Steve Pond's Blog, page 130

Gavin Newsom Meets Privately With Trump Ambassador Jon Voight in LA

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Jon Voight, one of President Donald Trump’s three Hollywood ambassadors, met in Century City on Thursday to discuss the actor’s “Make Hollywood Great Again” proposal, TheWrap has learned.

“The group discussed their shared commitment to supporting the television and film industry, including the Governor’s proposed $750 million investment in California’s film and television industry, which will protect good-paying jobs and support the workers who power the state’s creative economy,” the governor’s office shared in a statement to TheWrap.

“From construction crews and electricians to costumers and lighting technicians, these ‘below-the-line’ crews are the backbone of a vital California industry,” the statement continued. “This investment will help ensure they can keep doing what they do best — crafting stories, building careers and keeping the Golden State the global leader in entertainment.”

Former Warner Bros. executive Dee Dee Myers, who is Senior Advisor to the Governor and Director of Go Biz; Steven Paul and Scott Karol were also present. “They shared a commitment to working together to help to build up the film industry in the U.S. — particularly California and Los Angeles,” Politico further reported.

The meeting came as California’s $750 million film tax credit plan remains in the air as state budget cuts have slowed the process. The pair of California Film & TV Jobs Act bills passed their first floor votes in Sacramento this week, though it’s unclear if Trump’s tariffs and/or Los Angeles wildfire recovery efforts will impact the outcome.

If successful, the bills would expand the types of productions that are eligible for tax incentives, offer a 35% tax rate to L.A.-based productions and increase the program’s cap from $330 million to $750 million. Newsom also previously suggested a $7.5 billion film and TV national tax incentive program last month.

The Oscar-winning actor’s May proposal included a carrot-and-stick approach, mixing tax incentives, foreign film tariffs and co-production treaties to encourage U.S. movie production. Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone are Trump’s other two Hollywood ambassadors.

The post Gavin Newsom Meets Privately With Trump Ambassador Jon Voight in LA appeared first on TheWrap.

Laura Ingraham Defends Elon Musk as ‘The Thomas Edison of Our Time’ Amid Donald Trump Fallout | Video

Like most of the media world, Laura Ingraham spent a sizable portion of her Thursday following along as Elon Musk and President Donald Trump took turns trading barbs on social media.

But by the end of the day, the Fox News host decided the former allies would be better off as friends than enemies. She even went so far as to defend the billionaire from Trump’s potential future ire.

“As for the president, he should simply disengage. Musk is his own person. The government contracts that he has stand on their own merit, they shouldn’t be called into question. Threatening to pull them, that’s not wise, when five minutes ago you were, of course, hailing Musk’s work in helping rescue the stranded Americans in space,” she said on “The Ingraham Angle.”

“Elon Musk is like the Thomas Edison of our time,” Ingraham added. “He sacrificed for America personally and professionally and he wanted to make the Trump presidency happen. And it did.”

Ultimately, the pundit is confident the former friends will make up, despite Musk suggesting Trump is in the Epstein Files.

It’s getting very nasty—but will they ever reunite?

“I actually think [Musk and Trump] are going to reconcile at some point though because deep down I would like to believe they both want the same thing.” —@charliekirk11 pic.twitter.com/DFRw12xkeb

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) June 5, 2025

“It was their mutual desire to help America, to save America from the decline and ruin of Kamala Harris and the Democrats, that initially drove their friendship from day one,” Ingraham noted. “Now, stop to think how happy the media and the Democrats are today. They always wanted to break this alliance, I said this last week, and today, they got their wish again. Just last week, we told you that their relationship was always an unlikely one.”

“Trump has always been a populist. Sometimes he was a Democrat, sometimes — but he’s always been a populist. He’s a real estate guy who does deals. Musk has pretty much always been a libertarian, a tech and engineering guy, innovator,” she continued. “At Tesla and SpaceX, he’s the top dog; he orders people around, and he has the right to. But in Washington, Trump’s the top dog, and he calls the shots. Always, the other two branches of government, though, are checking him. And just like Elon does at his companies, Trump does the best that he can. And until recently, Elon understood those challenges.”

“I get it, Elon is frustrated that common sense things aren’t getting done in D.C. But again, he hasn’t been in D.C … this has been going on in D.C. for, you know, decades and decades and decades,” Ingraham concluded. “Things aren’t just happening now, more isn’t being cut. But train your frustration, not on the guy who fought everyone to get where he is, but on the people who are blocking Donald Trump.”

