Michael Wolff files lawsuit against Melania Trump after first lady forced apology
Author Michael Wolff is suing Melania Trump after the first lady threatened to sue him if he didn’t retract statements he made about her and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Wolff accused Melania Trump and her husband, President Donald Trump, of making a practice out of “threatening those who speak against them.”
The Daily Beast published a story based on an interview with Wolff, which the outlet removed in July and ultimately apologized for, admitting it did not meet editorial standards. Melania Trump’s attorney issued a legal threat challenging “the headline and framing.”
Wolff had argued that the first couple seeks to punish foes by trying “to silence their speech, to intimidate their critics generally, and to extract unjustified payments and North Korean-style confessions and apologies,” through legal action, according to the AP.
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The author said the legal threats “are designed to create a climate of fear in the nation so that people cannot freely or confidently exercise their First Amendment rights,” the AP reported.
Wolff sued on the deadline Trump’s lawyer had set for the author to retract the statements he made, apologize and pay damages.
Wolff initially made the allegations in an interview with Daily Beast chief content officer Joanna Coles for The Daily Beast Podcast. They were discussing Trump’s alleged connections with Epstein, the disgraced sex criminal financier who died in 2019. His death, officially ruled a suicide, continues to be a subject of fierce debate.
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“[Melania] was very involved in this Epstein relationship. There is this model thing, and she’s introduced by a model agent, both of whom Trump and Epstein are involved with. She’s introduced to Trump that way, Epstein knows her well,” Wolff alleged on the podcast.
The author told Fox News Digital in July that he had nothing to do with the article.
“First Lady Melania Trump is proud to continue standing up to those who spread malicious and defamatory falsehoods as they desperately try to get undeserved attention and money from their unlawful conduct,” Nicholas Clemens, a spokesperson for the Office of the First Lady, said in a statement.
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Wolff’s lawsuit argues that it’s fair to ask whether Melania Trump allegedly fits into the Epstein story, according to the AP. He intends to put the Trumps under oath and face questions about the convicted sex offender through his legal action, the outlet reported.
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VP Vance responds to Psaki’s ‘disgraceful’ remarks about second lady Usha
Vice President JD Vance slammed former White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s “disgraceful” remarks implying that second lady Usha Vance is afraid of her husband.
“I think it’s disgraceful, but of course the second lady can speak for herself,” Vance told reporters in Israel on Thursday.
He remarked that he is “very lucky to have a wonderful wife” and that he was honored to have her by his side during his recent trip to Israel.
Psaki made remarks about the second lady during an appearance on the “I’ve Had It” podcast and suggested that the vice president is “scarier” than President Donald Trump.
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“I think the little Manchurian candidate, JD Vance, wants to be president more than anything else,” Psaki said. “I always wonder what’s going on in the mind of his wife. Like, are you OK? Please blink four times. We’ll come over here. We’ll save you.”
“And that he’s willing to do anything to get there. And your whole iteration you just outlined, I mean, he’s scarier in certain ways in some ways. And he’s young and ambitious and agile in the sense that he’s a chameleon who makes himself whatever he thinks the audience wants to hear from him,” she added.
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Social media exploded with criticism of Psaki’s remarks as the clip of her podcast appearance went viral.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, accused Psaki of “transferring her own personal issues onto others” and said she “has to overcompensate for her lack of talent by saying untrue things.”
Fox News contributor Joe Concha also chimed in, saying that Psaki is, “Not a good person. At all.”
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Usha Vance met her husband while attending Yale Law School. The White House notes in its biography of the second lady that she “is an experienced litigator whose work involved complex civil litigation and appeals in a wide variety of industries.” Additionally, she clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and for then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who was serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
In his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was originally published in June 2016, the now-vice president called Usha his “Yale spirit guide” and said that, “In a place that always seemed a little foreign, Usha’s presence made me feel at home,” according to PBS.
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The Vances welcomed their first son, Ewan, in June 2017, according to People magazine. Their second son, Vivek, was born in February 2020, and their daughter, Mirabel, was born in December 2021.
