Lioness Season 3 ended with a huge twist and cliffhanger. We talked to the actor at the center of it. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
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We have tragic news to report from the world of television today.
Jennifer Eckhart, a former Fox Business producer who became known for a highly publicized legal battle with former Fox News anchor Ed Henry, has died at the age of 36.
Eckhart was found dead at her home in Martin County, Florida, on Saturday, September 19, according to a report from TMZ.
Martin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Christine Christofek said Eckhart appeared to have died by suicide.
The circumstances surrounding her death have not been fully detailed publicly.
TMZ reports that a pocket knife was found by Eckhart’s body.
Eckhart spent several years working behind the scenes at Fox, eventually becoming an associate producer at Fox Business.
She later left the network and built a new career as the host of the podcast REINVENTED, which featured conversations with people in business, sports, and entertainment who had overcome significant obstacles.
The podcast’s most recent episode was released in March and featured former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg.
But Eckhart’s name became widely known in 2020 after she filed a lawsuit accusing Henry of sexual assault.
Eckhart alleged that Henry sexually assaulted her during their time working together and said she feared his position at the network could damage her career.
Henry denied Eckhart’s allegations and maintained that their relationship was consensual.
Fox News fired Henry in July 2020 following an investigation into a complaint involving alleged sexual misconduct.
Eckhart’s legal battle continued for years, with her claims against Henry eventually being settled. Her separate claims against Fox News were dismissed, with a federal appeals court later upholding that outcome.
Eckhart continued speaking publicly about her experience after leaving Fox. In a 2020 interview, she described feeling afraid to come forward while working at the network.
In the years that followed, however, she appeared to be focused on building something beyond the legal case that had brought her national attention.
Through REINVENTED, Eckhart interviewed prominent figures about setbacks, career challenges, and starting over. The show’s concept mirrored the path she had taken herself, moving from television production into podcasting and creating a platform of her own.
Now, news of her death has once again placed Eckhart’s name in the spotlight — this time for a deeply tragic reason.
Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Jennifer Eckhart Cause of Death: Fox News Producer, 36, Found Dead With Knife Near Body was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
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The art of dealing with Trump
ALL EYES ON GRACIE: Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to sit down with President Donald Trump at Gracie Mansion this afternoon, their third in-person meeting in less than a year and the latest wrinkle in one of the strangest relationships in American politics.
Since Mamdani’s first, shockingly cordial meeting with Trump at the White House last November, political observers have scratched their heads about the democratic socialist mayor playing nice with the Republican president despite their deep disagreements on … just about everything. Ostensibly, Mamdani is putting his personal distaste for Trump aside and betting it’s best for New York City to keep things cordial so as to avoid drawing the president’s ire.
But as resistance to Trump remains animating for Democrats nationally ahead of November’s midterms, Mamdani’s strategy for engaging with him stands out.
Earlier today, Gov. Kathy Hochul made clear that she, for one, has no plans to meet with Trump while he’s in New York. “I speak to him on the phone whenever I need to,” she told reporters in Manhattan.
Hochul, who’s facing reelection in November and tends to directly criticize Trump more frequently than Mamdani, said it was her understanding that the mayor agreed to host the president at Gracie Mansion during a previous conversation at the White House.
“The mayor and [Trump] said that when he’s back in town again, he would go to Gracie Mansion,” the governor said. “I don’t have a Gracie Mansion to invite him to.”
Still, Hochul said there’s an opportunity for Mamdani to use the Gracie confab to push Trump on releasing federal funding for New York, including for law enforcement, that she said the president’s administration has been withholding.
“We have to continue fighting for what New York needs,” she said.
Mamdani’s office wouldn’t say who requested today’s meeting or share specifics about the expected focus in advance, only saying the mayor will talk to Trump about “issues affecting New York City.” A Mamdani spokesperson said the mayor will elaborate on what was discussed at a post-meeting press conference that Trump isn’t expected to attend.
After the appointment at Gracie, Trump is slated to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron before headlining a couple Republican fundraisers. By contrast, after his Trump tête-à-tête, Mamdani will have dinner with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s in the city to headline a United Nations Charter event this evening that will also feature pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a person familiar with the plans who was granted anonymity to discuss them told Playbook.
The Queens-born Trump is in town ahead of his Tuesday address to the United Nations General Assembly.
