Author: USA Facts News

An Australian couple have been jailed for child neglect after they starved their teenage daughter until she was only as heavy as a small child.

The parents, who cannot be identified, were sentenced in Perth’s District Court of Western Australia with the father receiving six-and-a-half years in prison and the mother getting a lower sentence of five years on account of ‘personal circumstances’.

The court heard from witnesses that the parents treated their teenage daughter, who also cannot be identified, like a small child, taking her to the bathroom, blowing her nose for her and having her watch children’s cartoons, CNN reports.

Her father also forged her birth certificate – which he pleaded guilty to – to make her seem two years younger than she actually was, though they denied the other charges.

Judge Linda Black ruling over the case said their house didn’t contain anything ‘remotely age-appropriate’ for the girl.

“This is not a case about a malnourished ballerina,” the judge said of this case as she spoke to the parents.

“You isolated your daughter, you prevented her from growing up, you prevented her from developing in the way she was entitled to.

“You did keep her as a little girl long beyond the age where she should have been.”

The girl was home-schooled, though her parents would take her out to ballet lessons, and the judge said that besides her parents, everybody who saw ‘understood she was severely malnourished’.

Eventually the girl’s ballet teachers contacted officials, and when she was taken to see a doctor, they found she had ‘brittle and thin’ hair, ‘dry and flaking’ skin and ‘was exhibiting no signs of puberty’.

She was placed in state custody after her parents refused to allow doctors to insert a nasal tube to feed the girl, who gained weight after her mother and father could no longer block her from eating.

The girl’s father said that his daughter had been a ‘fussy eater’, and his legal representative told CNN: “This was never a case about withholding food from a child.

“My client didn’t starve his kid … He never withheld food from her. He loved and spoiled his daughter. She was free to eat as much as she wanted. This case was about inadequate nutrition from a vegan diet.

“Every parent on this planet knows that if you don’t give a child enough food they will starve. But what if your kid chooses to be vegan?”

The court heard that the child had gone vegetarian when she was eight and went full vegan as a teenager, with the parents saying she had three meals a day and they didn’t believe she was malnourished.

During the trial, Judge Black said it was clear that the girl’s parents loved their daughter but didn’t show it, telling ‘a cascading series of lies’ to cover up her actual age.

The girl had sent a letter to the judge asking for the prosecution of her parents to be stopped, saying she was ‘fully dependent’ on them and that she didn’t think she’d be able to cope without them.

This time the action has moved from Sicily to another resort in Thailand where a whole new bunch of guests are staying, including the wealthy Ratliff family.

There’s pressured patriarch Timothy (Jason Isaacs), his wife Victoria (Parker Posey), their daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) along with sons Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola).

Joining the family at the resort are mysterious man Rick (Walton Goggins), his much younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou-Wood) and girls trip trio Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan).

There’s surely plenty for this crop of guests to go through in the latest season of The White Lotus, and among those is a burgeoning plot with the brothers.

The family are staying in three rooms, so one for the parents, one for the daughter and one for the brothers Saxon and Lochlan where they started discussing some rather weird things.

Saxon said his sister was ‘pretty hot’ and then asked his younger brother what sort of porn he likes, which is pretty f**king weird, before wondering how they’re going to choke the proverbial chicken when sharing a room.

The older brother then said he’d ‘just go to the bathroom’ and strides into it fully nude, which got quite a response from viewers at home, while Lochlan watched him go which made them feel ‘grossed out’ in a different way.

Fans have said the season opener was ‘so good but weird’, and that the ‘creepy’ show was ‘off to a crazy start’ with everything going on in the scene.

On the other hand, some of the reactions to The White Lotus were not so much ‘grossed out’ as quite appreciative of the people involved with the show for casting Patrick Schwarzenegger.

One person who isn’t fazed is Patrick’s dad Arnold, who plugged the show and said he couldn’t pretend to be surprised that his son has a nude scene in the opening episode.

The proud dad said: “I was so pumped to take a break from filming to celebrate @patrickschwarzenegger at the White Lotus Season 3 premiere.

“What a show! I could claim to be surprised to find out he has a nude scene, but what can I say – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Don’t miss it this Sunday – trust me.”

There were also people who seemed to like the potential incest plot line between the brothers, posting that they’re ‘LIVING’ for what The White Lotus is doing.

Actress Aubrey Plaza was present at Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary event in New York City on Sunday (16 February), and took the moment to honour her late husband, Jeff Baena.

Plaza and film director Baena were in a relationship from 2011 to 2021, before making it official with a private ceremony on a whim.

