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John Stamos is standing by his "Full House" co-star and longtime friend Lori Loughlin since news of her involvement in the college admission scandal has subsided.  During his guest appearance on Dax Shepard’s podcast "Armchair Expert," the "Big Shot" star argued that he "didn’t know what was going on" at the time. Stamos revealed he recently chatted with Loughlin about Shepard regarding her scandal. BOB SAGET'S WIFE AND FRIENDS JOHN MAYER, JIMMY KIMMEL PAY EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE TO LATE STAR: 'INCREDIBLE MAN' "You said some really nice stuff about her… We talked last night about you. It was something that you were saying about how you hate when people bring her up because if you defend her, then people get mad. If you don't defend her, then you feel bad because she's a great person." Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were arrested in March 2019 for their involvement in the Varsity Blues college admissions...

Emma Roth / The Verge : Wickr Me, the free encrypted messaging app acquired by AWS in 2021, will shut down on December 31, 2023 and stop accepting new users at the end of 2022   —  Wickr Me, the free encrypted messaging app owned by Amazon Web Services, is shutting down on December 31st, 2023.

Adele is overwhelmed with emotions as she kicked off her highly anticipated Las Vegas residency, Friday night. The "Hello" singer addressed her fans about her postponed concert and issued an apology to the audience.  "I’m truly sorry for any inconvenience and any disappointment that I’ve caused, but we’re here tonight and together," Adele apologized, according to Variety.  ADELE ADMITS SHE’S ‘INCREDIBLY NERVOUS’ AND ‘CAN'T SIT STILL’ GOING INTO LAS VEGAS RESIDENCY Despite the nine-month concert delay, she added it "was the best decision I ever made." During her first packed night on her "Weekends with Adele" tour, she thanked the Caesar’s Palace Colosseum for standing by her since she postponed dates.  ADELE ANNOUNCES RESCHEDULED LAS VEGAS SHOWS "I’d really like to thank Caesars because there’s been a lot of sh-- written about me since I canceled those shows," Adele said, according to the media outlet. "Ninety percent...

Rev. Al Sharpton, CEO and president of the National Action Network, nearly doubled his salary in 2021, according to tax filings obtained by the New York Post.

David Lumb / CNET : As climate change threatens data centers, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are tinkering with cooling options and building data centers in colder countries   —  Data centers run our personal and professional lives, so it's crucial that they keep working in a future of climate change.

Wall Street Journal : FTX says it has fired CTO Gary Wang, engineering director Nishad Singh, and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison   —  The three executives and Mr. Bankman-Fried are said to have known FTX was using customer funds to plug a funding gap  —  FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange launched by Sam Bankman-Fried …

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has voiced concern about the likely passage of the President Biden administration's Respect for Marriage Act.

New York Times : Sources: some internal estimates show that at least 1,200 full-time Twitter employees resigned on Thursday; Twitter had about 3,700 staff after mass layoffs   —  Mr. Musk sent emails on Friday asking to learn about Twitter's underlying technology as key infrastructure teams have been decimated.

Taylor Swift broke her silence on the Ticketmaster ticket sale fiasco Friday. Ticketmaster canceled the public sale of "The Eras Tour" after the site sold more than 2 million tickets during pre-sales for the event, leaving many fans upset and angry. "It goes without saying that I'm extremely protective of my fans," Swift wrote on social media.  "We've been doing this for decades together and over the years, I've brought so many elements of my career in house. I've done this SPECIFICALLY to improve the quality of my fans' experience by doing it myself with my team who care as much about my fans as I do. It's really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse." "There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets and I'm trying to figure out how this situation can be improved ...

Rick Harrison has come across a dinosaur egg, an ancient Egyptian mummy mask, Saddam Hussein’s fingerprints and a surgeon’s kit from World War I – but there’s one thing he can never say no to. The co-host of History Channel’s "Pawn Stars" and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas said the strangest thing he loves to collect is something you likely already have in your kitchen pantry. "Believe it, [the] weird thing I actually collect are Mason jars," the 57-year-old told Fox News Digital. "Don’t ask me why. It’s just something I started collecting years ago, and I found an amazing one in North Carolina. And I’m also a big car guy. There was an amazing 1941 Plymouth truck … I found it in Denver." And Harrison insisted he’s never had buyer’s remorse. "I love what I’m doing, and every once in a while, sometimes I will lose money," he said. "But you have to keep it in your head that you can’t get gun-shy when you buy these th...

