Britt’Nee Brower of Utqiagvik peers through hanging jewelry at her table at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Oct. 16, 2025. Brower creates works of art out of a variety of media. Among her skills is carving, sewing, beading, etching, fashion design and poetry. She is among the artists listed in the Alaska Native Arts Directory. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
A new online statewide directory has been launched to showcase and connect Alaska Native artists across disciplines.
The Alaska Native Arts Directory is the work of the nonprofit Alaska Native Arts Foundation. Listing is free. The directory went live last week, timing that coincided with the Alaska Federation of Natives annual convention in Anchorage.
As of Monday, about 200 artists were listed, most of them with photos and biographical information. The Alaska Native Arts Foundation said it is seeking to expand that number to more than 1,000 by next year.
The Anchorage-based foundation said it also has a goal of holding a first-ever Alaska Native Arts Economic Summit next year, bringing together artists, policymakers and other partners to work on building the Indigenous creative economy.
There are other artists’ directories in Alaska, some of them with a focus on Indigenous artists. One, the Collective49 Marketplace, enables member artists to promote and sell their work online. And there are numerous local artists directories, such as those in Ketchikan and Homer.
The Alaska Natives Art Directory, however, is intended to be more comprehensive. Along with being statewide, the directory includes writers, musicians and other performing artists along with those who create carvings, paintings and other physical works of art. It includes contemporary art forms as well as traditional Indigenous arts.
“The Alaska Native Arts Directory celebrates the full spectrum of Alaska Native creativity, visual and written arts, performance, design, and traditional practices, reflecting the diversity and vitality of Alaska’s Indigenous cultures,” Gail Schubert, chair of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation, said in a statement.
Launch of the Alaska Native Arts Directory represents a renaissance of sorts for the Alaska Native Arts Foundation.
The foundation was created in 2002 and for several years operated an ecommerce site and a gallery in Anchorage. But it shut down those operatioons in 2016 after losing state funding and encountering other financial problems.
The directory project and other new activities now have a variety of funding sources, according to the foundation’s statement. The effort is backed by grants and other support from organizations that include the Rasmuson Foundation, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the office of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Municipality of Anchorage, among others, according to the statement.
Britt’Nee Brower of Utqiagvik helps a custmoer at her table at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Oct. 16, 2025. Some of her earrings and prints are in the foreground. Brower creates works of art out of a variety of media. She is among the artists listed in the Alaska Native Arts directory. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
US Department of Interior Sec. Doug Burgum at a news conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Alaska’s congressional delegation US Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Nick Begich, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, announcing several actions advancing resource development projects in Alaska on Oct. 23, 2025 (Screenshot)
The federal government is proceeding with efforts to expand drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, mining in northwest Alaska, and construction of a road between King Cove and Cold Bay on the Alaska Peninsula, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced Thursday.
At an event in Washington, D.C. that was dubbed “Alaska Day” by the federal department, Burgum signed a series of documents pertaining to all three projects as well as an ongoing effort by the federal government to give land to the families of Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans.
“This is our first, this won’t be our last, Alaska Day. We have a lot more things to accomplish, a lot more things to celebrate going forward,” said Burgum, flanked by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and all three members of the state’s congressional delegation.
“I told the president, it’s like Christmas every morning,” said Dunleavy. “I wake up, I go to look at what’s under the proverbial Christmas tree to see what’s happening. And here’s another example of more presents for not just Alaska, but for this country.”
Tribal and environmental groups opposed to the three development projects saw Thursday’s action differently, with Defenders of Wildlife, a national group, dubbing the event “Alaska Sellout Day.”
“Today’s announcements are the latest step in Donald Trump’s plan to sell out our wildest landscape and natural heritage to corporate polluters,” said Dan Ritzman, director of conservation for the Sierra Club.
What was done on Thursday
Burgum signed previously announced permits for the 211-mile Ambler Road, which is intended to connect the Dalton Highway with a series of potential mine sites in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska.
He also signed a record of decision for the federal government’s oil and gas drilling program in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge of northeast Alaska.
That re-establishes a program that had been in place during the first term of President Donald Trump but which was subsequently reversed by President Joe Biden.
Burgum also reversed the Biden administration’s decision to suspend oil and gas leases issued by the federal government in 2020 to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.
