Viral Video Shows Woman Flat on the Airport Floor, Kicking, Screaming and Sobbing Reportedly After Over Being Told Her Carry-on Luggage Was Too Heavy
We’ve seen it before at airports nationwide, even worldwide, usually at ticket counters or check-ins. A customer — perhaps overserved or maybe just overwhelmed by the air travel experience — loses it over a major (sometimes minor) inconvenience and goes nuts, to the point where law enforcement is called in and news outlets are writing articles about it.
Here’s the latest example, recorded on Sunday. Let’s call it “The Heavy Luggage Strikes
Back.”
It involves an unidentified tourist whose carry-on suitcase was too weighty to take on board her flight. Airport staff at Milan’s Malpensa Airport came up with a solution that displeased the passenger.
The middle-aged woman is seen flat on the floor, kicking, screaming and sobbing. It’s hard to make out what she’s saying, or what language she’s saying it in.
Video of the encounter shows the woman lying prone on the ground, sobbing, kicking and flapping her hands in the air for added effect.
It’s a bit over the top, as all these airport meltdowns tend to be, but to her credit, it was brief.
Naturally, she was kicked off the flight, but, unlike many of the other culprits in these airport altercations, the woman was not detained.
She rebooked a new ticket for the following day once she had calmed down and can be grateful when, the inevitable compilation of airport tantrums is compiled, she’ll rank low, if not at all.
Her outcome is unlike that of these soon-to-be court-ordered anger management students:
‘I’m Not Crazy: Couple Accused of Throwing Coffee at Miami Airport WorkersBut isn’t that what “crazy” people usually say? It was apparently a misunderstanding when Beatriz Rapoport de Campos Maia, 29, and her fiancé, Rafael Seirafe-Novaes, 41, tried to force their way past gate agents at the Miami International Airport after they missed the boarding process for their flight to Cancun in March. Coffee was allegedly thrown.
The coffee fell,” De Campos Maia said. “The lady who said I threw it was a liar. It just dropped on the floor.”
“I am not crazy. We would not throw coffee. Coffee, I drink,” Rafael Seirafe-Novaes added.
Spilled or tossed, the fracas caused a 10-minute delay in the flight to Cancun.
This is why you don’t let passengers who are unruly at the gate get on the plane. Shail Nitin Patel, 29, was taken into custody on March 19 following the unruly episode aboard Flight 2506, which was still gated at Tampa International Airport and preparing to take off for Philadelphia and charged with three misdemeanors.
Patel, identified by his California driver’s license, “began acting erratically, yelling and cursing at the passengers, and hurling anti-Semitic slurs as soon as he boarded the plane.
Cellphone video of the episode went viral, showing Patel being put in a headlock by one of the passengers, who was one of several plainclothes officers who moved in to restrain him.
The Original ‘Airport Karen’This tantrum also involved a carry-on suitcase that was too heavy, though the Milan passenger was calm and measured compared to Terri Ann Bluse, the original “Airport Karen” from 2021. Her booze-fueled rant, posted to X in four parts, ended with the 62-year-old tied to a wheelchair, screaming.
She complained that her fellow passengers didn’t have her back after police said Bluse attempted to rush the doors of an American Airlines flight after she was denied boarding. An airline worker told police she wasn’t allowed on the plane due to her behavior, which can best be described as “obnoxiously drunk.” As she was being pushed back by a passenger, Bluse tripped over an airline staffer’s foot and fell.
Bluse’s tirade was seen by millions, including rapper and actor Ice-T, who tweeted (it was 2021), “Karens always want the manager.”
Another viewer noted, presciently, “So many adults having toddler-style temper tantrums lately… yikes on bikes.”
As she’s being wheeled away, Bluse tells no one in particular how much she “can’t stand America” and plans to make Spain her new home.
‘Is That a Robe?’: Woman Caught Making PB&J Sandwich During Zoom Court Hearing Booted from Call After Judge Scolds Her for Being Underdressed
A Detroit woman explained why she was late for her Zoom court hearing, where a judge chastised her after she was caught making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a house robe.
A now-viral clip of the virtual hearing shows Asja Outerbridge dialing in late for the video conference call to appear before Judge Sean Perkins.
In the clip, the judge asks why she’s late, and Outerbridge states that she was sent a letter stating she was supposed to show up at court at 1 p.m. She held up a piece of paper that showed her hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m.
A Detroit-area woman makes a sandwich during a court hearing. (Photos: Instagram/Metro Detroit News)As she and the judge argue about the correct time, talking over one another, Outerbridge sets the phone down and shows herself scooping peanut butter from a jar while dressed in a robe.
“Put whatever you are trying to prepare down,” Perkins says over the call. “Put your properly dress on. I don’t do robes.”
“I am properly dressed. I have on a T-shirt,” Outerbridge responds.
“Is that a robe?” the judge asks.
Outerbridge explains that she was trying to feed her sick daughter, whom she had to keep home from school. As Perkins begins to talk about court etiquette, Outerbridge attests she is properly clothed and takes off the robe to reveal that she’s wearing an oversized T-shirt with leopard-print pants.
Visibly frustrated with the exchange, Perkins dismissed Outerbridge, saying, “Bye, Ms. Outerbridge!” and booted her off the call.
According to WJBK, Outerbridge had to report to court for a misdemeanor after she was accused of having an open container of alcohol in her car.
She said there was a reasonable explanation for why she was late to her hearing.
“I got multiple court dates, so I called to get the Zoom number, and they had told me like, ‘Oh, you’re supposed to be there right now.’ What I had said 1 p.m.,” Outerbridge told CBS News Detroit. “I hung up with them, and hopped on at 9:22 a.m. exactly, and waited there from 9:22 to 11:30. That’s when the robe thing happened, and then he put me back in holding. So with being on hold for 2 hours, I’m not going to lie, I kind of forgot he was on the phone.”
Outerbridge said that once she heard the court session start, she ran to her phone, but she had already started making a sandwich.
“I definitely was wrong. I could have came dressed better and more prepared, and I don’t want to judge to think that I’m laughing at the situation, at him because I’m not. I take that very seriously, I do genuinely, with a serious face, apologize to the judge,” she said.
‘The Guy Who Cheated on His First Wife with the Current Wife’: Michelle Obama Drops Bombshell About the Couple She and Barack View as ‘Mentors’ Amid Divorce Rumors
Former first lady Michelle Obama has never shied away from speaking candidly about her marriage and has gotten some backlash because of it.
Her latest revelation on her podcast has sparked a fascinating conversation about love, mentorship, and the complexities of relationships in the public eye.
Michelle Obama shared that she and her husband look to Bruce Springsteen and his wife for guidance in their marriage. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)During a recent episode of her “IMO” podcast, Obama opened up about getting relationship advice from Bruce Springsteen and his wife, Patti Scialfa, whom she and former President Barack Obama have turned to throughout their decades-long marriage.
The “Born in the USA” singer was a guest on the show, and during the conversation it was revealed that even “power couples” seek guidance from those who’ve walked similar paths.
Speaking directly to Springsteen, Obama shared heartfelt praise for the relationship she’s observed up close.
“I marvel at you and Patti and the work that you all have done,” the former first lady told her friend during the Wednesday episode.
Adding, “You and Patti have been couple mentors for me and Barack for quite some time. [We are] watching you guys do the work, getting advice on how to keep those lines of communication open.”
Obama went on to describe the music royalty as “powerhouses in [their] own right … merging those lives together.”
Her admiration for the couple’s ability to maintain individual identities and a strong partnership reflects challenges many high-achieving couples face.
The timeline of both relationships reveals interesting parallels.
The Obamas tied the knot in October 1992, welcoming daughters Malia, now 26, and Sasha, 24. Springsteen and Scialfa married just one year earlier in 1991 and share three children: Evan, 34, Jessica, 33, and Samuel, 31.
However, the Springsteen-Scialfa love story carries a controversial chapter that has resurfaced in light of Obama’s comments.
The “Dancing in the Dark” singer’s relationship with Scialfa began as an affair while married to his first wife, actress Julianne Phillips. They met in the early 1980s before Scialfa joined the E Street Band.
According to People, their relationship turned romantic in 1988, after Springsteen’s marriage ended. Many people do not believe this.
The revelation about the Obamas’ relationship mentors comes at a time when the former first couple has faced their own share of speculation about potential marital troubles between the two.
In May, she dismissed the speculation with characteristic directness on her podcast, stating, “Everybody would know it. I’m not a martyr. I would be problem solving in public.”
During her podcast appearances, Obama has been open about marriage challenges, including calling out her husband for not making a lot of money when they met. Still, the pair insists that they are still very in love.
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The friendship between the Obama and Springsteen families extends far beyond personal mentorship. Their connection was forged during Barack’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, when Springsteen publicly supported the candidate and performed at campaign events. Obama later honored the musician with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
However, Obama’s choice of relationship mentors has drawn sharp criticism on social media.
Readers on Page Six, a magnet for negative reactions about celebrities, didn’t hold back in their responses to the revelation.
“What’s up with these women’s obsession with sharing their relationship problems with the world on Social Media? If my wife did this, which she never would anyway (I married well), then I’d be walking,” one person wrote.
The blowback on the conservative-leaning outlet’s gossip page progessed with a commenter adding, “Bruce broke his marriage vows, so he is hardly someone to lean on or to mentor.” A third response was even more direct: “Interesting. The guy who cheated on his first wife with the current wife and they are your relationship role models. You’re all sick.”
The criticism continued with another user writing, “Bruce & Patti’s happily ever after didn’t come without their fair share of scandals starting with those Enquirer photos.” Yet another comment read, “Interesting. The guy who cheated on his first wife with the current wife and they are your relationship role models. You’re all sick.”
Despite the controversy, the genuine friendship was beautifully captured in a viral 2023 moment when Michelle joined Springsteen on stage in Barcelona, playing tambourine during “Glory Days.”
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The video garnered over 29 million views and 2,008,033 likes, showing Barack beaming with pride as he filmed his wife sharing the spotlight.
