Trump administration overruled in federal judge’s FTC commissioner firing decision

A Washington, D.C.-based federal judge on Thursday ruled against the Trump administration over the firing of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member Rebecca Slaughter.

Slaughter, who was appointed to the independent board in 2021, was axed along with fellow member Alvaro Bedoya in March. The pair represented the Democratic minority in the five-member commission. 

Following the firings, both Bedoya and Slaughter released public statements announcing their intention to file lawsuits, claiming their firings were without cause.

U.S. District Court Judge Loren Alikhan noted that when the FTC was created more than a century ago, it was designed to be an independent, multi-member body of experts committed to the regulation of economic competition.

FTC SUES PEPSICO, ALLEGES ‘RIGGED’ SOFT DRINK COMPETITION

To prevent political interference to its mission, Congress required that commissioners only be removed for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” 

“Because the law on the removal of FTC Commissioners is clear, and for the reasons explained below, the court will grant Ms. Slaughter’s motion for summary judgment and deny Defendants’ cross-motion for summary judgment,” Alikhan wrote in the ruling.

TRUMP SUCCESSFULLY CONVINCES COCA-COLA TO BRING BACK ‘REAL’ CANE SUGAR IN US DRINKS: ‘IT’S JUST BETTER!’

Bedoya, who was appointed to the board by former President Joe Biden in 2022, also filed suit—but the case was dismissed without prejudice.

The U.S. Supreme Court has one remaining emergency application related to a Trump executive action, but it involves the removal of three members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

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Three CPSC members—Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr.—filed suit against the Trump administration, challenging their removal from their statutorily protected roles.

‘Woke’ politics on the ropes after Trump Jr. takes gun company public

NEW YORK, NY – A Donald Trump Jr.-backed online gun retailer went public on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday and the president’s son spoke to FOX Business about what that means for Second Amendment advocates in the United States.

Trump Jr. along with his business partner, Omeed Malik, helped take GrabAGun public on Wednesday in a move Trump’s son told FOX Business symbolizes the repudiation of anti-gun “woke” policies that have gained a foothold over the last few years.

“I think it’s important. It’s what we’ve talked about for a long time, allowing these great American companies to have the same chance as others that have perhaps been a little bit more politically correct,” Trump Jr. said. “So to come back as a former New Yorker, a political refugee to the free state of Florida, coming back to the People’s Republic and taking a gun company public is like a sort of a great vindication of so much of what we believe in, which is ensuring that sort of democratization of finance and capitalism, you know, across sectors in this country that many Americans care about and have for decades, but perhaps didn’t have the ability to get that sort of equal treatment.”

GrabAGun, which sells ammunition and firearm accessories on its website, went public through a merger with a special acquisition company, or SPAC, named Colombier Acquisition Corp. The Palm Beach, Florida, company said the transaction netted it more than $119 million, which GrabAGun said will be used for working capital and “other purposes to accelerate the company’s future growth.”

TRUMP’S VICTORY OVER HARRIS PROVES ‘SECOND AMENDMENT WON,’ GUN RIGHTS GROUPS SAY

“I think it’s tremendous,” Malik said about the symbolism of a gun company ringing the bell to open up trading at the stock exchange. “One of the things that I like to say is that we are all huge proponents of the First Amendment and we’ve done a lot in finance around that, but there is no First Amendment without a Second Amendment. So it was important for us to go and support the Second Amendment through a transaction like this. We’re one of the only teams that could do it or pull it off for a lot of reasons, and we did. And we’re thrilled about it.”

After years of gun companies being de-platformed and de-banked, Trump Jr. told FOX Business that his investment groups’s involvement with GrabAGun is a “catalyst for change” in an era where there has been a “cultural shift” in attitude toward the Second Amendment.

It’s the culmination of our thesis, we were doing this and talking about it very aggressively for five years. Back when those other things ruled, DEI, ESG, it was a very different world,” Trump Jr. said. “So I think in this space, we also have a lot of credibility in that we were the guys fighting it when it wasn’t just, hey, this is an opportunity to make a profit. But we’re like, no, we’re actually going against everyone that said you’re gonna ultimately fail and they’re gonna put up whatever obstacles they can to almost ensure that happens.”