Barring further litigation, that move clears the way for AIDEA — Alaska’s state-owned development bank — to begin seismic surveys that could reveal the amount of oil available within parts of the Arctic refuge’s coastal plain.
While the Ambler and ANWR actions effectively took the projects back to where they stood in 2020, the King Cove road is now closer to construction at any point in its decades-long development process.
Envisioned as a gravel road between King Cove and an all-weather airport at Cold Bay, the road would pass through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, a nationally important bird sanctuary.
Eleven miles of new road are needed to link existing roads to the two towns, but those 11 miles would pass through a wilderness area.
On Thursday, Burgum signed documents that complete a land exchange between King Cove Corp., the local Alaska Native corporation, and the federal government. King Cove Corp. gives up about 31,200 acres to expand the refuge, and in return, it receives the 490 acres of refuge land needed to complete the road.
In a move with more limited statewide impact, Burgum signed paperwork awarding three Alaska Native Vietnam War veterans with 160-acre plots of land under a federal allotment program. As of March, 453 veterans and their families had requested plots authorized under legislation authored by Alaska Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan.
For King Cove, a medevac-avoiding road moves forward
King Cove’s airport is frequently closed by bad weather, and since 2014, there have been more than 100 Coast Guard medevacs from the community because regular air ambulance service was unavailable.
Murkowski, who has previously vowed to complete the road, noted that this is the third time that the federal government has embarked on a land exchange for the road, with the prior two attempts blocked and reversed by litigation.
“We’ve reached a point with the King Cove exchange that we haven’t yet before, and that’s actually the official patent being issued to KCC, so we’re one step further. I think that’s important,” she said.
The road, though supported by local residents, is opposed by some Yukon-Kuskokwim river delta tribal leaders and subsistence bird hunters who fear its effects on wildlife.
“Surely, the people of King Cove can see the value of leaving the habitat for so many species intact would be far more valuable than any road could be,” said Angutekaraq Estelle Thomson, Traditional Council President of the Native Village of Paimiut, one of several communities that have supported lawsuits seeking to prevent road construction.
Rebecca Noblin, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity who has fought the road on behalf of several area villages, said Thursday that “we have significant questions about the legality of the exchange. We, along with the Native Villages of Hooper Bay and Paimiut, expect to bring those issues to court soon. Road construction will also require additional permits, including an Army Corps 404 permit and Endangered Species Act consultation, so this is far from a done deal.”
With Ambler and ANWR, a triumph of economics over environment
On the first day of his second term in office, Trump issued an executive order seeking to encourage oil and gas development, mining and logging in Alaska.
US Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, US Dept. of Interior Sec. Doug Burgum, and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy pose for a photo at a news conference announcing advancements to several resource projects, including oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Oct. 23, 2025 (Screenshot)
Elected officials said they see Thursday’s actions in line with that decision.
Alaska Republican Rep. Nick Begich said projects like the Ambler Road and ANWR drilling matter because they create jobs.
“We need the jobs. We need high-paying, good jobs, and these resource industry jobs fit that bill completely. And so whether it’s mining, timber, oil and gas development or other resources, these are necessary for the functioning of Alaska’s economy,” he said.
The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is believed to contain billions of barrels of recoverable oil that could be sold on global markets.
Sullivan noted that previous North Slope oil development has been good for the region’s residents.
“The life expectancy, mostly of the Native people in our state, has increased in the North Slope and the Northwest Arctic Borough and by dramatic numbers … and a lot of that is due to the benefits that come from responsible resource development: jobs, revenues, water and sewer, gymnasiums, health clinics. So it’s a real life and death issue,” he said.
The predominantly Alaska Native town of Kaktovik is located on Barter Island, within the refuge.
“Developing ANWR’s Coastal Plain is vital for Kaktovik’s future,” said the town’s mayor, Nathan Gordon Jr., in a written statement. “Taxation of development infrastructure in our region funds essential services across the North Slope, including water and sewer systems to clinics, roads, and first responders. Today’s actions by the federal government create the conditions for these services to remain available and for continued progress for our communities.”
To date, no oil companies have shown interest in drilling within the refuge, leaving only Alaska’s state-owned development bank, which won leases in a 2020 sale, to work there.
