MIAMI — Jimmy Butler could be returning to action for the Miami Heat when they host the Denver Nuggets, as he isn’t listed on the Heat’s injury report for Friday’s game.
If Butler does play, it would be his first game since the Heat confirmed he wants a trade and that they are trying to accommodate that request. He was suspended by the Heat for their most recent seven games, the club citing conduct that it deemed detrimental to the team. Miami went 3-4 in those contests.
When the suspension was issued, it wasn’t clear whether Butler would ever play for the Heat again. But with no trade in place — and evidently without one in the foreseeable future, either — the Heat did not list Butler on their injury report for the game with the Nuggets.
In short, if he’s not on that list, it would indicate the Heat expect Butler to play.
Butler was not with the team on its six-game road trip to Sacramento, Golden State, Utah, Portland and then Los Angeles for games against the Clippers and Lakers. The Heat did not practice Thursday and were planning a walk-through Friday afternoon before the Denver game.
Butler was expected to meet with some team officials Thursday and Friday. It’s likely that he will also meet with coach Erik Spoelstra, given comments Butler made in his most recent session with reporters after a loss to Indiana on Jan. 2. He expressed frustration with his role and said he’s lost his on-court “joy” in Miami.
“What do I want to see happen? I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball, wherever that may be — we’ll find out here pretty soon,” Butler said. “I want to get my joy back. I’m happy here, off the court, but I want to be back to somewhere dominant. I want to hoop and I want to help this team win. Right now, I’m not doing that.”
The relationship between Butler and the Heat — a talking point for weeks — has degraded to the point where Butler reiterated to team president Pat Riley in a face-to-face meeting last week that he wants to be traded, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The Heat lost to Indiana 128-115 on Jan. 2, with Butler scoring exactly nine points and playing exactly zero seconds in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive game. The next day, the Heat issued the suspension and reversed course from a statement Riley made in December vowing that Butler would not be traded. The team has been engaging in trade talks since.
But trading Butler is complicated, with new rules in the collective bargaining agreement putting more issues in place for teams to address when acquiring big contracts — and he’s making nearly $49 million this season, with an option to make $52 million next season.
He’s 35 years old and is averaging 17.6 points this season. On the one hand, that’s his lowest average since his third season in the NBA more than a decade ago. On the other, he’s shooting a career-best 55% this season.
Butler was the best player on two Heat teams that went to the NBA Finals. His relationship with the Heat has been tense since last spring, when Riley announced the team would not extend Butler’s contract before the 2024-25 season. Butler could have gotten an extension for as much as $113 million over two years.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
LA QUINTA, Calif. — J.T. Poston shot a 10-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Justin Lower in the opening round of The American Express on Thursday.
Poston carded nine birdies and an eagle on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West in the Palm Springs-area desert. Lower was one stroke ahead of an 8-under pack that included Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk, J.J. Spaun and Matti Schmid.
Poston excels on the three mostly generous courses used for this event, finishing tied for sixth at The American Express in 2023 and tied for 11th last year. The North Carolina native has also done well in other deserts, winning in Las Vegas last fall.
“When I feel like I’m really hitting it good, I feel like I’ve got all the shots and can get the ball close to the hole and really take advantage of those scoring clubs,” said Poston, a three-time PGA Tour winner. “I feel like I can go out there and make a bunch of birdies like I did today, so a tournament like this sort of plays into that.”
Lower shot a bogey-free 63 at La Quinta that included consecutive eagles.
“I’ve never done that,” he said. “I don’t even think I’ve done it in just a regular round, but let alone a tournament round. Yeah, any time you can make back-to-back eagles, it certainly helps the score.”
Blades Brown, a 17-year-old prodigy playing on a sponsor exemption, shot 72 in his first round as a professional. After bogeying his second hole and double-bogeying his third, the high school junior from Nashville, Tennessee, calmed down and strung together three consecutive birdies before finishing with 12 straight pars.
“It was challenging the first couple of holes, just because my adrenaline was up,” Brown said. “Whenever that happens, I hit the ball super far, so our distances weren’t going exactly what we thought they were going to go. Then a poor shot on Hole 3 left me in the hazard, unfortunately. I was able to battle back, and I was super pumped about that.”
The American Express is the third event of the new PGA Tour season and one of only two pro-ams on the calendar, a carryover from the event’s long history as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler planned to play, but he dropped out 10 days ago to give his right hand injury more time to heal.
Defending champion Nick Dunlap shot a 67 at La Quinta in his return to the tournament where he became the first amateur in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour.
“It’s nice to be back,” Dunlap said earlier this week. “It’s nice to know where I’m going for the first week [as a pro]. I don’t have to find everything for the first time.”
Now 21, Dunlap turned pro one week after winning in the desert and jumped straight from the camaraderie and cloistered life of the Alabama golf team into the cauldron of the PGA Tour. Although he struggled in stretches, he was eventually named the tour’s rookie of the year after collecting another win at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California.
“I would definitely say it was overwhelming,” Dunlap said. “I had a lot of stuff happen, whether it’s on the golf course or off the golf course, that it all came at me pretty quick, and some of it I was ready for, some of it I wasn’t, and got blindsided a little bit. My life got sped up a little bit, and in a good way. I’m out here, I’m living my dream, and wouldn’t change it for anything, but it all doesn’t just happen easy or smoothly.”
The day that the Eaton fire began, Jake Viator had just finished some work remodeling his midcentury Altadena home. Viator, a mastering engineer for the local record label Stones Throw, moved into the rustic foothill neighborhood with his wife in 2022, one full of middle-class artists and century-old homes. He had a garage studio in a neighborhood full of friends making music.
“We scraped everything we had to afford it,” Viator said. “The day we signed our mortgage, my wife found out she was pregnant. It was the most serendipitous day.”