CITI UPDATING POLICIES TO PREVENT DEBANKING OVER FIREARMS, POLITICAL VIEWS

Trump and Malik told FOX Business that young people and women that support the Second Amendment are a growing segment in the United States that GrabAGun “absolutely” intends to focus on while explaining that the barrier to entry that new gun owners find at gun stores is solved with the new company.

“They’re buying the way they buy everything else. Obviously, you still have to go through your federal firearms license, a gun’s not getting delivered to your doorstep, but to be able to purchase the way you do literally every other household good that you’re buying on a daily basis, you’ll cater to that market,” Trump said. 

“For a guy like me who’s been in the gun space forever and is a well-known entity and was a competitive shooter and these kinds of things, I can walk into any local gun shop in America and it’s like, ‘Hey Don, thanks for what you’re doing,’ you know, but if you’re a first time gun buyer, you are female, not really accustomed to it, don’t exactly know what’s going on and you don’t want to go into that experience often where you’re being mansplained or given, frankly, bad information, this creates an ease of access to be able to get into an otherwise perhaps intimidating space for a lot of people who aren’t as familiar.”

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Trump and Malik spoke to FOX Business about what the Second Amendment means to them and Trump, an avid outdoorsman, echoed the sentiment that there “is no First Amendment without the Second Amendment.”

Trump Jr. explained his belief that violence in the streets over the last several years, which he says has been celebrated by Democrats, has driven Americans toward the Second Amendment and the desire to protect themselves.

“Over the last four years, you’ve seen crime and the stuff through, whether it’s the rampant illegal immigration and the allowing of criminals to only take over a few buildings in places like Colorado, people understood, and now more so than ever, that fundamental right to protect yourselves and your loved ones is tantamount to all of the freedoms that we believe,” he said. “They get that.”

Trump Jr. said the civil unrest in recent years has been “the greatest marketing campaign for the Second Amendment.”

Trump and Malik appeared on Wall Street shortly after New York City’s political landscape was rocked by the surprise Democratic mayoral primary victory by socialist Zohran Mamdani.

Trump told FOX Business a Mamdani administration would likely be the “nail in the coffin” for the city.

HIPAA defense claim rocks high-profile CEO murder prosecution

Attorneys for Luigi Mangione claim the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office broke the law by gaining access to his private health records surreptitiously.

In a new court filing, the defense accuses prosecutors of violating HIPAA, the federal law that protects medical privacy. They say the DA’s office pressured Mangione’s health insurer, Aetna, into handing over documents without a court order or consent from any party involved.

According to the filing, prosecutors faked a court date and used a “false and fraudulent” subpoena, warning Aetna it would be held in contempt of court if it didn’t comply.

Mangione’s lawyers are now asking the judge to sanction the DA’s office, including the possibility of throwing out the charges entirely. They are requesting a formal evidentiary hearing on the matter.

LUIGI MANGIONE’S TEAM ASKS COURT TO REMOVE ‘SHACKLES,’ BULLETPROOF VEST ON UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO MURDER SUSPECT

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told Fox News it will respond in court papers. It said very limited information was requested from Aetna and Aetna sent additional materials in error.

“We deleted the materials as soon as we became aware of them and brought it to defense and the court’s attention,” the office said.

Mangione is charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024, just before the company’s annual investor conference. 

Prosecutors say Mangione used a homemade ghost gun equipped with a silencer and shot Thompson twice at close range before fleeing the scene.

LUIGI MANGIONE ARGUES DOUBLE JEOPARDY IN BID TO DROP MURDER CASE, SUPPRESS EVIDENCE

The DA’s office argues the killing was ideologically motivated, calling it an act intended to “violently broadcast a social and political message to the public at large.” According to court filings, Mangione allegedly marked ammunition with the words “deny,” “delay,” and “depose,” and described himself as a “revolutionary anarchist.”

Prosecutors also cite journal entries and a note to the FBI in which Mangione allegedly expressed grievances against the U.S. healthcare system, writing that “these parasites simply had it coming.”

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Defense attorneys have separately moved to suppress Mangione’s statements to law enforcement and evidence from his backpack, arguing both were obtained unlawfully. They’ve also asked the court to dismiss terrorism-related charges, citing constitutional concerns over double jeopardy and concurrent state and federal prosecutions.

The DA’s office calls it “an open and shut case” and argues that the evidence is “overwhelming.”

