October, 2022 - Press News Rooms

Nancy Pelosi ‘Heartbroken’ & ‘Traumatized’ After Husband Was Attacked – Read Her Statement!

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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Nancy Pelosi has broken her silence on the attack of her husband Paul Pelosi.

On Friday, the Speaker of the House and her family suffered a devastating scare when Paul became the victim of a violent attack as their San Francisco home was broken into by an assailant. The 82-year-old was rushed to the hospital for brain surgery after the attacker beat him with a hammer and tried to tie him up while “waiting for Nancy” to come home (she was in Washington DC at the time). Thankfully, Paul managed to call 911 and cops arrived just in time.

Addressing the harrowing situation, Nancy released a statement to her colleagues and supporters on Saturday, writing on her website:

“Dear Colleague, Yesterday morning, a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul. Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop. We are grateful for the quick response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the life-saving medical care he is receiving.”

She went on to thank those who have offered kind words to the family (including the couple’s five adult children) as they process this frightening situation, saying:

“Please know that the outpouring of prayers and warm wishes from so many in the Congress is a comfort to our family and is helping Paul make progress with his recovery. His condition continues to improve.”

So good to hear! According to NBC Bay Area, Secret Service agents were stationed at the hospital over the weekend for extra protection as he recovers.

The politician, also 82, concluded her message with some words from the Bible, writing:

“We are also comforted by the words of the Book of Isaiah: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’ We thank you and pray for the continued safety and well-being of your family.”

Over on Twitter, she added:

“Please know that the prayers and warm wishes from so many are a comfort to our family and are helping Paul make progress with his recovery.”

Read my letter to my colleagues in the Congress here: https://t.co/jjHOQWm5MT

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 30, 2022

The attacker, David Wayne DePape, is currently in custody with the U.S. Capitol Police, the FBI, and the San Francisco Police working together to determine a motive. Nancy’s been the center of harassment and threats as far back as January 6, 2021. It’s terrible to see the hate turning into real and very life-threatening violence. We continue to send well wishes the Pelosis’ way!

[Image via Adriana M. Barraza/WENN]

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Justice Department charges DePape following Paul Pelosi assault

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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Police stand at the top of the closed street outside the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday. | Eric Risberg/AP Photo

The Justice Department on Monday charged David DePape with assault and attempted kidnapping following his alleged break-in at the home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul.

Paul Pelosi was hospitalized after DePape allegedly struck him with a hammer early Friday morning. Police tackled DePape after arriving on the scene, where officers found a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, gloves and zip ties, DOJ said Monday.

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Billie Eilish & Her Older Boyfriend Made Fun Of Age Gap With ‘Old Man & Baby Girl’ Halloween Costumes

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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Well, this is a couples costume, alright! Billie Eilish and her boyfriend are matching trolls!

No, the You Should See Me In A Crown singer didn’t dress as Shrek, we’re referring to what she’s doing to all the naysaying fans out there! The 20-year-old pop sensation has gotten a lot of flack for her relationship with Jesse Rutherford. See, the frontman for The Neighbourhood is 31 years old — far from the biggest celeb age gap we’ve seen in recent years, but sizable nonetheless. That’s been especially worrying for fans who feel protective of Billie, who hasn’t had the best luck with guys thus far.

How do the singers feel about the criticism? They let that be known with their cheeky Halloween costumes over the weekend. In separate social media pics, they can be seen in their individual costumes — but once you put them together, you get the message. He’s dressed in makeup as an elderly man… and she’s wearing a diaper and bonnet as a wee baby. Yeah… See them (below):

Billie Eilish and boyfriend Jesse Rutherford dressed up together as a baby and an old man for Halloween. pic.twitter.com/6zLT9Z48Ho

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 31, 2022

Clearly this is a sarcastic reaction to what they’ve been seeing people say online, which… fair enough, we guess?! But also… ew??

What do YOU think of their spooky season statement?? Are they the right amount of sass? Or double ick??

[Image via MEGA/WENN/Avalon.]