On Friday (3 January), it was announced that Baena had passed away, with Los Angeles’ County Medical Examiner’s Office revealing the 47-year-old’s cause of death to be suicide, after he was discovered at his Los Angeles home on the morning of 3 January at around 10.30am.

Plaza appeared at the landmark SNL event over the weekend, as the White Lotus actor introduced one of many music acts, as Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard took the stage.

However, many couldn’t help but notice the actor’s outfit choice and the significance behind it.

In the Parks and Recreation star’s first public appearance since his passing, she could be seen sporting a black blazer with a tie-dye shirt beneath it.

Fans of the couple were quick to point out that the tie-dye shirt in particular was in tribute to her late husband, as Plaza had previously revealed that he loved to tie-dye clothes – in fact, they’d worn these designs for their own wedding.

While on The Drew Barrymore Show in December 2021, Plaza revealed that the pair weren’t in traditional dress for the wedding at their home, instead wearing tie-die pyjamas made by Baena himself.

She said (via The Independent): “We got married on a whim. Literally decided at around 5pm and got married at 8:30,

“Jeff got really into tie-dyeing during the quarantine. So, I decided that Jeff and I were going to wear tie-dye pajamas that he had made for us. I made a love altar in the backyard of all of our love objects. It was very witchcore, but it happened.”

Plaza and Baena worked together numerous times during their relationship, as Plaza starred in Baena’s horror-comedy Life After Beth, as well as other titles such as Spin Me Round and The Little Hours.

Following Baena’s untimely death, the Plaza and Baena/Stern family released a statement, reading: “This is an unimaginable tragedy. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has offered support.

“Please respect our privacy during this time.”

Plaza’s team also said in a statement: “The family is devastated and asks for privacy at this difficult time.”

Although many viewers admitted they were hiding behind cushions due to how ‘disturbing’ this 2011 flick is, they have also insisted it’s a ‘must watch’.

Ben Wheatley’s psychological horror film has certainly left an impression on those who weren’t scared off by it’s chilling premise.

Kill List follows former British soldiers Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley) who start working as contract killers after leaving the military.

Jay’s seriously feeling the pinch financially, leading to him and his mate making a deal with a dodgy client who gives them a list of three targets – The Priest, The Librarian and The MP.

This trio aren’t as innocent as it initially seems and the job gets seriously complicated – we’re talking grisly deaths, torture, ultimate betrayals and even cults.

Maskell and Smiley were hailed for their performances, while the cast also includes the likes of Twilight actress MyAnna Buring, Game of Thrones star Ben Crompton and Brit comedian Emma Fryer.

It boasts a 78 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while viewers have also given it a decent ranking on IMDb too.

Director Wheatley – who went on to create movies including High-Rise, Free Fire, RebeccaY and Meg 2: The Trench – explained that even he wondered whether he had gone too far with the contents of Kill List.

“As things went on, I wasn’t sure whether I’d made the mistake of understanding the difference between horror and horrible,” the filmmaker told IndieWire in 2012. “And I think that it’s definitely a horrible film, but it was definitely a film that I was trying to make that would be scary.”

He went on to discuss the personal inspiration for some of the warped scenes which have stunned fans, adding: “A lot of it is inspired by my anxieties and dreams, or should I say nightmares. Things like cults in the woods and the tunnels is all stuff I’ve had as a recurring nightmare since I was very little.

“I used to live near the woods. So that kind of side of it comes from there. I knew that it was a recurring thing and it scared me when I was little, so I suspected that it would scare a broader audience.

“I didn’t want to get into that situation where you’re relying on other films to scare, where you’re building on other films. I wanted to show the actual fears that you’ve got.”

His efforts paid off, as viewers have been left pretty traumatised after watching Kill List.

One movie connoisseur dubbed Kill List ‘brutal and unforgiving’, while adding: “I loved it.”

“I happen to enjoy movies that don’t give you everything through every shot and make sure that every viewer sees all the cues,” the review read. “Kill List is one of those movies. It’s very intimate, close shots, overlapping audio, use of sound to create a very uncomfortable atmosphere.

“The movie is about human psychology and plays on psychology to get you to feel a certain way. There are no jumps and scare tactics.”

Another dubbed it a ‘nasty, gritty piece of work’, saying: ” I don’t even like horror films but I fail to see how anyone could turn their nose up [at Kill List].”

And a third warned that the penultimate scenes aren’t for the faint-hearted.

“The final act is one of the most brutal, relentlessly unsettling stretches I’ve ever seen in cinema (and I am not one to use words like ‘ever’ in reviews),” they wrote.

