Cheat Sheet
Top 10 Right Now
1
Ringo Starr Reveals Who Will Play Him in Beatles Biopic
A STARR IS BORN
Published 11.27.24 3:30PM EST 
Barry Keoghan at the 15th Governors Awards held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood on November 17, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Ringo Starr revealed that Barry Keoghan has been tapped to play him in the Beatles biopic. “I think it’s great,” Starr said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight Wednesday. “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.” For the first time, Starr, Paul McCartney and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life and music rights to produce a four-part biopic about each Beatle which will be directed by Sam Mendes. Other stars floated for the project include Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Joseph Quinn (George Harrison) and Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney). A source close to the film told Variety that nobody has been officially signed to the project yet, including Keoghan. Starr’s advice to Keoghan is to develop his own drumming style. “I’m not asking you to play like me, but you have to have the movement to do this stuff,” Starr said. “A lot of people come to the gigs we’re doing and say, ‘My son is taking drum lessons,’ and I say, ‘Not too many I hope.’ You’ve got to let them get their own feel.”

Read it at Variety

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2
Elon Musk Under Fire for Using Slur to Attack Ben Stiller
THUNDEROUS
Published 11.27.24 2:19PM EST 
Ben Stiller in Germany promoting Tropic Thunder.
Ben Stiller in Germany promoting Tropic Thunder. AXEL SCHMIDT/DDP/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk criticized actor Ben Stiller for voting for Kamala Harris with a slur in a post on X Wednesday. The tech mogul shared a post comparing a headline of Stiller saying that “woke America” killed edgy comedy with a photo of his character Simple Jack from the 2008 satire Tropic Thunder. “Damn he went full r----d,” Musk captioned the picture, a reference to a scene in the movie. Stiller previously said that he “proudly” voted for Harris over Donald Trump in the November election. The post referenced an interview Stiller did with Collider, where he said that he didn’t think Tropic Thunder would get made today. “Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too,” he added. “The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on—actors trying to do anything to win awards.” The satire also featured Robert Downey Jr. in blackface.

Read it at TMZ

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Partner update

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BARK TO BASICS
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Updated 11.27.24 12:03AM EST 
Published 11.27.24 12:00AM EST 
Darwin's Natural Pet Food on a park table with a smiling dog in the background.
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3

Racist Dictionary Comes Under Fire for Archaic Definitions

EXCUSE YOUR FRENCH
Updated 11.27.24 1:07PM EST 
Published 11.27.24 12:54PM EST 
The 9th edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, which is the official dictionary of the French language, is shown at the Institut de France in Paris on November 14, 2024.
The 9th edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, which is the official dictionary of the French language, is shown at the Institut de France in Paris on November 14, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN/Ludovic Marin/AFP

The Académie Française, the top French council that sets the standards for the country’s language, has been asked by a leading human rights organization to amend several racist, bigoted and outdated entries in its latest official French dictionary. The Ligue des droits de l’homme (LDH), a leading human rights NGO, wrote Tuesday that it found “with amazement and dismay that many definitions are part of a vision of our world that is at best archaic.” Among them: the word “yellow” (jaune) is said to be okay to refer to people of certain races, heterosexuality is defined as a “natural” relationship between sexes but homosexuality is not, while multiple outdated slurs which refer to Black people are not defined as discriminatory or pejorative. Meanwhile, a woman is described as a human “defined by her sexual characteristics that allow her to conceive and give birth to children,” which the LDH said would exclude sterile and menopausal women. “The French language deserves better,” wrote the LDH. The Académie Française did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

Read it at Le Monde

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4
‘Saddest of Days’: Dan Rather’s Wife of 67 Years Dies at 89
‘A TRUE TEXAN’
Updated 11.27.24 11:54AM EST 
Published 11.27.24 11:53AM EST 
Jean Rather (left) and Dan Rather (right)
Jean Rather and Dan Rather attend the "Rather" premiere during the 2023 Tribeca Festival on June 09, 2023 in New York City. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva

Newscaster Dan Rather is mourning the death of his wife, Jean Rather, the artist to whom he was married for 67 years. According to a statement from a family friend, the 89-year-old died from cancer in the couple’s Austin home, having been “on hospice care for some time.” The Rathers met while working at a Houston radio station, though she would go on to pursue a career in visual art, creating paintings and collages that “were shown in galleries and private collections across the United States,” according to her obituary. She also served as the vice chair of the New York City Art Commission and held board positions at several nonprofits. “Jean lived a full life as an incredible wife, mother, friend, and artist—and a true Texan," the statement says, noting that “today is the saddest of days for Dan and the extended Rather family.”