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House Dems call on Pelosi, Schumer to avert debt ceiling crisis before new Congress

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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Several senior House Republicans have floated using the debt ceiling as a negotiating tool.

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Ryan Murphy Reveals Original ‘NC-17’ Glee Script Had Mr. Schue As ‘Crystal Meth Addict’ – Played By Justin Timberlake?!

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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While Glee has been a fan favorite dramedy since it permiered in 2009, it wasn’t initially pitched with its signature optimistic tone — it was actually MUCH darker. And Ryan Murphy is finally ready to tell all!

The creator stopped by the And That’s What You REALLY Missed iHeart Radio podcast on Sunday to tell us what we really really missed — and are probably glad to have never seen! Speaking to Glee alums Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz, aka Artie and Tina, the showrunner opened up about the early stages of the Fox hit’s development — and how vastly different it was from what we have all come to know. After signing a first look deal with the network to spearhead a musical series, Ryan explained:

“We were having these conversations and I was trying to figure it out. Like serendipity, I went to the gym and I was in a towel and a guy went up and handed me a script and he said, ‘I had a feeling you were in show choir, am I right?’ And I was like ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘My friend wrote this script and you should read it.’”

Serendipity, indeed! The American Horror Story creative agreed to read the script, penned by co-creator Ian Brennan. Obviously he saw the potential — but felt in its state at the time it was a bit too dark for network TV. He revealed:

“Mr. Schue, I believe, was a crystal meth addict in Ian’s script. The NC-17 version of show choir with a weird protagonist who was unraveling… I just need something optimistic.”

He added that William “Schue” Schuester was originally intended to inappropriately touch his students, but the 56-year-old wanted something “not dark” and more “pop-y.” The two creatives then worked together to revamp the script for the more lighthearted tone Gleeks have come to love from the show, while still maintaining some semblance of the original framework. However, one key casting idea could have potentially given the show a completely different vibe — lead character Mr. Schue, the Spanish teacher who arranged for the school’s choir, played by Matthew Morrison, was actually originally written for another musical talent: Justin Timberlake. Ryan confessed:

“When we were writing the pilot, I’ve never really talked about this, that pilot was written for Justin Timberlake. Mr Schue was written for Justin.”

Whoa! They wanted JT as the meth addict? Or the nicer version??

Could you imagine?! We’re glad Matthew ended up getting the gig. What are your thoughts on all the behind-the-scenes Glee news, Perezcious readers? Would you have liked to see the darker version with J.T., or are you happy with what we got? Let us know in the comments down below!

[Images via FOX/YouTube & Avalon/MEGA/WENN]

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Prominent conservatives share online disinformation about Paul Pelosi assault

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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And some Republicans are taking notice of the mismatch between GOP leaders’ official response to the assault — condemning it while rejecting any link to their campaign-trail attacks on Nancy Pelosi — and the less delicate online response by party figures.

“Jerk store jokes and tweets when it’s the ‘other side’ only feeds an environment that accepts political violence — violence that has and will continue to happen to officials of both parties which means we spin each other up as our discourse spirals down further,” Doug Heye, a former top Republican National Committee official, said in an interview.

One House Republican, speaking candidly about a colleague on condition of anonymity, described Higgins’ deleted tweet as “not appropriate … we don’t want that in any political arena, whether it be Republican or Democrat.” The idea of any lawmaker’s spouse getting attacked, this Republican added, “puts us all in fear.”

Beyond Trump Jr. and Higgins, pro-Trump commentators from Charlie Kirk to former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. also weighed in online to raise questions about the investigation based on unfounded and false claims. Among those baseless claims: that a third person answered the door when police arrived at the Pelosi home, which San Francisco law enforcement has said is untrue; and that DePape was in his underwear when apprehended, a falsehood taken from a since-corrected local news report.

Some of the conservative mockery that followed the Pelosi home invasion touched on Nancy Pelosi’s support for an assault weapons ban: Larry Elder, the right-wing radio host and failed California gubernatorial candidate, tweeted that the Speaker was weighing legislation restricting “assault hammers.”