So far, no actual work has taken place because of repeated lawsuits seeking to overturn the sale.
The bank, which has filed several lawsuits over federal restrictions on drilling within the refuge, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Several legal challenges to the 2020 ANWR plan of development — which was restored Thursday — are still pending in federal court.
Some of those challenges revolve around the possible effects that ANWR development and the burning of those fossil fuels will have on climate change.
Thursday’s announcement came just a week after the remnants of Typhoon Halong devastated coastal communities in southwestern Alaska. Experts say that storm was worsened by climate change.
Murkowski said she does not shy away “from the fact that the impact of that typhoon was made more fierce and more destructive because it was able to travel over a large body of what is now warmer, open ocean with lack of ice. I get that, and I call it climate change.”
At the same time, people worldwide are continuing to consume fossil fuels. Murkowski said that for her, the choice is straightforward: Will they get those fossil fuels from Alaska or some place with worse environmental standards?
“I’d much rather be producing in Alaska, than just across the Bering Strait there, over in Russia, where I don’t think that they respect the same level of environmental standards and safeguards,” she said. “So is it complicated? Yes. But am I proud of how Alaska has led in terms of meeting environmental standards that are amongst the highest in the world? I am.”
What comes next for Ambler, King Cove and ANWR?
All three development projects boosted by the federal government on Thursday are a long way from construction, both supporters and detractors say.
In all three cases, proponents need to obtain additional federal permits and will have to cope with lawsuits brought by opponents.
The environmental law firm Earthjustice has repeatedly been involved in lawsuits against the federal government over the issue of arctic refuge drilling.
“Interior has re-adopted the maximally destructive plan from President Trump’s first term,” said Earthjustice attorney Erik Grafe, by email on Thursday. “That plan was unlawful in 2020 and is still unlawful today. The bedrock environmental laws that protect the Arctic Refuge’s irreplaceable natural resources remain despite Congress passing reconciliation bills on leasing in the refuge.”
The Gwich’in Steering Committee, represented by attorneys from Trustees for Alaska, is among the organizations that have repeatedly sued to block drilling in ANWR.
The committee is concerned about the effect that refuge development would have on local caribou herds used by subsistence hunters. In a statement, the committee’s executive director, Kristen Moreland, implied that further litigation will come.
“This action by the Trump administration is a direct attack on the Gwich’in, who have for decades been a voice for the caribou and stood against the destruction of the Arctic Refuge. A leasing program that would open the entire Coastal Plain completely ignores the impacts that oil and gas development would have on the land, on wildlife, and on our communities,” she said.
“We condemn these efforts by the Trump administration to exploit the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd for short-term gain, and we know that we are not alone. We will continue to raise our voices and fight for the protection of this sacred land and for our way of life.”
The Arctic National WIldlife Refuge coastal plain at the outflow of the Hulahula River, is seen on July 8, 2019. (Photo by Danielle Brigida/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Patrice Failor, wife of former FBI Director James Comey, departs the courthouse following Comey’s arraignment hearing in Alexandria, Va., on Oct. 8, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynold/AFP via Getty Images
Soon after President Donald Trump demanded in a social media post that the Department of Justice prosecute his perceived enemy, former FBI director James Comey, Comey was indicted on Sept. 25, 2025, for lying to a Congressional committee in 2020.
Comey’s lawyers have responded, filing a motion on Oct. 20, 2025, to dismiss the charges against him with prejudice – the “prejudice” being legal jargon for barring a refiling of the charges. Comey’s lawyers allege that the Justice Department’s prosecution is both selective and vindictive.
Despite the existence of a long string of Trump attacks specifically urging that Comey be prosecuted, getting the case dismissed as a prosecution that is selective, vindictive or both will require Comey to overcome a very strong presumption that the charging decision was lawful.
Former FBI Director James Comey speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 8, 2017. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Selective prosecution
For a court to find that there is a selective prosecution, Comey has two hurdles.
First, he has to demonstrate that he was singled out for prosecution for something others have done without being prosecuted.
Second, Comey will have to prove that the government discriminated against him for his constitutionally protected speech of criticizing Trump.
