Fans of the popular TV series "Real Housewives of Potomac," also known as RHOP, were shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of one of the show's popular stars.
According to the Daily Mail, Matthew Byars, who debuted on the show's third season as a talent manager, reportedly committed suicide, according to Maryland's chief medical officer.
He was only 37.
Even more disturbing for friends, family, and fans is that it was reported his death was caused by "multiple blunt force injuries."
Some of his colleagues on the show expressed their shock and grief after it was revealed that he took his own life, with all of them praising his talents and connections in the area.
"Matt- Why didn't you tell me Matt? I'm heartbroken," wrote Melissa Gorga in a social media post.
"Your personality was infectious. Your jokes- you always had them. You should have done stand up- I know it was your dream. My heart hurts Matt. Because earlier this week you didn't tell me."
She added, "I know life was tough- I know- Thank you for bringing me my very 1st performance of 'ON DISPLAY'- you and I- WE ARE LOYAL. They don't make them like us. I wish I could have saved you. Thank you for the memories. Go fly- Go make them laugh."
Byars debuted on the show as the talent manager for Karen Huger. According to People, she recently broke her silence on the passing of her dear friend.
"I will always remember Matt as the radiant, compassionate 17-year-old I met so many years ago," she said. "His genuine heart and boundless energy lifted everyone around him. More than a beloved presence on RHOP and in the Bravo community, Matt was a determined and driven young man with a deep bond to the Huger family," Huger wrote.
She added, "I'll never forget the kindness he showed during my mother's passing. I didn't expect him to be there, but that was Matt — always showing up with love and support that touched the soul. His presence during that time will forever hold a special place in my heart."
Social media users paid tribute to Byars after his shocking death was announced.
"RIP to Matthew Byars, who famously appeared alongside Karen Huger at her #RHOP press conference and worked with many Housewives across franchises over the years," one X user wrote.
Rocker Dee Snider wrote, "My friend @officialmattbyars died yesterday. I will always be eternally grateful for his help in rescuing my daughter Shy from the jungles of Peru during the COVID world shut down. Rest in peace, Matt."
Former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is fleeing the United State over President-elect Trump's election victory.
While celebrities have frequently threatened to leave the country in protest of Trump, DeGeneres is actually putting her money where her mouth is.
The comedian has already moved to the Cotswolds, a picturesque region of England, with her partner, Portia De Rossi, according to The Wrap.
A source close to the former TV host said she listed her mansion outside of Los Angeles and has plans "to never return to the United States."
According to TMZ, the pair had already snapped up their new home before the election, but they just couldn't take four more years of Trump.
A popular retreat for the rich and famous, the Cotswolds is a region of southwestern England famous for its beautiful stone architecture and rolling hills.
While Trump has given her an incentive to leave, DeGeneres' ties to the U.S. were already frayed after the former entertainment icon announced her retirement from show business this year.
Her career went into decline following allegations of workplace bullying that emerged in 2020.
In her final Netflix special before retirement, released this year, the openly gay comedian - once seen as a trailblazer - joked about being "kicked out" of show business over her new "mean" image.
“Alright, let me catch you up on what’s been going on with me since you last saw me,” DeGeneres said. “I got chickens. … Oh yeah, I got kicked out of show business for being mean.”
The comedian explained that she is done trying to please people after spending her career making others happy.
“So after a lifetime of caring, I just can’t anymore. So, I don’t,” DeGeneres said. “I have a choice of people remembering me as someone who is mean or someone who is beloved … beloved, I chose that.”
It's sad that DeGeneres doesn't realize she's a victim of the intolerant liberalism that she has long supported - and continues to back with her very public protest of Trump.
But DeGeneres at least deserves some credit for actually leaving the U.S. She has more integrity than a blubbering fool like Jimmy Kimmel, who cried on his late-night show after Trump's win.
As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.
