Jo Dee Messina is preparing to release her first album in a decade and her excitement is contagious. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Day: March 19, 2026
Jo Dee Messina is preparing to release her first album in a decade and her excitement is contagious. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
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Charlie Kirk’s widow can’t catch a break.
In addition to making odd statements and behaving strangely, Erika Kirk’s actions have made the target of conspiracy theories.
But what in the world could explain this $1k shopping spree, not even a full day after her husband died?
It wasn’t funeral clothes, if you’re wondering. Could there be some sort of explanation?
A $1,000 shopping spree hours after her husband was killed?
A TikToker named Markos is spilling some tea about Erika’s alleged shopping spree in the wake of her husband’s death.
In a TikTok video, he alleged that an Alo employee contacted him and handed over a receipt as evidence.
(Alo is a clothing brand known for gymwear with what critics call a hefty price tag.)
“You cannot defend her behavior at this point,” Markos opined.
Allegedly, he said, Erika spent over $1,000 the day after Charlie’s shooting to purchase black clothing.
@markosbits Erika, if you’re gonna go on a shopping spree 12 hours after your hubby gets sniped at least treat yourself to Prada.
No, this could not have been emergency funeral clothing, he explained.
Markos’ video notes that not only is this gymwear — not like the skirts, dresses, blazers, and suits that people might wear to a funeral — but it apparently has large branding on it.
The purchases, totaling $1,043, came at 11:10 AM on Thursday, September 11 — about 19 hours after Charlie died. The name on the receipt was Erika Franzese, her maiden name.
Now, that isn’t “before the body was cold,” as Markos hyperbolically dubbed it. Algor mortis aside, the body was certainly in a temperature-controlled environment well before the shopping went down.
The point, simply put, is that this seems like a weird move for a new widow. It’s not helping her image.
Is there an explanation that could make this make sense?
To be blunt, Erika went from being the essentially unknown wife of a notorious Christian nationalist to becoming the target of scorn from both sides of the political aisle.
Different people react in different ways to grief.
While many — including Markos — point out that most would not go on shopping sprees for pricey gymwear the morning after their spouse’s assassination, it’s true that different people have different ways to cope.
Could there be some sort of explanation for all of this?
Apparently, there is.
Mikey McCoy was Charlie Kirk’s chief of staff. Elizabeth is his wife.
She took to her Instagram Story to defend Erika, referring to herself as “the Alo purchaser.”
Apparently, she made these purchases as a favor to Erika.
“Think twice and consider evaluating things through a little grace perhaps,” she asked, “when you guys go down your next rabbit hole.”
Elizabeth also shared that she had gone to Target for other supplies.
All settled, right?
Admittedly, some wonder why Charlie Kirk’s wife seemingly had a card in her maiden name.
However, we can all probably recognize that the general dislike of Erika is probably a larger factor here than any purchase.
(Politically, the left dislikes Erika for taking on the mantle of her late husband’s white nationalism and Christian nationalism, while the right seems to resent that Erika is stepping into her husband’s shoes without the charisma or experience to back it up. Also she’s a woman, which many of them find unforgivable.)
You know when you hate someone so much that you cringe when they laugh or hate any restaurant that they frequent? The Erika thing has reached those proportions.
That said … this isn’t doing any favors for Alo as a brand.
Erika Kirk BLASTED for $1k Shopping Spree Hours After Charlie Died: What Could Explain … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
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In a move that began to feel inevitable in recent days, ABC has canceled Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette.
The decision follows the release of shocking footage that shows Paul assaulting then-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen.
At one point in the video, Paul threw several chairs at Mortensen, one of which allegedly struck her 5-year-old daughter.
“In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of The Bachelorette at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” Disney said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon (per NBC News).
Many fans of The Bachelorette and its related series are breathing a sigh of relief today, as the consensus among viewers was that Paul’s season would’ve permanently degraded one of the longest-running franchises in reality TV history.
Paul’s other series, the Hulu reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, has already suspended production in response to recent developments.
Taylor has not yet issued a statement on what may well be the end of her career as a reality star and influencer.
Asked about the scandal during an appearance on Wednesday’s Good Morning America, Paul declined to go into specifics but admitted that it had “been a heavy time to see the headlines.”
“But I will say, I’ve been here before, and I got through it, and, you know, shared my story, my light. So I’m hoping that I can do that again,” she added.
From the beginning, Mortensen has maintained that ABC was aware of the allegations against Paul, and they made the decision to cast her as Bachelorette in spite of the risks.
He also denied Taylor’s allegation that he was the one who made the allegations public.
“His number one priority here is protecting [their 2-year-old son], Ever,” a rep for Mortensen tells Entertainment Weekly, adding:
“He knew there was a possibility it could come out, but he was not going to be the one to proactively do that because he has always wanted a decent relationship with Taylor.
“It’s been really hard to achieve that, but he wants to co-parent well. He was just hoping that if he says nothing, as he usually does, it would go away. He’s never done any kind of sit-down interview about his side,” the spokesperson continued.
Paul’s casting was controversial from the very beginning, but very few of her critics would have predicted that her season would never even make it to air.
