Category: News

Donald Trump’s July 4 celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota in 2020 will likely go down as a lasting symbol of his chaotic four years in office in several ways. The massive fireworks display was criticized as dangerous due to wildfire risk, and gathering so many people during a pandemic also drew ire. There were also protests from Native American groups due to the troubled history of the monument carved into sacred ground for local tribes. It’s all a mess.

One of the funnier anecdotes from that saga, though, was a report last August that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem gave Trump a replica of Mount Rushmore with his own head added to the group of presidents depicted. That came on the heels of reports that Trump actually reached out about adding himself to the monument, as stark a moment of hubris that came during his presidency if there ever was one.

And as it turns out, those reports were, indeed, correct. The Daily Beast did the legwork here, actually tracking down a photo of the replica that you really need to see to believe.

The piece reveals that not one, but three models of the modified Mount Rushmore exist, with two going to “donors” who helped fund its creation. The sculpting process is detailed as well, and it’s not a surprise the two people who worked on the model — Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby — are Trump supporters who were thrilled to work on it for the now-former president.

Employing what’s known as “lost wax” casting, an ancient process that uses a clay model, hot wax and molten bronze, the duo grafted a bust of Trump in a suit and tie onto the mini-Rushmore.

Three copies were created, Leuning and Treeby revealed recently, with one going to Trump, and the other two to the unidentified donors—the names of whom are unknown even to them.

The pieces are “bookshelf-sized,” Leuning told the Daily Beast—27 inches wide, 12 inches high, and 8-1/2 inches deep.

Everyone involved was apparently asked to remain quiet about their involvement, which is probably why we haven’t seen photos of Trump grafted onto another work of art until now. But the sculptors were told that he “loved” the piece because, well, of course he did. And the sculptors are really big fans of Mount Rushmore in general, which despite its many troubled ties to racism doesn’t seem to bother them as much as the fact that they didn’t get an invite to last summer’s fireworks spectacular.

“We’re working artists,” Leuning said. “We’re prostitutes for art. We do art for money.”

They said they have only one regret about their involvement with the Trump replica: They were not present when Noem gave it to him before the speech.

“We weren’t invited,” Leuning said. “We were told he loved it.”

The only real mystery left here is who funded the creation of the Trump-addled Mount Rushmore, as Noem’s office has been adamant that it cost just $1,100 and was paid for by private donors. But there are three of them out there somewhere. And it would certainly be something to stumble upon a bookshelf-sized Mount Trumpmore at someone’s home.

[via The Daily Beast]

Food Network has had a number of stars over its decades airing food-related television programming, but this week, it had to publicly distance itself from a former host following some online controversy.

Recent legal decisions regarding abortion rights in Texas have ignited a wave of protests across the United States. But while many companies are trying to help those disenfranchised by the legal decisions, a comedian drew ire on social media for what he described as a joke that made his former employer state he no longer works there.

Josh Denny, a podcaster and comedian, sent out several tweets about a Texas law that banned abortions after six weeks. Though Denny claimed that he would “NEVER apologize” for what he claimed were just jokes, one tweet in particular and its use of a slur to describe women drew particular scorn from many on social media.

As the comment spread, some pointed out that Denny was a former host of Ginormous Food, a show on Food Network. That made Food Network issue a statement clarifying that the comedian no longer worked for the network, and that it no longer aired episodes featuring Denny hosting the show.

It’s worth noting that at least one clip from Ginormous Eats featuring Denny was still on the company’s official YouTube page. Denny responded on Twitter and spent the weekend retweeting stories about Food Network’s statement. It stands to reason that him doing this is not going to change the network’s stance that they regret ever working with him.

The Ted Lasso discourse continues unabated online, but at least the fictional soccer coach has made good on a promise to deliver a real soccer team some dang biscuits.

Following a joke about Wrexham AFC, a lower division soccer club now owned by Ryan Reynolds and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia co-creator Rob McElhenney, the two actors made waves by demanding an apology for mocking them by way of the Jason Suedeikis character’s famous biscuits. You know, a lot of them.

This whole thing, of course, was mostly in jest and entirely to drum up some publicity for both Lasso and the very real soccer team the two own. And it certainly worked, as we’re writing about it and you’re reading about it right now. While the request to have the ridiculous amount of biscuits arrive in time for the team’s first game didn’t get honored, the team did get a big delivery of pink boxes over the weekend.