Fans of hip-hop music are mourning the death of 54-year-old rapper Saafir, who had a small part in hip-hop's 1990s golden age.
The West Coast rapper, born in Oakland, died in his hometown on Tuesday, the New York Post reported.
The news of his death was shared by his friend and collaborator Xzibit, who said "my soul is crushed" in a touching Instagram message.
The cause of death has not been released, but Saafir's health was reportedly in decline for some time, causing him to use a wheelchair after a cancerous tumor was removed from his spine, TMZ reported.
For a brief moment in the 1990s, Saafir, real name Reggie Gibson, crossed paths with some of West Coast rap's most legendary figures, among them Tupac Shakur.
Saafir was a dancer for the rap outfit Digital Underground, which started Tupac's career and became known for the hit "The Humpty Dance." Shafir was also one-third of the group Golden State Project, along with Xzibit and Ras Kass.
In a heartbreaking post mourning his "brother," Xzibit confirmed that Saafir died Tuesday morning.
"I can’t believe I’m writing this right now, but don’t know what else to do at the moment," Xzibit wrote in response to his friend's death. "Approximately at 8:45am this morning, my brother Reggie known to the world as Saafir passed away. "
"We have so much history I can’t even explain what I’m feeling right now. We surrounded him and let him know how much we loved him. He can rest now."
"Friends, Family, everyone that rocked with us from the Hip Hop community, if you could be so solid and reach out for @chopblack his younger brother, and @lilsaafir his son, the family really needs to be supported during this time. That’s all I have right now. My soul is crushed.
We love you Bro."
While not a household name, Saafir was recognized for his lyrical dexterity by rap fans and artists and is regarded as an influential figure in the Bay Area rap scene.
He was especially known for his role in a notorious Bay Area rap battle in 1994 that brought the scene to national attention, the Hip Hop Museum said.
"His voice, artistry, & dedication to the craft have made a lasting impact on the genre & will continue to inspire future generations,” the Hip Hop Museum wrote on X.
Saafir also appeared in the 1993 crime drama Menace II Society, which marked Jada Pinkett Smith's acting debut.
An elections judge in Minnesota has been charged in an illegal scheme to let unregistered people vote in the 2024 election.
Timothy Michael Scouton, 64, was the head election judge in a small township of 100 in Hubbard County. Police arrested Scouton last week after witnesses said he told them to let people vote without registering.
It was Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave who tipped off police after discovering 11 people had voted without completing registration forms.
Police then interviewed election judges in Badoura Township who worked the election with Scouton on Election Night.
One judge told police that Scouton had instructed her not to use the Minnesota Voter Registration Application form. Scouton's son was also working as an election judge and would have been overseeing the registration process, the witness said.
Amazingly, another judge said he was unaware the registration form was necessary or that it even existed. The judge said Scouton instructed him to have voters sign the back of a book.
Scouton allowed this despite completing his training in July to be a head election judge, the criminal complaint said. He "declined to provide a statement" after his arrest.
Minnesota's Democrat-aligned Secretary of State, Steve Simon, called the allegations "extremely serious" in an initial statement, but later downplayed the incident, insisting elections in Minnesota are "resilient."
Simon said this is a case of one bad apple, rather than a systematic problem. But the state's Republicans say reform is needed.
"This is yet another reason we need voter ID and for Secretary of State Steve Simon to join Republicans in making election law changes that will put a stop to the numerous problems we've seen throughout this election cycle,” Rep. Krista Knudson (R) said.
“The status quo is not working, and we need to take action next session to address these problems.”
The arrest fits a pattern of election-related breaches that have been consistently shrugged off by Democrats. Prior to the election, Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson downplayed the arrest of a Chinese national who successfully cast a ballot.
Scouton was charged with one count of accepting the vote of an unregistered voter and one count of neglect of duty by an election official, both felonies. He is due back in court on January 6.
President-elect Donald Trump is calling for an investigation into discredited Iowa pollster Ann Selzer after she announced she was retiring from politics.