Maintaining a relationship with Trump isn’t without risk for Mamdani.
As Trump remains deeply unpopular amid the war in Iran and other controversies, some Democrats are privately questioning why the mayor sees a need to keep interacting with the president. But so far, Mamdani hasn’t faced any significant pushback from his hard-left base over his engagements with Trump, with leaders of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America largely viewing it as the mayor acting in the city’s best interests. — Chris Sommerfeldt and Madison Fernandez
From the Capitol
EYES ON AI: Hochul floated requiring safeguards like an artificial intelligence “kill switch” as part of state-level interventions to address the rapidly evolving technology.
During a Monday event in Manhattan rolling out next steps for enacting the RAISE Act, New York’s landmark AI safety law that is set to go into effect in January, the governor said she’ll “look closely at additional ways to build on” the legislation — including AI kill switches “if they’re deemed feasible and in the best interest of our state.”
The governor in recent days has vowed to take additional AI-related actions beyond the RAISE Act, but has not specified what that might look like. Her suggestion of a kill switch comes days after California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to explore such a requirement for AI companies’ most-advanced models.
Some in the tech industry have argued implementing one is not technically feasible. Federal legislation to enact a kill switch requirement is currently stalled in Congress.
When asked to expand on the prospect of requiring a kill switch, Hochul said that “all options are on the table,” but wasn’t making a commitment.
“We’re going to do the research and make the decisions that are thoughtful to protect New Yorkers,” she said. “We’ll go as far as we need to to protect people of this state and ultimately this country in the absence of other leadership.”
Read more from Madison Fernandez in POLITICO Pro.
MORE BLAKEMAN MONEY: Billionaire former casino developer Steve Wynn has donated $1 million to the main super PAC supporting Republican Bruce Blakeman’s gubernatorial bid, records filed with the state Board of Elections this morning show.
The committee, Strong and Safe New York, has now raised $5.3 million since July.
Wynn has been a top donor to national Republican causes for over a decade. His most recent large donations in New York came last year, when he gave $361,000 to the state GOP and $500,000 to a super PAC boosting Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid. — Bill Mahoney
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ENDORSEMENT CORNER: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) endorsed GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in his reelection campaign in suburban New York, Golden wrote in an opinion article published Monday.
Lawler is facing a tough reelection campaign against Democrat Cait Conley in one of the biggest House battlegrounds this November. The lawmakers have previously collaborated to advance the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, and are both members of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus.
Golden, who is not running for reelection, was one of two House Democrats to break with the party and twice vote in favor of the Republican legislative agenda earlier in September.
“Mike Lawler has been a true partner to me and a friend to fishing families he will never represent,” Golden wrote. “I strongly back him, and I hope voters send him back to work. Wherever you live, find the members who pass laws with the other party, and keep them.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the cross-aisle endorsement a “smoke and mirrors ploy” that “will do nothing to change the outcome of the race.”
“In desperation, [Lawler] is peddling an 11th hour endorsement from a retiring Congressmember who represents an out of town district more than 400 miles away,” Jeffries said in a statement. “Mike Lawler is an unadulterated phony who has never shown bipartisan courage when it matters.”
Read more from POLITICO’s Elleiana Green.
ON THE AIRWAVES: With fewer than 50 days to go before Election Day, House Democrats’ main super PAC is making its first TV ad buy in support of Conley on Monday.
The House Majority PAC said it is reserving $1.2 million on cable in the Hudson Valley contest. (An additional $1.2 million is going toward fighting Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s re-election in New Jersey, which is also covered by the New York City media market.) HMP said earlier this year that it didn’t include the high-dollar NYC media market in its initial reservations because it was “prioritiz[ing] markets where rates increase significantly.”
Republicans have been largely outpacing Democrats in NY-17 on the ad spending front, thanks to significant buys from super PACs backed by the president and House leadership. From the beginning of September through Election Day, the GOP has placed $15 million on ads across broadcast, cable, CTV and digital platforms, according to ad tracker AdImpact.