On the night of Jan. 6, Viator had planned to grab sushi with his neighbor, Jimmy Tamborello of indie group the Postal Service, when his wife texted that Eaton Canyon was on fire. Outside, it was “like seeing a bomb had been dropped,” he said. “A wall of orange spinning and whipping and exploding like nothing I’d ever seen before. It looked like hell on earth.”
He drove around honking and screaming at neighbors to evacuate. After he turned downhill to flee, Viator drove straight to Scottsdale, Ariz., where his wife and 2-year-old daughter were staying. They would never see the home where their child was born again.
Jake Viator, right, with wife Melissa Viator and his family in their Altadena home.
(Melissa Viator.)
“I loved Altadena and the dream of Altadena,” Viator said, tearing up. “I just had never been so at peace in a place.”
In a cruel coincidence, the Palisades and Eaton fires wiped out two neighborhoods with unique significance in L.A.’s music industry. The Palisades fire claimed ocean-view studios in Malibu, where Grammy winners lived and recorded platinum albums steps from the sand. Fifty miles away, the Eaton fire demolished a neighborhood adored by working artists and industry pros seeking space to work amid nature.
“Every single musician I know in Altadena lost everything,” Viator said. “I kept waiting to hear somebody be like, ‘I’m cool,’ but no, the list is just unfathomable. Everyone I know, every single person, every business is gone. I can’t understand it.”
The Palisades fire claimed the homes and recording studios of many L.A. musicians.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
The fires ripped a path of destruction, one so total and instantaneous that it was concussive for L.A. The infernos have claimed at least 25 lives and more than 12,000 structures that included architectural landmarks and generations of family homes, and thousands of acres of nature. Life savings, memories and livelihoods: all cinders within hours.
In the days after, Los Angeles-area musicians and industry pros began to circulate a spreadsheet noting who had lost a home or workplace. The list stretched over 200 entries.
The list cuts across class divides. Songwriting legend Diane Warren lost her beachfront home, as did the Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett and Grammy-winning Adele and “Wicked” producer Greg Wells. So did scores of lesser-known session musicians, publicists, tour crew, club promoters and radio DJs.
Many of them, like Viator, had congregated in Altadena.
Stately and natural, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley just north of Pasadena, the neighborhood became a haven for musicians and artists who could no longer afford studio space in neighborhoods such as Echo Park and Highland Park. You could have a backyard turkey coop next to your vocal booth, all within a 30-minute drive to downtown L.A.
Taylor Goldsmith, frontman of the folk-rock band Dawes, lost his home studio to the Eaton fire. His family, including his wife, actor and singer Mandy Moore, and their three children, were fortunate that their main house survived, yet Goldsmith is shell-shocked by the Eaton fire’s toll.
“I’d thought we were snug in our neighborhood, but we were so wrong,” he said. “It feels surreal. This is horrific, and a lot of people are hurting way worse than we are. My brother [Griffin, his Dawes bandmate] lost his house and all his drums. He loves this town, he loves California, but he’s like ‘I don’t know if I can submit to the risk of this happening again.’”
Goldsmith lost all his equipment in the Eaton fire — “vintage guitars that were irreplaceable, ones my hands learned to play on that meant so much to me.” He worries that this will traumatize his community in perpetuity.
“You can’t go around thinking everything can be ripped away from you in three hours at any time,” Goldsmith said. “It f— you up. But I don’t want to let this be what turns me away from living there. I don’t want to give up and move on and make pain permanent.”
Homes and vehicles burned in the Eaton fire in Altadena.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Fifty miles away, in Pacific Palisades, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country famed for ocean views and a tight-knit, small-town feel, almost no home was spared.
While social media was filled with plaintive notes from celebrities (including Anthony Hopkins, Billy Crystal, Paris Hilton and Jamie Lee Curtis) lamenting the lost of their multimillion-dollar homes in the inferno, a number of acclaimed recording studios succumbed as well.
These studios were part of the glamorous archetype of L.A. music lore. Recording in a beautiful room overlooking the Pacific meant you’d reached a pinnacle of the record business.
The legendary producer and mixer Bob Clearmountain had worked on albums by Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones in his Palisades home studio, Mix This! Playing Clearmountain’s Bösendorfer grand piano through his SSL mixing console connected an artist to music history — David Bowie, Roxy Music and Nile Rodgers sought out his mastery and his gear.
Last Tuesday, Clearmountain lost his home of 30-plus years in the Palisades fire. They were able to save a few mementos, such as a doodle Springsteen drew as a gift for Clearmountain’s wife’s 50th birthday. But most of the equipment he’d spent a life collecting and refining is gone, as is his cherished Palisades home.
“Devastating is an understatement,” Clearmountain said. “But I’m lucky. My wife and I are safe, our pets are safe, our family is safe. I really thought I’d spend the rest of my days there; it was such a beautiful place to live. There’s just so much loss in this fire.”
Jeffrey Paradise, founder of the L.A. electronic act Poolside, had moved his home and recording studio into the Malibu hills three years ago. His house was a favorite hangout of the Grateful Dead in the ’70s, built with wood salvaged from the Venice Beach pier. He loved hosting musician friends from Highland Park for weekendlong writing sessions.
“We’ve been on tour for years, so this was our sanctuary whenever we got back,” Paradise said. “Bob Dylan had a place nearby. I’d run into Anthony Kiedis at cafes. Gene Simmons and Seal were my neighbors. We absolutely loved this house.”
But now his street is “a war zone, I’ve never seen anything like it, just an acid-trip nightmare hellscape,” Paradise said. “Everything is gone. The enormity of it all is hard to comprehend. I can’t even feel it yet. This is going to be our reality for years.”