“I can’t say that many films have truly disturbed me, but with the unique, frightening score, cinematography and grim circumstances, this is one that got deeply under my skin. A must.”

For viewers in the UK who want to watch it, Kill List is available on ITVX Premium, as well as Amazon Prime.

The film follows Schumer as Lainy Newton, a single English teacher who is envious of her best friend’s pregnancy.

So to stop feeling jealous, she decides to fake her own pregnancy by wearing a prosthetic belly – as you do.

As to be expected, the film contains a huge amount of jokes, and one featured is about Kim’s late father Robert Kardashian Sr.

However, it wasn’t without the reality star’s permission, according to the comedian.

In Kinda Pregnant, Lainy is reading a ‘bedtime story’ while babysitting – however, it’s not from the pages of a fairy-tale book but rather a pop culture magazine called ‘Profile’, PEOPLE reports.

Her character jokes: “There was once a family of beautiful, beautiful princesses called the Kardashians.

“And they lived in a palace that their dad bought them by defending a murderer.”

For those unaware, Robert Sr. served as one of the defence lawyers for O.J. Simpson in the infamous murder trial of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, the actor said that she went to Kim beforehand.

“I called Kim Kardashian,” Schumer explained. “I said I want to make this joke … I asked if she would mind, and she didn’t mind. How cool is she? She’s like, ‘Yeah, do the one about my dad defending a murderer.’ She was that chill.”

The pair appear to be on good terms after Schumer helped Kim rehearse her Saturday Night Live monologue in 2022 during an episode of The Kardashians.

And in a 2022 interview with Stern, she called Kim an ‘amazing person’ and ‘really cool’ (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Robert Sr. died of esophageal cancer in 2003, at the age of 59. Issuing a tribute to her late dad on Instagram last year, Kim shared a black and white family photo from a skiing holiday.

On what would have been his 80th Birthday, she said: “Happy Heavenly Birthday dad! I can’t believe you would have been 80 years old today.

“If you were here we would be in Vail skiing together celebrating! I can’t ski without thinking of you.

“I’ll always remember the trips and memories you created for us and never ever take those moments for granted. God really blessed us with the most amazing thoughtful, patient, funny, charismatic, loving and kind dad.

“I sooo wish you were here to meet all of our babies and see the life we created but I know you’re somehow behind all of it. Thank you for being the best example of the purest love.”

Italian-Senegalese content creator Lame has built a rather large following on social media through a simple trick…not uttering a single word in his videos. In fact, the premise of most of his videos are pretty simple: stitch an overly complicated ‘life hack’ video and perform said advice in a much simpler manner, topping it all off with a signature hand gesture.

Now filming content without uttering a single word may sound a little dull on paper, but it’s a move which has worked wonders for the 24-year-old’s career. Lame is one of the most followed creators on TikTok and has collaborated with the likes of Hugo Boss, Fortnite and even silently interviewed Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx for their most recent film, Back in Action.

But none of this answers our main question – what does Khaby Lame’s voice actually sound like?

Search hard enough online, and there are a number of clips showing the 24-year-old speaking, mostly in interviews or in other creators’ content.

And his voice appears to have left fans speechless.

A clip shared by Sports Centre on X showed Lame alongside US creator Druski in a celebrity All-Star basketball game where he delivers a very brief and straight-to-the-point speech to rouse the players.

“Let’s win guys,” he tells the team, proving that he is certainly a man of few words.

The three words were enough to leave viewers ‘in shock’, with many revealing this was the first time they’d ever heard the content creator speak.

“This the first time i heard him utter a sound,” one person commented, while a second penned: “Was that khaby’s voice?”

The surprise didn’t end there either, with a third fan joking: “I see why he don’t talk.”

“I have never heard his voice before,” a fourth added.

This isn’t the first time Lame’s voice has been heard on camera, with the influencer giving a number of interviews over the years, including one in Italian for Hugo Boss back in 2023.

As for the reason why Lame famously chooses not to speak in the majority of his videos, he previously explained that the idea came after brainstorming a way to add ‘simplicity’ to his videos.

“I came up with the idea because I was seeing these videos circulating, and I liked the idea of bringing some simplicity to it,” he told CNN (via Capital).

“The type of gesture came by chance, but the silence didn’t. I thought of a way to reach as many people as possible. And the best way was not to speak.”

It turns out that the Legally Blonde star has her fingers in a few other pies, too – and these additional ventures have paid off pretty handsomely over the years.

Witherspoon, 48, has been a regular feature on our screens since the 90s, but her career really took off the following decade after she starred as stylish legal eagle Elle Woods.