DAVID MARCUS: The real reason Trump’s White House ballroom infuriates ‘The View’ hosts
The Democrats, or socialists, or whatever they are these days, are hopping mad over President Donald Trump’s construction of a ballroom in the East Wing of the White House, and while it may be their silliest freakout of the entire Trump era, it is also quite telling.
The ladies on ABC’s “The View” were apoplectic when they saw images of demolition, a fairly ordinary way to begin renovations, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They echoed one-time resident Hillary Clinton’s complaint that Trump doesn’t own the White House, even taking to song about it.
What makes this argument so absurd, is that Trump is not building this ballroom for his personal use or glory. It’s not a vanity project. It is a long-considered addition to an executive home that lacked the capacity to hold large indoor events.
Trump, as has always been his wont, is looking to create grandeur, and that seems to be something to which leftists reflexively object.
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Trump is obviously not the first president to renovate the White House. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt put in a swimming pool. His successor, President Harry Truman, practically gutted the place to add a balcony. President Richard Nixon covered the swimming pool but added a bowling alley. Finally, President Barack Obama transformed the tennis court into a basketball court.
Note that these are all changes that were made to serve the respective president’s personal taste or enjoyment, like a Roman emperor adding a water feature to his personal dining area.
What Trump is doing is completely different. The ballroom he is constructing will likely survive as a symbol of American power long after we are all gone. It will be, in a sense, our generation’s contribution to the people’s home.
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Trump wants this venue, this symbol of America, to be grand and classically inspired, a timeless marble monument to a United States that emerged from the 20th century as the world’s only super power.
And in a way, this is part of what the left objects to, not just in regard to the White House project, but to Trump’s proposed new arch in Washington, D.C., and great statuaries of American heroes, not to mention the recent massive military parade.
In the post-Cold War era, part of America’s international style and sensibility was to be understated. Like the star quarterback who is also a model and a chess prodigy, we learned not to rub it in.
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In that time, very little public art or architecture was done on a grand and classic scale, and in more recent times, our society has been so hellbent on taking statues and monuments down that we gave little thought to putting them up.
Trump instinctively understands that in 2025, America may still be the world’s only superpower, but not by so hegemonic a distance as in the recent past. China and others have been catching up, and the “aw, shucks” attitude of the past needs some adjusting.
World leaders, as well those on public White House tours, should have their breath taken away when they walk into the presidential ballroom. Such displays are as old as nations themselves, from the pyramids to the Coliseum, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
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Though this expansion of the White House would be well worth taxpayer money, Trump has found a way to build it with private donations, as well as his own funds. Still the left is throwing a fit. Why?
Recent polling showed that only 36% of Democrats are very, or even just somewhat, proud of America. This being the case, it’s easy to understand why they object to building testaments to its power and glory.
What Democrats and socialists are really objecting to here is not that Trump’s ballroom celebrates himself, it’s that his ballroom unabashedly celebrates America.
Fifty years from now, when King George VII of Great Britain dines at the White House, people will little remember that it was built by Trump, even if all the gold leaf remains. By then, it will simply be a great piece of American architecture we can all be proud of.
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Americans want and deserve a big, beautiful ballroom for their nation’s executive mansion, and there has never been a president more capable of delivering it than our real estate mogul-in-chief.
Liberals can stamp their feet in anger all they want. But the ballroom is going to be built, and eventually, most of them will come to appreciate it.
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California trans athlete’s high school volleyball career comes to end in dramatic affair
A nationally contentious season came to an end Wednesday night for a high school girls’ volleyball team in California.
Jurupa Valley High School lost their first round state playoff game to Valencia High School in straight sets. The loss, presumably, marked the end of trans athlete AB Hernandez’s high school volleyball career.
Jurupa Valley’s 2025 season was overshadowed by a national controversy centered on Hernandez. The team saw 10 games forfeited off the team’s schedule, and a lawsuit against the school district was filed by two current and one former teammate of Hernandez.