Prior to 2024, Selzer was seen as a reputable pollster with a knack for accuracy, so she caused a stir when her last pre-election poll showed Kamala Harris beating Trump in Iowa by three points.
Trump instead won Iowa by a whopping 14 points, his biggest margin ever.
Selzer's outlier poll fueled the hopes of Democrats, who touted it as a sign of a hidden surge for Harris. Critics on the right, on the other hand, accused Selzer of driving a narrative to depress Republican turnout.
Not only did Trump win Iowa - as he did handily in 2016 and 2020 - but he also won every battleground state and the national popular vote to secure a historic second term.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump accused Selzer of intentionally manipulating the election with a "totally fake" poll and called for an investigation into Selzer and the Des Moines Register, where she worked as a pollster for years.
"A totally Fake poll that caused great distrust and uncertainty at a very critical time. She knew exactly what she was doing," Trump wrote.
"Thank you to the GREAT PEOPLE OF IOWA for giving me such a record breaking vote, despite possible ELECTION FRAUD by Ann Selzer and the now discredited 'newspaper' for which she works. An investigation is fully called for!"
Selzer anticipated Trump's criticism in an op-ed for the Des Moines Register, where she announced her retirement from the polling industry.
In response to critics, Selzer claimed she may have motivated Trump supporters to go to the polls.
"I told more than one news outlet that the findings from this last poll could actually energize and activate Republican voters who thought they would likely coast to victory. Maybe that’s what happened," she said.
The pollster also claimed that her plans to leave the Register had been made long before the election outcome was clear.
“Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course. It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite. I am proud of the work I’ve done for the Register,” she wrote.
Of course, Selzer is not the only pollster facing scrutiny over the election results. After Trump's support was underestimated yet again, many are saying the polling industry as a whole has lost its credibility.
Any Republican who mentioned the possibility of cheating happening during and after the 2020 election was instantly labeled a conspiracy nutjob by the left.
However, it appears as though the left is now reversing its stance on that as many on that side have already suggested that somehow, the 2024 election, which resulted in a massive victory by President-elect Donald Trump, was rigged.
According to NBC News, "election denialism" is happening in full force on the left as the Trump Derangement Syndrome-stricken haters scramble to come up with excuses as to how Vice President Kamala Harris was annihilated earlier this month by her Republican opponent.
Organizations that track "misleading" and false information across social media have reported an uptick in posts claiming that the election was rigged or fixed for Trump.
According to findings by NewsGuard, at least 800 social media channels and video accounts had posted false election-related information.
Some on the left are claiming Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system was used to help Trump secure the election victory.
NBC News noted:
According to NewsGuard, the false narratives being spread online have emerged from both sides of the aisle: Where Democrats won, like in the U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin, Republicans alleged vote-counting “irregularities,” while some Democrats alleged that Trump’s win was rigged with the help of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet provider. There’s no evidence this is true.
Sam Howard, NewsGuard’s U.S. politics editor, said the false information has been spread across X, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and other popular social media and video platforms.
NBC News, surprisingly, identified several posts on X and TikTok regarding the false information about the Musk Starlink conspiracy. The scary part is that the posts have reached tens of millions of users.
NewsGuard -- and common sense -- confirmed that Musk's satellites were not used in shaping the election, as individual election systems are not interlinked.
It was reported that some of the leftwing influencers who shared claims that the election had been rigged were also ones that pushed conspiracy theories claiming the assassination attempt on Trump's life was staged.
"People look for easy answers in times of crisis, and for those who view this election result as a crisis for themselves or just a shock, it’s somewhat natural to look for something to explain that away and to explain why your expectations weren’t met," said Max Read, a senior research manager for elections at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
"And I think that’s consistent across the ideological spectrum, meeting a shock with searching and uncertainty about where to find answers and sometimes falling into and latching onto things that aren’t true but are easy explanations."