Obama’s willingness to seek wisdom from imperfect relationships perhaps reflects a mature understanding that growth and redemption are always possible, even after serious mistakes.. Her choice to publicly acknowledge the Springsteens as mentors suggests that she values the work they’ve done to build a lasting partnership, regardless of how it began.
‘Who This?’: Toni Braxton’s Unrecognizable Look In Magazine Spread Shocks Fans Who Say They ‘Could Not Even Recognize Her’
American R&B singer Toni Braxton, 58, recently graced the cover of a special issue of Glamour Bulgaria magazine, and social media users are sharing their thoughts on her look.
According to the outlet’s Instagram page, Braxton opened up about her “legacy, love, laughter, and the lessons that keep her grounded” in an exclusive interview as well as other vulnerable moments.”
A promotional clip for Braxton’s Glamour cover shoot has landed on the outlet’s Instagram. Her voyage into the European fashion world generated conversation online.
R&B singer Toni Braxton’s new all-red look on a magazine cover stirred a frenzy of reaction from fans. (Photo: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Island Records)The “Un-Break My Heart” hitmaker wore a red gown designed by Rhea Costa with red high boots. She gripped fans with her Oliver Brown-styled ensemble.
Fashion Bomb Daily reposted the short video of Braxton modeling the outfit, and many agreed, “she looks good.” The outlet’s followers weighed in on what the reality television veteran had on.
“Without my glasses, I thought this was an Asian woman,” wrote one person. A second person commented, “Wow, could not even recognize her.”
“Harpo, who this woman?” one fan sarcastically asked, referencing a famous line from the 1985 film “The Color Purple” starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.
A few even mistook her for other celebrities, such as Kevin Hart’s wife, Eniko, and Tony Award winning actress Nicole Scherzinger.
Others believed the image was altered writing, “More like Phony Braxton! What in the AI!?!!!!”
A more negative remark read, “It’s about time she starts looking classy.”
Another said, “It’s giving AI but classic Toni song and more covered than her sons graduation so a win is a win.”
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Braxton has been viewed as a fashionista throughout her four-decade career in show business. Her iconic pixie cut became a signature part of her personal style presented during her rise in the 1990s.
During an interview with Essence in October 2024, Braxton named Whitney Houston and Anita Baker as two of her fashion idols. She also mentioned Marc Bouwer as a favorite designer.
However, the chart-topping vocalist was a target of scorn after images from her son’s college graduation spread across social media in May 2025.
Braxton traveled to Washington, D.C., to celebrate 22-year-old Diezel Braxton-Lewis completing his studies at Howard University. Diezel is also the son of Toni’s ex-husband, Keri Lewis.
Reactions to Braxton’s attire for the graduation ceremony were harsh. Her decision to show up in a black blazer, lace skirt, a hat with a veil, without pants, shocked some people.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Toni Braxton (@tonibraxton)
“I got the best Mother’s Day gift! My son is officially a HOWARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE!! I’m so proud of you @diezel.braxton and can’t wait to see all the amazing things you’ll accomplish! YOU DID THAT! Proud #BoyMom,” Toni wrote on Instagram.
Braxton broke out as a recording artist in 1992 with the release of the “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” single off the LaFace Records-backed “Boomerang: Original Soundtrack Album.”
The Maryland-raised performer went on to drop her self-titled debut studio LP in 1993 via LaFace Records. The “Toni Braxton” album led to the mother of two winning Best New Artist at the 1994 Grammy Awards.
Additionally, Braxton starred in the “Braxton Family Values” reality show, which aired for seven seasons from 2011 to 2020. She was also a contestant on “The Masked Singer” in 2021. Braxton has also acted in several Lifetime television movies.
‘Need to Be Quiet, Meek, and Compliant with White Counterparts’: Two Black Teachers Allege Years of Abuse, Retaliation and Threats at California High School
Two Black high school teachers filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Beverly Hills Unified School District, alleging they were underpaid, subjected to racial harassment and threats, and that school and district officials failed to adequately address multiple racist incidents at the school.
The lawsuit filed by Natonda “Bella” Ivory and Jarvis Turner on April 25 in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that the district and ten of its staff and supervisors acted together to racially discriminate and retaliate against them while fostering a racially hostile environment for students at the school.
Turner has been a teacher and basketball coach since 2010 at Beverly Hills High School, where he taught sports marketing and business for seven years, and more recently, career technical education (CTE).
Former Beverly Hills High School teacher Natonda “Bella” Ivory (left) at a press conference with her attorney Brad Gage (center) in December 2024. (Photo: Foxla.com screenshot)According to the complaint, in February 2018 Turner learned about a group Snapchat post by a female Beverly Hills student disparaging the Black cheerleaders at Santa Monica High School. His attorney, Brad Gage, told Atlanta Black Star that the post, by a Persian Jewish student, called the girls “monkeys.”
After the offending student received a one-day suspension for the slur, Turner sent an email expressing his disappointment at the “lenient” discipline to school officials. BHUSD administrator Mark Mead responded “by assuring him that the school takes offensive racial speech seriously,” the lawsuit says, and “outlined steps to address the incident and promote healing within the school community.”
Turner said that the primary action taken by the school in response to the incident was a meeting in which only Black students were gathered in a classroom to discuss racism, during which they were asked to explain “why they often call each other ‘the N-word,’” Gage said.
In December 2019, Turner received an email through his school account stating, “You are a ni—er.” He sent it to his supervisor, Tim Ellis, who was “nonchalant” in his response to the email, the lawsuit says.
Concerned for his safety, Turner filed a police report with the Beverly Hills Police Department. A week later, he followed up with Ellis to see what action he had taken regarding the racist email, but Ellis did not respond.
Turner then filed a complaint with the district’s human resources director, and hearing nothing, sent a complaint to BHUSD Superintendent Michael Bregy, detailing his experiences at Beverly Hills High “as a Black man,” the complaint says. They included students calling his cellphone late at night “making racial epithets” and parents walking into his office “spouting derogatory racial stereotypes,” the lawsuit says.
Beverly Hills High School basketball coach Jarvis Turner is suing the school district for racial discrimination and retaliation. (Photo: Eric Sondheimer/LA Times)Turner also claims that he suffered from disparate treatment in pay and benefits compared to non-Black colleagues who held similar job positions but had less experience and fewer accomplishments.
He further alleges that Ellis, his direct supervisor, took funds from the school basketball account and paid non-Black employees with those monies, but not Turner or other Black coaches.
Meanwhile, in the summer of 2020, Ivory was hired by Beverly Hills High School as a CTE teacher, and in the following school year, she taught three fashion classes and co-taught costume design with Karen Chandler, the theater teacher.
Throughout that school year, she says Chandler yelled at, spoke down to and humiliated her with racist comments and microaggressions, sometimes in front of her students. Ivory complained regularly to school administrators, who responded by meeting with Chandler and then informing Ivory she was no longer allowed to co-teach costume design.
After learning that Chandler’s assistant was chosen to teach the costume design class, Ivory questioned a BHUSD administrator as to why, but got no answer.
In February 2022, a cafeteria employee refused to serve Ivory and “cussed” at her after she asked him his name, in front of numerous school employees and students, the lawsuit says. Assistant Principal Torray Johnson then “took Ivory to a back office and told her, because she was a black woman, that she needed to be quiet, meek, passive, and compliant with white counterparts,” the complaint alleges.
Around this time, Black students began to confide in Ivory about their experiences with racism at the school. Mead made an appointment with Principal Mark Mead to discuss their concerns, but Mead cancelled the meeting and never rescheduled it, she claims.
In December 2022, Ivory began pushing for a pay raise and to be given a union contract that would increase her salary and benefits. She also complained about not receiving holiday pay.
In January 2023, BHUSD advised her that she would be receiving a pay increase, and on that basis she says she discontinued her employment with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. By March 2023, her salary was still lower than other CTE teachers, and that May she complained about the disparate pay and told school officials it was “creating undue hardship” on her.
She also told them her Crohn’s disease had created difficulties with her work schedule and sought accommodation. The district failed to respond, she says.
In June of 2023, Ivory met with two BHUSD personnel who were white, telling them she had “quit other employment and forsaken other opportunities in reliance on the district’s promise of increased pay and benefits.” As she explained the financial hardship on her and her son, she says the district officials made light of her plight and ridiculed her, reducing her to tears. The officials then said they would try to have another Black person in attendance at meetings going forward, which was not what Ivory was seeking, the complaint says.
Ivory’s effort to increase her pay rate that summer was unsuccessful. A day before the start of the 2023-24 school year, she says she received a “probationary” contract from BHUSD including terms never discussed with her, with a demand to sign it immediately.
In August 2023, she sent an email to Superintendent Bregy complaining about “continuous racism and adverse employment actions,” and also met with other BHUSD personnel and detailed her experiences of racism in the district, as well as those of Black students.
Soon after that, a “similarly situated” white CTE teacher was given a much higher pay rate than Ivory, despite similar educational and professional levels, and was not required to sign a probationary contract, “asap,” the complaint says.
Ivory says she immediately raised the disparate treatment with BHUSD officials, who did not meet with her until October 2023, when they gave her “several illegitimate, inconsistent and pretextual reasons to justify the disparate salary and employment practices.”
Later that month, Ivory attended a district board meeting and “publicly shared her disparate treatment,” after which Horvath, the assistant superintendent, became increasingly angry and vindictive toward her, she says.
Harassment of Black teachers and students by non-Black students and employees was also on the rise in October 2023, the lawsuit says. Beverly Hills High School has a large population of Iranian-American students who are Jewish, and the plaintiffs say these and other Jewish students targeted Black students in a variety of hate crimes and civil rights violations.
Among them was an incident on Oct. 31, 2023, when a Black student was confronted by a group of Jewish students and threatened for a pro-Palestine Instagram post. Law enforcement and the school district “did nothing to protect the student or uphold his First Amendment rights,” the lawsuit says.
In November 2023, the Black student was attacked by a Jewish student, and teachers and staff, including Turner and Ivory, attempted to intercede to reduce racial tensions at the school, the lawsuit says.
