Free Republic

Billionaire Barry Diller has come out as gay - but insists he enjoyed a full sexual relationship with fashion designer wife Diane Von Furstenberg. Diller, a renowned media exec who previously served as CEO for both Fox and Paramount, opened up about his homosexuality in a soul-baring article penned for New York magazine Tuesday. The 83-year-old credited with creating the Fox channel wrote of Von Furstenberg: 'While there have been a good many men in my life, there has only ever been one woman. 'And she didn’t come into my life until I was 33 years old.' Diller and Von...

He passed away on SaturdayAWARD-winning Irish writer Ken Bruen has died at the age of 74. The Galway crime writer published more than 50 pieces of work and is best known for his Jack Taylor novels. Most notably, he wont the prestigious Shamus Award for Best Crime Novel of the year. Nine of Bruen's novels were adapted into a long-running TV series in 2010, starring Iain Glen and Killian Scott. Bruen passed away on Saturday at University Hospital Galway. He was born in 1951 in Galway before studying in Gormanstown College in Co Meath. He went on to study at...

Utah State Senator Daniel Thatcher left the Republican Party this week to join the Forward Party, becoming the first sitting member of the Utah State Senate affiliated with the organization and its ballot line. In a statement released Friday, the Forward Party said that Thatcher changed his registration on the last day of the legislative session. Reasons provided from a speech Thatcher gave that afternoon include his disappointment with the Utah Republican Party’s leadership on voting rights and legislative priorities. Specifically, Thatcher voiced concerns over the passage of HB 300, which he believes undermines the vote-by-mail process, as well as...

Legendary ABC News anchor and reporter Tom Jarriel, who gained prominence for his coverage of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination and the Richard Nixon administration, has died, his family said Thursday. He was 89. Jarriel’s storied career spanned nearly 40 years after he joined the network in 1965, covering MLK’s murder three years later.

Rudy “Junior” Zevallos' family is remembering the 18 year old as "a remarkable friend, student, brother, and son"A Missouri family is mourning the death of a high school senior who “tragically and very unexpectedly" died after crossing the finish line of a half marathon over the weekend. Rudy “Junior” Zevallos was rushed to the hospital after he collapsed at the finish line on Saturday and was pronounced dead, according to The Kansas City Star. Zevallos was 18, according to his family, who launched a GoFundMe fundraiser over the weekend to help the family with funeral costs. “Junior was a...

I'm hoping other Freepers can help. Some people I know and love have fallen under the influence of a guy named Phil Godlewski. They believe pretty much everything he says. They talk a lot about NESARA, GESARA, the fiat dollar, etc. Apparently Phil is advising people to take their money out of the bank and invest it in precious metal IRAs. He hawks some of these IRAs himself, so he has a financial self interest in telling people to do so. There are lots of people listening to him and falling under his sway. Something doesn't sit right with me...

Mojo Nixon, the unapologetically brash musician, actor, and radio DJ, died of “a cardiac event” on Wednesday, Feb. 7, his family confirmed to Rolling Stone. He was 66. Nixon was aboard the Outlaw Country Cruise, an annual music cruise where he was a co-host and regular performer. “August 2, 1957 — February 7, 2024 Mojo Nixon. How you live is how you should die. Mojo Nixon was full-tilt, wide-open rock hard, root hog, corner on two wheels + on fire…,” his family shared in a statement to Rolling Stone. “Passing after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar,...

A famous neoconservative says Donald Trump will become a dictator like Julius Caesar if he wins the 2024 election. In the lengthy Washington Post piece, Robert Kagan lays out his argument that Trump is well on his way to becoming the GOP nominee for president and stands a good chance of defeating Joe Biden in November. He says Trump's second term would see him become the most powerful president in US history, after defeating two impeachments and coming through four indictments, which have only served to turbocharge GOP support.

Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader in Iowa, is widely expected to endorse Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary. But now, with Donald Trump dominating the field, he is poised to back a candidate who is running 30 points behind the frontrunner here — testing not only the clout of his own endorsement, but the willingness of evangelicals to abandon Trump. Earlier this week, CBS reported that DeSantis told fundraisers he expects Vander Plaats’ endorsement within a week of the summit, which the DeSantis campaign denied.

Baltimore Police have identified and are searching for a suspect in the killing of 26-year-old tech entrepreneur Pava LaPere, an admired leader known as a rising star in her field, saying the convicted sex offender “will kill and he will rape.” Police found LaPere’s partially clothed body with signs of blunt-force trauma on the roof of her apartment building in the 300 block of West Franklin Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood late Monday morning, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation. LaPere, 26, had been reported missing earlier that day. Late Tuesday, Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley said...

