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Alex Jones Claims ‘Victory’ as Court Pauses The Onion’s Infowars Takeover

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The Onion’s plan to transform Infowars into a satirical conspiracy website faced a major roadblock Wednesday, as a Texas Appeals Court stayed the turnover of the far-right site.

Infowars founder Alex Jones confirmed the legal news with an update on X Wednesday evening, writing, “For The 2nd Time, A Major Court Has Blocked The Onion’s Attempt To Fraudulently Take Over Infowars And ‘Wear It’s [sic] Skin’ We Give Thanks To God and Infowars’ Supporters For Standing Against These Pathetic Weasels. ‘Victory or Death.’”

He expressed a similar sentiment in a video message, also uploaded to X, in which he touted the update as “a massive victory.”

“I have breaking exclusive news that just warms my heart and still gives me faith in America and our legal system,” he said. “The Onion backed by the Democrats and Bloomberg for the second time in the year and a half, after fraudulently claiming they own and run Info Wars, another giant hoax, has had their attempt to take us over slapped down by the Third Texas Court of Appeals. This is a massive victory.”

Watch his full video statement below.

Jones’ statements came as Ben Mullin, a media reporter for The New York Times, shared a snippet of the ruling late Wednesday evening. In a post on X, Mullin highlighted the portion that stated the “court temporarily stays the turnover order” while “pending further order on the Appellant’s Emergency Motion for Immediate Stay of Void Turnover Order Issued in Violation of the Bankruptcy Automatic Stay.”

Per Mullin, Ben Collins, the CEO of The Onion, sent out a message following the ruling, and shared that the Sandy Hook mass shooting victims’ families will seek emergency relief from higher courts on Thursday.

Collins also called the ruling “newly insane, unprecedented legal stalling,” according to Mullin.

Earlier this week, Free Speech Systems (FSS) — the company tied to Jones — filed an emergency motion and asked a Texas appeals court to immediately pause a lower court order that allows a court-appointed receiver to control and monetize on its assets. The motion came as The Onion touted its latest proposal to shift Infowars from a far-right, conspiracy-riddled site to one of satire.

As we previously reported last week, the court-appointed administrator that oversees Infowars asked a judge in a Travis County District Court to approve a licensing agreement that would allow The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, to operate the site. It was confirmed that comedian Tim Heidecker was tapped as creative director, with plans to initially parody Jones’ style before evolving Infowars into a broader hub for experimental comedy.

The Onion’s quest to control Infowars stems from the massive defamation judgments against Jones, after he made repeated false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Families of the victims notably sued in Texas and Connecticut, winning judgments totaling more than $1 billion.

The far-right radio show host later filed for bankruptcy, which triggered efforts to liquidate assets tied to Infowars.

Attorneys representing Sandy Hook families previously said their priority is to limit Jones’s ability to spread falsehoods, noting they view the licensing plan as a potential way to reduce his reach and generating revenue for victims.

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Keke Palmer, Raven-Symoné Rail Against Hollywood for Failing Child Stars

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Keke Palmer and Raven-Symoné are taking Hollywood to task for failing child actors.

While talking on Raven’s podcast with wife Miranda Maday, titled “Tea Time,” Palmer tore into Hollywood for abandoning child actors once they age out of the industry.

“That’s what they do to child entertainers. That’s what people don’t understand – ‘why so-and-so went crazy,’” Palmer said. “First of all, I don’t believe people go crazy. I don’t. I don’t believe it’s just like that. Child entertainers – you have to understand, people say, ‘You are a has-been.’ Your life hasn’t even begun. You’ve done all of this stuff, and you’ve created all you’ve done. You’ve done years and years of work, and then people have decided you’re done just because you got older.”

Raven, who was a child star herself, having starred on “The Cosby Show,” “That’s So Raven” and the Disney Channel Original Movie “The Cheetah Girls,” agreed with Palmer. She said it should come as no surprise that so many former child stars act out once they reach a certain age.