In another incident, the N-word was drawn on a wall in the boys’ physical education locker room. In December, another racist video appeared on TikTok, this one showing a pile of excrement on the boys’ restroom floor and then a shot of the words, “I hate ni—ers” scrawled and underlined on the wall. It is unclear who made the video, said Gage, but it was widely shared among students at the school.
While school and district officials were aware of the posts, they took no corrective action, the plaintiffs claim.
This led Black students, who comprise about 3 percent of the 1,230 students at Beverly Hills High School, to tell staff that they feel marginalized, invisible, devalued, and unsupported by the school community. Many reported being called the “N-word” on a daily basis, and said they felt unprotected and unsafe.
Black students are “particularly distressed that the focus on the campus is primarily centered around the Israeli-Palestine conflict and the pain of the Persian Jewish students, while their own experiences of discrimination and racism are overlooked,” the lawsuit says.
In October, a Black student was allegedly followed home by a group of Jewish students, who verbally accosted and threatened him.
On Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, around noon, students at Beverly Hills High, including some enrolled in Ivory’s class, marched through the school holding Trump signs and banners, stopping outside Ivory’s classroom, where 7 to 10 students in the Black Student Union, a school club, were meeting. The students congregated outside the door chanting “F—k Kamala” and beating on the door, Ivory says.
The lawsuit notes that prior case law has made clear that “‘The First Amendment guarantees wide freedom in matters of adult public discourse’ but that does not mean that ‘the same latitude must be permitted to children in a public school.’ … ‘The conduct of students, including their speech, may be restricted if it might reasonably [lead] school authorities to forecast substantial disruption,’ or if students are targeting specific classmates ‘with vulgar or abusive language.'”
District officials downplayed the discrimination taking place at the school to the public, Gage said.
“We do not have evidence that suggests that there was racism at the recent spirited demonstrations, however, BHUSD has implemented proactive measures to ensure that any concerns related to racism and antisemitism – perceived or real–are addressed promptly and effectively,” BHUSD Superintendent Michael Bregy said in a statement at the time.
Bregy added that the school district was meeting with organizations, including the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, “to deliver professional development for staff, workshops for students, and community engagement sessions.”
“These initiatives will focus on empathy, active listening and fostering dialogue among diverse viewpoints,” Bregy wrote.
Assistant Superintendent Laura Collins-Williams invited Ivory and Black Student Union students to speak at a board meeting on Nov. 11, 2024, and they did, telling attendees how they had been shunned, called the “n-word,” and threatened. One girl said it was “a nightmare to be a Black student at Beverly Hills High School.”
The students also recounted hearing and seeing racial comments and slurs being uttered and scrawled on doors and walls, including a Nazi swastika drawn onto a cutting table in Ivory’s classroom.
Since that board meeting, Ivory says she has been attacked relentlessly on social media and received threatening, racist emails sent to her school email address, including one in which she was called a “Ni—er b—ch” in a student’s TikTok post. She claims she forwarded the messages to school and district administrators, but got no response.
Her son, then a student at a BHUSD middle school, was targeted and bullied at school, the complaint says. As a result, he was forced to finish the first semester in homeschooling and his second semester in an online school.
In January, “Ivory was placed on medical leave by her physician,” the lawsuit says.
On Jan. 9, 2025, Ivory filed a formal complaint with the school district claiming discrimination, harassment and retaliation.
On Jan. 10, she received a letter from BHUSD informing her that she was under investigation for “potential misconduct” in November 2024 when “you made unprofessional statements to your students in the classroom” in the days and weeks following the election.
Gage told Atlanta Black Star he believes the focus of the district’s investigation was related to an “illegally obtained” audio recording made and posted by a student, including comments Ivory made in a classroom, where she can be heard saying, “If anything happens to my son, I will come for your families.”
Ivory later said she wasn’t making threats but sharing her feelings with students, reported FoxLA. She claimed the audio was edited and didn’t capture the intent of her message, which was that “my family is going to come after any family that hurts me, kills me, whatever — legally, not physically.”
In February 2025, during school hours and on school grounds, a Beverly Hills High School student “announced before an entire classroom that she hated Ivory and wanted to stab Ivory in the chest,” the lawsuit says, adding that BHUSD did not inform or report the threat to police or authorities.
The school district’s “retaliatory investigation” of Ivory proceeded through April of 2025, when, Gage says, she was “threatened with potential discipline” and forced to resign, or “constructively discharged.”
Ivory is now working in the fashion industry, earning a significantly lower salary than she did as a teacher, he said.
The lawsuit accuses the Beverly Hills Unified School District and 10 unnamed district employees of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against both Turner and Ivory in violation of federal civil rights law, and with failure to take corrective action in violation of California law.
It also alleges that the district failed to provide reasonable accommodations for Ivory when she had “physical conditions that limited major life activities” but was “able to perform the essential duties” of her position.
The plaintiffs seek a jury trial to determine special economic and general damages to compensate them for lost income and earning capacity, back and front pay, loss of future earnings, damage to reputation, medical and psychological bills, suffering and emotional stress, and legal costs.
The lawsuit does not seek a court order to demand changes in policies and procedures at the school district.
Gage said “getting injunctive relief is exceedingly hard in this political environment,” but his clients “want the school district to make reforms so that people of color are treated equally and fairly, without threats, without discrimination.”
“I would like to see more diversity represented among all staff,” Turner told Atlanta Black Star, adding that includes faculty, classified and certified staff. “I would also like to see more diversity among the student population, and to see a relatable person in the counseling and mentoring space for the minority students.”
“And we want our clients to be compensated for the harms they’ve suffered and gone through,” said Gage. “What you can do to effectuate change is by having a very large monetary judgment. You know, money talks, and usually the only way you’ll get racism eliminated is when you make it so expensive for them to engage in it, they decide they’re going to change their behavior.”
Attorneys representing the Beverly Hills Unified School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star.
The school district and other defendants in the case have until mid-June to file an answer to the complaint.
‘She Told More Lies to the Public’: Oprah Winfrey Blasted by Disgraced Author James Frey Over 2006 Interview About Lying In His Memoir
A bestselling author from Oprah Winfrey’s past is finally speaking out decades after her investigation into a scandal that nearly ended his career.
Winfrey, 71, endorsed James Frey’s best-selling “A Million Little Pieces” by selecting his 2003 memoir for her highly publicized Oprah’s Book Club.
Many praised the well-written book until January 2006 when The Smoking Gun published an exposé titled “A Million Little Lies,” which exposed Frey for fabricating details of his purported criminal history. The outlet’s six-week investigation also discovered that Frey, 55, exaggerated his involvement in a deadly train accident.
Oprah Winfrey gets called out by author James Frey years after she shamed him for lying in his memoir. (Photos by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images; jamesfrey_/Instagram)Just weeks after the Smoking Gun’s report was published, Winfrey sat down with Frey on an episode of her self-titled daytime talk show in front of a live audience.
“I have to say it is difficult for me to talk to you because I feel really duped,” Winfrey told Frey. “But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers.”
She stated, “My judgment was clouded because so many people seemed to have gotten so much out of it. But now I feel that you conned us all. Do you?”
Frey responded at the time, “I don’t feel like I conned everyone,” claiming “A Million Little Pieces” was essentially about his real battle to overcome drug addiction and alcoholism.”
But the damage was done and the fallout led to Frey being dropped by his literary agent and publisher. And Random House Publishing had to settle a class-action lawsuit.
ACTORS ON ACTORS
JAMES FREY + OPRAH WINFREY
DEC. 7 pic.twitter.com/VBNh7Rrlxn
Frey is back with a new nonfiction book titled “Next to Heaven.” While promoting his latest Authors Equity-published work, the Ohio native reflected on his falling-out with Winfrey.
“It’s the brutal hypocrisy of it,” Frey said about Oprah in a New York Times interview. “She told more lies to the public times a thousand than I ever have. And I’ll leave it at that.”
Frey didn’t hold back in expressing his lingering resentment toward Winfrey, even after the media maven’s 2011 public apology.
“You might be the most influential lady in this world, you won’t stop me. I will lower my head and I will walk forward and I’ll keep throwing punches until I die. You can’t stop me,” Frey proclaimed.
His heated remarks against Winfrey ignited online reactions as the 20-year-old literary scandal became a hot-button topic once again.
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“How is Oprah positioned as the villain? It’s a really bizarre take. Huh?” one responder asked on the New York Times’ Instagram page. Another person declared, “Oprah didn’t ‘shame’ him. He lied and showed up on her show, where he finally had to own it. Nothing to do with Oprah.”
A third wrote, “I’m disappointed in how this piece is framed to make Oprah, a Black woman, who did nothing but seek the truth, a villain. It’s actually really shameful. This is a page right out of an old playbook. Same old trope.”
Frey had defenders on the social media app as well. A fan of “A Million Little Pieces” wrote, “I love that book, could CARE LESS if he made it up.”
A similar post read, “Love his first book, and I will be purchasing the next!”
Winfrey and Frey supposedly cleared the air in 2011. The Harpo Productions founder invited the disgraced author back on her show to reconcile their issues.
Before openly expressing regret for how she handled Frey during his public shaming over the “A Million Little Pieces” falsehoods, Winfrey revealed she had apologized to him privately.
“We had a nice conversation, and I really appreciated it, and I was surprised by it. I thought it was big of you, and I thought it was cool,” Frey said to Winfrey about her behind-the-scenes mea culpa.
He further praised the OWN founder and took responsibility for his own actions by saying, “You’ve done nothing wrong, but be really generous and cool with me, and whatever happened, happened because I created that situation. If anything, you deserve the apology more than I deserve one.”
In response, Winfrey clarified, “Well, thank you for saying that, but my apology is not for what I said, it’s for the way that I said it.” She added, “What people saw was my lack of compassion, so I apologize for my lack of compassion.”
Frey has written numerous books since 2003. His bibliography contains publications such as “My Friend Leonard” in 2005, “The Calling” in 2014, and “Katerina” in 2018. “Next to Heaven” is set for release on June 17.
‘Heartbreaking’: Texas Man Confesses to Killing Black Fiancée, Stayed with Her Decomposing Body for Days Until Neighbors Called 911 to Report Flies and ‘Very Foul Smell’
A white Texas man is under arrest for the brutal slaying of his Black fiancée after he allegedly stayed with her body for at least three days because he “wanted to lay with” her.
