Giuffre memoir details rape by prime minister, Bill Clinton’s ties to Epstein
In her posthumous memoir, Virginia Giuffre recounts being groomed as a teenager and sexually exploited by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — writing that the abuse included rape by an unnamed prime minister and encounters with powerful men such as former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump.
The book, “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” was released Tuesday and garnered global attention. While it made no explicit allegations against Clinton or Trump, Giuffre did chronicle meetings with both in contexts not related to Epstein’s alleged crimes.
The story Giuffre recounts of how she was sucked into Epstein and Maxwell’s high-powered orbit begins when her father helped get her a job at Mar-a-Lago, where he worked as a maintenance worker. Giuffrie’s discussions of Trump in the book largely place him as a background figure during her early days at Mar-a-Lago, where she eventually met Maxwell in the summer of 2000.
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“It couldn’t have been more than a few days before my dad said he wanted to introduce me to Mr. Trump himself. They weren’t friends, exactly. But Dad worked hard, and Trump liked that—I’d seen photos of them posing together, shaking hands,” Giuffre writes. “Trump couldn’t have been friendlier, telling me it was fantastic that I was there. ‘Do you like kids?’ he asked. ‘Do you babysit at all?’ He explained that he owned several houses next to the resort that he lent to friends, many of whom had children that needed tending.”
Giuffre also recounts how Epstein and Trump’s relationship eventually broke down, an explanation for which differs from the one Trump has publicly provided. Giuffre said Trump withdrew Epstein’s membership at Mar-a-Lago after hitting the teenage daughter of another guest, but Trump has publicly said that a spat about Epstein coaxing his Mar-a-Lago spa employees was what led to the end of their relationship.
Giuffre, working an entry-level position at the resort’s spa, recounted how Maxwell sought to hire her as a masseuse despite her lack of experience. Before she knew it, Giuffre was traveling alongside Epstein and Maxwell around the world performing sexual favors. According to Giuffre, it was difficult to reconcile the fact that her abusers commanded so much respect from such powerful figures.
“This was a man who displayed framed photographs of himself with the Dalai Lama, with the pope, and with members of the British royal family. A photo in his Palm Beach house showed Epstein posing behind the podium of the White House briefing room,” Giuffre writes. “This was a man who’d had former president Bill Clinton over for dinner (I was at the table that night) and who’d hosted Al and Tipper Gore as well (again, I was there).”
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“Maxwell was proud of her friendships with famous people, especially men,” Giuffre added in the memoir. “[Maxwell] loved to talk about how easily she could get former president Bill Clinton on the phone.” According to Giuffre, Epstein and Maxwell visited the White House together during Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office. In the book, Giuffre also recalled how Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane in 2002, but she was not present for that trip.
“On September 21, Epstein and Maxwell were leaving New York on an extended trip to Africa. Marcinkova was flying with them on Epstein’s Boeing 727, as were several high-profile guests: the actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey and former president Clinton, not to mention six U.S. Secret Service agents. (Clinton has said the trip was a humanitarian mission that included stops related to the work of his foundation.)” Giuffre wrote.
However, despite naming Clinton in the book about her experience being sex trafficked by Epstein, Giuffre lamented the media’s propensity to connect the former president to Epstein’s crimes. “Right away, the article noted that I had never been ‘lent out’ to the former president. But I guess the Mail found it newsworthy simply that I’d witnessed Epstein and Clinton together,” she writes.
Among the various trafficking incidents Giuffre talked about in her book, which do directly involve powerful people from Epstein and Maxwell’s orbit, was a brutal rape by an unnamed former prime minister on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2002. According to Giuffre’s account of the incident, she was ordered by Epstein to have sex with the prime minister, who choked her nearly to unconsciousness and mocked her fear of the situation. Giuffre said that upon returning to Epstein after the incident, she begged not to be sent back to the prime minister, but Epstein told her the brutality was just part of the job.
According to Giuffre, this horrific incident was a turning point for her.
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“Before the Prime Minister’s attack, Epstein had me fooled. I thought that Epstein’s predilection for childlike girls was a sickness, but that, in his twisted way, he meant well. After the attack, I couldn’t stay a fool. Having been treated so brutally and then seeing Epstein’s callous reaction to how terrorized I felt, I had to accept that Epstein meted out praise merely as a manipulation to keep me subservient. Epstein cared only about Epstein,” Giuffre writes in her memoir. “At that point, I hit bottom. I now knew I wouldn’t survive. I saw only two possible options: either someone Epstein trafficked me to would kill me or I would take my own life.”
Giuffre would eventually die by suicide in April, roughly six months before the release of her memoir.
‘Rocky’ star admits agents fired him as career hit rock bottom: ‘Time has passed’
Sylvester Stallone is getting candid about the struggles he experienced throughout his career.
In a recent interview with AARP, the 79-year-old actor discussed feeling like Hollywood had abandoned him, noting that “For almost a decade, I couldn’t find work.”
“Nobody wanted me after ‘Cop Land.’ Even my agents,” he told the outlet. “I was fired from CAA. My personal manager at the time let me go. He said, ‘I can’t do anything for you. Nobody really wants you anymore.’ And I go, ‘How’d this happen?’ I was told these studios feel as though you’re not what you were.”
