The internet and streaming platforms haven’t just left a mark on Hollywood-style entertainment; the sports industry has felt the waves: a rushing tide that swept up cable behemoths like ESPN and publications like Sports Illustrated — even newspapers such as The Washington Post no longer carry separate sports sections. In just a few years, the industry that cultivated and created stars turned to the internet to recruit them. This is one of many changes to an ecosystem that dominates an increasing share of Americans’ time and attention each year, judging by NFL viewership numbers alone. Gambling, fantasy leagues, college transfer portals, and media startups have contributed to an evolution in sports and are the topics of discussion for DW’s Weekend Punch interview with Outkick founder, Fox News contributor, and Tennessee die-hard fan Clay Travis. *** Ben Domenech: Obviously, you have just achieved something pretty significant when it comes to the world of sports media with OutKick. You were one of the OG people to recognize the space that existed that wasn’t being filled. How do you think about that sports media landscape now, and what do you think is different when you started OutKick? Clay Travis: Good question. When we started OutKick, there was much more of a written marketplace for original content. If you remember back in those days, you might go to Deadspin, you might go to Grantland, or Kissing Suzy Kolber. It was the heyday of interesting written content that was being produced on a regular basis. That doesn’t really exist now. The blogosphere was still a thing. Video hadn’t completely taken over, and everybody didn’t have one-minute social media clips that they were being inundated with on TikTok, Instagram, or even Twitter, where the virality has all gone video. I still think much of the news cycle was dictated by what people wrote rather than what people said. That’s the biggest thing I see as different in the marketplace right now compared to when we started. BD: When you see the landscape now, what are you surprised by in terms of either the success or the failure of the worldwide leader to adapt to the changing cultural moment and priorities of fans? CT: It used to be the case that ESPN made stars. And I actually think ESPN is now reflective of the larger marketplace. Other than maybe Fox News and maybe Netflix, I’m not sure anyone makes stars anymore, other than the internet and maybe YouTube, but you don’t have big media companies that deputize you and say, “You are now a star.” One of my favorite stories back in the day was right before the show “Friends” made its debut. The entire cast went out together in Las Vegas, and one of the show’s creators was there with them and said, “This will be the last time that you guys can go out to dinner for the rest of your lives.” And you are going to be on after “Seinfeld,” you’re going on NBC, it’s a sitcom that everyone is going to see, and you are going to go from normal people to luminescent stars overnight. That kind of world doesn’t exist. You can see it in the rise of Pat McAfee, where ESPN had to go hire people who were already famous. You can see it in the success that the Barstool guys have had. I still think of myself as a guy who came out of the internet, and you have to compete against everybody when you come out of the internet. You don’t get deputized, and someone doesn’t say, “Oh, this guy’s going to matter because we’re putting him on a show and there are very limited numbers of shows.” In fact, it’s kind of a fun question. Who is the last person in sports media to become famous from television? It used to be that you would find a Stephen A. Smith or a Michael Wilbon or a Tony Kornheiser columnist —  people who had had an opportunity to write, did radio, and then you put them on television. That pathway doesn’t seem to exist for ESPN other than maybe, again, Fox News and Netflix. BD: We’ve just seen the takeover of Hollywood and the box office by two creators in the horror space who came out of YouTube. Do you think at some point there will be a similar crossover effect from these YouTube personalities to a greater degree than it’s already happened, or are they their own animals and will stay within that lane just because of the nature of what they do? CT: I think if you can make money, Hollywood and every other media company is going to find ways to make money more than they otherwise would. For example, I’m utterly fascinated that Star Wars, which has been popular since 1977, was dominated by two YouTube guys, even though Star Wars obviously had a 50-year head start on them in terms of recognizing the marketplace. And so I think what it represents is every generation wants to find its new people, and I think YouTube is more experimental, and when you’re more experimental, you can find out what works quicker than a lot of big companies can. If they’re totally wrong, they lose hundreds of millions of dollars. If a YouTuber is totally wrong, they might lose a few hundred thousand dollars. And so the scale of success is massive for them, but the risk that’s put on the table is tiny, and most big companies have the reverse. BD: Let’s talk about those big companies. They’ve made huge bets on sports rights across the board, rights that are continually getting more expensive. Those