New legal documents that were obtained and reported on by The Blast indicate that Stephen Gyllenhaal, the father of actor Jake Gyllenhaal, is in the process of filing for divorce from his wife.
Prior to the official dissolution of their marriage, Stephen and Kathleen Gyllenhaal had been married for close to eleven years. He is submitting a petition for shared custody of their son, Luke, who is nine years old.
The duo has worked together on a number of projects, including the movie "Grassroots," which featured Jason Biggs and Joel David Moore as the main characters.
The documents state that "irreconcilable differences" are the cause of the dissolution of their marriage.
Stephen Gyllenhaal was married for the first time in 1977, to Naomi, and the pair were married for more than 30 years before officially divorcing in 2009. Both Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal are the children of Stephen and Naomi.
In 2005 Naomi spoke to how challenging it was for her to be a working mother because of the "pull between the selflessness required for real parenting and the selfishness you need to have in this work."
“I made a lot of mistakes,” she said at the time. “Believe me, I was not a perfect mother, as they will tell you. But I do think that a gift I can give them is the idea that it’s never too late to do the work. Because life doesn’t only go in one direction.”
Stephen has directed episodes of the television shows 'Blue Bloods,' 'The Mentalist,' and 'Rectify,' in addition to movies like 'Paris Trout,' 'Family of Spies,' 'Waterland,' and 'Girl Fight.'
Together, Stephen, Naomi, Jake, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, which was at the time the entire Gyllenhaal family, collaborated in the production of the film "A Dangerous Woman" in 1993. It was the only project in which all four members actively participated.
In an interview with Esquire, Jake Gyllenhaal expressed his thoughts on his family life and offered gratitude to his parents. He said, "As you get older, you get to a place where you see yourself as you saw your parents when you were a child."
"I’ve been on this earth with my parents for forty-one years, and it’s a really deep, really complex relationship,” he added.
When addressing his home life, Jake described it as "like a circus, with writers and filmmakers coming in and out. We had a room above the garage rented by Steven Soderbergh – before he was Steven Soderbergh," Jake said in 2010. "We were brought up with a great respect of storytelling.”
The actor said that after he found out his parents were divorcing, he took a step back to reflect on his life and his career: “It allowed me to be more honest with myself,” the actor told PEOPLE at the time.
The filmmaker shared his thoughts in 2012 regarding what makes his work unique: “Usually characters that are a little outside, a little off the beaten path. I’m generally intrigued by people who don’t accept what’s going on, and the status quo,” he told The Long Island Press at the time of his work.
“You know, they’re either confused by it or driven nuts by it. And you know, just trying to battle with it. Those are the characters that intrigue me, and have always intrigued me.”
CNN Senior White House Correspondent MJ Lee made some surprising comments about the White House on Monday's broadcast of CNN's "Inside Politics," as Breitbart News reported.
The commentator said in the interview that Democrats know they have to act on immigration, "But what they want to maintain is this idea that they are the party that supports humane policies, that they are compassionate," the CNN White House correspondent said.
"But I think getting to those policies is sort of the existential question that is so, so challenging," Lee added.
Lee also stated that "the juggling act for Democrats right now is that they sort of want the thing that they publicly say or have said they are not for."
Lee made these statements in reference to the fact that Democrats are aware of the pressing needs at the border as a result of the surge in the number of migrants.
The Commentator's Comments
“I think the White House and President Biden, certainly, they have felt increasing pressure to get more involved, to show that they are more involved, to get some kind of deal through, particularly because they have talked for so long about how much they need this Ukraine aid, you saw that last week with President Zelensky visiting Washington, D.C." Lee said.
"I think what is so telling from the last couple of days is the real sense of optimism, if you can call it that, any sort of real urgency, you’re really seeing come from the Democrats rather than the Republicans," she went on.
The commentator went on to say that Republicans have been saying they were leaving town and would resume in January, asserting that Democrats were more dedicated to dealing with illegal immigration.
"I think in some ways, that’s really revealing about which party almost needs this more right now. The Democrats, they very much recognize that the border is a problem," Lee said. "The issue is that some of these policies that they are considering and talking about, they are quite unpalatable politically, particularly the ones that sort of resemble some of these former Trump-era policies."
"So, I think the juggling act for Democrats right now is that they sort of want the thing that they publicly say or have said they are not for,” she noted.
