The move to suspend political communications is common following a significant event like what happened at the Republican candidate’s event, where he was apparently grazed by a bullet.

The president shared both a statement and made public remarks Saturday evening. He and numerous other members of both parties have spoken out to wish Trump the best and to decry political violence.

One member of the crowd was killed, as was the shooter. Another audience member remains in critical condition.

“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country,” Trump said on Truth Social in his first statement on the incident. “Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”

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Trump extended his condolences to the family of the person who was killed at the rally as well as to another injured party.

“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.”

The Republican candidate for this year’s presidential race continued:

“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

Trump had been addressing the crowd for around five minutes when shots rang out. He seemed to grab at his right ear before he was told to duck by Secret Service agents who jumped on top of him.

Following the shots, Trump appeared to have blood on his face as he held up his fist and mouthed “Fight” at the crowd several times while being led away by his Secret Service detail. The crowd broke into a “USA” chant.

The event is being investigated as an attempted assassination, law enforcement officials told CNN.

President Biden was quick to condemn the violence in live remarks on Saturday following the shooting.

“Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick,” the president continued. “It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”

Biden said he hoped to speak with Trump later on Saturday and was “grateful” his Republican opponent wasn’t seriously harmed.

“I want to thank the Secret Service and all the agencies, including the state agencies, that have been engaged,” Biden added. “We have more detail to come relative to other injured — other people may be injured in the audience. I don’t have all that detail. We’ll make that available to you. I may be able to come back a little later tonight.”

“But the bottom line is that the Trump rally was a rally that he should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem,” the Democratic candidate lamented. “But the idea that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this is just unheard of, is just not appropriate.”

The post Trump Says He Was Shot in the Ear in First Statement After Rally Shooting appeared first on TheWrap.

The former president and presumed Republican nominee in November went on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” Friday to discuss what he calls Biden’s “big boy press conference.” One of the cohosts Clay Travis asked the embattled politician if he follows the current “palace intrigue” and what his response was to Biden’s inner circle publicly asking him to step down. 

“It’s really kind of wild. In the two weeks since you knocked him out in the debate, I mean, they have just spun completely out of control,” Travis said. “Can you believe how much of a dumpster fire they are right now?”

Trump told the cohosts that Clooney’s piece was an act of betrayal.

“I thought George Clooney was very disloyal, because whether you like Biden or not, you know, he’s been nice to Clooney. I thought it was very disloyal. Backstabber. A third-rate movie actor,” Trump said.

Clooney, a prominent donor and lifelong Democrat, called for a “new nominee” in his piece in the Times Wednesday. His strong stance sent a shock through the Democratic Party, causing more Hollywood elite and prominent democrats to express their concern. 

Clooney hosted a successful, record-breaking fundraiser for the president, where many in attendance have since expressed Biden did not appear fit for another four-year term. The June 15 fundraiser raised $28 million overnight for the reelection campaign. 

“He was a television actor and never made a really good movie,” Trump added of Clooney, an Oscar-winning actor who got his start on “ER.”

You can watch the full episode of “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show” here.

The post Trump Says George Clooney Is a ‘Backstabber’ and ‘Very Disloyal’ for Telling Biden to Step Down appeared first on TheWrap.

Biden’s first solo press conference of the year aired from around 7:30 p.m. ET to 8:30 p.m. ET and was broadcast on eight difference television networks. That includes ABC, which delayed the start of its ESPYs sports awards coverage as a result. 

A majority of the viewership was in the 55+ age range, where 19.2 million viewers watched the event live. In the 18-34 age range, just over 1 million viewers saw the event, and of adults in the 35-54 age range, 3.6 million viewers watched live.

Breaking down the ratings, Fox News topped all news networks with 5.67 million total viewers and 835,000 in the 25-54 demographic. ABC News came in second with 4.98 million total viewers — however, the broadcast network topped Fox News in the 25-54 demographic with 879,000 viewers. CBS News came in third, drawing 3.60 million total viewers, and 611,000 viewers in the 25-54 age range.