He recalled going to his former agent who was in charge of Universal Studios at the time, and telling him “please, I’ll take anything,” and hearing “I’ll try to help you, but it’s not up to me,” in response.
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Despite being told his “time has passed” and that his “genre is over,” Stallone didn’t give up. “I wanted to go back to ‘Rocky,'” Stallone recalled, calling it his “safe place.”
“But there I am, 60 years old, and the previous one, ‘Rocky V,’ was an abject failure, so the original producers didn’t want to do the sixth film, ‘Rocky Balboa,'” he said. “They said, basically, ‘Over our dead bodies.’ Even my wife was going, ‘I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.'”
A chance encounter with a film producer while on vacation in Mexico led to the making of the successful fifth film in the Rocky franchise, which put Stallone back on the map. He went on to write and star in two more “Rambo” films, “The Expendables” franchise and reprised the role of Rocky Balboa in the “Creed” films.
The first Rocky film helped launch his film career and earned him Oscar nominations for best original screenplay and best actor. When speaking about one of his more iconic characters, Rambo, Stallone said he can identify with him due to his difficult childhood.
“I feel closer to Rambo than Rocky in many ways because he’s a scorned child,” he explained. “He’s rejected by America, his parent. ‘I did everything you wanted me to do, but I wasn’t good enough. And I came back and you want to bury me.’ So I would fill Rambo with over-the-top violence.”
He has previously spoken about his violent childhood, saying in his 2023 Netflix documentary, “Sly,” that he “was raised by a very physical father” and that he “was no stranger to serious pain.” He went on to explain that through his many experiences, his mindset “just became, ‘I’m not gonna break.’”
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During his interview with AARP, Stallone bluntly shared “My mother didn’t want me,” calling her “a narcissist with a borderline personality disorder” who hated affection and never gave any.
“She never hugged me, my brother—forget a kiss,” he said. “My father certainly was not prepared to be a father. They really didn’t want children, and they had them and thought, So how do we get rid of them?”
Stallone also discussed his complicated relationship with his parents during an episode of Sean Hannity’s Fox Nation series, “Sean.”
“Today, people would have been arrested, but in one part… I have the ability to channel that,” Stallone said. “And that’s why I think I’m successful, because I understand rejection. I understand hardship, I understand fear, and if my father couldn’t break me, nobody was going to break me… I know what it’s like to live on the dark side.”
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The “Samaritan” star described himself as “disruptive,” but found a passion for art and later “got into acting by accident.” Despite the stage being somewhere he felt comfortable, getting casting directors to hire him proved to be difficult.
Stallone came to the conclusion that “acting is 97 percent guaranteed unemployment” and came to the realization that he “was never going to make it as an actor,” unless he was content just playing “the second goon.” It was at this point that he “decided to learn about writing.”
“I was terrible. I mean, I still, today, don’t know what a pronoun is. I’m just still working on a verb. It’s an action word, right? Because it doesn’t matter in screenwriting,” he told AARP. “When you’re writing dialogue, the way you speak is as personal as your fingerprints. I just had that ear. So my point is, I knew I was going to be a thug, and then an older thug, and then an unemployable thug. But maybe, instead, I could write a story about a thug who is not a thug. He’s really quite a broken man, kind, and just realizes he’s a failure.”
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When speaking about the enduring success of the Rocky franchise, Stallone told Fox News Digital in December 2023, he believes the film resonates because everyone can relate to it.
“There are certain conundrums, issues, problems, journeys, challenges that everybody from every country, every culture has to face,” he said. “And they may be somewhat different, but they usually deal with the same kind of — I just want to achieve something, I want people to be proud of me, I want to raise a family, I want to support my daughter. It’s this kind of fear — or [thinking] I’m really nobody inside. People look at me but, on the inside, I feel weak and shallow, that’s what the character was.”
The actor currently stars in the Paramount + series, “Tulsa King,” and also appears in the reality show, “The Family Stallone,” alongside his wife, Jennifer Flavin and his daughters, Sophia, 29, Sistine, 27, and Scarlet, 23.
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Former senator makes bold comeback bid: ‘This is a race I know I can win’
EXCLUSIVE: RYE, N.H. — It’s been 15 years since Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in swing state New Hampshire.
But former Sen. John E. Sununu is confident he can break his party’s losing streak.
“This is a race I know I can win,” Sununu told Fox News Digital last month.
Sununu launched his 2026 GOP Senate campaign earlier this week, and on Friday explained why he’s the right person to flip the seat currently held by longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who’s retiring after next year. The seat is heavily targeted by Republicans, who are hoping to not only defend but expand their 53-47 majority in the Senate.
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“It’s the right message, the right set of issues, and also the right person,” Sununu told Fox News Digital, in his first national interview after declaring his candidacy.
Sununu is a former three-term representative who defeated then-Gov. Shaheen in New Hampshire’s 2002 Senate election. But the senator lost to Shaheen in their 2008 rematch.
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Shaheen announced earlier this year that she wouldn’t seek re-election in next year’s midterms and Republicans are working to flip the seat as they aim to not only defend but expand their Senate majority.
Now, after nearly two decades in the private sector, Sununu is returning to the campaign trail in New England’s only swing state.
Sununu, in his launch video, said that nowadays “Congress just seems loud, dysfunctional, even angry,” and that he wants to “return to the Senate to help calm the waters.”