Later, she added, “I think one of the things that — one of the reasons that the immigration issue is so challenging, to state the obvious, for Democrats in this White House is that it’s so visually evocative, right? You have these scenes of migrants that are going through these dire circumstances to get to the border, to cross the border, and I think Democrats very much recognize that.
The commentator went on to say that in the last year it has been demonstrated to be an "incredibly challenging this issue has been for this White House.
"You look at Title 42 as such a great example of a piece of policy that Democrats for so long had said was inhumane, didn’t treat people well, it was something that they detested, and was completely a Trump-era policy," she said. "But then when the time came for that policy to expire, you saw what a difficult time Democrats had with confronting the reality that it was going to expire, because they had become dependent on that kind of policy to keep things under control."
"So, now, when you have this influx of migrants, they do need something, but what they want to maintain is this idea that they are the party that supports humane policies, that they are compassionate, but I think getting to those policies is sort of the existential question that is so, so challenging for Democrats.”
A new report from the Wall Street Journal shows that Jeffrey Epstein "never stopped abusing women" - not even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution.
The report also shows how Epstein's rich and famous associates helped him to carry out the abuse.
The Journal reports, "The Journal’s investigation shows that Epstein’s sexual exploitation and abuse didn’t end
with his 2008 conviction—as many of his famous associates later said they believed—but continued until his second arrest in 2019."
The outlet - which interviewed victims and reviewed a "trove of documents," including "Epstein's daily calendars and . . . private emails" for its report - goes on to provide details.
According to the Journal's report, Epstein used his connections to the rich and famous to carry out his sexual exploitations.
The Journal writes:
[Epstein] lured dozens of women by promising to use his connections to powerful people to get them jobs or other opportunities. He then groomed most of the women for his personal sexual exploitation, and passed a select group to other men for sex.
The outlet goes on to provide examples that it found during its investigation.
Per the Journal:
Epstein told some of the women he could get them into Woody Allen films or secure them a job at the United Nations. He promised others he could help them get modeling gigs at Victoria’s Secret. He told the Polish model he could help her get involved at the Gates Foundation. He conjured up many such offers for women.
Then, Epstein would go on to sexually exploit the victims.
The Journal quotes lawyer Brad Edwards as saying, "Without having legitimate connections to so many high-powered people, Jeffrey Epstein would not have been able to traffic most of these women after 2008."
So, a valid question is whether some of the individuals mentioned above - such as Woody Allen and Bill Gates - ought to be considered, at the very least, enablers of Epstein.
This is a question that you, the reader, will have to answer for yourself, and it will likely have to be answered on a case-by-case basis.
Gates is probably one of the better examples as there are several photographs of him with Epstein victims. Gates, for instance, is seen in a photograph with the Polish model referred to above, among others. But, Gates is far from the only one - the same Polish model, for example, is also seen in a photograph with Allen.
Many of Epstein's rich associates have claimed ignorance of what he was up to.
Michigan's Court of Appeals says that former President Donald Trump can remain on the state's 2024 GOP primary ballot.
In other words, another attempt to use the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to disqualify Trump from seeking the presidency in 2024 has failed.
ABC News reports, "The court said in a 3-0 opinion that the plaintiff's challenge was not 'ripe' on procedural grounds and did not specifically rule on whether Trump fell under the disqualification clause."
There is still a possibility, however, that the matter will be appealed to the state's highest court. It should be noted that although Michigan's Supreme Court did previously reject an interlocutory appeal, it has not rejected an appeal of a final decision. So, there is still the possibility that the state's highest court will hear the case.
This is one of several efforts in which anti-Trump groups are attempting to put an end to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
To do so, these groups have invoked Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which, in part, states:
No person shall . . . hold any office . . . under the United States . . . who, having previously taken an oath . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same . . .
The claim is that Trump took such an oath when he became president and that he "engaged in insurrection" on Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol protest.
This argument has been criticized by legal experts, and - as this Michigan case demonstrates - it is failing to gain any real traction in the courts.
Michigan's Court of Appeals released a decision in which it explained why it ruled in Trump's favor.
In doing so, it did not really get into the Section Three Fourteenth Amendment argument. Rather, it relied on procedure.
"As the Court of Claims recognized, it would be improper to decide whether to grant a declaration that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President of the United States at this time," the court wrote.
It added:
At the moment, the only event about to occur is the presidential primary election. But as explained, whether Trump is disqualified is irrelevant to his placement on that particular ballot. Thus, with respect to the presidential primary election, there is no actual controversy, as the only purported basis for removing Trump from the presidential primary ballot would not be a sufficient basis for removal of Trump's name from that ballot.