William Joseph Oddo III, 52, was arrested on June 2 by the Denton County police on charges of murder and tampering with evidence after confessing to shooting LaVera Wardell in the head. He is being held on $160,000 bail.
William Joseph Oddo III (right) is accused murdering his fiancée and sleeping next to her corpse. (Credit: Fox4 Local News/Video Screengrab)Investigators believe the suspect and his 39-year-old fiancée got into a fight on May 6, but Wardell’s body was not found until nearly two weeks later, when neighbors called 911 to report a “very foul smell” emanating from the apartment they shared, with flies buzzing around the front door.
“It’s honestly heartbreaking. I don’t know how it was right above the office. It’s the penthouse above the office and right next to the gym,” a neighbor from the Timberlinks Golf Club complex told the Denton-Record Chronicle. The sprawling apartment community is situated next to one of Texas’s top-ranked golf courses.
The body stayed in the apartment until May 19 when police made the gruesome discovery. They were surprised to find the walls and floor were strangely clean, with no blood splatter or blood evidence anywhere in the apartment, reported the outlet. Police located a shotgun in the home along with other unnamed items that could be used to mask smells, but Oddo had disappeared.
Soon investigators turned up surveillance videos showing Oddo in several stores purchasing cleaning supplies on May 13, a full week after Wardell’s murder.
Oddo claimed he shot her in the head in self-defense after she ran toward him with a knife during an argument, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Fox 4. He allegedly left the apartment after a week due to the terrible smell, leaving her body behind, and holed up in a motel in Mount Pleasant, about two-and-half hours away, according to the documents.
A judge initially granted an arrest warrant on May 28 for tampering with evidence. When police eventually traced Oddo to the motel, they obtained search warrants to his motel room and vehicle after he gave a damning interview on June 2, according to arrest documents.
Police claim Oddo waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the killing, telling investigators that he scrubbed the murder scene because he “wanted to lay with” his deceased fiancée, and that he laid with her body “for approximately three days,” according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. He also confirmed that he used the shotgun found in the apartment to kill her, per the arrest affidavit.
Denton police say there were red flags before the heinous slaying. There had been a history of domestic violence calls related to the couple.
‘No Wonder Ben Got Sick of Her’: Jennifer Lopez Turns Up the Heat with Another Overexposed Look While Silencing Critics—Fans Say She’s ‘Too Old’ for This
Jennifer Lopez is not batting an eye at her haters — she’s silencing them.
The entertainer is fresh off the heels of eye-catching appearances at the American Music Awards and World Pride Music Festival, where she donned stage ensembles that made conservatives blush and envious onlookers erupt with criticism.
Neither of those reactions has deterred the singer from continuing to flaunt her curves in outfits with deep plunging necklines and thong bottoms. Instead, Lopez, 55, is leaning into her right to be as sexy and revealing as she chooses.
Jennifer Lopez drops more racy photos of her revealing looks amid criticism about her wardrobe. (Photo: Jlo/Instagram; Pierre Suu/GC Images)Her June 10 Instagram post highlighting her performance of “I’m Free” proves that very point. Lopez wore a fiery, sequined bikini-like outfit that showcased her shredded abs, ample legs, and cleavage, paired with a fringe and jewel-embellished cover-up.
“We all have the right to be who we want to be, and live our lives the way we want to live them. We have the right to be FREE. God gave us that right and nobody can take it away,” she wrote in the caption highlighting the Pride Festival performance.
Anyone with a hypercritical reaction was blocked from sharing their thoughts in her comment section that was limited — a function that Lopez’s team activated amid her separation from Ben Affleck in 2024.
A supporter gushed that she had “indomitable energy, timeless beauty, and unstoppable stage presence. #Icon.” A second nod of approval read, “The way you own the stage, no one comes close.”
Jennifer Lopez shares footage from her last performance on stage. (Photo: jlo/Instagram)However limiting the comments only solved half of the issue of controlling the negative feedback.
Determined critics still managed to shred the “Kiss of the Spider Woman” star when the Daily Mail published a story examining two decades of Lopez’s seductive looks, from her viral Versace green jungle dress to bedazzled nude bodysuits. Internet trolls rejoiced as they remarked, “Oh Jen and her crazy crisis. !!!”
Two other critics said she was “Too old” to be wearing these types of looks, saying, “So embarrassing.”
On February 23, 2000, Jennifer Lopez arrived at the 42nd Grammy Awards wearing a green Versace silk chiffon dress, garnering worldwide media attention pic.twitter.com/DuFfOuyUhm
— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) February 24, 2023Another disapproving observer quipped, “Desperately sad attention seeking woman with crinkly knees.” A third individual sharply stated, “No wonder Ben got sick of her flashing her bottom.”
Lopez and Affleck reconnected in 2021, 17 years after they ended a highly scrutinized engagement. This time, though, they made it down the aisle in 2022 and divorced after two years in February 2025.
Jennifer Lopez wants everyone to know that Ben Affleck is doing just fine, despite always looking sad.
"Ben is doing alright — you don’t need to worry about Ben. Let me just tell you, he is good." pic.twitter.com/IsX6Tbixeu
“Jenny From the Block” has since kept busy with movie roles, performances, and her upcoming Las Vegas residency, “Up All Night Live in Las Vegas,” which begins December 30.
In May, she told People, “It seems like a perfect summer to celebrate being free and being happy… Just everything in my life right now just feels really healthy and good.”
Neither she nor Affleck has rebounded with confirmed new boos. Salacious reports continue to claim that Lopez is still pining over her ex, whom she remains tethered to via the pending sale of her and Affleck’s marital home.
‘Free from Political or Partisan Influence’: Smithsonian Institution Defies Trump’s Order Firing Director, Says Secretary Is the Only One Who Makes ‘Personnel Decisions’
The venerable Smithsonian Institution is taking a stand against the Trump administration, asserting that it has sole authority over its hiring practices, even as it tries not to provoke President Donald Trump.
The museum’s governing board released a statement after a meeting Monday, its first comments since Trump said last month that he had fired the director of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet.
The cultural institution said in the press release that only its secretary can hire and fire workers.
National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)“All personnel decisions are made by and subject to the direction of the Secretary, with oversight by the Board.”
“Lonnie G. Bunch, the Secretary, has the support of the Board of Regents in his authority and management of the Smithsonian,” the statement continued.
Bunch, the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History, oversees the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers and education programs.
The board also stressed in its statement the nonpartisan nature of the museum since it was founded and pledged to remain neutral.
“As the nation’s museum, the Smithsonian must be a welcoming place of knowledge and discovery for all Americans,” the board said. And continued that it “is committed to ensuring that the Smithsonian is a beacon of scholarship free from political or partisan influence,” but then it acknowledged that it must do more to ensure nonpartisanship, saying “we recognize that our institution can and must do more to further these foundational values.”
Vice President JD Vance was also at the quarterly meeting where Trump’s announcement on firing Sajet was discussed. The board promised to review its exhibits and displays.
“To reinforce our nonpartisan stature, the Board of Regents has directed the Secretary to articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content in Smithsonian museums, give directors reasonable time to make any needed changes to ensure unbiased content, and to report back to the Board on progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes,” the statement continued.
The meeting and statement follow Trump’s social media post last month when he said he fired Sajet because he thinks she’s biased.
“Upon the request and recommendation of many people, I am hereby terminating the employment of Kim Sajet as Director of the National Portrait Gallery,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social in May.
“She is a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI, which is totally inappropriate for her position. Her replacement will be named shortly,” he said.
In addition to Trump’s criticism of Sajet over what he called her support for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the White House said she had engaged in acts of “partisanship” and made “public comments about racial and gender inequality in America,” according to a report in The New York Times.
As of last week, Sajet was still on the job, continuing to report for work every day, according to news and social media reports.
It should also be noted that after Trump’s executive order in January declaring diversity, equity an inclusion initiatives “illegal and immoral,” the Smithsonian closed its diversity office, froze hiring for federal positions and ordered its staff to return to the office in April.
‘I Feel Sorry for Will’: Jada Pinkett Smith Says She Enjoys Living Apart from Husband Will Smith in Resurfaced Clip, Fans Believe She’s Too Confident He ‘Won’t Leave Her’
Only Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are clear on what will become of their 27-year marriage.
But with neither party dishing on the inner workings of the union that has lasted nearly three decades, fans have largely speculated that a divorce is imminent.
“The Matrix Reloaded” star, however, was confident that would never be the case. In 2023, during Pinkett Smith’s press tour to promote her memoir “Worthy,” she disclosed that she and Will had been quietly separated since 2016.
The two have remained husband and wife on paper, but even those terms had been dismissed in their personal dealings with each other.
After her husband slapped Chris Rock in defense of a joke about Jada’s bald appearance at the 2022 Academy Awards, Will yelled out, “Keep my wife’s f—king name out of your mouth,” and seemingly reenergized their efforts to get back on one accord about the relationship.
In a resurfaced “Today With Hoda & Jenna” interview from October 2023, the actress explained that despite living apart and not subscribing to traditional relationship terms, they still shared a “beautiful connection.”
When asked about the prospects of them sharing one roof again, she said, “We will. Not right now,” but that “that’s what it’s gonna be.” Moreover, Jada explained, “Right now, I really do enjoy my space. … Having this time that I’ve had to myself has been fantastic just to get to know me.”
For one viewer, “I feel sorry for Will” summed up their sentiments about Jada’s projections for the future. A second person who turned their nose up at the Baltimore native’s comments remarked, “Imagine a woman so confident that you won’t leave her that she can tell the world she’s living away from you but one day she’ll be back.”
Before the slap saga, wow https://t.co/BT1bh9IiDM
— Michael Bruce (@michaelbruce7) October 11, 2023A third individual, who revisited the interview in recent months, wrote, “I don’t know if she and Will are still apart. All I can say is Will looks extremely happy right now and seems to be enjoying his life to the fullest and I LOVE that for him!!”