Jimmy Appudurai-Chua, who moved from his home country of Singapore to London then Cornwall, once knocked The Beatles off the number one spot in the music charts and mixed with some of the biggest names in the rock worldA much-loved and successful blues 'legend' musician who mixed with some of the biggest names in the rock world - including Eric Clapton and Bryan Adams - has died aged 76. Jimmy Appudurai-Chua, former lead guitarist of blues rock band The Straydogs, died on Tuesday (August 29) from what is only being reported as ill health. Jimmy, who lived in Torpoint, Cornwall,...

Grace had her baby! Everyone welcome Emily Neuhoff Gallagher!

(LifeSiteNews) — Father James Altman and Liz Yore once again joined John-Henry Westen in this week’s episode of Faith & Reason, where they discuss the United Nations’ (UN) recent report on decriminalizing sex with minors, the “sex change” of Chris Tyson, who is the sidekick of famous YouTuber “MrBeast,” and more. In March, the UN released a document that called for the decriminalization of sex with minors, prostitution, drug use, and abortion. According to a principle listed in the document, consensual sex should not be criminalized based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or age. Speaking specifically about sex with minors,...

The Pittsburgh-born jazz pianist known for introducing the world to a softer side of bebop has passed away.Ahmad Jamal, the Pittsburgh-born jazz pianist known for introducing the world to a softer side of bebop, has passed away at the age of 92. He died on Sunday (April 16) at his home in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, after succumbing to prostate cancer, his daughter, Sumayah Jamal, confirmed to The New York Times. Renowned for his supremely delicate touch, Jamal developed a distinctive playing style that combined sparkling melodies with dreamy, gossamer chords. Compared to flamboyantly virtuosic modern jazz contemporaries like Erroll Garner...

The acclaimed musicians also played with the Charlatans and collaborated with Paul Weller, The Chemical Brothers and more.Martin Duffy, who played keyboards for Primal Scream and Felt, has died aged 55, his former Charlatans bandmate Tim Burgess has confirmed. The musician was born in Birmingham, UK on 18 May 1967 and grew up in Rednal. He joined the indie band Felt in 1985 after frontman Lawrence put up a notice in the Birmingham branch of Virgin records advertising for a guitarist that read: “Do you want to be a rock’n’roll star?” and Duffy was recommended to him. Duffy’s sound...

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner believes that Donald Trump will eventually be convicted—revealing in a Sunday morning interview which ongoing investigation he predicts will result in such unprecedented legal consequences for a former president.Trump faces a slew of legal battles and investigations, with two of them now being overseen by a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18. One of those Justice Department probes is looking into whether the former president is criminally liable for the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, and his efforts to unconstitutionally overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election win.The Justice...

Punk rock midwife Danny Fields tells Page Six that he now spends much of his time setting Iggy Pop straight on what happened in his own life. Fields was at the center of the nascent punk rock scene and variously signed, managed or acted as a publicist for key acts including Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5, the Ramones and others. SNIP “It’s like, ‘Iggy, come here, I have to talk to you. That story you’ve telling when people ask you how you met David Bowie — Iggy, that’s not what happened,” Fields said. He added, “‘Listen, what happened was...

Billionaire and GOP megadonor Ronald Lauder won't help finance Donald Trump's 2024 campaign for president, his spokesman told CNBC on Wednesday. Lauder, an heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, is the latest Republican megadonor to distance himself from Trump as the former president launches a third bid for the White House. Lauder contributed almost $100,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2019 when the political organization was helping Trump get reelected, according the nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets. Lauder has known Trump since college, and the two have been close for years. Lauder reportedly spoke to Trump while he was...

The sports media world reportedly lost a great one earlier this week. According to multiple reports, longtime sportscaster Fred Hickman, known most for his work on CNN and ESPN, has passed away. "RIP Fred Hickman. If you are about my age, he was one of the faces on your sports-crazy youth on CNN. He was a true OG in the field. Him, Nick Charles, Vince Cellini, Van Earl Wright, Jerome Jurenovich, etc. They were our internet before the internet," Colin Cunlap tweeted. The sports media world is heartbroken over the tough news on Wednesday night. "I just learned of the...

Singer Robert Gordon, best known for his work in the rockabilly revivalist movement of the late '70s, has died at age 75. The news was confirmed by Gordon's record label (via Variety.) A GoFundMe page had been set up by Gordon's family last month, noting that the singer had been in the hospital for six weeks as he battled a form of acute myeloid leukemia. "Robert's incredible voice and his music has not only put rockabilly back on the map, it has made memories for us all," the fundraiser page said. "A voice like his, coupled with the authenticity he...