Steven Chueng, a spokesman for Trump's 2024 campaign, has released a statement celebrating the ruling.
Cheung said:
With the Michigan Court of Appeals' affirmation of the Trump campaign's victories in the lower court, the Soros-funded Democrats have once again failed in their desperate attempt to interfere in the election via a bad-faith interpretation of the 14th Amendment. President Trump remains undefeated against these frivolous legal claims and has never been in a stronger position to win next year's election
President Joe Biden has brought back former President Barack Obama to help him promote the Affordable Care Act, which is more commonly known as Obamacare.
The White House, on Friday, released an advertisement featuring Obama and Biden.
Take a look:
Yes, the Affordable Care Act is still providing coverage to millions of Americans.
And yes, it’s still a BFD.
Sign up at https://t.co/v3QBMxaPaR before January 16. pic.twitter.com/Zj0xByePmb
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 15, 2023
The above video begins with Biden reading a text message that he supposedly received on his phone.
Biden says, "Hey, President Biden, is Obamacare still a thing?"
Biden then turns to Obama, and asks him, "Is it still a thing?"
Obama responds in the affirmative, saying, "Yes, Obamacare - the Affordable Care Act, Bidencare, whatever you call it - yes, it is still a thing. The other side has been trying to repeal it every year since it’s existed. But, we’ll keep fighting to protect it."
Biden then adds, "Not just protect it, but expand it, saving millions of dollars for working families. We’re covering more people than ever. It’s still a BFD."
As CNN reports, this comes amid the deadline to enroll for Obamacare for this upcoming year.
Per the outlet:
The video, which was filmed last week when Obama made a previously undisclosed visit to the White House, coincides with the deadline to enroll in Obamacare plans to receive coverage at the start of the year. This year’s open enrollment period started on November 1 and runs through January 15 on the federal exchange, Healthcare.gov. Nearly 7.3 million people have signed up for 2024 coverage in the first five weeks, up nearly 34% from roughly the same period one year earlier.
One wonders how many other "undisclosed visits" that Obama has made to the Biden White House. Many have suggested that Obama might just be the one who is really running the country - either directly or through intermediaries.
This new Obamacare advertisement also comes after former President Donald Trump released a video in which he said that he was looking for "alternatives" to Obamacare.
Trump, on Nov. 25, 2023, wrote:
The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!
Actress Kate Miccuci has been diagnosed with cancer.
The 43-year-old Micucci, well-known for her role on The Big Bang Theory, revealed her cancer diagnosis roughly a week ago on her TikTok account.
There, she uploaded a video from a hospital bed, and it was in this video that Micucci revealed her cancer diagnosis.
@katiemicucci An update on what I’ve been up to. 🫁 #sicktok #hospital #imokay #solucky #sendinglove ♬ original sound - Katemicucci
In the video, Micucci reveals that she has been diagnosed with lung cancer and, as part of her treatment, she has undergone lung surgery.
The video begins:
Hey everbody, This is not a TikTok. It's a sick talk. I'm in the hospital, but it's because I had lung cancer surgery yesterday.
Micucci goes on to inform her followers that her doctors caught the cancer "really early." The actress also expressed her surprise at having been diagnosed with lung cancer considering that she has never been a smoker.
Mucucci, in the video, said:
They caught it really early. It's pretty weird because I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. So, you know, it was a surprise. But, also, I guess it happens, and, so, the greatest news is they caught it early.
Micucci went on to say that the doctors "got it out," that she is "all good," and that she expects to be "moving slow for a few weeks" following her surgery. But, after that, she says that she expects to "be back at it." Miccuci said that she especially wants to get back to her painting.
As mentioned earlier, Miccuci is an actress who is particularly well-known for playing the character Lucy on The Big Bang Theory. She is also well-known for being part of the Garfunkel and Oates comedy duo.
But, acting is only part of what Micucci does. Fox News reports, "In addition to her work as an actress, Micucci is a visual artist, comedian and singer-songwriter."
Miccuci, in response to a comment on her above video, explained that she got checked out by a doctor after her bloodwork "came back really high."
"So, I went to a preventative doc who did a few scans. He scanned my heart and … that's where the spot in my lung was noticed," Micucci wrote.
Fox reports that roughly 10% to 20% of people diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked. The most frequent causes of lung cancer for non-smokers are secondhand smoke and radon exposure.
It's safe to say at this point that, like any past major foreign event, President Joe Biden has completely dropped the ball on the Israel-Hamas war both domestically and internationally.