NBC News drew 3.55 million total viewers and 319,000 in the 25-54 demo, while MSNBC drew 2.52 million total viewers and 319,000 in the demo, giving NBCUniversal a wide reach across its platforms that would put it in second to Fox News when combined. With viewership from CNBC added in, NBC’s networks drew 6.25 million viewers. CNN saw 2.22 million total viewers and 439,000 in the demo.

In comparison, Biden’s debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump in June, which reignited fears about the president’s capabilities, drew over 51.3 million total viewers across all broadcast and cable networks that simulcasted the debate.

Additionally, Biden’s recent interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos brought in 8.5 million total viewers, topping its timeslot across major demographics.

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Within the lengthy contribution, published Friday, Smith detailed her interactions with the embattled rapper and hip-hop mogul, who has been accused of numerous sexual assaults and documented on a 2016 surveillance tape beating his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. Smith recalled how in 1997 Diddy — then known as Puff Daddy — demanded to see dual covers of Vibe depicting him as alternately an angel and a devil. She refused and he allegedly called to tell her he would see her “dead in the trunk of a car” if she didn’t comply. When she asked him to “take it back,” he swore at her and told her he knew her exact location at that moment.

Smith did not show him the covers, and the servers that contained the final version of the magazine were stolen from the office before its scheduled print time. An art director had a copy of the issue on CD, so the magazine came out as planned, despite the theft.

Smith also shared a troubling incident in which she and other female friends were having cocktails with Combs’ wife Kim Porter when the rapper burst in and demanded she return home immediately, dumping out the contents of her purse on the table.

“He snatched up her bank cards to the beat of: You ain’t got. No business. In here. You need. To be. At home. With. Those. Kids. Combs yelled something like, ‘Get home as best you can.’ From the sidewalk, I saw Porter being hustled into the limo in which we arrived. One of the friends, more tired than terrified, shot me a look: You good? And they were gone,” Smith wrote.

She recalled another time at a party thrown by Epic Records when Ventura, best known by the mononym Cassie, was “uncharacteristically alone,” and asked her how she was doing. Smith sensed the singer was on the verge of telling her something important. “We each wanted to say something. It seemed that neither of us could find the words,” Smith said. (Cassie refused to comment for the article.)

It wasn’t just Combs who made things difficult for Smith. “There’s no safe space for an ambitious woman. Not anywhere, and definitely not in the entertainment business. Men keep it dangerous so they can keep it theirs,” she wrote.

She described an incident where a media executive bullied her at a bar: “[He] made it clear he was going to walk me to my hotel room. It was obvious that he wanted sex. In his pulsing nostril was resentment about the job I had. He had the focused look of a person who believes you have stolen something from him, and that something is actually you.”

You can read the entire essay here.

The post Former Vibe Editor Says Diddy Threatened Her Life Over a Cover Dispute, Would See Her ‘Dead in the Trunk of a Car’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Newsom joined Robert Costa for an interview that will air in full on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” in which he says he is completely ignoring requests for him to join the presidential race. 

“You’re not just a surrogate. You’re somebody who’s getting text messages and emails every day to consider running. How do you handle all of that?” Costa asked the Governor. 

“I just, delete, delete, delete, thank you, delete, rinse and repeat,” Newsom replied, signifying he is not engaging at all on the subject matter.

“I’m all in” for Joe Biden, Newsom continued. “No daylight.”

“You never even engage in it privately?” Costa posed. 

“No, I don’t. Absolutely not,” Newsom asserted. “I know one thing: Everything you do in private becomes public. Even private thoughts seem to manifest publicly.”

“So not a chance,” Newsom said. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom tells Robert Costa he is "all in, no daylight" on President Joe Biden's reelection. And he says he's dismissing any calls for his own presidential bid. More, Sunday. https://t.co/agjFDwSaC9 pic.twitter.com/ZQT1SYzqm5

— CBS Sunday Morning (@CBSSunday) July 12, 2024

This comes as Democratic officials’ private conversations regarding the president and his ability to not only win the 2024 election but also serve out another four-year term, have leaked to the media in recent days. 

