Trump's Epstein Victims Problem is So Bad & Marjorie Taylor Greene Turns On Trump As He Melts Down
PDS Published 09/03/2025
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Whatever these Epstein victims said yesterday drove Nancy Mace into a “Full blown panic attack.”
Right, members of the House Oversight Committee met behind closed doors with six of Epstein’s victims, and Mace, a Republican, was spotted leaving early with tears streaming down her face. [Image,image]
With her later explaining on X: “As a recent survivor (not 2 years in), I had a very difficult time listening to their stories. Full blown panic attack. Sweating. Hyperventilating. Shaking. I can’t breathe.” [Post]
And adding, “I feel the immense pain of how hard all victims are fighting for themselves because we know absolutely no one will fight for us.” [Same post]
Now her committee has been waiting for the DoJ to comply with its subpoena for the full Epstein files for weeks at this point, and so far they’ve only gotten some 33,000 pages, which they just released to the public last night.
But according to Democrats on the committee, 97% of the documents were already publically available. [Quote, find “97”]
And according to The Washington Post, even some of those appear to be more heavily redacted now than they were when Attorney General Pam Bondi released them earlier this year. [Quote same link, find “heavily”]
And as for the 3% that’s new, reports say it’s mostly just logs of flight locations for Epstein’s plane.
Though we did get some more footage from the camera outside Epstein’s cell block the night he died, which, according to Fox News, fills in the notorious “missing minute” just before midnight. [Headline]
And that also contradict’s Bondi’s claim that the same minute gets deleted every night during a reset, though it’s unclear why she would lie about that since reportedly the minute doesn’t show anything notable anyway. [Quote same link, find “not reveal”]
Now according to a committee spokesperson, more files are indeed forthcoming from the DoJ, but critics allege that the White House is simply stalling to buy time.
Right, because Congress has to pass a funding bill by the end of this month to prevent a government shutdown, and the whole Epstein debacle threatens to block that from happening.
So many suspect the DoJ is trickling out information to make it seem like they’re being transparent when they’re really not.
Which is why Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna have launched a full-scale pressure campaign against the White House and their fellow lawmakers to make sure this issue doesn’t disappear.
With them seeking to pass what’s called a discharge petition that would force the government to release the Epstein files, and apparently it’s this close from happening.
With the pair announcing this morning that 212 Democrats and four Republicans have signed on, including Massie himself, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Meaning that as I’m recording this, only two more lawmakers in the House have to get on board and this thing passes.
Though after that, it’ll have to go through the Senate and get signed by Donald Trump, which seems unlikely.
But one argument is that even if Trump doesn’t sign it, at least the entire country will see him not sign it; they’ll also see each and every lawmaker who voted no.
And their usual excuse — that the petition doesn’t protect the victims who are in the files — could be a lot harder to rely on after today.
Because this morning, Massie and Khanna brought a group of Epstein’s victims, some of whom had never spoken out publicly before, to Capitol Hill to have their voices heard.
And for an hour and a half, they unloaded years of anger, sadness and frustration, with the victims’ lawyer going first.
[Clip, 17:21 - 17:38] Caption: “All of the documents and evidence that we have worked so hard to gather hide behind protective orders, confidentiality agreements and bank secrecy laws. That is why this discharge petition is so important. While we have seen the documents, you haven’t. And when you see the documents you are going to be appalled.”
And although they stressed that this isn’t about partisan politics, one victim made sure to get in this comment about the president.
[Same clip, 01:02:01 - 01:02:17] Caption: “Jeffrey and Ghislaine were always very boastful about their friends, their famous or powerful friends, and his biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump. He had an eight-by-ten framed picture of him on his desk with the two of them.”
And most of them talked about how releasing the files would not only show Americans the truth, but also help the victims heal their trauma.
[Same clip, 31:28 - 32:00] Caption: “The worst part is that the government is still in possession right now of the documents and information that could help me remember and get over all of this maybe, and help me heal. They have documents with my name on them that were confiscated from Jeffrey Epstein’s house, and could help me put the pieces of my own life back together. But I don’t have any of it.”