They are parents to Jaden, Willow, and Will’s son Trey from a previous marriage.
At the top of 2025, in January, “exclusive sources” spoke with People about the couple’s dynamic. One said, “They are living their own lives but haven’t completely severed ties.” The other purported insider affirmed they “are still together” and that they “have had separate homes for years.”
View this post on InstagramA post shared by India Martínez (@india_martinez_oficial)
In March several reports revealed that the couple listed a Woodland Hills, California, home on the market for $2 million. It is one of several properties they own. The Smiths bought the residence in 2010 for a reported $910,000.
The Grammy Award-wining rapper launched a music comeback this year with his album “Based On A True Story.” Beginning June 25 he will be overseas for his summer tour. It is unclear what projects Jada may have in the works as she has remained absent from social media since February.
Where’s Kyle Coleman? Missing Morehouse Freshman’s Car Discovered Wrecked with Keys and Cellphone Inside — Days Later, an Unidentified Body Is Recovered Nearby
Morehouse College student Kyle Coleman was back home in Northern Virginia, having just completed his freshman year. He met up with friends Friday night but never made it home. His car was found badly damaged.
Coleman’s whereabouts, and well-being, are a mystery. The car accident that preceded Kyle’s disappearance took place in one of Northern Virginia’s busiest commercial areas, near Tysons Galleria. His bright blue Toyota Yaris left the road into a wooded area before smashing into a tree, police said. The vehicle’s airbags had been deployed. While Coleman was gone, his cellphone, car keys and a pair of slides remained inside the car.
19-year-old Morehouse Freshman Kyle Coleman has been missing while his car was found wrecked. (Credit: NBC4 Washington Video Screengrab)He was last seen late Friday evening wearing a red and white Morehouse windbreaker and black running pants.
An emergency call went to Fairfax County 911 about 11:20 p.m. that night from the Morehouse freshman’s iPhone. But a crash alert feature on his phone, not Coleman, made the call, said the dispatcher who received the alert.
“Originally came in as a iPhone crash alert … with further callback, vehicle into a tree,” the dispatcher can be heard telling emergency personnel. His next line only adds to the concern about Coleman’s condition.
“A lot of screaming heard in the background of the call,” the dispatcher continues. “Fire department is responding as well.”
Two agencies, the Prince William County Police (where Coleman lived) and Fairfax County Police (where the accident occurred), are handling the investigation, with the former in charge of the missing persons probe and latter focused on the actual crash.
Investigators initially indicated they believe Coleman is “voluntarily” missing. However, after three days of intensive work from detectives, officers, forensic teams, K-9 units, and search and rescue teams deployed by Fairfax County Police, a body has been located.
Authorities are now working to confirm whether a body recovered from a pond in Tysons Corner is 19-year-old Kyle Coleman.
His parents, Keith and Cim Coleman, didn’t know something was amiss until Saturday morning, when they woke up at their home in Gainesville, Virginia, and discovered their son had not come home.
“Early Saturday morning, I think I pinged him and said, ‘Hey man are you still out?'” his father, Keith Coleman, told NBC-4 in Washington, D.C. “And I got no response from him.”
By sunrise, Keith Coleman’s father said his concern grew.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is not Kyle’s type behavior; we really need to check this out,'” he said.
Using the Life360 safety app, Coleman’s parents tracked his car to a tow lot in Merrifield. Cim Colman noted there was no blood found inside the car.
“Right now, we’re still trying to figure out what was his state of mind when that happened,” Keith Coleman said. “We don’t know if he sustained a head injury and he just was disoriented or something else that might have happened. We really don’t just know.”
Police have been speaking to Kyle Coleman’s friends in hopes they may know something his parent’s do not.
“If he is alert and watching this, we want to be able to say: ‘Son, we love you. Come home,'” Keith Coleman told NBC-4 . “‘We don’t care about what happened with the car. We don’t care about what events led up to what happened with the car …. What we care most about is you.'”
Cim Coleman chimed in with a mother’s plea that her son, “Just come home.”
“Yeah. We’ll fix it. We will get through this. Don’t be afraid,” she reassured.
‘Blackballed’: Black HR Employee Sues Disney For Firing Her After She Exposed the Company’s Hiring Preference for Indian and Asian Candidates While Axing More Black Employees
A Black woman who worked in human resources for The Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles is suing the entertainment giant for wrongful termination, claiming she was fired after pointing out discriminatory practices against Black and Muslim employees at the company.
Rochella Brown was hired by Disney in August 2022 as a human resources specialist, and says in her lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court (obtained by Atlanta Black Star) that she enjoyed her position, performed it well, and hoped to make a career at the company.
But Brown, 36, says she soon came to recognize “troubling patterns of discrimination,” such as when the company disproportionately laid off Black workers and employees over the age of 40 during its reductions in force in 2022 and 2023 (when it let 7,000 workers go), while heavily recruiting employees on H-1B visas from Asian countries, particularly from India and China.
Rochella Brown is suing The Walt Disney Company for wrongful termination and racial discrimination. (Photo: Rochella Brown)One manager’s proposed reduction in force list included only African-Americans, Brown claims, and she says she disclosed her concerns about the lopsided layoffs to several supervisors, including Disney’s HR director Ivania Slater.
“They didn’t take sufficient action or meaningfully engage with Ms. Brown about these issues when she raised them,” Philip Horlacher, one of her co-counsel based in L.A., told Atlanta Black Star. “Instead, there was deflection and minimization.”
Then, in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists in Israel, the complaint says Disney issued public and internal statements concerning the attack, which some employees communicated to HR they thought “contributed to a hostile work environment.”
Some employees referenced Slack communications in employee chat groups in which other Disney employees had “uttered troubling generalizations accusing all Arabs or all Muslims of supporting terrorism or violence,” the lawsuit says.
Brown likewise “felt alarmed” when she viewed some of the alleged harassing comments made by Disney’s employees, and says she discussed her concerns with Slater, suggesting that the company take remedial measures “to ensure Jewish employees continued to feel supported but also to prevent discrimination or harassment of Arab or Muslim employees.” Slater failed to take any remedial action, according to the lawsuit.
Brown says she personally experienced racial discrimination at Disney by being treated differently than white employees and being passed over for opportunities for professional advancement.
Brown typically worked in person three days a week and another two days remotely. She says she and another African-American employee were publicly reprimanded during a team meeting by Slater, who admonished them that they should work at least four days in person. Meanwhile, other non-African American employees worked remotely four days per week but were not similarly reprimanded, the complaint contends.
In another alleged instance of disparate treatment, Brown says Disney denied her request for reimbursement for a Society for Human Resource Management certification, a credential commonly obtained by HR professionals in California, which cost $500. The company cited “lack of business need” in denying her request.
But the company did agree to reimburse the tuition expenses of a white employee, Sommer Throme, to attend a master’s degree program at the University of Southern California, which costs more than $60,000, the complaint says. It notes that Thome did not engage in the legally protected activities of reporting alleged discrimination, while Brown did.
Brown claims that even though she came to the job with a master’s degree from USC in Human Resources Management, Disney deprived her of opportunities and assignments that would help her to advance. She says her supervisors disproportionately assigned such opportunities to Thome, who began working at the company in May 2022 and whose prior recent work experience consisted of a job as an administrative assistant and as a dance and yoga instructor.
Thome was promoted to the role of associate HR business partner in May 2024, “a promotion Ms. Brown was more qualified for,” the complaint argues.
In December 2023, Brown’s supervisors told her that she was under investigation for allegedly logging unworked overtime. The allegations lacked any factual basis, the lawsuit says, noting that Brown’s supervisors consistently reviewed and approved all overtime hours Brown logged.
“Her overtime was repeatedly approved in part because there was too much work for any one person to do,” says Horlacher, adding that her legal team intends to show that “she was replaced by three different people because they gave her so much work to do.”
Then on Jan. 4, 2024, Disney fired Brown, “citing this pretextual reason,” the complaint says.
Brown asserts that her supervisors were aware of another employee, Carmen Sanchez, “who previously logged unworked overtime nearly every single day.” The company investigated Sanchez and confirmed she wrongly claimed the overtime, but chose not to fire her, and instead issued a reprimand, Brown alleges. The complaint further notes that Sanchez is not African-American and “never engaged in the type of protected activity Ms. Brown engaged in.”
Taken together, the lawsuit argues, Disney and its employees persisted in a pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct, then retaliated against Brown when she opposed the discrimination, rather than undertaking remedial measures.
It says her career has “suffered immensely” and that she continues to struggle with severe emotional distress.
The lawsuit, first reported by 2UrbanGirls, alleges that The Walt Disney Company, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution LLC and 20 as yet-unnamed employees violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act and California labor law by discriminating against her on the basis of race when it failed to promote her, denied her work opportunities, and denied her work benefits enjoyed by employees of differing racial backgrounds.
It further alleges that Disney unlawfully retaliated against her for making complaints opposing discrimination and wrongfully terminated her.
Brown seeks a jury trial to determine compensatory and special damages for lost earnings, salary, bonuses, and other job benefits; emotional distress damages; punitive and exemplary damages to punish defendants and deter them “from engaging in such conduct in the future;” statutory damages including a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation of the state labor code; and legal costs.
“Ultimately, she’s looking to have her reputation reinstated and to be treated fairly, and she wants others to be treated fairly, regardless of your race, your religion and where you’re from,” Tanya Jeffords, her Aiken, South Carolina-based co-counsel, told Atlanta Black Star.
“She worked very hard for her career, climbed the ladder as an African American woman, and so to say that ‘I am terminating you for something that is just not legitimate,’ so that you can get rid of somebody, it’s damage to their reputation,” said Jeffords.
She further noted that Disney owns a number of subsidiaries and “this means that she’s been blackballed in a lot of different places. She’s smart, she’s up and coming, she has a lot to offer. And she wants the ability to work with other companies.”
Brown is currently working in HR for a health care company in the Los Angeles area, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“She enjoys what she does, but the compensation hasn’t been the same, and the opportunities aren’t exactly the same, either,” said Horlach. “When you work for a huge company like Disney, it opens a lot of doors in your career, and it’s a place where many employees would like to work long term and retire, just like Ms. Brown hoped. So being terminated for the reasons they stated is very detrimental to her career.”