“The Left is going crazy because not only are we not BUYING the wacky, implausible Paul Pelosi story but we are even LAUGHING over how ridiculous it is,” Dinesh D’Souza posted Sunday morning to his 2.5 million Twitter followers. “What this means is that we are no longer intimidated by their fake pieties. Their control over us has finally been broken.”

Another conservative Republican lawmaker, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity about the sensitive topic, said that reports of the attacker’s involvement in nudist culture are “picking up steam” more than other claims because they give credence to the argument that DePape was not a MAGA or Trump supporter.

DePape’s online activity before the Pelosi home invasion included antisemitism and alignment with false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election.

To be sure, other Republicans have addressed the matter more soberly. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who weathered the attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in the tense hours of Jan. 6 while working closely with Pelosi, decried the attack on her husband. “This is an outrage and our hearts are with the entire Pelosi family,” Pence tweeted Friday.

As members of Congress mull potential security enhancements following the Pelosi attack, the tone of Republican leaders’ responses is likely to draw continued scrutiny. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chair of the House GOP campaign arm, fielded tough questions on national TV Sunday regarding a tweet he posted of himself firing a gun with the hashtag “#FirePelosi.”

“Leadership in both parties in the House have now suffered through attacks, and leadership needs to be clear that not only are the attacks appalling but so, too, is the culture that revels in violence when it happens to an opponent,” Heye said.

Jeremy B. White, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

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Kanye West Compares Himself To Emmett Till In Shocking IG Rant Directed At Jewish Super-Agent Ari Emanuel

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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Kanye West has a new target: Ari Emanuel.

The businessman and agent, who was integral to the 2009 Hollywood agency mega-merger that joined the powerful William Morris Agency with Endeavor Talent Agency to create WME — and was the inspiration for Ari Gold on Entourage — is the focus of Ye’s latest Instagram rant. And while the message itself is very pointed, it’s a picture Ye included with the IG rant that really has the world shocked.

On Sunday afternoon, the Hurricane rapper took to IG to post a long message directed at the Endeavor CEO, who is Jewish. While Kanye did not address Ari’s heritage directly, some of his statements were suspiciously antisemitic all the same.

In the IG post, Kim Kardashian‘s ex claimed Emanuel’s influence in the entertainment world is causing Ye’s “economic lynching,” “digital lynching,” and “bankrupting my social credit score.” Ye addressed Emanuel directly in the post, but consistently misspelled his last name by adding a second “m” to it.

The rapper opened by writing:

“Can you find a place for the Donda Academy kids to go to school that’s properly zoned for a school? I got about 60 children that have no place to be as they look to transfer. They tried to dismantle our basketball team. Those boys are being penalized without reason. Even professional athletes were threatened by their owners to disassociate. This is what modern post social media #Blackmirror warfare looks like… the children are not even off limits”

Children being taken out of an unaccredited, overly expensive school run by an antisemitic bully is the problem? Yeah, OK…

Ye went on from there, referencing Emanuel not by his Jewish faith, but as a “business” person, using quotes:

“You tried to bankrupt adidas and me at the same time. You tried to destroy my life after all the money I’ve made for the ‘business’ people. At least as I burn to the stake in front of the whole world… // everyone now knows who they need to really be afraid of. And now eeeeveryone knows how much power you ‘Business’ people actually have.”

Hmmm…

Yeah, not hard to figure out what Ye is throwing down here. The Jesus Walks performer also insinuated Emanuel is supposedly behind “forcing” George Floyd‘s family to sue him for prior comments the rapper made on a recent Drink Champs podcast:

“Forcing Roxie to to sue me for 252 million after I gave her family 2 million. Only a truly powerful ‘business’ person could have thought of that and sent her to do this. To everyone in the world! // Take me as an example of what will happen if you show any frustration. Your frustration does not matter! We declare today the day when no human is allowed to be human. Please note that I have never physically hurt anyone.”