Clearing both of these hurdles seems unlikely. Others, including former Trump fixer Michael Cohen and former Reagan administration Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, have been prosecuted for the same type of crimes – allegedly making false statements to Congress or unlawfully seeking to influence or obstruct a Senate investigation.
Indeed, the motion to dismiss starts by laying out the argument for a vindictive prosecution, signaling that Comey’s lawyers think this is the stronger argument by leading with it.
Still, if Comey’s lawyers are to convince the judge, they will have to overcome a heavy burden that the prosecution has exceeded the broad discretion of the prosecutor.
The legal standard requires a court to first find that the prosecutor had animus, hostility, toward Comey, and second, that the charges would not have been brought if there was no animus.
Further evidence involves the fact that no other prosecutor other than Trump’s former personal lawyer, Lindsey Halligan, would seek charges against Comey.
Still, the grand jury found probable cause for the two charges against Comey and issued the indictment. The government will likely argue that demonstrates that the charges could have been brought even if there was animus.
A social media post by President Donald Trump urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute his perceived enemies, including James Comey. Truth Social Donald Trump account
Fallback position
Comey’s lawyers are leaning heavily on arguments for a dismissal of the charges with prejudice, but they also have a fallback position.
If the judge determines that they have not proved a selective or vindictive prosecution, they are asking for the opportunity to obtain discovery – the record – of the government’s decision to seek charges from the grand jury, and a hearing on their motion to dismiss the indictment.
Given Trump’s public statements and social media posts, and the legal authority on this issue, as a longtime practitioner and teacher of criminal law, I believe the judge is very likely to choose this course of action.
No matter how the trial judge rules on the motion to dismiss, the losing side is certain to appeal. No matter how the federal appeals court rules, the losing side is likely to seek Supreme Court review. Whether the court would take such a case is impossible to predict with any certainty.
Peter A. Joy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
It turns out that doctors made this chilling discovery during a routine MRI.
(No, routine MRIs are not part of most people’s healthcare. Yes, Kim effectively lives on another planet due to her extreme wealth)
An aneurysm is essentially a bulging growth in a blood vessel. None of them are good. The most dangerous ones take place in blood vessels in major arteries — or in the brain. Among the risks are a burst aneurysm, which can lead to sudden uncontrolled bleeding and death.
A tearful Kim Kardashian falters as her voice breaks with sadness. (Image Credit: Hulu)
Now, Kim learns from medical professionals that stress can cause the growth of aneurysms.
(So can various diseases and even hereditary conditions, for the record)
Obviously, stress can come from many places in life. Rich people may have fewer potential sources of it, but they still have plenty. (At the end of the day, most people are just people)
However, divorce is almost always a major source of stress.
And since Kim split from Kanye West, a disgraced rapper and Hitler enthusiast with whom she shares four children, that is understandably a source of major discontent.
As a wealthy celebrity, Kim Kardashian undergoes medical testing that few can afford. (Image Credit: Hulu)
Is Kanye West to blame?
Additionally, Kim Kardashian says that stress from Ye has also caused a flare up of her psoriasis.
(Psoriasis is a skin condition)
During the premiere trailer, she likens her situation to Stockholm Syndrome.
This is a common (and sometimes misused) term for captor bonding, though it happens more often within toxic and abusive families than in more sensational kidnapping cases.
Simply put, it’s a survival mechanism that causes people to identify with their abusers. Kim seems to be suggesting that she so passionately defended Kanye for so long due to a similar psychological attachment.
Oh no! Kim Kardashian is going through it on ‘The Kardashians’ Season 7. (Image Credit: Hulu)
We also hear Kim, her voice breaking as tears fill her eyes, remind everyone that Ye will continue to haunt her life for many years.
It isn’t just that she has a decade of memories with the now infamous rapper and self-described “genius.”
Sharing four children means that she is tethered to Kanye.
While much of their legally obligatory connection will end when Psalm turns 18 (in May of 2037), that is a long way off.
And, unfortunately, so long as any of Kim’s children continue to have Ye in their lives as adults, he will exist on Kim’s periphery. That sounds like a real nightmare.
Fortunately, Kim Kardashian’s doctors detected a potential crisis before it became an emergency. (Image Credit: Hulu)
There is more to ‘The Kardashians’ Season 7 than this medical scare
Obviously, we cannot confirm that Kanye West specifically caused Kim Kardashian to break out in psoriasis, let alone develop an aneurysm.