The new HMP spend is the biggest from an outside Democratic group so far, but still leaves a large gap between the parties. Democrats have placed around $3 million on advertising in the period between September and Election Day, with the largest chunk coming from the Conley campaign. — Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
IN OTHER NEWS:
— JUDGES CASH IN: Brooklyn Democratic Party leaders have raked in $190,000 in contributions from judges and judicial candidates since 2012, raising some ethical and legal concerns. (New York Post)
— AFFORDABILITY AHEAD: Anthony Shorris, the mayor’s new pick for the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, laid out a vision for solving the city’s affordability crisis that goes beyond Mamdani’s vision for five city-owned grocery stores. (The New York Times)
— BUY NOW, PAY LATER: The Mamdani administration is pushing Albany for tougher ‘buy now, pay later’ regulation, as many New Yorkers use the plans to pay for basic essentials, sinking deeper into debt. (amNY)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
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We’ve never heard a song like this from Luke — or maybe even in country music at all — before. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
We’ve never heard a song like this from Luke — or maybe even in country music at all — before. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
This is it. With one week remaining in the regular season, the National League playoff field looks nearly complete. The Brewers, Dodgers and Braves have already clinched their respective divisions, while the Cubs, Padres and Phillies are jockeying for wild-card seeding while hoping to hold off the Diamondbacks, who haven’t been eliminated yet but are four games back of the final wild-card spot. In the American League, meanwhile, much is yet to be determined. The Rays, Yankees and Red Sox are the only teams who have already clinched a spot in the playoffs. Tampa Bay can clinch the AL East as early as Tuesday. The other AL division races are much tighter. In the West, the Rangers lead the Astros by one game for the division lead. The Guardians also lead the White Sox by one game in the Central. As we wait to see how it all shakes out, our final regular season power rankings below include every team’s biggest surprise of the year. (Note: Only teams within five games of a playoff spot entering the final week of the season were included in our rankings.) Do they belong on this list? No. This is the most disappointing team in baseball. Technically, however, they’ve yet to be eliminated from the playoff race. They’re five games back in the AL West, though, so it won’t be long before this debacle ends. Cal Raleigh going from MVP contender last year to a below league-average hitter with the worst batting average in the sport was the biggest surprise (a terrific final month won’t change that), but it’s worth pointing out that the entire offensive operation was a disaster, and a talented rotation didn’t do nearly enough to make up for the lineup’s spiral. The biggest surprise is that Adley Rutschman is no longer on the team. But in terms of on-field production, Gunnar Henderson — who combined for 20.2 bWAR his last three seasons — being a league-average hitter in his age-25 season is the most shocking part of this discouraging season in Baltimore, especially coming off his standout World Baseball Classic. Things are starting to crumble in Toronto. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left Sunday’s game with back stiffness. Dylan Cease is getting an MRI on his shoulder. The Blue Jays dropped both of their series last week while fighting for a playoff spot. Not good. Guerrero finally went deep at the Rogers Centre, but he is currently sitting on nine home runs for the season in what has been the worst year of his career. He entered Sunday with the 12th-lowest slugging percentage among all qualified MLB hitters, which is almost incomprehensible. But it’s not just a lack of power hurting the reigning AL champs on offense. As a team, the Blue Jays went from having the highest on-base percentage in MLB last year to the fifth-lowest this year. If I told you the Astros’ pitching fWAR leader this year was someone who pitched in Japan last season, you might assume it’s Tatsuya Imai, the guy who signed for three years and $54 million before the season. But if you’ve watched any Houston baseball this year, you know that’s not true. Instead, it’s a player who signed a minor-league contract before the season. Peter Lambert, who pitched for NPB’s Yakult Swallows last year, has thrown more innings than any Astros starter this season and provided a semblance of stability to a rotation that desperately needed it. The AL West-leading Rangers had one All-Star this year. Corey Seager? Nope. Jacob deGrom? Surprisingly, no. Wyatt Langford? Try again. It was Jacob Latz, who has 30 saves this year and has emerged as a key piece of an otherwise uninspiring Texas bullpen. Latz has the same WHIP as Jacob Misiorowski (0.81) and the same batting average against as Mason Miller (.144). Things have started to spiral in September, but the big surprise is that the White Sox — after losing more than 100 games each of the last three seasons — are in this position at all to contend for a division title. No one expected things to flip so quickly. Specifically, an offense that ranks sixth in MLB in home runs has been a major stunner (even taking into account the recent downturn). Nolan Arenado’s go-ahead grand slam Sunday helped keep the Diamondbacks’ hopes alive, as slim as they may be. FanGraphs currently