Additionally, George Clooney, actor and prominent Democratic Party donor, published an explosive op-ed in the New York Times, calling for Biden to step aside. The essay highlighted the reluctance of officials to publicly speak their mind on the subject. 

 “This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly,” Clooney wrote.

The post Gavin Newsom Won’t Indulge Calls to Join Presidential Race, Says He’s ‘All In’ for Joe Biden appeared first on TheWrap.

The campaign ad features anchors from across CNN and a few other networks, splicing them together to make it seem as though comments are specifically referencing RFK Jr.’s candidacy for president. 

“This is so misleading and deceptive it should be taken down at once,” Tapper wrote on social media. “The quotes are falsely clipped together.”

This is so misleading and deceptive it should be taken down at once. The quotes are falsely clipped together. https://t.co/YzKaV4iYUg

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 11, 2024

In the ad, Tapper can be heard saying “Panic has set in across the country as Democrats are shocked by a startling revelation following Thursday night’s debate. Joe Biden is not fit for candidacy.”

Other CNN anchors like Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer are shown presenting reporting that Democratic operatives and donors are concerned about Biden’s candidacy. Other network hosts were also included, but the bulk of the segments came from CNN.

“Sources are saying Democrats are starting to rally around who they believe might be their only legitimate chance at beating Donald Trump,” Anderson Cooper says. 

However, the campaign spliced the footage together in order to make it seem like the anchors were referring to RFK Jr. as the “candidate who can unite the country,” despite the fact that he was not the subject of those reports.

“He knows how to work across the aisle,” Dana Bash is pictured saying. “He knows how to weed out corruption.”

“He says he knows how to deal with Ukraine on day one of his presidency,” Tapper adds. 

Blitzer is shown saying “He says he will close the border as soon as he takes office.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” Bash said. 

The anchor comments were taken completely out of context, with some likely not even pulled from a segment referencing RFK Jr.’s candidacy. 

The RFK Jr. campaign did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.

The post Jake Tapper Calls Out RFK Jr. Ad for Editing Anchor’s Comments Out of Context: ‘Should Be Taken Down at Once’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Baldwin, who was starring in and co-producing the independent movie, is charged with involuntary manslaughter. The charges are a result of his alleged role in the death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The actor was handling the prop gun when it went off and shot her.

Baldwin has claimed that while he was holding the gun, he never pulled back the trigger. He pleaded not guilty after he was recharged this past January.

In order for Baldwin to walk away unscathed, his legal team must convince the jury that the loaded gun was not his responsibility as the actor. On Monday it was ruled that his role as co-producer is not relevant in this case. This could have a significant effect on the final verdict.

If convicted, the actor could face 18 months in prison. The trial began with the jury selection on Tuesday in a Santa Fe courthouse and the following proceedings are being televised. Here’s how to watch.

When is the Alec Baldwin trial?

The State v. Alexander Rae Baldwin trial kicked off on July 9 and will begin each weekday at 8:30 a.m MST. It is projected to last up to two weeks or more.

Is Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” trial streaming?

Yes. Court TV will be streaming the trial every day on their YouTube channel, as will Law&Crime Network on their YouTube channel.

You can watch Court TV’s livestream of Day 1 in the embed above.

Is the trial on TV?

Yes. Starting on July 10, Court TV will be bringing cameras into the Santa Fe County District Courthouse.

Court TV will be providing the coverage to other major networks. Due to the large interest in this trial, keep an eye out for more coverage on other major news channels.

Court TV has also released a 45-minute documentary prior to the trial called “The Case Against Alec Baldwin.” It is available to watch on YouTube.

What happened on the “Rust” set?

The shooting took place back in 2021 at Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico during a rehearsal. Hutchins, who was 42, was shot in the chest and killed with a Colt .45 revolver. Baldwin was practicing using the “prop” weapon when it went off. The film’s director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting.

Assistant director David Halls handed the gun to Baldwin and informed the set that it was “cold gun” (meaning there was no live ammunition). He was unaware that the gun was loaded with real bullets.

Since the incident, there have been several lawsuits involving other members of the “Rust” team.

On March 6, 2024, the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. She is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence, which is the same sentence Baldwin could face in the current trial.