A Torrance firefighter watches as a house burns from the Palisades fire on Shoreheights Drive.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Rick Rubin’s acclaimed Shangri-La studio in Malibu survived the fire, but the house on Alma Real Drive where Doors’ guitarist Robby Krieger wrote the band’s best-known single, “Light My Fire,” went up in ashes, and R&B singer Jhené Aiko also lost her home in the blaze.
Up the hill in Malibu, Zach Brandon owned Harbor Studios, a luxe recording compound that had become a favorite for contemporary pop and hip-hop acts like Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj, who cut tracks on their respective albums “Scarlet” and “Pink Friday 2” there. It was first built as the home base for jazz-fusion group Weather Report.
Reached by text, Brandon said that “We’re devastated by the loss of our studio — a beloved space that was deeply special to all those who had the opportunity to experience the inspiration it provided. Our hearts go out to all who have been impacted, and we will continue to do whatever we can to help our neighbors in this trying time. As we continue to grieve, we remain encouraged by the resilience of our community.”
Even music venues that survived the fire are facing the fallout of a depopulated beach community.
“Fifty percent of all the business I have is corporate events and private events, and they’re all canceled now,” said Lance Sterling, who owns the Canyon club in nearby Agoura Hills, which shut down for the week of the fires. “I’m probably down $650,000 in revenue right now, and there’s 100,000 people dislocated who are not my customers anymore.”
Already, the music industry is fundraising for the thousands of displaced Angelenos. A major benefit concert is planned for Intuit Dome on Jan. 30. Beyoncé’s foundation announced a $2.5-million donation, and Warner Music promised another million.
Within the affected communities, so many blue-collar music professionals and working-class artists face years of recovery.
For Willie “Prophet” Stiggers of the Black Music Action Coalition, the fires have been “like been watching a horror film. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. “L.A. is a town where music comes from, so many people come here to draw inspiration. This is a gut blow like we’ve never experienced before.”
The group is fundraising for Black artists, businesses and incarcerated firefighters affected by the disasters. “Music is such a unifier after people have lost communities. We’re seeing humanity show up in a very divisive time,” Prophet said. “That part gives me hope.”
Yet after the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the live-music industry, coupled with skyrocketing costs of living in Los Angeles, the fires bring a painful new obstacle.
“It’s unfathomable,” said Laura Segura, the executive director of MusiCares, the charitable partner of the Recording Academy. “All the music companies we think of as behemoths have staff who lost homes. So did tour crew, musicians, bus drivers, electricians. This is a different kind of disaster than the pandemic, but it does feel that daunting.”
A firefighter turns his head away from the intense heat from an apartment blaze fueled by high winds from the Eaton fire in Altadena.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Segura said MusiCares has already received more than 2,000 requests for aid from affected music professionals, and while the needs will vary — from immediate shelter and food aid to long-term housing and mental health assistance — this tragedy will touch every corner of the music industry in L.A.
“Disasters each have a long story to them,” Segura said. “I certainly fear that it’s already so hard to find affordable housing in L.A., given [that] the average salary for a musician in the United States is under $50,000 per year. We know how hard it is to support a family and have security to stay here.
“I wish I understood why there is so much suffering here,” Segura added, choking up. “Please keep making music if you can, that’s my hope and prayer, and let us help if you can’t.”
The Recording Academy announced that the 67th Grammy Awards, planned for Feb. 2 in Los Angeles, will go forward with a focus on relief efforts. “We understand how devastating this past week has been on this city and its people,” Recording Academy and MusiCares Chief Executive Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. “This is our home, it’s home to thousands of music professionals, and many of us have been negatively impacted.”
What kind of community will be able return to the fire-affected neighborhoods is uncertain. For some musicians, this could be a final breaking point to seek shelter and a livelihood elsewhere. For others, they’ll begin the expensive and isolating work of reestablishing in a desiccated community.
“My kid’s school was across the street, and it’s still there,” Goldsmith said. “He adorably said he’s going to get an excavator and fix his school. That’s what we want for him — to create that same connection with his community.”
For people like Viator, middle-class music professionals who thought they’d found a foothold to live and work in Los Angeles, the fire incinerated much more than a home or a recording studio. It took away a lovely dream of what a life in music could be here.
“It’s all going to have to rise from scratch,” Viator said. “I’m not deluding myself, but I hope the spirit can be same. Maybe it can be a real haven for artists again, but will investment bankers snatch up all the property and ruin the neighborhood? What we had was so beautiful. It’d be a shame to just give up. So we’re going to try.”
When Rush walked off the stage in California on Aug. 1, 2015 and closed out their R40 Live Tour, fans remained hopeful it wouldn’t be their last live show. After almost a decade, and the passing of their longtime drummer, the surviving members of the Canadian prog-rock outfit have made peace with there not being another Rush show.
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Earlier this month, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee spoke to Classic Rock about the regret they felt about shortening their final tour, apologizing to the British and European fans who didn’t get a chance to see them perform live. “I really felt like I let our British and European fans down,” Lee explained. “It felt to me incorrect that we didn’t do it, but Neil was adamant that he would only do thirty shows and that was it.”
Ultimately, it was drummer Neil Peart that put an end to the chances of more shows, announcing his retirement from music later that year. While Lifeson confirmed the group’s inactivity in 2018, Peart’s passing in 2020 put an end to any potential future for Rush.
In 2022, however, Lifeson and Lee reunited in public to perform as part of the tribute shows in Los Angeles and London for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Though these performances were well-received and undoubtedly left fans eager for more, Lifeson has explained to Classic Rock that he’s satisfied where Rush left things.
“The energy was fantastic around that show, I know, and some days I wake up wanting to go out and tour again and some days I don’t,” Lifeson explained. “For forty years Rush included Neil, and I don’t think putting some new version together would have the same magic.
