Tag: hollywood

Hollywood Producer Buys Israeli NSO Spyware Maker, Hires David Friedman to Sell Hacking Tools to U.S.

Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has purchased the Israeli spyware maker NSO Group to bring it under “American” control and hired Trump’s former Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, to lobby the president to remove sanctions on the firm so they can sell their hacking tools to US law enforcement.

Though the company was sold to a consortium of alleged “Americans” led by Simonds, the NSO Group “said Sunday that it would continue to operate from Israel under the full regulatory authority of the Defense Ministry, as it expands its global footprint and seeks to resume operations in the US,” the Times of Israel reports.

From The Wall Street Journal, “Israeli Spyware Maker NSO Gets New Owners, Leadership and Seeks to Mend Reputation”:

TEL AVIV—NSO Group, the Israeli company behind Pegasus spyware, says a group of investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds has acquired a controlling stake in the firm, which has named a former Trump official to lead an effort to restore its battered reputation.

The company, which has faced lawsuits and U.S. government sanctions since revelations that its technology was used to spy on political dissidents, human-rights advocates, journalists and American officials, declined to disclose the purchase price.

NSO’s new executive chairman, David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and onetime bankruptcy lawyer for President Trump, said he wants to use his ties to the Trump administration to help rebuild the company’s spyware business in the U.S.

“If the administration, as I expect they’ll be, is receptive to considering any opportunity that might keep Americans safer, it will consider us,” said Friedman, who splits his time between Florida and Israel.

This is naked influence peddling.

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Hollywood producer David Pearce mocked for ‘LA vibe’ by judge before getting hit with 146-year sentence for rapes, twisted OD murders

Monster producer David Pearce used his “LA vibe, slicked-back hair and duck lips” charm to drug and prey on nine young women over 15 years — and three of them are now dead, authorities revealed at his sentencing Wednesday. 

The wannabe Hollywood bigwig was handed 146 years in prison — the max — after he was convicted of murder earlier this year for drugging model Christy Giles, 24, and pal Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26 and leaving them to die after they overdosed on his fentanyl-laced cocaine following a night out in November 2021. 

But that was only the end of his brutality, not the beginning. He was also convicted of raping seven women who came forward after his arrest — including a hero cop who was killed in the line of duty days before she would have confronted him in court. The attacks dated back to 2007.

“You’re the worst kind of criminal, Mr. Pearce,” LA County Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter raged from the bench, condemning the man as a smooth-talking seducer who had “the whole LA vibe thing going on” with his “duck lips” and “slicked back hair.”

He assaulted Lauren Craven in 2020. She went on to become a promising young police officer in La Mesa, CA — a career choice partly inspired by her horrifying encounter with Pearce, one prosecutor told the court.

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Meathead Rob Reiner Now Pushing Insane Conspiracy Theories About Trump and the 2026 Midterms

Rob Reiner really needs help.

After the 2024 election, he reportedly checked himself into a quiet place to calm down and get his mind together. He should go back there. They obviously did not do enough to heal his broken mind.

This weekend he appeared on MSNBC and pushed crazy conspiracy theories about the 2026 midterms and Trump using the military to control polling places and voting machines.

It is so irresponsible of MSNBC to platform this insane person and take him seriously. He is just making up scenarios in his head and then convincing himself that this is reality.

FOX News has details:

Actor and director Rob Reiner claimed the United States has only one year before tuning into a “full-on autocracy,” suggesting on MSNBC’s “Velshi” Sunday that President Donald Trump will attempt to steal the upcoming election.

Reiner argued that the country under the Trump administration has already moved “beyond McCarthy era-esque” and must be taken back before it’s too late.

“Make no mistake; we have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy, and democracy completely leaves us,” Reiner said. “And we’re looking at the election in 2026, and Donald Trump knows that in a free and fair election, he will lose. He will lose the House, the House will flip and will become in Democratic hands. There will be committee chairs who will be able to hold meetings, and this is the last thing he wants.”…

“Don’t be surprised when polling booths are surrounded by American military in the guise of making sure that the elections are fair and that nobody is tampering with anything,” Reiner said.

“And when you see violence breaking out, which there’ll be protests, there’ll be inciting violence, there’ll be some violence, and they’ll keep that. Then you’ll see the commandeering of voting machines, ballot boxes to make sure that that election is secure. Well, what that means is that he will then commandeer the election,” he added.