However, we’re sure that the situation is deeply miserable for her.
Notably, Season 7 looks like it will include so much more. Tension between Kendall and Kris. Something scary happening to Kylie, maybe?
There are fun special guests, including Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close. And don’t forget the Caitlyn Jenner jumpscare. (Public sentiments on her have shifted over the past decade)
Also, it looks like Rob Kardashian is on The Kardashians!
You know that whole the internet is forever thing? Well, an old interview has come back to bite them both.
This isn’t their first very public domestic violence joke.
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell attend the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on September 14, 2025. (Photo Credit: Savion Washington/Getty Images)
Maybe Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard should keep some jokes private?
Just days ago, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary.
Unfortunately, the social media side of this milestone took a dark turn.
On Instagram, Bell wrote: “Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who once said to me: ‘I would never kill you. A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I’m heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would.’”
To be clear, that’s not a cry for help from a woman fearing for her life.
Yes, in slightly different context, it could be a red flag for uxoricide. But Bell was merely repeating a joke.
To celebrate their 12th anniversary, Kristen Bell repeated a domestic violence joke that Dax Shepard had apparently made to her in the past. (Image Credit: Instagram)
But that this was a joke between husband and wife was the problem.
Husbands murder their wives and ex-wives. Fiances murder their fiancees and ex-fiancees. Boyfriends murder their girlfriends and ex-girlfriends.
Avoiding relationships won’t help, either. Simply turning down a guy’s promposal can see a girl — and her friends and classmates — murdered.
Part of the problem is male entitlement. Part of the problem is generational violence. And part of the problem is the convenience and availability of deadly weapons that serve no purpose beyond creating death.
It’s probably fine that Shepard and Bell privately shared that joke in whatever context. What’s so weird and off-putting is that Bell is then sharing this on social media.
Way back in 2012, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard took part in an interview to promote Hit and Run, their film.
At the time, she was sharing an anecdote about riding in a car that Shepard had apparently worked on himself.
“The first thing I said, five minutes into the ride, I said, ‘This sounds like it’s gonna break,’” Bell recalled.
In a deadpan tone, Shepard chimed in that he felt “very offended” at the time. Then he joked: “And then I hit her several times.’
Bell echoed the joke, saying: “And then I got beat up, and guess what — I never opened my mouth again.”
Again, this is not an admission. This is not, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, a cry for help.
Sometimes, people who are experiencing (or even perpetrating) evils like domestic violence will make jokes about the topic during or after the fact. But other people might make them, too.
The telling of these jokes within the public sphere can unfortunately help to normalize horrific topics. We all know that there are celebrity couples who have had very real domestic violence.
About 15 years ago, it was not necessarily unusual to see intentionally ironic “Nazi jokes.” People used Hitler in memes to react to music videos. But that internet culture gave cover to actual Nazis, and, well, look at our political landscape today.
The issue isn’t necessarily that Bell and Shepard have a mildly edgy sense of humor. It’s the context in which they share these jokes. (Also, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so the anniversary post is extra awkward)
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell attend the Go Campaign Gala honoring Wrexham Foundation at The Maybourne Beverly Hills on October 17, 2025. (Photo Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Go Campaign)
These jokes were normal in 2012! Maybe the world would be a little better if they hadn’t been!
Incidentally, Kristen Bell was initially slotted to appear on the Today show on Wednesday, October 22.
Following that awkward post, however, she ended up not appearing on the show. Many are very curious about how that went down behind the scenes.
She did, however, step out onto the red carpet to promote the second season of Nobody Wants This.
Look, we want to be clear: jokes do not have to define who we are. Also, couples who know each other very well might have saucy or downright troubling jokes that harm no one when they remain private.
And making edgy, off-color jokes was extremely normal in our society in 2012. It’s a shame that Bell and Shepard didn’t notice how widespread non-joking evils are in our society and keep this particular brand of humor private.
It will be the start of a new chapter for this Hulu reality series.
But will it also be the end of another?
(Hulu)
On the new trailer for upcoming episodes, Mayci Neeley announces very simply:
“MomTok is at its lowest point right now.”