Next, Ye chose to address Ari’s older brother Rahm Emanuel — the former Mayor of Chicago who also served as Barack Obama‘s chief of staff during his presidential administration. Kanye wrote:

“So… Ari Emmanuel: Better yet, let me ask your BIG brother Rahm Emmanuel // Former Mayor of Chicago. Rahm… You’re a very powerful ‘Business’ person // Here I am…The once richest black man in the world asking the very person who is destroying me to at least help these Children… ‘Hurt meeeeeeee but please masa don’t hurt da chirren masa’”

Oof…

Again with the “business” in quotes. Guess he hasn’t learned the whole dog whistle thing as well as his pals Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk yet. The Life of Pablo artist concluded:

“We bus underprivileged kids in from all over and they love it at Donda Academy. I see and understand just how powerful you are, but even the mighty Pharoah was no match for the power of GOD. At times like this… and at all times… I trust my Jesus. The KING of Israel.”

You can see his full message (below):

Kanye West Compares Himself To Emmett Till In Shocking IG Rant Directed At Super-Agent Ari Emanuel — From left to right, this is Kanye’s full message to Ari Emanuel from Sunday afternoon. / (c) Kanye West/Instagram

We love how he’s acting like the man is shutting down a public school — and not a $15k tuition private business. That wasn’t all, though.

Along with the message, Ye shared a shocking old picture of Emmett Till — the Black teenager who was infamously abducted and lynched in segregationist Mississippi in 1955. The photo was of Till’s deceased body following his horrific murder.

The post was so shocking that IG’s parent company, Meta, put a warning over the photo for those on Ye’s page:

Ugh.

In the “see why” link clicked through from the middle of that warning, the company’s message read:

“We use technology or a review team to identify content that should be covered. This post doesn’t go against our Community Standards, but may contain images that some people might find upsetting. We cover sensitive or potentially graphic content so people can choose whether to see it.”

As of Monday morning, the post is still up on Ye’s page. It is obviously extremely NSFW and awful with the photo of Till’s deceased body. But if you choose to do so, you can see it HERE.

So terrible…

[Image via ABC 7 Chicago/YouTube/Recode/YouTube]

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Justices appear poised to curtail affirmative action in college admissions

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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“When does it end; When is your sunset?” Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked, pressing North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park who is defending UNC. “Grutter doesn’t say, ‘This is great, we embrace this.’ Grutter says this is dangerous, and it has to have an endpoint.”

The cases are some of the most-watched of the term as SFFA urges the high court to strike down decades of precedent that have allowed colleges to use race and holistic reviews as a factor in admissions.

While SFFA contends the use of race in admissions violates the equal protection clause, education and civil rights groups fear ending the practice will exacerbate inequality for years to come.

Arguments in SFFA’s case against UNC started with questioning from Justice Clarence Thomas, who brought up a UNC argument that institutions wouldn’t be able to consider “the whole person in the admissions process” without considering race. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a known supporter of affirmative action, soon after launched on defending the use of race in admissions. She emphasized how race correlates with students’ experiences.

“If you’re Black, you’re more likely to be in an under-resourced school,” Sotomayor said to Patrick Strawbridge, who argued on behalf of UNC. “You are more likely to be taught by teachers who are not as qualified as others. You’re more likely to be viewed as less academic as having less academic potential.

“Why do you want the admissions officer to say, ‘I’m not going to look at the race of the child to see if they had all of those socioeconomic barriers present?’”

Justices Elana Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined Sotomayor, pressing Strawbridge on whether it matters if the enrollment of Latino and Black students were to plunge and to prove how race has harmed SFFA students.

“When you give your race you’re not getting any special points. … No one’s automatically getting in because race is being used,” Jackson said. “You haven’t demonstrated or shown one situation in which all they looked at was race.”

Conservative justices, though, heavily leaned on O’Connor’s 2003 assertion in Grutter that the court believed it would not be necessary to consider race in admissions indefinitely into the future.

