Steve Pond's Blog, page 103

ICE in LA Sets Hollywood Summer on Edge as Latino Workers Hide: ‘It’s Like Anne Frank’

The man swimming laps next to me in the public pool in Santa Monica paused at the edge of the limpid water and sighed. A fifth-generation Angeleno of Chinese descent, Colin said he’s been driving his two daughters to their activities all over town – today is swim team training — because their nanny won’t. 

The nannies will not come out of the house. He said: “It’s like Anne Frank or something.”

The nannies in this town are mostly Hispanic and like so many other Latinos doing important jobs in our community, they’re now living in a state of terror. Because ICE agents will pick up anyone with brown skin, regardless of whether they are legal or not, and sometimes even if they are American. It doesn’t seem to matter. 

With their faces obscured, no warrants and no identification, ICE is showing up at the Home Depot. They’re showing up at parks. Car washes. Restaurants. Schools. Colin’s wife is a pediatrician and ICE agents have come into her medical office looking for patients and staff, he said. The other day, Hispanic staff crowded into an examination room and huddled there when agents showed up because ICE is not allowed in the exam rooms.

Not yet anyway. 

This is the kind of insanity and terror that’s being spread in our city. According to the Department of Homeland Security, over 1,600 immigrants have been detained in Southern California over a period of more than two weeks as of June 25th. This equates to roughly 101 arrests per day.

In a quest to punish a Democratic majority city – nearly half Latino by last count — and in an obsession to meet made-up quotas to deport undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration has set Los Angeles on edge.

His intent to terrorize our city is working. My local car wash on Sepulveda is closed. The owner said he needs to protect his labor force.

Now the latest is we have ICE wannabes. Local television KTLA reported that on Friday an LA man was arrested for impersonating a federal agent. He had a loaded gun, fake documents, cop gear and a blinking light on his car. No biggie. 

“People are staying home. It does feel very scary out there right now,” said immigration attorney Jaclyn Granet, who works closely with entertainment clients. 

“It’s incredibly disturbing to witness as a human and also as an immigrant attorney, who works with foreign talent,” she told me. “I support the idea that America is better when we have a global community within our borders. It really feels like this program of mass ICE raids and mass detention is extremely short-sighted… If you’re raiding the farms, the restaurants – how long does it take until a restaurant has to close, or we don’t have this crop or that crop?”

A lawyer friend of mine said she was in Van Nuys on Friday picking up boxes from a storage place and talked to a group of Hispanic men who find work outside the store. They were scared, they told her. “They’re afraid to go out for work right now,” said this friend who did not want to be named. “Their families are staying in their home.”

Her housekeeper, who is legal, said people are afraid to leave their houses. Her client told her that her nanny, like Colin’s, won’t leave the house. “Even if they’re legal they’re afraid to take the kids to the park, afraid to take them to school. This is affecting not just the undocumented, it’s affecting people who are legal who have brown skin,” she said. 

ICE is operating aggressively all over – from the wealthy west side where many undocumented folks work, to the working class section on the east where many live. If you’re going to Gelson’s watch out. You might see men pull up in one SUV, or several, armed to the hilt and dressed in combat gear surround a young woman no more than 100 lbs or so. That was in Ladera Heights.

Video shows community members rushing in to try and help a street vendor as she was taken by ICE agents in Ladera Heights.

Aleca Le Blanc witnessed the incident and described the agents as: "Ten guys, all jacked up and armed, taking away a woman who probably weighs 100 pounds.… pic.twitter.com/ethn3HLhxX

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 27, 2025

Here is a video of a full-on military raid–military uniforms, night vision goggles, rifles – descending on a home in Huntington Park where they unceremoniously blast open the door and then we see a young mother with child and toddler in her arms being escorted out. 

Damn Federal agents blew a door off for this?

A dozen federal agents blasted their way into an LA home where Jenny Ramirez lives with her boyfriend and two kids.

She heard the blast while checking on her 6-year-old, with her 1-year-old in her arms.

Ramirez says everyone in… pic.twitter.com/4op8lKReA2

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline) June 27, 2025

The overkill is the point. 