[Same clip, 56:17 - 56:35] Caption: “It’s about the weight we live with daily. It is about the families broken and the futures stolen. So I ask you, President Trump and members of Congress, why do we continue to cover up sexual abuse and assault? Who are we covering for?”
With the late Virginia Giuffre’s [Joo-fray’s] brother giving this incredibly emotional, impassioned plea to the government.
[Same clip, 40:45 - 41:04, 41:12 - 41:15, 41:23 - 41:27] Caption: “Whether you’re a dad, a mom, a brother or a sister, look your young ones in the face, look them in the eye, and tell them you didn’t stand against the very people who raped, molested and preyed upon children and young women. … If you vote no, your stance will be clear. … But here’s my one ask. Look these survivors in the eye and tell them why.”
And several others echoed that demand as well with no less emotion.
[Same clip, 50:23 - 50:38] Caption: “It’s time you do right by us. Unseal all the documents. We are requesting transparency, and I am requesting every congressman and woman that goes against this bill be outed. I want to know.”
[Same clip, 24:43 - 24:56] Caption: “And to be clear, the only motive for opposing this bill would be to conceal wrongdoing. You have a choice. Stand with the truth, or with the lies that have protected predators for decades.”
But then, in what may have been the biggest bombshell of the morning, one victim revealed that they have the Epstein client list.
Not the actual list, if that even exists, but rather …
[Same clip, 52:26 - 52:44] Caption: “I would like to announce here today, us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list. We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know.”
With the lawyer adding:
[Same clip, 01:03:57 - 01:04:05, 01:03:28 - 01:03:43] Caption: “When they reached a certain age, he did farm a section of them, some of them, out to some of his friends. That doesn’t mean all of his friends. … We’ve talked to them about the various people that they were farmed out to. So we’ve created somewhat of a list. Most of these individuals, the victims, are very scared to say these names, because they could get sued, they’re going to get attacked, and nobody protected them the first time.”
And then, we had someone whom I never would have thought I’d be calling a BAMF, Marjorie Taylor Greene, closing out the event with this:
[Same clip, 01:23:57 - 01:24:14] Caption: “Yeah, it’s a scary thing to name names, but I will tell you, I’m not afraid to name names. And so if they want to give me a list, I will walk in that Capitol on the House floor and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women.”
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The US military just blew up 11 people on a boat in the Caribbean Sea.
But they were probably criminals – not that there was a trial or any sort of evidence presented.
Right, you just had the Trump administration calling them narcoterrorists, and saying this is just the beginning – with all of it raising concerns about a possible military confrontation with Venezuela.
Let me explain.
We first learned about the attack during Trump’s address at the White House yesterday:
“When you come out and when you leave the room, you'll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat — a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat.” (BYTE: 12:22-12:35)
You then quickly had Secretary of State Marco Rubio giving some additional information in a post on X, writing:
“As @potus just announced moments ago, today the U.S. military conducted a lethal strike in the southern [Caribbean] against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization.”
And finally, you had Trump posting on Truth Social – sharing a video purportedly showing the strike – and further alleging that those targeted had been “positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists” – also adding:
“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.”
"The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action.”
And with that, this is an absolutely massive shift away from how the US would normally deal with this.
Right, in the past, American authorities have focused on seizing drugs and identifying suspects to build a criminal case – not just blowing them out of the water.
But according to Trump “there’s more where that came from.”
With a senior official also telling the New York Times there would be additional attacks against cartel boats in the future.
But notably, the White House still hasn’t explained how the military determined that those aboard the first boat were actually cartel members.
Plus, defense officials have declined to address almost any questions about what went down, including:
1) the amount of drugs on board,
2) whether they tried to stop the boat first, communicate with it in any way, or otherwise give them a chance to surrender before striking with deadly force.
and 3) what legal authority they are using to justify the strike.
And with all that, you have experts saying this may be a violation of international and human rights law.
Although, to be fair, it wasn’t necessarily one we didn’t see coming.
Right, back in July, Trump signed a secret directive greenlighting military force against those drug cartels his administration has deemed terrorist organizations.