Asked if that’s the kind of message that the Republican base wants to hear, the former senator said: “They want to win. I think they want to have someone who advocates for New Hampshire and gets things done. Someone like me, who can walk into the Oval Office and work to keep taxes low for New Hampshire, work with the administration, work with President Trump.”
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Sununu’s said his “priorities are, affordability, keep taxes low, give our state just a strong, clear voice in Washington,” and that he’s “carrying that message across the state, meeting with activists, meeting with businesses, talking to them about their needs.”
“There are three things I’ve spent my life doing: standing up for New Hampshire, solving tough problems and working with people to get things done for New Hampshire. That’s exactly what I’ll do as senator,” he said.
Sununu is a brand name in New Hampshire politics. The former senator’s father, John H. Sununu, is a former governor who later served as chief of staff in then-President George H.W. Bush’s White House. And one of his younger brothers is former Gov. Chris Sununu, who won election and re-election to four two-year terms steering the Granite State.
But Sununu won’t have a glide path to the GOP nomination.
Former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown, who was elected and served three years in the Senate in neighboring Massachusetts, and who, as the 2014 GOP Senate nominee in New Hampshire, narrowly lost to Shaheen during her first re-election, jumped into the race in late June.
“Our campaign will have the necessary resources for the long haul, and allow me to campaign the only way I know how: relentless hard work and a focus on retail politics that Granite State voters expect,” Brown said after Fox News first reported a couple of weeks ago that he hauled in roughly $1.2 million in fundraising the past three months.
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Brown has repeatedly taken aim at Sununu the past month over the former senator’s lack of past support for Trump, who holds immense clout over the GOP.
Sununu served as national co-chair on the 2016 Republican presidential campaign of then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who declined to support Trump as the party’s nominee.
And Sununu, along with then-Gov. Chris Sununu, endorsed former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, as she battled Trump for the nomination.
And on the eve of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, the former senator wrote an opinion piece titled, “Donald Trump is a loser,” that ran in the New Hampshire Union Leader, the state’s largest daily newspaper.
Brown endorsed Trump ahead of his 2016 New Hampshire primary victory, which launched him toward the GOP presidential nomination and ultimately the White House. Brown later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term.
“Anyone who thinks that a never Trump, corporate lobbyist who hasn’t won an election in a quarter century, will resonate with today’s GOP primary voters is living in a different universe. While John was supporting John Kasich in 2016, I was campaigning with Donald Trump,” Brown charged in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Asked about the criticism, Sununu said: “This race is about who is going to do the best job for New Hampshire, and I absolutely can work with the Trump administration on issues important to New Hampshire.”
Brown, pointing to Sununu’s past decade and a half in the private sector, argued that “while John was fighting for special interests, I was serving in the first Trump administration.”
And the New Hampshire Democratic Party also blasted the former senator over his private sector tenure.
“John Sununu went to Washington almost 30 years ago, then cashed in, making millions selling out to corporations and working for Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Wall Street while the people of New Hampshire paid the price,” longtime state party chair Ray Buckley argued in a statement. “The only reason Sununu wants to go back to Washington now is to sell out New Hampshire to the same corporations and special interests that have lined his pockets for years. Granite Staters won’t let him sell us out again.”
Sununu, pushing back, said: “I have never lobbied any member of Congress on any issue for any business. My work has been in technology in the private sector.”
“We need that background of business and private sector experience in Washington. We don’t want a bunch of lawyers making all the decisions in Washington,” Sununu added, in a jab at Brown, an attorney who served as dean of New England Law Boston after returning to the U.S. at the end of the Trump administration.
Trump, whose endorsement in Republican primaries is extremely influential, has remained neutral to date.
But the president may be willing to overlook Sununu’s past jabs.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Trump ally and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, announced hours after Sununu’s launch that the Senate GOP’s campaign arm would back the former senator’s bid.
And the Senate Leadership Fund, the top super PAC supporting Senate Republicans — which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and steered by Trump world veterans — praised Sununu.
Sununu told Fox News Digital he “would certainly like to have his [Trump’s] endorsement, and it would be, I think, helpful in the primary.”
“But the more support and endorsements you can have, the stronger your overall campaign is going to be,” he added as he listed a number of top New Hampshire Republicans who are now backing him, including Steve Stepanek, a longtime top Trump Granite State ally who chaired the president’s 2016 campaign in New Hampshire and served as senior adviser on last year’s campaign.
“They’ve all sort of joined this effort because they know I will be the best and most effective senator for the state of New Hampshire,” he touted.
If he clears next September’s primary, Sununu would likely face off against four-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.
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Pappas, who launched his Senate campaign in early April, is the clear frontrunner for his party’s nomination.
Universities reject Trump’s academic deal focused on merit, anti-discrimination policies
Seven out of nine universities that the Trump administration solicited for feedback on its Compact for Academic Excellence in Education have rejected the plan, while two others remain noncommittal.
The administration sent the compact to universities on Oct. 1, soliciting responses from the University of Arizona, MIT, Vanderbilt University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Virginia.
The compact’s principles include merit-based admissions and hiring practices regardless of race, sex, political orientation, ethnicity and nationality, a commitment to freedom of ideas “abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” recognizing biological sex for the purpose of athletics, restrooms and locker rooms, institutional political neutrality, along with a measure about financial responsibility and some restrictions on admissions for foreign students.
If universities signed the deal, they would be subject to preferential federal funding.
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While most of the universities provided feedback by the Monday deadline, none agreed to the compact.
Brown University President Christina Paxson wrote a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon which says, in part, “I am concerned that the compact, by its very nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission.”
MIT’s president, Sally Kornbluth, said the school rejected the compact because it already does what the compact asks.
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“These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they’re right, and we live by them because they support our mission – work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law,” she wrote in a letter to McMahon on Oct. 10.
University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson said in an Oct. 16 statement that the school rejected the compact.
“Earlier today, I informed the U.S. Department of Education that Penn respectfully declines to sign the proposed Compact. As requested, we also provided focused feedback highlighting areas of existing alignment as well as substantive concerns,” the statement said.
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On Oct. 17, Dartmouth rejected the deal, saying it does not believe that “the involvement of the government through a compact—whether it is a Republican- or Democratic-led White House—is the right way to focus America’s leading colleges and universities on their teaching and research mission.”
“Our universities have a responsibility to set our own academic and institutional policies, guided by our mission and values, our commitment to free expression, and our obligations under the law,” a letter to McMahon said. “Staying true to this responsibility is what will help American higher education build bipartisan public trust and continue to uphold its place as the envy of the world.
The University of Southern California acknowledged that while many of the values outlined in the compact were compatible with the school’s established practices, it would not agree to the deal.
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“Notwithstanding these areas of alignment, we are concerned that even though the Compact would be voluntary, tying research benefits to it would, over time, undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the Compact seeks to promote,” a letter from USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim said. “Other countries whose governments lack America’s commitment to freedom and democracy have shown how academic excellence can suffer when shifting external priorities tilt the research playing field away from free, meritocratic competition.”
The University of Virginia declined to join the compact as well, with Paul Mahoney, its interim president, saying, “A contractual arrangement predicating assessment on anything other than merit will undermine the integrity of vital, sometimes lifesaving, research and further erode confidence in American higher education.”
Similarly, the University of Arizona felt its principles had common ground with the compact, but also declined to sign it.
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“We have much common ground with the ideas your administration is advancing on changes that would benefit American higher education and our nation at large,” UA President Suresh Garimella wrote to McMahon.
“At the same time, a federal research funding system based on anything other than merit would weaken the world’s preeminent engine for innovation, advancement of technology, and solutions to many of our nation’s most profound challenges,” the letter continued. “We seek no special treatment and believe in our ability to compete for federally funded research strictly on merit.”
Vanderbilt University responded Tuesday, saying it had not been asked to accept or deny the compact, but rather to provide feedback to the administration, which it says it will do.
“Vanderbilt believes deeply in the power of constructive dialogue, particularly among people of differing views and perspectives,” said a letter to the Vanderbilt community from President Daniel Diermeier. “This is often how the greatest progress is made. We look forward to continuing the conversation—on our campus and with leaders in government and higher education—as we work toward our shared goal of restoring public trust in higher education and ensuring that America’s universities remain the best in the world.”
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The University of Texas at Austin has not officially accepted or denied the compact, and Kevin Eltife, the chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said the school was “honored” to be solicited for feedback, according to FOX 7.
“We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately,” Eltife said.
Joe Rogan marvels at the multiple historic accounts of Jesus Christ
Podcaster Joe Rogan praised the merits of religion, noting he enjoys going to a church and hearing about the Bible and its teachings.
During his interview with “Triggernometry” hosts Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, the three commentators noted the benefits of inner peace and moral certainty religion provides. After Kisin noted that he started going to church services again and genuinely enjoys it, Rogan agreed.
“I do too. It’s a bunch of people that are going to try to make their lives better,” he said. “They’re trying to be a better person, and they’re trying to — I mean for me at least, the place that I go to — they, you know, they read and analyze passages in the Bible. I’m really interested in what these people were trying to say because I don’t think it’s nothing.”
Rogan added that he has seen many self-professed intellectuals scoff at religion and minimize it as “fairy tales,” arguing this is a shallow way to look at thousands of years of accumulated human experience.
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“There’s a lot of, like, atheists and secular people that just like to dismiss Christianity as being foolish. You know, ‘It’s just fairy tales.’ I hear that amongst, you know, self-professed intelligent people, like, ‘It’s a fairy tale,’” Rogan said.
“Like, I don’t know if that’s true. I think there’s more to it. I think it’s history, but I think it’s a confusing history. It’s a confusing history because it was a long time ago. And it’s people telling things in an oral tradition, then writing things down in a language that you don’t understand in the context of a culture that you don’t understand. And I think there’s something to what they’re saying.”
Rogan noted the ubiquity of flood myths across the world and pointed out there appears to be scientific evidence for a prehistoric flood caused by comet impacts. He argued there clearly is some physical evidence for the claims made in Biblical stories.
Rogan praised Jesus Christ in particular, noting he is both a philosophically remarkable and a historically valid figure.
“Christianity in particular is the most fascinating to me because there’s this one person that everybody agrees existed, that somehow or another had the best plan for how human beings should interact with each other and behave and was the best example of it and even died in a nonviolent way, like didn’t even protest, died on the cross supposedly for our sins,” Rogan said. “Like, it’s a fascinating story.”