Baldwin was initially charged in January of 2023 alongside Gutierrez, but his charges were dropped. He was then indicted with involuntary manslaughter again the following January.

The post How to Watch Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Trial Live Online appeared first on TheWrap.

At 29, the host of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast on Spotify — the third-biggest broadcaster on the platform, with 3.7 million followers, behind Joe Rogan (14.5 million) and Ted Talks Daily (5 million) — is on the precipice of a big media moment. As the host of an online interview show for NBC during the Olympics, she will be talking to star athletes from Paris — and broadening her audience to NBC platforms and the sports world.

The timing is no coincidence, as she and her business team are aiming to close an extraordinary $100 million podcasting deal. Her three-year deal at Spotify, signed in 2021 for a whopping $60 million, ends in December.

Industry insiders told TheWrap that both Spotify and SiriusXM — the home of Howard Stern, Megyn Kelly and Kevin Hart — are negotiating to sign Cooper as their platform’s star, which would make her the highest-earning woman in the podcasting space.

But the aspiration comes as podcasters like Spotify are cutting costs to generate more profitability after overspending on talent and infrastructure on podcasting, in the hopes of creating a revenue windfall from the audio sector.

Last year Spotify had two massive layoffs — cutting 6% and then 17% of the company’s workforce — including Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff, a Hollywood veteran who was hired to develop Spotify’s podcasting business. Spotify spent more than $1 billion on podcast expansion starting in 2019. But as the stock has climbed back to $300 per share, from $150 a year ago, and the platform has shown strong user growth, it’s not clear if Spotify is ready to go back to its free spending ways.

Still, mega-podcast deals aren’t going away. Just Thursday, Dax Shepard announced an $80 million deal with Amazon’s Wondery podcast network for his “Armchair Expert” podcast, after spending three years under Spotify’s banner. “I could not be more excited about making Wondery our home,” Shepard said in a statement.

Spotify declined to comment on negotiations to renew Cooper’s contract, but an insider confirmed that talks were ongoing.

The insiders told TheWrap that agents for Cooper are angling to get her a deal that is similar, or beyond, that of Rogan, her Spotify stable-mate. That deal— estimated to be worth as much as $250 million — involves an upfront minimum guarantee, plus a revenue-sharing agreement based on ad sales. More importantly, it includes a video format on YouTube. Cooper is also looking for a revenue-share deal, plus an agreement to do other TV work, the insiders said.

They also said that she intends to develop TV and digital streaming along with her audio deal. As a broadcasting insider said, “Alex is a rock star on audio, and a star-in-waiting on visual. This new deal could change everything for her business.”

A spokesperson for Cooper at her agency UTA declined to comment for this story.

Cooper is the most-listened-to female podcaster globally, with a loyal fanbase dubbed the “Daddy Gang.” Recent guests on “Call Her Daddy” have included Jane Fonda, Post Malone, Gwyneth Paltrow, Shay Mitchell, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, John Legend, Rebel Wilson, Adam Devine and Chelsea Handler.

And the Olympic show “Watch with Alex” on Peacock is expected to feature her signature style of unvarnished conversations with Olympic athletes.

From soccer player to podcast powerhouse

Cooper, who grew up in Newtown, Pa., played soccer at Boston University, where she graduated with a degree in film and television. After moving to New York City, she struck gold with her raunchy “Call Her Daddy” podcast about sex and dating, which she created with her roommate Sofia Franklyn in 2018. Barstool Sports distributed the podcast until June 2021, when Cooper signed an exclusive $60 million deal with Spotify.

“There’s a passion that Alex Cooper’s audience has for her, and when she said, we’re going to Spotify, everyone picked up Spotify…and they had to become Spotify subscribers,” Rich Greenfield, a Partner and Media and Technology Analyst at LightShed Partners, told TheWrap.

“Her fans have a relationship with her almost like she’s their best friend,” Greenfield continued. “She talks about her life and there’s a level of connection that you make with a podcast. It’s very intimate and personal, and it allows for a far deeper connection with the audience that you really don’t find in other forms of media. And Alex Cooper’s one of the best there is in the world at that.”

Cooper and Franklyn got into a much-reported dispute with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy in 2020, which ended with Franklyn leaving the show. Cooper continued to host the podcast on her own. She took a new direction, focusing on celebrity interviews, women’s rights and mental health.

Last year, she and her producer husband, Matt Kaplan, founded Trending, a media company aimed at Gen Z audiences. Kaplan is the founder and CEO of ACE Entertainment and producer of Netflix’s “XO, Kitty” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” Through her subsidiary company Unwell, Cooper has a stable of influencers hosting podcasts including Alix Earle, Madeline Argy and Harry Jowsey. The couple is also optioning books and developing reality shows.

In January, Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast was made available on major audio platforms after two and half years exclusively on Spotify. Full episodes were made available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartPodcasts, Amazon Music and other services, while Spotify would continue to have exclusive distribution rights to the video version of “Call Her Daddy.”

Drawing on her background as an athlete, Cooper is also leading “Watch with Alex Cooper,” a series of interactive watch parties that will stream on NBC’s Peacock during the Paris Olympics, which run from July 26 to August 11. She is also doing more in-depth interviews with athletes including gymnast Simone Biles, which will air in prime time during the Games.

Cooper landed the Olympics deal after she was introduced to Molly Solomon, the executive producer and president of NBC Olympics production, by her agent, UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer. “I was just so impressed,” Solomon told The Wall Street Journal after they met. “She’s this generation’s Oprah Winfrey.” 

Cooper’s Olympic broadcasts, Greenfield said, are “a brilliant move by the team at NBC Sports. It is one of those unique moves solving the problem of how do you get younger people to care about the Olympics. Who can we bring in that young people, especially young women, are passionately connected to? And that’s Alex.”

Greenfield foresees Cooper becoming a tour de force in doing high-level interviews. “She can get the young stars, she got Miley Cyrus, and she can get the talent that Barbara Walters would have got in her day,” he said. “The media world is literally Alex’s for the taking.”

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While he was stronger and far more focused than on the night of his now infamous debate against the former president, he did misspeak multiple times throughout the press conference — the most notable being referring to “Vice President Trump” early in the event, when he appeared to be referring to VP Kamala Harris.

After White House staff wrapped the event, one reporter shouted that Trump was now using the gaffe to mock Biden’s age, but the president was already being led away. Trump posted multiple mocking remarks of Biden’s press conference on his Truth Social online platform.

Throughout the conference, Biden insisted he’s “the best person to do the job,” and — despite widespread calls for him to bow out of the presidential race — there’s “no indication” he should step aside.

After being asked point-blank if he still intends to run in November, he replied, “I’m determined on running,” and boasted about the number of events he has done lately and how many more he has planned.

Earlier in the day, he had another slip of the tongue during the NATO conference, where he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin.” That time, he quickly corrected himself, adding that “Zelenskyy is going to beat Putin.” But, he didn’t catch himself for a correction after his “Vice President Trump” reference.

When asked about Harris, Biden said she is “qualified to be president, that’s why I picked her.” While that could have led to a segue in which he announced she should be the Democratic candidate, Biden dismissed claims lodged by George Clooney and other detractors that he’s not physically or mentally fit to be re-elected.

Biden said he’s “ready to deal with Putin now or three years from now,” to another question about his readiness in the Oval Office and that he is “getting the job done.” He added that the campaign “hasn’t even started yet.” Although he said that “other people could beat Trump too,” it’s “awful hard to start from scratch [with a new candidate].”

He said he’s had several neurological tests and that “no one is suggesting that” he take another, at least from within his medical staff. He added that he’s open to another test if, and only if, one of his doctors thinks it’s necessary.

The president also stressed the importance of continuing to support NATO, saying, “I will not bow down to Putin. I will keep NATO strong… every American must ask himself, is America safer with NATO? I believe the American people understand that America is stronger because of our alliances. American cannot retreat from the world, American must lead the world.”

His statements were in stark contrast with those of Trump, who has mentioned several times that, if re-elected, he would have the United States leave the alliance.

The press conference started nearly an hour after the announced time of 6:30 p.m. ET.

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