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Joe Exotic may have technically run against Donald Trump in 2016, but when he got in legal trouble he knew to ask him for help. During the former president’s last weeks in office, the star of Tiger King, the Netflix documentary series that took the nation by storm early in the pandemic, asked if he could make him one of his 11th hour pardons. Trump did not, and Exotic was pissed. And in his new memoir, he’s still pissed, though it seems more at himself.

The book is called Tiger King: The Official Tell-All Memoir, and it’s released as its author is still languishing in a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, serving a 22-year sentence on 17 charges of murder-for-hire and animal abuse. As per The Daily Beast, it’s a predictably flamboyant read. The first sentence goes like this: “Dear American Public, can you believe that b*tch Carole Baskin is out there free as a bird while I’m sitting here rotting away in prison?”

But Exotic reserves some ire for others. Among them is Trump, who seems to have considered intervening but did not, pardoning the likes of the recently indicted Steve Bannon instead. Exotic says that Trump snubbing him left him looking like a “dumbass,” though he doesn’t let himself off the hook. “Word has it I should have written a big check and I would have gotten that pardon, too,” he writes.

It’s a game-recognizes-game moment, one convicted criminal knowing that the way to the heart of another legally troubled figure is through cold hard cash.

Meanwhile, the Tiger King sequel was recently dropped on Netflix, and though Baskin attempted to get her and her cats removed over contractual hiccups, she, alas, failed.

(Via The Daily Beast)

MyPilllow CEO Mike Lindell’s Thanksgiving “marathon” (the “Thanks-A-Thon”) aims to overturn the 2020 election, which feels like his 25th time to unsuccessfully do so. In actuality, it appears that he’s using the four-day, 96-hour-long fundraising event to scrounge up donations for his legal fund. It doesn’t seem to be going so well, given that he paused the live stream to eat Thanksgiving dinner and claimed that “millions” were probably watching, when only dozens truly tuned in to watch his energetic shenanigans on the Freedom Patriot Network YouTube channel.

In the midst of all of this, Lindell called for a protest outside of Fox News headquarters, and approximately 10 people showed up (all shouting “Shame on FOX!”) to protest how the conservative news network was discussing other topics instead of (nonexistent) voter fraud. Well, it was time for a new trick, so at around 11:30 p.m., Lindell decided to throw in what he had left to receive donations for what he’s calling a “Legal Offense Fund.” Via Business Insider, even the tiniest donation will score donors a “free” copy of Lindell’s memoir, subtitled From Crack Addict to CEO, and Lindell described an excerpt to sweeten the deal:

“If you donate anything, even if it’s $10, I’m gonna send you a free book,” Lindell said, referring to his memoir, titled “What Are the Odds? From Crack Addict to CEO.”

Lindell also described the contents of his memoir, including a chapter where he writes about digging through a carpet for crack cocaine.

According to the website of The Lindell Legal Offense Fund, individuals can donate amounts ranging from $10 to $50,000. The website claims that the money donated will be used to “save our country.”

Lindell professes to be using this “Offense Fund” (“we’re always on the offense”) to fight for freedom, although it’s not entirely clear what he means by that statement. He has, however, been sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion over his unyielding claims that the 2020 election was rigged. In response to that lawsuit, Lindell sued Dominion for $1.6 billion. He’s also, as mentioned above, embroiled in a public battle with Fox News, which is still running his ads for now, but who knows what will happen after he sent 10 protesters to their headquarters. And the Thanks-A-Thon continues!

(Via Business Insider)

The GOP have been trying to paint Democrats as the party against the working class, and for good reason: They’re the ones opposing legislation that could make everyday Americans’ lives better, but they still want their votes. The result has been some very amusing cases of cognitive dissonance.So you get Eric Trump cluelessly slamming Joe Biden for spending time away from the White House, or Rick Scott complaining about spending while being cool with tax cuts on the rich. And you get the GOP’s official Twitter account trying to slam Kamala Harris and only getting owned.