costs are being passed on to consumers. You testified about this on Capitol Hill. What is the actual solution that doesn’t require some kind of breakup or major disruption that would be difficult for the marketplace to handle? Or is that something that’s going to have to happen if we’re ever going to get back to a point where people can afford to watch as many games as they want? CT: What surprised me is the degree to which Republicans and Democrats across the political spectrum were furious with what NFL games cost now. The NFL is very popular and powerful, but there definitely seems to be the sense that fans are being gouged and that anger over affordability and access is also declining. I think this is a bad combination for the NFL. It’s funny, I have said for some time — and I think it’s probably going to end up being the reality of where we end up — that somebody’s going to try to put together a bundle of streaming services, which just recreates what we had when we had the bundle of cable channels, and it was a great deal. Everybody with one remote control could sit and watch every game. You could jump from one to another. I have argued for a long time that fans really didn’t understand how good we had it back then. If you compare the fan experience watching games to 2012, for instance, back when we started OutKick, I think it was way better. It was way easier to find your favorite teams. It was way more affordable. The analogy I used in my testimony earlier this week on Capitol Hill was this: I’m sure you remember the first flat-screen television that you bought, which was crazy expensive. It had HD. It revolutionized the sports viewing experience. I was at Costco the other day. You can buy a massive flat-screen television for $700. So we have higher-quality television at a much more affordable price. Meanwhile, you’re paying way, way more for the sporting rights, and you’re getting much less. And again, that’s a bad combination. BD: In terms of the decision that the NFL has made to go in all these different directions, particularly to require setting up their own coverage, their own teams, and their own announcers. And then of course, you add the overseas product and their hopes for extending the game around the world, which is getting bigger and bigger. Do you think that they’re risking diluting a product, or is the NFL just so big that they can do whatever the hell they want? CT: They do risk diluting a product in some sense. In September, I’m very excited. I’ve got Thursday football, Friday football, Saturday football, Sunday football, and Monday football. And then after a few weeks, I’m thinking, “Man, I don’t really care that much about Monday Night Football.” It used to be that when you just had Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Monday Night Football was really a big deal. Now it’s not to that same extent. That’s a challenge for the NFL going forward in maximizing revenue without oversaturating the marketplace. BD: The NFL has decided to embrace gambling — I’ve heard the first radio ads for betting on prediction markets this week, and they’re essentially described that way, which surprised me a little bit. Do you think there’s any risk of going too far in that direction of making the game seem more disposable because fans are less devoted to their teams in a way that echoes what happened to the NBA? Or where people just don’t care about their teams anymore — they just care about stars? CT: It’s what the fantasy football world has created. For instance, my kids want to watch every game, and they have an incentive to do so. I do think the game itself can be threatened when you’re allowing prop bets to become too much of a storyline because players certainly can be corrupted, as we’ve seen, and the overall game itself can risk being bogged down by not whether someone performs at the absolute highest level or even whether a team wins, but whether someone scores a touchdown or makes a reception. And I do think the gamification of the game itself does lead to monetization, but I think you have to remain aware that the game is still the primary story, not how individual players perform. BD: Senator Ted Cruz has a bipartisan bill that is advancing, which is pretty rare for him. On the question of reform for college sports, they describe it as saving college sports. It does many different things that have generated controversy, not necessarily among the people who you would think would be politically on one side or the other. What is your particular take, and do you think that this would be a step forward or would create so much complexity that it would be very difficult for the different schools, the different institutions, and teams to adapt? CT: The number one thing they have to have is an antitrust exemption. You can just look at what happened with Brendan Sorsby versus Texas Tech. You can’t have individual federal district court judges making default policy rules for different teams in Texas compared to Florida, California, or Michigan. Everybody has to play by a uniform rule. Right now, every time you try to put a uniform rule in place, a player who is disadvantaged by that rule sues. It used to be that college athletes like Maurice Clarett sued to get to the NFL faster. Now guys sue to be able to stay in college