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A judge will now decide whether to grant the defense’s request for a hearing on the alleged HIPAA violation. The broader motion to dismiss and suppress remains pending.

The state case is proceeding ahead of a separate federal prosecution, where the government is seeking the death penalty.

Senate narrowly passes $9 billion spending cut after GOP divisions and late negotiations

What can you get for $9.4 billion?

3G Capital recently purchased footwear giant Skechers for $9.4 billion. 

$9.4 billion could cover your rent for a pretty nice apartment in New York City for more than 40,000 years. 

Yes, it will just be you and the cockroaches by then. 

Or, you could pay the cost of every major disaster in the past four decades – ranging from Chernobyl to Fukushima to Hurricane Sandy. 

‘LONG OVERDUE’: SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM THROUGH TRUMP’S CLAWBACK PACKAGE WITH CUTS TO FOREIGN AID, NPR

But $9.4 billion isn’t a lot when cast against nearly $7 trillion in annual spending by the federal government. 

And it’s really not much money when you consider that the U.S. is about slip into the red to the tune of $37 trillion. 

Which brings us to the Congressional plan to cancel spending. That is, a measure from Republicans and the Trump Administration to rescind spending lawmakers already appropriated in March. The House and Senate are now clawing back money lawmakers shoved out the door for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and foreign aid programs under USAID. The original proposal cut $9.4 billion. But that figure dwindled to $9 billion – after the Senate restored money for “PEPFAR,” a President George W. Bush era program to combat AIDS worldwide. 

In other words, you may have a couple thousand years lopped off from your rent-controlled apartment in New York City. Of course that hinges on what Democratic mayoral nominee Zorhan Mamdani decides to do, should he win election this fall. 

Anyway, back to Congressional spending. Or “un-spending.” 

The House passed the original version of the bill in June, 216-214. Flip one vote and the bill would have failed on a 215-215 tie. Then it was on to the Senate. Republicans had to summon Vice President Vance to Capitol Hill to break a logjam on two procedural votes to send the spending cancellation bill to the floor and actually launch debate. Republicans have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate. But former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted nay – producing a 50-50 tie.

Fox is told some Senate Republicans are tiring of McConnell opposing the GOP – and President Trump – on various issues. That includes the nay votes to start debate on the spending cancellation bill as well as his vote against the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January.

“He used to be the Leader. He was always telling us we need to stick together,” said one GOP senator who requested anonymity. “Now he’s off voting however he wants? How time flies.”

Note that McConnell led Senate Republicans as recently as early January.

But McConnell ultimately voted for the legislation when the Senate approved it 51-48 at 2:28 am ET Thursday morning. 

Murkowski and Collins were the only noes. The services of Vice President Vance weren’t needed due to McConnell’s aye vote and the absence of Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn. She fell ill and was admitted to George Washington Hospital for exhaustion. 

As for the senior senator from Alaska, one GOP senator characterized it as “Murkowski fatigue.”

“She always asking. She’s always wanting more,” groused a Senate Republican.

Murkowski secured an agreement on rural hospitals in exchange for her vote in favor of the Big, Beautiful Bill earlier this month. However, Murkowski did not secure more specificity on the DOGE cuts or help with rural, public radio stations in Alaska on the spending cut plan.

SENATE TO DEBATE TRUMP’S $9B CLAWBACK BILL AFTER DRAMATIC LATE-NIGHT VOTES

“My vote is guided by the imperative of coming from Alaskans. I have a vote that I am free to cast, with or without the support of the President. My obligation is to my constituents and to the Constitution,” said Murkowski. “I don’t disagree that NPR over the years has tilted more partisan. That can be addressed. But you don’t need to gut the entire Corporation for Public Broadcasting.” 

In a statement, Collins blasted the Trump administration for a lack of specificity about the precision of the rescissions request. Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee in charge of the federal purse strings, also criticized the administration a few months ago for a paucity of detail in the President’s budget. 

“The rescissions package has a big problem – nobody really knows what program reductions are in it.  That isn’t because we haven’t had time to review the bill,” said Collins in a statement. “Instead, the problem is that OMB (the Office of Management and Budget) has never provided the details that would normally be part of this process.”

Collins wasn’t the only Republican senator who worried about how the administration presented the spending cut package to Congress. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss.,  fretted about Congress ceding the power of the purse to the administration. But unlike Collins, Wicker supported the package.