And since then, the Pentagon has been bolstering its presence in the Caribbean – sending warships and thousands of troops to the region.
With this just being one part of a pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Right, there, you’ve had the White House upping the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on years-old charges related to narco-terrorism, drug trafficking, and corruption to 50 million dollars;
further alleging that Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials are in charge of Venezuela's Cartel of the Suns;
and announcing new sanctions against that organization as well as adding it to the country’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Although, notably, the Cartel of the Suns? It doesn’t exist.
At least, many experts agree that there isn’t a single organized group with a defined hierarchy that goes by that name.
Right, instead, according to one think tank, “the Cartel of the Suns is more accurately described as a system of corruption wherein military and political officials profit by working with drug traffickers.”
And similarly, while you’ve had Trump claiming Tren de Aragua is “operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro”?
That’s a claim that has been directly contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment, which said that Maduro’s government, quote:
“...probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.”
Instead, according to the report, the Venezuelan regime, while sometimes tolerating the gang’s activities, largely views it as a potential security threat.
And all that doesn’t mean that military personnel, government officials, or even Maduro himself aren’t involved in or benefiting from drug trafficking.
But it’s just one reason you have some believing this is about more than just drugs.
With another reason being that Venezuela isn’t even the biggest source of drugs coming into the US.
Right, the Trump administration’s allegations against Maduro have focused on cocaine.
But according to the DEA’s annual report, 84% of the cocaine seized in the US comes from Colombia – mostly being trafficked through Ecuador, Central America and Mexico.
And with all that, you have Maduro accusing the administration of pushing for regime change, saying this week that Trump needs to “take care” because “Marco Rubio wants to stain [his] hands with blood” – adding:
“They want to lead you into a bloodbath… with a massacre against the people of Venezuela.”
And with that, Rubio has long been one of the most vocal critics of Maduro.
He’s become the architect of Trump’s policy toward Venezuela.
And in 2018, during Trump’s first term, he actually said there was a “strongargument” to be made for the use of the military in the country.
And he seemingly hasn’t changed his view.
With him being asked about whether Trump would carry out operations on Venezuelan soil and responding:
“We’re going to take on drug cartels wherever they are and wherever they’re operating against the interests of the United States.”
That said, many experts are skeptical the US is planning a military intervention.
With a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, for example, telling The Guardian:
“This is not a deployment focused on regime change. This may be an attempt to signal to disaffected elements of the military in Venezuela that now is the time to rise up against Maduro. But we’ve seen that approach be tried and fail repeatedly over the last 25 years.”
And so ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see, because one thing we know with Trump, of course, is that he doesn’t always do what you expect.
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RFK needs to resign and the Department of Energy is lying to you!
Those are the subjects of two letters sent to two government agencies this week - one from over a 1,000 HHS employees and the other from dozens of scientists.
Right, starting with RFK - this morning, a group of more than 1,000 current and former Department of Health and Human Services employees signed a letter to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Saying that his leadership has “put the health of all Americans at risk” and demanding his resignation.
To support their argument, the employees pointed to several of RFK’s recent decisions - like the declared firing of CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez and the subsequent resignation of 4 other senior officials within the agency.
As well as the appointment of what they called “political ideologues” to influential roles in vaccine policy.
And his decision to rescind emergency use authorizations for Covid-19 vaccines without providing any data to back that up.
Now, if this is tickling something in your brain, you’re not crazy - this isn’t the first time that HHS employees have sent a letter to RFK.
In fact, just a few weeks ago after the August 8th shooting at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, over 700 employees signed a letter, imploring RFK to, quote, “stop spreading inaccurate health information” and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce.
To which a spokesperson from the agency responded by releasing a statement saying that RFK stands firmly with the CDC employees and, quote,
“... any attempt to conflate widely supported public health reforms with the violence of a suicidal mass shooter is an attempt to politicize a tragedy.”
Now, we’ve yet to see a response to this new letter but RFK did publish an op-ed with the Wall Street Journal yesterday - saying his agency is “restoring public trust in the CDC.”
Which he said was lost thanks to decades of, quote, “bureaucratic inertia, politicized science, and mission creep.”