Colin comes from the fifth generation American family of Chinese origin. He said his family first came here to build the railroads back in the 1800s. His father now lives in South Carolina and is a Trumper. He recalled the discrimination his parents felt, especially during the Second World War (even though they are not Japanese). We both shared our immigrant backgrounds — mine from Ukrainian and Polish descent only two generations in — and wondered aloud: It’s not that hard to imagine the descendants of today’s terrorized Latino population in 20 years from now marveling at the criminality, the inhumanity and the deliberate aggression.

And we all wonder what can be done. For the moment, it seems, not very much.

“Do I think that this level of force is necessary? Absolutely not,” said Granet. “That is part of the chaos and scare tactics meant to be communicated through these raids. Part of Trump’s plan is to create chaos.” 

Scenes from ICE terrorizing civilians in LA:

LA RAIDS: Border Patrol & Federal officers RAIDED a Home Depot on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, CA this morning.

Reports of 20 people taken into custody along with a food vendor's cart.

Feds also targeted a construction site on Santa Monica Blvd.

IS THIS WHAT YOU VOTED FOR IN… pic.twitter.com/liO4btanfJ

— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) June 19, 2025

So ICE agents are profiling customers in private establishments? pic.twitter.com/MIs7nWrin7

— Film The Police LA (@FilmThePoliceLA) June 20, 2025

I’m choked up seeing this—it’s shameful.Iranian refugees got snatched by “immigration agents” dressed like bounty hunters in West LA’s Sawtelle neighborhood.We’re really about to send them back to a country we just bombed? A regime known for jailing, torturing, and killing its own people?

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2025-06-27T01:34:26.703Z

Video shows community members rushing in to try and help a street vendor as she was taken by ICE agents in Ladera Heights.

Aleca Le Blanc witnessed the incident and described the agents as: "Ten guys, all jacked up and armed, taking away a woman who probably weighs 100 pounds.… pic.twitter.com/ethn3HLhxX

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 27, 2025

The post ICE in LA Sets Hollywood Summer on Edge as Latino Workers Hide: ‘It’s Like Anne Frank’ appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Nautilus’ Release Schedule: When to Watch New Episodes of AMC’s Submarine Adventure Series

“Nautilus” finally lands in the U.S. on AMC after premiering in the UK in 2024.

The series, which was originally developed for Disney+ before being dropped, explores the origin story of Captain Nemo – the iconic voyager from Jules Verne stories like “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” “Nautilus” puts the captain in a hair-raising escape from a penal colony with a crew of prisons and a prototype sub.

Here’s everything you need to know about where and when to tune in for the first season of AMC’s “Nautilus.”

When does “Nautilus” Season 1 come out?

The first season of “Nautilus” drops on Sunday, June 29.

How can I watch “Nautilus” Season 1?

“Nautilus” Season 1 airs Sunday nights and will be available on AMC. The episodes will also be up for streaming on AMC+.

Are episodes released weekly or all at once?

The first season of “Nautilus” debuts and ends with paired episode but the bulk of the series will drop weekly on AMC and be available to stream on AMC+. Here is the full rundown:

Episode 1 – June 29Episode 2 – June 29Episode 3 – July 4Episode 4 – July 11Episode 5 – July 18Episode 6 – July 25Episode 7 – Aug. 1Episode 8 – Aug. 8Episode 9 – Aug. 15Episode 10 – Aug. 15What is “Nautilus” Season 1 about?

The series follows the legendary Captain Nemo who was made famous in the Jules Verne stories “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” and “The Mysterious Island.” The series serves as an origin story that finds Nemo breaking out of a penal colony with a crew of pirates on a prototype submarine titularly called The Nautilus.

Who is in “Nautilus” Season 1?

“Nautilus” stars Shazad Latif as Captain Nemo. He is joined by Georgia Flood, Luke Arnold, Céline Menville, Kayden Price, Jacob Collins-Levy, Benedict Hardie, and Arlo Green.

Watch the trailer:

The post ‘Nautilus’ Release Schedule: When to Watch New Episodes of AMC’s Submarine Adventure Series appeared first on TheWrap.

Simon Wiesenthal Center Slams ‘Bland’ Glastonbury Festival Response to ‘Death to IDF’ Chant: ‘It’s Cowardice’

The Glastonbury Festival’s official response to chants of “Death to the IDF” and “From the river to the sea” from the stage this weekend was slammed Sunday by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, with the Jewish advocacy group’s CEO calling the statement “bland,” “cowardice” and “complicity.”