longer. The second-highest paid basketball league in the world, after the NBA, is college basketball. So all the best European players actually want to play college basketball. Illinois effectively had an Eastern European All-Star squad and nearly won the national championship with it. So you do have to figure out basic rules. How many years can somebody play? How many years can they transfer and give an organization or entity the ability to put those rules in place? What Ted Cruz presents with the SCORE Act — figuring out how to get something that can pass both the House and the Senate that just has a very basic framework to allow rules to be put in place — is going to be necessary. The absence of any rules themselves at some point is leading to such a chaotic situation that college sports are on a sort of runaway train. Do you remember “The Polar Express”? There’s a scene in that movie where the train track runs out, and the train hits the ice and starts to spin in every different direction, and you’re like, “What in the world’s going to happen here?” I think we’ve reached the point where the train track has run out, and we’ve got a train on ice, and we really don’t have any idea how to control it or where it’s headed. BD: When it comes to your recommendations for our European friends who are navigating the country right now during the World Cup, what’s something that those folks who are trying to go viral haven’t checked out yet? CT: That they saw Buc-ee’s is pretty crazy. Somebody tweeted that Lionel Messi played in College Station before the University of Georgia did. I’m sure you saw that they brought out the War Eagle at Auburn for the Iceland versus Argentina game, if I remember correctly. It’s wild. I think the sheer immensity of America, when it comes to places, just walking into a Publix and looking at how many different types of peanut butter we have. I just think that the European mind doesn’t comprehend how much incredible excess we have. There’s that great stat where the British were actually told how poor they were compared to the poorest American states, and they just really had no understanding or comprehension of that. BD: What’s the most underrated storyline in sports media today? CT: The degree to which there aren’t very many successful sports media companies, period. right? There was a time when ESPN employed a lot of people who worked on ESPN.com. Hunter S. Thompson used to write at ESPN.com. — Bill Simmons. I started talking with you about the lack of writers. It used to be that writers drove content conversation and discussion in a significant way. There’s almost no one writing interesting opinion pieces now, and I think sports media suffers as a result. BD: Should we feel happy for Timothée Chalamet, or has he led a life that is so charmed that we are allowed to hate him for being so happy? CT: It reminds me of how today’s young Boston sports fans have won so many championships, creating an embarrassment of riches, which is such a dichotomy between everyone else. If you grew up from 1950 to 2000, Boston won almost nothing. If you were born after 1990 or 2000, all you’ve seen is Boston win. The guy’s got everything going for him and doesn’t seem to be wearing too many stresses on his shoulders.

Weekend Plans is our exclusive lifestyle feature where we highlight the real off-duty routines of the most exciting people in culture.  *** This weekend, current Miss Israel and 2025 Miss Universe contestant Melanie Shiraz sits down with The Daily Wire to dish on her viral run-in with Zohran Mamdani’s wife, where she really gets her “chutzpah,” and why this data scientist and self-described metal head is just trying to bake a decent loaf of challah and change the world.  *** We settle in for our chat as Melanie Shiraz pulls her long dark hair into a slick pony. She recently returned to her digs on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, where she serves “off duty” in an oversized Humble Club tee from the Tel Aviv gym launched by former IDF combat instructors and wears a bold silver pendant boasting the Hebrew “chai” symbol for “life.” I give up trying to adjust my laptop for a semi-flattering selfie angle. Melanie’s one of those people who could totally rely on her looks. But after going viral for bumping into socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, at a Brooklyn café in May, she has clearly found her voice. “What are the odds that a very vocal representative of Israel and a very vocal representative of the other side, even though she’s not Palestinian, would be sitting right next to one another?” Melanie wonders.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Melanie Shiraz Asor / מלאני שירז עשור (@melanieshiraz) Rama, who had previously liked social media posts supporting the October 7 terror attacks, had no idea what she was in for when she sat down next to Melanie, who was just grabbing a coffee.  “Haters want to say that I came all the way to New York to stalk her, but I was actually in New York for 24 hours because I was hosting the State of Israel,” she recalls. “It’s not on brand for me to be harassing anyone in public, no matter what their views are. So I didn’t just open my camera … I said, ‘Hi, I’m Melanie. I’d love to take a picture with you.’” Once Melanie identified herself as Miss Israel, Rama’s amicable demeanor changed. Melanie switched off the camera, hoping to engage in a conversation. “I told her, ‘As an Israeli, I was quite disappointed by seeing the rhetoric that you are promoting online … Have you heard from a lot of Israelis?’” Melanie says Rama brushed her off with, “‘Yeah, I know a lot of Israelis,’” and left. “She communicated exactly where she stands and who she is,” Melanie says. I ask Melanie where she gets her fearless spirit. “It’s the Israeli chutzpah that I’ve been endowed with generationally,” she says with a smile. “Israeli women are known to be very fierce, very strong, and very strong-minded. They can be engineers or combat soldiers and be Miss Israel. It’s just such a normal thing.” Melanie was born in Israel, and she spent most of her childhood in the U.S. before returning to Tel Aviv. The outspoken pageant champ and data scientist who launched her own fintech company assures me, “I have always been a critical thinker.”  Here’s what she’s up to when she’s not fighting for the truth.  Off-the-clock reigning queen “Nobody ever asks me about my personal life,” Melanie laughs. “Being Miss Israel is like an alter ego for me. Before, I never had anything colorful in my closet, I didn’t have any fancy dresses, I didn’t have heels, jewelry — literally none of that.”  Claiming she had to learn to walk in sky-high heels and accessorize with glimmering jewelry, she describes her true personality as more rock ‘n’ roll. “I like rock music. I have a motorcycle, which is my favorite means of transportation.” “I’m an adrenaline junkie kind of person,” she shares, noting her love of scuba diving. “Nowadays, I wouldn’t say that those things contradict being a beauty queen. I think a woman can be anything, and beautiful, and there’s nothing wrong with that.” Melanie Shiraz A rejuvenating daily routine We already know Melanie likes her coffee. But as for her favorite way to start the day, she says, “I just like to get moving. When I’m in Israel, it’s really easy because it’s so beautiful outside that I’ll just go out for a walk and see where the day takes me.” “Something that I used to do pretty regularly is singing, painting, and drawing,” she adds. When she’s hoping to refresh her spirit, she jumps on her motorcycle, or gets back on the horse. Literally. “I’m not a horseback rider of any caliber, but I do really like to be outside with animals … just in nature in general.” “There’s just not enough time in a day to do all of the things that I like to do,” she admits. “But I’m trying to carve out more time for my own mental health.” Invoking the smell of fresh-baked bread “I can cook,” Melanie tells me. “I wouldn’t say I have time to cook most days.” That checks out since she’s battling jet lag as we speak. “I started baking challah every Friday, believe it or not,” she shares. “It’s like the only thing I do every week.” With its sweet, chewy braids, challah is God’s greatest gift to bread lovers, Jewish or not. “It’s like a ritual that allows me to decompress and focus on something else for a few hours every Shabbat.” I ask for her recipe, but she laughs and says, “It’s still a work in progress … it didn’t come out bad the last couple of times.” (I guess I’m sticking with Claire Saffitz’s version for now.) A safe space to be herself While a packed schedule is par for the course, Melanie snags any chance to chill with the right people. “It’s really nice to just sit down and speak candidly with friends and hear about things that are not related to the conflict all the time,” she says. “I think it’s become somewhat of a luxury for me lately.” Grateful for a close circle of longtime pals, she adds, “If it’s up to me, we’ll go out in Tel Aviv, go to the beach, or listen to live music.”  She also looks forward to downtime with her family. “I feel like Shabbat is the one day a week that I actually force myself to rest,” she explains. “I don’t turn off my electronics, but it’s nice to just not work.”  I ask how she feels about a one-day weekend, having lived in the U.S. and Israel. “I think that’s something Americans can learn from Israelis,” she confirms. “No one in Israel will ever assign you work on Shabbat. It’s unheard of. You could laugh at them if they do that. Our weekend is shorter by a whole day, yet I find it so much more rejuvenating.” Turning it up to an eleven “Do I want to come out as a metal head right now?” Melanie jokes, attempting to nail down her varied musical tastes to a specific genre. “I’m listening to Bring Me the Horizon and Spiritbox.” (If you get a chance to see either the British rock band or Canadian metal band in concert, wear eyeliner.)  Offering what she calls a more “normative” response, Melanie reveals another track she’s playing on repeat. “The song stuck in my head right now is definitely Israel’s Eurovision song ‘Michelle.’” The emotional ballad by Israeli singer-songwriter Noam Bettan that ultimately earned second place in the contest is decidedly not metal. And partly in French. “I don’t know French, so it’s just me saying the word ‘Michelle’ and singing the rest of the melody for the last three weeks.” When she’s not listening to music, she’s reading — or thinking about it. “I’ve been really, really wanting to pick up a book,” she says. She’s got Yuval Noah Harari’s “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” on her list next. A meditation on the moment After the October 7 attacks, Melanie realized her greatest impact would be in advocating for Israel rather than working in fintech. But the decision still weighs heavily on her heart. “I had a six-figure job before this. I had a company that raised money when I was 23. I was really doing everything right,” she says. “I think a lot of people struggle to understand why I would give that all up for something that’s uncertain. When I look back, even with all the challenges I have faced for doing this, it has also been priceless to me.” “We all have to work as a collective to better the world, both as Jews, as Israelis, as people standing for women, as people standing for justice in the Middle East and beyond,” she adds. “I think that we all have to amplify one another and support one another, rather than comparing what we have that others don’t, or what others have that we don’t.” Describing a clarity and hopefulness about the future, she says, “I am where I need to be. I’m serving and advocating for my people. It has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

When a Texas jury on Tuesday sentenced 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony to 35 years in prison for murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, some Democrats in the state raced to decry the verdict, claiming the black teenager who stabbed Metcalf at a high school soccer game was a victim of racism. But one Texas Democrat was surprisingly absent from the chattering crowds: Senate nominee James Talarico. Talarico’s silence comes amid the candidate’s larger rebrand. It’s a different tact than both Beto O’Rourke and Wendy Davis before him, who latched on to every liberal issue as they cruised to crushing defeats in statewide Texas elections. As he heads into a general election fight against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Talarico is trying to convince voters he’s a moderate — and not the radical, pro-trans, anti-border security leftist that his opponents have painted him as. Unfortunately for Talarico, his rebranding effort might fail. Because a radical leftist is precisely what he is. Consider Talarico’s claim just this week that he does not support transgender surgeries for kids.  “I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors,” he said on Monday during an interview with lawyer Dan Cogdell, who asked him if he was “too liberal” for Texas.  That stance would surprise the Talarico of just three years ago, who voted against a bill to ban transgender surgeries in Texas. The bill banned procedures like removing the breasts of girls who identify as boys.   “What he’s doing right now with this change in his public position is he is telling the world that these surgeries are incredibly unpopular,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told The Daily Wire. “James Tallarico is one of the most progressive Democrats we have ever seen.” The record from Talarico’s time in the legislature shows that during debate on the measure protecting kids in the Texas state House, he claimed the proposal was about discrimination.  “I think it’s clear that this is not about science or medicine, and certainly not about keeping kids safe,” he said on May 12, 2023. “I think this is about discriminating against people who are transgender.” Talarico attacks bill to protect kids from transgender procedures. At one point during that debate, Talarico pushed for Republican Rep. Tom Oliverson, who sponsored the legislation, to add an amendment to his proposal that would allow kids to get transgender procedures if two or three doctors signed off on the proposal. Talarico also attempted to add a provision to the bill that would “sunset” protections for children if “high-quality, long-term studies” could purport that transgender procedures were safe for kids.  Talarico’s campaign now claims the candidate only opposed that bill because it “stripped critical healthcare away from Texas children suffering from rare genetic diseases that have nothing to do with being transgender.” But in August 2023 — just months after voting against the bill — Talarico said on a podcast that the thing he loved most in the world apart from family or friends was “trans children.” “I love, I’m just saying this because it’s all on my mind, the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol to advocate for their humanity,” Talarico said in the footage, first unearthed by The Daily Wire. “They shouldn’t have to, but it was an inspiration to watch,” he said on the “A Superbloom” podcast. Paxton, who helped negotiate a settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital to create the first ever “detransition” clinic, quickly attacked Talarico’s pivot on the issue.  “In an attempt to make himself appear like less of a radical freak James Talarico is trying to walk back his position on child mutilation,” Paxton said on Monday. “Texans remember.” Political commentators have noted that Talarico’s rhetoric on the issue showed just how unpopular transgender procedures are with most Americans and how the electorate has shifted in recent years.  