And he also went on to defend his actions - defining them as steps taken to “eliminate conflicts of interest and bureaucratic complacency.”
But on the topic of politicized science, we should talk about the Department of Energy’s recent report on climate change and, more specifically, the rebuttal against it by dozens of scientists.
Right, first the report - back in July, the DOE published a report titled “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate.”
With their key findings being the carbon dioxide-induced warming, quote, “appears to be less damaging economically than commonly believed” and that our efforts to mitigate CO2 emissions could be more harmful than helpful.
As well as saying that any US policy actions on climate change are expected to have, quote, “undetectably small direct impacts on the global climate and any effects will emerge only with long delays.”
Now, some key pieces of information - there were five researchers handpicked to prepare this report by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and all five of them have reportedly historically questioned the scientific consensus that climate change is a considerable threat.
And even occasionally reportedly framed global warming as a good thing.
So that’s the baseline we’re working with here.
And while the DOE had a 30-day open comment period on this report that closed yesterday - right before it closed, a group of more than 85 scientists submitted a scathing rebuttal of the report.
Saying the DOE’s analysis is riddled with errors, misrepresentations, and cherry-picked data to further Team Trump’s political agenda.
We’re talking a chapter-by-chapter criticism of the DOE’s report - effectively serving as a peer review - resulting in a 439 page document.
Which is nearly 3 times the size of the original report at 151 pages.
Obviously, we can’t talk about everything they covered in all 400 pages but here are some highlights:
The DOE report suggests that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that helps plants grow and therefore more gas would improve agricultural yields.
But the rebuttal says that the authors of the DOE report sidestep the negative impacts of global warming on plant life - like extreme heat, droughts, floods, and wildfires.
Then there’s the 2 studies the DOE cited by a professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to support their argument that more people die from excessive cold than heat.
And to that point that same professor responded - saying while the fact is true, the report ignores that global warming is increasing heat-related deaths at a rate faster than it would prevent cold-related ones.
The DOE report also did what one physics professor called “graphical sleight of hand” in a chart showing yearly average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
And they did so by omitting key data and making specific choices on the graph to make it seem like those levels had only risen slightly.
And I could go on and on and on.
With the scientists comparing this report to efforts by the tobacco industry to create doubt around the health links between smoking and cancer - writing,
“No one should doubt that human-caused climate change is real, is already producing potentially dangerous impacts, and that humanity is on track for a geologically enormous amount of warming.”
Now, the scientists’ rebuttal was coordinated by Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University.
Who argues that the issues he and the other scientists highlighted is incredibly important to pay attention to because of how the Trump administration is using this report.
Right, there referring to the fact that the EPA has already used the DOE’s conclusions as a justification to repeal the endangerment finding - which is a 2009 scientific declaration that climate change poses a danger to human health and welfare.
And that finding serves as the basis for regulations on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
With Dessler adding,
“Their goal was to muddy the waters, to put out a plausible-sounding argument that people can use in the public debate to make it sound like we don’t know whether climate change is bad or not.”
Now, the Department of Energy has responded to the scientists’ rebuttal - with a spokesperson telling NPR that the report was reviewed internally by DOE scientific researchers and policy experts from the Office of Science and National Labs.
Which is kind of a sticking point here because that’s the excuse one of the report’s authors gave when asked about why they didn’t get this report traditionally peer-reviewed.
And the Department also added,
"The purpose of this report is to restore an open and transparent dialogue around climate science. Following the public comment period, we look forward to reviewing and engaging on substantive comments."
And back when the report was initially published, Energy Secretary Chris Wright threw his support behind it wholly - saying at the time,
“I’ve reviewed the report carefully, and I believe it faithfully represents the state of climate science today. Still, many readers may be surprised by its conclusions - which differ in important ways from the mainstream narrative. That’s a sign of how far the public conversation has drifted from the science itself.”
And he has since accused the report’s critics of avoiding an in-depth conversation about the science surrounding global warming.
With that, I’m going to pass the question off to y’all - what are your thoughts here?
About the letter from the HHS employees, the scientists’ response to the DOE report, or even just the DOE report itself.