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OpenAI’s Video Generation App Sora 2 Is ‘Hollywood’s Most Terrifying Nightmare’ — Here’s Everything We Know

OpenAI’s artificial intelligence-generated video maker called “Sora 2” has launched and it is throwing Hollywood and the entertainment industry into full-blown panic with “nightmare” predictions of the looming end of the showbiz industry as we know it.

Sora 2 is OpenAI’s latest text-to-video generation program, which allows a user to create realistic, movie-quality video by just talking through the scenes desired while the software generates the images. But what is shocking everyone in Hollywood is the ease with which Sora 2 can plunk copyrighted characters and realistic representations of known actors right into the scenes generated by users. And it can be done in minutes, not months or years.

Some of the video generated by Sora 2, for instance, have placed Pokémon character Pikachu into famous movies, such as Saving Private Ryan.

The latest version is far from perfect. It sometimes struggles with dialog, and some have noticed when you slow the video down, a lot of strange glitches appear to flick in and out of the frame — but they are often glitches that go unseen when the video is played in normal time, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

But the program is still shockingly good for what it can do and it has Hollywood on edge, fearful that anyone with access to Sora 2 can create a cinematic quality video by just talking through their scenes with the program. No studios, producers, actors, directors, costumers, musicians, or artists of any kind required.

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AI ‘Actress’ Tilly Norwood Generating Controversy in Hollywood as ‘Talent Agencies’ Line up To Work With It

Hollywood may soon be filled with falling human stars and rising AI starlets.

Film director Alfred Hitchcock, the ‘master of suspense’, once said ‘all actors must be treated like cattle’ – but if you think that’s bad, brace yourselves for the brave new world we’re living in, where actors won’t even exist as such, anymore.

The creation of AI ‘actress’ Tilly Norwood has generated a massive wave of backlash over the unsurprising news that ‘talent agents’ were already lining up to sign the ‘digital character’.

Variety reported:

“’To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity’, Eline Van der Velden wrote in a statement on Instagram, also posted on Norwood’s own Instagram page.

‘I see AI not as a replacement for people, but as a new tool, a new paintbrush. Just as animation, puppetry, or CGI opened fresh possibilities without taking away from live acting, AI offers another way to imagine and build stories. I’m an actor myself, and nothing – certainly not an AI character – can take away the craft or joy of human performance’.”

Van der Velden has said earlier that ‘talent agents’ had been circling the ‘AI character’ and she expects that an agency will be chosen to represent it (not ‘her’) in the next few months.

A multitude of actors have protested the development. Are they fighting for sanity, or are they falling stars overcome by technical developments like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard?

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California Dems Kill Bill Backed by Jay Leno That Would Have Exempted Classic Cars from Emissions Regulations

Not even classic car collector Jay Leno could convince California’s legislative Democrats to give an inch on what a critic called the state’s “regulatory hellscape.”

The Assembly Appropriations Committee blocked Republican Sen. Shannon Grove’s Senate Bill 712, informally known as Leno’s Law, from advancing, according to KABC-TV.

“SB 712, also known as “Leno’s Law,” offers a practical solution for owners of collector vehicles that have difficulty complying with the state’s smog check law,” according to a fact sheet issued by Grove.

“Leno’s Law is sponsored by renowned car enthusiast and television icon Jay Leno. The bill would exempt, on an ongoing basis, collector cars whose model year is 35 years or older from the state’s smog check law,” the fact sheet said.

“The bill would also exempt classic cars from the smog check program upon transfer of a vehicle. These classic cars are infrequently driven, carefully maintained, and make up only a fraction of cars on the road,” the fact sheet said.

“Exempting them from the biennial smog check would strengthen California’s ‘car culture’ by helping preserve these historical treasures,” the fact sheet said.

The fact sheet said forcing classic cars to meet current standards “is an overreach by the government.”

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Director Woody Allen and Investigative Journalist Seymour Hersh Included in Ukraine’s Mirotvorets ‘Kill List’

Hersh and Allen are now targeted by Zelensky and his goons.

It seems that Americans have become fair game to the extremists embedded in or allied to Kiev regime.

The Mirotvorets ‘kill list’ has long been controversial, and at one point, Volodymyr Zelensky and his team have once been careful not to antagonize the US administration – but no more.