“If we do this again, please give us specific information about where the cuts will come. Let’s not make a habit of this,” said Wicker. “If you come back to us again from the executive branch, give us the specific amounts in the specific programs that will be cut.”

DOGE recommended the cuts. In fact, most of the spending reductions targeted by DOGE don’t go into effect unless Congress acts. But even the $9.4 billion proved challenging to cut. 

“We should be able to do that in our sleep. But there is looking like there’s enough opposition,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Fox Business.

So to court votes, GOP leaders salvaged $400 million for PEPFAR.

“There was a lot of interest among our members in doing something on the PEPFAR issue,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “You’re still talking about a $9 billion rescissions package – even with that small modification.”

The aim to silence public broadcasting buoyed some Republicans.

HOMELAND SECURITY HALTS $18.5M IN TAXPAYER FUNDS FOR ‘RADICAL’ PROGRAMS

“North Dakota Public Radio – about 26% of their budget is federal funding. To me, that’s more of an indictment than it is a need,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. 

But back to the $9 billion. It’s a fraction of one-tenth of one percent of all federal funding. And DOGE recommended more than a trillion dollars in cuts.

“What does this say for the party if it can’t even pass this bill, this piddling amount of money?” yours truly asked Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

“I think we’re going to lose a lot of credibility. And we should,” replied Kennedy.

But the House needed to sync up with the Senate since it changed the bill – stripping the cut for AIDS funding. House conservatives weren’t pleased that the Senate was jamming them again – just two weeks after major renovations to the House version of the Big, Beautiful Bill. But they accepted their fate.

“It’s disappointing that we’re $37 trillion in debt. This to me was low-hanging fruit,” said Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo. “At the end of the day, I’ll take a base hit, right? It’s better than nothing.”

White House Budget Director Russ Vought is expected to send other spending cancellation requests to Congress in the coming months. The aim is to target deeper spending reductions recommended by DOGE. 

But it doesn’t auger well for future rescissions bills if it’s this much of a battle to trim $9 trillion.

What can you get for that much money? For Republicans, it’s not much. 

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Republicans were swinging for the fences with spending cuts.

But in the political box score, this is recorded as just a base hit.

Joy Reid squirms in interview when confronted about her controversial past writings

Former MSNBC host Joy Reid was blindsided by Piers Morgan’s questions about whether she wrote the series of homophobic posts that were unearthed from her old blog in 2018, in a contentious interview published Thursday.

“Now you’re not at MSNBC,” Morgan asked. “Now you’re on your own doing your own thing, and you don’t have to worry about repercussions and stuff. Are you prepared to finally come clean and just admit that was your blog and you did say those things?”

“You know, Piers, I might have known that you would use this opportunity and interview and that this was your purpose, right?” Reid began. “This is your purpose and that’s fine. This is your show, and you can do whatever you like. You know, I could sit here and go on and on and fight with you about your strange, weird obsession with Megan Markle, but I won’t do that because that would be rude.”

“Happy to, if you want to!” Morgan interjected.

JOY REID ACCUSES ‘CHEAP’ PIERS MORGAN OF AMBUSHING HER IN NEW INTERVIEW

“We can do that as well,” Reid remarked.

Reid insisted that someone she didn’t know had access to her site for years but that she was “willing to take responsibility for anything that was on that site.”

“Did you say those things?” Morgan interrupted.

“Not to my—” Reid began.

“Come on ,Joy, you said them. You know you did,” Morgan said as the two began talking over each other.

“The reason that you are trying to go here is that you are trying to defend the idea that Moms for Liberty and these other organizations can take books that are not pornography—” Reid said.

“No, no, I’m just trying to see whether you like to hold people to account,” Morgan said.

“And I held myself to account—” Reid argued.

“I’m just trying to ask you questions about you being held to account,” Morgan finished.

Reid continued to apologize for everything on the blog, without clarifying if she wrote the comments, and returned to criticizing the Moms for Liberty political group for targeting controversial LGBTQ-themed books in schools.

Morgan disagreed with Reid’s comments on Moms for Liberty and returned again to the topic of Reid’s controversial blog posts. He pointed out that despite her support for the LGBTQ community, her blog posts had a very different message.

