Sir Ian McKellen, perhaps best known for portraying Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, will stage a reading to introduce a new Shakespeare production in London that’s being touted for its all transgender and &#8220;non-binary&#8221; cast.
The 86-year-old actor is slated to appear in support of a new adaptation of “Twelfth Night” being staged by the Trans What You Will theater group in London in July. 
“Twelfth Night is perhaps the funniest and most moving of Shakespeare’s plays. This is achieved through the complexity of gender and sexuality from first to last. I’m really looking forward to the impact of this latest version of the play at The Space. I hope to see you there!&#8221; a quote attributed to McKellen that was posted to the theater group’s Instagram page <a href="https://www.instagram.com/transwhatyouwilltheatre/p/DKMVuhMtnNx/?img_index=3">said</a>.
Those involved with the production gushed about the upcoming stage play. 
Director Phoebe Kemp <a href="https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/sir-ian-mckellen-to-open-historic-all-trans-and-nonbinary-production-of-twelfth-night-484397/">told</a> Attitude Magazine, &#8220;Twelfth Night already toys with gender and performance — it feels like Shakespeare wrote it for us. This reading is about joy, solidarity and showing what’s possible when trans and nonbinary artists are at the center of the story.&#8221; 
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&#8220;With mistaken identities, cross-dressing, and declarations of love across shifting gender roles, Twelfth Night has long explored the complexity of identity. This production makes that queerness explicit, reclaiming the story through the lived experiences of trans and nonbinary artists,&#8221; a rep for Trans What You Will added.
Twelfth Night is a comedy centered on mistaken identity involving the main character, Viola, who disguises herself as a man after being shipwrecked. Viola becomes stuck in a love triangle, and the play ends in multiple marriages and the revelation of true identities. 
McKellen, who is gay, said in 2017 that his political activism was ultimately &#8220;more important&#8221; and &#8220;longer-lasting than any acting&#8221; he’s done. In the 1980s, he helped fight a law in England that prohibited authorities from &#8220;promoting homosexuality&#8221; and co-founded a U.K.-based gay rights organization.
“I’m very proud of my small contributions to changing the law in this country and changing attitudes, all for the better,” he <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ian-mckellen-talks-gay-rights-activism-documentary-his-life-1054158/">told</a> The Hollywood Reporter at the time.

Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen To Introduce Shakespeare Play With Transgender And ‘Non-Binary’ Cast

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Wokeness is out and entertainment is in at The Kennedy Center. 
The Center’s lineup for the <a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/">new season was just announced</a> as new staffers at the venue continue to make headlines for fighting back against progressive propaganda that’s been on the docket for years.
Now The Kennedy Center will feature a full lineup of music, drama, and dance that’s inspiring for all ages.
For younger fans, there are two world premiere productions as part of the season, including “The Sea Beyond the Ocean” and the Center’s first Theater for the Very Young commission, “Fishing for Stars,” an immersive non-verbal work for ages 2–6. 
There’s also a new play, “Young Dragon,” and a nostalgic throwback millennials are sure to recognize. The brand-new musical adventure “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE” presented by the Jim Henson Company debuts in 2026.
“This season brings students of all ages on inspiring journeys,” Jordan LaSalle, Vice President of Education, said of the new shows. “Featuring some of the most exciting companies from across the nation and world, each performance encourages the young and young-at-heart to unleash their imaginations. We are thrilled to continue our decades-long commitment to commissioning new works, including our first for our youngest of audiences and their families.”
In the realm of dance, the Center will showcase ballet and dance offerings from world-class companies and artists. As America nears its 250th anniversary, the 2025-26 season features programming that reflects the deep history of the nation plus fresh, modern interpretations. This includes some new shows plus returning favorites such as “The Nutcracker” from The Cincinnati Ballet.
The theater season also has new and award winning shows, per the press release.
“There is truly a great theater season of excitement and joy coming to the Kennedy Center,” said Senior Vice President of Artistic Programming and Executive Producer of Theater, Jeffrey Finn. “I couldn’t be more proud to feature a season filled with Best Musicals from Broadway, including three Tony®–winning original Best Musicals: ‘The Outsiders,’ ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical,’ and ‘Spamalot.’”
Trump made headlines earlier this year when he promised to reform the Kennedy Center, which began when he replaced its board and was elected chairman. Trump also tapped Special Envoy Richard Grenell to serve as the Center’s president.
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump wrote in February. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”
The changes the new board made led to full-scale meltdowns on the Left, including protests expressed through interpretive dancing.
According to a previous report published on The Daily Wire, the Kennedy Center is $40 million in debt and will be making major cuts to staff.
&#8220;The former leadership built a broken budget with an operating deficit of 100 million dollars and a bottom-line deficit of 26 million dollars,&#8221; CFO Donna Arduin said. &#8220;The former leadership led Board members to believe there was a balanced budget when there was $26 Million in false funds. Fiscal Year 25 budget was previously passed with $26M of fictitious funds. We have now truly balanced the budget.”
Besides their financial goals, the Center’s new leadership is focused on offering high-quality entertainment that’s free from radical progressive messaging.