Let me know in those comments down below.
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The UK has arrested a man over his tweets.
At least that’s what he’s saying – and even some of his critics agree with him – with others arguing the arrest is justified because his tweets were an incitement to violence against trans people.
But with that, this guy’s name? It’s Graham Linehan (Lin-uh-han).
He’s best known in the UK as the co-writer of a UK sitcoms including Father Ted and The IT Crowd.
But more recently, he’s been extremely vocal on social media in his belief that trans women are men.
With him writing in one post in April:
“If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
And now that tweet along with a couple others are seemingly the reason for his arrest.
With Graham writing on Substack that “five armed officers” arrested him when he flew back into the UK yesterday, took him away, and questioned him about the posts.[]
He then said that his blood pressure “was over 200 – stroke territory” after being questioned and that he had to be taken to the hospital and kept under observation before being discharged and released on bail.
With him noting that the only condition for his release was that he could not post on X.
And finally claiming that all of this, quote: “proves one thing beyond doubt:
the UK has become a country that is hostile to freedom of speech, hostile to women, and far too accommodating to the demands of violent, entitled, abusive men who have turned the police into their personal goon squad.”
The police for their part have released a statement that generally lined up with Graham’s account – but noting that this “man in his fifties” wasn’t arrested just for tweets but on suspicion of inciting violence.
And also noting that “It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms” – and saying:
“These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
And beyond that, you do have some people defending the police.
With people like the new leader of Britain’s Green Party calling Graham’s posts “totally unacceptable” and saying the arrest seemed “proportionate.”
And others on his side argued that Grahams’ words could cause real harm – pointing to police stats showing a rapid uptick in hate crimes against transgender people.
Right, in the 12 months that ended in March 2024, for example, almost 4,800 hate crimes were recorded against trans people – up from 2,800 hate crimes in the 12 months that ended in March 2021.
And to that point, Graham?
He’s actually already scheduled to appear in court this week in connection to a separate case in which he is accused of harassing a transgender woman and damaging her phone – a charge he has denied.
But that said, on the other side, you have people agreeing with Graham that this is an absurd infringement on free speech.
With Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling, for example, who has become known for her anti-trans activism, writing on X:
“What the fuck has the UK become? This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.”
You then had politicians jumping on the story, of course, with the Conservative Party leader saying:
"Sending five officers to arrest a man for a tweet isn't policing, it's politics. Under Labour, we routinely see burglary, knife crime and assaults go unsolved, while resources are wasted on thought-policing.”
“The Conservatives would stop this nonsense on day one and make public safety the first duty of policing, instead of pandering to fringe ideologies."
And finally, you even had Nigel Farage, the leader of the far-right Reform party, bringing it up today in the US Congress while addressing the House Judiciary Committee as part of a hearing examining “European threats to American free speech and innovation” (BROLL)
And with that, the idea that the UK and other European countries are unfairly restricting free speech is something we’ve heard from the Trump administration before.
In fact, the State Department’s recent international human-rights reports criticized these countries for that reason – all while removing sections and downplaying serious human rights violations in other countries.
Although, notably there, you’ve had people like a staff writer for the Atlantic who has openly criticized Graham coming out against his arrest – and saying Europe really does have a free speech problem – along with the US.
And at the same time, of course, people on the left have similarly made claims about free speech in connection to the suppression of pro-Palestine activism.
And now actually even the police are saying it may have gone too far.
With the head of London’s Metropolitan Policecalling for the government to change or clarify the UK’s law regarding free speech, saying Graham’s arrest lines up with what the law technically says, but adding:
“Most reasonable people would agree that genuine threats of physical violence against an identified person or group should be acted upon by officers. Such actions can and do have serious and violent real-world implicat ions.”
“But when it comes to lesser cases, where there is ambiguity in terms of intent and harm, policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments who have given officers no choice but to record such incidents as crimes when they’re reported. Then they are obliged to follow all lines of inquiry and take action as appropriate.”
And with that, going on to say:
“I don’t believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates and officers are currently in an impossible position.”
“Greater clarity and common sense would enable us to limit the resources we dedicate to tackling online statements to those cases creating real threats in the real world.”
And so it will be really interesting to see what happens from here, if we do see a change in the law, if it satisfies anyone, or if it pisses anyone off.
But for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.
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Florida is working hard to make the state a safer place by making it a breeding ground for diseases that have long been under control.
That decision was announced today by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who said that the state was moving to ban all vaccine mandates would be banned and that:
"Every last one is wrong and DRIPS with disdain and slavery! Who am I, or anyone else, to tell YOU what you should put in your body? Who am I to tell you what your CHILD should put in their body? I don't have that right. Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and God." @0:59
This would be a pretty dramatic departure from current Florida law, which mandates vaccines in children in order for them to go to public schools.
Now to be clear, the state won’t be banning vaccines, with Ladapo adding that people can get whatever vaccine they want.
It just won’t be required anymore.
This decision got support from Dr. Robert Malone, who was recently appointed by RFK Jr. to lead the CDC’s independent vaccine advisory committee.
In addition to this announcement, Florida is also getting a “Make America Healthy Again” commission which will figure out how to implement recommendations by Trump and RFK Jr.
Republicans largely praised the move, but health experts warned this will be dangerous.
Vaccines help populations reach herd immunity, which doesn’t mean 100% of the population is safe.
Instead it covers over 90% of the population, giving wiggle room for the handful of people who can’t get a vaccine for one reason or another.
Below that threshold various diseases can still spread despite chunks of the population being immune… putting those who want to be protected but can’t because of one reason or another -- such as an allergy to a vaccine -- being in danger.
TLDR: We’re going to see a huge uptick of communicable and otherwise preventable diseases -- like Polio or measles -- because of this.
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Missouri legislators are kicking off a special session today to redraw the state’s congressional maps in favor of Republicans.
Right, just hours after Texas enacted its new map that could give the GOP five new seats, Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Kehoe, called a special session starting today for a rare mid-decade redistricting.
Making Missouri the third state to officially start the process after Texas and California.
Now, notably, Republicans already control six of the state’s eight congressional seats.
But the new map would help them gain a seventh by splitting up the 5th Congressional District in Kansas City — which is currently held by a Democrat — and extending it eastward to include more conservative-leaning rural areas.
And Kehoe isn’t even trying to pretend that this is about anything more than shoring up Republican support.
With him arguing that the new map is necessary to “truly put Missouri values first.”
And adding that the state’s “conservative, common-sense values should be truly represented at all levels of government.”
But you also have Democrats pushing back, accusing Republicans of launching a blatant power grab and arguing that it would deny representation to many voters.
Noting that 40% of Missourians voted for Democrats in state-wide elections last year.
Right, the vote difference between Trump and Harris was around 1.7 million to 1.2 million, and the margin Sen. Josh Hawley won by was even a bit narrower.
But the Democrats have very few tools to slow the passage of a new map because Republicans hold a supermajority in the Legislature.
So it’s pretty much guaranteed that this gerrymandered map will be passed, with debate on the bill expected to start next week.
And while it would just give the GOP one more seat, experts say that could still be critical in the redistricting war.
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With TMZ reporting on this listing here, which shows what appears to be him in a white floral button down priced at $11.
But, as you probably know, Luigi, who is accused of shooting the CEO of United Healthcare, is currently in jail in New York, and it’s pretty hard to land modeling contracts from behind bars.
So when people saw this image, there was a ton of backlash, people accusing Shein of using AI to turn Luigi into a “model.”
Others saying he should sue, that it is not right for a brand to use any incarcerated individual’s face in this way.
Though, you had TMZ noting it was unclear if it was AI, photoshop, or maybe even a doppelganger, but the frenzy caused enough of a stir that the shirt nearly sold out.
For its part, Shein told BBC News that the company did not use his likeness on purpose, saying:
"The image in question was provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery.”
"We have stringent standards for all listings on our platform.”
And Shein is also conducting an investigation and said “appropriate action” would be taken against the vendor in question.
The shirt apparently came from the brand Manfinity which has a collection with Shein, and according to 404 Media, it lists a lot of items using AI-generated models.