Even the fictional AFC Richmond Twitter account got in on the fun.

It’s a nice little coda on a very cool story in soccer, as Wrexham AFC and teams like AFC Wimbledon are certainly inspirations for the fictional squad Lasso coaches. Now if we can figure out if Brett Goldstein is real or not then we can all move on with our lives.

Two of college football’s nastiest defenses are taking center stage on Saturday night, as the crown jewel of the sport’s Week 1 slate is a top-5 showdown between the No. 3 Clemson Tigers and the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte. It’s been the exact kind of game one might expect, as both offenses have struggled to consistently move the ball because the 11 dudes on defense are constantly flying around, making plays, and making life impossible on the opposing quarterbacks.

To that end, it’s probably not a surprise that the game’s opening score came because of a monstrous defensive play. Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei tried to take advantage of a special teams miscue that put the Tigers right at midfield, but after converting one first down, the offense found itself facing a third-and-4. Uiagalelei dropped back and thought he had standout receiver Justyn Ross, but he did not see that Bulldogs defensive back Christopher Smith was lurking.

Smith picked Uiagalelei off and took off the other way, bursting down the sideline and evading an attempted tackle by the Tigers’ signal caller for six.

The throw wasn’t particularly bad, but this is an excellent play by Smith and one heck of an effort to house this one. We have a gut feeling this won’t be the only gigantic defensive play of the evening, and Clemson might even have one or two up their collective sleeves.

Willard Scott, beloved TV weatherman, clown and notable member of McDonald’s history, died on Saturday at 87. The longtime showman has a lengthy career in entertainment that started in Washington radio.

As Today’s obituary of Scott detailed, the weatherman was known for far more than just giving out the forecast. He was Bozo the Clown, for starters, and also served as the first Ronald McDonald when the fast food company hired him to help sell burgers.

Scott, who joined TODAY in 1980, may have been best known for wishing happy birthday to fans turning 100, a feature that soared in popularity over the years, with images of centenarians appearing on Smucker’s jelly jars while Scott recognized them in front of millions of viewers.

…

In the 1960s, he also hosted children’s TV shows and appeared on WRC playing a wide range of characters, including Bozo the Clown, a bygone children’s icon who appeared on airwaves around the country in the ’60s and ’70s.

Scott also had the distinction of being the first person to play Ronald McDonald, appearing in commercials in the Washington area starting in 1963.

The news was particularly heartbreaking for Al Roker, who shared a special relationship with his fellow Today Show weatherman alumnus.

“He was truly my second dad and am where I am today because of his generous spirit,” Roker wrote on Instagram.” Willard was a man of his times, the ultimate broadcaster. There will never be anyone quite like him.”

Many from the Today Show’s past and present, as well as fans, shared memories and thoughts about Scott on Saturday.

Just days after Kanye West released Donda to the world, the rapper gave his first interview during a trip to Berlin. While speaking to the German tabloid Bild, the rapper previewed a collaboration between him and Andre 3000 titled “Life Of The Party.” Days later, it would be this same track that Drake played in full during a recent broadcast on Sirius XM’s OVO Sound radio show. It’s unknown how Drake got a hold of the full version of the song, but it’s one that found West delivering a few disses in the direction of the Toronto rapper.

Not wanting to be in the middle of Drake and West’s beef, Andre 3000 issued a statement about “Life Of The Party.” First, the Outkast counterpart spoke about how the collaboration came together.

“A few weeks ago Kanye reached out about me being a part of the Donda album,” Andre wrote. “I was inspired by his idea to make a musical tribute to his mom. It felt appropriate to me to support the Donda concept by referencing my own mother, who passed away in 2013. We both share that loss.” He then revealed why the song was left off Donda.

“I thought it was a beautiful choice to make a clean album but, unfortunately, I didn’t know that was the plan before I wrote and recorded my verse,” he added. “It was clear to me that an edited ‘clean’ format of the verse would not work without having the raw, original also available. So, sadly, I had to be omitted from the original album release.”

To conclude his statement, Andre noted that the version of “Life Of The Party” he received did not have a “diss verse” on it. He also expressed his desire to work with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Tyler The Creator, and Jay-Z.