“And then they wonder why we act the way we – I say we very clearly,” Raven said. “We get old. So, you’re saying that I’m only useful in this life when I’m younger and making you money and making you laugh? The rest of my life doesn’t matter to you?”

The pair’s conversation comes in the wake of Hayden Panettiere’s death. The actress was a major star in her youth – appearing in things like “Remember the Titans” and NBC’s “Heroes.” When news of her death hit, plenty were quick to call out the Hollywood system and how people did not do enough for Panettiere or those like her.

“I’ll miss you. I’m so sorry you suffered,” Jack Coleman, who played Panettiere’s father on “Heroes,” wrote. “I’ll remember how happy you were on set and on the European press tour; how you championed Tess when she was being bullied; your commitment to animal welfare and the courage to put yourself in harm’s way to protect them. I only wish you had been given that same protection.”

Palmer did think that with the continued rise of content creators, there was a signal of how things could be better. Now that so many more are having their lives out there from an early age, she hopes people will offer more care for child stars as they grow.

“Everybody’s online and being perceived like we were being perceived as kids, and you know, it was only a certain avenue you could go to be looked at publicly like that,” Palmer said. “Now you can be a YouTube family, and they could know you when you came out the womb. So more people are actually having the same experience that we’ve had in different scales, in different niches, or worldwide.”

She added: “I think it lets people say, ‘Well, hey, wait a minute. There’s something we’re not talking about here.’ I think that’s something we’ve had a lot of experience with.”

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Judge Hears Arguments On Returning Trump’s Name To Kennedy Center

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A federal judge heard arguments on Thursday in the latest challenge to the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center‘s effort to install the president’s name on the complex, this time twice on its facade and once to designate the grounds for him.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, however, stopped the center’s lawyer from bringing up the “dilapidated” condition of the center, referring to it as a “non sequitur” to the issue at hand: Whether the board can return Trump’s name to prominent locations at the complex.

Earlier this month, the Kennedy Center board voted to add “Renovated and Restored by President Donald J. Trump” to the front facade below the inscription, “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Once a $100 million threshold is met for an endowment, another inscription would be placed below that one to read, “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund.”

The board also voted to rename “the physical site and grounds upon which the center sits” as the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex officio member of the board, is seeking a court order to stop the naming, as her attorneys argued that it violates a statute and the judge’s previous order. After the center’s board voted to add Trump’s name to the center, rebranding it as the Trump Kennedy Center, Beatty sued, arguing that only Congress could change the name of the complex, as it was designated as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964. Cooper agreed, and issued a preliminary injunction in June that forced the center to revert to the original name and remove lettering on the front facade of the complex.

At the hearing, DOJ attorney Brantley Mayers, representing the center, argued that the latest plans for recognizing Trump are not a “renaming.” He also contended that it did not violate a congressional law in 1983 that restricted any other memorials at the complex. He noted that the board’s resolution “was quite clear that it wanted to recognize” Trump’s “ongoing contributions,” as memorials recognize something that happened in the past.

But Cooper noted that the planned inscriptions are written in past tense.

Earlier this week, in a court filing, the center’s attorneys warned that if Trump’s name wasn’t returned to the center, it would jeopardize its future, even pointing to the potential need for demolition.

The judge declined to go into those arguments, stopping Mayers as he started to talk of the condition of the complex.

“That is all fine and good, but what does that have to do with what Congress intended?” the judge asked. He later said that nothing in his earlier order prevented the center from proceeding with renovations, with Congress allocating more than $250 million for repairs as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Nathaniel Zelinsky, one of Beatty’s attorneys, said that the name change plans were an “outright defiance” of the judge’s injunction and an act of “massive bad faith.” He argued returning Trump’s name to the complex amounted to a rebranding, while Congress also intended the grounds and land the center sits on to solely honor Kennedy. He pointed to a past proposal, ultimately never realized, to construct a Kennedy Plaza on the grounds, saying that it was “another indication Congress didn’t intend name [the complex] for anyone other than Kennedy.”

Mayers, though, argued that Congress did not prevent the board from designating areas of the center for certain individuals. When Cooper asked if that meant the board could recognize Barack Obama or George W. Bush at certain parts of the complex, like a garage, Mayers agreed.