Even back then, her business brain was screwed on tight, as she snuck a clause into her contract for the 2001 hit film which allowed her to keep all of her character’s designer wardrobe.

The 77 pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes she claims to have walked away with – among other lavish pieces – obviously don’t come cheap.

As we all know, she has continued to bring home the bacon with big roles throughout her time in showbiz, including with her Oscar-winning performance in Walk the Line and more recently her work on Apple TV’s The Morning Show.

While juggling acting gigs, she launched her fashion brand Draper James, started her own book club and also serves on the board of the Children’s Defence Fund.

But her smartest move has to be co-founding media company Hello Sunshine in 2016, as it has allowed her to become the ‘world’s richest actress’.

According to Forbes, she is one of the richest women in the US too, as it is estimated that she is worth a whopping $400 million thanks to her woman-focused firm.

Hello Sunshine ‘aims to broaden perspective and empower women by giving them authorship, inspiring agency, and creating a platform to help them shape culture and the world around them’, according to its website.

Producing hits such as Big Little Lies, The Morning Show and Little Fires Everywhere, the company is quite the heavy-hitter in the entertainment world.

Which is why the company was valued at a staggering $900million when Candle Media – fronted by former Disney executives Kevin A. Mayer and Tom Staggs – purchased a majority stake in 2021.

In a statement celebrating the ‘tremendous’ news, Witherspoon said at the time: “I started this company to change the way all women are seen in media.

“Over the past few years, we have watched our mission thrive through books, TV, film, and social platforms. Today, we’re taking a huge step forward by partnering with Blackstone, which will enable us to tell even more entertaining, impactful, and illuminating stories about women’s lives globally.”

She kept a stake of at least 18 per cent and supposedly scooped $120 million from the sale after taxes, while continuing to play an integral role at Hello Sunshine, Forbes reported.

This, combined with the millions she has made from acting, bumped her worth up to $400 million as a result – as in, just a little bit shy of half a billion dollars.

She reportedly earns at least $1 million per episode for her TV work, while her wages for film roles are even higher than that.

And that’s without mentioning the endorsements, commercials and other things which Witherspoon is involved in.

Essentially, this is a woman who is absolutely loaded.

Remember in the first film (2001) when Shrek and Donkey enter Lord Farquaad’s castle for the first time, and the employee that’s wearing that huge Farquaad head runs into the wall and falls down?

It’s at minute 21:18 if your memory needs a jog.

The scene

Pointed out by 12piotrex on Reddit two years ago, they said: “It’s hard to spot with the naked eye, as it requires paying close attention to that specific window.

“It seems that no one noticed it for 17 years, as the first online mentions date back to 2018, and it only began to gain some attention in 2021.”

The Reddit user noted that some thought it was Cameron Diaz, who voices Princess Fiona.

“However, upon reviewing the film in 4K Blu-ray, the woman’s face becomes distinguishable, and it is not Cameron Diaz,” they explained.

“Some believe the woman could be Gina Shay, a producer at DreamWorks Animation associated with the Shrek franchise.

“However, upon reviewing her IMDb credits, it appears she didn’t join DreamWorks until 2007.”

Shrek viewers think they know who the woman is

Over in the comments, one person thought: “99 percent chance it’s an animator’s wife/related to an animator somehow.

“A bunch of 3D artists/artists for games do this too – using pictures of their pets, family, etc in their games just for fun.

“I know that there is a map in Overwatch that has a room you can go into with some cartoon portraits – turns out all the portraits are just devs who worked on the game.”

Another agreed: “Probably one of the crew or a crew member’s wife, maybe look into any heads of animation or someone with a more public facing job if you want to look into it more.”

As someone else said: “My guess would be an animator or one of their loved ones, since it’s hidden and so obviously not meant to be there by it just not fitting in.”

Meanwhile, other long-term viewers were simply stunned by the random find.

“What the hell? I thought that was Elizabeth Olsen for a second. Is this unshopped? If so, that’s pretty creepy,” one wrote.

“How has nobody noticed this in 20 years?? This feels like the beginnings of a long hunt for more information,” penned a second.

I guess we don’t know for sure who it is, and hopefully one day we will find out.

Richard Lee Tabler was given the ultimate punishment after fatally shooting two men on November 26, 2004, in a remote area near Killeen, Texas.

The 46-year-old had worked at a strip club named TeaZers, which was managed by Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, before he was later banned from the establishment.

Tabler arranged a late-night meeting with Rahmouni and his friend Haitham Zayed, 25, which was actually a planned ambush.