“After those two gigs and the months of prep Ged and I went through, I was excited by the response and to be in the dressing room again with so many fellow artists in Wembley and LA I respected and felt a kinship towards. But after a few weeks that wore off and it occurred to me that despite all the pain of loss, Rush went out on a high note playing as well as ever with one of our best stage shows on R40. I guess I’d rather be remembered for that legacy than returning as the top Rush tribute band.”
Since Rush’s untimely dissolution, Lifeson and Lee have remained active in the world of music. While the former performs as part of the Envy of None supergroup, the latter penned a memoir titled My Effin’ Life in 2023. However, the pair still live close by and regularly get together and jam, though there’s no saying if these collaborations will lead to anything.
“It’s good to jam with friends as you get older,” says Lifeson. “I need to play. Once a week I go to Ged’s – it’s in the calendar – keep my fingers moving, play Rush stuff, new jams. We do record it, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you where it’ll go.”
Spain’s oldest person Angelina Torres Vallbona, who is 111 years old, has divulged her longevity secret as she approaches her 112th birthday. Residing in a flat in Eixample, Barcelona, Angelina claims she has maintained good health throughout her life and has never fallen ill.
She inherited the title of Spain’s oldest person following the death of Maria Branyas, who was not only Catalonia’s but also the world’s eldest at 117 before her passing last August. Additionally, with the November demise of Piedad Loriente from Aragon at age 113, Angelina now holds the record for the oldest Spaniard.
Speaking to EFE, as reported by Andalucía Información, Angelina insists there is “no secret” to her impressive lifespan. Her daily routine includes a simple breakfast of “a glass of water with a few drops of lemon and a teaspoon of sugar”.
Despite the known health concerns surrounding sugar, lemon juice offers several benefits, being an excellent source of vitamin C which studies have shown can lower the risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as enhance iron absorption from plant foods, thus preventing anemia. Angelina also credits her long walks and her aim to be “friends with everyone” as part of her lifestyle.
People around her often refer to her as an angel, yet she humbly disagrees, stating: “I am no angel, I like to get on with everyone,” reports Surrey Live.
Angelina, who was born in Bellvís on March 18, 1913, and was the fifth of seven siblings, revealed that she often feels a deep sense of empathy for those less fortunate than herself. Tragically, her father died when she was just three years old, prompting the family to relocate to Barcelona.
Angelina embarked on a career in tie-making with Vinilos y Vidal before becoming an apprentice at a dressmaker’s shop. This all took place before the devastating Spanish Civil War, a period during which Angelina admits she “suffered a lot”.
After the war, she married Josep Martí and they had a daughter named Mercè, two grandchildren, Gemma and Xavi, and three great-grandchildren: Pol, Marc and Mar Joana. She expressed her gratitude for being able to spend Christmas with her family, describing her great-grandchildren as “handsome” and stating that she’d “had a good time”.
Angelina also shared her joy at witnessing the construction of the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, remarking that it “turned out beautiful”. The 111 year old concluded by reflecting on her life, noting that she “had many friends” who “loved me a lot”, and that she “laughed a lot” and “enjoyed my family”.
Welcome back to the Southern HospitalitySeason 3 recaps! Last week, Emmy had the meltdown to end all meltdowns. She was set off when Siobhan accused her of using store credit to purchase the girls’ new dresses, charging them full price, and pocketing the difference. Will was no help, and even Siobhan and Molly felt sorry for Emmy. Meanwhile, TJ and Michols made up. But he and Joe remain at odds.
What happened on Southern Hospitality Season 3 Episode 3, “Wylin at Lake Wylie?”
Photo Credit: Bravo Media
This week, the Republic staff deals with the aftermath of Emmy’s meltdown. TJ fills in for Mia, who’s at Miss World boot camp. Emmy insists everything with Will is fine. Will comes clean to Brad and TJ but Emmy is still in the dark. The group heads to Lake Wylie to celebrate Lake’s 22nd birthday. Here’s what went down in “Wylin at Lake Wylie.”
Joe and Maddi’s beach house dreams
Photo Credit: Paul Cheney/Bravo
Joe and Maddi discuss their future when her parents put them on the spot. Her parents like Joe much more than her ex Trevor. Maddi claims she’s not ready for marriage. And doesn’t have a five-year plan. She takes things one day at a time due to her sobriety. She would say yes if Joe proposed. But only so he doesn’t feel embarrassed. Joe is ready for marriage, and is all in with Maddi’s dream to live at the beach. For now, Maddi’s parents suggest he build her a sandcastle.
Emmy unpacks her epic meltdown
Photo Credit: Bryan Steffy/Bravo
As they grab smoothies, Emmy admits to Michols that she could’ve toned things down a few notches. Michols informed her he filled in Lea and Leva. Naturally, Leva finds this unacceptable and suggests Emmy might need some time off. The only reason she and Lea give Emmy grace is because she’s typically a great employee. Emmy apologizes and promises not to do it again. Just when things seem settled, however, Emmy demands an apology from Siobhan. She also says she felt bad for Will during all this. Michols asks, “Why are we worried about Will?” and lets out a heavy sigh. “If anything you should be mad at him for adding fuel to the fire.”
Michols recalls the first time he met Will, while at the bar with Maddi and Siobhan. Michols claims Will called Emmy boring because she doesn’t drink anymore. And said he hated the way her body looked now. And that he’s miserable in their relationship. It all lines up perfectly with what Siobhan told Molly last week. Michols adds, “Emmy’s not in this blissful relationship that she thinks she’s in.” At the time, he told the others not to say anything. But it obviously spread, or as Michols puts it, “grew legs and it’s running.”
Get to know Southern Hospitality Season 3 newbie Lake
Photo Credit: Bryan Steffy/Bravo
Brad and Lake went on their first date. They continue flirting at work, with Lake roasting his shirtless mirror pics. Brad gushes that he’s never met a girl like Lake, while she swoons over his abs.