Beatty sat with her attorneys during the hearing. Also there was Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, whose wife, Allison, is among the board members. During a brief break to address an audio issue, Lutnick huddled with DOJ lawyers.

The judge raised some jurisdictional concerns over ruling on Beatty’s emergency motion as Trump is appealing. He did not indicate exactly when he would rule, but pressed Mayers on the deadline of Sept. 8. The center has committed to refraining from installing Trump’s name until that date, but not after. Mayers said that the timing was the board’s decision.

The judge also sounded weary that he was being asked to render a ruling so quickly, during a high time for summer vacation.

In his May ruling, the judge also barred the center from embarking on a two-year closure for the renovations, concluding that the board failed to consider options and the full impact. In the meeting this month, the board considered options presented by a consultant, and against moved to shutter almost all of the complex. The judge’s injunction, though, remains in effect.

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Ellen Pompeo To Star In ‘Not A Sound’ Drama In Works At Hulu (Exclu)

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EXCLUSIVE: In March 2005, one freshman ABC drama, David E. Kelley‘s Boston Legal, wrapped its season in the Sunday 10 PM slot to make room for another rookie, Grey’s Anatomy starring Ellen Pompeo, which launched in the time period a week later.

Twenty one years after that handover, Pompeo and Kelley have come together for a new drama project, Not a Sound, in which Pompeo, known for her role as Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy, will play another medical professional. It has been set up at Hulu for development through 20th Television where the Kelley was once based for 22 years and where Pompeo is under an overall deal.

Not a Sound is written by David E. Kelley Productions President Matthew Tinker and Annakate Chappell — who worked together as writers on Kelley’s Big Sky –– based on Heather Gudenkauf’s novel of the same name, with Azazel Jacobs (His Three Daughters) set to direct.

In it, after losing her hearing in a devastating hit-and-run, disgraced ER nurse Amelia Winn (Pompeo) and her fiercely loyal service dog discover the murdered body of a former colleague — pulling Amelia into a deadly mystery that could finally reveal the truth about the accident that changed her life.

Chappell executive produces alongside Jacobs and David E. Kelley Prods.’ Kelley and Tinker and Calamity Jane’s Pompeo and Laura Holstein. 20th Television is the studio.

Matt Tinker, Annakate Chappell and Azazel Jacobs

L-R: Matthew Tinker, Annakate Chappell and Azazel Jacobs

Getty/ennifer Gluck/Courtesy

Pompeo recently received two green lights from Hulu, for a second season of anthology series Good American Family, which she is executive producing, and dramedy pilot Chicks, which she is starring in and executive produces. She is partnered on both with Katie Robbins.

Additionally, Pompeo stars in and executive produces ABC’s venerable medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, which is headed into its 23rd season. She also executive produced spinoff series Station 19 and is an executive producer on the upcoming Grey’s offshoot set in West Texas, which will premiere in midseason 2027. Pompeo is repped by CAA, Linden Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.

Tinker oversees David E. Kelley Prods.’ slate across film, television, and new media. He executive produces for the company the upcoming second seasons of Apple TV’s Presumed Innocent and Margo’s Got Money Troubles as well as the new Netflix series Myron Bolitar. As a writer, he worked on Kelley’s ABC drama series Big Sky, which 20th TV co-produced with A+E Studios, alongside Chappell. Tinker is repped by CAA and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.

Chappell is a supervising producer on CBS’ hit drama series Tracker and is writing the feature Bingo, with Robin Wright attached to direct and star. She is repped by CAA, Echo Lake and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.

Jacobs’ 2024 Netflix film His Three Daughters earned him a Gotham Award and Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. In television, Jacobs served as co-writer and executive producer on Doll & Em for Sky/HBO and directed both seasons. He is repped by CAA, manager Stuart Manishil at Novo, and attorney Jerry Dasti.

Gudenkauf was repped in the deal by Lucy Stille at Lucy Stille Literary on behalf of Marianne Merola at Brandt & Hochman Literary agents.

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