Elsewhere, Taylor Frankie Paul, who happens to be the newest star of The Bachelorette, adds that “Whitney [Leavitt] and Demi are not to be trusted.”
Doesn’t sound as if things are especially smooth between all the women, does it?
Where this group of ladies is headed seems like it will be a major theme on Season 3… as a MomTok meeting depicted in the footage also features Whitney telling her colleagues: “I’m going to start my own MomTok.”
The response? A whole lot of laughter.
(Hulu)
In this preview, the women tell Season 2 newcomer Miranda McWhorter they’re concerned she’s still close with Demi Engermann.
“We have a leak in MomTok,” Neeley says, for example, escalating the drama.
There’s also chatter about someone taking a lie detecter test.
“Worst case scenario, someone leaves with their extensions ripped out of their head,” Taylor says to camera.
Adds Matthews, “If there’s one thing we’re good at it’s getting to the bottom of a scandal.”
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives are pose here for the camera. (Hulu)
When we last left these rather interesting Utah-based ladies during the season two reunion special, MomTok — comprised of Taylor Frankie Paul, Whitney Leavitt, Layla Taylor, Jen Affleck, Mikayla Matthews, Mayci Neeley, Jessi Ngatikaura and Miranda McWhorter — were celebrating Leavitt and Affleck’s acceptance into Dancing with the Stars.
The reunion special teased the stars of the show had all auditioned for season three.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season three will drop on Hulu and Disney+ on November 13.
That’s no surprise. She rose to fame as a kid whose awful childhood led to a string of bad behaviors.
Now, she’s made a career out of that — and even come out with a song roasting her parents.
But her father is speaking out, claiming that the lyrics to “Honest” are lying about him.
Danielle Bregoli, known professionally as Bhad Bhabie, performs onstage during TBT Magazine Social Media Edition Powered By Berman Law at Sway Nightclub on August 26, 2022. (Photo Credit: Jason Koerner/Getty Images for TBT Magazine Powered By Berman Law Group)
Here’s what Bhad Bhabie thinks about her parents
Bhad Bhabie, who first rose to fame as ill-behaved child Danielle Bregoli before using her viral fame to launch a successful rap and even more successful OnlyFans career, has a lot to say in “Honest.”
We all know that her childhood was absolutely horrendous.
In her song, she generously praises her single mom as a “soldier.”
Bhabie also characterizes her mother as “bat-s–t.”
It is what she sings about her father that is currently getting attention.
As you can imagine, Bhabie did much more than call her father a “deadbeat” in the song.
“Since I was 3 everything on me,” she sings. “My pops ain’t want me in his life.”
Bhabie continues: “Seen I was famous now he tryna get in touch with me like I should care.”
Bluntly, she declares: “It’s f–k him though. I hope he waste away.”
Bhabie then asks: “What kinda father sacrifices a relationship for 20K?”
Bhad Bhabie attends TBT Magazine Social Media Edition Powered By Berman Law at Sway Nightclub on August 26, 2022. (Photo Credit: Jason Koerner/Getty Images for TBT Magazine Powered By Berman Law Group)
Her estranged dad has a bone to pick with these lyrics
Ira Peskowitz is the father, biologically speaking, of Bhad Bhabie.
And he has given a new interview to TMZto complain about her — which is definitely a choice for a parent to make.
Yes, he’s heard Bhabie sing that he’s a deadbeat who abandoned her and only reached out after she became famous.
“I didn’t sell her for $20,000,” Peskowitz insisted in the interview.
“I was trying to be part of her life way before Dr. Phil,” he alleged.
“I have documentation to show that I tried to get her into a program to try to help her out,” Peskowitz claimed.
“I don’t know why she hates me so much,” he continued.
Obviously, Peskowitz is neither the first nor the last father to make such a declaration about an estranged child.
Peskowitz then announced: “I don’t want my daughter’s money.”
We cannot attest to the inner financial dealings, or lack thereof, of this troubled family.
Danielle Bregoli, known professionally as Bhad Bhabie, performs onstage during TBT Magazine Social Media Edition Powered By Berman Law at Sway Nightclub on August 26, 2022. (Photo Credit: Jason Koerner/Getty Images for TBT Magazine Powered By Berman Law Group)
She’s made similar claims in less lyrical form
Previously, Bhad Bhabie posted (but ultimately deleted) claims that she had paid Peskowitz “years ago” to terminate his parental rights.