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Still, Hernandez and other JVHS players pressed on with their season and finished as co-champions of the River Valley League, earning a playoff match against Valencia. But it was no typical high school playoff game.
Multiple sources, including board trustee Leandra Blades at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, which houses Valencia High School, confirmed to Fox News Digital that at least one of Valencia’s players did not take the court on Wednesday to avoid facing Hernandez.
Then in the stands, multiple women’s sports activists were present, led by California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey. The activists included local teenage girls, some of whom competed alongside or against Hernandez in the past.
Lorey presented videos to Fox News Digital that showed other spectators at the game heckling the girls in attendance who were there with Lorey.
And for all the pomp and circumstance, it wasn’t even Hernandez’s first playoff volleyball game. Hernandez had competed for Jurupa Valley each of the last three years and went to the postseason in 2024 as well.
But the added national attention and controversy befell the team this year after Hernandez was thrust into the center of a political conflict between President Donald Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the end of the track and field season in the spring.
Hernandez made a run to the girls’ state finals in long jump, triple jump and high jump, prompting Trump to send a Truth Social post in the days ahead of the event warning Newsom and the state not to allow a trans athlete to compete in the girls’ events. Trump signed an executive order to prohibit schools from allowing biological males to play in girls’ sports in February, but the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has persistently defied it.
Instead, the CIF changed its rules to award any female athlete who competed in the same events as Hernandez a spot in the competition or one spot higher on the medal podium if they finished behind a biological male athlete.
INSIDE GAVIN NEWSOM’S TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL CRISIS
Hernandez went on to take first place in high jump and triple jump, and second place in long jump.
The rule change resulted in Hernandez sharing podium spots with female athletes who finished behind the trans athlete in the state finals.
The U.S. Department of Justice then filed a lawsuit against the CIF and California Department of Education a month later in July for refusing to change its transgender policies to comply with Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
Newsom’s office previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital, deferring responsibility for the situation to the CIF, CDE and state legislature.
“CIF is an independent nonprofit that governs high school sports. The California Department of Education is a separate constitutional office. Neither is under the Governor’s authority. CIF and the CDE have stated they follow existing state law — a law that was passed in 2013 and signed by Governor Jerry Brown (not Newsom) and in line with 21 other states. For the law to change, the legislature would need to send the Governor a bill. They have not,” the statement read.
On April 1, the California state legislature blocked two bills that would reverse the current law which allows males in girls’ sports. Every Democrat voted against it, with Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur arguing that one of the bills “is really reminiscent to me of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy in this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life.”
Zbur said this while in the presence of a descendant of a Holocaust survivor, who had to excuse herself from the chamber, according to GOP Assembly member Kate Sanchez.
“She stood up and left because she was just so disgusted with the comparison,” Sanchez told Fox News Digital.
No policy changes were made. So Hernandez was allowed to compete as a girl, become a national spectacle, and then play out a final high school volleyball season, igniting protests from opponents and teammates alike.
Two of Jurupa Valley’s senior players, McPherson and Hadeel Hazameh, stepped away from the team this season in protest of the trans athlete.
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McPherson and Hazameh have also filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District citing their experience playing and sharing a locker room with Hernandez the previous three seasons. McPherson’s older sister and former JVHS girls’ volleyball player Madison McPherson is the third plaintiff in that lawsuit.
And now with the fall sports season coming to a close, Hernandez is still eligible to compete in one more girls’ track and field season in the spring.
Hollywood icon blends into NYC crowd on subway despite A-list status
Tom Hanks went under the radar this week while riding the subway in New York City.
The “Saving Private Ryan” actor wore a face mask, glasses and a beanie while sitting quietly on the 6 train Tuesday, according to the New York Post.
It wasn’t clear if any of the other riders in the car recognized the two-time Academy Award winner, but he appeared to be left alone during the ride.