This week, we learn that Lake is an artist who graduated from Parsons and the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing. Like many artists, she’s now figuring out how to make a living from her art. “Only Fans it is…just kidding!” she jokes.
For her 22nd birthday, Lake invites her Republic friends to her mom’s house in Lake Wylie. The house is so special to her family. In fact, she’s named Lake because she was conceived at Lake Wylie! Joe jokes if she has a brother named Dam. Her mom emphasizes that it’s fine if Lake has a few friends at the house and keeps it low-key.
We also learn that Lake identifies as sexually fluid. From an early age, she had crushes on other girls. She also tells Brad that she’s a “lover girl” no matter what gender identity. As she puts it, “I identify as ‘for the people.’”
Emmy returns to Republic
Photo Credit: Bryan Steffy/Bravo
Emmy returns to Republic that Thursday, intending to prove the work meltdown was a one-time thing. She quickly goes up to Siobhan, who says she regrets bringing up the dress issue. They hug it out and agree to move on.
Emmy emphasizes to Brad that she never acts like that. He agrees and wonders aloud if it has to do with her and Will. Emmy, of course, denies this. Brad says, “We all know Will has been talking sh*t behind her back.” He literally had clients come up to him to try and get Will to stop. “Clearly, everything is not fine, and we can see it,” Brad adds. It doesn’t help that Emmy appears to be on the verge of tears, even as she claims she’s feeling better. TJ and Brad are unconvinced.
Meanwhile, Lake tells Michols that Molly filled her in on Will’s comments. He knows it’s time to tell Emmy.
Will comes clean-ish
Photo Credit: Bryan Steffy/Bravo
Emmy has Maddi over, who brings non-alcoholic wine. Considering they fell out over her own relationship drama last year, Maddi feels a certain way about knowing Will talks behind Emmy’s back.
Meanwhile, Will gets drinks with Brad and TJ. Joe feels left out, and wants to move forward with TJ “for the good of the family.” Will feels caught in the middle.
When TJ brings up Emmy, Will says they’re better when he’s not in school (by the way, he’s in the top 10 percent of his class). Will says stress can cause him to “project things onto the relationship.” Brad and TJ ask Will about his drunken anti-Emmy comments. “Did it happen? Yeah,” Will admits.
He blames feeling “self-conscious that I wasn’t the boyfriend I needed to be.” TJ thinks it’s a lie. Will says felt the back room of Republic was a safe, familiar space to vent. But Brad claims Will made similar comments at other King Street bars. While TJ understands needing to vent, it’s hard for him to listen to Emmy plan her wedding and future with Will while knowing about this. Will continues to downplay it. TJ feels like he’s at a press conference, not talking to a close friend.
Will claims “literal studies” show venting about your spouse is good for your mental health. “I’m happy that I worked through those emotions because I think it made me more resolute in my feelings about Emily- err, me and Emmy,” he says as he heads to Emily Emmy’s apartment. Intrigued by the NA wine, he says he might need a break from drinking. He claims TJ just wanted to talk about Joe, but stumbles when asked what Brad had to say. Maddi leaves, and Will gives the blissfully unaware Emmy a foot massage.
The Southern Hospitality cast heads to Lake Wylie
Photo Credit: Stephanie Diani/Bravo
On the way to Lake Wylie, Joe reminisces about the time he spent at lakes when he was a counselor at a YMCA Christian camp. “Before I was Joey Bottles…I was Joey Bibles,” he says. It’s where he learned to talk to girls and their parents. And brought him closer to God. “Maybe I need to bring Joey Bibles back, ’cause Joey Bottles is exhausting,” he jokes.
Michols asked to room with TJ. But TJ doesn’t know if it’s a flirty move, or Michols trying to avoid Emmy. Emmy is mad that Michols doesn’t want to room with her. It leaves Emmy rooming with Siobhan and Molly. She can tell something’s up because it wasn’t that long ago that Michols was avoiding TJ.
Everyone is blown away by how gorgeous the lake house is. Lake explains that her family is very successful. As in, they own law firms, a hair care line, an MMA company, an education fund, and three dental practices.
What really happened between TJ and Joe?
Photo Credit: Paul Cheney/Bravo
TJ admits to Maddi that things between him and Joe are much deeper than the Luann thing. A producer asks about something from years ago. Joe slept in the same bed with TJ and said he cuddled TJ like he would a girl he was hooking up with. TJ admits that the intimate moment caused him to wonder if Joe was actually attracted to him. As he admitted to Joe last summer, he fell in love with his best friend. TJ thinks that Joe always knew this, and it gave him an unfair upper hand in their friendship. Next week, it looks like they’ll have to talk this out.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Found Season 2 Episode 9 “Missing While Targeted.”]
The Found midseason premiere leaves potentially more than one character’s life hanging in the balance. In a way, Gabi (Shanola Hampton) has it a bit easier; she’s only hit from behind with a plank of wood and knocked out! And the person who does that? Well, Sir (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is not happy with whoever it is.
Then, during the course of the team’s case, Dhan (Karan Oberoi) is shot, and his husband Ethan (Lee Osorio) tells Gabi to leave the hospital; he’s had to share Dhan with her every moment of their relationship, and if this is their last one, he wants to have it. And Trent (Brett Dalton) is shocked when Sir enters his house and tells him his father worked an obvious serial kidnapper (seven cold cases, all young children), yet there was no press or arrests. Gabi arrives at the door in time to hear a gunshot inside…
Below, showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll talks about that long-awaited face-to-face and cliffhanger, reveals Dhan’s fate, and teases what’s to come.
That ending! First of all, the wait for Sir and Trent to interact — and when it finally comes, it’s great. But talk about what you wanted out of their first interaction after they came so close earlier in the season.