Read it at New York Post

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Partner update

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GOT YOU COVERED
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Published 11.27.24 1:00AM EST 
A blonde woman wearing headphones and glasses who looks happy. She is doing work on her laptop.
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5
Trump Calls on Peace-Making Retired General to Be Ukraine War Envoy
PROMISES OF PEACE
Published 11.27.24 2:12PM EST 
Keith Kellogg
Carlos Barria/REUTERS

Donald Trump has called on a retired general to be his Ukraine war envoy, which he hopes will lead to peace between the country and Vladimir Putin’s Russia after nearly three years of war. Getting the nod is the 80-year-old Keith Kellogg, who co-authored a paper in April that called for the U.S. to use military aid as leverage to push peace talks with the Kremlin. Kellogg, a Vietnam war veteran, served in Trump’s first term as VP Mike Pence’s national security adviser. He’d reportedly been in talks with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week about returning to work in the White House. A trio of sources told Reuters that Kellogg personally presented Trump with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, but did not specify if that plan was the same as what he previously proposed in his research paper. “Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration,” Trump wrote in his announcement. “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!”

Read it at New York Post

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6
Three Americans Imprisoned in China Freed in Prisoner Swap
COMING HOME
Published 11.27.24 12:18PM EST 
People enter the State Department Building in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2017.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Three Americans detained in China have been released in a prisoner swap, the White House announced Wednesday. The release is the result of “years of work,” a person familiar with the situation told Politico, and resolves a situation that has burdened U.S.-China relations for years. “We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People’s Republic of China,” a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson told CNN. “Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.” Mark Swidan was detained in 2012 on drug-related charges and sentenced to death in 2019. Kai Li and John Leung were both arrested on espionage charges. Li was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Leung was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to life in 2023. Their release is seen as a victory for Joe Biden in the final months of his presidency. There are now no more American prisoners in China, and the U.S. has downgraded its travel advisory level to Level 2: Exercise increased caution for mainland China. The White House declined to share the identity of the exchanged Chinese prisoners.

Read it at Politico

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7
Putin Saboteurs Could Be Behind Chinese Ship Cutting Undersea Data Cables With Anchors, Authorities Say
PUTIN IN WORK
Published 11.27.24 12:11PM EST 
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Getty Images

Investigators are looking into whether a Chinese ship that dragged its anchor for over 100 miles, severing critical data undersea data cables, did so on purpose and at the behest of Kremlin saboteurs. The 225-meter-long Yi Peng 3 bulk carrier was loaded with Russian fertilizer and, in recent months, dramatically altered its usual routes to take in ports in Vladimir Putin’s country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The hulking vessel departed the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on November 15 and, last week, ripped two data cables in the Baltic Sea in Swedish waters. The country, which joined NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, opened a probe but a Kremlin spokesperson blasted the suggestion of Russian involvement as “absurd, unsubstantiated accusations”. NATO ships belonging to Denmark, Germany and Sweden now flank the vessel. “The fundamental change in the ship’s operating region to Russian ports after years operating solely in Chinese waters should be a key area of investigation,” Benjamin L. Schmitt, senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, said.

Read it at WSJ

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8
3 Men Reportedly Killed After Google Maps Led Taxi Off Edge of Broken Bridge
ROAD TO NOWHERE
Published 11.27.24 11:29AM EST 
bridge in Uttar Pradesh, India
Villagers congregate at the edge of the bridge Surya Reddy/Twitter

Three men travelling in a taxi allegedly fell to their death when Google Maps led them down a bridge that had been broken in half by recent floods, according to reports in India. The tragic incident took place in the state of Uttar Pradesh Saturday in the middle of the night. The men were travelling between the towns of Dataganj and Faridpur, a driving journey of just 24 miles, when Google Maps reportedly guided the driver down a road over the Ramganga River, a tributary of the Ganges. The car hurtled off the bridge and the occupants were left without help overnight, until nearby villagers noticed the wrecked vehicle the next day. A local official told the Times of India that an investigation has been ordered. “Action will be taken against the guilty officials,” he said. The Ramganga washed part of the bridge away after recent flooding, reports added.