According to a recent Breitbart piece, Biden's most recent comments regarding the Israel-Hamas war were especially disparaging and have even impacted morale within Israel.
The outlet noted that Biden made a series of unfortunate -- and mostly false -- statements regarding the current situation in Israel, including accusing the IDF of "indiscriminate bombing" while speaking to a group of pro-Israel donors.
Biden's messaging on Israel since October has flip-flopped in every direction as he attempts to appease various elements within and outside of his party.
In a separate Breitbart report:
President Joe Biden trashed Israel and the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a private fundraiser in Washington, DC, on Friday, after telling guests at the White House Hanukkah party the night before of his admiration for Israel.
Biden's comments turned political in the nastiest way as he went on to demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remove democratically-elected right-wing parties from his government.
The president reportedly said that Israel's "hardline" government makes it difficult for the international community to support its war against Hamas.
Breitbart noted:
It is also being celebrated by Israel’s enemies, who believe that if an American president says something — even something provably false, like “indiscriminate bombing” — you can regard it as a political fact.
While Biden and other Democrats continue to cry for a two-state solution in Israel, Netanyahu has strongly denied those calls. He has also insisted that the Biden-backed Palestinian Authority will not be able to return to power once Israel's war is done.
Thankfully, Netanyahu isn't really listening to Biden and the left, who would love nothing more than for Israel to stop its bombings and invasions and allow Hamas to regroup.
On Thursday, it was reported that multiple sources familiar with the situation said that Biden told Netanyahu to end its large-scale invasion of Gaza by the end of the year.
"The New York Times (meaning the White House) just quoted four senior U.S. officials as saying that 'the Biden administration has told the Israeli government that it wants Israel to end its large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza Strip around the end of the year and transition to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas,'" Simon Ateba wrote on X.
BREAKING: Biden tells @netanyahu it's enough.
The New York Times (meaning the White House) just quoted four senior U.S. officials as saying that "the Biden administration has told the Israeli government that it wants Israel to end its large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza… pic.twitter.com/2Q58aK2Q2k
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) December 14, 2023
Only time will tell how Israel responds.
During an interview with Newsmax TV, Lara Trump revealed a potential running mate for her ex-presidential father-in-law, causing considerable controversy.
Lara advised host Eric Bolling that supporters of former President Donald Trump ought not to preclude him from appointing Nikki Haley, his former United Nations ambassador, to the position of vice president, as The Conservative Brief reported.
“I think Nikki Haley has to be a little careful in South Carolina. That’s her home state. Probably Donald Trump is going to win in South Carolina, and Nikki Haley’s gonna come in second,” Bolling told Lara Trump at one point during the interview.
Lara laughed and responded, "There's a lot of talk about a lot of people," when asked about the possibility of a Trump-Vivek Ramaswamy ticket in 2024.
"There’s Trump-Tucker Carlson talk, there’s obviously Trump-Vivek talk, there’s– yeah. I thought you were gonna say Trump-Chris Christie talk, which you’d have a better chance of Joe Biden running with Donald Trump than Chris Christie at this point.”
When Bolling asked, “Would he ever pick Nikki Haley?” Lara Trump replied, “Crazier things have happened. I don’t know. I would never say never with Donald J. Trump. Never say never.”
Afterwards, former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who is reportedly on the shortlist for Trump's vice presidential nomination, responded to Bolling's inquiry: “Is there a job for, say, Nikki Haley in a Trump administration?”
Lake said: “I would guess the sooner she gets out, the more likely that would happen, but I don’t know about that.”
While Lake has been mentioned as a potential running mate of Trump’s, she has actually filed to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona that is currently held by Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who has yet to announce whether she’ll seek another term.
If Lara Trump is saying in nationally televised interviews that a Nikki Haley Vice Presidency under Trump is not out of the question, that means it’s being actively discussed.
What are your thoughts on this? pic.twitter.com/MaLwGsPJaU
— Rob Smith (@robsmithonline) December 12, 2023
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), an ardent supporter of Trump's America-centric policy agenda, declared his endorsement of Lake on Monday. This comes ahead of a race in a new swing state that is anticipated to be closely observed.
“Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living," Cotton told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority."
Lake told the outlet, “I am grateful for the endorsement of Sen. Cotton, someone who served our country honorably in the military and has been a conservative warrior in the Senate,"
"I look forward to working with Sen. Cotton to secure our border and get America back on track from Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s far-left agenda.”