The Walt Disney Company’s communications staff did not immediately respond to Atlanta Black Star’s request for comment.
The defendants in the case have until mid-July to file a response to the complaint.
‘The Intimidation’: North Carolina Cops Swarmed Black Tow Driver, Accuse Him of Stealing Car After He Caught Them on Camera Trying to Remove Vehicle from Yard as a Favor to Car’s Owner
Displaying an arrogant amount of blue privilege, a group of North Carolina cops entered the lot of a Black-owned towing company in Greensboro on Sunday to seize a car that had been towed for parking illegally at an apartment complex in an attempt to help the car’s owner, who apparently was a friend or relative.
The Greensboro police officers accused the owners of Casey’s Towing of stealing the car from High Point, a city less than 20 miles from Greensboro, claiming the signs warning drivers their car could be towed had been improperly placed — which appears to have been a lie.
And even if it were true, it would have been more of a civil matter anyway, resolved through attorneys and mediators rather than a criminal matter requiring eight armed cops threatening to arrest a tow truck driver for doing his job.
At least eight North Carolina cops tried to intimidate employees of a Black-owned towing company by trying to seize a car from their lot that had been lawfully towed, accusing Black employees of “stealing” the car as an apparent favor for a friend or relative who owned the car that had been towed. One cop even tried to drive off with the car but was blocked by an employee. (Photos: YouTube/@CaseyTowing)If anything, it was the cops trying to steal the car from the towing lot without paying the required impound fees rather than the other way around. Such a privilege is never extended to the majority of people who have had their cars towed for parking illegally.
It was only when the cops spoke to the city attorney, who told them they had no legal right to seize the car, that they acknowledged they were in the wrong.
“Obviously, attorneys have way more knowledge than police officers do,” explained a police captain towards the end of the video recorded by an employee of the towing company in what was probably the most honest statement expressed by any of the cops that day.
Watch the video below.
‘Intimidation Factor’Anthony Broadway, the owner of Casey’s Towing, which has been in operation since 1986, told local media he felt disrespected and his employees were left traumatized at the thought of going to jail for doing their job.
”The intimidation factor was crazy because it was more like look, you know, we’re here to take this vehicle, you’ve done wrong, it’s no questions asked, no nothing, like it was a very stressful situation for my driver,” Broadway said to WFMY-TV.
“If the city attorney didn’t get involved, someone was probably going to jail that day, which is very unfortunate,” Broadway added.
Greensboro police issued a statement on its Facebook page, informing citizens that the officers involved would be investigated by the department’s Professional Standards Division, aka internal affairs.
The owner of the towed car, a woman who was sitting in the passenger’s seat of one of the patrol cars, was accused by employees of the tow company of being married to a cop.
However, Greensboro police said in its statement that “social media posts alleging that the vehicle owner is married to a GPD officer are incorrect.”
But that could mean the woman was married to a High Point police officer, the agency that got Greensboro police involved. Or it could mean she was a friend or relative of a police officer.
The video begins with the Greensboro cops already inside the towing lot, accusing employees of “kidnapping” them because employees tried to shut the gate to the lot, preventing them from driving off with the car.
“We’re not kidnapping,” said the Black man recording the confrontation. “One, you’re not even supposed to be on our property, so how are we kidnapping you all?”
Meanwhile, a cop enters the car in question, sits in the driver’s seat, starts the car with the ignition key, and drives it through the open gate.
However, a Black woman working for the towing company stands in front of the car, preventing the cop from driving off, saying she will only move if a sergeant arrives on the scene.
The cops kept claiming the car was stolen, basing their information from what they were told by High Point police.
But the video shows that they were mainly interested in taking the car and not making any arrests, which is usually the first step police take when confronting people suspected of stealing cars.
Meanwhile, a Greensboro police captain arrives and tries to justify their behavior to the Black woman who was blocking the car from leaving.
“High Point PD said they went over there and they looked for where the sign was supposed to be, signs are not where they’re supposed to be by statute,” he explains. “They’re supposed to be posted at every entrance.”
But the Black woman responds by saying she had an employee check out the lot in question, who informed her the signs were in their proper place.
She was also on the phone with Broadway, the owner, who said the cops needed a search warrant to take the car, which they did not have.
“In order to take it out of a lot if they’re not going to pay, they’re got to have a search warrant,” he said. “I’m not releasing that car, I refuse to release the car, they need to put that car back in the lot.”
But the captain insisted he was right.
“The thing about it is, from everything we’ve been told by the people who know, is that technically the car is stolen because the signage was not in its proper place,” he claimed.
But the captain also admitted Greensboro police were acting solely on the word of High Point police and had not driven to the apartment complex to investigate for themselves whether the signs were there or not.
However, the captain finally got word from the city attorney, who told them to leave the car there. And the owner of the car, whose name has not been made public, had to pay the proper fee to obtain her car.
“I support the law enforcement for what they do, but I think that it should never be a situation where … anybody that’s at work should feel threatened and intimidated by the police when they’re just doing their job,” Broadway told local media.
Watch the full-length 30-minute video here, posted on the Casey Towing YouTube page.
‘So Dreamy Looking’: Sasha Obama Turns 24 and Breaks the Internet with Her Beauty
Barack and Michelle Obama have a new 24-year-old.
The former president and first lady celebrated the birthday of their younger daughter, Sasha Obama, on June 10. The matriarch and patriarch honored their Instagram-less daughter by posting a picture from their family hangout on their Instagrams. While they each posted the same photo, Barack and Michelle made sure their captions were their own personalized messages to Sasha.
Michelle and Barack Obama wish their younger daughter Sasha a happy birthday. (Photo: @barackobama/Twitter)In the never-before-seen photo, Michelle was sandwiched in between her elder daughter Malia Obama and Sasha. Barack, standing on the far right, was positioned next to Sasha. All four stood cozily with their arms around each other as they posed for the picture with all smiles.
It’s not clear what activity or event they were doing together but they were photographed in front of a scenic background with dry trees and rock. Based on their outfits, however, they more than likely weren’t participating in any activity-intense activities.
Malia, on the far left, wore a yellow halter mini dress with sunglasses sitting comfortably on her head. She was also holding what appeared to be a striped shirt or sweater — implying they might have been indoors before taking the photo. Michelle was wearing a plain back maxi dress with a yellow polka dotted headband on her head. The birthday girl wore a boho-like outfit consisting of a brown maxi skirt and a tan tube top. This ensemble was paired with silver ballet flats. Barack wore a white short-sleeve button up with gray slacks and white tennis shoes.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama)
In Michelle’s birthday tribute to Sasha, she wrote, “Happy birthday to my sweet girl, Sasha! Can’t believe how quickly time has flown. I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become. Love you always.”
As for Barack, he said, “Happy Birthday, Sasha! Watching you grow into the incredible woman you are has been a true gift. I’ll always be proud of you and will always be here for you.”
Sasha Obama is so dreamy looking. Such a pretty face.
— Auntie Tendah (@MandaTheDreamer) June 10, 2025Fans shared their own comments about the University of Southern California graduate.
One person on X posted, “Sasha Obama is so dreamy looking. Such a pretty face.”
On Michelle’s Facebook post, someone wrote, “What a beauty, like her mama! Happy Birthday, Sasha!”
A third person said, “Happy Birthday to you Sasha. It’s been such a joy watching you grow up to the young lady you are today.”
“They grow up way too quickly. Happy Birthday young lady,” said a fourth fan.
While fans don’t get to hear much from the Obama sisters — partly due to their lack of social media — there are times when their parents will share a little information about them. In 2020, Barack gave some insight to Sasha’s character and personality by mentioning her in his interview with Instyle.
He told the outlet, “Sasha is, as Malia describes it, completely confident about her own take on the world and is not cowed or intimidated — and never has been — by anybody’s titles, anybody’s credentials. If she thinks something’s wrong or right, she will say so.”
Sasha won’t be the only person in the Obama clan celebrating her birthday this summer. Her sister, Malia, is turning 27 on July 4.
‘So Dreamy Looking’: Sasha Obama Turns 24 and Breaks the Internet with Her Beauty
‘Nia Long Had Me Confused’: Sherri Shepherd Says Nia Long ‘Grabbed Her and Spun’ Her Around During Intense Confrontation
Sherri Shepherd has finally revealed the identity of the mystery celebrity who confronted her during a tense moment at the Broadway premiere of “Othello” earlier this year.
The actress and comedian spilled the tea on her June 9 appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” where hosts Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy and Loren Lorosa pressed the comedian and talk show host for details about the much-discussed incident that made waves months earlier.
She confirmed it was fellow actress Nia Long who “grabbed and spun” her around in an unexpected altercation at the theater.
Sherri Shepherd finally identifies the mystery celebrity who “grabbed and spun” her around at the Broadway premiere of “Othello” as Nia Long. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images; Valerie Terranova/Getty Images)The encounter took place during the March 23 premiere of the record-breaking Broadway production starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.
The event drew an impressive crowd of A-list stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Angela Bassett, Kandi Burruss, Rosie Perez, and Danielle Brooks. But despite the evening’s glamour, things took a sharp left turn backstage.
According to Shepherd, Long confronted her without warning, grabbing her arms and spinning her around to face her directly. On her “Sherri” show the next day, Shepherd shared how the physical interaction caught her off guard.
“I’m standing there talking. Somebody grabbed my arms, and they forcefully turned me around,” she recalled, adding that she tried to remain upbeat despite the confrontation. “So I’m in a good mood, so I go, ‘Hi, what’s going on?’ ’cause I know her. And she says to me, she goes, ‘You’ve been shading me a lot.'”
Shocked, Shepherd allegedly responded, “No, no, I haven’t,” she said. But Long reportedly doubled down, saying, “Yes you have,” before abruptly walking away without any further conversation or context.
Charlamagne tha God wasted no time before directly asking whether the “Love Jones” actress ever accepted Shepherd’s invitation to come on her show.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Breakfast Club (@breakfastclubam)
After contending she never identified the person, Shepherd responded, “Yes. Yes, it was Nia Long. I didn’t say her name, but it was Nia.”