Late Friday, the account came for the Vice President, who last week went to France on a diplomatic trip. As per The Washington Free Beacon, Harris took some time to visit a Parisian boutique shop and reportedly dropped hundreds on cookware.

“While Americans are struggling to pay more than EVER for the holidays, Kamala Harris is out buying a $375 pot,” the GOP tweeted while sharing the article.

Evidently Harris’ lavish spending — from her personal cash, mind you — offended party of millionaires, whose ex-president leader owns a gold toilet. And people on social media were quick to point out the hypocrisy of the GOP complaining about throwing money around.

Donald Trump received the brunt of the mockery. Many dwelled on all the golf trips he took on the taxpayers’ dime.

Or his legal bills.

Or his many, many other extravagances.

Some put their blame on the Republican party in general, who didn’t think much about struggling everyday Americans when they signed tax cuts for the unimaginably rich in 2017.

And others pointed out that the GOP is almost uniformly against the Build Back Better plan, which aims to improve the lives of average Americans.

Amy Schneider, a transgender woman (and engineering manager) out of Oakland, California, recently took Jeopardy! by storm and ousted a five-time champ during Trans Awareness Week and has kept her winning streak going. As of this date, Amy’s scooped up over $250,000 in winnings over eight games, and that streak doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

With each successive win under Amy’s belt, the calm and collected champ regularly takes to Twitter to talk strategy after each game. She has, however, revealed that there’s a downside to winning, and she is no gloating champ, that’s for sure. “The one thing that sucks about Jeopardy is that for me to win, the other contestants have to lose,” Amy tweeted. “Madeline was a very nice person as I said, and as a viewer watching at home, I would have loved to see her go on a run of her own (no offense to Dan btw). But I don’t want to lose!”

Not too many game show winners (or winners in any arena) would stop to tweet that message, and her triumph will likely be long-lived. Also very important: Schneider has been very clear, throughout her streak so far, that she’s not the first transgender contestant or champ on Jeopardy! In fact, Kate Freeman became the first openly transgender champ quite recently on the show, back in 2020. Following the Thankgiving episode, Amy also tweeted about why she chose to wear a transgender pin on the holiday edition. She wished to provide a signal of support (on national TV) for anyone who might be feeling ostracized from their family (or any unaccepting holiday members) during the holiday season.

Jeopardy! didn’t rest for the holidays, and expect to see Amy defending her winner status again on Monday, November 29.

Birds of Prey was a legitimately unusual comic book beast. Not only was it female-driven (and -directed, and -written), but it was goofier, grittier, and gleefully R-rated, and not in the smirking manner of a Deadpool entry. But if you try to watch it on HBO Max, you’re in for a rude awakening: The version that currently lives there has been censored, whittled down to a PG-13 (or thereabouts). And the movie’s fans are pissed.

As per ComicBook.com, the version of Birds of Prey on the streamer now opens with a curious message: “This film has been modified as follows from its original version: it has been edited for content.” It’s the kind of wordage one usually sees on edited TV versions of R-rated movies.

That’s because that’s exactly what it was. A Warner Bros. spokesperson later told IGN that the broadcast cable version, which would normally air on places like TNT, was “mistakenly added to the service.” They said the “unedited original version will be available on HBO Max instead.”

As of this writing, the mistake still hasn’t been corrected. Despite a note claiming it’s Rated R, the version on HBO Max still has the “edited for content” disclaimer and runs about six minutes shorter than the one released to theaters.

Birds of Prey — full title: (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), despite the seemingly failed attempt to rename it — was the second film to feature Margot Robbie’s quasi-villainous Harley Quinn, plucking her away from the Suicide Squad (as well as her ex-beau Joker) and teaming her with four fellow female badasses. It also featured a fried egg breakfast sandwich for the ages.

When people noticed Birds of Prey was cut to shreds, they were not pleased.

Some, noticing that R-rated boys comic book fare hadn’t been censored, called it sexism.

And others reminded people the importance of purchasing physical media and not relying on the whims of streamers.