Only time will tell just how far the left takes it.
Vice President Kamala Harris might have had the upper hand with rubbing elbows with celebrities and having them campaign for her, which ultimately failed. But President-elect Donald Trump has popular friends in the business, too.
According to JustTheNews, Sylvester Stallone recently heaped praise on Trump, calling him the "second George Washington."
The moment happened as Stallone introduced the president-elect during an America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Stallone also invoked part of a famous speech he made in his iconic "Rocky" movies as he introduced Trump, who he also described as "mythical."
Stallone had the crowd at the gala hyped to the maximum degree. The New York Post described how he opened for Trump:
The 78-year-old Stallone described the opening scene of the first film where the camera pans down from a mural of Jesus inside an old church converted into a boxing gym as Rocky Balboa gets punched by his opponent, with the word “Resurrection AC Club” shown in the background.
"At that moment, he was a chosen person and that’s how I began the journey,” Stallone told the gala audience. "Something’s gonna happen, this man is gonna go through a metamorphosis and change lives."
"Just like President Trump," Stallone added, invoking an eruption of cheers from the attendees.
JUST IN: Sylvester Stallone introduces Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, says Trump is like the “second George Washington.”
“We are in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology.”
“This individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled… pic.twitter.com/3SZn7bOjsM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 15, 2024
Stallone continued to praise Trump, saying he was in "awe" of what Trump has managed to accomplish.
"This individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody could’ve pulled off what he pulled off, so I’m in awe," Stallone said.
Stallone wasn't done there, going on to describe Trump in one of the most honorable ways possible.
"When George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. ‘Cause without him, you could imagine what the world would look like," the award-winning actor said.
He added, "Guess what? We got the second George Washington."
Stallone then congratulated Trump on his victory and welcome him to the stage.
In one of his first foreign policy moves, President-elect Donald Trump is pledging to end the Biden administration's restrictions on military aid towards Israel.
The promise is part of a tentative deal that would require Israel to agree to a temporary cease-fire in Lebanon, Israel's Channel 12 News reported.
The Biden administration has placed some controls on weapons shipments over the deadly bombardment of Gaza, where some 43,000 people have been killed.
Biden controversially paused sending 3,500 heavy bombs in May over Israel's planned invasion of Rafah.
Israel has been fighting a two-front war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The conflict with Hezbollah has escalated recently, with Israel invading southern Lebanon in October.
Israel's Channel 12News was the first to report that Trump has promised to lift restrictions on weapons to Israel, with the understanding that Israel agrees to a 60-day cease-fire with Hezbollah.
Trump's promise to lift arms restrictions could embolden Israel to prosecute its war aims more decisively starting in January.
"The Trump administration’s commitment grants Israel greater operational freedom—whether to pursue a cease-fire in Lebanon or, if needed, to take more decisive action with U.S. backing and no restrictions," Channel 12 News' chief political analyst Amit Segal told Fox News Digital.
A top Israeli official visited Mar-A-Lago last weekend to discuss a cease-fire deal with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Washington Post reported.
The deal is meant to be a "welcome gift" and an early foreign policy win for Trump as he embarks on a historic second term.
Trump was strongly pro-Israel during his first term, but his relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soured after he quickly congratulated Joe Biden on the 2020 election.
It remains to be seen how Trump will shape foreign policy starting in January, but his Cabinet picks have been generally hawkish and pro-Israel.
On the campaign trail this year, President-elect Trump pledged to stop the war in Gaza, which helped win him support from Arab and Muslim voters in states like Michigan who were unhappy with the Biden administration's continued support of Israel.
The White House issued a 30-day ultimatum in October for Israel to improve humanitarian conditions there or lose access to weapons, but the administration backed down this week, saying Israel had made progress.
Melania Trump's second tenure as First Lady is going to look different than her first. The wife of President-elect Donald Trump intends to be a "part-time" occupant of the White House, insiders told the New York Post.