gives them a 5.9% chance to make the playoffs. The biggest surprise is not their offense but their pitching staff, which was expected to be among the worst in the sport but instead ranks 12th in MLB in ERA. Specifically, rebound seasons from starters Eduardo Rodriguez (2.89 ERA) and Michael Soroka (3.45) stand out. It’s not nearly the same as last year’s extraordinary division comeback, but the Guardians are doing the Guardians thing. On Aug. 16, they were six games back in the AL Central. Now, they have a one-game lead entering the season’s final week. The good surprise? Parker Messick has the third-lowest ERA among all qualified AL starters and is a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate who will likely also receive Cy Young votes. The bad surprise? The Guardians are doing all this despite Jose Ramirez being a below league-average hitter for the first time in more than a decade. (Worth noting: He has looked a lot better lately.) It was a bad week on the field for the Red Sox, who dropped series in Texas and Tampa Bay, but they also punched their ticket to the postseason. So, considering where they were early this year after firing their manager, there’s plenty of reason to celebrate. It’s not a surprise that the Red Sox have a good rotation; it is a surprise that the best pitcher of the bunch might already be rookie Payton Tolle, who leads all qualified Boston starters in strikeouts, fWAR, WHIP and expected ERA. Late last year, Zack Wheeler had a blood clot removed in his shoulder and then a rib removed during thoracic outlet decompression surgery. The procedures ended his 2025 season and threatened to derail the end of his sensational career. Instead, at 36 years old, he hasn’t missed a beat. Wheeler has bounced back to again be one of the best arms in baseball — all the more important now, with Jesus Luzardo’s shoulder giving the standout left-hander trouble at a bad time. What if I told you Shohei Ohtani had a .953 OPS as a hitter and a 1.79 ERA as a pitcher in the first half…and two months later wasn’t the MVP favorite? Pete Crow-Armstrong was obviously an immense talent already, but what he’s doing this year — and the way he has improved his plate discipline and selectiveness while only getting more powerful at the plate — is extraordinary. He’s producing one of the greatest seasons in Cubs history. What a late-season run. The Padres have won 14 of 16 games to not only put themselves in prime position to make the postseason but also to potentially host a wild-card series if they can outplay the Cubs and Phillies over the season’s final week. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill are heating up, but neither has been the team’s best hitter this year (min. 300 plate appearances). In a career year, that honor belongs to Ty France, who leads the Padres in every slash-line category (.301/.366/.519). Entering this year, Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, Hunter Brown, Jacob deGrom and Max Fried were among the top contenders for the American League Cy Young Award. And none of them will win it. Cam Schlittler was coming off an encouraging rookie season, but his swift development into the unquestioned ace of the Yankees’ staff has been the biggest surprise. Now, he’s the runaway favorite to earn MLB’s top pitching honor — and might even receive MVP votes. The second-lowest ERA among qualified starters since the trade deadline belongs to the Braves’ Tyler Mahle, who is making Atlanta’s seemingly quiet deadline look a lot more impactful in retrospect. Mahle has a 1.28 in eight starts since the deadline and has gone at least six innings in seven of those outings. He doesn’t have the strikeout stuff you’d desire from a postseason standout, but right now he looks like the best option to start a Game 2 after Atlanta ace Chris Sale. The big surprise on the pitching staff this year was All-Star Justin Wrobleski, and the fact that he’ll be pitching out of the bullpen come October (barring a starting pitching catastrophe) is a reminder of the Dodgers’ embarrassment of riches on the staff. The big surprise on the offense is that both of the Dodgers’ corner outfielders — Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández — were below league-average hitters for most of the year. That’s no longer the case, though, as both are playing their best baseball at the right time. The Rays’ offense has the highest batting average in MLB, their starting rotation ranks third in ERA, and they’re trending toward winning their first division title in five years. Any of those facts would constitute a surprise for a team that was projected to finish with a losing record this year. But the biggest surprise of all might be 31-year-old closer Bryan Baker, who had a 4.06 ERA last year and is now an All-Star closer with the most saves in the sport. They’ve already set a franchise record with 98 wins as they barrel toward their first ever 100-win season. That’s probably the team’s biggest surprise considering, yet again, they were overlooked and underestimated entering the year. Both the offense (hi, Jake Bauers) and the pitching staff have their fair share of surprises, but Jacob Misiorowski going from intriguing rookie to the best pitcher in baseball in just one season might stand out more than anything.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Jake Owen recently said goodbye to an incredibly beloved person in his life: his granddaddy Bryan Yancey Owen, a World War II veteran who passed away at 103. To the country star, Bryan was much more than a grandfather. He was someone he looked up to, leaned on and continued to learn from well into adulthood.