This obviously would have been when she was a minor.
Bhabie also alleged that she had tried to repair their father-daughter relationship much more recently, after she became a mother herself.
However, she lamented that “it didn’t work.”
At this point, Bhabie may have better luck presenting her side of the story through an attorney — if at all. She’s also more than entitled to cease giving Peskowitz the time of day.
Isabelle “Izzy” Tate, an actress appeared on the very recent pilot episode of 9-1-1: Nashville of ABC, passed away in her sleep on Sunday, October 19.
She was 23 years old.
(ABC)
Tate’s talent agency told Deadline on Thursday Tate had a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a progressive multisystem, multiorgan disease that causes lifelong, progressive symptoms — including muscle weakness and atrophy in the arms and legs, sensory loss, along with other complications.
She had been confined to a wheelchair.
Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is “a group of inherited conditions that cause nerve damage,” according to Mayo Clinic, whose description continues as follows:
“Inherited conditions pass down through families. This damage mainly is in the nerves of the arms and legs, called the peripheral nerves. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease also is called hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy.”
Per an obituary also published by Tate’s talent agency:
Isabelle was full of fire, a fighter, never once making excuses for the fact that she might have a disability relative to others. She was also quite musically inclined, often spending hours writing and recording songs with friends and even publishing a few.
(McCray Agency)
“We are deeply saddened and completely heartbroken to share that Isabelle Tate passed away on October 19th. She was 23,” a Facebook post by this agency read in the wake of this news going public.
“I’ve known Izzy since she was a teenager and she recently returned to acting. She booked the first series she auditioned for, 9-1-1 Nashville. She had a wonderful time.”
Tate was credited as Izzy Tate on 9-1-1: Nashville, portraying a character named Julie.
On the premiere, viewers were introduced to her when a stripper came down off a stage and gave Julie a lap dance after a fellow patron acted as a bully toward the young woman.
Tate’s reps, meanwhile, shared this information about their clients via her obituary:
“Isabelle loved volunteering her time to all things, particularly animals — her idea of a fun outing was visiting an animal shelter and doling out lots of love,” the website read. “Isabelle was full of fire, a fighter, never once making excuses for the fact that she might have a disability relative to others.
“She was also quite musically inclined, often spending hours writing and recording songs with friends and even publishing a few.
“What she loved the most, though, was spending time with family and friends, always the life of the party. Her sister was her best friend and her mom was her shining beacon of light.”
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Four family members of a Republican running for governor in Illinois were killed in a Montana helicopter crash, his campaign said Thursday.
Killed in the crash Wednesday were the son and daughter-in-law of former state Sen. Darren Bailey, a Republican who lost the 2022 gubernatorial election in Illinois and is seeking his party’s nomination again in next year’s race.
Bailey’s son, Zachary, his wife, Kelsey, and their two young children, Vada Rose, 12, and Samuel, 7, died in the crash, his campaign said in a statement. The couple’s third child was not on the helicopter.
“Darren and Cindy are heartbroken by this unimaginable loss. They are finding comfort in their faith, their family, and the prayers of so many who love and care for them,” the statement said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that it was investigating a helicopter crash in eastern Montana near the town of Ekalaka. The sheriff’s office in Carter County said the helicopter went down southwest of the town early Wednesday evening.
Bailey, from the southern Illinois town of Xenia, announced this year that he is seeking the GOP’s nominee for governor in 2026. He lost to Gov. JB Pritzker in 2022 after serving single, two-year terms in both the Illinois House and Senate.
He unsuccessfully challenged five-term incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in last year’s primary race for a district that covers much of the bottom one-third of Illinois.
Illinois GOP Chair Kathy Salvi said in a statement that the party is grieving the tragic loss. “Please join us in keeping the Bailey family in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable time,” the statement said.
Graham Platner is shaking up his campaign amid a swirl of controversy, bringing in a longtime friend to function as his Maine Senate campaign’s new manager, hiring a compliance firm and sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers.
Kevin Brown — who became the campaign manager this week and whose past campaign work includes the presidential bids of Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama, though he has not worked in Maine — is only one of the changes. The campaign has also brought on an in-house attorney, as well as compliance firm Spruce Street Consulting, which has ties to a constellation of buzzy progressives including Zohran Mamdani.