The First Lady will divide her time between Washington D.C. and her husband's estates in New York and Florida, the outlet reported.
“Melania will be the first lady, but only on her terms,” the Mar-a-Lago insider said. “She’ll do the big events. But no ladies’ tea and no — or very few — interviews.”
The source said that Melania will prioritize her 18-year-old son Barron, who is in his freshman year of college at New York University.
“She views winning as the main show, and the rest she’ll do as she pleases,” the source continued. “She’s really in the driver’s seat as to her duties at the White House.
“Melania will be a part time first lady — while being a full-time mother and wife.”
Melania confirmed earlier this year that Barron is living at his family's former residence of Trump Tower, in Manhattan, while he attends school.
Barron was still a child when Melania first moved into the White House during her husband's first term. Like her husband, the former supermodel entered Washington with no political background, and the press treated the couple with more or less open contempt.
Melania was largely absent from the campaign trail this year, although she joined her husband for a historic rally at Madison Square Garden in October and criticized his opponents' harsh rhetoric in numerous interviews.
Indeed, Melania has squarely blamed Democrats for the assassination attempts against her husband - and she is no longer feigning interest in rules of political decorum after the horrific treatment her family has received.
While President-elect Trump met the Biden family at the White House this week, Melania snubbed Jill Biden at a traditional tea, reportedly because of the FBI's shocking raid of Mar-A-Lago two years ago.
Melania told the French publication Paris Match that she doubted Jill Biden's sincerity after a gunman almost killed President-elect Trump in July.
"I do question, however, whether Jill’s concern was genuine as a few days prior she referred to my husband as ‘evil’ and a ‘liar,’" Melania Trump said.
"It was obvious that the onslaught of rhetoric from Democrat leaders and the mainstream media was so deeply embedded in our nation’s consciousness it prompted an attempt to assassinate Donald."
A young South Korean TV star was found dead at his home in an apparent suicide, leaving fans stunned and heartbroken.
39-year-old Song Jae-lim was known for the series Moon Embracing the Sun. Police in Seoul did not share a cause, but they said a note was found and foul play is not suspected.
It's just the latest tragic death of a South Korean star, in what is becoming a troubling trend in the nation's entertainment industry.
A friend of the actor went to his house to have lunch on November 7, according to police, and that's when he made the horrid discovery.
The actor's family told Yonhap News Agency that they will hold a small funeral in Seoul for family members. He will be laid to rest on November 14.
🚨🇰🇷K-DRAMA STAR SONG JAE-LIM FOUND DEAD IN SEOUL HOME
Beloved K-drama actor Song Jae-lim, known for his role in Moon Embracing the Sun, was tragically found dead at his Seoul apartment yesterday.
His mysterious final Instagram post, showing him in a black T-shirt with a… pic.twitter.com/oxZgsjo3nk
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 13, 2024
Song made his debut in the 2009 movie Actresses and his star continued to rise in the 2012 fantasy series Moon Embracing the Sun, where he played a loyal guard to a medieval Korean king.
He also appeared in the 2014 reality show We Got Married and was still acting this year in Queen Woo, another fantasy drama. The star also appeared in the musical La Rose De Versailles as recently as October.
His other shows included Cool Guys, Hot Ramen, Inspiring Generations, Two Weeks, and Secret Mother.
Stunned fans shared their reaction to Song's death online, with one writing, "Another horrible incident has happened, and another young artist has died too early."
Fellow actor Yoo Sun, who worked with Song, wrote, "It’s too sad, it hurts so much... May you find peace and rest."
Actor Park Ho San wrote, in an Instagram post, "Since you were always so cheerful, it's hard to believe [the news]."
South Korea is notorious for its extremely competitive entertainment industry, which has driven numerous stars to suicide. Lee Sun-Kyun, known for his role as the wealthy father in the Oscar-winning global hit Parasite, died by suicide last year at the age of 48.