Their bond was something that Owen has spoken about many times throughout his career. In fact, when asked in October 2025 about the most important person in his phone, Jake didn’t name any of the major celebrities that he likely has stored in his contacts. Instead, he said his grandfather.
“I’d say the best number that I got in my phone is my granddad, who’s 103. There’s nobody on Earth that’s more important in my phone than him,” he told Evan Paul on Taste of Country Nights at the time. “There’s nobody on Earth that I can call that can give me the wisdom and insight and knowledge [that he can]. I could call him right now and he would answer the phone: ‘Hello there, grandson.’”
Even at 103, with his grandmother at 102, Owen revealed that the two were still strong enough to live together on their own in Winter Haven, Florida. And it’s clear that Bryan’s wisdom never faded.
Owen also recalled asking his grandfather how he was able to live such a long life, to which Bryan responded, “’I’m grateful…You can’t truly be grateful with a bitter heart.”
When the unfortunate loss came, Jake Owen honored his memory by taking to Instagram and sharding a powerful video singing Randy Travis’ “He Walked on Water.” The caption paired with the heartfelt clip found Owen admitting that his grandfather’s loss had him feeling “heavy on my heart.”
“Lost my Grandaddy recently. Been heavy on my heart. He was an angel on this Earth, here to tell us about the importance of Christ and Heaven on the other side of life,” he wrote. “I know he’s there, and he’s smiling down… see ya up there one day, Grandad.”
Bryan Yancey Owen was just a few weeks shy of his 104th birthday in October. Owen had celebrated his granddad’s 102nd birthday back in October 2024 with a heartfelt tribute that captured just how much Bryan meant to him.
He reflected on the incredible life Bryan has lived, from being born in Hopkinsville, KY to serving with the 13th Armored Infantry Division in 1944, and then coming home to work as an Executive Vice President of Hays Supply Co. until retiring in 1988.
“Born in a time when the world was tougher, you served with the 13th Armored Infantry Division in 1944, and even now, you remain the definition of strength, consistency, and grace. You’ve been the guiding star I’ve looked up to since I was a kid always wanting to walk through life like you do. Your steady presence grounds me every time I feel scattered, and your example teaches me what it means to live with intention and heart,” he wrote at the time.
“You’re not just an unbelievable grandfather, but a great-grandfather, a great-great-grandfather, and a loving husband to your 100-year-old sweetheart. The love story you share is nothing short of magic…something the rest of us can only hope to touch in our lives. Thank you for everything you’ve built for this family and for being the unshakable rock of the Owen legacy. You’ve shown me what it truly means to be a man, and I’m so grateful for the lessons you’ve passed on.”
Along the way, Bryan also had an 85+ year love story with his wife. Together they raised four children and had 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.
Their longstanding relationship inspired Jake’s hit song “Homemade” and its music video. Earlier this month, before performing the heartfelt tune, Jake Owen told a room full of fans the story of how his grandparents met and fell in love.
“My granddad met my grandma on leave from the army. He was in a town of Mumfordville, Kentucky. He just happened to be trying to get to where he was from in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. They hitchhiked. He’s like, ‘That was the best way to do it.’ At the time he saw my grandma walking into a house he thought was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He took a picture of the house. This is a true story. He took a picture of that house and he went back and when he had time, he started writing letters and just putting a picture of the house on the letter and he put Munfordville, Kentucky underneath it,” Owen explained.
@ms.shaymedina This is a story Jake Owen told that his concert about how his grandparents met it tugged on my great strings. His grandpa recently passed away at 103! What an amazing life this man had my heart goes out for Jake and his family I know he is surly missed ❤️ ##jakeowen##sweetstory##grandparents##lovestory##concert ♬ original sound – AdventurousShay
Bryan’s persuasion worked because eventually, she replied. Years later, they met up again and the minute she saw Bryan come back from war, she vowed to marry him.