Over the years, many US citizens have been included, such as Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard, Henry Kissinger, Scott Ritter, Glenn Greenwald, Jeffrey Sachs…

The Mirotvorets website lists individuals deemed ‘enemies of Ukraine’, and it’s often labeled a ‘kill list’ due to its publication of personal information and instances where listed individuals were later assassinated.

This week, even as Ukraine’s defenses are crumbling on the frontlines, the goons at the Kiev regime are still including new names, such as Hollywood director Woody Allen and investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.

“American filmmaker and screenwriter Woody Allen has been added to the database of Ukraine’s Mirotvorets extremist website, TASS has learnt.”

Allen was reportedly included in the list for appearing via video link in the Moscow film festival.

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Famed sheriff Buford Pusser who inspired Hollywood’s ‘Walking Tall’ actually murdered his wife, investigators now say

A late Tennessee sheriff who inspired a Hollywood movie about a law enforcement officer who took on organized crime killed his wife in 1967 and led people to believe she was murdered by his enemies, authorities in Tennessee said Friday.

The finding will likely shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser fans and watched the 1973 “Walking Tall” movie that immortalized him as a tough but fair sheriff with zero tolerance for crime, authorities said.

There is enough evidence that if then-McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser were alive today, prosecutors would present an indictment to the grand jury for the murder of Pauline Mullins Pusser, said Mark Davidson, the district attorney for Tennessee’s 25th judicial district.

Investigators also uncovered signs she suffered from domestic violence.

Prosecutors worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reexamining decades-old files on Pauline’s death in 2022 as part of its regular review of cold cases, agency director David Rausch said.

Agents found inconsistencies between Buford Pusser’s version of events and the physical evidence, received a tip about a potential murder weapon and exhumed Pauline’s body for an autopsy.

Authorities acknowledged the news may shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser’s fans and watched the 1973 “Walking Tall” movie he inspired or the 2004 remake.

Many officers joined law enforcement because of his story, Davidson said.

The sheriff died in a car crash seven years after his wife’s death.

“This case is not about tearing down a legend. It is about giving dignity and closure to Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said at a news conference streamed on Facebook.

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Will Smith Accused Of Using AI-Generated Clips In Alleged “Fake” Concert Footage

Will Smith is facing backlash after fans accused him of using AI-generated footage in a recent Instagram post promoting his Based On A True Story Tour.

The video, shared on Aug. 12, shows Smith performing his motivational anthem “You Can Make It” in front of what appears to be a massive, adoring crowd, complete with waving signs and fans singing along.

In the clip, Smith is seen walking along the stage, eventually climbing a barricade as the camera pans to dozens of cheering concertgoers.

Many fans are holding signs, some featuring personal messages and tributes about how the star’s music and story have impacted their lives. Alongside the video, Smith captioned, “My favorite part of tour is seeing you all up close.”

However, viewers were quick to question the authenticity of the crowd, pointing out unnatural elements like extra fingers, distorted faces, and inconsistent hand shapes — hallmarks of generative AI content.

One skeptical user wrote, “Imagine using AI and generating a sign about Cancer. This is absolute [clown] behavior.” Another added, “An AI crowd being posted on the official page is maaaad embarrassing.”

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LA’s secret celebrity tunnel was just a rumor. Until workers found it.

In its near-century of existence, Chateau Marmont — a faux French castle perched on a hill near the entrance of West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip — has kept countless secrets for the artists, actors and other icons that have stalked its halls. It has also held a few mysteries of its own, including a long-rumored secret tunnel. 

Famously, the bohemian playground-slash-hotel doesn’t allow photos in its public spaces so that guests can unwind away from the outside world’s prying eyes. (Not that it’s ever stopped paparazzi from lurking on the sidewalk right outside.) As such, Chateau Marmont’s reputation as a comforting haven has made it a Hollywood favorite, with film director Billy Wilder once describing its appeal this way: “I would rather sleep in a bathroom than in another hotel.”

Every once in a while, though, fizzy tales do manage to trickle outside Chateau’s secretive walls, such as when Lindsay Lohan reportedly racked up a staggering $46,000 tab from her extensive stay there, or when Doors rocker Jim Morrison scaled the rooftops of the hotel’s bungalows late at night throughout the 1960s. 

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