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“It’s a historically documented human being,” Rogan later noted, speaking about the uniqueness of the Christian messiah. “That’s where it gets weird because there’s a there’s a universal depiction of what this human being was like. That doesn’t seem to vary that much between all the people that knew him. That gets weird.”
Francis Foster praised the part of the Roman Catholic Mass where worshipers wish each other peace, noting how powerful it is for some strangers to make a real human connection with a handshake and three words, “Peace be with you.”
Rogan agreed on what a powerful gesture this is, arguing that people need something outside themselves and their whims to offer guidance.
“If you’re just relying on your whims and your, you know, whatever you think is the moral thing to do, you know, then you know what you get? You get those people that are unable to answer the question of whether or not you should protect an unborn fetus or whether or not they have human rights,” he said.
“If you have religion, you go ‘Wow, that’s a good question.'”
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Foster recalled the New Atheist movement that was popular in the early 2000s and its claim that people don’t need religion.
“I think that’s fundamentally inaccurate,” he said.
Kisin and Rogan both noted they had once been interested in the New Atheist movement.
“But a lot of those guys fell apart” Rogan said. “A lot of those guys get real persnickety; they don’t seem very enlightened. They don’t seem like they’re at peace, which is interesting.”
While Rogan noted he has met Christians he agrees and disagrees with politically, he called them some of the happiest and kindest people he has met in his life.
‘Blind Side’ actor sheds over 200 pounds after near-death experience
“The Blind Side” star Quinton Aaron revealed he lost more than 200 pounds after a near-death experience that he believes was a wake-up call from God.
Since 2021, the 41-year-old actor’s weight has dropped from his all-time high of 575 to 366 pounds after a lifestyle transformation. During an interview with Fox News Digital, Aaron, who stars in the new BET+ movie “War Dawgz,” recalled the moment that forced him to rethink his life.
“I had this come to Jesus kind of moment a few years back,” he remembered.
“I was at this waterfront in Mandeville, Louisiana,” Aaron continued. “This is like during COVID, 2021ish. And I used to always go there and sit and just meditate, listen to the water and stuff.”
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“There’s one day I’m sitting there on the wall, and I’m just listening to the water vibe, and then I wake up underwater,” he recalled. “So I literally passed out, fell off the wall, and it was like a 12-foot drop, but the water was only three feet deep. I didn’t know that at the time. Well, thank God it was three feet deep because I can’t swim.”
Aaron said he believed he was saved by a voice he heard telling him to stand up.
“I literally woke up underwater,” he recalled. “I didn’t have a chance to take a breath and brace myself. When I woke up, I was submerged, and I just felt this pain on the back of my neck and shoulder from going down. But while I’m underwater, I hear this voice say, ‘Stand up.’ And so I stand, like I start trying to get to my feet. The water is pushing me into the rocks, and I’m kinda like hitting my head up against something. I don’t know what it was, but I can’t see because the water’s dirty brown.”
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The actor managed to pull himself upright but was in excruciating pain. He said he later learned that his fall may have been caused by diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication from extremely high blood sugar levels.
“The Left Behind” star told Fox News Digital that he had been seen sitting on the wall by a passing couple who turned around and came back to check on him after hearing a splash.
“They were like, ‘Are you alright?’ And that’s when I screamed, and so they called 911,” he said.
Aaron recalled that he was rushed to a local hospital where doctors conducted a full-body examination on him and discovered that he had an infection in one of his big toes that had spread to his bone.
“I was in the hospital for a few weeks getting IV antibiotics,” Aaron said. “I almost lost my toe, but thankfully I didn’t. They just cut a piece of it off, and it had to heal.”
Aaron, who is a devout Christian, shared that he believed that he had a pivotal encounter with God while he was recovering.
“God visited me, and he was like, ‘Do you want to die?’ And I said, ‘No.’ And I didn’t know who I’m answering, but I hear this voice talking to me. And I said, ‘No.’ And he goes, ‘So what are you gonna do?’ And I said, ‘I need help.’”
The actor said he believed God “rewired something” in him during his recovery.
“From that moment on, I couldn’t stand the taste of sugar,” he said. “It’s not permanent because today I eat sugar again, but at that time, when I said ‘I need help,’ it was like He knew what the help was, and He just erased it from my memory.”
After leaving the hospital, Aaron adopted intermittent fasting, portion control and cutting out sugar as the foundation of his new health plan.
“I stopped overeating,” he said. “I started intermittent fasting and I cut out sugars, and so with just those three things, the weight just started dropping off tremendously.”
Aaron said doctors told him his diabetes and elevated blood sugar contributed to his fall.
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“I was in diabetic ketoacidosis,” he said. “The blood becomes acidic and your organs start to shut down. So that’s why God was like, ‘Do you want to die?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’ Because I was on the way.”
“It wasn’t an overnight process,” Aaron continued. “It definitely took some work, but my mindset was at that point where it was like, I got a lot of things I want to live for. At the time, I was single. I’ve always wanted to be married and have kids. And I’m like, ‘What condition am I gonna be in if I had kids? I gotta make these changes.’”
“So I started taking it serious,” he continued. “Once you change it up here, everything else falls into place because you now have the mindset that you need to get to where you’re trying to go. And for me, that was the biggest part.”
“I said, God has a sense of humor because I felt like he could have done a lot more subtle than knocking me off the wall into the water and knowing I can’t swim,” Aaron added with a laugh.