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“I’m talking about you posting on your blog that you wouldn’t watch ‘Brokeback Mountain’ because you don’t want to see two male characters having sex,” Morgan said. “‘Does that make me homophobic? Probably. Most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing.’ Your words, not mine, Joy.”

“And your point is?” Reid said.

“That maybe that makes you a bit of a hypocrite when you’re taking the position of being an ally for the LGBTQ community,” Morgan said. “And actually the best way to handle it, I would argue, is just to say, ‘You know what? Actually, I did write that at the time. They’re not my views now. I’ve learned. I’ve evolved. I’ve moved on.’ Trying to pretend even now that you didn’t write it is preposterous. And I think you know that.”

Reid reiterated that she takes full responsibility for everything on the site and felt “deeply apologetic” for the things that hurt people. She added that her views are clearly different from what was written in the past blog posts. 

After claiming in 2018, when her blog’s old posts resurfaced, that the site had been hacked, Reid eventually admitted that could not be substantiated, and said, “The person I am now is not the person I was then.”

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Reid apologized but, while taking responsibility for the content, she repeatedly suggested she was not the actual author of some of the offending posts.

At the time, Reid was not formally reprimanded by MSNBC. The progressive network rallied behind her, saying the posts are “not reflective of the colleague and friend we have known at MSNBC for the past seven years. Joy has apologized publicly and privately and said she has grown and evolved in the many years since, and we know this to be true.”

Reid was fired by MSNBC earlier this year.

Dems claimed to pay ‘out of pocket,’ used campaign cash for Abrego Garcia visit: report

Despite some claiming they spent money out of their own pockets, several Democrats spent thousands in campaign funds to visit illegal alien and alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, according to reporting by the New York Post.

Democrats rallied around Abrego Garcia after they claimed he was wrongly deported by the Trump administration to his home country of El Salvador in March.

Several Democrats, including representatives Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.; Robert Garcia, D-Calif., Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., Maxine Dexter, D-Ore.; and Glenn Ivey, D-Md., flew to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s return.

The New York Post reported that Frost, Garcia, Ansari and Dexter, all of whom made a joint trip to San Salvador to pressure the Trump administration to return Abrego Garcia April 21, paid for the trip through campaign funding, despite all except Garcia claiming they paid out of pocket.  

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN LA IGNITES ‘SAME EMOTIONAL NOTES’ FOR DEMS, TOP LOCAL GOP LEADER SAYS

The New York Post wrote that Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show Frost’s campaign reported spending $1,362 on Salvadoran-Colombian airline Avianca May 8, about a week after his trip to visit Abrego Garcia.

Dexter’s campaign similarly reportedly spent $1,315 on travel with Taca Airlines April 18, despite the representative saying he had self-funded the trip.

Despite telling a local news outlet she had used her own money for the trip, Ansari’s campaign reported in FEC filings that the congresswoman spent $2,616 on travel with Salvadoran airline Avianca the same month she flew to visit Abrego Garcia.

Meanwhile, California Democrat Garcia’s office confirmed he spent $1,982 on another Salvadoran airline, Taca International Airlines, in April, and an additional $502 for “event space rental” at the Hilton San Salvador, the outlet reported.

FEDS CHARGE 3 MORE MEN IN MARYLAND MS-13 RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY INVOLVING MURDER: ‘REIGN OF TERROR’

Ivey, who attempted to visit Abrego Garcia in late May, spent $291 in campaign funds, according to the Post report.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the first Democrat to make the trip and who remained an outspoken voice on Abrego Garcia’s behalf, notably did not report any campaign spending for Salvadoran air travel or lodging in mid-April, when he made his trip.

Abrego Garcia, who was returned to the U.S. in June, faces charges of human smuggling and conspiracy.

MEXICAN WOMAN IN US ILLEGALLY CHARGED WITH FAKING HER OWN ICE ‘KIDNAPPING’

According to an indictment, Abrego Garcia played a “significant role” in a human smuggling ring operating for nearly a decade. Attorney General Pam Bondi described him as a full-time smuggler who made more than 100 trips, transporting women, children and MS-13 gang-affiliated persons throughout the U.S.

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According to police and court records shared with Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville in October 2019, at which point he was identified by the Prince George’s County [Maryland] Police Gang Unit as a member of MS-13. 

Felix Baumgartner, who freefell from space, dies in paragliding crash at 56

Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver best known for his record-setting dive from space, died in a paragliding accident in Italy Thursday, according to Italian officials. He was 56. 

Baumgartner was reportedly flying a motorized paraglider in the coastal town of Porto Sant’Elpidio in the Marche region of Italy, where he was said to have crashed into a hotel pool. 

According to Sky Austria, he fell ill suddenly before the crash. A hotel employee was also taken to a hospital after sustaining injuries in the accident, the report stated. 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Baumgartner’s reps. 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a representative for RedBull said, “We are shocked and overwhelmed with sadness to hear the devastating news of our longtime friend Felix Baumgartner.

“Felix was ‘born to fly’ and was determined to push the limits. He was also smart, professional, thorough and meticulous, never leaving anything to chance. He was generous, giving much of his time to help and inspiring so many people.
 
“We remember Felix as a lovely person, devoted to his family and friends, to whom we send our heartfelt sympathy. Felix, you will be deeply missed.”

The mayor of the town, Massimiliano Ciarpella, confirmed the local reports in a post on Facebook. 

“Our community is deeply affected by the tragic passing of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global significance, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight. He was flying right over our city when a sudden illness today took him from us,” Ciarpella’s post said, according to a translation.

“Porto Sant’Elpidio stands in solidarity with his family and loved ones in this time of sorrow. On behalf of the municipal administration and all citizens, I express our most heartfelt condolences for this immeasurable loss.”

YOUTUBE DAREDEVIL ARRESTED BY INDIAN AUTHORITIES AFTER VISITING REMOTE ISLAND WHERE US MISSIONARY WAS KILLED

Baumgartner had posted several videos to Instagram stories of himself paragliding in Italy in the week leading up to his death. In an eerie final post shared Thursday, he snapped a photo of a windsock with the caption “too much wind.” 

Born April 20, 1969, in Salzburg, Austria, Baumgartner established himself as a skilled and fearless skydiver, base jumper, daredevil and much more. On Oct. 14, 2012, he did what no one else had ever attempted. 

He fell from space. 

Baumgartner set three world records, including the highest free fall and highest crewed balloon flight. And he became the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound during a free fall when he took a giant helium balloon over New Mexico and jumped from an altitude of 127,852 feet. 

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He reached speeds of 843.6 mph, or the equivalent of Mach 1.25, 1.25 times the speed of sound, The Associated Press reported at the time. He was quite literally supersonic. 

According to Baumgartner’s bio on RedBull’s website, he broke 14 world records, including the lowest base jump, which he accomplished in 2011 when he leaped from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. 

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Coldplay concert Kiss Cam sparks affair speculation after couple’s awkward reaction

What was supposed to be a romantic moment caught on the Kiss Cam during a Coldplay concert, has launched allegations of an affair.

During the band’s performance at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA on Wednesday, Martin serenaded the crowd with an improv of “The Jumbotron Song” where he sang about couples featured live on the big screen. 

One pair’s reaction raised eyebrows – and the 48-year-old couldn’t help but comment. 

KATY PERRY FAN ARRESTED AFTER STORMING STAGE DURING AUSTRALIAN CONCERT

“Whoa, look at these two,” Martin said, as a man and woman were seen cozying up with one another. 

Once the attention was on the pair, the woman immediately turned away and dodged the camera. The man also exited the frame. 

“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin joked as the audience laughed.

Online sleuths claim the gray-haired man and blonde woman are Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his Chief People Officer, Kristin Cabot. Astronomer is a New York-based tech firm. 

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Reps for Byron and Cabot did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment and neither has publicly commented.

Byron is the CEO of Astronomer, the cybersecurity startup, and Cabot, according to her LinkedIn, is the company’s chief human resources officer. It seems they have worked closely together for years.

MYSTERY COUPLE MISTAKEN FOR JEFF BEZOS AND LAUREN SÁNCHEZ AT CANNES

The two have appeared in company photos and at industry events together, but nothing about their relationship has suggested more than a professional connection.

WATCH: COLDPLAY’S CHRIS MARTIN CATCHES COUPLE ON KISS CAM, JOKINGLY ASKS IF THEY’RE HAVING AN AFFAIR

The internet can’t stop buzzing over what was supposed to be a sweet concert moment seemingly gone wrong. 

Comments flooded the CEO’s LinkedIn page with one user referencing Coldplay songs.

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“Coldplay setlist update: A Sky Full of Stars, Fix You, The CEO of Astronomer getting caught cheating with an employee in section 102.”

Another comment read, “caught on the Jumbotron,” as another questioned, “Where is the head of Hr.”

“Your wife, her husband,” a LinkedIn user wrote with a surprised face emoji.

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Major hospitals halt ‘chemical mutilation’ of children as DOJ investigates

More hospitals are pulling back on providing “gender-affirming care” for youth patients, in accordance with a recent executive order against these practices.

Rush Medical Center in Chicago is the latest large health system to announce that it is stopping these gender-related treatments.

The hospital’s spokesperson, Tobin Klinger, confirmed to local outlets that it has “paused” hormonal therapies for new patients under 18.

GENDER DYSPHORIA TREATMENTS POSE ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’ TO KIDS AND TEENS, HHS REPORT REVEALS

Rush has not provided gender-related surgery for minors since 2023, according to Klinger.

(Adults will continue to be eligible for treatments, as will minors who were already receiving care.)

These changes follow President Donald Trump’s executive order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which was issued on January 28, 2025.

The order states that the administration will not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another,” and that it will “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

For patients age 19 and under, “chemical and surgical mutilation” includes the use of puberty blockers, sex hormones and surgical procedures, according to the order on The White House’s website.

TRANS SURGERIES INCREASE RISK OF MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS, SUICIDAL IDEATIONS: STUDY

On July 9, the Department of Justice announced that it has issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in performing “transgender medical procedures” on children.

“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement on the DOJ’s website.

Other hospitals appear to have followed actions similar to Rush Medical Center.

NewYork-Presbyterian appears to have removed and changed online verbiage for its COMPASS Program, which was previously described as a “a safe space for youth navigating their gender experience” offering “puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormone treatment.”

“You don’t permanently alter your body without exhausting every other option first.”

The website now describes the program as “a supportive space for youth and gender,” and references to gender-affirming care have been removed.

A spokesperson for NewYork-Presbyterian provided the below statement to Fox News Digital.

“We continue to work through this evolving situation to comply with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. As always, our priority is to serve all our patients in a compassionate and responsible way.” 

Stanford Medicine has also reportedly halted “gender-affirming surgeries,” according to a statement provided to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“After careful review of the latest actions and directives from the federal government and following consultations with clinical leadership, including our multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ program and its providers, Stanford Medicine paused providing gender-related surgical procedures as part of our comprehensive range of medical services for LGBTQ+ patients under the age of 19, effective June 2, 2025,” the statement said.

GENDER DYSPHORIA AND EATING DISORDERS HAVE SKYROCKETED SINCE PANDEMIC, REPORT REVEALS

It was also reported that shortly after Trump’s executive order, NYU Langone canceled some appointments for hormone treatments and gender surgeries, with parents claiming they were told the hospital no longer offers those services to new patients under 19.

Cleveland Clinic also responded to Fox News Digital’s inquiry, confirming that the clinic “does not provide gender-affirming treatments for patients under the age of 19.”

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Previous studies have suggested that “gender-affirming surgeries” can be harmful to young people’s mental health.

Researchers determined that rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and substance-use disorders were “significantly higher” among those with gender dysphoria who underwent surgery.

Florida neurosurgeon Dr. Brett Osborn and Jonathan Alpert, a Manhattan-based psychotherapist and author, both previously cautioned against gender-affirming surgeries for youth.

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Teens who are being treated for gender dysphoria should be “properly supported and treated with compassion” without being pressured into making “life-altering” medical decisions, Alpert advised.

Osborn also stressed the need for comprehensive psychological evaluations, especially for those with preexisting mental health challenges. Mental health support, lifestyle modifications and counseling should all take precedence before surgery, not after, he said.

On July 9, the Department of Justice announced it’s issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in performing “transgender medical procedures” on children.

“You don’t amputate a limb because of temporary pain, and you certainly don’t permanently alter your body without exhausting every other option first,” he said.

Osborn expressed the same cautions about hormone therapy — “we’re talking about irreversible changes that demand lifelong management.”

“This isn’t about politics and ideology — it’s about health, longevity and making sure people don’t undergo drastic, life-altering procedures only to regret them,” he said.

Fox News Digital reached out to all hospitals mentioned above for comment.