The track I received and wrote to didn’t have the diss verse on it and we were hoping to make a more focused offering for the Donda album but I guess things happen like they are supposed to. It’s unfortunate that it was released in this way and two artists that I love are going back and forth. I wanted to be on Certified Lover Boy too. I just want to work with people that inspire me. Hopefully I can work with Kendrick on his album. I’d love to work with Lil’ Baby, Tyler and Jay-Z. I respect them all.

The No. 14 Miami Hurricanes are learning the hard way that there’s no good reason to ever play Alabama during the first week of the college football season. The Hurricanes looked totally outclass for the first half of their matchup with the reigning national champions, as the Crimson Tide took a 27-3 lead into the locker room.

At the very least, we got one particularly funny moment out of this (well, unless you consider Miami getting boatraced funny) when the ‘Canes thought they had a turnover and busted out one of my personal favorite traditions in college football, the turnover chain. The problem: The play in question was a little unclear, as it was unclear whether or not Alabama’s Roydell Williams recovered the ball.

The good news for the Tide was that Williams did, indeed, land on it. Unfortunately for the ‘Canes, this meant sadly putting the turnover chain back into a box and walking back out onto the field all upset.

There is something very sad about the turnover chain having to go back into storage because a play is overturned. It might have something to do with Miami being down by 27 points at the time this happened, but that is not clear.

One of college football’s best traditions popped up on Saturday afternoon: Gus Johnson’s first meltdown over something cool that he saw in a close game. Johnson was on the call as Penn State headed to Madison to take on Wisconsin in a battle of ranked Big Ten squads, and in one of the least aesthetically pleasing games we’ll watch this year, the Nittany Lions pulled off a 16-10 upset.

Wisconsin had a few chances late to pull ahead, perhaps none better than its 17-play, 67-yard drive while down by six. But despite getting the ball on the Nittany Lion 1 on first-and-goal, the Badgers couldn’t punch it in. The exclamation point came on the final play of the drive, when Graham Mertz was picked off by Jaquan Brisker and caused Johnson to have one of those calls that have made him beloved by college football fans.

Johnson screaming “WOW!,” declaring “WHAT A GAME!,” and then just saying the word “defense” a few times sets the bar pretty high for Gus Johnson Moments this season. The good news for other teams is that college football will assuredly have way crazier games than this one, so we fully expect Gus to lose his mind a few more times during the 2021 campaign.

Chadwick Boseman may be the most notable Hollywood star to quietly battle a cancer diagnosis in recent memory, and the one year anniversary of his shocking passing was a reminder that not every struggle is made public for even the most famous people in America. And Saturday brought another example of that after actor Stanley Tucci revealed he had also battled cancer in private.

Tucci gave an interview to Vera Magazine that was made public on Saturday where the actor detailed being diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and his subsequent battle for his life. As Deadline detailed, Tucci spent time on a feeding tube along with radiation and other treatments.

In an interview with Vera magazine, Tucci said he was diagnosed three years ago with a tumor at the base of his tongue. The mass “was too big to operate,,” and could only be treated with “high-dose radiation and chemo.”

Tucci said that the treatment was especially harrowing because of the experience he had with his first wife, Kate Spath-Tucci, who had breast cancer a decade ago.

“I’d vowed I’d never do anything like that, because my first wife died of cancer, and to watch her go through those treatments for years was horrible,” Tucci said. Spath-Tucci died in 2009 at age 47.

Still, Tucci disclosed that he did go through a period that included putting him on a feeding tube for six months along with other treatments. And thankfully, he doesn’t expect the cancer to return. He also said the process gave him new perspective on his life.

“[Cancer] makes you more afraid and less afraid at the same time. I feel much older than I did before I was sick. But you still want to get ahead and get things done.”

The news is certainly a shock to fans who had no idea the actor was even sick. But it’s good that Tucci is feeling better, and got to tell the world about what was a harrowing experience on his own terms.

This article first appeared on 9.16.17

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“Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.”

—Henry David Thoreau

No one escapes this world without a regret or two. Time and time again, when we hear the final regrets of the dying, they’re not about wishing they’d made money or worked more hours. They’re almost always about wishing they had the self-confidence to pursue their dreams or the time to stay in touch with loved ones. Recently, A Plus in partnership with Strayer University’s Ideal Year Initiative, put up a chalkboard on a New York City street and asked passersby to write down their biggest regrets. The people who wrote on the blackboard were from different walks of life, but their regrets were alarmingly similar.

What’s Your Biggest Regret? (Nobody Wants To Admit The Worst One Of All)

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