Glastonbury organizers said in a Sunday Instagram post that they are “appalled” by the onstage statements of the punk duo Bob Vylan, whose singer led the crowd on Saturday in a series of chants including “Death, death to the IDF” and “Free Palestine.”

“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” the festival and organizer Emily Eavis posted Sunday.

Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the onstage display “was not just disgraceful; it was sickening, dangerous, and chillingly reminiscent of a modern-day Nazi rally.” He was equally unimpressed with the festival’s response.

“Saying the chants merely ‘crossed a line’ and offering vague ‘reminders’ to artists is not accountability — it’s cowardice,” Berk said. “When confronted with explicit calls for violence against Jews, anything short of absolute condemnation and corrective action is complicity.”

Read Berk’s entire statement below:

“What happened on the stages of Glastonbury yesterday was not just disgraceful; it was sickening, dangerous, and chillingly reminiscent of a modern-day Nazi rally. When Bob Vylan chanted “Death, death to the IDF” and Kneecap urged fans to “start a riot” outside a court where one of their members faces terrorism-related charges, it was public incitement, not performance. The explicit calls for violence against Jews, broadcast live by the BBC without interruption, literally gave hate a stage, a microphone, and the stamp of legitimacy of one of Britain’s most respected public institutions.

This was a calculated act of hate speech, glorifying violence and dehumanizing Jews through the demonization of Israel. The bile once spewed at fascist rallies in 1930s Europe is now being blasted from British concert stages, cheered on by huge crowds and broadcast by taxpayer-funded media. If festival organizers and broadcasters can’t (or won’t) foresee violent speech against Jews, the Glastonbury concert-goers certainly could: horrifically, the crowd of thousands was primed to join in call and response to Bob Vylan’s hateful chant. 

 At Coachella earlier this year, we saw similar antisemitic themes thinly disguised as activism. Cultural spaces once devoted to peace and unity are being hijacked to mainstream hate.

And Glastonbury’s bland response? Saying the chants merely “crossed a line” and offering vague “reminders” to artists is not accountability—it’s cowardice. When confronted with explicit calls for violence against Jews, anything short of absolute condemnation and corrective action is complicity.

On October 7, 2023, hundreds of young people were massacred and taken hostage by Hamas terrorists at Israel’s Nova music festival. To hear calls for the death of Jews at a music event in the UK is deeply retraumatizing and terrifying. When young Jews attend a music festival they are murdered: when young Britons attend one, they’re calling for those murders. 

This is a moment of reckoning. Festival organizers, media outlets, and artists must choose: will they be platforms for peace, or enablers of hate? Because silence is not neutrality, it is a green light for bigotry.

Festivals must be prepared to halt performances that invoke hate; broadcasters must air festivals on deferred live and use their kill switch to take hate speech immediately off the air.

Never again is not a slogan: It’s a responsibility. And it’s being betrayed on the world’s biggest stages.”

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Jake Paul Says Defeating Julio César Chávez Jr. Felt Like ‘The First Day of My Boxing Career’

Jake Paul’s win over Julio César Chávez Jr. Saturday night felt like “the first day of my boxing career,” the YouTuber-turned-boxer told reporters. Paul won the bout with scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 98-92.

The Los Angeles Times reported Chávez Jr. struggled throughout the match, something the 39-year-old readily admitted to while speaking to reporters following the bout. “I reacted too late,” he explained.

Of Paul, Chávez Jr. added, “He’s a strong fighter and after the first three or four rounds, he got tired, so I think he’s not ready for championship fights, but he’s a good fighter.”

The fight gave Paul another opportunity to prove he’s serious about a career as a boxer.

“I still want to do it. I’m used to these guys not being good promoters and at the end of the day, I’m going to fight these guys,” he explained. “Today, I feel like it was the first day of my boxing career, I’m just warming up and this is the second chapter from here on out.”

Chávez Jr. is the third boxer Paul has gone up against in 13 fights since 2020. He defeated boxing legend Mike Tyson in November 2024 after 8 rounds.