Meanwhile, you can read all about Trump and Musk’s fallout right over here.

The post Laura Ingraham Defends Elon Musk as ‘The Thomas Edison of Our Time’ Amid Donald Trump Fallout | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

‘And Just Like That’ Star Sarita Choudhury Unpacks Seema’s Matchmaker Woes: ‘I’m Glad She Was Tested’

Note: This story contains spoilers from “And Just Like That” Season 3, Episode 2.

Since its very first episode, “Sex and the City” grappled with a question that has haunted women for eons: Should you settle? It’s a conundrum that’s haunted Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and — to a lesser degree — Samantha over the decades. But in the third season of “And Just Like That,” it’s a problem that belongs wholly to Sarita Choudhury’s fearless and fabulous Seema.

After breaking off a relationship with the handsome but work-obsessed Ravi (Armin Amiri), Seema’s coworker sets her up with a matchmaker in Episode 2. The matchmaker’s advice to wear pastels and stay quiet and bubbly horrifies Seema to her core. But though she disagrees with the other woman and leaves with no notable dates, it’s an experience that forces Seema to re-evaluate her love life.

“I’m glad she was tested. Playing her is so much fun, but I don’t want her to become Superwoman. I want her to be real. When the matchmaker calls her out and is like, ‘How’s this going for you?’ It’s hard to say, ‘It’s going great,'” Choudhury said. “It’s good. She’s going to try these other things. They’re going to fail. She’s going to go back to being Seema and fantastic. But I liked [the episode] because it showed that she was like, ‘God, Manhattan is a tough place for love.’ Or the world is or this age is.”

Sarah Jessica Parker and Sarita Choudury in “And Just Like That.” (Craig Blankenhorn/Max)

And if you’ve noticed that Season 3 of “And Just Like That” feels a bit different than seasons past, you’re not alone. Choudhury feels it too.

“[Seema’s] friendship with Carrie, I feel like before it was a bit more me telling her something or helping her with something in her life, or vice versa. I feel now it’s developed into us both talking about ‘This is happening in my life.’ It’s like this deep conversation of them expressing [themselves] as opposed to the typical TV friendship,” Choudhury told TheWrap.

Choudhury credited the deepening of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Seema’s relationship to the blocking this season. Instead of scenes featuring the characters talking to each other one-on-one, Season 3 is filled with more scenes of Seema and Carrie taking walks or sitting beside each other.

“I suggest to anyone who wants to talk about deep things, you face frontally, you don’t face each other,” Choudhury said. “I never realized it until I’m talking to you, but I realize there’s a lot of those moments which allow them to be individuals sharing as opposed to, ‘Oh, guess what? I need help in this.’ It’s interesting. I like their friendship and how it’s developed.”

Seema and Carrie’s relationship isn’t the only part of the series that’s developed in Season 3.

“And Just Like That” releases new episodes Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Max.

The post ‘And Just Like That’ Star Sarita Choudhury Unpacks Seema’s Matchmaker Woes: ‘I’m Glad She Was Tested’ appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Boy George & Culture Club’ Review: Director Alison Ellwood Dives Into British Pop’s Most Controversial 1980s Band

“I’m a goth that accidentally ended up in a pop band. It’s very upsetting.”

Singer-songwriter Boy George is known for wearing many hats. Big hats, even. The largest hats anyone has probably ever seen on a man seeking to entertain millions of people with his God-given talents. 

Unfortunately for George, those signature hats might have started the downfall of the band he cultivated throughout the 1980s: Culture Club.

Director Alison Ellwood takes audiences on a journey through flamboyant styles and hard partying in the new documentary, “Boy George & Culture Club,” which features the history and tumultuous tenure of the band that made The Beatles look tame. Inspired and influenced by glam rock idols like David Bowie, Boy George has always fashioned himself a unique individual with the eccentric garbs draped on his body to demonstrate it. However, as George formed the British pop band Culture Club with fellow singers Mikey Craig, Roy Hay and Jon Moss, his individualistic style seemed to clash with the music they were attempting to create.

The Tribeca doc examines George’s life, both personally and professionally, as well as the historical context behind the band’s formation. With blue-collar roots transformed into hit pop songs like “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” the band’s meteoric rise in the ’80s and ultimate stalemate began — and continues to this day — with George’s passion for the musical arts. It’s the latter song, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” secretly written about his romantic relationship with fellow bandmate Moss, that made fans question George’s sensibilities and sexuality.

