If the pad then becomes trapped in the interior trim, “the performance and operation of the pedal will be affected, which may increase the risk of a collision.”Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Bibi Just Flat Out Ignored Biden’s Warning Not to Bomb Iran Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersIsrael’s retaliatory attack against Iran early Friday came despite President Joe Biden’s stringent warnings against doing just that to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the leaders appearing to become increasingly at odds about how Israel should respond against its enemies.Iran has so far played down the significance of the attack, with state media portraying the incident as involving a few drones that were taken down without causing damage. American sources, however, have suggested the strike involved missiles—though the severity of the damage caused by the attack is not yet clear.What is clear is that the U.S. fears the retaliatory strike could cause Americans to be put in harm’s way. The U.S. Embassy in Israel on Friday issued a security alert restricting the personal travel of American government employees and their families outside of specific areas. The advisory specifically cited “reports that Israel conducted a retaliatory strike inside Iran” as the motive for the restrictions.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Trump’s Trial Is Already Wreaking Havoc on His Campaign Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/GettyWelcome to Trail Mix, your 2024 election sanity guide. See something interesting on the trail? Email me at jake.lahut@thedailybeast.com. To get Trail Mix in your inbox, subscribe here for free.This week, we take an early look at just how much Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial is derailing his campaign. Plus, an exclusive interview with New Jersey Senate candidate Andy Kim, life after the GOP primary, and new polling on a win-win issue for President Biden.TRIAL AND ERRORRead more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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Will Meghan Markle’s Strawberry Jam Deliver Her a Sweet Victory? Toby Melville/GettyNot a lick has yet been tasted by the masses, but the headlines around Meghan Markle’s American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam continue unabated. Fifty pots were sent to influencers, and all the hype around it helped spike sales of King Charles’ own-brand organic strawberry preserve. Is it just a PR gimmick, or will we all taste the red stuff soon? Royalist Correspondent Tom Sykes and Senior Editor Tim Teeman discuss the impact of Meghan’s latest venture.Tom Sykes: I have to be honest, there are lots of things I don’t understand about the launch of American Riviera Orchard. For starters, it seems really strange to me to do a big social media campaign, like the one we’ve been sold over the past few days, but not have any product actually available for the punters to buy. There is not even a functioning website. When you go to the ARO website it just gets you to enter your email address for updates.Tim Teeman: Sure, it’s not user-friendly, but I can think of nothing more camp than making a launch of strawberry jam and mysterious homewares as hush-hush and mysterious as a Taylor Swift album release. It also sticks it to the media (that Meghan and Prince Harry can’t abide), who are currently, futilely trying to get hold of this jam, jars of which are presently reserved for the hands and mouths of selected friends and influencers. Isn’t it genius marketing? Create a product, create a buzz around the product, make everyone curious, and keep it out of the hands of your media tormentors for as long as possible.Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com
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NYC Judge Needs to Treat Trump Like the Mafia Boss He Is Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyListen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.After a week full of frightened jurors and very public concerns over witness intimidation, The New Abnormal co-hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy have some advice for the judge handling former President Donald Trump’s New York City hush-money trial: Treat it exactly the same as a high-profile mob case.“I really don’t know what these judges and the media are waiting for,” Moodie says on this week’s episode. “Are they waiting for people to just start disappearing? Are they waiting for some death and grave harm to come to people to recognize the stakes at which Donald Trump is playing with right now?”Read more at The Daily Beast.thedailybeast.com