The Kennedy Center

New Kennedy Center Lineup Includes Family-Friendly Content, Zero Drag Shows For Kids

Culture

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Entertainment

Music

U.S.

Washington D.C.

Kennedy Center director Richard Grenell has issued a strongly worded response to reports that around a dozen actors from a “Les Misérables” tour group are planning to boycott an upcoming performance at the facility because President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
“We haven’t heard this rumor,” Grenell told Entertainment Weekly in a <a href="https://ew.com/kennedy-center-boss-calls-out-les-mis-actors-over-trump-performance-11730526">statement</a> on Wednesday. “But the Kennedy Center will no longer fund intolerance.”
“Any performer who isn’t professional enough to perform for patrons of all backgrounds, regardless of political affiliation, won’t be welcomed,” Grenell added. “In fact, we think it would be important to out those vapid and intolerant artists to ensure producers know who they shouldn’t hire — and that the public knows which shows have political litmus tests to sit in the audience.”
“The Kennedy Center wants to be a place where people of all political stripes sit next to each other and never ask who someone voted for but instead enjoy a performance together,” he concluded.
Grenell was responding to a CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/07/politics/kennedy-center-les-mis-cast-boycott-trump">report</a> citing sources claiming that “Les Mis” cast members were allowed to boycott the June 11 performance because of Trump. The outlet didn’t name any names, but said “both major cast members and members of the ensemble are among those sitting out,” per their sources.
The Kennedy Center has been in the news lately following Trump’s election and his subsequent move to fire all former leadership and appoint himself Chairman of the Board, plus installing Grenell as interim director. 
There have been protests, cancellations, and general doom and gloom from leftists, but despite their reactions, the venue has been attracting record crowds. The Kennedy Center just broke its all-time attendance record for a public event it hosted on March 29, welcoming 11,000 attendees, of whom 76% were there for the first time.
This comes after Trump promised to scrub leftist programs from the Center’s lineup. “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST,” the president wrote on Truth Social in February. 
“At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-dumps-kennedy-center-board-puts-immediate-end-to-drag-shows-for-kids">wrote</a> in another post. “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP.”

Mike Pompeo Visits Germany

Kennedy Center Director Rips ‘Les Mis’ Cast Over Trump Boycott: ‘Vapid And Intolerant’

Kennedy Center Director Rips 'Les Mis' Cast Over Trump Boycott: 'Vapid And Intolerant'