“They were married for 79 years and as much credit as my granddad gets for being an awesome man, you can’t be a great man without an awesome woman behind you. I know my nanny is the reason he lived to be 103,” Owen added.
Even though his granddaddy will no longer be at the other end of the phone, the lessons, stories and love he gave Owen will continue to live on through his family and through the music he helped inspire.
The post Jake Owen Opens Up About Losing His Granddad, Bryan Yancey Owen, At 103 appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
After stepping away from the road earlier this year to focus on his health, faith and family, Randall King is officially back onstage and he isn’t taking a single moment for granted.
The Texas country singer recently returned to his home state to headline the Lee Street Jamboree in Greenville, Texas. While on stage, he opened up about the five months he spent away from touring, and revealed that in that time, he checked himself into rehab.
As of this month, he is officially six and a half months sober and while this new chapter is an incredibly important part of King’s journey to finding happiness again, he noted that the biggest thing he reconnected with along the way was his faith.
“I went absent for about five months, cancelled my tour, put myself into rehab. I’m six and a half months sober. But the most important thing to me is that I got my faith back. I got my family back,” he told the crowd.
King went on to stress that it’s okay not to be okay. He encouraged listeners to never be afraid to tell someone that you need help “‘cause it happens to all of us.” Especially being in the music industry, King admitted that it can be “really hard” to stay focused on the things that are most important when surrounded by so many distractions.
“I put my career before anything else, and I put myself before anything else. That ‘ol ego had to be put in check,” he admitted.
@lilyjjoseph I contemplated posting this, but then I realized there is no shame in being real. And I think Randall’s message could touch so many more people than just those who were in the audience tonight. “I think music is the most powerful tool in the world besides prayer.” There’s truly nothing stronger than having God on your side through whatever you’re facing. #RandallKing #countrymusic #faith #powerinprayer #Christian ♬ original sound – Lily Joseph
By stepping away for those few months, it seems that the rising star came out on the other side a much better version of himself. Now that he’s back, King hopes that his music and his story will continue to make an impact.
“I can tell you, man, I’m just grateful to be here. I’m grateful that God turned it all around, and that music’s still a part of my life, because I think music is the most powerful tool in the world besides prayer. If my music’s meant anything to you over the years and it’s touched your life in a way that’s changed some things for you, that means everything — because that’s what it’s here for.”
Randall King first made the announcement that he would be canceling his tour and taking a break from social media last March. The “You In A Honky Tonk” singer admits he got to a point where he knew that something had to change in order for him to continue on.
“It’s easy to get lost in this world. Sometimes you have no idea how deep into it you are until you step back and look. Over the past couple weeks I’ve dug deep and taken a hard look at areas of my life that need serious attention and change because not only have my choices effected myself, they have affected the people I love the most.”
He continued, “My faith comes first and right now I don’t feel right stepping on stage without the confidence that I’m living as the man God has called me to be. For that reason, I’m pausing touring for the time being. I’m actively seeking professional help and focusing on my faith, my health/mental health, and my family.”
Making the call to cancel several shows throughout the spring and into the summer months was no easy decision, but he knew it was ultimately the right one to make for himself and his family.
“Let me take this time, commit to getting well, and through this, return stronger, focused, and more grateful than ever.Thank you to everyone who has supported me and prayed for me. I’ve always looked at music as a way to heal but this is bigger than music. I appreciate any prayers you have. Through God’s grace and mercy I will rise from this and see yall soon.”
He made his first appearance back on social media in July, when he told fans that he would be easing back into life on the road. His return to the stage was a memorable one. On August 8 the 36-year-old stepped into the circle of the Grand Ole Opry, and introduced his next chapter.
King has since resumed his headlining shows in addition to joining Luke Bryan for several dates on his Word On The Street Tour. Fans will have plenty of opportunities to catch Randall King on stage, with shows scheduled all the way through December 12, when he will wrap up for the year in El Paso, TX.
The post Randall King Shares Major Life Update: I’m ‘Six And A Half Months Sober’ appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
The president is going after the press again.
On Sept. 19, 2026, journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied access to the White House after President Donald Trump revoked their credentials, citing “their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” On social media, Trump posted, “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President.”