Amid fallout from Platner’s controversial years-old social media posts, his campaign began sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers last week, according to his former top political director, Genevieve McDonald, who said she declined to sign one.
“The campaign offered me $15,000 to sign a NDA,” McDonald told POLITICO in an interview. “I did not accept the offer. I certainly could have used the money. I quit my job to work on Platner’s campaign, believing it was something different than it is.”
A statement from the campaign referred to the $15,000 offer as standard severance. A Platner campaign spokesperson said the team recently hired Spruce Street “to take over campaign compliance to institute standard practices that had yet to be put into place. Some of those standards had to be instituted retroactively but as a matter of course we do not require anyone previously involved in the campaign to do so. Genevieve McDonald was offered severance which is standard for all campaign employees and contractors.”
The moves to salvage a campaign months after its launch underscore how fast Platner took off and how imperiled he finds himself, in a crucial state for Democrats in their uphill quest to retake the Senate. Platner burst onto the scene with viral videos as a kind of progressive warrior poet, campaigning for Mainers’ “freedom to live a life of dignity and joy.” But his promising bid has been beset by negative stories about his past over the last week, shortly after Gov. Janet Mills, favored by national Democrats to take on Sen. Susan Collins, entered the primary.
Revelations of the staffing changes and non-disclosure agreements — which have not been previously reported — come as Platner’s campaign is in damage control. On Wednesday, the candidate confirmed to The Advocatethat his Reddit posts included “homophobic slurs, anti-LGBTQ+ jokes, and sexually explicit stories denigrating gay men.”
That follows Platner expressing regret over getting a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest 20 years ago, along with previously unearthed offensive Reddit posts, including one from 2013 downplaying sexual assault in the military and another since-deleted 2018 one suggesting violence is necessary to enact social change. Platner has apologized for the posts and said they do not represent his growth in recent years.
Brown, the new campaign manager, declined to comment on the record.
The non-disclosure agreement first circulated among the Senate Democratic hopeful’s campaign in the hours after he came under fire for those Reddit posts last week.
The paperwork — sent electronically by a campaign contractor Sunday to McDonald, who resigned two days earlier — was voided by the campaign at 7:04 p.m. Wednesday, several days after she had already resigned and hours after POLITICO requested comment from the campaign on its use of NDAs.
The NDA — titled “Graham for Maine NDA.pdf” — was sent by Victoria Perrone, a political compliance expert and Spruce Street’s president and founder. Peronne, reached by phone, confirmed Platner was a client but would not comment further.
McDonald said she understood the financial offer to be conditional on her signing the NDA. She provided a screenshot of a text message from Perrone suggesting Monday that if McDonald could “get it back to me before the end of the day, I can get your payments out the door.”
McDonald said that Daniel Moraff, who was a consultant on Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn’s 2024 campaign, functioned as the de facto campaign manager prior to Brown’s arrival this week. In a brief phone call, Moraff said he was never officially Platner’s campaign manager.
McDonald resigned last week, citing Platner’s past posts.
“Either they didn’t thoroughly vet him or they didn’t think the things they found would be a problem,” McDonald said in an interview. “Either way, that was a poor calculus. You cannot say things like rural Mainers are ‘racist’ and ‘stupid’ or you’re a radicalized communist at 37, play them off as ‘you were a young man’ and remain a serious contender against Susan Collins. This was four years ago.”
A Platner campaign representative called McDonald a “disgruntled former employee” to the Bangor Daily News, before voiding her NDA offer.
It remains unclear whether the controversy surrounding Platner’s past will present a long-term drag on his campaign in this anything-goes era of politics for both parties.
A poll conducted over the past week — as some of Platner’s Reddit controversies were making news — and released Thursday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found Platner leading Mills in a primary matchup, 58 percent to 24 percent among first choices for Maine’s ranked-choice voting system, with remaining voters preferring other candidates or undecided.
The poll was largely conducted after the first revelations about Platner’s social media history had emerged, but before news of his tattoo. It found both him and Mills with positive favorability numbers among likely Democratic primary voters, with Platner’s advantage driven by younger voters.