She continued, adding, “I don’t know who Nia Long had me confused with.”
“The only time I ever talked about Nia Long was when she went through that situation with her partner and infidelity,” said Shepherd. “I supported her. I said she deserves a good man to be with her.
“I think Nia Long maybe confused me with someone,” she added.
The clip in question is from January 2024 and criticizes Al Reynolds’ suggestion that Long stay with her ex-fiance Ime Udoka despite his cheating scandal.
That added layer made the Broadway moment even more confusing for Shepherd, who couldn’t understand how words of support were perceived as “shade.”
She also pushed back on the idea that speaking about the incident publicly was out of line.
“I have no idea who she thought was shading her, but it wasn’t me,” she said. “I have no beef with Nia Long. I’m a fan. We’re grown women, the same age, and we can discuss things. That’s why I invited her on the show.”
Social media wasted no time weighing in once the identity of the mystery woman was confirmed. Reactions have been mixed, with many offering strong opinions on both sides.
On “The Breakfast Club’s” Instagram page, some fans stood behind Shepherd.
One person wrote, “Love them both and like how Sherri handled this,” while another added, “Sherri is unproblematic. Nia don’t got no business touching nobody.”
Others sided with Long, believing there might be more going on behind the scenes than Shepherd let on.
“Girl bye! You got checked so move on,” one user wrote.
Another offered a more layered take: “Just maybe Sherri has made a comment (funny or negative) privately and it got back to Nia. I’m sure Nia ain’t delusional, however she should’ve approached it another way and at the right time.”
Some were convinced the confrontation was intentional.
“Nia knew exactly who you were and didn’t care,” one commenter on Hollywood Unlocked’s page wrote.
‘I’ll Spit In Your Face!’: Protesters Caught on Video Calling Black Cops the N-Word as Black Citizens Debate Whether Protests ‘Are Our Fight Too’
Video of Latino protesters in Los Angeles peppering a Black cop with racist taunts is being used to discourage unity between the two communities as protesters continue to take to the streets in opposition to the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants.
The protests began over the weekend as federal immigration officers conducted raids across the city targeting residents in areas with the largest Latino populations. Dozens of people have been arrested in Los Angeles, and tensions have only been exacerbated by the president’s deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Southern California on Monday, joining another 2,000 National Guard personnel already on the scene.
The demonstrations were mostly peaceful at first, though over the weekend, cars were set on fire and a major highway was shut down by protesters, ending in dozens of arrests. The anger is palpable, and scenes like this one have played out across the city between protesters and law enforcement.
“I’ll spit in your face … f–k your family, N-word, f–k your kids, N-word,” a young Latino protester yelled at an unnamed Black Los Angeles police officer, who remains calm and doesn’t respond. “I can’t sleep comfortably because of you.”
Mexicans call a black LAPD officer the n word…..
BLACK AMERICANS THIS AINT OUR BUSINESS pic.twitter.com/PWORhfBAay
A young Latina woman joined in, calling the officer the N-word repeatedly while getting personal about his eating habits. She signaled she knew him, as a customer at Cava, where she works.
The exchanges led the X account holder, Durags and Magacaps, to caption the video, which was viewed nearly 81,000 times: “BLACK AMERICANS THIS AINT OUR BUSINESS.”
It’s a growing sentiment across social media accounts presenting as being part of the Black community, though there’s been just as much pushback.
“Just say your a coward and move on,” responded one commenter on Durags and Magacaps’ feed. “Because when they come for you, and they will come for you, nobody will care.”
Added another, “Black maga, standing with police and white Americans.”
But it’s not just conservatives who are encouraging the Black community to stay on the sidelines.
“Black folks go home. Black folks go home. This is not our business,” one woman, captured on video, yelled as she drove past a protest sight.
The use of the N-word was also at issue, with some social media users claiming it demonstrates long-held racist attitudes by Latinos against Blacks.
Who can and who can’t use the N-word is always a touchy issue. An X account holder wrote that younger Mexicans use it often and “aren’t being racist, they’ve just learned to speak that way through music, films, etc.”
The civil rights establishment, the National Urban League, meanwhile, is standing firmly behind the protesters.
“We stand in full and urgent solidarity with California Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and the residents of Los Angeles during this alarming moment,” the leaders of eight civil rights organizations wrote in a joint letter.
“The federal government’s decision to federalize the State National Guard in Los Angeles, against the protestations of the Governor and against Mayor Bass’s urging, is deeply disturbing. It is reckless and creates the possibility of greater rights violations endangering residents,” the letter continues.
It goes on to note that no such show of force was deployed in advance of the January 6 insurrection at our nation’s capital, despite the clear threat to democracy. The contrast is alarming.”
Rapper The Game also posted on Instagram on Monday in favor of Black and Brown unity.
“Ever since I could remember… it’s been black & brown in this city,” the Compton native wrote. “From the early days of my childhood til now, we’ve been side by side through it all. All of us. All the time. Not always seeing eye to eye but we’ve shared Los Angeles for a very long time. I stand with y’all like I know you’d stand with us. ‘We might fight against each other… but I promise you this.. we’ll burn this b!%?! down get us pissed!!!!!’ To live & die in L.A.”
Calls for Trump’s New Jersey Golf Resort to be Shuttered After Contaminated Meat, Lack of Soap Leads to Lowest Health Score In the County But Club Claims Inspection Was ‘Politicially Motivated’
President Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf club is taking a swing at the Somerset County Department of Health after the agency reported 18 violations, with half possibly resulting in “an unacceptable health risk.”
The inspection results last month were first reported by Forbes. The President’s National Golf Club in Bedminster scored 32 out of a 100, one of the lowest scores of any establishment in the county.
Among the violations were expired milk in refrigerators, improperly stored raw meat, a faulty dishwasher, a sink without soap, and salted butter left out, to name a few. The New York Times reported that the club cleaned up its act, and in a follow-up visit, it earned a score of 86, or a “B” rating.
US President Donald Trump in a golf cart. (Photo: X/@RpsAgainstTrump)But problems remained. The inspector found milk and coffee creamers at 50 degrees instead of the required 41 degrees and mops stored in buckets. They are required to be hung to air dry when not in use. Wet wiping cloths were also not stored in sanitizing solution.
The director of Health for Somerset County, Michael McCarty, told My Central Jersey news outlet that reinspections are common and usually occur within two to four weeks of an initial inspection.
But the inspection riled up officials at the club. “This is nothing more than a politically motivated attack,” the club’s general manager, David Schutzenhofer, said in a statement.
“Never before have we witnessed such visceral hostility from the Health Department,” Schutzenhofer said.
“We operate one of the most immaculate golf facilities in the country, and we take immense pride in our standards of cleanliness, safety and hospitality,” he added.
The worst findings included improper “separation of raw meat and raw eggs from ready-to-eat food,” “food protected from contamination,” and “food contact surfaces properly cleaned,” HuffPost reported. The county health inspector reported after the first inspection that the chef in charge did not “demonstrate knowledge of food safety.”
Social media did not hold back. “This ‘luxury’ golf resort should be SHUT DOWN with a score of 32 out of 100! He probably bribed someone to let this unsafe, unhealthy, violation-ridden place stay open for the rich patrons,” an X user posted.
“’[The person in charge] fails to demonstrate knowledge of food safety,’ the inspector noted amid the volume and severity of the violations, which is a violation in and of itself under the health code,” said another.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says proper food safety measures can help prevent foodborne illnesses. Thousands of people are hospitalized every year from food-related illnesses and thousands more die. According to the USDA, the agency reviews 48 million cases every year and reports 128,000 hospitalizations and more than 3,000 deaths annually from these types of illnesses.
‘Precious Little Logan Will Never Get to Go Home’: GoFundMe for Family of Slain Boy Reaches $87K as State Steps In to Investigate Fatal Accident After ABS Report
The family of a 7-year-old South Georgia boy killed by a driver high on cocaine and fentanyl who has so far escaped any prosecution may finally find justice as state investigators say they are launching a probe into the investigation into Logan Sharpe’s death.
Shockingly, Pierce County prosecutors have refused to charge 26-year-old Dalton Cason with vehicular homicide, which legal experts say would be the appropriate charge under state law because he was driving while under the influence of drugs, as a toxicology report from the GBI confirmed. Cason is white. Logan was Black.
It took nine months for Pierce County to even bring a charge against Cason — misdemeanor driving under the influence.
Logan Sharpe was 7 years old when he was struck and killed by a white man driving while high on cocaine and fentanyl one year ago, but his family is still seeking justice. (Photos: Courtesy of Family)Now, Cason, and those who investigated his case, could face criminal charges, The Blackshear Times reports. Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney Marilyn Bennett is taking over the case and said she is consulting with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council to navigate the best way forward.
Bennett said she decided to pursue the investigation after lobbying by Shaunte Sharpe, Logan’s mother, who has been outspoken on social media and elsewhere about her desire to see Cason charged with a felony. Atlanta Black Star shed new light on the case last month.
“It’s a slap in our face because they have the evidence and everything, they need to charge Dalton with vehicular homicide, but they won’t do it,” Sharpe told Atlanta Black Star in May. “Like my son’s life didn’t matter.”
Sharpe’s crusade for justice got some more good news this week when the family’s GoFundMe page neared its stated goal of $100,000, with more than $87,000 raised as of June 9. The fundraiser climbed mostly due to an anonymous donation of $50,000.
On the GoFundMe page, the family includes a chilling detail of Cason’s alleged reaction after hitting Logan: “He sat in his car and couldn’t even be bothered to check on Logan as he lay in the road. He just sat and waited for the police to arrive like he was in some simple fender bender.”
Not surprisingly, seeing Cason pay for his actions on May 19, 2024, remains Sharpe’s top priority.
“I just want justice,” Shaunte Sharpe said. “I just want Dalton to be held accountable because he knows what he done was wrong.”
Investigators in the South Georgia town of Patterson were quick to turn Cason’s story into the official narrative, Sharpe family advocates say. The critics claim Chase Middleton, the Georgia state trooper who responded to the scene (and whose wife is Facebook friends with the suspect), appears to have lied in his report to protect the driver.