Nkechi Okoro Carroll: We knew there was no way — the first time Sir and Trent are face-to-face, it felt like it had to be a moment — it couldn’t just be a run-in — it needed to be a calculated moment and that it had sort of cataclysmic consequences. [Laughs] And so that’s what we did. These are two men that are polar opposites in so many ways. The thing that they share is the importance that Gabi plays in their life. But there’s Sir’s version of that. There’s Trent’s version of that. And then also two very different sides of the law: Trent has a pretty strong moral compass. It is the thing that sort of makes him the most uncomfortable as he’s toeing that gray line with Gabi. But at his core, he is a man who believes in justice, who believes in law and order, who believes in the blue wall. And you’ve got Sir, who, even though he would never describe himself this way, is a master criminal, he is a serial kidnapper. He is an incredibly intelligent human being who operates outside of the law. You couldn’t have more polar opposite individuals standing at gunpoint across from each other.
And don’t worry, we will not leave you in suspense. It is a direct pickup in Episode 10. We will absolutely see the aftermath — and it is quite the aftermath — of that encounter right off the bat. We are not going to keep our audience waiting.
Yeah, I was going to say, a gunshot did go off. So can you say if anyone was hit with a bullet?
I can say that it’s definitely not a fake thing, gunshot goes off. I can say that whose gun got fired and where bullets end up and who ends up in the hospital is going to become quite a twisty turny ride over a couple of episodes. But that run-in at Trent’s house between Sir and Trent literally has repercussions for the remainder of the season in very huge ways for both those characters and for Gabi.
NBC
I’ve got a theory that Heather (Danielle Savre) is Sir’s sister and getting close to Trent for him because Heather could have told Sir about the layout of Trent’s house after their night together. What can you say about that?
This is why I introduced Heather the way I introduced her, because I am going to have a blast watching the fans try to figure out all the connective tissue and who and why and where and everything. And so that was one of the theories I was banking on, which is why we’ve been so cryptic about the role that Danielle is playing. And that is all I will say about that. But the mystery on how she connects to everyone is absolutely intentional. And I’m going to sit back with my popcorn and my tea and watch the fans fight over it online because I think that’s very exciting.
We know that Sir is working with someone. Someone hit Gabi, he was not happy about that. What can you say about who this person is?
Sir has had an accomplice from the jump. You don’t stay on the run — which is the thing that M&A has figured out — for 20 years without someone helping you, even if it’s not every day or every step of the way. But you just cannot avoid capture for that long unless there’s help. And we’ve seen, if people go back and watch those early episodes, Sir on the phone, Lacey [Gabrielle Walsh] vaguely remembering him on the phone with someone, but who he was talking to, was it clear? Was it Gabi? Was it someone else? The text messages, and then yes, this very sort of big moment of Gabi being hit and him clearly being unhappy about it. So whoever his accomplice is, what I can tell you is they’re going a little rogue and there’s nothing that unravels Sir more than when people deviate from the plan.
Have we seen this person?
Yes.
Interesting. Trent and Heather’s relationship, can that be anything? Because we know no matter how complicated it may be, there are still feelings between Trent and Gabi.
I know, what does every great poet and songwriter and everyone say? What did Dua Lipa say? Isn’t it like, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else? [Laughs] Not to quote the great Dua Lipa in this moment. But of course, he still has feelings for Gabi and I don’t think even he is necessarily trying to deny that; they’re very wrapped up in his anger right now, but I don’t think even he is trying to deny that. But there’s having feelings for someone and then feeling like they’re not necessarily good for you or you don’t see a future there. So you pivot to maybe what initially feels like the next best thing. And so Trent deserves a woman who puts him first. He deserves a woman, a brilliantly smart, talented, gorgeous woman who after a tough day at work makes him want to text them and have them come over for dinner. But as with any good drama, it’s complicated.
Matt Miller / NBC
Dhan was shot, and it wasn’t looking good. What can you say about his fate?
What I can firmly say that Karan is not leaving the show. I would never let him. I love him. I’m like the mafia. He’s not allowed to leave me. And so Dhan will survive the shooting. However, surviving the shooting and consequences from something that big happening to you… As the show has shown with our survivors many times, you survive the ordeal, but that doesn’t mean you’re not still dealing with it moving forward and the things it brings with it. But it’s a reminder that as passionate as they are about what they do, and as beautiful as those moments are when they get to hang the picture on the wall and say welcome home, what they do is dangerous, and for the most part, 90 percent of the time, they’re not carrying weapons themselves. They’re not cops. They are citizens who have decided to turn their trauma into healing and into purpose and are just out there trying to do good in the world, but they’re not superheroes. And what happens to Dhan is a stark reminder of that.
There’s also the Ethan of it because he told Gabi to leave at the hospital. That was heartbreaking for Gabi. That has to be complicated going forward. Dhan’s going to go back to M&A, but then there’s still the Ethan of it. Their relationship is on rocky ground. So what are we going to see there?
They’re very interesting. We wanted to have this non-traditional triangle between Ethan and Dhan and Gabi because nothing between Gabi and Dhan is sexual, but if there’s a person he will take a bullet for, it is Gabi Mosley. And he would do the same for Ethan. He loves them both so much. They are both so important to their life. And right now they couldn’t be further apart in terms of Ethan feeling like Gabi is the gateway to all things bad for Dhan. And part of what Ethan and Dhan are going to have to reconcile is, how do they stay true to who they are, what they need, what makes them wake up in the morning, the love they have, and stay true to what they require of each other in this beautiful partnership? I don’t envy Dhan in his position because he needs both of them, but I fully understand Ethan’s position of, if she says jump, he says, how high, and how many times does Dhan get to put his life in danger and regress for Gabi? And for Gabi, she couldn’t make Dhan not do it if she tried, he is loyal to her for life. Even if she told him to go away, it would never happen.