Schilling, whose organization released ads targeting swing state voters on the issue of transgenderism during the 2024 election, said that the data showed most voters don’t support gender surgeries for kids. Even the Democrat Party’s own autopsy of the 2024 election acknowledged that President Donald Trump’s attack on Kamala Harris on the issue was effective.  “For him to admit that this is a political vulnerability, should send a warning sign to every single Democrat that’s running in a competitive race this year,” Schilling said of Talarico. “He’s trying to win over these people in the middle and these Republicans, but I don’t think anyone’s going to buy it. He’s just been too much of a radical during his time in the Texas legislature.” Schilling noted that Talarico’s comment left the door open for support for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, both of which can have permanent impacts on bone density, heart health, and fertility.  Neeraja Deshpande, a commentator with the Independent Women’s Forum, told The Daily Wire that Talarico’s rhetorical shift reflected a broader cultural shift against transgender procedures for kids, which was in part triggered by detransitioners speaking out against the harmful procedures done on them as children.  “I think it’s a permanent change on this issue,” she told The Daily Wire. “I think it was a blip that was, you know, predicated on emotional manipulation, and political manipulation, and a media environment that had really tight control.” Deshpande noted that both the American Medical Association and American Society of Plastic Surgeons have publicly backed away from support for transgender procedures for kids. She added that Talarico’s shift was likely a cynical political move, but that it was good that support for transgender surgeries was now seen as a political liability.  “I think there’s also just fewer Democrats willing to go to bat for all the like trans kids bulls***,” she said. “I think they recognize that it’s bulls**t.”  Talarico is also attempting a moderate pivot on illegal immigration. “I’m a border security Democrat,” Talarico said Monday. “I believe we’ve got to have a sane, orderly process to ensure that we know who’s coming into our country,” he said. “And I’m all for welcoming immigrants who want to work hard and live the American dream, who want to make us richer and stronger as immigrants have always done. But I also think we have to keep out folks who mean to do us harm. And public safety is the most important thing the government does.” That’s a far cry from the Democrat’s previous argument for placing a “giant welcome mat” at the southern border and his protesting of immigration enforcement raids by the Trump administration. Just recently, Talarico told a group of religious leaders that there should be no mass deportations.  “We have to ban ICE agents from wearing masks, from kidnapping people off our streets without a warrant,” he said. “We have to require them to identify themselves like any law enforcement official. And we have to end this policy of mass deportations that again is terrorizing our communities across Texas and across this country.” Andrew Arthur, a resident in legal policy and law at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Wire there was a major disconnect between Talarico’s purported support for border security and his anti-ICE advocacy.  “Border security is not sustainable without deportations,” he said. “Because there are no consequences for entering the United States illegally, people will continue to do it.” Arthur noted that the Biden administration’s policies that resulted in the release of some 8 million illegal immigrants into the United States led to a major backlash against open border policies. He said the catch-and-release policies put in place by Biden had a huge negative impact on Democrats during the 2024 election. He noted that a recent Harvard/Harris poll found that a majority of Americans still say they support deporting all illegal immigrants and that Democrats are increasingly weary of open borders rhetoric.  “It makes sense that Democrats like Mr. Talarico are now distancing themselves from the Biden administration’s policies, which were very unpopular nationwide,” he told The Daily Wire. “So James Talarico is simply singing from the same playbook that most congressional Democrats ended singing from ever since Trump’s election in 2024.” Arthur noted that the impacts of Biden’s illegal immigrant surge were still being felt in border communities in Texas while the border had turned into a non-issue for much of the country because of Trump’s successful efforts to secure the border.  Talarico’s political rebrand includes claiming to support the oil and gas industry and the Second Amendment despite his previous climate activism and gun control advocacy. But his pivot is not contained to political issues. It appears to be changing how he characterizes his religious beliefs as well.  While his pastor and mentor Jim Rigby denies the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ and promotes using so-called inclusive language for God, Talarico recently claimed to believe differently in an interview with the New York Times.  Schilling said Talarico was attempting to mask his true beliefs in his efforts to turn Texas blue.  “He’s a trans Texan, and people should see right through it,” he said. “ He does not have your best interest in heart.”