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Help us, George Clooney … you’re our only hope!”
No one actually shared that plea with the Oscar-winner, but he’s been assuming someone did for a while. Over the course of four decades, the 63-year-old went from the mulleted handyman on “The Facts of Life” to an award-winning actor, director and film producer.
Clooney has every right and intention of using his celebrity gravitas. That’s despite the 2024 election proving voters no longer hold stars in high regard. At least at the ballot box.
Plenty of people listened to Clooney last summer, a time when his unofficial Save America tour kicked off. He took to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/opinion/joe-biden-democratic-nominee.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the pages</a> of The New York Times to call for President Joe Biden to end his rematch against President Donald Trump.
Clooney’s Op/Ed, and his choice of platform, rocked the Democratic establishment. Clooney shared how the Biden he once knew was no more, and that it was time for a younger Democrat to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/george-clooney-joins-chorus-of-stars-telling-biden-its-time-to-drop-out-of-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">take the fight to Trump</a>.
<blockquote>It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal‘ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.</blockquote>
Breaking News from 2021, right? Except it came on the heels of Biden’s disastrous June 27 presidential debate and endless videos revealing the leader’s rickety health.
When Biden eventually stepped aside ( maybe pushed?), Clooney looked like a Democratic soothsayer.
As a result, the star’s ego grew three sizes. and we’re now getting a good dose of it  during Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” press tour.
<div id="attachment_912251" style="width: 933px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912251" class="size-large wp-image-912251" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2198172314-923x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 6: Signage during a press event announcing the cast of the play based on the 2005 film &quot;Good Night, And Good Luck&quot; on Broadway at The Wintergarden Theatre on February 6, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage)" width="923" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2198172314-923x576.jpg 923w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2198172314-300x187.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2198172314-768x479.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2198172314.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px" />Bruce Glikas/WireImage</div>
The actor <a href="https://playbill.com/production/good-night-and-good-luck-broadway-winter-garden-theatre-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brought</a> his 2005 film of the same name to the Great White Way earlier this month. His never-ending publicity for the show, along with the production itself, has given Clooney even more opportunities to lecture reg’lar Americans on The Way Things Ought to Be.
Let’s start with the show, a love letter to journalist Edward R. Murrow during his ‘50s-era battles with Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Their clashes mattered then, and now, and the play (and film) justly honor that.
Except Clooney backloads the production with a clip brigade that touches on everything from the silly to the surreal. It’s meant to remind us why the Fourth Estate matters, even though the clips include video of Elon Musk raising his arm in a manner that some of the far-Left dubbed Nazi-adjacent.
A real journalist wouldn’t suggest the billionaire’s awkward gesture was anything but an awkward hand gesture. Nor would he use that clip as an example of something noteworthy in modern times.
A better example? A shot of a burning Tesla?
<div id="attachment_912255" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912255" class="size-large wp-image-912255" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2208439058-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 03: George Clooney celebrates on stage with cast during curtain call for &quot;Good Night, And Good Luck&quot; Broadway Opening Night at Winter Garden Theatre on April 03, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Valerie Terranova/WireImage)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2208439058-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2208439058-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2208439058-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2208439058.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Valerie Terranova/WireImage</div>
Clooney has used every media interview to remind us why journalism matters now – more than ever – in the era of Trump.
Here he is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQOvlx8g7fo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">genuflecting</a> to the Fourth Estate:
<blockquote>It’s a subject matter that is very close to our hearts, which is what [the press] does. Telling the truth and holding truth to power. It’s a play we’re very excited to do.</blockquote>
He wagged his perfectly manicured finger at us anew during a chat with CBS about the Broadway show. Once again, he <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-clooney-broadway-journalism-60-minutes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defended modern journalists:</a>
<blockquote>Governments don&#8217;t like the freedom of the press. They never have,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And that goes for whether you are a conservative or a liberal or whatever side you&#8217;re on. They don&#8217;t like the press.</blockquote>
<a href="https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alex-christy/2025/02/19/clooney-colbert-urge-journalists-stand-right-side-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He played the same note</a> during a chat with the far-Left “Late Show” on CBS:
<blockquote>We have had this issue where power, kind of, hates the fourth estate. They hate journalism and my father’s an anchorman and news man and we’ve always believed in the idea of when the other three estates: the judiciary branch and the executive branch, when they all fail you, you need that fourth estate, right.</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_912281" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-912281" class="size-large wp-image-912281" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-25-Apr-2025-11-21-AM-3980-1024x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: YouTube/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. George Clooney." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-25-Apr-2025-11-21-AM-3980-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-25-Apr-2025-11-21-AM-3980-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-25-Apr-2025-11-21-AM-3980-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-25-Apr-2025-11-21-AM-3980-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-25-Apr-2025-11-21-AM-3980-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: YouTube/The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. George Clooney.</div>
He’s right. So where was it during the last four years? Not only did brave, truth-telling journalists ignore President Biden’s mental decline, some actively covered it up. Remember the brief “cheap fakes” era of media damage control?
Biden’s mental decline was like his son’s missing laptop. Nothing to see here. Move along.
That’s journalism at its worst, and Clooney was part of that cover-up. Clooney palled around with President Biden during a June 2024 fundraiser, something he alluded to in that New York Times open letter. He saw Biden’s sorry state and said nothing for weeks until Biden’s poll numbers sank too low to ignore.
Is that what the son of a truth-telling journalist would do? Of course not.
Yet here he was thumping his chest about his play, the state of modern journalism, and his role in boosting both as if he had done nothing wrong.
It took a member of the “new media” to set Clooney straight about his cover-up.
“That’s not journalism, George. That’s cowardice, followed by naked partisanship,” said Megyn Kelly on her self-titled <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eD8glSeIKs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">podcast</a> about his actions.
Clooney remains both handsome and charismatic, and he effortlessly embraced his first major role on Broadway. That’s not easy. He might try putting his partisan blinders on the shelf the next time he waxes philosophical on journalism.
We’ve seen the very worst of it over the past decade, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is just theater.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

George Clooney Announces The Complete Broadway Cast Of “Good Night, And Good Luck”

Exit Stage Left: The Ego And Amnesia Of George Clooney

actors

Broadway

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George Clooney

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Media Bias

“Lord of the Rings” actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Ian McKellen</a> was hospitalized after falling from the stage during a Monday performance at the Noël Coward Theater in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/london">London</a>.
The 85-year-old lost his balance and fell during a battle scene in “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/theater">Player Kings</a>,” a production of Shakespeare&#8217;s &#8220;Henry IV, Parts One and Two,&#8221; per <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx88v15r41jo">BBC</a>. McKellen reportedly cried out in pain after his fall, prompting staff to rush over and assist him. The report said the theater was &#8220;evacuated&#8221; and Tuesday night&#8217;s performance was also canceled.
McKellen is expected to make a full recovery.
“Thank you to our audience and the general public for their well wishes following Ian’s fall during this evening’s performance of ‘Player Kings,&#8217;” a statement from the theater said. 
“Following a scan, the brilliant NHS team have assured us that he will make a speedy and full recovery and Ian is in good spirits,” it said. “The production has made the decision to cancel the performance on Tuesday 18 June so Ian can rest. Those affected will be contacted by their point of purchase as soon as possible tomorrow. Thank you to doctors Rachel and Lee who were on hand in the audience and to all the venue staff for their support.”
An audience member told BBC the fall was “very shocking.”
“As far as I saw, he was conscious because he was asking for assistance,” the witness explained.
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London-based journalist Charlie Johnson was in the audience and shared his account of the fall with an X post. “Just witnessed Ian McKellen severely injure himself after falling off stage at Noel Coward Theatre. Sir Ian could be heard screaming in pain as ushers rushed to his aid. Show cancelled as he is treated by ambulance crews. Wish him all the best,” he <a href="https://x.com/cejohnson99/status/1802787738250363025?s=46&amp;t=7dEMLEvmtKbqI2lGLTp4lQ">wrote</a>.
McKellen frequently acts in Shakespearean plays, including productions of “Macbeth,” “King Lear,” “Richard II,” “Coriolanus,” “Iago,” and “Richard III.” He is the winner of a Tony Award and six Olivier Awards, which are the British equivalent awarded for excellence in professional theater. 
The actor became internationally known for his portrayal of Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit.” McKellen also played Magneto in the “X-Men” films.