WATCH: ‘BLIND SIDE’ STAR QUINTON AARON SHARES HOW HE LOST OVER 200 POUNDS AFTER A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE
Aaron acknowledged that years of depression and emotional eating contributed to his weight struggles. The actor suffered a tragic loss in September 2008 when his mother, Laura Aaron, died from a heart attack at the age of 44.
At the time, Aaron had recently been cast in his breakthrough role as Michael Oher in the 2009 biographical sports drama “The Blind Side” after a nationwide search for the right actor to portray the NFL player’s story. The movie also starred Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw as Oher’s adoptive parents, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy.
“The Blind Side” became a major commercial and critical success, receiving Oscar nominations for best picture and best actress for Bullock, who took home the trophy. The 61-year-old star also won the Golden Globe Award for best actress.
Aaron earned rave reviews for his performance and the role launched his Hollywood career. Looking back, the actor told Fox News Digital that he compartmentalized his pain over Laura’s death to take advantage of the opportunities that were coming his way.
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However, he said that when “the noise kind of started to settle, then the grieving became loud again.”
“I’m a mama’s boy through and through. I miss my mama,” Aaron said. “I couldn’t share any of that with her, and it just started eating at me. And I still thank God to this day that I chose food as a vice because there are so many other things. There’s drugs and alcohol, you know, God forbid. I didn’t turn to those things.”
Aaron shared that he has stayed close with Bullock, who reached out to him during his hospital stay as well as after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2019.
“She’s always been amazing, and she’s been a huge part of my life since the movie,” he said. “We’ve had such an amazing friendship over the years that still goes on.”
“That’s my mama, you know, that’s my on-screen mama,” he added. “I always got her back. She’s dope. She’s definitely been a big factor in my life while going through what I went through.”
WATCH: ‘THE BLIND SIDE’ STAR QUINTON AARON ON HIS NEW MOVIE ‘WAR DAWGZ’
Aaron credited his faith and mindset for helping him maintain progress that once eluded him.
“My first weight loss journey was when I trained for ‘The Blind Side,’” he recalled. “I lost a hundred pounds just to do the movie. A couple years later, I had another health thing because I had put on some weight. My weight would go up and down over the years.”
He said his new motivation comes from his marriage to wife Margarita, who he wed in December 2024, and his desire to “break the generational curse” of diabetes and heart disease.
“It’s about making sure that when I have my children, they don’t fall into that stigma of the unhealthy habits that has plagued me and my family for generations,” he said. “My mom was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the age of 37. I got diagnosed at 35. She died at 44. I ain’t trying to die no time soon. I ain’t trying to die in my forties and my fifties. I’m trying to be here for the long run. I wanna see my kids have kids. And I ain’t got kids yet, so I gotta be here.”
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Aaron told Fox News Digital that he achieved his 200 pound weight loss without the help of Ozempic, the diabetes drug often prescribed off-label for weight loss. He said that he briefly tried Ozempic to treat his diabetes but quickly stopped after experiencing an allergic reaction.
Now, the actor hopes his transformation will be lasting.
“I’m gonna get rid of that diabetes, I’m gonna get rid of that congestive heart failure — those are reversible,” he said. “If you tell me something’s impossible, I’ll show you it’s possible.”
Aaron said he feels he’s “almost there” in his weight-loss journey.
“I wanna be around 340, 350, but I want to put on some muscle, bulk up, get ready for these movies,” he said. “Feel good when I take my shirt off at the beach. I’m not necessarily looking for a six-pack — I’m good with my keg.”
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The actor recently played the role of Raw Dog in the action film “War Dawgz,” which is currently streaming on BET+. During his interview with Fox News Digital, Aaron shed some light on his character.
“He’s the leader of a gang, and he’s kind of ran South Central L.A. for years,” Aaron said of his character. “While he’s a bad guy, there are some redeeming qualities about him, which is what I love because you want to root for him as well.”
Aaron also shared advice for anyone struggling to change their lives.
“It’s never too late,” he said. “As long as you get the opportunity to wake up and breathe the breath of life every single day, you still got work to do. You’re still here for a reason.”
“Being where I was and getting to where I’m at — if you had asked me when I was at my heaviest, would I ever see this weight again? I would’ve said no,” he added. “That was my mindset at the time. And God had different plans.”
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Hollywood’s Mark Wahlberg makes CA exodus, joins ‘Billionaires’ Row’ in FL
South Florida’s most recently-coined “Billionaires’ Row” is welcoming home a new Hollywood heavyweight, and the celebrity buyer’s agent who closed the $37 million deal is revealing that his high-profile clients don’t fall in love with the home first, but rather the area.
“I really try and dig deeper … with my buyers. I really want to get down to, how do you want to spend your time here? What’s important to you? Do you play golf? Do you play tennis? Is the beach important? What does your wife like to do? Are you into boating? How important is going out to dinner?” Compass’ Michael Costello told Fox News Digital.
“I tell everyone, you don’t fall in love with the house — you’ve got to fall in love with the area. You can change your home as much as you want, but you can’t change the location.”
Costello, one of the highest-producing real estate agents in Florida, recently represented actor Mark Wahlberg in the purchase of a fully furnished Italian-style mansion named Palazzo di Lago in the gated Stone Creek Ranch community in Delray Beach.