At a time when the world, music executives, labels and journalists couldn’t figure Boy George out, his unconventional approach to living his truth in plain sight made fans inquire about the new face of pop music. “Nobody wants to get all dressed up and go unnoticed,” he quips about his fashion sense during an interview in the documentary, perfectly illustrating his reaction to how he was questioned during the time period. When no one was willing to take Culture Club on as a client, Virgin stepped in, and George quickly realized he might have signed away the rights to the very personal music he wrote. 

For many years, George and Jon’ love affair complicated the band’s relationship dynamics, creating space for both to thrive privately while hiding publicly. The film includes archival footage and illuminating interviews with all band members that give credence to the history of the band’s trajectory, though Ellwood’s use of 1980s fonts and graphics overlaid on famous lyrics come across more like an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music” rather than a fleshed-out documentary worth exploring. As this is not the first documentary about Culture Club’s rise and stagnation, “Boy George & Culture Club” is nothing particularly revelatory other than the band’s exclusion from famous charity events like “Live Aid” and the media frenzy that surrounded George’s heroin addiction.

His self-described diva antics and exuberantly rude personality hurt Culture Club’s chances to survive their initial No. 1 hits. Combined with George’s sexuality being questioned in the media after comments he made at the Grammys about being a drag queen, along with the failure of their subsequent album to produce the global hits they were used to, Culture Club’s reign was threatened. The three other band members found themselves relegated to the background until changes had to be made.

“Boy George & Culture Club” may not bring any new insights to the well-examined story of a band’s history and its impact on global music popularity. However, it’s an enlightening set piece on how far the gay community and music have come in the past 40 years. The fact that a band like Culture Club carved out a name for themselves at the height of 1980s new wave music is astounding, to say the least, and though they are not at the pinnacle of their careers, George, Jon, Mikey and Roy have a lot to disclose about their time together in the limelight.

The post ‘Boy George & Culture Club’ Review: Director Alison Ellwood Dives Into British Pop’s Most Controversial 1980s Band appeared first on TheWrap.

Jake Tapper Breaks Down Timeline of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s ‘Friendship Graveyard’ | Video

Jake Tapper tried to make sense of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s “friendship graveyard” after the pair spent the day sparring on social media.

On Thursday, Tapper took a whole seven minutes of “The Lead” to walk through the messy timeline of events between the once close political allies. It wrapped up a day of Musk and Trump trading blows on their respective social media platforms.

“Just in the last few hours, the relationship between President Donald J. Trump and billionaire Elon Musk has so rapidly disintegrated that Musk – without evidence – is now accusing President Trump of being in the as-yet-released Epstein Files,” Tapper noted on CNN. “The accusation from Musk is about as nasty as it gets, accusing somebody of being a pedophile and covering it up.”

.@jaketapper calls "time of death" on Trump-Musk unionhttps://t.co/m5LBv5e6zi pic.twitter.com/goBiXVUNrl

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) June 5, 2025

The host continued: “We need to back up for a moment, though, and explain how we got to this particular friendship graveyard given that just six days ago when Elon Musk left his role as an advisor to the president and head of the Department of Government Efficiency, President Trump gave Musk the key to The White House – the ceremonial golden key. Mr. Trump may now be changing the locks as this feud today essentially escalated publicly in real-time.”

The Tesla CEO took to his X account Thursday morning with the Epstein claim less than a week after stepping down as the leader of DOGE.

“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”

He then added: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”

Trump finally broke his silence on Musk’s many posts about his dislike of the “Big Beautiful Bill” on Thursday after the tweets. He was also insistent that he would have won the 2024 election without the tech billionaire’s help, as Musk suggested.

“Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump told White House reporters. “I’m very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”

Musk disagreed with the idea that Trump would have been victorious in the election, though. He tweeted that without his help, the Republicans would have been much weaker.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.” In an additional tweet, the billionaire accused Trump of expressing “such ingratitude.”

The barrage continued throughout the day. At one point, the president hinted that he had asked Musk to step back and then later threatened to terminate the Tesla CEO’s government subsidies.

“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!,” Trump posted. “The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!”

Trump’s latest message stated: “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT.”

The post Jake Tapper Breaks Down Timeline of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s ‘Friendship Graveyard’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

With ‘Ballerina,’ Lionsgate Tests the Limits of John Wick’s Box Office Power

As the “John Wick” series enters its second decade, Lionsgate has made it clear that the Baba Yaga and his world of assassins are a big part of their theatrical future. We will get answers on how big its reach could be starting this weekend with “Ballerina,” a spinoff starring Ana de Armas as a new vengeance-seeking killer.

“From the World of John Wick: Ballerina” got its start as a BlackList script written by Shay Hatten after being inspired by watching “John Wick: Chapter 2,” which Lionsgate enjoyed so much that they picked it up in 2017 and called on Hatten to rewrite his script to fit into the “Wick” universe known as The Continental.

Now it is part of a flurry of new “Wick” IP coming from Lionsgate in the years ahead. Along with “Ballerina,” Lionsgate is developing “John Wick 5,” a new mainline sequel that will bring back Keanu Reeves as Wick despite his apparent death in the last installment released in 2023. An animated prequel is also in development as well as an upcoming video game, while an immersive experience set in The Continental has opened in Las Vegas.

So how much appetite do moviegoers have for more “Wick”? Given that Reeves only has a cameo in “Ballerina” — a heavily marketed cameo, but a cameo nonetheless — it would be too much to expect de Armas to lead the film to the $175 million-plus domestic runs of the third and fourth “Wick” films, the latter earning a franchise-best $73.8 million opening two years ago.

Instead, “Ballerina” is looking at a more modest $30 million launch, with projections topping out at $34 million. As with past installments, Lionsgate is co-producing the movie with 87North and Thunder Road Entertainment, with a budget reported to be at $80 million due to extensive reshoots.

Reception for “Ballerina,” while not as strong as the “Wick” films, is still positive with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 75% that give particular praise to the action sequences that maintain the franchise’s standard of bloody excellence while allowing de Armas to do things her own way.

In some respects, “Ballerina” is an experiment for Lionsgate similar to the one that Paramount performed last year with “A Quiet Place: Part One,” another spinoff that follows different characters in a franchise’s setting. That film’s domestic run was below the $188 million total of the first “Quiet Place,” but was still a solid success with $139 million domestic and $261 million worldwide against a $67 million budget.

Lionsgate previously tried to expand the “Wick” universe with the Peacock spinoff miniseries “The Continental,” but the show received mixed reviews. Since then, Lionsgate has given Stahelski full creative control over its “Wick” expansion, serving as producer of “Ballerina” and directing reshoots for the film, filling in for Len Wiseman who could not return to the production due to health issues.

We will see in the weeks ahead how much Stahelski’s guidance could help the audience word-of-mouth for “Ballerina,” and how much of the general audience’s interest in “John Wick” comes from the world it has built over the past decade, even when its titular assassin isn’t in the spotlight.

The post With ‘Ballerina,’ Lionsgate Tests the Limits of John Wick’s Box Office Power appeared first on TheWrap.

The Trump vs. Musk Brawl Is an Old-White-Guys Version of a ‘Real Housewives’ Catfight

Reality TV helped make Donald Trump president, after all, so it perhaps stands to reason that the former “The Apprentice” host and Elon Musk would treat the media to the old-white-dude version of a Bravo-style catfight, what CNN analyst Paul Begala gleefully described Thursday as “Real Househusbands of Mar-a-Lago.”

While many anticipated some version of a Trump-Musk breakup eventually, the actual event surely exceeded expectations in its early rounds. Then again, what would one expect from two wealthy eccentrics with hyperactive social media accounts, except a slap fight using tweets as ammunition?

“Buckle up, and pop some popcorn,” MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace said during her show, reflecting the unabashed giddiness that greeted the escalating exchanges of canceling government contracts (Trump), references to the Epstein files (Musk) and starting a new political party (Musk), which seemed to approximate in their fast-building fury that boulder that chased Indiana Jones.

The tsunami crashed Trump’s Truth social. Meanwhile, “Elon” was trending on his social platform, X, to the tune of 2 million posts.

Wallace got a bit more serious in discussing the implications of the feud, saying the Trump-Musk volleys offered a window into “the most corrupt and superficial alliance in American political history.” She might have characterized it best, though, during that opening comment, to the extent that we now process everything as entertainment, a dynamic Trump has successfully exploited dating back to his initial migration into politics.

Given that, the particulars of Trump and Musk’s war of typed-out words might have possessed less immediate significance than the overall nastiness of the tone. That happened to make it perfect fodder for X, the social media site that Musk owns, unleashing salvos of cleverness, jokes and memes that felt like a refreshing detour from its increasingly sludge-filled toxicity.

As for the principal combatants, spectators could choose their favorite lines of attack, from Musk invoking Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein to Trump’s implied threat that he would terminate Musk’s government contracts.

“You hate it when your friends are fighting,” CNN contributor and committed Trump defender Scott Jennings said during Jake Tapper’s show, which, from a media perspective, goes well beyond “lie” to “flat-out whopper.”

For his part, Tapper sought to put the matter in perspective by acknowledging the spectacle associated with the feud with bemused detachment, before naturally devoting extensive time to it.

Elon Musk listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office in May 2025. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“Not one American is helped by this, except, potentially, people who traffic in fun tweets,” Tapper observed, ignoring the fact that he is among those Americans whose occupation is at least peripherally tethered to “fun tweets,” at least of this magnitude, along with (for the purposes of this column anyway) yours truly.

News divisions and anchors quickly sought to pivot from voyeurism to finding the meat of the story, examining what Musk’s break with Trump could mean for Republican legislators caught between them, as well as the passage of the pending tax bill, which Musk began criticizing almost as soon as he exited his position working for the government.

“This isn’t just tabloid fodder,” Tapper said, adding that the fracas “has policy ramifications.”

Much of that feels like cover, though, to wallow in the delicious absurdity of the President of the United States and the World’s Richest Man going to war with each other in such juvenile fashion.

In reality-TV terms, it was the equivalent of the tossed wine glass followed by the tipped-over table, before the physical altercation featured in the promo that winds up lasting all of three seconds with no actual punches thrown. Even Bravo’s Andy Cohen recognized the parallels to his franchise, volunteering to host the inevitable reunion special.

LET ME HOST THE REUNION!

— Andy Cohen (@Andy) June 5, 2025

Fox News at first reluctantly waded into the fray, while the hosts of its high-rated daytime show “The Five” sounded a bit like children forced to choose sides between newly separated parents.

“I don’t like it. I want it to stop,” host Greg Gutfeld pleaded. “I want to tell them if they’re both watching, ‘Knock it off.’ We are done with this.” And indeed, the network that doubles as the Trump administration’s farm team did appear more comfortable discussing former Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s break with the Democratic Party while dismissing her as a DEI hire.

This was one of those moments, though, where Fox’s ideological focus blunted its attention to what clearly represented the day’s biggest news, certainly in terms of the way people consume media.

Truly understanding what’s wrong with what Trump has called his “Big Beautiful Bill” is complicated. Yelling “Fight!” and pointing as two rich and famous people hurl barbs at each other isn’t.

As Wallace noted, the explosion of the Trump-Musk feud speaks to a level of corruption and dysfunction that suggests this is no way to run a government. But the other part of her quote, about its superficiality, underscores why in our conflict-driven, attention-starved media ecosystem, it’s a helluva way to program a cable network and kill time on X.

The post The Trump vs. Musk Brawl Is an Old-White-Guys Version of a ‘Real Housewives’ Catfight appeared first on TheWrap.

Jimmy Kimmel Jokes That Due to Elon Musk Spat, Trump ‘Now Has 2 Foreigners Who Won’t Sleep With Him’ | Video

Given it remains one of the most discussed stories of the week, it’s not surprising that Jimmy Kimmel spent some time in his Wednesday night monologue discussing Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s apparently growing fight.

Kimmel compared it, jokingly, to “Alien vs. Predator,” “Godzilla vs Kong” and “Kramer vs Kramer,” and dubbed it “a big, beautiful brouhaha titled ‘Trump vs. Musk,;” referencing, of course, Trump’s preferred title for his budget, the s0-called “Big Beautiful Bill.”

“That is trouble in Scamalot folks. I mentioned last night that, within 72 hours of exiting his role as DOGE-bag-in-Chief, Elon Musk has been waging twitter war against Trump’s budget,” Kimmel went on. “Musk was reportedly “butthurt” — and yes, they did use that word, it is a quote — about some of the stuff that’s in the bill. Usually when Elon’s butthurt, it’s because of all the drugs he’s trying to smuggle through White House security.” 

“But this time, it’s different. First, he called the bill ‘disgusting abomination.’ Then lashed out at lawmakers, he wrote, ‘In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.’ That’s right. First he fired the American people, next, he wants to fire the politicians!”

Kimmel noted that thanks to our “ridiculous Supreme Court,” Musk and fellow oligarchs are able to flood American politics with money and fund challengers to anyone who angers him. ‘So, when he tweets something like, ‘Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BIL,’ and the poster from the movie ‘Kill Bill,’ they get nervous.”

“They have to wonder, does he really keta-mean this,” Kimmel joked.

Kimmel then chided Democrats for acting as if Musk might now be on their side, explained, “the real truth is, Musk is mad about the things that affect him like cutting the electric vehicle tax credit, not using his company Starlink for air traffic control, and that they pulled his friend’s nomination for head of NASA. What Elon Musk cares about is Elon Musk.”

“And you can tell Trump doesn’t want to exacerbate this, even though he’s said to be ‘furious,’ it was even reported on Fox News that he is absolutely furious. But he’s been unusually quiet. He hasn’t punched back. In fact, he kind of disappeared today,” Kimmel continued. “Usually, he’s got reporters in the oval office; he’s out yelling on the helipad. He had none of that today. No executive orders! No angry posts about Elon on Truth Social.”

“Very unlike him to show restraint. So, this must be serious. I mean between Elon and Melania, he, Trump now has two foreigners who won’t sleep with him,” Kimmel added. “And it’s only a matter of time, it will happen. I mean, I keep waiting to see Musk on a one-way Space-X to El Salvador.”

Watch the full monologue below:

The post Jimmy Kimmel Jokes That Due to Elon Musk Spat, Trump ‘Now Has 2 Foreigners Who Won’t Sleep With Him’ | Video  appeared first on TheWrap.

Stephen Colbert Guesses Why Elon Musk Turned on Trump and It’s Exactly What You Think | Video

Stephen Colbert broke the news to his audience during his monologue on Wednesday’s “The Late Show” that “the thinkable happened” between Elon Musk and Donald Trump this week.

“There’s now trouble brewing between the president and former first buddy, Elon Musk, no, no, I’m beginning. I’m starting to worry that two narcissistic megalomaniacs with a total inability to see value in other humans might have a hard time making friends,” Colbert joked. “Here’s what happened. Here’s what happened yesterday. This is yesterday, right in a multi tweet onslaught among other things, Elon Musk called Trump’s big, beautiful bill a disgusting abomination.”

Then he speculated as to what could have caused it.

“Apparently, the ketamine has worn off. That’s got to be a hell of a hangover,” Colbert said. Then he imagined what else Musk might be thinking after coming down. “Oh, my God, I spent $300 million to elect who? I have how many children? That can’t be their names!”

“‘Disgusting abomination’ is harsh criticism,’ Colbert continued. “Also copyright infringement, because that’s already the slogan for Papa John’s parmesan crusted Philly Cheesesteak. Papadia.”

“Musk explained that the big, beautiful abomination will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion three exclamation points and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt,” Colbert explained. “Counterpoint: American citizens already used to unsustainable debt. That’s why they buy their parmesan crusted Philly Cheesesteak, Papadias, on Klarna.”

“In an interview on CBS This Sunday, Musk tried to distance himself from Trump,” Colbert said, playing a clip of the South African billionaire saying, “It’s not like I agree with everything the administration does.”

“Yeah, Musk doesn’t think Trump was right about everything,” Colbert countered, “his hat does.” At that, he showed a photo of Musk wearing a read baseball cap with “Trump was right about everything” on it.

Watch the full monologue below:

The post Stephen Colbert Guesses Why Elon Musk Turned on Trump and It’s Exactly What You Think | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Love Island USA’ Contestant Yulissa Escobar Exits After Racist Comments Come to Light

Days after several racist online posts came to light, “Love Island USA” contestant Yulissa Escobar has left the show.

Escobar’s exit came early in episode 2 of the current seventh season, which streamed Wednesday night on Peacock. In a scene where the other contestants were waking up, the show’s narrator simply informed them (and the audience) that “Yulissa has left the villa.”

No reason was given for her departure and she wasn’t mentioned again. It’s not clear if her exit was due to the uproar over her resurfaced comments, or if she was kicked off the show as opposed to leaving by her own choice. Representatives for NBCUniversal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap. Escobar has also not commented on her own social media accounts.

Shortly after the cast of “Love Island USA” was announced on May 29, recordings from Escobar’s appearances on two separate podcasts were resurfaced. In these clips, she used the n-word more than once while discussing previous relationships. The show and Escobar have been subject of a growing online backlash since.

The remaining contestants on the show are Ace Greene, Taylor Williams, Nicolas Vansteenberghe, Jeremiah Brown, Chelley Bissainthe, Huda Mustafa, Belle-A Walker and Olandria Carthen.

Season 7 of “Love Island USA” Premiered June 3.

The post ‘Love Island USA’ Contestant Yulissa Escobar Exits After Racist Comments Come to Light appeared first on TheWrap.