Ian McKellan

‘Screaming In Pain’: Ian McKellen Hospitalized After Falling Off Stage

Celebrities

If you spend any amount of time watching shows on streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, then you may have noticed that several big-name productions are now putting trigger warnings on the screen before some pivotal episodes. The show &#8220;Baby Reindeer,&#8221; for example, warns its viewers in advance of an upcoming scene depicting sexual violence. &#8220;Better Call Saul&#8221; alerts its audience about an upcoming suicide. Other popular shows, like &#8220;Severance,&#8221; &#8220;The Morning Show,&#8221; &#8220;Life &amp; Beth,&#8221; and several others also include similar messages before the show even begins. Even classics like &#8220;Goodfellas&#8221; and old <a href="https://x.com/CarmineSabia/status/1728958011392036870" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a> like &#8220;All in the Family&#8221; now come with warnings about &#8220;ethnic prejudices.&#8221; 
Online, these trigger warnings have caused a lot of consternation because they often ruin the episode that people are about to watch. If you know a suicide is coming, for instance, it&#8217;s usually not too hard to guess which character might be involved. (Spoiler alert: It&#8217;s probably the character that&#8217;s been having serious mental problems all season). And even if you&#8217;re not sure what character might be involved, it still blunts the dramatic impact of the scene to be told, directly, that something shocking is about to happen. There&#8217;s a reason Shakespeare didn&#8217;t have some guy go on stage before the fifth act of &#8220;Romeo &amp; Juliet&#8221; to explain that poisoning and self-harm would occur. There was no stagehand to announce, &#8220;If you&#8217;re not ready to see two lovers take their own lives, then leave the amphitheater immediately.&#8221;
But we live in a much dumber time now, so trigger warnings like that are no longer unthinkable. In fact, if you go see a play like &#8220;Romeo &amp; Juliet,&#8221; there&#8217;s a very real chance you might run into one. For several years now, theaters all over the world have been incorporating these kinds of advisories. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="004 Trigger Warnings" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SKU2CRquz8g?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That report was from a few years ago, but the trend has only continued. The Sir Thomas Allen theater in Durham, UK, for instance, posted <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231202062825/https://www.theassemblyroomstheatre.org/whats-on/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this notification</a> on its website just a few months ago, about the play &#8220;I, Joan,&#8221; which also premiered at Shakespeare&#8217;s Globe:
<blockquote>Content Warning: Loud music / Partial nudity / Period-accurate transphobia / Depictions of war.</blockquote>
So &#8220;Period-accurate transphobia&#8221; is now worthy of a trigger warning, which I guess means that every single play and work of literature that was written before 2015 needs a trigger warning. 
I could go on and on about how absurd these warnings are and how counterproductive they are. But there&#8217;s really no point. You&#8217;ve probably already heard about the research demonstrating that these trigger warnings are worse than useless. More than a dozen <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-10-17/are-trigger-warnings-useless-new-study-says-yes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies</a> have shown that these kinds of notifications are either ineffective or actively distressing to people. 
This is becoming a mainstream position. Bill Maher did a whole monologue about it a year ago. Dr. Phil talked about it with Joe Rogan. And so on.
Instead of retreading that ground, I wanted to look more closely into why exactly these warnings came about in the first place. They seem like a symptom of a much larger problem that&#8217;s gone unnoticed, for the most part. I came to that realization after the outlet &#8220;Variety&#8221; ran a <a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/trigger-warnings-spoil-tv-shows-1236025257/">piece</a> on this a few days ago on the problems that these trigger warnings can cause. Throughout their article, Variety kept using the term &#8220;trauma&#8221; again and again: &#8220;As content advisories become popular, Hollywood tries to find a balance between ruining plot twists and helping viewers avoid trauma.&#8221; That&#8217;s the headline. Then the article continues, &#8220;A growing number of programs have opted to inform viewers before showing potentially traumatizing content. &#8230; The goal is to help viewers enjoy TV without trauma.&#8221; They even speak to a medical expert about how trigger warnings relate to &#8220;trauma.&#8221;
This caught my attention because, up until relatively recently, when people heard the word &#8220;trauma,&#8221; they thought of serious, violent injuries — the kind people might suffer in car accidents or on the battlefield, for example. And that&#8217;s how the medical profession understood the word &#8220;trauma,&#8221; as well. But somewhere along the line, something obviously changed. &#8220;Trauma&#8221; became a daily occurrence rather than something suffered by people in the most extreme and harrowing circumstances. Everyday discomfort and mild inconvenience has been medicalized and overblown into &#8220;trauma.&#8221;
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1386-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
We&#8217;ve seen this a lot in the past couple of years. You might remember the whole episode when the tennis player Naomi Osaka dropped out of a tournament and melted down at a press conference back in 2021. The idea was that talking to the press was traumatic for her, for some reason. PBS ran a <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/naomi-osakas-withdrawal-from-the-french-open-highlights-how-mental-health-ranks-below-physical-health#:~:text=Pressing%20problems%20with%20stigma,depressed%E2%80%9D%20after%20losing%20a%20match." target="_blank" rel="noopener">sympathetic story</a> at the time that included this paragraph: 
<blockquote>Osaka, who is Black, Asian and female, may have contended with an even greater sense of vulnerability this past year, in light of the Black Lives Matter protests and the increased violence against Asian Americans. Studies have shown that individuals suffer from vicarious trauma when members of their group are targeted and discriminated against.</blockquote>
Yes, the tennis star was suffering from &#8220;vicarious trauma.&#8221; Those are two words we&#8217;re apparently meant to take seriously, along with other new terms like &#8220;intergenerational trauma&#8221; and so on. We&#8217;ve all seen dozens of stories like this. So when I saw the Variety piece, it occurred to me that the story here isn&#8217;t really about the rise of &#8220;trigger warnings,&#8221; per se. Instead, it&#8217;s about the fact that so many Americans now erroneously believe that they are suffering from trauma. And with that in mind, there&#8217;s an obvious question to ask, which is: When did that happen and why? 