Elon Musk / @elonmusk : [Thread] Musk announces “new” policy that “negative/hate tweets” will be “deboosted & demonetized”, reinstates Kathie Griffin, Jordan Peterson, and Babylon Bee   —  New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won't find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.

CNN : US Citizenship and Immigration Services data shows Twitter had nearly 300 people approved to work on H-1B visas in FY 2022 and Meta had more than 1,300   —  Twitter employees who are relying on the company for work visas have been left in limbo, finding themselves at the whims of its new billionaire owner …

Adele opened up about her anxiety going into her highly anticipated Las Vegas residency, which begins on Friday. The musical superstar got candid on her Instagram, sharing a photo of herself at a theater, with what look to be baby photos of herself displayed on a large screen behind her. "I’m feeling all sorts as I write this," she captioned the photo. "I’m highly emotional, incredibly nervous but can’t sit still because I’m so excited. I feel a million miles away from home." Adele writes that she always gets "scared" before performing and that she takes it "as a good sign," because it means she cares and wants to do a good job. But this time, she feels a bit different.  "Maybe it’s because I didn’t start when I was supposed to. Maybe it’s because it’s opening night. But it’s safe to say I’ve never been more nervous before a show in my career, but at the same time I wish today was tomorrow! I can’t wait to see you out there x," sh...

President Biden has issued a statement calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the “most consequential” one in history, saying the nation owes "her a deep debt of gratitude."

Thomas Germain / Gizmodo : Facebook will remove religious and political views, addresses, and “Interested in” field, which indicates sexual preference, from user profiles on December 1   —  The update to the world's biggest social network will prevent you from broadcasting certain details in your bio, a farewell to the early days of social media.

Zoë Kravitz gave fans an update on whether her hit HBO show, "Big Little Lies," will be returning for a third season.  "I don’t think it is," she revealed during a fan Q & A for GQ when asked when the show would resume. "We talked about doing a Season 3 a lot and unfortunately Jean-Marc Vallée , our incredible director, passed away this last year which was heartbreaking," she continued.  "And I just can’t imagine going on without him. He really was the visionary for that show . So, unfortunately, it’s done." ZOE KRAVITZ RECALLS FEELING ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ WHILE ON LOCATION FOR ‘BIG LITTLE LIES’: ‘WEIRD RACIST PEOPLE’ Vallée died at a cabin on the outskirts of Quebec City over the Christmas holiday last year. "My heart is broken. My friend. I love you," Reese Witherspoon, the show's star, tweeted at the time . CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER In October, actress Laura Dern opened up about the possibili...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a decision about her future plans Thursday after the Democrats lost their majority in the chamber after the midterm elections.

Reuters : Sources: SoftBank sells 29.35M Paytm shares, or a 4.5% stake, for $200M, causing Paytm stock to drop 9%+; Vision Fund was Paytm's second-largest shareholder   —  SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) on Thursday sold a 4.5% stake in Indian digital payments giant Paytm (PAYT.NS) through block deals for $200 million …

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch : Evernote agrees to be acquired by Milan-based app developer Bending Spoons, in a transaction expected to close in early 2023; Evernote has raised $290M to date   —  Evernote, the note-taking and task management app founded over 20 years ago, has been acquired by Milan-based app developer Bending Spoons.

Defeated Rep. Madison Cawthorn has purchased a new $1.1 million home in Florida. He was spotted attending Donald Trump's 2024 announcement speech in Mar-a-Lago.

Mia Sato / The Verge : Linktree announces Payment Lock, which lets creators on its paid plans add a paywall and charge up to $150 for access to premium content, using PayPal or Square   —  Linktree, a popular tool used to link out to additional social channels and websites, is adding a way for users to monetize the content they share on their page.

Billy Ray Cyrus confirmed he is engaged to singer Firerose on Wednesday. Speculation about the couple's relationship status began in October, after Cyrus shared a photo showing off a diamond ring on Firerose's hand. Cyrus, 61, and Firerose, 34, met for the first time 12 years ago while he was filming "Hannah Montana," he revealed in a new interview with People magazine. "There's a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee," he recalled to the outlet. "Tex (his dog) and I would go out there in the middle of the day and he'd take care of his business and we'd stretch and I'd think how much I missed Tennessee. On that given day, Firerose came out of the front door. There was almost a moment of, I don't know, recognition. I was like, 'This girl's a star.'" "She told me she'd had an audition and I said, 'Well, I'm sure you got the job.'" BILLY RAY CYRUS, SINGER FIREROSE HAV...