Read it at TIMES OF INDIA

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Pvolve’s Jennifer Aniston-Approved Fitness Program Is on Major Sale
BLACK FRIDAY 2024
Updated 11.26.24 3:59PM EST 
Published 11.25.24 9:35PM EST 
Pvolve Black Friday Sale 2024
Scouted/The Daily Beast/Pvolve.

Scouted selects products independently. If you purchase something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.

Pvolve offers members functional-meets-mainstream low-impact fitness classes that promote strength and mobility. The method, founded by Rachel Katzman, is approved by a Clinical Advisory Board, expert trainers, and Jennifer Aniston, who officially joined the company in 2023 after falling in love with the program. If you’ve been looking for a lower-impact and time-saving workout to help you perfect your ‘Winter Arc’ this year, Pvolve’s got you covered. From now through Dec. 1, take advantage of its Black Friday sales, which include a new member and winback offer of 20 percent off the first month of any membership, as well as a current member offer.

Pvolve Black Friday Sale

Plus, this week, score flash sale deals, including 30 percent off a 10-class pack for new and win-back members, plus a tiered merchandise discount for current members (spend $50, get $10 off; spend $100, get $20 off; spend $200, get $50, etc.). Through Dec. 8, shoppers can enjoy 20 percent off sitewide, plus a free Recover 9 with bundles. Use codes BF20 (Nov. 25 – Dec. 1) and CYBER20 (Dec. 2 – Dec. 8) to redeem.

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9
Elon Musk Shares Message Claiming He’s ‘Best Friends’ With Trump
BFFs
Published 11.27.24 8:29AM EST 
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024.
Elon Musk alongside Trump at the SpaceX launch last Tuesday Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

If his X account is anything to go by, Elon Musk agrees that his powerful new buddy Donald Trump has been upgraded to bestie status. The SpaceX boss retweeted a post saying they are “basically best friends”, after his own mom, Maye Musk, fawned over the pair’s relationship on Varney & Co Tuesday. She said of her son, 53, and President-elect Trump, 78: “Of course, I’ve seen them together, but very shortly. I live in New York, and they’re in Mar-a-Lago or [a] SpaceX launch, and they just seem to be having fun. A lot of fun.” She smiled throughout the interview and added: “And it’s nice for both of them to have fun, and [Elon] really respects him a lot and is really happy that there’s a future for America now.” However, as we previously reported, Trump might be getting sick of Musk hanging around.

Read it at Fox

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10
Fan Favorite Heartthrob Wins ‘Dancing with the Stars’
HAPPY FEET
Published 11.27.24 10:17AM EST 
Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson pose with their Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophies, awarded for their victory on Dancing With the Stars.
Eric McCandless/Disney/Getty Images

Former Bachelor contestant Joey Graziadei and choreographer Jenna Johnson won Dancing with the Stars during the show’s Season 33 finale Tuesday. The 29-year-old reality show heartthrob and his 30-year-old dancing partner, fan favorites throughout the season, performed a tennis-inspired freestyle set to District 78’s “Canned Heat”—a nod to his job as a tennis instructor before pivoting to reality heartthrob. They followed that with their “redemption dance”—when judges assign them a style they struggled with earlier in the season—a cha-cha to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” The latter earned them a perfect score. “We’re gonna get a little drunk, to be honest,” Graziadei told The Wrap of how he and Johnson planned to celebrate. Johnson’s husband, three-time DWTS winner Valentin Chmerkovskiy, was celebrated online for rabbit hopping with excitement after the announcement. Graziadei’s win caps a stunning few years for members of Bachelor Nation, who have recently been crowned winners of the competition show. Hannah Brown won in 2019, and Season 11 star Kaitlyn Bristowe won in 2020..

Read it at The Wrap

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