An 81-year-old Black man who witnessed the incident says he told Middleton Logan and his friends were walking on the sidewalk when he was struck so hard his body flew in the air and landed on the road. Cason, he said, had hit the boy on the sidewalk.
But in Middleton’s report, he claims the witness said Logan was standing in the middle of the street when Cason struck him.
Other witnesses backed up the 81-year-old’s account. Logan’s older brother Keisean also said the point of contact was the sidewalk, according to a woman who witnessed the boy’s anguished response.
And another witness signed a statement saying she overheard the elderly witness telling the cop the child was run over on the sidewalk.
None of this found its way into Middleton’s report, which helped Cason, who has a previous conviction on cocaine possession, avoid vehicular homicide charges.
The family also accuses Middleton of turning off his body camera during the investigation.
There were other irregularities. Cason’s family was allegedly allowed to remove items from his truck before it was impounded.
“The cops were standing right there, letting them remove stuff from his truck,” a relative said. “They didn’t search him and they didn’t search his truck because they let his family get what they wanted and whatever he had just bought.”
Bennett said she is aware of the public’s interest in the case but is withholding further comment.
“Precious little Logan will never get to go home. He will never return to his family and friends. Never return to school and to his room. Never graduate and go to college to follow his dreams. Never get married and have sweet little babies of his own that would be such a blessing to his own family,” the online fundraiser says.
‘They Don’t Live Together’: Insider Makes Shocking Claims About Melania Trump’s Absence from the White House Since Donald Trump’s Inauguration
The whereabouts of Melania Trump have many asking ‘Where is America’s first lady?’ across the globe.
“60 Minutes Australia,” a version of the American news magazine show of the same name, spotlighted Melania’s apparent absence since her husband Donald Trump returned to the presidency for the second time.
Melania has reportedly spent less than a full month at the White House following the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. The former model has appeared at limited events including the swearing-in ceremony wearing a large-brimmed hat that covered her eyes.
Speculation surrounding Melania’s absence at the White House continues, fueling rumors about their separation. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)Trump biographer Michael Wolff was among the talking heads tapped to provide commentary for the “60 Minutes Australia” 20-minute exploration into the state of the Trumps’ marriage.
“I asked someone very close to them. I said, ‘So what’s going on?’ And this person looked at me like I was a real dunce, and then said, ‘She hates his f—king guts!’” Wolff recalled.
When asked why Melania would hate her husband, the “Fire and Fury” author responded, “[Trump] has a long history of relationships with other women, porn stars, and the like.”
Donald, 78, was married twice before tying the knot with Melania, 55, in January 2005. The couple has one child together, 19-year-old Barron Trump.
According to adult film star Stormy Daniels, she had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006, just months after Melania gave birth to Barron. Donald has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels.
In May 2024, Trump was convicted on 34 state charges in New York for falsifying business records to conceal payments made to Daniels as hush money. He became the first person to serve as the president of the United States and be a convicted felon.
Former CNN reporter Kate Bennett also appeared during the “60 Minutes Australia” segment, to explain Melania’s wardrobe, suggesting that her decision to wear a bright pink blouse, a wide-brimmed hat, or an all-white suit served as a series of silent statements toward her husband’s scandals.
Wolff later recalled his first meeting with Melania at the real estate mogul’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, whom he described as “opportunistic,” “calculated,” and “transactional.”
“During the first White House [term], she wasn’t there. During this White House [term], she’s not there. Where is Melania? This is a significant question in American politics.”
Trump’s third wife has been reportedly splitting her time between the White House, their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, and New York City, where son Barron attends NYU.
Due to this and other concerns, Wolff has strongly pushed the narrative that Melania is in a sham relationship with the former host of “The Apprentice” reality series during an interview on “The Daily Beast Podcast” in May.
Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury and who's known to have one of the best sources inside the Trump circle, quotes a Trump insider:
"Melania hates his [Trump's] f***ing guts." pic.twitter.com/IdBk8I7BeM
The 71-year-old journalist added, “They don't live together, They are never together.” His comments got a response from the Trump administration.
White House communications director Steven Cheung fired back by calling Wolff an “imbecile of the highest order” with a “Trump Derangement Syndrome-addled brain.”
Wolff claimed the White House reached out to him on a “courtesy call” before issuing that scathing rebuttal that he referred to as an “old-fashioned non-denial denial.”
Speculation about Melania’s true feelings for her husband has been a topic of conversation in political circles for years. The Slovenian-American has repeatedly been filmed seemingly showing annoyance toward Donald.
One moment at Ben Gurion Airport with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, remains one of the most-talked-about apparent examples of Melania's public frostiness.
In May 2017, during the first Trump administration, the president tried to hold Melania’s hand after landing on the airport tarmac in Israel. She then batted the most powerful person on the planet away in front of global cameras.
“The red carpet simply could not accommodate four of us abreast,” Melania wrote about the infamous encounter in her self-titled 2024 memoir, per Metro, in an attempt to downplay the awkwardness. “It was a minor, innocent gesture, nothing more.”
Since Trump’s rise as a Republican politician in 2015, there have been numerous incidents that have had voters and pundits questioning whether Donald and Melania were just staying married for show, and not love.
Melania’s decision to remain mostly out of the spotlight for her second stint as first lady sparked more rumors of a secret split until her rare appearance with the president at the White House Mother’s Day reception in May.
Happy Mother’s Day! pic.twitter.com/lcojZQcAiF
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) May 11, 2025However, many onlookers are still skeptical that there is actual marital bliss in the first family. One YouTube user commented, “It is a marriage of convenience… they richly and thoroughly deserve each other.”
One Trump critic joked, “I bet she has a contract with fees for every official appearance and Mr. Orange has to pay.” Another person suggested, “You can tell she is disgusted by him.”
“Trump administration deported her by mistake,” wrote one person amid the federal government’s undocumented immigration crackdown, which has sparked tense protests in the Los Angeles area. Trump has threatened to send active U.S. military forces into the streets of California.
For some citizens, the ongoing demonstrations and other issues are more important than Melania’s whereabouts. For instance, a YouTube commenter expressed, “Nobody in America is asking this question, lol. We busy asking how to not become a dictatorship.”
Trump Hides $40 Million for ‘Garden of Heroes’ Deep In House Budget Bill, Includes Oversized Christopher Columbus Statue That May Sit on Sacred Native American Land
In a move akin to building a statue of Vladimir Putin in Kyiv, President Donald Trump, whose dream of a $40 million “garden of heroes” was allocated in the House version of the budget reconciliation bill passed last month, may propose erecting the oversized monuments on sacred Native land minutes from Mount Rushmore.
The creation of the monument — construction was approved in 1927 — to America presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt generated significant opposition from native tribal members. The mountain was known by the Lakota Sioux as “the Six Grandfathers” and, according to National Geographic, was a favored destination for prayer and devotion.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 14: U.S. President Donald Trump smiles as he meets with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office of the White House April 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump and Bukele were expected to discuss a range of bilateral issues including the detention of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who has been held in a prison in El Salvador since March 15. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)The entire Black Hills area is considered sacred ground for the Lakota and other tribes. They were promised to the Oceti Sakowin peoples in a 1868 treaty, but once gold was discovered there, the U.S. government reneged.
Building anything on the land would be controversial; many indigenous people still consider Mount Rushmore a defacement of land that is rightfully theirs.
“The fact that it was built in the Black Hills was not an accident or happenstance,” said Taylor Gunhammer, an organizer with the NDN Collective and citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation. “It is representative of the exact colonial presence that the settler colonial project has always been trying to have in the Black Hills.”
That monuments to historical figures who approved the murder, exploitation and forced removal of Native American tribes are planned for the garden make the project even harder to swallow for indigenous South Dakotans.
Statues of Christopher Columbus, who committed atrocities against native populations across the New World, and former President Andrew Jackson, architect of the Trail of Tears, an effective genocide of Native Americans in which 60,000 people were forced from their ancestral homelands, are among those planned.
The project calls for 250 statues to be completed in time for America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026. Experts say that’s an impossible deadline, due to the country’s lack of professional sculptors and museum-caliber foundries.
“It seems completely unworkable,” Daniel Kunitz, editor of Sculpture magazine, told Politico.
In a 2020 executive order authorizing the monument garden, Trump floated an eclectic list of candidates, including historical figures like Patrick Henry, Harriet Tubman and Eleanor Roosevelt, leading cultural and economic figures such as Muhammad Ali, Whitney Houston and Steve Jobs. There are even a few non-Americans expected to be included, like the late “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek, born and raised in Canada.
“It’s going to be something very extraordinary,” Trump told a White House audience in February. “We’re going to produce some of the most beautiful works of art.” His executive order states the garden will “reflect the awesome splendor of our country’s timeless exceptionalism.”
Critics say the besides the inclusion of controversial figures like Columbus, Jackson and John James Audubon, who supported his work with birds by trafficking enslaved people, Trump was decidedly partisan with a large segment of those he’s proposed. Conservative thought leaders like Russell Kirk, Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley Jr., Jeane Kirkpatrick and William Rehnquist, far outnumber liberal intellectuals of significance.
Gunhammer noted that he believed Tubman would be appalled by the idea of a statue of herself standing on “stolen Lakota land” and that the project’s proponents “have apparently learned nothing from her.”
If the garden comes to fruition, the Black Hills are viewed as a likely destination.
The Lien family, which has large financial stakes in South Dakota mining projects and is developing a theme park resort in Rapid City, has offered to donate the land it owns near Mount Rushmore. The state’s mostly Republican political leadership supports the plan, as does former governor Kristi Noem, current head of the Department of Homeland Security.
Interior Department Secretary Doug Burgum, former governor of neighboring North Dakota, is in charge of the location search.
Sam Brannan, a Lien family member, told The Intercept native leaders have not been consulted on the project.
“Why would we?” she said. “It’s been privately held for 60 years.”
“We have been in mining for 80 years in the Black Hills, so we have been great neighbors to the Lakotans here,” Brannan continued.