Only time will tell what sort of effect this move will have on the future of this franchise.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
Taylor Frankie Paul’s Season of ‘The Bachelorette’ Canceled By ABC Amid … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
The Trump administration announced a US$10 million reward on March 15, 2026, for information leading to the capture of several senior Iranian figures.
While two of these leaders have since been killed by Israeli strikes, they are included here to provide a more complete picture of Iran’s powerful elite – people deeply embedded in the Islamic Republic’s political, intelligence and security architecture.
As an international affairs scholar, I know their careers reflect the institutional pillars of the regime – clerical authority, intelligence coordination, military power – and help explain why they are considered high-value targets.
Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei
The son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike in February 2026, Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was chosen as Iran’s new supreme leader in early March.
Long viewed as a powerful behind-the-scenes figure, he operated within his father’s inner circle. He has cultivated strong relationships with Iran’s security and intelligence institutions and earned a reputation as a political fixer and enforcer.
Despite never holding formal elected or senior appointed office, Khamenei had been widely perceived as a potential successor to his father. Such a transition would have been controversial under normal circumstances, given his lack of experience and the ideological sensitivity around hereditary succession in a system born from anti-monarchical revolution.
Khamenei has also been linked to political controversies. During the 2005 presidential election, reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi accused him of involvement in electoral manipulation. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later alleged that Khamenei engaged in financial misconduct.
Public opposition to his perceived rise was visible during the 2022–23 protests, when demonstrators explicitly rejected the prospect of his leadership by shouting “Mojtaba, may you die and never see leadership.”
Seyyed Ali-Asghar (Mir) Hejazi
A cleric with long-standing ties to Iran’s intelligence apparatus, Seyyed Ali-Asghar Hejazi had been among the closest aides to Ali Khamenei. He began his political career in 1980 as part of a “purification committee” tasked with firing perceived opponents from state institutions in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Hejazi later served as deputy for foreign affairs in the Ministry of Intelligence in the early 1980s and, more recently, as deputy chief of staff in the Office of the Supreme Leader. In this role, he has functioned as a key intermediary between various branches of government as well as religious and political personalities – transmitting Khamenei’s directives, shaping high-level policy and coordinating Iran’s complex intelligence and security networks.
He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2013 for alleged human rights violations, including involvement in the suppression of the 2009 Green Movement, and by the European Union in 2019. He apparently survived an Israeli attack on March 6, 2026.
Seyyed Esmail Khatib
Seyyed Esmail Khatib, 64, who was killed on March 18, 2026, had built his career within Iran’s intelligence and security establishment. He joined intelligence operations linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1980 and was wounded during the Iran–Iraq War.
Following the war, this cleric held a series of senior intelligence roles, including director general of intelligence for Qom province, starting in 1991. He also held positions within the supreme leader’s security office from 2009–11 and was head of the judiciary’s Protection and Intelligence Center, a counterintelligence body within Iran’s judiciary, from 2012–19. He later served as a senior official within Astan Quds Razavi, a major religious and economic conglomerate controlled directly by Iran’s supreme leader.
Sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2020 for alleged human rights abuses, Khatib became Iran’s minister of intelligence in 2021.
Ali Larijani
Ali Larijani, who was assassinated on March 17, 2026, was one of the Islamic Republic’s most experienced political insiders. Born into a prominent clerical family, he rose through both military and civilian institutions, beginning with roles linked to the Revolutionary Guard in the early 1980s.
Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images
Over the decades, Larijani, 68, held numerous senior positions. Those include minister of culture from 1992–94 and head of state broadcasting from 1994–2004. He was also secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2004–08 and again from 2025–26. Larijani also served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2005-07.
From early January 2026, and more clearly following the Feb. 28 killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, Larijani emerged as a central decision-maker within the system before his death.
Brig. Gen. Eskandar Momeni
A Revolutionary Guard-affiliated security official, Eskandar Momeni, 64, is a veteran of the Iran–Iraq War and participated in counterinsurgency operations against leftist groups in northern Iran.
He later held a range of senior law enforcement roles, including head of the Police Emergency Center, a dispatch center that directs emergency response units, from 2004–05, deputy for operations of the national police from 2005–08, and chief of traffic police from 2009–14. He also holds a doctorate in national security.
As deputy commander of Iran’s Law Enforcement Force, responsible for public security, from 2015–18, Momeni oversaw security responses during the 2017-18 protests, which were met with force. Since becoming minister of interior in August 2024, he has remained a central figure in domestic security policy, including the lethal response to unrest in early 2026 in which an estimated 7,000 to 30,000 Iranians were killed.
Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Image
Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi
A senior Revolutionary Guard commander and longtime military strategist, Yahya Rahim Safavi, 73, received military training in Syria prior to the 1979 revolution and later became a key figure during the Iran–Iraq War.
He served as commander of the Revolutionary Guard ground forces, from 1985–89, deputy commander in chief from 1989–97 and commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard from 1997–2007. During his tenure, he reportedly also earned a Ph.D. in geography.
In December 2006, the U.N. Security Council put Safavi on its sanctions list for his involvement in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. After stepping down as Revolutionary Guard commander, Safavi was appointed senior military adviser to the supreme leader and is still serving in that role. He remains under U.S. sanctions.