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Beyoncé’s Flying Car Malfunctions Mid-Song at Houston Show, Leaves Her Dangling Over Audience | Video

Beyoncé was forced to pause her show at the NRG Stadium in Houston mid-song Saturday when a car prop she was seated in malfunctioned, leaving the singer dangling over the audience. The show was the first of two planned in the city this weekend.

In a video shared by @Fouad.POV on TikTok, the singer tells the crew to “Stop, stop, stop, stop” the entire performance around a minute and a half into the song “16 Carriages,” but it was clear from early on that the red car she traveled in was leaning precariously to one side.

@fouad.pov Beyoncé car malfunction in Houston (scared us for real) #houston #beyonce #cowboycartertour #cowboycarter #16carriage #fyp ♬ original sound – Fouad's POV

The crowd cheered as the production crew attempted to rectify the situation. “Thank you for your patience,” Beyoncé said. The car was eventually lowered to the floor level.

Both the car and Beyoncé were harnessed to cables, and the singer was also seen gripping on to one as the crew navigated the situation.

@stillunjadeddd Now why would the car malfunction mid air? So glad she got down safely! #fyp #stillunjadeddd #houstoninfluencer #cowboycarter #cowboycartertour #beyonceknowles #beyonceknowles #beyonce #blueivy #parkwoodentertainment #parkwoodentertainment ♬ original sound – stillunjadeddd

In a third video shared on X, once she was back onstage, Beyoncé assured fans, “If I ever fall, I know y’all would catch me.”

“If ever I fall, I know y’all would catch me” pic.twitter.com/BA08c0ajzg

— JAY (@MYBEDAZZLEDCANE) June 29, 2025

It is unclear what led to the problem, and the singer has regularly performed in the flying car throughout her tour.

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Vin Diesel Says ‘Fast & Furious’ Finale Will Bring Back Paul Walker’s Character, Release Set for 2027 | Video

The eleventh installment in the “Fast & Furious” franchise will be released in April 2027, and fans can expect Brian O’Conner — the character played by Paul Walker until his death in November 2013 – to return, Vin Diesel told fans at FuelFest in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Universal declined to comment, but the studio has not yet publicly confirmed a release date for the film.

The actor told the crowd he had spoken to Universal on Friday and was asked what it would take to bring the movie to fruition. His conditions were to “bring the franchise back to L.A.” and to “return to the car culture, to the street racing.”

Fast & Furious 11 releasing on April 2027 according to Vin Diesel at FuelFest

-Brian O'Conner will return and reunite with Dom
-Franchise heading back to L.A.
-Return to car culture/street racinghttps://t.co/84RgtMpAmehttps://t.co/FuWwwRaLwN pic.twitter.com/UDZPaAGhb8

— Wario64 (@Wario64) June 29, 2025

“You wanna know what the third thing was?” Vin Diesel then asked to cheers. “Does anybody wanna know what the third thing was?”

As the cheers continued, he added, “The third thing was reuniting Dom and Brian O’Connor. That is what you’re gonna get the finale.” The actor did not elaborate.

Walker died in a car crash in November 2013.

A post shared on the actor’s Facebook page announced his death in 2013.

“He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives,” the post read. “We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. – #TeamPW.”

TMZ, which first reported the death, said the car slammed into a post or tree and burst into flames around 3:30 p.m. on November 30.

The franchise paid tribute to Paul Walker in 2015 with a final scene in “Furious 7.”

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7 Best Psychological Thrillers on Prime Video Right Now

Amazon’s Prime Video has a movie for just about every mood. The streamer’s film library is large and diverse and packed to the brim with both throwback and modern classics. That is true especially of the platform’s selection of psychological thrillers, which includes masterpieces from over 50 years ago, early calling cards for some of Hollywood’s biggest living directors and a few contemporary gems.

Here are the seven best psychological thrillers you can stream on Prime Video right now.

“Memento” (Newmarket)“Memento” (2000)

Part neo-noir mystery, part psychological thriller, “Memento” is the film that put writer-director Christopher Nolan on the map. Nolan’s second feature effort, the film follows Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a man suffering from a form of short-term memory loss that prevents him from forming any new memories, who hunts down the person who killed his wife using a complex system of tattoos, notes and photographs. Nothing turns out to be quite what Leonard thinks, though, in a film that is visually grittier than any of Nolan’s subsequent efforts and yet no less unpredictable, narratively complex or engaging.