The dramatic rise of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, might provide an important clue. In 2022, instances of alleged post-traumatic stress disorder in college students in America <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2819206?guestAccessKey=bc2533bd-e1d2-4991-8500-1da1a731c2a3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rose</a> by 7.5% — which is more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/health/ptsd-diagnoses-rising-college-students.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double</a> the rate from just five years earlier. That suggests that something artificial might be going on here that&#8217;s making more college kids suffer from &#8220;trauma.&#8221;
At the same time, of course, 2022 was right in the middle of the COVID lockdowns, which obviously destroyed many lives. So maybe you&#8217;re thinking that&#8217;s related. But PTSD, as it&#8217;s generally understood, involves <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/essentials/history_ptsd.asp#one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">witnessing</a> an extreme and catastrophic injury. That&#8217;s why the diagnosis became mainstream following the Vietnam War. And there were no wars directly involving American college students that occurred during the COVID lockdowns. Additionally, violent crime in many major cities was <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/COVIDcrime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">down</a> by nearly a third during the early phase of the lockdowns. So how exactly would COVID have been responsible for more PTSD-related suffering?
Here&#8217;s one mental health expert at Indiana&#8217;s largest nonprofit healthcare provider to explain:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 PTSD" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jWvQ6TYr8cI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So masks — which the medical establishment told us to wear at all times, even though they didn&#8217;t stop the transmission of COVID — were actually hell on earth for PTSD sufferers, apparently. This is the explanation they&#8217;ve come up with. If you&#8217;re keeping track, we&#8217;ve gone from &#8220;masks are bad&#8221;, to &#8220;masks are mandatory,&#8221; to &#8220;you should triple-mask,&#8221; back down to &#8220;if you wear a mask, you&#8217;re torturing PTSD sufferers who happen to look at you.&#8221;
This isn&#8217;t exactly a compelling argument. It seems pretty strained, actually. So maybe there&#8217;s another explanation for surging rates of PTSD and &#8220;trauma&#8221; in the general population. What might that reason be?
It turns out that, back in 2013, leading medical associations radically altered the meaning of trauma. As one Berkeley psychology professor <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/health/ptsd-diagnoses-rising-college-students.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur">recently told</a> The New York Times: &#8220;Some changes to the diagnostic manual [of psychological disorders] may have blurred the line between PTSD and disorders like depression or anxiety. .. In 2013, the committee overseeing revisions to the manual expanded the list of potential PTSD symptoms to include dysphoria, or a deep sense of unease, and a negative worldview, which could also be caused by depression.&#8221;
The Times report added: &#8220;PTSD was introduced as an official diagnosis in 1980, as it became clear that combat experiences had imprinted on many Vietnam veterans, making it difficult for them to work or participate in family life. Over the decades that followed, the definition was revised to encompass a larger range of injury, violence and abuse, as well as indirect exposure to traumatic events.&#8221;
In other words, with very little fanfare, the medical establishment completely redefined the meaning of PTSD, and the &#8220;trauma&#8221; necessary to qualify for a diagnosis. It&#8217;s no longer necessary to personally witness a violent death or injury to receive a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. It&#8217;s enough to &#8220;indirectly&#8221; experience such a violent death or injury. That&#8217;s trauma, under the new standard. This is what psychologists are telling their patients.
The only limitation, as far as I can tell from reading through the <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/essentials/history_ptsd.asp#one">DSM-5</a>, is that this &#8220;indirect&#8221; exposure has to involve a loved one. But even then, it&#8217;s no longer necessary for your symptoms to involve vivid flashbacks and extreme social dysfunction or anything like that. Now a &#8220;deep sense of unease&#8221; and a &#8220;negative worldview&#8221; qualifies. That&#8217;s it. Never mind the fact that more than half the country now has a &#8220;deep sense of unease&#8221; and a &#8220;negative worldview.&#8221; That&#8217;s all it takes to suffer &#8220;trauma,&#8221; according to every major medical institution.
This is one way in which the concept of &#8220;trauma&#8221; has been expanded and over-diagnosed into oblivion. They just changed the meaning of the word back in 2013, probably to enable more doctors to diagnose more patients and prescribe them some more drugs. And then that lingo filters down to the media and everywhere else. If that sounds far-fetched or conspiratorial, consider the fact that another convenient rebranding took place that same year, in 2013. That was also the year that the American Medical Association (or AMA) abruptly decided to reclassify obesity as a &#8220;disease,&#8221; just like asthma or diabetes.
But the AMA privately <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virtually-every-medical-expert-is-lying-to-you-about-obesity-heres-the-proof" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> that obesity didn&#8217;t actually meet the criteria to be classified as a disease, because there are no unique symptoms that only obese people suffer from. It&#8217;s also the only disease in the world that can be cured, with a 100% success rate, by expending more calories than you&#8217;re consuming. Nevertheless, the AMA simply decided that reclassifying obesity as a disease would have a &#8220;positive impact&#8221; on society, so they did it. The Lancet documented all of this, as I <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virtually-every-medical-expert-is-lying-to-you-about-obesity-heres-the-proof" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outlined</a> a few months ago. And now, just a few years later, Oprah is hosting an hour-long special in which she confidently suggests that Ozempic is the miracle drug that can cure this &#8220;disease.&#8221;
There&#8217;s reason to believe that the same approach has now been applied to &#8220;trauma.&#8221; Much like the idea of &#8220;land acknowledgements,&#8221; this massively expanded definition of trauma has quickly made its way from a handful of elite academics all the way to everyday life. So now we get trigger warnings on Netflix and Hulu and the theater and everywhere else. But much more importantly, now millions of Americans incorrectly believe they&#8217;ve suffered &#8220;trauma&#8221; when they haven&#8217;t. They&#8217;re under the impression that their problems are far more serious and uncontrollable than they really are. That&#8217;s good for the people prescribing the medications and doing the talk therapy. For everyone else, it&#8217;s yet another sign that we&#8217;re becoming a weaker and more broken society — one that, inevitably, will become even easier to control and manipulate.