Stephanie Condon / ZDNet : Nvidia and Microsoft plan to build an AI supercomputer in the cloud, making Azure the first public cloud to incorporate Nvidia's full AI stack   —  Nvidia and Microsoft announced Wednesday a multi-year collaboration to build an AI supercomputer in the cloud, adding tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs to Microsoft Azure.

Channing Tatum is back as Magic Mike for one last dance.  The trailer for "Magic Mike's Last Dance" came out on Tuesday, revealing some of the movie's plot which has been kept under wraps up until now.  Also in the new trailer, Tatum shows off some of his moves to the new addition to the franchise, Salma Hayek, who will be playing a lead character in the upcoming movie. Hayek replaced Thandiwe Newton, who was originally supposed to play the role, but exited the project because of family matters.  SALMA HAYEK CELEBRATES HER 56TH BIRTHDAY IN A RED BIKINI: ‘ALWAYS GRATEFUL’ The upcoming film follows Mike Lane who is working as a bartender, as he makes a trip to London with a wealthy socialite, played by Hayek, to headline a dance show.  At the end of the trailer, short clips from the Magic Mike dance show are flashed across the screen. "Magic Mike's Last Dance" is the third film in the franchise. The original "Magic Mike" came out in 2012...

Jamie Crawley / CoinDesk : In a 12-week proof-of-concept pilot, the New York Fed and a group of major banks begin testing using digital tokens to improve transaction settlements   —  Citigroup, HSBC, BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo and Mastercard, are among the financial giants taking part.  —  A group of major banks …

"Baywatch" alum Donna D'Errico shared a sexy new photo to her Instagram on Monday, after revealing she is lonely. In the pinup photo , the 54-year-old actress is seen posing in lacy black lingerie. "Alexa, play ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys," she captioned the sultry picture. The new lingerie snapshot comes after the mom of two shared a topless throwback photo, revealing her struggles with dating in Los Angeles. ‘BAYWATCH’ ALUM DONNA D’ERRICO ON BEING TOLD SHE'S 'TOO OLD' TO ROCK A BIKINI: ‘GOOD LORD JUST WEAR IT’ "LA is a very lonely city filled with beautiful lonely temporary people and I’m a human being just like everyone else," she wrote alongside the black-and-white photo. "I want to love and to be loved. And sometimes the company of a beautiful man can feel like a sort of love, can’t it?" "For a fleeting moment I absorb it," she continued. "I live in a state of abundance when it comes to men, so I’m ne...

The FBI has not used Pegasus spyware in any of its operations, the organization told Fox News on Tuesday amid scrutiny from Capitol Hill.

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch : Descript, the AI-powered media editing app founded by Andrew Mason, raised a $50M Series C led by the OpenAI Startup Fund, bringing its total funding to $100M   —  Descript, the audio and video editing platform founded in 2017 by former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason, has raised $50 million …

Nilay Patel / The Verge : Q&A with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on running the division, how decisions are made, delaying big games, Xbox, Keystone, exclusives, rivals, and more   —  The CEO of Microsoft Gaming thinks King is the crown jewel of the Activision empire. … Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming …

Abner Li / 9to5Google : Google launches Health Connect in beta on the Play Store with partners including Peloton, Oura, Flo, MyFitnessPal, and Samsung, after months in “early access”   —  Google announced Health Connect in May at I/O 2022, and recent months have seen more apps support it.

Matt Levine / Bloomberg : Analysis of FTX's calamitous balance sheet and Serum, a coin and protocol created by FTX, marked as the largest “deliverable” asset at ~$5.4B before November 8   —  The box  —  There is so much, but I want to start with Serum.  —  If a troubled company has a few days …

Garth Brooks has announced a new Las Vegas residency slated to kick off in 2013 at Caesars Palace. The 27-date residency , entitled "Garth Brooks/Plus One," will take place at the hotel's iconic venue, The Colosseum, and is promoted by Live Nation/Caesars Entertainment.  "Vegas is the place where anything goes, and The Colosseum at Caesars is the heart of Vegas," Brooks said in a statement. "The perfect combination to present a show that will not only push the envelope, it's gonna shred it." "Having Garth Brooks , one of the greatest of all time, bring his tremendous talent and an entirely new show to The Colosseum only adds to the remarkable legacy of Caesars Palace," Anthony Carano, president and chief operating officer for Caesars Entertainment, said in the statement. "We are confident that Garth Brooks/Plus ONE will be an unforgettable live entertainment experience for our guests, and we are honored that he’s chosen to join t...