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Realtor.com recently dubbed the neighborhood “Billionaires’ Row,” a title previously and more commonly associated with the Palm Beach waterfront properties along South Ocean Boulevard.
“I first discovered Stone Creek Ranch back in, I think, 2018 [or] 2019. I had a client living on the water in Gulf Stream, which is kind of northeast of Delray, and their kids were going to school more inland, and they were getting tired of the commute,” Costello recalled. “And I kind of stumbled across Stone Creek Ranch, and you drive in there, and it’s like this little oasis. There are beautiful lakes and bridges and large, large lots and beautiful homes.”
The 18,206-square-foot property — featuring seven bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms, a seven-car garage, guesthouse, resort-style pool, home theater, gym, sauna, wine cellar, cigar lounge and more — was originally listed in March for $45 million. It sits on 2.7 acres, offering immense privacy — something Costello says his clients value most.
“The thing I really try and do is protect my clients’ identity and their privacy as much as possible,” Costello said. “When you’re calling listing agents to show properties, the listing agent, it’s their job to really vet buyers just so you’re not getting people just coming on the property that aren’t qualified to buy. . . . Over the last five years or so, we’ve had a handful of NDAs we get from the more high-profile clients, [but] I wouldn’t say it’s commonplace.”
Listing agent Senada Adzem of Douglas Elliman, who represented the seller, declined to comment to Fox News Digital about the transaction.
In a press release announcing Wahlberg’s acquisition, Stone Creek Ranch is described as “a haven where world-class design meets complete discretion.” The release added that recent sales of two architectural showpieces — the “James Bond House” and the “Ferrari House” — highlight the enclave’s international appeal. Two new listings are expected soon, priced at approximately $75 million and $100 million, each poised to set the next benchmark for ultra-luxury estates in South Florida.
When it comes to what a buyer like Wahlberg may want in a luxury retreat, Costello says every client is different, but most prefer homes with “nice finishes” and plenty of attention to detail.
“Some people, they want views, right? They want to be on the water, or they want something with a lot of privacy, or they want a large pool, elaborate gyms or theaters,” he noted. “I’d say the most common ‘must’ would be high quality features in these homes – natural stones, marble, French oak flooring … nice finishes would be the common denominator.”
Top-tier agents and their clients often showcase properties that go beyond the norm. Costello recalls once chartering a helicopter for a prominent New York City developer who moved to South Florida just before the pandemic.
“We kind of buzzed around [Palm Beach] county in the helicopter. And again, we’re looking at major estates, properties from the air, and seeing the size and the scale,” he said. “He appreciated me doing that and thinking outside the box, rather than putting him in a car and spending a half-hour travel time between each showing.”
Wahlberg’s Delray Beach purchase follows the sale of his Beverly Hills estate to Paris Hilton, which closed in June for $63.1 million, The Wall Street Journal reported. The man once known as “Marky Mark” now joins the growing list of celebrities and high-net-worth individuals who have left California for Florida.
After closing the high-profile deal, Costello says he’s looking ahead to a “really busy” season and sees other hot spots like Delray Beach and Jupiter attracting more luxury buyers.
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“The last six to eight weeks, we’ve had a ton of showings. People are definitely here looking to buy,” Costello said. “I’ve talked to other agents, and they’re all saying the same thing.”
“I’m blessed to have great clients. I’ve gotten really, really lucky. I think hard work plays a factor, but there’s a lot of luck involved, and … this business is definitely driven by, ‘You get what you give.’”
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Fall-proof your life: The silent crisis affecting 14M older Americans each year
Dealing with aging requires a lot of adaptation and planning, which can be stressful, costly and time-consuming. Not dealing with it can be even worse, leading to accidents, more costs and even death. As you – or your loved ones – age, here are some things to plan for to make the process easier and safer.
Fall-proof your home
The CDC reports that around 25% of older adults – more than 14 million – fall each year, with approximately 3 million emergency room visits and 1 million hospitalizations.
The bedroom, bathroom and stairs are top locations where falling accidents occur. Adding lighting, making sure that there aren’t “trip traps” like movable throw rugs or cords around, and adding grab bars and handrails are good steps for prevention.
Scot Cheben, author of “Eldercare: Helping Businesses Support Employees Who Are Caregivers,” also suggests making sure that lighting is accessible from the bed and at the top and bottom of any stairs, as well as putting a whistle in the bedroom and in the shower or bathtub.
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To create a safe environment, you may even need to find a new living situation that removes stairs and has fewer hazards.
Taking classes to improve balance and strength can help prevent falls. And there are even new class offerings across the country that teach you how to fall safely.
Monitoring driving
Nobody likes to lose independence and aging family members often fight to drive for as long as possible. But if you wait too long to stop driving, it can be dangerous for your loved ones – and others, too.
Vision and reflex issues, getting lost, and missing or not understanding signage can all be signs that it is time to retire the car keys.
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There are quizzes and self-assessments that can help you with evaluation, like this one from AAA.
Cheben suggests encouraging family members to do an “unannounced” test drive for evaluation.
Now that Uber, Lyft and even driverless transportation options like Waymo exist, there are more options for older Americans to retain independence without having to be in the driver’s seat (although, keep in mind the tech limitations discussed below and find ways to assist your loved ones, such as ordering transportation for them, if they can’t do it themselves).
Shore-up information access
While technology can help make our lives easier, for aging Americans who have memory problems, technology can become an obstacle.