Earlier this month, Hanks told Jimmy Kimmel — while the host’s show was in Brooklyn — how much he enjoys taking the subway in New York City.
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“I think the New York City subway is a miracle,” he told Kimmel. “It moves 7 million people.”
Hanks, 69, said he first moved to New York City when he was 22, living in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan.
He said he got a driver after landing his first Broadway show.
“And on matinée days — Manhattan’s crowded — it is really, really jammed. And it can take you so long to get there in a car that I would get out at Columbus Circle and say, ‘I’m just going to walk, don’t worry about it.’”
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In 2013, while performing in the Broadway show “Lucky Guy,” Hanks told New York Magazine why he enjoys the subway.
“Nobody looks at anybody on the subway,” he told the outlet. “Occasionally, someone might give you a thumbs-up, and you nod. But the city is magnificent as far as that brand of easy anonymity. You just fold right in.”
Hanks is hardly the only celebrity to ride the subway in the congested, hard-to-find-parking city.
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Harrison Ford, Sarah Jessica Parker, Neil Patrick Harris, Kevin Bacon, Emma Watson, Katie Holmes and Ron Howard have all been seen with a ticket to ride in the Big Apple.
Young officer’s final act of bravery ends in tragedy on California interstate
The La Mesa Police Department is mourning the loss of one of their own, who was struck and killed by a car while stopping to help a driver.
Officer Lauren Craven was killed late Monday night, the California city’s department confirmed on Facebook.
“Officer Craven was returning to the city of La Mesa from San Diego Central Jail when she came upon a collision on eastbound Interstate 8 at Fairmont Avenue,” a post said.
“After exiting her vehicle to assist, she was tragically struck and killed by another motorist,” it continued.
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The officer was 25 years old, according to local FOX 5. She had reportedly been with the department since February 2024 and is survived by her parents, her sister and her partner.
De’Veonte Morris, 19, was also killed as a result of the crash that killed Craven, the New York Post reported.
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“This is a very tragic situation, and it’s very difficult for all involved,” La Mesa Police Department Chief Ray Sweeney said during a news conference. “My heartfelt condolences are with the La Mesa Police Department, our fellow brothers and sisters in law enforcement, as well as with the family and loved ones of the other individual who tragically lost their life in this incident.”
California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the initial crash that led to the chain reaction. Four others were injured, and one remained in the hospital Tuesday afternoon, FOX 5 reported.
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“Officer Craven’s actions in her final moments exemplified her unwavering dedication to service and the safety of others—a reflection of how she lived every day,” La Mesa Police Department said on Facebook. “Officer Craven was known for her tenacity, courage, and compassion—qualities that inspired her peers and strengthened her community.”
NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani faces criticism for proposed changes to 911 response
New York City’s socialist mayoral candidate and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani said he wants to overhaul how police in the city respond to 911 calls, giving dispatchers more discretion before police are sent to respond to calls for help.
During a mayoral debate last night hosted by Spectrum News New York 1, Mamdani said he would reorganize the NYPD and “trust” dispatchers to “make the determination as to whether there was any indication of violence.” He asserted that this approach has been proven to work “elsewhere in the country.”
“That’s probably the worst idea I’ve heard of in a long time,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor of criminal justice at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
“I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about and neither does he,” he added. “My question is, what happens when the dispatcher is wrong and someone dies? Is it an oops? The liability the city would be taking on with this idea will be off the charts.”
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Mamdani has supported replacing police officers with social workers and “transit ambassadors” on certain 911 calls.
If it’s been done elsewhere, Giacalone questioned where that was, what happened and how that city’s population stacked up against the Big Apple’s.
“This is NYC, not Sheboygan,” he said.
Sheboygan is a Wisconsin city on Lake Michigan with about 50,000 residents. New York has more than 8 million.
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Mamdani’s campaign did not immediately respond to emailed questions about the proposal.
“Zohran Mamdani’s plan to shift the responsibility of determining—over the phone—whether or not a law enforcement response is needed for a 911 call involving an emotionally disturbed person is reckless and dangerous,” said retired NYPD lieutenant and “Finest Unfiltered” podcast host John Macari. “This proposal will not save lives or reduce the workload of law enforcement; it will make their jobs harder and endanger civilians, dispatchers and first responders alike.”
He said anyone who has experience responding to calls involving emotionally disturbed people knows they are both “unpredictable and volatile.”
“I’ve personally responded to hundreds of them during my career, and I can tell you firsthand, no one can safely assess the threat level of an emotionally disturbed individual over the phone,” he told Fox News Digital.
He said under the stress of making the wrong decision, dispatchers could likely err on the side of caution and send police anyway.
“Mamdani’s idea isn’t a plan, it’s a talking point,” he said. “It appears to have been drafted without any consultation with dispatchers, first responders or the families of those struggling with mental illness. If implemented, it will cost lives and further strain a system already stretched to its limits.”
Macari, who supports Republican Curtis Sliwa in the race, added that he believes Mamdani’s primary win over Andrew Cuomo was the result of voters rejecting the former governor, not widespread support for his agenda.
Mamdani, who this year has insisted he would not defund the NYPD if elected mayor, has previously called for doing so and tearing the department down.
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“Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence,” he wrote on X in December 2020, complaining about NYPD overtime and calling the department “wicked & corrupt.”
Before that, he claimed the department “is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.” Separately, he has called for taking money from the NYPD budget and spending it on homeless services.
“Together, we can tax the rich, heal the sick, house the poor, defund the police & build a socialist New York,” he wrote.
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Giacalone said that while Mamdani’s rhetoric may have changed, he still views him as a “defund the police” candidate.
“Like the saying goes, when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time,” he said. “He is a defund the police, abolish the police candidate. Plain and simple. Once again, the people voting for a candidate like this don’t live in the crime areas where things will turn worse.”
Coast Guard busts ‘Amazon’-like drug network, seizing 100,000 pounds of cocaine at sea
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announced the successful interdiction of 100,000 pounds of cocaine through Operation Pacific Viper, a months-long international effort targeting transnational criminal organizations operating in the Eastern Pacific.
The operation is a surge in Coast Guard forces to the Eastern Pacific aimed at stopping cartels and transnational criminal organizations before their drugs and human smuggling operations reach U.S. shores, the Coast Guard said in an Oct. 14 release. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Operation Pacific Viper has averaged about 1,600 pounds of cocaine interdicted daily, resulting in 34 total interdictions since its launch.
“Operation Pacific Viper has proven to be a crucial weapon in the fight against foreign drug traffickers and cartels in Latin America and has sent a clear message that we will disrupt, dismantle and destroy their deadly business exploits wherever we find it,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “In cutting off the flow of these deadly drugs, the Coast Guard is saving countless American lives and delivering on President Trump’s promise to Make America Safe Again and reestablish our maritime dominance.”
In August, Operation Pacific Viper yielded the Coast Guard’s largest-ever drug offload, when the USCGC Hamilton offloaded more than 76,000 pounds of illegal drugs, valued at $473 million, at Port Everglades—including approximately 61,740 pounds of cocaine and 14,400 pounds of marijuana.
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‘A global logistics enterprise’
To better understand the scope of the cocaine trade and what such seizures mean for national security, Fox News Digital spoke with Spencer Coursen, a threat management specialist and former U.S. Army Ranger and special deputy marshal. Coursen explained that most cocaine bound for the U.S. originates along Colombia’s Pacific coast, with routes often passing through Ecuador, Peru or Venezuela before moving north via the Caribbean, Mexico or increasingly, the Pacific corridor.
As law enforcement efforts tightened along traditional routes, cartels shifted west, taking advantage of the vastness of the Pacific to evade detection.
“They’re not street gangs,” Coursen said. “They’re global logistics enterprises that rival Amazon, vertically integrated from jungle production to port distribution. They have infrastructure, surveillance, counter-surveillance and billions in cash and weapons to protect their routes.”
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Coursen said that while the operation’s success spotlights the Coast Guard’s vigilance, it also gives a glimpse into the sheer scale and sophistication of the narcotics trade.
“Every win is great,” Coursen said. “But every win is also an insight into just how much cocaine is being moved. The most recent estimates show 3,000 to 4,000 tons a year—about 6 million pounds. So even massive interdictions like this are only scratching the surface.”
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Coursen warned that despite major seizures like Operation Pacific Viper, cartels’ vast resources allow them to absorb losses and continue operations.
“If nine out of 10 shipments are seized, they’re still making a profit,” he said. “Each one is insured by scale. To them, it’s a tariff—just the cost of doing business.”
He added that the U.S. remains the largest consumer of cocaine globally, accounting for an estimated 40% of worldwide demand.
Despite the success of Operation Pacific Viper, Coursen said interdiction alone will not solve the problem.
“It’s an enormous challenge,” he said. “But every interdiction is a win for national security, and for the men and women who put themselves in harm’s way to make it happen.”
Michael J. Fox reveals his biggest ‘bully’ following the iconic film’s 40th anniversary
Michael J. Fox is blasting “bully culture” and sharing his own experience with what he calls his biggest bully – Parkinson’s disease.
For the 40th anniversary of “Back to the Future,” Fox and his co-stars – Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown) and Lea Thompson (Lorraine McFly) – sat down with Empire to discuss the iconic sci-fi movie. Fox noted that, like in the film, bully culture remains alive and well.
“We live in a bully culture right now. We have bullies everywhere – you don’t need me to point the finger at who, but there are all these bullies,” Fox said.
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“In this movie, Biff is a bully. Time is a bully. For me personally, Parkinson’s is a bully. And it’s all about how you stand up to them and the resolve that you take into the fight with them. It’s about your resilience and your courage,” he said.
According to Fox, the movie still resonates with fans four decades later because of the seemingly impossible odds the characters overcome.
“I think there’s a lot to that right now. I think a lot of people are responding to the movie because it strikes chords they wouldn’t otherwise recognize,” he said.
“We live in a bully culture right now. We have bullies everywhere — you don’t need me to point the finger at who, but there are all these bullies.”
For the past three decades, Fox hasn’t let his “bully” win.
The star is set to return to the screen after five years in retirement with his most personal role yet in the upcoming season of “Shrinking.”
MICHAEL J. FOX DOESN’T WANT A ‘DRAMATIC’ DEATH AFTER BATTLING PARKINSON’S FOR 35 YEARS
“I just feel I have to,” he told USA Today. “It’s a tradeoff. I want to be around for everything.”
“I want to be active at everything, keep working, keep my partnerships going, my good friends, and enjoy my time with my family,” he added. “And it’s all good; it’s so much better than it could be.”
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Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder that affects the nervous system and mobility, has been central to Fox’s life since his diagnosis in 1991, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Throughout much of his acting career, Fox has found ways to work around his symptoms. Now, he’s landed his first role where he doesn’t have to worry about the disease.
In “Shrinking,” Fox’s character also has Parkinson’s disease.
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“It was the first time ever I get to show up on-set, and I didn’t have to worry about am I too tired or coughing or anything,” he told People. “I just do it. It was really good, because for the moments when I say, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this,’ then I say, ‘Well, I’ll just deal with how I can’t do it in the scene.’ And you get through it.”
Fox’s return to acting comes after a five-year hiatus that began with his 2020 retirement announcement. The “Family Ties” star opened up about his future with the “mysterious” disease – which he was diagnosed with at age 29 – in an interview with The Times (U.K.).
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“There’s no timeline, there’s no series of stages that you go through – not in the same way that you would, say, with prostate cancer. It’s much more mysterious and enigmatic,” he explained.
“There are not many people who have had Parkinson’s for 35 years,” Fox continued. “I’d like to just not wake up one day. That’d be really cool. I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t want to trip over furniture, smash my head.”