“The Conversation” (Paramount Pictures)“The Conversation” (1974)

One of the greatest films of one of Hollywood’s greatest decades, “The Conversation” is the masterpiece Francis Ford Coppola directed in between “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II.” Released the same year as the latter, “The Conversation” follows Harry R. Caul (Gene Hackman), a surveillance expert who ends up caught in a difficult moral and philosophical dilemma when he becomes convinced that his latest recordings will be used in a potential murder. Drenched in ’70s-era paranoia and featuring one of Gene Hackman’s best performances, “The Conversation” is a riveting moral drama and conspiracy thriller that keeps you — much like its protagonist — perpetually and unnervingly on your toes.

“Le Samourai” (S.N. Prodis)“Le Samouraï” (1967)

One of the many masterpieces made by the master of cool, Jean-Pierre Melville, “Le Samourai” is a jazzy, slick thriller. It follows a solitary, stoic French hitman (Alain Delon) as he tries to evade the police while also uncovering who hired him for his latest job and then tried to have him killed after it was done. Like its cool, calm protagonist, “Le Samourai” is a meditative, polished thriller. Across its lean 105 minutes, though, the waves of paranoia, anxiety and guilt crashing beneath the surfaces of both it and its increasingly desperate anti-hero are revealed. The result is a psychological crime thriller that holds your attention from its poetic opening images all the way to its gut-punch closing seconds.

“The Handmaiden” (CJ Entertainment)“The Handmaiden” (2016)

A twisty, Swiss-watch piece of historical fiction, South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s 2016 drama “The Handmaiden” is a masterful, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller about betrayal, trust, greed, love, repression, oppression and sexual liberation. Based on a 2002 book by Welsh novelist Sarah Waters, the film follows a Korean girl (Kim Tae-ri) who is hired during Japan’s rule over Korea to become the handmaiden to a wealthy Japanese heiress (Kim Min-hee) who lives on a secluded estate with her domineering uncle (Cho Jin-woong).

Divided into separate yet overlapping sections, “The Handmaiden” unfurls the many layers of its story with masterful, wicked glee, all while building toward an emotional and dramatic climax that is as shocking as it is unexpectedly moving. Boasting its director’s signature, transgressive sense of humor and appetite for violence, “The Handmaiden” is one of the best movies of the 21st century so far.

Ralph Fiennes in “Conclave” (Focus Features)“Conclave” (2024)

A political and psychological thriller that sometimes feels like it would fit right in within murder-mystery extraordinaire Agatha Christie’s oeuvre, “Conclave” justifiably delighted and charmed moviegoers when it hit theaters last year. Based on a 2016 novel by Robert Harris, the film follows a Catholic Cardinal (Ralph Fiennes) whose role managing a conclave to elect the Catholic Church’s next pope is complicated when he is forced to investigate the secrets, lies and scandals that threaten to corrupt the entire election.

Thanks to its crowd-pleasing nature and its prestige presentation, “Conclave” briefly got wrapped up in the awards cycle of late 2024 and early 2025, which ended with it taking one home Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Fortunately, “Conclave” will outlive its awards run. It is an engrossing, beautifully staged thriller rife with doubt, guilt, corruption and, ultimately, grace.

“The Menu” (Searchlight Pictures)“The Menu” (2022)

Like “Conclave,” “The Menu” is also anchored by an astonishing performance from Ralph Fiennes. That is where the similarities between the two films end, though. Abrasive and harsh where “Conclave” is contemplative and soft-spoken, “The Menu” is an acidic, razor-sharp psychological thriller about class, self-worth and the suffocating, soul-killing power of capitalism.

Directed by “Succession” and “Game of Thrones” director Mark Mylod, the film follows an escort (Anya Taylor-Joy) who accompanies a status-obsessed foodie (Nicholas Hoult) on a trip to an exclusive, legendary restaurant run by a seclusive chef (Fiennes). However, what starts out as another night of fine dining quickly takes a sharp, murderous turn. Lean, mean and brimming with quotable lines and memorable moments, “The Menu” is a thriller that does not take itself seriously, which just makes it all the more entertaining and impactful.