Mehrzad Boroujerdi 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.
Politics + Society – The Conversation
Breaded fish sandwiches are sold in several fast food restaurants, and most stick to a similar format. One chain flips the script by using a regional delicacy.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
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We have tragic news to report from the world of television today.
Jordan Wright — a beloved TV personality who has appeared on numerous reality shows — has passed away.
He was just 33 years old.
According to reports from People and other outlets, Wright was found dead in Thailand under circumstances that remain under investigation.
Wright’s body was discovered on March 14 in a drainage canal near Bang Tao Beach in Phuket, just weeks after he had relocated to the country.
Local police say there were no immediate signs of foul play.
Officials reported that Wright had checked into his hotel alone and was expected to check out on March 13, but never did. A search of his room revealed no signs of forced entry or disturbance.
Security footage captured Wright appearing restless outside the hotel prior to his disappearance. Investigators believe his movements eventually led to the area where his body was later found.
Authorities also confirmed that his phone and hotel key card were recovered near the scene.
At this time, an autopsy is pending, and officials have not determined an official cause of death. They are also working to establish whether any substances may have played a role.
Wright first gained recognition through appearances on the British reality series The Only Way Is Essex and Ex on the Beach.
Though his time in the spotlight was relatively brief, he remained a recognizable figure among fans of the genre. In recent years, he had stepped away from television and returned to work as a firefighter.
In the days before his death, Wright had been sharing updates from Thailand on social media, documenting what appeared to be a new chapter in his life.
Tributes begin to emerge
Across social media today, friends, former castmates, and a legion of adoring fans are sharing messages of grief and remembrance.
A spokesperson for The Only Way Is Essex expressed sympathy for Wright’s loved ones, while fellow reality personalities left messages honoring his memory.
“Lost for words bro. Amazing memories with you mate. Rest easy brother,” influencer Brandon Myers wrote.
Authorities in Thailand continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Wright’s death, with key details — including the official cause — still pending.
What is clear is that this is a deeply sad loss involving a young man whose life ended far too soon, leaving those who knew him searching for answers and mourning his passing.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
Jordan Wright Cause of Death: Beloved Reality TV Star Was 33 was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
Every year, Cadbury releases its mini eggs in spring, but this year, people in the United Kingdom are complaining that those eggs taste different.
Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips
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Whether you know him for his acting, the old meme about him, or his political controversies, Chuck Norris is a very famous name.
He has been hospitalized following a medical incident.
There’s a lot that we don’t know just yet.
But here is everything that we do know:
Is he okay?
On Thursday, March 19, TMZ reported that Norris was rushed to the hospital in Hawaii.
According to the report, the 86-year-old actor was on the island of Kauai.
It is unclear what health incident may have occurred.
For now, we know only that it was a medical emergency of some kind.
However, for whatever it’s worth, those closest to Norris told TMZ that he is in good spirits.
It is possible — even likely — that we will know more about Norris’ condition within the coming days.
After all, a celebrity (even an aging TV actor who is best known for an odd meme from over two decades ago) going to a hospital means a lot of people will have the opportunity to leak details.
His medical incident could range from something cardiovascular to an allergic reaction to something else altogether.
Admittedly, most of Norris’ fans would feel much more comfortable hearing a health update from the man himself.
It not only shows that he’s the one making things public, but will help reassure people who worry about him that he’s alright.
He is 86 years old
Just over a week before this, on March 10, Norris celebrated his birthday.
The controversial actor is 86 years old.
He attempted a callback at his eponymous meme from the early aughts, quipping: “I don’t age. I level up.”
Norris announced: “I’m 86 today! Nothing like some playful action on a sunny day to make you feel young.”
He expressed: “I’m grateful for another year, good health, and the chance to keep doing what I love.”
Despite his age, Norris has continued to remain physically active.
(And, of course, to showcase this activity on social media.)
Norris has shared photos and videos of himself riding horses, lifting weights, and going on hikes.
He has also of course engaged in what appear to be very careful practice fights.
However, health is not synonymous with physical activity. Staying active helps, but does not make anyone immune to medical incidents.
He is a controversial figure
Norris has consciously chosen to be a controversial figure, which goes back many decades.
He was an outspoken fan of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. He has openly supported and rubbed elbows with Benjamin Netanyahu.
A little under two decades ago, he voiced support for the “birther” conspiracies surrounding President Barack Obama. Norris also supported Prop 8, which temporarily outlawed marriage equality in California.
Infamously, in 2012, he “warned” of civilizational doom if President Obama were to be reelected. Though it does often feel like the world is crumbling into despair, Obama is not the cause of the collapse.
All of this has complicated his legacy and how some of his erstwhile fans regard him and his projects from decades past.
But on the other hand, he’s not one of those people who rolled out of bed one day and decided to become radicalized. There’s something to be said for consistency.
Chuck Norris Rushed to Hospital After Medical Incident was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
Maine seafood is no joke, and some of the best comes from small towns along the coast. Reviews say this small shack in Boothbay makes a great fish sandwich.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews