Biden’s remarks resurface after major immigration raid at Georgia construction site
A Hyundai factory under construction near Savannah, Georgia, that was the subject of a massive immigration raid was previously touted by former President Joe Biden and other politicians as a win for manufacturing jobs in the United States.
Homeland Security Investigations said 475 people who were in the country illegally, primarily from South Korea, were arrested as part of the operation at the under-construction battery plant. However, the car company claimed nobody detained was “directly employed” by Hyundai.
The incident brings renewed scrutiny on construction sites of large projects as the Trump administration continues to investigate illegal worksite practices.
“It’s great to be here to announce the more than $10 billion in new investment in American manufacturing. This new commitment of $5 billion for advanced automotive technology and $5.5 billion investment to open a new factory near Savannah, Georgia, is going to create more than 8,000 new American jobs,” Biden said while visiting South Korea in May 2022.
LOUISIANA RACETRACK ICE RAID NETS MORE THAN 80 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS DURING WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT OPERATION
“Our administration is setting ambitious standards to cut pollution in cars and trucks and boost — boost — fuel economy standards for those continuing to operate on gasoline,” he later added.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, touted the project last February in an X post praising the “momentum” of the project.
The effort is a partnership between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution to bolster EV development in the U.S.
HSI said some of the workers arrested were employed by subcontractors on the construction site, which has since been paused. An EV manufacturing plant on the campus was not affected. Fox News Digital reported that ICE and other law enforcement agencies were part of the operation.
“As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company,” Hyundai told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site and comply with all laws and regulations wherever we operate.”
FEDERAL AGENTS ARREST HUNDREDS AT HYUNDAI PLANT CONSTRUCTION SITE IN GEORGIA
LG Energy Solution also said it “will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.”
Operations at worksites have become a noteworthy element of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
Federal authorities butted heads with some Democratic officials in California at a cannabis farm, which resulted in the discovery of children working at the plant.
16 IN CUSTODY AFTER IMMIGRATION RAID AT LA HOME DEPOT, DHS SAYS
“We need construction to cease immediately,” a man wearing an HSI vest in a video posted to social media said at the site Thursday, adding that he had a warrant. “We need all work to end on the site right now.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a DHS spokesperson said this is a “complex case” that required help from numerous federal agencies and the Georgia State Patrol.
Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment.
‘We have to burn the boats’: Barrett opens up about Supreme Court confirmation
NEW YORK – Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett hasn’t seen The Handmaid’s Tale. But she was well-prepared to be interrupted by any number of red-draped protesters, should they storm in to interrupt her confirmation hearing, the same way they did for her colleague, Brett Kavanaugh, several years prior.
As she recounted in an interview at the Lincoln Center Thursday night, the preparation had been for naught. Her confirmation took place behind closed doors, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social precautions in place at the time. It also made the lengthy confirmation process and her first days as a justice on the nation’s highest court “awkward,” she said, to laughter. “Very awkward.”
That revelation was just one of many Barrett made during a wide-ranging interview Thursday, just days before the publication of her forthcoming memoir, “Listening to the Law.”
Like her book, Barrett’s appearance proved to be as telling for what she didn’t say as for what she did.
JUSTICE BARRETT DEFENDS JACKSON JABS AS ‘WARRANTED’ IN RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Barrett, 53, spoke easily about her family, her faith and the kindness of her newfound colleagues on the Supreme Court, whom she says lent her not only the use of their office supplies and bench memos during her first days on the job, but also temporarily dispatched their own staff to help her answer phones and restock supplies.
“There is an indispensable human element to judging,” Barrett observes in her memoir, something she says is all the more true when serving on a nine-person bench.
“Thinking in categories of left and right — it’s just the wrong way to think about the law,” she said Thursday night to the jam-packed audience at Alice Tully Hall.
Even so, Barrett artfully dodged some of the more polarizing issues the court has faced in the past eight months.
She was demonstrably less candid on questions involving the so-called emergency, or “shadow” docket, the vehicle by which President Donald Trump has sought to temporarily stay lower court decisions that would have paused or halted some of his most sweeping executive orders from taking force.
The Supreme Court has presided over a record blitz of emergency appeals and orders filed by the administration and other aggrieved parties during Trump’s first eight months back in office. Justices on the 6-3 conservative bench have ruled in Trump’s favor in the majority of emergency applications, allowing the administration to proceed with its ban on transgender service members in the military, its termination of millions of dollars in Education Department grants and its firing of probationary employees across the federal government, among many other actions.
The court has sided with Trump in the majority of these requests, prompting a fresh level of scrutiny — and rare public criticism from some of her colleagues on the bench.
The Supreme Court “is at its best when it can review cases that have been fully adjudicated” by the lower courts, she offered, before the conversation moved on.
BARRETT EVISCERATES JACKSON, SOTOMAYOR TAKES ON A ‘COMPLICIT’ COURT IN CONTENTIOUS FINAL OPINIONS
Barrett also sought to defend the court as a body that operates beyond the politics of a given moment, and (ideally) outside the reach of public opinion. She noted that public perceptions of what a judge to do is, at times, at odds with what the Constitution and existing Supreme Court precedent prescribe.
“I think everyone expects the court to deliver the results it likes,” Barrett said Thursday night. There’s a “disconnect between what people want in the moment” and what the court should deliver, she said.
People “want what they want,” and will inevitably be disappointed by the results, she said.
Like other justices who have authored memoirs while on the bench, Barrett offered a lofty and, at times, idealistic view of the court.
Pressed by journalist Bari Weiss about her majority opinion in Trump v. CASA earlier this year, Barrett insisted that her “spicy” remarks toward Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson were nothing more than an attempt to “set the calibration right.”
“I thought Justice Jackson had made an argument in strong terms that I thought warranted a response,” Barrett said.
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS SOUNDS ALARM ON DANGEROUS RHETORIC AIMED AT JUDGES FROM POLITICIANS
Thursday night’s interview was the first of many public appearances Barrett is slated to give in coordination with her book release next week. It offered at times a refreshingly personal glimpse into her nearly five years on the Supreme Court, a job she says she wasn’t quite sure she wanted when the offer finally came.
Barrett recounted what her husband told her at the time, when she was weighing whether to go through with the confirmation process. Should she choose to move forward, he told her, “We have to burn the boats.”
The phrase, adopted from Alexander the Great, refers to the notion that one must eliminate all options for backup plans or retreat.
It was one she held onto during the confirmation process, when media outlets pilloried her as an out-of-touch and hyper-religious mother of seven, when quips from lawmakers, such as then-Sen. Dianne Feinstein — “the dogma lives loudly within you” — might have rattled her further.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“To do the job well, you have to have thick skin,” she told the audience Thursday night.
She also dismissed fears of a constitutional crisis.
“I don’t think that we are currently in a constitutional crisis,” Barrett said. “I think that our country remains committed to the rule of law. I think we have functioning courts.”
‘Master of deception’: Priscilla Presley faces ‘sociopath’ allegations in lawsuit
Priscilla Presley is fighting back against accusations that she pushed her husband, Elvis Presley, to his death.
On Friday, Priscilla’s former business partners, Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko, amended their $50 million lawsuit against Priscilla, alleging that she was involved in Elvis’ death.
In the amended lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kruse and Fialko allege Priscilla wasn’t happy with her divorce settlement from Elvis.
“Despite enriching herself and extorting millions of dollars from Elvis, she then placed a lien on Graceland on or around April 29, 1977, in the amount of $494,024.49, adding pressure to Elvis less than four months before he died,” the lawsuit stated.
PRISCILLA PRESLEY WISHES SHE ‘COULD HOLD’ LISA MARIE PRESLEY AGAIN 2 YEARS AFTER HER DEATH
Kruse and Fialko alleged that this “exerted undue pressure” on Elvis and pushed “him to his death.”
In response to the lawsuit, Priscilla’s attorney, Marty Singer, said, “Priscilla did not have anything to do with the assassination of JFK, she did not cover up Area 51, she did not fake the moon landing, and she is not secretly keeping Bigfoot locked in a cabin in Canada. Take off the aluminum foil hat and face reality.”
“Take off the aluminum foil hat and face reality.”
“This lawsuit concerns Ms. Presley’s claims against Ms. Kruse (and her co-conspirators) in which she alleges that Ms. Kruse engaged in a relentless and calculated campaign of elder abuse and fraud in order to take control of Ms. Presley’s finances for her own benefit. Ms. Kruse’s allegations are absurd and despicable, but unfortunately, are not surprising. Ms. Presley looks forward to holding Ms. Kruse and her co-conspirators liable for their wrongful acts,” Singer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Kruse and Fialko’s lawyer, Jordan Matthews of Holtz Matthews LLP, shared a response to Singer’s statement with People magazine.
“Apparently, Ms. Presley’s defense is to list off nonsense hyperbolic statements that have no substance. The documents are in black and white and speak volumes. To date, Ms. Presley has presented zero evidence in support of her salacious claims, and we intend to hold her accountable for her reckless behavior,” he told the outlet.
Kruse and Fialko alleged that Priscilla is a “calculated sociopath and master of deception, who has lived off of and exploited the ‘Presley’ name for her own personal gain.”
They also compared Priscilla to a “pit viper willing to prey on her own family.”
The $50 million lawsuit was initially filed in August, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Kruse and Fialko filed the lawsuit, and among many other allegations, they said Presley used them to financially exploit her name, image and likeness, hiding the fact that she had sold those rights decades earlier.
The lawsuit also alleged the 80-year-old widow of Elvis made a calculated move in the final hours of Lisa Marie’s life, accusing her of allegedly pulling her daughter off life support against her wishes.
Instead of honoring Lisa Marie’s medical direction to “prolong her life,” the lawsuit claimed Priscilla saw a window to regain control of the Presley estate, especially with Lisa Marie reportedly in the process of removing her as trustee of a multimillion-dollar trust.
“Priscilla rushed to West Hills Hospital, and despite Lisa’s clear directive to ‘prolong her life,’ Priscilla pulled the plug within hours of Lisa being admitted,” the lawsuit stated, adding that Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter and heir, had not yet arrived.
At the time, Priscilla’s high-profile attorney, Marty Singer, blasted the lawsuit as “shameful” and “salacious,” and told Fox News Digital the accusations are “malicious character assassination.”
“Accusing a grieving mother of contributing to her daughter’s death is not savvy advocacy – it’s disgusting,” Singer said.
In the amended complaint, they included alleged messages between Priscilla and her granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough. Following Lisa Marie’s death, Riley inherited her mother’s estate and became the substantial owner of the Elvis Presley Graceland Estate.
According to the lawsuit, Riley emailed Priscilla on Jan. 31, 2023 and said that she stopped Lisa Marie from suing her just weeks before her death. The lawsuit states that Keough intervened and stopped Lisa Marie from taking legal action against her mother.
Priscilla then allegedly called Riley.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“I must also share with you that I found being called about the will, less than 24 hours after my mother passed and getting emails from lawyers before my mother was even buried incredibly heartbreaking,” Riley allegedly told Priscilla, according to the document.
She continued, “But what I don’t understand is why there is a narrative that this massive falling out between you and my mother in 2016 didn’t occur. My mother very loudly and clearly asserted to many people, including you, that she felt you had financially and personally betrayed her and as a result she was taking you off of the trust and replacing you with my brother and me.”
Meanwhile, Priscilla’s own lawsuit against her former business partners, filed last year, paints a very different picture.
She claimed Kruse and Fialko isolated her from longtime advisors, took over her bank accounts and tricked her into signing 20-plus contracts in under 30 minutes – including ones that gave them majority control over her own name and likeness.
“If plaintiff’s allegations are true… it’s classic elder abuse,” one judge ruled in an earlier case.
But Kruse and Fialko argued the elder abuse narrative is a lie, a legal weapon used by Priscilla and Morgan to silence and erase their contractual claims. They want the court to order Presley to stop profiting off her NIL outside the companies they formed – and pay more than $50 million in damages.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Social media explodes after Democrat makes controversial immigration remark
Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., sparked a social media firestorm on Thursday for saying she does not “give a sh–” whether people in her district can vote for her in a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
During a press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Ansari was asked about her use of the term “constituents” while criticizing the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
“So, I didn’t realize this was such a controversy until the right-wing media started attacking me for using the word, so I Googled the word constituent. The definition of constituent is somebody who is part of a community, doesn’t matter what their legal status is,” Ansari said.
LAWMAKERS UNDER FIRE FOR SHARING ICE RAID INFO, WARNING LOCALS OF IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS
“If somebody is an asylum seeker, if somebody has a green card, if somebody is a U.S. citizen, if somebody lives in the community, I represent them,” she added, responding to a question from a Daily Caller News Foundation reporter. “Constituent does not mean voter. I don’t care if none of these individuals can vote for me. I don’t give a sh–. I care about making sure that the United States government with our taxpayer dollars, is treating people with dignity and respect.”
The comments triggered some backlash on X, including from one of her Republican colleagues.
“A Member of Congress who brags she had to ‘Google’ the word constituent has no business writing laws,” Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., posted. “Constituents are hardworking American citizens, the people who elect you. Not illegal aliens. Not asylum shoppers. When you say ‘I don’t care if they can’t vote for me’” you admit it. You don’t represent Americans, you represent everyone but them.”
SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER HOUSE DEM MAKES ‘SHOCKING’ COMMENT ABOUT AMERICA DURING OVERSEAS TRIP
Ansari fired back at his post directly, saying his “selective hearing is showing” and that he missed the purpose of her remarks, which focused on alleged mistreatment at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona.
“The women I met have committed no crimes— seeking asylum is not a crime, fyi. This press conference was about a woman named Yari, who was a green card holder from my district, who has leukemia, is coughing up blood, and has been denied an oncologist for nearly 7 months,” she replied.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE
Harrigan replied, saying with a lengthy post that Yari, a cancer patient who Ansari was spotlighting during the press conference, had “been seen by medical staff 13 TIMES and cleared EVERY time. When arrested, she told law enforcement she had NO medical issues and took NO meds.”
TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION RESET IS LIFTING WAGES AND FORCING REAL ECONOMIC REFORM
Other X users expressed their frustration with her remarks.
“Can someone please explain to me what sort of national identity or heritage or culture we are supposed to share with foreigners who get elected and see their primary job as serving the interests of other foreigners?” conservative digital strategist Logan Hall posted.
“The Democrats can’t even hide it anymore,” Florida GOP chair Evan Power posted.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“She doesn’t swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the idea that every illegal alien in the country be treated with dignity and respect…These people are insufferable morons,” conservative radio host Derek Hunter posted.
Ansari said in a separate post that her position is an example of being empathetic toward others.
“Right-wing media is perplexed that an elected official might actually care about someone who can’t vote for them. It’s called representing ALL residents—regardless of immigration status. That’s how our Constitution (and empathy) works,” she wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to Ansari’s office, ICE and DHS.
Baltimore locals tell Don Lemon they want Trump’s troops in their neighborhoods
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon spoke to locals in a Baltimore, Maryland neighborhood on Friday, and many expressed hope that President Donald Trump would deploy troops to “straighten everything out.”
When Trump announced plans to deploy National Guard troops and assume oversight of the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser initially expressed concern. However, she admitted at a press conference last week that the federal surge has had a noticeable impact on one of America’s most dangerous cities, including a 87% reduction in carjackings.
Now, leaders and residents of other cities are wondering if he will bring troops to crack down on crime in their neighborhoods as well. Lemon did an extensive “man-on-the-street” interview where he asked residents of a rough neighborhood in Baltimore if they would like to see troops in their neighborhood.
‘BALTIMORE IS ON FIRE’: RESIDENTS REVEAL WHETHER TRUMP SHOULD SEND NATIONAL GUARD TO COMBAT VIOLENT CRIME
“I have been a resident of Maryland all my life, so I think it would help some,” one older woman said in his video, saying that her husband was murdered in a carjacking in front of their house and claiming there were no consequences for the perpetrator, who remains unknown to this day. “I want justice.”
“And you would like to see the troops here and the National Guard?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“It’s getting out of hand, man!” another resident, a male Trump supporter, answered. “All these killings all the time! You know, the murder rate’s going higher and higher and all the drugs!”
TRUMP ACTIVATES NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO ADDRESS ‘TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL’ CRIME IN WASHINGTON
He lamented that government programs aren’t working to ameliorate the causes of crime in the area.
“Send the troops to straighten everything out, you know what I mean? And then, like, you know, make Baltimore great again!” he said. “Rebuild it back how it was a long time ago.”
A man in Muslim garb on his way to pray at a mosque for Friday Jummah argued that Trump sending troops to the streets might be a welcome change.
“I’m not opposed to it,” the man said. “I think it’ll be a good idea. Maybe we can clean up some of these crime-ridden neighborhoods.”
He went on to describe local crime levels as “atrocious” and said that such a change would be “a breath of fresh air.”
‘RADICAL’ DC OFFICIALS TREATED OFFICERS ‘LIKE CRAP,’ POLICE LEADER SAYS – 7 ATTACKS THAT LED TO TRUMP TAKEOVER
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump has indeed voiced interest in fighting crime in Baltimore.
“Chicago is a hellhole right now, Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” Trump said during a recent press conference. “We have a right to do it because I have an obligation to do it to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.”
Chargers fans rage over Brazil field setup as Chiefs’ branding spotted on field
The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers opened their season in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday night in what many believed would be a thrilling AFC West matchup.
But Chargers fans are already up in arms about this divisional bout after seeing pictures of the field at Neo Química Arena.
This is considered a Chargers home game despite the neutral location, and the Chiefs’ logo and name are in one of the end zones.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
During the inaugural Brazil game last season between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers, the end zones were painted only with the Eagles’ name and colors. But Kay Adams, the host of the “Up & Adams Show,” posted a photo of the field from the stadium, and Chargers fans were not pleased to see their division rival’s name on it.
“The Chiefs having their own end zone for a Chargers ‘home game’ is absurd,” one X user said over Adams’ picture.
TRAVIS KELCE GETS PLAYFUL PAYBACK ON PATRICK MAHOMES WITH SPOT-ON IMPERSONATION AT BRAZIL PRESS CONFERENCE
As a reference, here’s what the field in São Paulo looked like during last year’s Eagles-Packers game.
“Did the NFL forget the Chargers are the home team???” another Chargers fan asked on X. “Chiefs end zone for what?”
While some Chargers fans are going ballistic, other teams will have to get used to this moving forward in the NFL’s international games.
The new protocol is to have the name of each team in both end zones during the seven international games in 2025.
“New for this year, the logos and marks of both teams will appear in their respective end zones of all NFL international games,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told “It’s a fun element to further enhance the atmosphere as a big event and create a special look and feel for international games.”
The next international game will be in Week 4 between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland. Then London will play host to three NFL games in Weeks 5-7, followed by a Week 10 matchup in Berlin, Germany, and the final game overseas in Madrid, Spain, in Week 11.
So, while each game will have a home and away team, both teams will be represented on the field.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
It’s tough for the Chargers, though, considering SoFi Stadium won’t host the Chiefs this regular season. The next time these two teams meet after Friday night will be Dec. 14 in Kansas City.
World’s deadliest infectious disease surfaces in Maine as officials track contacts
There are three active cases of tuberculosis in Maine as of this week as TB continues to increase across the country, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Lindsay Hammes, spokesperson for the agency, said it is “aware of three active TB cases with links to the Greater Portland area and is in the midst of conducting our typical response.”
She said the Maine CDC was working to reach anyone who might have come into contact with any of the infected patients so they can be tested.
Hammes added that each case appears to be contracted from a separate source.
FIVE DEATHS REPORTED AMID BACTERIAL INFECTION OUTBREAK IN MAJOR CITY
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Maine CDC for comment.
While not as contagious as the flu or COVID-19, tuberculosis is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing more than one million people each year, according to the World Health Organization.
A high school student in Riverside County in California also tested positive for an active case of TB this week, officials said, but is receiving treatment and is excited to make a full recovery, KTLA-TV reported.
Last week, another active case was reported at a high school in Michigan, WWJ-TV reported.
RARE TICK-BORNE VIRUS CAUSING NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS DIAGNOSED IN NORTHEASTERN STATE
After decades of decline, tuberculosis cases began to tick up in 2021, following a large decline in 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2022, and the trend has continued since then.
In Maine, the state CDC reported there have been 28 cases of TB this year through the end of July, according to the Herald, but stressed there is no outbreak.
Not everyone infected with TB gets symptoms, but those with active cases can suffer from a persistent cough, including coughing up blood or sputum, chest pain, fever, and fatigue.
TB is a bacterial infection that targets the lungs, but can also infect other organs, and is spread from person to person through the air, according to Johns Hopkins.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The disease is curable with antibiotics.
Charlie Sheen opens up for the first time about intimate encounters with men
Charlie Sheen is speaking out for the first time about his past sexual encounters with men.
In his upcoming memoir, “The Book of Sheen,” and Netflix documentary, “aka Charlie Sheen,” the 60-year-old actor opened up about deciding to try something new after years of being with only women.
“I flipped the menu over,” Sheen said in the documentary, according to People magazine.
In the documentary, the “Two and a Half Men” alum reflected on how he felt about revealing publicly that he had previously slept with men.
CHARLIE SHEEN ADMITS HE ‘LIT THE FUSE’ THAT BLEW HIS LIFE APART AS TURBULENT PAST RESURFACES
“Liberating. It’s f—ing liberating… [to] just talk about stuff,” he said, per People.
Sheen continued, “It’s like a train didn’t come through the side of the restaurant. A f—ing piano didn’t fall out of the sky. No one ran into the room and shot me.”
In an interview with People, published Friday, the Golden Globe Award winner — who has been open about his past substance abuse — said he began having sexual encounters with men after he started smoking crack.
“That’s what started it,” he told People. “That’s where it was born, or sparked. And in whatever chunks of time that I was off the pipe, trying to navigate that, trying to come to terms with it — ‘Where did that come from?… Why did that happen?’ — and then just finally being like, ‘So what?’ So what? Some of it was weird. A lot of it was f—ing fun, and life goes on.”
In an interview with “Good Morning America,” which aired on Friday, Sheen explained why he kept his sexual encounters with men a secret.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
“There was another element to it that it did come with a tremendous amount of extortion,” Sheen said. “And so, at the time, I was just like, ‘Alright, let’s just pay to keep it quiet. And just hope it just stays over there, make it go away, you know? Make it go away.'”
Sheen shared that he felt he was being “held hostage” adding, “It’s a bad feeling.”
“I just need to be free of that … and then see how the world feels if people know that stuff,” he said. “Because I’ve written a story all these years about, ‘Oh jeez, if I ever reveal that, then this has to be how I’d be dealt with, how I’d be treated, how they’d feel.'”
During a 2015 appearance on “Today,” Sheen revealed that he was HIV positive. He told People magazine that he contracted the virus during his years of drug-fueled encounters. Sheen explained that he wanted to keep his HIV diagnosis private and was also being extorted over it at the time.
The actor recalled that people who stayed overnight at his home would take photos of his HIV medication and threaten to expose his status unless he paid them. He said he initially gave in but eventually decided to disclose his diagnosis himself.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
The “Anger Management” star insisted that he had never given HIV to any of his former sexual partners.
“I do know for a fact that I never passed it on,” Sheen told People.
Sheen said he wanted to be transparent in sharing his life experiences in his memoir and documentary.
“The stories I can remember anyway,” he joked.
Sober since 2017, Sheen told People he has focused on making amends to those affected by his behavior. He also said that he didn’t want to portray himself as a victim in either his memoir or his documentary.
“It takes two to tango,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The actor explained that he is no longer trying to hide any part of his past.
“I’m not going to run from my past, or let it own me,” he said.
Sheen’s memoir, “The Book of Sheen,” will be released on Sept. 9 and his documentary, “aka Charlie Sheen,” will begin streaming on Netflix on Sept. 10.
Fed chair Jerome Powell blasted as weak jobs report sparks backlash
Labor experts, including Trump administration top Cabinet members, are blaming the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell for the latest disappointing jobs report and signs of a weakening economy.
“Jerome Powell should be embarrassed by this report because he has not done his job,” U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.” Friday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent published a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday, arguing that the Fed’s expansion of its policy toolkit after the Great Recession has weakened its ability to manage the economy.
“The U.S. faces short- and medium-term economic challenges, along with the long-term consequences of a central bank that has placed its own independence in jeopardy,” Bessent wrote. “The Fed’s independence comes from public trust. The central bank must recommit to maintaining the confidence of the American people.”
TRUMP’S PICK FOR THE FED BOARD COULD JOIN IN TIME FOR KEY RATE CUT VOTE
“I agree with Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer on her comments that it is time for the Fed to take action and lower interest rates,” Employco USA President Rob Wilson told Fox News Digital. “The number of job openings available is the lowest in 10 months. With an interest rate cut, you will see businesses start to hire in larger numbers. The lower rates will have a ripple effect across the economy.”
The U.S. economy added jobs at a slower pace in August. The Labor Department on Friday reported that employers added 22,000 jobs last month, a figure well below the 75,000 estimate of economists polled by LSEG.
“Everybody has done their job — the President in his tariff talks, the trade deals, the trade deficit, making sure that that is for the American people, that he has balanced that. Congress did their part in passing the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ the working tax cuts for Americans,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “But Jerome Powell has not done his job. He needs to lower that interest rate.”
“August’s weak jobs numbers are a clear signal that interest rates may be too high, as President Trump has asserted,” Wilson added. “Higher interest rates are slowing economic growth, as intended by the Fed, but the jobs numbers are weak enough to justify a reconsideration of policy.”
The unemployment rate also rose to 4.3% in August in line with expectations and up from the 4.2% reading in July.
“Unemployment is still holding steady. Statistically, it’s non-existent. So that’s the key to the American people, is that we’re leaning in, we’re doing everything we can for this workforce,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
“And now this is one more thing that the Fed can do, and Jerome Powell hasn’t done his job,” she reiterated. “And the president, that’s why he’s been so vocal about this. We need those interest rates down.”
“The Fed must reestablish its credibility as an independent institution focused solely on its statutory mandate of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.”
The Federal Reserve declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump took aim at the central bank and its leader on Truth Social.
“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should have lowered rates long ago. As usual, he’s ‘Too Late!’,” Trump posted in reaction to the August jobs report.
“The Federal Reserve’s strategy to cool the economy with higher rates is working – but perhaps too well,” Wilson said. “With inflation still running at about 2.7% headline and around 3% core, maintaining such tight monetary policy may push the economy from controlled cooling into excessive contraction.”
“It may be time for the Fed to strike a better balance between tempering inflation and preserving hiring momentum,” he added.
“Overuse of nonstandard policies, mission creep and institutional bloat threaten the central bank’s independence. The Fed must change course,” Bessent added in his op-ed.
“To safeguard its future and the stability of the U.S. economy, the Fed must reestablish its credibility as an independent institution focused solely on its statutory mandate of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Secretary Chavez-DeRemer admitted the weak jobs report “underperformed” but pointed to some positive takeaways.
“Almost a half a million jobs have been created since the president took office. It’s gonna take some time,” she said. “What I do love to see is those 100,000 jobs of federal workers that have gone down, and we are gonna grow the private sector jobs. Eighty-four percent of the jobs out of the half a million are from the private sector, and we want to continue to see that investment by those businesses.”
READ MORE FROM FOX BUSINESS