TRAUMA / Blue board concept (Click for more)

How We Became A Society Full Of ‘Traumatized’ Weaklings

How We Became A Society Full Of 'Traumatized' Weaklings

Matt Walsh

Movies

Netflix

Opinion

Psychology

PTSD

Readers Pass

A London play starring “Game of Thrones” star Kit Harrington will host two performances where only black audience members, or those identifying as black, will be permitted to view the play, “free from the white gaze.”
“Slave Play,” which received 12 Tony nominations in 2021, but won no awards, will run at the Noël Coward theater in London&#8217;s West End from June 29 to September 21 and feature performances on July 17 and September 17 with “Black Out nights.”
“Blackout nights are the purposeful creation of an environment in which an all-Black-identifying audience can experience and discuss an event in the performing arts, film, athletic and cultural spaces — free from the white gaze,” the theater noted.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68440104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a statement</a> saying, “The prime minister is a big supporter of the arts and he believes that the arts should be inclusive and open to everyone, particularly where those arts venues are in receipt of public funding. Restricting audiences on the basis of race would be wrong and divisive.”
“I understand the subject matter of the show may have particular resonance for some but would simply question the legality of this? In other circles it would be illegal and racial discrimination. I don&#8217;t understand why this isn&#8217;t,” one member of Parliament told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13130911/West-End-tells-white-theatregoers-arent-welcome-hosts-black-audience-nights-Kit-Harrington-play-protect-ticketholders-white-gaze.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Mail.</a>
The play’s producers told The BBC the “intent is to celebrate the play with the widest possible audience. We want to increase accessibility to theatre for everyone.&#8221;
&#8220;The Broadway production conceived of Black Out nights and we are carefully considering how to incorporate this endeavour as part of two performances in our 13-week run. We will release further details soon. To be absolutely clear, no-one will be prevented or precluded from attending any performance of Slave Play.&#8221;
Playwright Jeremy O. Harris told BBC Sounds:
<blockquote>One of the things we have to remember is that people have to be radically invited into a space to know that they belong there and in most places in the west, poor people and black people have been told that they do not belong inside the theatre&#8230; For me, as someone who wants and yearns for black and brown people to be in the theatre, who comes from a working class environment, who wants people who do not make six figures to feel like theatre is a place for them, it is a necessity to radically invite them in with initiatives that say “you&#8217;re invited.” Specifically you.</blockquote>
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“There are a litany of places in our country that are generally only inhabited by white people, and nobody is questioning that, and nobody is saying that by inviting black audiences here you are uninvited,” he continued. “The idea of a Black Out night is to say this is a night that we are specifically inviting black people to fill up the space, to feel safe with a lot of other black people in a place where they often do not feel safe.”
The play itself focuses on three modern-day interracial couples who attempt to mend tensions in their relationships by engaging in &#8220;antebellum sexual-performance therapy,&#8221; <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/25/jeremy-o-harris-before-and-after-slave-play">according</a> to The New Yorker. The black characters in the play no longer experience pleasure in their relationships with their white partners and attempt to recapture it through the racially-charged sexual roleplaying.

Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist – Season 31

‘Free From The White Gaze’: London Play Featuring ‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Invites Black-Only Audience

Game of Thrones

Racism

Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lauren-boebert" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lauren Boebert</a> (R-CO) released a statement late this week apologizing for her actions that led to her being thrown out of a “Beetlejuice” musical last weekend.
Denver Arts &amp; Venues said in a statement that they received three different complaints that Boebert and her <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12513549/Lauren-Boebert-mystery-man-revealed-DEMOCRAT-bar-owner-Quinn-Gallagher-secretly-dating-month.html">new boyfriend</a> were “vaping, singing, causing a disturbance.”
The report said that the couple were repeatedly warned after Boebert was caught vaping and they &#8220;were causing a disturbance for the area with noise, singing, [and] using their cell phone.&#8221;
&#8220;The patrons were argumentative,&#8221; the statement said as officials warned them that if it continued, they would be kicked out. They were later told that they needed to leave and that if they did not, they were then trespassing and the police would be called.
A spokesperson for Boebert said that she was not vaping during the performance and that &#8220;heavy fog machines and electronic cigarettes were used during the show, so there might have been &#8216;a misunderstanding from someone sitting near her,'&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/13/lauren-boebert-beetlejuice-musical-ejected/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Surveillance video from inside the Buell Theater obtained by local media, however, appears to show otherwise. Footage also appears to show the two groping each other.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Newly released surveillance video from a Denver theater appears to show Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert vaping during a “Beetlejuice” musical play — the one thing she denied doing while acknowledging earlier this week that she had been kicked out for being disruptive. <a href="https://t.co/aQ01G230cT">pic.twitter.com/aQ01G230cT</a>
&mdash; The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1702832431361909111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW: GOP Rep Lauren Boebert denied vaping during a Denver Center for the Performing Arts musical before being kicked out Sunday. <a href="https://twitter.com/Marshall9News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Marshall9News</a> got the video. Take a look. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/copolitics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#copolitics</a> <a href="https://t.co/VtT67Vn4L9">pic.twitter.com/VtT67Vn4L9</a>
&mdash; Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) <a href="https://twitter.com/KyleClark/status/1702498583755538598?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Police were called to the theater and stayed present until Boebert left.
Boebert released a <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2023/09/15/lauren-boebert-apology-beetlejuice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> on Friday night apologizing for her actions, saying that they &#8220;fell short of my values.&#8221;
&#8220;The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I’m truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community,&#8221; Boebert’s statement said. &#8220;While none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that.&#8221;
&#8220;There’s no perfect blueprint for going through a public and difficult divorce, which over the past few months has made for a challenging personal time for me and my entire family,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;I’ve tried to handle it with strength and grace as best I can, but I simply fell short of my values on Sunday. That’s unacceptable and I’m sorry.&#8221;

Capitol Hill

Boebert Apologizes For Getting Thrown Out Of ‘Beetlejuice’ Performance After Video Emerges

Boebert Apologizes For Getting Thrown Out Of 'Beetlejuice' Performance After Video Emerges

Colorado

Congress

Lauren Boebert

A former Tony Award nominee-turned presenter followed a hackneyed Broadway script Sunday night, likening White House hopeful and Florida Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ron-desantis-picks-up-first-presidential-endorsement-from-fellow-governor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a> to a Ku Klux Klan leader in the annual theater smug-fest&#8217;s latest attack on conservatives.
Denée Benton, currently starring in HBO’s “Gilded Age” and who was nominated for a Tony back in 2016 for her performance as Natasha Rostova in the musical “Natasha, Pierre, &amp; The Great Comet of 1812,&#8221; lashed out at DeSantis at the Tony Awards on Sunday night.
“Earlier tonight, [Carnegie Mellon University] and the Tony Awards presented the 2023 Excellence in Theatre Education Award, and while I&#8217;m certain that the current grand wizard — I&#8217;m sorry, excuse me — governor of my home state of Florida, I am sure that he will be changing the name of this following town immediately,” she continued, as she mentioned the town of Plantation, where award-winner Jason Zembuch Young is a public school theatre director.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Denée Benton calls Governor Ron DeSantis the &quot;current grand wizard&quot; of Florida at the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TonyAwards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TonyAwards</a> <a href="https://t.co/O2iEfbOvQO">pic.twitter.com/O2iEfbOvQO</a>
&mdash; The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) <a href="https://twitter.com/THR/status/1668072051473625088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The New York City audience laughed at Benton&#8217;s characterization of DeSantis, just as a similar Tony Awards crowd cheered in 2018, when actor Robert DeNiro strode to the microphone and declared, “I’m gonna say one thing. F*** Trump.”
“It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump,’” he yelled. “It’s f*** Trump,” eliciting another giant cheer.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1zNr8Pf1QkY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
DeSantis has drawn criticism from the Left for opposing the teaching in public schools of Critical Race Theory, which among other things, holds that blacks are perpetual victims and whites are oppressors. In April 2022, the Florida Department of Education found 41% of math textbooks under consideration for schools included instruction on CRT, Social Emotional Learning, or other prohibited topics.
“We’re going to focus the education on the actual strong academic performance of the students; we don’t want things like math to have some of these other concepts introduced,&#8221; DeSantis said at the time. &#8220;It’s not been proven to be effective and quite frankly, it takes our eye off the ball.”
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In May, DeSantis signed three bills into law that placed further restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as Florida was recently ranked as the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education">top state</a> in the country for education.
The three bills that DeSantis signed were Senate Bill (SB) 266, which prohibits institutions from spending federal or state dollars on discriminatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)” initiatives; House Bill (HB) 931, which prohibits Florida’s public institutions from requiring students, faculty, or staff to take political loyalty tests; and SB 240, which expands workforce education initiatives and increases access to career and technical education (CTE) programs, according to the <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2023/05/15/governor-ron-desantis-signs-legislation-to-strengthen-floridas-position-as-national-leader-in-higher-education/">governor&#8217;s office</a>.
SB 266 garnered the most news attention because it directly goes after woke ideologies in higher education by cutting off funding for &#8220;initiatives that promote dangerous political and social activism, such as DEI initiatives.&#8221; HB 931 prohibits schools from requiring &#8220;political statements and ideological attestations by faculty and students in hiring, promoting, and admissions.&#8221;
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-signs-bill-banning-woke-dei-initiatives-in-higher-education">DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Woke DEI Initiatives In Higher Education</a>