(Via ComicBook.com and IGN)

Conservative news networks have made a big show out of opposing vaccine mandates, even letting their hosts rail against them on-air. Of course, it’s all a sham: These joints are as terrified of a highly transmissible virus as anyone else. Fox News requires its on-site employees either get vaxxed or tested, and so does Newsmax, their low-rent-ier cousin. And while someone like Tucker Carlson has so far refused to put his money where his mouth is and quit in protest, one of his Newsmax colleagues just did.

As per The Daily Beast, Steve Cortes, a former Trump adviser-turned-Newsmax host, is out at the station after a long battle with his employers over their safety measures. He’s been very public about it, rage-tweeting against them after they announced their mandate in early November.

“I will not comply w/ any organization’s attempt to enforce Biden’s capricious & unscientific Medical Apartheid mandates,” he wrote. “I will not be forced into the injection, nor will I disclose my vaccination status. No one should be pressured to choose between medical privacy & their job.”

Three weeks later Cortes was shown the door. His final prime time broadcast will air early next week, if not sooner, sources say.

It’s far from the first clash between the Trumpist network and the Trumpist personality. Since he was hired to co-host a show with Jenn Pellegrino only six months back, he has reportedly sparred with the network, partly due to such dodgy beliefs as the “Big Lie,” which he continued to spout even as his employers dealt with lawsuits from both Smartmatic and Dominion over their false claims of voter fraud.

Though Cortes was likely hired to peel off viewers who find Fox News insufficiently conspiracy-minded, the resulting show, Cortes & Pellegrino, was never a hit, pulling in a fraction of its competitors Hannity and The Rachel Maddow Show, which air at the same time. It is, indeed, one of the network’s lowest rated weekday programs, falling behind even mid-afternoon shows like American Agenda and Eric Bolling: The Balance.

Still, maybe OANN’s hiring.

(Via The Daily Beast)

What a far-right mess that rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert has created for herself now. The GOP lawmaker’s attention-seeking antics have included a string of “jihad squad” jokes, which fits her patterns of attacking fellow House members with conspiracy theories. This has led a former top Mitch McConnell advisor to go on CNN and denounce Boebert’s comments while speaking with Jim Acosta. Let’s do this with a brief recap.

A few months ago, Boebert’s “jihad squad” routine began when, after she used her own campaign funds to pay rent, she baselessly accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of passing “over a million dollars” to her spouse “and not her brother-husband – the other one.” That House floor-ridiculousness included the “jihad squad” remark, and that led a fed-up local Colorado news anchor to denounce her rhetoric on behalf of her constituents.

This didn’t deter Boebert. She unloaded the “jihad squad” remark again in a viral video, in which she performed what looked like bad stand-up comedy and told a fake story: she claimed that a Capitol Hill officer was fearful when Rep. Ilhan Omar entered an elevator. She also insinuated that Omar was a terrorist/suicide bomber, and in response, Omar tweeted, “Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout.”

Well, someone in power (or with a lot of money) must have talked to Boebert, who uncharacteristically apologized to Omar and the Muslim community for offending them “with my comment about Rep. Omar.” She didn’t apologize for the divisive, anti-Muslim rhetoric, but only for providing “an unnecessary distraction.” And that’s when former McConnell advisor Scott Jennings decided to — while noting that McConnell himself doesn’t comment on colleagues’ rhetoric — declare (via Raw Story) that he knows what’s happening in Mitch’s head:

“Senator McConnell serves in the Senate. I guarantee you, I know what he’s thinking. It’s a garbage comment from a garbage politics. I‘m as anti-Squad as the next [Republican], but there’s plenty of ways to debate these folks without stooping to this garbage rhetoric. I noted, by the way, that Boebert has been forced to apologize. I assume that didn’t happen in a vacuum, but she’s of course committed the ultimate sin, which is the people she’s being performative for here would say you never should apologize.”

Jennings has a point. The far-right audience that heartily laughed and clapped at Boebert’s remarks (in the below viral video) won’t be happy that she apologized.

And Boebert’s apology did nothing to impress Rep. Omar, who’s calling for Boebert to face punishment for her anti-Muslim remarks.