With O’Connor’s end goal only 6 years away, Barrett, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh pressed lawyers arguing on behalf of upholding Grutter for a deadline. They also wanted to know how institutions will know when they no longer have to use race in admissions to achieve diversity on campus.

“How do you know when you’re done?” Barrett asked Park. Later, Roberts pressed Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who argued on behalf of the United States’ interest in upholding Grutter.

“Grutter gave us a number,” Roberts said. “Do you want to give us a number?”

To which Prelogar replied: “I can’t give you a precise number, Mr. Chief Justice, but I can say that I think that our society has made some progress toward that goal.”

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Criss Angel Reveals The Truth About His Past! The Las Vegas Headliner And Magician Confesses…

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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New podcast is out! From foes to friends! Truly so pleased to have Criss Angel on and to have overcome our past! There was a lot of drama there – and, of course, we go into it all! Here’s a snippet of our much longer convo. CLICK HERE to listen in full at PerezPodcast.com

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Paul Pelosi assault spurs calls on the Hill for boosted lawmaker security

by April Norman on October 31, 2022

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And since “there’s always threats against Nancy Pelosi,” it may be a good idea to have security for her family members around the clock, said Murphy, who serves on the panel overseeing legislative branch spending.

“My sense is there is still not an appetite to have full security details to every member of Congress,” Murphy said. “We continue to increase funding for security details so that anybody that has an active threat has security. And it may be that we should have a lower bar for what kind of threat would mandate at least a temporary full time detail.”

Capitol Police are conducting a full review of the incident at Pelosi’s home and its protective services division and sharing updates with lawmakers, according to a GOP aide. The department is considering any short- or long-term changes to protocol that need to be made.

The review will also include the Capitol Police’s command center, which was monitoring the security camera feed from Pelosi’s home, according to a person familiar.

Lawmakers added a bill to safeguard federal judges’ privacy to the annual defense policy bill that’s expected to pass before the end of the year, and it’s possible they could expand the legislation to include members of Congress. As written, the bill allows judges to scrub their personal information — like addresses and phone numbers — from the internet to make it more difficult for would-be attackers to target them.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was attacked outside his home by his neighbor in 2017, had been holding up the legislation as he tried to extend those privacy protections to members of Congress. A spokesperson for the senator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Now, as Paul Pelosi recovers from his Friday surgery, there’s a separate and more urgent conversation growing over boosted security protections for lawmakers. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill that extended full-time security to family members of Supreme Court justices, some of whom were being targeted in the aftermath of the publication of a draft opinion overturning federal abortion rights. A man was arrested in June for allegedly threatening to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Top congressional leaders almost always have a security detail with them, including the House and Senate leaders in each party as well as the Senate president pro tempore, who is in the presidential line of succession. But rank-and-file lawmakers face regular threats, too, including the man who shot former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) and a federal judge in 2011 and another who attacked Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) over the summer as he campaigned for governor.

Concerns about lawmakers’ safety escalated swiftly in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which included specific and public threats against top lawmakers such as Pelosi.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has had an expanded security team for months after a death threat against him led to federal charges. Cruz briefly discussed his security situation on his podcast last week, explaining that “right now, I have a security detail that protects me. Unfortunately, we just live in an angry time where people make threats.”

Before him, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had a personal security detail after assassination threats from Venezuela.

Those security details, provided through Capitol Police, have proven effective. Rep. Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) protective detail at the GOP baseball practice in 2017 likely prevented several deaths. Scalise, who was shot that morning, had a full security detail due to his position in House leadership.

“The reality is we lead incredibly public lives. We have schedules that are often determined on the fly. It’s hard for us to operate our lives like the president does with every movement scripted out. It’s part of the reason we chose to do this job rather than other jobs, so that we had some freedom of movement,” Murphy said.

The Connecticut senator has a tradition of walking across his entire state during the summer, and though he said he doesn’t always have someone with him he acknowledged he’s changed his approach for those lengthy jaunts: “I have a very different security footprint than what I had when I started it.”

Jordain Carney and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.

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October 2022