So yeah, there’s one of the most “2025” stories you’ve ever heard…
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…Though, this one might be a close second.
Because MrBeast is considering launching his own cellphone servicing company.
Right, Business Insider obtained a leaked investor deck from earlier this year laying out these plans,
And while there is no exact timeline, the deck put a launch date at some point in 2026.
As for how this would work, MrBeast would not need to build a whole network from the ground up, and he would instead partner with existing providers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and so on to offer his own branded service running on their networks.
Right, think Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile, which previously sold to T-Mobile, a company that MrBeast has notably worked with in marketing campaigns before.
Though, right now it is unclear what carrier MrBeast would partner up with if this idea takes off.
But this comes as he is expanding his business empire, right, he has Feastables and Lunchly, Business Insider reported he is already looking to get into the fintech and mobile gaming spaces, and he has even thrown his hat in the TikTok purchase ring.
But telecom endeavors like this one have the potential to be very lucrative, right, T-Mobile’s deal to get Mint was valued at over one billion dollars.
So we will have to see where this goes.
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That is what she said when she walked out of court today, though, technically speaking, she was found not liable.
Right, for the last week she had been on trial because a security guard filed a civil suit claiming Cardi had assaulted her at a doctors office back in 2018.
We talked about it a few days ago, so if you want more information on the case, take a peek at that coverage.
But the trial was mostly making headlines for its incredibly viral moments:
“Did you call her fat?...no I was calling her a bitch.” (14:11-14:14)
“When I’m talking to you now, are we having a verbal altercation?...We're having, I’ll say, a debate…[laughter] (2:18-2:27)
The news today is that a California jury unanimously decided in favor of Cardi, and while speaking to reporters outside of the courthouse, she said:
“I will say it on my deathbed. I did not touch that woman, I did not touch that girl.” (0:39-0:43)
“I know I got a little reputation but I swear to god I’m innocent.” (2:05-2:08)
And while we might have been having fun watching the trial, Cardi made it clear that she was not:
“The next person to do a frivolous lawsuit against me, I am going to countersue. And I’m gonna make you pay.” (0:53-1:01)
“I am not that celeb that you sue and think is gonna settle. I’m not gonna settle.” (1:57-2:01)
With that said, she also told fans to not stalk or harass the woman who sued her in this case, asking that they leave that woman and her family alone so this can remain in the past.
-
with that said, one more thing I want to include for you today was a very important bit from former senior national correspondent at ABC
news, Terry Moran, who I recently spoke with on my podcast In Good Faith, because I think that it connects with what I've seen a lot of you were feeling
and what some of you have said about why your news diets have changed over the years, especially as we're seeing U.S. and international situations play out during Trump 2.0.
for me, it was something that I think was very important to hear from someone like him who's been a part of the machine and was also cast out for calling it as he saw it.
business that I was in for all those years, network news, corporate media, legacy media, whatever you want to call it,
is failing the American people. And they have corporate pressure on them
and they have kind of rules, what they can say and what they can't say, what they can describe and what they can't describe.
The facts in front of them are eluding their coverage. And, I think that they are dis serving the American people.
I know that there's frustration there. I know that people look at what they're doing and they're like, is not enough.
You know, they try to put it in their tone some time as they as they read their, their piece
or they speak to camera, but they can't say the words of what's happening. And that's corporate pressure.
Look, Disney I mean it's a multi billion dollar business, right. The ABC news a little little tiny speck in that giant empire.
The last thing that the head of Disney or anybody in these corporate offices wants
is a problem with the president of the United States, because somebody in the news division tweeted something.
I mean, there's there's like there's absolutely no no up side to that.
And so the pressure's on. Very much. So. Well, that brings us to the end of this video. You've got even more click away.
got an episode of my new podcast right here with famed journalist Terry Moran, a bit of new school meets old school at a time
when Terry says a mainstream media is not meeting the moment, as well as the newest Philip DeFranco show right here. I even have links for both in the description for our Spotify, Apple
podcast, YouTube, and wherever else you prefer to get filled in. Thanks for watching. I love yo faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.
Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! SeatGeek
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