(Via Raw Story)

After her extremely successful turn in A Star Is Born, Lady Gaga has returned to the silver screen, this time to portray the infamous Patrizia Reggiani in The House Of Gucci. The story follows a working class woman who meets and falls in love with Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver in the film, then begins manipulating her way into the family business. After her interference tears apart their marriage, Reggiani gets her revenge by having her husband murdered. The bulk of the movie takes place in beautiful villas in Italy, and for any Gaga stans out there who would love to spend a night or two recreating scenes, one of the homes from the film is actually available on Airbnb.

Villa Balbiano is set on Lake Como, and can be yours for the steep price of $1,127 a night. The six bed, six bath home got quite the write-up on the rental site as well: “Situated on the western shore of Lake Como, Villa Balbiano is an awe-inspiring Italian jewel,” the host wrote. “And we’re proud it will be featured in the most high-fashion film of the year, House of Gucci. Transporting viewers to the height of ‘90s Italian opulence, Villa Balbiano is the site of Gucci family patriarch Aldo Gucci’s home in the film.”

Why do I feel like ’90s Italian opulence is going to be a massive post-pandemic trend? Check out the full listing for the house right here, but keep in mind, the listing is so far only available for a single night.

Billie Eilish fans know that the singer’s longtime stance as a vegan is a super important part of her life. She’s shared videos in the past of animals being tortured as part of food industry practices, and given away free tickets to her shows in exchange for fans educating themselves to be more environmentally conscious. So obviously a day focused on the elaborate preparation of an animal is probably not a vegan’s favorite holiday, and Eilish indicated as much with an Instagram post about turkeys.

“Turkeys are some of the most gentle creatures in the world,” Eilish wrote across a photo of her cradling a turkey. “And 46 million of them are killed every Thanksgiving. I know it’s hard to change traditions but just keep it in mind :).” Well, I personally had no idea that turkeys are gentle, but the whopping number 46 million is a pretty intense reality check. It’s hard to believe that the turkey industrial complex is able to even sustain that kind of demand once a year. Maybe Billie’s post will change a few young minds that were already on the fence about eating meat. Check out a screenshot of her heartfelt Instagram story below, and maybe consider no turkey next year?

On Friday, an occurrence as rare as a peaceful family Thanksgiving dinner happened: Lauren Boebert apologized. (Sort of.) On Thursday, footage of her making an anti-Muslim joke, directed at fellow representative Ilhan Omar, surface on social media. It received widespread condemnation, including from Omar herself. But if Omar has accepted the mea culpa, she hasn’t done so publicly. In fact, the last thing she said on the matter was that Boebert, unlike most of her GOP chums who’ve demonized their progressive co-workers, should be punished.

In the video, Boebert told a story about how a Capitol police officer ran up to her when she saw her get onto an elevator that happened to also contain Omar. “Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine,” Boebert cracked, to a mix of shock and awe (though more awe than shock). She also used the term “Jihad squad” at least twice.

The video gained traction over social media, and soon Omar herself was condemning the comments, and even calling BS on the story.

“Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up,” Omar wrote. “Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout. Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized. Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”

The pushback was enough that the Colorado lawmaker wrote one of those apologies that doesn’t sound exactly like one. “I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar,” she wrote on Twitter. “I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.”

But an hour later, Omar was still calling out Boebert’s bigotry.

“Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter,” she wrote. “@GOPLeader and @SpeakerPelosi need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress.”

Asking Nancy Pelosi to sort this mess out is one thing. But Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader, does not have a great track record reprimanding his out-of-control Trumpist underlings. Marjorie Taylor Greene has gotten away with far worse, while Paul Gosar, while censured by the House (largely along party lines, of course), not only didn’t apologize for sharing a video of him murdering Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but made a big show out of it. McCarthy, meanwhile, promised to restore both Greene and Gosar to the committees from which they were booted should the GOP regain control of that body of government in 2022, ensuring that no one in today’s Republican Party need ever learn a lesson on bipartisanship or basic common decency.

(Via The Daily Beast)