On Thursday, a grand jury in California handed down a new criminal indictment that completely dismantles Hunter Biden's favorite excuse for his questionable actions and profitable international business ventures.
Whenever Hunter Biden and his associates want to justify Joe Biden's extravagant spending and downplay the millions of dollars he received from overseas sources while serving as vice president, they bring up his battles with heroin addiction, as The Daily Caller reported.
Nonetheless, Hunter Biden's persistent efforts to evade paying taxes upon his sobriety are laid out in the latest indictment, which includes nine allegations pertaining to taxes.
“Notably, in 2020, well after he had regained his sobriety, and when he finally filed his outstanding 2016, 2017, and 2018 Forms 1040, the Defendant did not direct any payments toward his tax liabilities for each of those years,” the indictment reads on page 16.
“At the same time, the Defendant spent large sums to maintain his lifestyle from January through October 15, 2020. In that period, he received financial support from Personal Friend totaling approximately $1.2 million.
In addition to housing, media relations, accountants, attorneys, and his Porsche, the indictment lists hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments as part of the financial support.
On page 13 of the indictment is the information that the younger Biden spent more than $70,000 on rehabilitation programs between 2016 and 2018 to deal with his substance abuse problems.
According to the indictment, page 13, he spent $4.9 million on an extravagant lifestyle from 2016 to 2019, which included a large number of payments to women.
He was also found to have spend his income on pornography, drugs, luxury goods, and other personal costs, but all the while, he did not pay his taxes.
“The Defendant engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020,” the indictment says.
“Between 2016 and October 15, 2020, the Defendant individually received more than $7 million in total gross income," it went on.
"This included in excess of $1.5 million in 2016, $2.3 million in 2017, $2.1 million in 2018, $1 million in 2019 and approximately $188,000 from January through October 15, 2020. In addition, from January through October 15, 2020, the Defendant received approximately $1.2 million in financial support to fund his extravagant lifestyle.”
According to his rejected guilty plea agreement with Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors, he got sober in May 2019, the same month he wed Melissa Cohen, his present wife.
The focus of Hunter Biden's autobiography, "Beautiful Things," is his struggle with heroin addiction. According to the indictment, he signed a deal in November 2019 and the book was released in April 2021.
A two-part interview featuring Biden was posted on artist Moby's podcast. The first portion was published on December 8, the day after the first son was charged with additional taxes by a California grand jury.
A high school football player from Georgia died on Sunday - the day before his team was to partake in the state championship game.
The player, according to NBC News, is Brandon Smith. He was 17 years old.
Smith attended Manchester High School, which has made it to the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship.
Meriwether County School System, of which Manchester High School is a part, confirmed Smith's death in a letter that it sent to parents over the weekend. The letter, in part, reads:
We are heartbroken to hear the news of the tragic and untimely death of one of our student-athletes, Brandon Smith.
At the time of this writing, authorities have not released much information about Smith's passing.
Fox News reports:
The cause of Smith’s death was not announced. According to 11 Alive, his body was found earlier Sunday evening. Manchester authorities were investigating his death and reportedly requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Meriwether County School System, in its letter to parents, also wrote, "The circumstances behind this tragedy are still being investigated and will be shared publicly by local authorities."
In the meantime, the local community is remembering Smith.
In its letter to parents, the school system wrote, "Brandon was a loyal teammate and friend who excelled on and off the field. He will be deeply missed."
Newsweek reports that Smith was set to play a big role in the state championship game.
Per the outlet:
Smith had been due to star in the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship on Monday, playing for Manchester High School against Bowdon High School at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is used by the NFL's Atlanta Falcons for their home games. The match had been particularly eagerly anticipated because it was his school's first championship game since 1997, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
NBC reports that the game is still expected to be played. Smith's team, the Manchester Blue Devils, will be facing off against Bowdon High School. Per the outlet:
The game, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday at the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, will still be taking place, a spokesperson for the high school said.
Meriwether County School System, in its letter to parents, wrote: "Manchester High School's celebration of playing for the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship has unfortunately turned into something none of us could have fathomed."
Meriwether County football player dies on eve of team's state title game. 17-year-old Brandon Smith’s body was found this morning. His coach posted on FB on Sat., he was missing. @GBI_GA assisting Manchester PD. https://t.co/A9oMBSzFbQ pic.twitter.com/OH1nB0wtWv
— Cody Alcorn (@CodyAlcorn) December 10, 2023