This is not Trump’s first attempt at banning journalists from the White House. During his first term, he sought to ban CNN’s Jim Acosta by revoking his credentials following a contentious news conference about the 2018 midterm elections.
In that conflict, CNN quickly filed a lawsuit, arguing that, “If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials.”
Journalism organizations also responded. The Committee to Protect Journalists, the Radio Television Digital News Association and even Acosta’s peers at The Daily Caller – a right-leaning news outlet – condemned the White House ban.
A federal court granted CNN a temporary injunction – reinstating Acosta’s press pass. The Trump administration later restored Acosta’s credentials, and CNN dropped its lawsuit.
Many commentators and members of the press have called Trump’s latest ban on the three news organizations a violation of the First Amendment.
Truth Social Donald Trump account
White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich said on X, “Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment.”
Even George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who staunchly supports Republicans and frequently criticizes the press, said on X that the ban “would be an assault on long-honored principles of a free press.”
As Turley and many others have argued over the weekend, Trump’s ban is almost certainly unconstitutional under the First Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Media law professor Frank LoMonte argued in 2018, “The First Amendment guarantees all Americans freedom to speak and publish without government interference.”
But they may be missing a crucial point. In fact, there’s more than one constitutional right involved in such a case. The judge who restored Acosta’s press pass in 2018 primarily based his ruling on the reporter’s Fifth Amendment rights to due process, not on the First Amendment.
And in my view as a constitutional law professor, it is less clear whether the press has a constitutional right of access to the White House even though past presidents have honored and respected the press’s access to the executive branch.
While several Supreme Court cases, such as Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, unequivocally provide the press with a right of access to criminal trials, there is no Supreme Court precedent that specifically provides a clear constitutional right of access to the White House.
Make that two constitutional rights
In one case from 1977, Sherrill v. Knight, Robert Sherrill, the Washington correspondent for The Nation, was – after holding press passes over several years – denied a press pass because the Secret Service advised he should not be given one. The Secret Service refused to disclose their justification.
Sherrill sued, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the Secret Service cannot deny a White House press pass absent “narrow and specific standards by which applications are to be judged.”
The court required the White House to provide the press with “notice of the factual bases for denial, an opportunity for (them) to respond to these, and a final written statement of the reasons for denial (of a press pass).”
In the court’s view, these requirements – notice and an opportunity to rebut the bases for the denial of a press pass – are protected by two constitutional guarantees working together, the press protections in the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment’s protections from arbitrary deprivations of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
In other words, before the federal government can deprive an individual of their life, liberty or property, the federal government must provide that individual with due process, whose purpose is widely accepted as preventing “arbitrary governmental actions.”
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Due process is key
There are a number of Supreme Court decisions that could be key in the current journalists’ lawsuit, which was filed on Sept. 21, 2026.
Among them is Mathews v. Eldridge from 1976, in which the Supreme Court stated that due process is flexible depending on the extent of the liberty or property interest at stake. But in general, the justices said, due process requires the government to provide notice to the individual and an opportunity for the individual to present their case before the deprivation occurs.
In Sherrill v. Knight from 1977, the court ruled that the denial of a press pass implicated a First Amendment liberty interest. That interest, the court wrote, “undoubtedly qualifies as liberty which may not be denied without due process of law under the fifth amendment.”
This nuance – the First and Fifth Amendment working in tandem – is what most commentators and critics are missing in their response to the recent ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico. In fact, these outlets collectively lead with their claim that the Trump administration violated their Fifth Amendment right to due process in their lawsuit to block Trump’s ban.
“Even if attending a White House event is not a constitutionally guaranteed right, that doesn’t mean the government is free to take it away as punishment,” LoMonte argued in 2018.
Based on public reporting, it is clear that the Trump administration did not provide CNN, MS NOW or Politico with clear written notice stating the reasons for the revocation of their press passes. It certainly did not provide the outlets with an opportunity to rebut Trump’s unsupported claim that they report “FICTION and LIES.”
The same Trump-appointed judge who decided the CNN Acosta case has been assigned to the latest press ban case. So, if the CNN Acosta case is any indication, I expect the federal judge to promptly, but temporarily, reinstate the news outlets’ press passes while Trump tries to argue that his actions are constitutional, which in my view, they are not.
Wayne Unger 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