He shot the pair as they sat in a car – while his friend recorded it – before stealing a wallet and black bag from the vehicle.

Tabler, from Tulare County, California, confessed to the killings and a couple of days later he admitted to cops that he had also killed two teenage girls who had worked at the club.

As a result, he was indicted for the murders of Tiffany Dotson, 18, and Amanda Benefield, 16, but he was never tried and later retracted his confession.

Investigators believed Tabler may have feared the girls might have implicated him in the initial shooting.

Tabler was sentenced to death for Rahmouni and Zayed’s murders, a punishment which he launched repeated appeals against. However, he then asked the courts to drop these as he wished to be executed, CBS News reports.

Questions were raised about whether the death row inmate was mentally competent to make this call, as he had attempted suicide twice while behind bars.

But after his final execution date was set, he said in a letter to the state Court of Criminal Appeals on 9 December, 2024: “Petitioner has spent the last twenty years in the Courts, and see’s no point in wasting this Court’s time, nor anyone else’s.”

Tabler was given a lethal injection at Texas’ state penitentiary in Huntsville on Thursday. He was pronounced dead 15 minutes after it was administered at 6.38pm local time.

The families of his victims watched his final moments from a few feet away through a window.

While strapped to the gurney, Tabler took the opportunity to express remorse for his crimes while asking for forgiveness.

“There is not a day that goes by that I don’t regret my actions,” he said as he looked towards the crowd of relatives. “I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray, hope and pray, that one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me for those actions.

“No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you.”

Tabler went on to praise prison officials for their compassion and giving him the ‘opportunity to show you that I can change and become a better man and rehabilitate’.

He apologised several more times while explaining his death would mark the beginning of a new life for him in heaven, telling the warden: “I am finished.”

As the lethal drugs began to take effect, Tabler mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ before taking his last breaths.

The father of 18-year-old Dotson, George, was among the witnesses and said of Tabler’s execution: “I couldn’t wait. It took me 20 years to get here.”

Dotson’s godfather, Tom Newton, added: “Today is for Tiffany. And this is justice.”

Claudia Van Wyk, senior counsel at the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, said that the killer was ‘not the same person’ as he was in 2004.

In a statement released ahead of his execution, she said: “He has transformed into a mentor and source of support for those around him.

“Richard has used his time on death row to reflect, create, and better himself. We are deeply saddened that Richard will be denied the chance to continue his growth and serve as a mentor to others.

“He will be missed by many, both inside and outside of prison, and our thoughts are with his loved ones.”

Tabler’s death comes just weeks after Steven Lawayne Nelson was executed in Texas, while his wife held their dog up to watch.

The actor admitted that ‘life has been pretty tough’ since the death of his wife, before saying: “Thank you to the support of our wonderful children, I’ve been able to keep engaging in life.”

Davis cried on stage, with his children shown to be visibly emotional in the crowd.

He also said of his late wife: “She was always so supportive of my career, encouraging me to grab every opportunity with both hands.”

Davis was appearing at the show to receive a ‘BAFTA Fellowship’, which the awards show described as their ‘highest accolade’.

They said: “As our highest accolade, the BAFTA Fellowship recognises those who have made an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television.”

The emotional speech brought many viewers to tears, with one saying: “Oh no, Warwick Davis got me crying.”

Another said: “Warwick Davis and his kids have me BAWLING.”

A third added: “I’m not normally an emotional one but Warwick Davis just awww 🥺🥺🥹🥹🥺🥺💔 Well deserved.”

The legendary actor received his fellowship not just for his storied career, starring in Harry Potter, Star Wars, Willow, and many more, but for his work supporting other actors with dwarfism.

The actor released a statement last year announcing his wife Samantha had died aged 53.

He said: “My wife and soul-mate, best friend. Devoted mother, My favourite human. My most trusted confidant and an ardent supporter of everything I did in my career, has passed.

“The most open, warm person I have ever known. Her passing has left a huge hole in our lives as a family. I miss her hugs.

“She was a unique character, always seeing the sunny side of life. She had a wicked sense of humour and always laughed at my bad jokes.

“With her by my side, I was sure I could achieve anything.

“It was like having a superpower. Without Sammy, there would have been no Tenable Quiz show, no Willow series.

“No Idiot Abroad Series 3. It was her suggestion that Ricky Gervais send me off with Karl — I think she wanted me out of the house for a few weeks!”

Samantha contracted sepsis in 2019 after a complication during surgery on her spine gave her the life-threatening condition.

She died in 2024. Davis has taken legal action against University College London Hospital where Samantha was operated on.