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This becomes a bigger issue as many companies are directing their customer service and other functions to websites and online portals.
Make sure that you have someone that you trust with your sensitive information and financial accounts available to both help you navigate technology and make sure you are not getting scammed, as technology scams often target aging individuals.
Also, ensure that your trusted helper has access to your passwords and important information. You can do this through a legacy planning kit, like a Future File system, which shares your information and wishes.
Start to downsize
We Americans love our stuff, and the longer we live, the more stuff we seem to have! But also, as we age, we may need to downsize our homes or move into assisted living,
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Once we are gone, it is often a large project that loved ones must go through in terms of organizing and disposing of personal effects.
Make it a practice to do yearly or twice-yearly purges. Whether you have a yard sale, donate to charity, gift personal effects to loved ones or otherwise, this will help keep your home manageable.
As a bonus, for anything you gift to loved ones, not only will they get to enjoy your gift sooner, but you will get to witness their enjoyment.
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Also, to the extent that you go into a care facility, consider leaving most or all of your valuables behind, and secure any you bring with you. While there are a lot of wonderful, caring people who work in these facilities, there are also some that take advantage and prey on the elderly, particularly as people lose cognition.
While aging causes new obstacles in the way you live, being proactive can help reduce frustration and improve safety and your quality of life.
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Gen Z daters say money matters more than ever: ‘Love doesn’t pay the rent’
For members of Generation Z, romance can come with a price tag — and a budget, according to a new report.
Nearly one in three singles (31%) born between 1997 and 2012 admit they’ve gone on a date just for the free meal, according to an Intuit survey of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted in September.
The study found that money is increasingly shaping relationships, from date-night budgets to deciding who pays the bill.
Overall, 51% of Americans said they’re dating less due to economic concerns, with Gen Z hit hardest at 58%, yet many are redefining a “good” date around affordability and creativity.
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“For Gen Z, financial habits and ambition are becoming part of the new love language,” said Ashleigh Ewald, a Georgia Tech public policy student in her twenties.
“Money and financial security have become major forces in dating because they represent stability.”
Nearly half of Gen Z and millennials say they don’t feel financially secure, according to a Deloitte survey released earlier this year.
Ewald said inflation and cost-of-living pressures have made creative, budget-friendly dates more common — from home-cooked dinners to shared side hustles.
“A girl’s gotta eat.”
Almost half of Americans say the sweet spot for a first-date budget is between $50 and $100, Intuit found.
For 22-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, media professional Katie Fites, the trend rings true.
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“A girl’s gotta eat, but I wouldn’t go out with just anyone for a free meal,” Fites told Fox News Digital. “The risk usually outweighs the reward.”
She said she’s fine with splitting costs or even covering a round of drinks, but she expects effort in return.
“If you can’t afford a $15 drink, don’t ask someone out,” she said. “I want to go out with someone ambitious who knows what they want. It doesn’t mean they have to make a lot of money, but they should have direction.”
Like many of her generation, Fites said she prefers low-pressure, affordable dates — grabbing coffee, walking on the beach or getting a drink instead of an expensive dinner.
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Jason Lee, founder of the dating app LoveTrack, which provides date ideas, conversation starters and birthday and anniversary reminders, said members of Gen Z are more frugal and creative when it comes to date nights. Some of the most popular date ideas on the app are free or low-cost, such as scavenger hunts, picnics and movie nights at home, he said.
Licensed therapist Allison Guilbault, who counsels Gen Z clients in New York City, said splitting tabs, sharing Ubers and buying their own drinks has also become the standard.
“I don’t even think they notice if their date is cheap the way that my peers and I would absolutely notice,” the 44-year-old said.
Money, however, often becomes the “third wheel,” according to Intuit. A third of Americans have ended a relationship over finances, and 44% of Gen Z daters say they’d only go out with someone who earns more than they do.
Sabrina Romanoff, a New York-based psychologist and relationship expert with dating app Hily, said these financial dynamics aren’t new, but they’ve intensified.
“Historically, women tended to date men of equal or greater education or income,” she said.
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Today, dating has become increasingly transactional, she added.
“In the past, a first date might have led to the hope of a future together or a potential relationship, whereas now, more cynical daters may have lower expectations, such as a free dinner or free drink.”
A Hily survey found that more than half — 57% of women and 63% of men — would stop seeing someone who can’t manage money responsibly, and about a third of women and 37% of men even find frugality attractive.
“The goal of getting free meals, drinks or even vacations was prevalent when I was in college,” Guilbault said. She recalled the early 2000s “Sex and the City” era in New York City, when she and her friends would often hustle men to pick up the tab for dinner or drinks.
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For many young couples, financial independence has become the ultimate form of security. More than half keep separate accounts, preferring autonomy to joint control, Intuit found — and they don’t dance around the “money talk.”
“We’re asking the salary question when we get exclusive because we’ve learned that love doesn’t pay the rent,” said Gen Z money expert Taylor Price.
“Money has always mattered in relationships, but for Gen Z, it’s been front and center from day one,” Price told Fox News Digital.
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“We’re the generation that graduated into a pandemic economy, watched inflation eat our paychecks and realized our parents’ financial playbook doesn’t work anymore.”
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“A free meal isn’t just about the food,” she added. “It’s about one less transaction on a card that’s already running on high tabs.”