Lindsay Lohan is making her Hollywood comeback.  The 36-year-old actress stars in the recently released Netflix holiday movie "Falling for Christmas," which marks her first major acting role in over a decade. A former child star, Lohan was one of Tinseltown's reigning It girls in the early 2000s before her promising career was derailed by multiple box-office flops and a string of highly-publicized legal problems and substance abuse issues. "For me, my whole life, acting is like riding a bicycle. It’s just in me," Lohan told the Hollywood Reporter last month.  LINDSAY LOHAN CELEBRATES 'MEAN GIRLS' DAY WITH NEW MOVIE 'FALLING FOR CHRISTMAS' ANNOUNCEMENT "Doing films, playing a character, it brings me so much joy to be able to share a story with people. To take people on that journey with me is such a blessing." In "Falling for Christmas," Lohan plays spoiled hotel heiress Sierra Belmont, who is left with amnesia after a ...

Former President Trump failed to appear before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol last year, signaling his ongoing refusal to cooperate.

Andrew Asmakov / Decrypt : Binance plans to implement a new Proof-of-Reserves protocol developed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin after sharing a snapshot of its wallets last week   —  As the FTX collapse highlighted the urgency for more transparency among crypto exchanges, Chanpeng “CZ” Zhao said Binance is working …

The most elite stars – from musicians to actors to sports legends – congregated to Leonardo DiCaprio's birthday party this weekend. The Oscar Award-winning star turned 48 in style, celebrating with Hollywood's finest at a Beverly Hills Mansion on Friday. Celebrities may have showed up to the extravaganza with personal chauffeurs, but they were mandated to hand over their phones once inside. GWYNETH PALTROW POSTS BIKINI PIC AHEAD OF 50TH BIRTHDAY, EMBRACES 'WRINKLES' Rolling Stones icon Mick Jagger, 79 was driven to the party, photographed observing the law and wearing his seatbelt in the backseat.  Bradley Cooper did not have an entourage with him at the party, but he was photographed with "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" actress Kate Hudson. Cooper has recently been linked to his ex-girlfriend Irina Shayk as well as Huma Abedin, while Hudson is engaged to Danny Fujikawa. LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Sacramento Kings 120-114 on Fri...

Eight of the country's top ten conservative governors according to an ALEC report were up for reelection in 2022, with all eight emerging with easy victories Tuesday.

Elon Musk tells Democratic Sen. Ed Markey his Twitter account seems like a "parody" after demanding to know how a Washington Post reporter impersonated him.

Amidst news that Nick Cannon's brood is continuing to expand, with the TV host announcing Alyssa Scott is pregnant with his soon-to-be 12th child, the 42-year-old father is talking about the hefty child-support bill he pays on an annual basis. A report from The Sun claimed that Cannon "nearly paid $3 million a year in child support," however the musician and actor told The Neighborhood Talk that the actual number is much larger. "I definitely spend a lot more than that on my children annually," he said. He also shared, "I don't plan to ever have to participate in the governmental system of child."  NICK CANNON WELCOMES BABY NUMBER 10: 'ANOTHER BLESSING' On Saturday, Cannon announced the birth of his eleventh child, a daughter, Zeppelin Cannon, with Abbey De La Rosa. He wrote in part on Instagram to De La Rosa and his new baby girl, "You are the definition of steadfast and virtuous and it is my continued duty to make you and our c...

Candace Owens argued that former President Donald Trump is not listening to his base and his current lack of leadership and “paranoia” could cost Republicans looking ahead to 2024.

Casey Newton / @caseynewton : Sources: Twitter has eliminated ~4,400 of its ~5,500 contract staff, with cuts expected to significantly impact content moderation and the core infrastructure   —  Update: company sources tell me that yesterday Twitter eliminated ~4,400 of its ~5,500 contract employees, with cuts expected to have significant impact to content moderation and the core infrastructure services that keep the site up and running. People inside are stunned.