Former reality TV star turned Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt dropped another viral video on Friday, declaring “war” on what he called “the machine” that left voters with “two corrupt communists” in the general election. “I got in this to expose this corrupt machine,” Pratt says at the beginning of the video. “I don’t have the campaign laws hamstringing me now. It’s war.” The three-minute video, called “Saving LA – Phase III,” targets incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and far-left Councilmember Nithya Raman, two Democrats who advanced to the November runoff after Pratt finished third in the primary. Pratt said he is now “moving on to the next, more interesting phase” of his mission, which includes a secret recording he claims implicates “one of your exalted candidates.” He threatened to make the recording public and said it would “make her resign in shame.”    Credit: X: @spencerpratt “Go ahead and pick your demon, certify your choice, and then you get to see it,” he said. “So Karen and Nithya, ask yourself, is it possible that one of your employees may have a recording of you doing or saying something that would force you to resign in disgrace? I hope you sleep well over the next five months.” Pratt painted a bleak picture of L.A. through images of rampant graffiti, garbage-strewn streets, drug activity, public defecation, burned-out structures, and shuttered businesses. “Angelenos are now stuck with two morons responsible for all of their problems, and they have to choose between dumb and dumber,” Pratt said. “That’s not a choice. That’s the machine protecting the machine.” “And now every problem that plagues Los Angeles because of these two corrupt communists is going to accelerate, and the city will tumble headlong into the abyss,” he added. With roughly 98% of the vote counted, Bass finished first in the primary with 34.3% of the vote, while Raman overtook Pratt earlier this week to finish second with 28.9%. Pratt received 25.5%. The top two finishers advance to the general election unless one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. Pratt, a Republican, vowed to continue attacking both Democrats through the runoff campaign. “I’m going to be lighting you up every single day,” Pratt promised. “My goal hasn’t changed. I’ve been laser-focused on stopping these commie animals, and I will stop them.”

The Department of Justice has approved Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing one of the biggest regulatory obstacles to a deal that would reshape the entertainment industry. According to reports from Politico and CNBC, the DOJ’s Antitrust Division concluded the transaction does not pose a threat to competition and declined to challenge the merger. The decision paves the way for Paramount to merge with the media giant behind CNN, HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures, TBS, TNT, and other major entertainment brands, creating one of the world’s largest media companies. The approval is expected to be formally announced on Friday. Federal regulators reportedly approved the deal without requiring Paramount to divest any assets or accept behavioral remedies, conditions that often accompany major media mergers. The merger has been among the most closely watched antitrust reviews of President Donald Trump’s second term because of its size and its potential impact on the media landscape. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, son of Oracle founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, reportedly met personally with DOJ officials multiple times during the review process. According to Politico, Ellison spent roughly two hours meeting with Antitrust Division officials and career attorneys several weeks ago to discuss the transaction and its competitive effects. Throughout the review, Paramount argued that the merger would strengthen competition by creating a larger media company capable of competing against streaming giants and technology firms that increasingly dominate the entertainment business. Earlier this year, Netflix briefly pursued its own acquisition proposal for Warner Bros. Discovery before dropping out of the bidding process. According to CNBC, Paramount’s offer values Warner Bros. Discovery at approximately $31 per share. Despite the federal approval, the deal still faces additional scrutiny. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, continues to investigate the transaction and could attempt to challenge the merger in court. Attorneys general from several states, including California and New York, monitored portions of the federal review process. “The Paramount acquisition of Warner Brothers remains an active investigation,” a spokesperson for Bonta’s office told Politico. The merger must also receive approval from European regulators before it can be finalized. The European Union has opened its own review and set a July deadline for its initial assessment. On Wednesday, Paramount announced that Australia’s competition regulator had approved the transaction. Critics of the merger have warned that it could lead to another round of consolidation-related layoffs across Hollywood. Industry unions and some entertainment advocates have argued that the combined company would likely pursue significant cost-cutting measures. For Paramount and the Ellisons, the DOJ’s decision represents a major victory after months of regulatory scrutiny. The company has said it expects the transaction to close by September if all remaining approvals are secured.