And so it puts all three of them in a very difficult position of trying to figure out, how do we make this triangle work while honoring and respecting what every individual party in that triangle needs? To us, it was just a really beautiful way — I believe there are friend soulmates. I believe there are romantic relationship soulmates. And so we have this really beautiful opportunity, which I feel we don’t necessarily see frequently, to really explore this soulmate triangle of one component is romantic, the other one is absolutely purely platonic, but it’s still a soulmate triangle. And how do you resolve that and who you rooting for?
Sir says he knows what happened to Margaret’s (Kelli Williams) son. He does tell the truth, but how much does he know?
That’s such a good question. Sir has made it his mission to be informed about as much in Gabi’s life as humanly possible, and that includes the people that he sees as the obstacles to him being with Gabi, and that is M&A. And so there’s a lot he knows about each one of their lives individually that comes out slowly but surely and who sort of comes front and center and becomes the main target of his game playing and obsession just depends. And so, yeah, he knows some things. He doesn’t know everything, but he knows enough that as Gabi and Margaret are figuring out their dynamic, and Margaret, her search for Jamie and her search for the truth of what happened is really going to take center stage in this back half of the season. And so with that comes the question of, what is Margaret willing to do for answers? How far is Margaret willing to go for answers? What does resolution finally, truly look like for Margaret? That’s all stuff we’ll get into in the back half of the season.
I have absolutely loved Lacey’s journey so far this season. And now she’s ready to go back to law school, but does she know yet what that would look like for her? Is she thinking, this is something she’d do once Sir is caught? That she should move forward with her life while he’s still out there?
She’s definitely feeling like she should move on with her life while he’s still out there because she refuses to be a victim to him again. The worst happened. Her biggest fear was that one day Sir would come back and he would get to her again, and he did and she survived. And so in that is a power of, “I cannot live in fear of, if I live my life, what happens with Sir.” She has now escaped him twice. She has now, in her own way, defeated him twice. And in a way, it’s empowered her more than the first time ever could because the first time, Gabi sort of saved her.
This time, Gabi saved her from the perspective of, she stopped her from doing something that she knew Lacey would not be able to live with, but Lacey went down swinging. She was not some quiet, docile, little girl tied to her chair. She left scars on Sir, which made me so happy and excited for her to take her power back in that way. And so that’s the Lacey we’re seeing. For so long, she’s lived in fear of Sir and in hero worship of Gabi, and now the blinders are off. She’s experienced the worst thing with Sir and survived it and Gabi’s off her pedestal and she’s seen her for the human she is.
And so now there’s a whole future ahead for Lacey of like, who are you? Not trying to be mini Gabi, not trying to live in the shadows from Sir with your new name, who are you and who do you want to be? And that’s the journey we have of, Lacey has found her way, and we’re going to see it play out over several episodes in the back half of the season where we hear Lacey’s voice in a way we haven’t heard her before. There’s a strength to her that is unwilling to back down. Whereas before she was very much about the tenants of the law and she’s here to save Gabi’s ass and she’s in service to her for life, now we’re hearing Lacey roar in a way that’s about finding Lacey. And that is very exciting to watch. And Gabrielle Walsh has just been murdering that role.
As millions of U.S. TikTok users flock to Chinese-language social app RedNote in light of a possible TikTok ban, more Americans are trying to learn Chinese than ever.
Duolingo, a language learning app used by millions, reported on Wednesday that it had seen a 216% growth in new Mandarin Chinese learners in the U.S. this week compared to last year.
“Learning Mandarin out of spite?” Duolingo stated in a post on X. “You’re not alone.”
The organic push to learn Mandarin arrives at a time when a Chinese-language app is burgeoning in popularity. Reuters reported on Thursday that in just one day, from Sunday to Monday, nearly 3 million new users joined RedNote.
The app is a Chinese TikTok alternative that includes short videos, images, shopping, and more. While TikTok is owned by ByteDance, RedNote is owned by Xingyin Information Technology.
Data obtained by Reuters from research company Sensor Tower showed that U.S. downloads of RedNote were up 200% year-over-year. As of Wednesday, RedNote was the top social app on the Google Play store, up from its position of number 162 last year.
RedNote’s influx of new users, and Duolingo’s uptick in Mandarin Chinese learners, can both be explained by TikTok users looking for alternatives when faced with a possible TikTok ban.
A U.S. law passed in April ordered ByteDance to sell TikTok by Jan. 19 or face a ban on the platform. Though the Supreme Court could halt the law before the Jan. 19 deadline, as of Thursday, it had not yet released a decision.
TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users are now trying to find other social media avenues, including RedNote. The move from one Chinese app to another is a clear message that there is demand in the U.S. for Chinese social media apps, per TechCrunch.
TikTok stated in a court filing last month that a ban would cost U.S. creators and small businesses an estimated $1.3 billion in one month.
U.S. use of TikTok was down 2.1% week-over-week ahead of the possible ban, down to about 82.2 million daily active users, according to Reuters.
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s economy grew 5% last year, matching the government’s target, but in a lopsided fashion, with many people complaining of worsening living standards as Beijing struggles to transfer its industrial and export gains to consumers.
The unbalanced growth raises concerns that structural problems may deepen further in 2025, when China plans a similar growth performance by going deep into debt to counter the impact of an expected U.S. tariff hike, potentially as soon as Monday when Donald Trump is inaugurated as president.
China’s December data showed industrial output far outpacing retail sales, and the unemployment rate ticking higher, highlighting the supply-side strength of an economy running a trillion-dollar trade surplus, but also its domestic weakness.
The export-led growth is partly underpinned by factory gate deflation which makes Chinese goods competitive on global markets, but also exposes Beijing to greater conflicts as trade gaps with rival countries widen. Within borders, falling prices have ripped into corporate profits and workers incomes.