“10 Cloverfield Lane” (Paramount Pictures)“10 Cloverfield Lane” (2016)

For a brief time, it felt like the future of the “Cloverfield” franchise was limitless. That was entirely thanks to “10 Cloverfield Lane,” director Dan Trachtenberg’s loosely connected spin-off follow-up to Matt Reeves’ “Cloverfield.” Co-written by “Whiplash” and “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle, the film follows a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who wakes up from a violent car crash in an underground bunker built by a paranoid, controlling man (John Goodman) who insists that something has caused the surface of the Earth to become uninhabitable for humans. “10 Cloverfield Lane” is, in other words, both a psychological thriller and a battle of wills, and it all just works far better than it has any right to — or should.

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Mamdani Vows to ‘Work With Everyone’ – But Insists ‘I Don’t Think We Should Have Billionaires’ | Video

New York’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani pledged to “work with everyone” while speaking to Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” Sunday, but also affirmed, “I don’t think that we should have billionaires” when asked about his underlying political beliefs.

“You are a self-described democratic socialist. Do you think that billionaires have a right to exist?” Welker asked Mamdani.

“I don’t think that we should have billionaires, because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country,” he explained. “And I look forward to work with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fairer for all of them.”

Welker also asked Mamdani to respond to Donald Trump’s claim he is a “communist.”

“No, I am not,” he responded. “And I have already had to start to get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I’m from, who I am, ultimately because he wants to distract from what I’m fighting for.”

“And I’m fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed. And when we talk about my politics, I call myself a Democrat socialist in many ways inspired by the words of Dr. King from decades ago who said, ‘Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism. There has to be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.'”

“And as income inequality has declined nationwide, it has increased in New York City. And ultimately, what we need, is a city where every single person can thrive,” he concluded.

Watch the interview with Zohran Mamdani in the video above.

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Paul Simon Cancels 2 Shows Due to ‘Chronic and Intense Back Pain’

Paul Simon has canceled two shows in Philadelphia due to back pain that has become “unmanageable.” Simon shared the news via Instagram on Saturday.

“Regretfully, Paul Simon must cancel two shows tonight June 28 and tomorrow night June 29 — at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music,” the statement read. “Paul has been struggling with chronic and intense back pain. Today it became unmanageable and demands immediate attention. Unfortunately, we have to cancel these shows at this time, as we don’t have the ability to reschedule them.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paul Simon (@paulsimonofficial)

“However, we are hopeful after this minor surgical procedure which has been scheduled in the next few days, Paul will be able to complete the tour as well as look into returning to make up these dates,” the statement continued.

Simon previously played the venue June 26 as part of his “A Quiet Celebration” tour. He is meant to next perform in Long Beach on July 7 and Los Angeles from July 9-16.

The singer announced the tour plans in February. Simon, who has also been dealing with severe hearing loss, intentionally chose venues “with optimal acoustics for this tour.”

Simon took the stage alongside Sabrina Carpenter during “SNL50” in February. The pair performed together in lieu of the show’s traditional cold open, during which Simon remembered performing “Homeward Bound” with George Harrison in 1976.

“I was not born then, and neither were my parents,” Carpenter joked.

Simon answered, “Well, I’m glad they’re getting the chance to hear it tonight.” The duo then played the song, with Carpenter telling the audience at the end, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

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Elon Musk Blasts Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill – Again: ‘Utterly Insane and Destructive’

After a brief pause, Elon Musk resumed denigrating the Big, Beautiful Bill. On Saturday, his 54th birthday, Musk insisted on X that the latest iteration of the president’s proposed spending bill is “utterly insane and destructive.”

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote on the platform. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

Yes, utter madness! https://t.co/h6dShEaujZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025

In a separate message, Musk described the bill as “utter madness!”

The bill made it through the House by one vote and will next be considered in the Senate. Musk’s initial criticism of the bill sparked off a public feud with Donald Trump that abated somewhat in the past two weeks.

Musk first slammed the bill in a May 28 interview with CBS News. “I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decreases it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” he said.

In a separate interview with the Washington Post May 27, Musk insisted his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had become a scapegoat within the administration.

“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he said. “Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”

On June 4 Musk took to X to encourage followers to “Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok.” He shared a photo from the film “Kill Bill” and added, “KILL the BILL.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk also wrote on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

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