Andrew Wang, an executive in a company providing industrial automation services for the booming electrical vehicle sector, said his revenues fell 16% last year, prompting him to cut jobs, which he expects to do again soon.
“The data China released was different from what most people felt,” Wang said, comparing this year’s outlook with notching up the difficulty level on a treadmill.
“We need to run faster just to stay where we are.”
If the bulk of the extra stimulus Beijing has lined up for this year keeps flowing towards industrial upgrades and infrastructure, rather than households, it could exacerbate overcapacity in factories, weaken consumption, and increase deflationary pressures, analysts say.
“Deflationary pressure will dampen investment sentiment,” said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, who expects slower 2025 growth.
“It will also be hard for China to keep the export strength amid the uncertain geopolitical environment.”
‘UNEASE’
Chinese exporters expect higher tariffs to have a much greater impact than during Trump’s first term, accelerating a reshoring of production abroad and further shrinking profits, hurting jobs and private sector investment.
A trade war 2.0 would find China in a much more vulnerable position than when Trump first raised tariffs in 2018, as it still grapples with a deep property crisis and huge local government debt, among other imbalances.
So far, Beijing has pledged to prioritise domestic consumption in this year’s policies, but has revealed little apart from a recently-expanded trade-in programme that subsidises purchases of cars, appliances and other goods.
China gave civil servants their first big pay bump in a decade, although the higher estimates measure the overall increase at roughly 0.1% of GDP. Financial regulators got steep wage cuts, as have many others in the private sector.
For Jiaqi Zhang, a 25-year-old investment banker in Beijing, 2024 felt like a downturn, having seen her salary trimmed for a second time since 2023, bringing the total reduction to 30%.
Her equity finance department slashed eight to nine jobs because it had “fewer projects.”
“There is a general feeling of unease in the company,” said Zhang, who has cut back on buying clothes and dining out. “I’m ready to leave at any time, just that there’s nowhere to go right now.”
SCEPTICISM
The world’s second-largest economy beat economists’ 2024 forecast of 4.9% growth. Its fourth-quarter 5.4% pace was the quickest since early 2023.
“China’s economy is showing signs of revival, led by industrial output and exports,” said Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC.
But the last-minute bounce in growth may already have been flattered by front-loading of shipments to the U.S., which will inevitably lead to a pay-back.
“As exports come under pressure in 2025, dragged lower by U.S. import restrictions, there will be an even bigger need to apply domestic stimulus,” Neumann said.
China and Hong Kong shares drew some support from the data, but the yuan lingered near 16-month lows, under pressure from sliding Chinese bond yields and the tariff threat.
The quiet market reaction reflects wavering confidence in China’s outlook, analysts said.
But also, long-standing scepticism about the accuracy of official data has shifted into higher gear over the past month.
A bearish commentary by Gao Shanwen, a prominent Chinese economist who spoke of “dispirited youth” and estimated that GDP growth may have been overstated by 10 percentage points between 2021 and 2023, vanished from social media after going viral.
Beijing has rarely missed its growth targets in the past. The last time was in 2022 when the pandemic knocked growth to 3.0%.
In a Dec. 31 note, Rhodium Group estimated that China’s economy only grew 2.4%-2.8% in 2024, pointing to the disconnect between relatively stable official figures throughout the year and the flood of stimulus unleashed from about the mid-way mark.
This included May’s blockbuster property market package, the most aggressive monetary policy easing steps since the pandemic in September and a 10 trillion yuan ($1.36 trillion) debt package for local governments in November.
“If China’s actual growth is below headline rates, it suggests there is a broader problem of China’s domestic demand that is contributing to global trade tensions,” Rhodium partner Local Wright told Reuters.
“Overcapacity would be a far less pressing issue if China’s economy was actually growing at 5% rates.”
President Biden will not enforce a law banning TikTok that is set to take effect the day before he leaves office, according to a US official.
The official indicated that Biden, 82, has decided to pass the buck to President-elect Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press, leaving the implementation of the law targeting the Chinese-owned social media app up to the incoming administration.
The law, which cleared both chambers of Congress and was approved by the president last year, compels TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest itself from the social media app by Jan. 19 or face a US ban.
President Biden has decided not to enforce TikTok’s ban, which was supposed to take effect Sunday, Jan. 19. REUTERSPresident Biden decided to let President-elect Donald Trump handle the implementation of the law targeting TikTok. Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock
TikTok — used by more than 170 million Americans monthly — is reportedly planning to shut down the app on Sunday.
Trump, who has repeatedly expressed a desire to “save” TikTok, is reportedly considering executive action that would delay the implementation of the sell-or-ban law of the ban for up to 90 days.
“We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark,” incoming White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News on Thursday, noting that the new law allows for an extension preventing it from taking effect “as long as a viable deal is on the table.”
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear and fast-track a case filed by TikTok challenging the law.
During oral arguments last week, lawyers for the social media platform argued that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act violates TikTok’s free speech rights under the First Amendment.
The law has cleared both chambers of Congress and was approved by Biden last year. Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock
Supporters of the TikTok ban argue that under the social media app’s current ownership, the Chinese Communist Party has access to the personal data of US-based users and could weaponize the app against Americans at a moment’s notice.
The high court could issue its ruling in the case on Friday.
All nine justices, however, appeared skeptical that the new law’s potential threats to free speech outweighed the national security concerns posed by the social media app.
Trump’s incoming solicitor general, John Sauer, filed a brief in the case last month asking the justices to delay the law from taking effect until after the president-elect assumes office, arguing that the matter could be redressed “through political means.”
Trump has mentioned that he has expressed a desire to “save” TikTok by possibly implementing an executive action that would delay the sell-or-ban law of the ban for up to 90 days. Getty Images
Chew is expected to be joined on the dais outside the Capitol Building by several tech moguls, including X boss Elon Musk, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