The 76th Annual Tony Awards – Show

Tony Award Presenter Calls DeSantis A KKK Leader. Lefty Theater Crowd Goes Wild.

Ron DeSantis

Tonys

Members of the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” celebrated former cast member Dylan Mulvaney’s association with Bud Light in a viral video in which they brandished cans of the beer.
Mulvaney played Elder White in the Broadway musical after graduating from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 2019.
“Hi Dylan!” an actor from the show said gleefully. “Just wanted to let you know that your friends from &#8216;The Book of Mormon&#8217; love and support you, are SO proud of you.”
Turning to Anheuser-Busch, the actor declaimed, “And for Anheuser-Busch, we are really proud of YOU for making an American Superstar on your can! Love Ya!”
https://twitter.com/clownworld_/status/1654282210575552514?s=46&#038;t=KlAOxZz6ksX2Ed4gdip1CQ
“I dedicated my life to becoming an actor, and I was at the submission of the industry as I tried to fit the mold and be masculine. I finally succeeded by landing a role in the musical Book of Mormon, but at the expense of finding my true gender identity,” Mulvaney wrote in <a href="https://www.elle.com/fashion/celebrity-style/a41298271/dylan-mulvaney-tiktok-fashion-tiffany-necklace/">Elle</a> in September 2022.
“As a kid, Breakfast at Tiffany’s was my favorite movie in the entire world,” Mulvaney continued. “At Catholic school, I would see all the girls get their Tiffany jewelry at Christmastime, and I’d be so jealous. But growing up as a boy, I couldn’t ask my parents for something from Tiffany’s; it didn’t make sense to fit the social norm. So this year, when I booked my first big hosting gig during Pride month, I told myself, I deserve that Tiffany necklace.”
&#8220;The Book of Mormon,&#8221; written by “South Park” creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and composer Robert Lopez, debuted on Broadway in 2011 and won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It tells the story of two Mormon missionaries who travel to Africa, where they attempt to convert the natives. The musical includes songs such as “Hasa Diga Eebowai,” (translated as “F*** you, God”) and a scene where one of the Mormon missionaries has The Book of Mormon removed from his rectum.
The backlash against Bud Light was catalyzed when the company sent Mulvaney a can of beer with Mulvaney’s face on it as part of an ad partnership. Mulvaney posted a TikTok video with that can of Bud Light, celebrating 365 days of “being a woman.” A subsequent video showed Mulvaney in a bikini while sitting in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer.

Mulvaney

‘American Superstar On Your Can’: Cast Of ‘The Book Of Mormon’ Salutes Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch

Cast Of The Book Of Mormon Salutes Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch

Bud Light

Dylan Mulvaney

Readers of a certain age will remember the &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZxky51fxCg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Artful Dodger</a>&#8221; — the beloved pickpocketer from &#8220;Oliver Twist&#8221; with a penchant for making a pretty penny off unsuspecting passersby on the streets of London.
As his name suggests, he was rather clever as he evaded getting caught by his victims and the coppers.  Well, suffice it to say, modern America&#8217;s ruffians aren&#8217;t anything like that.  They are much more in your face without a care in the world if anybody sees them break the law. For example, consider the recent &#8220;flash mob&#8221; style ransacking of a seafood restaurant in Queens, New York.
Last Saturday night, a group of 20 suspected teenagers rampaged through the Fish Village restaurant in College Point, Queens, causing $20,000 in damages in under a minute. The harrowing scene can be witnessed below:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Wild video shows teens ransack Queens restaurant" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lj9i4R5M9O8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As of press time, no arrests have been made in this case and police are looking for suspects.
Yet as highlighted by Fox 5 New York, &#8220;there are plenty within this community who are wondering, even when those who are responsible are found, what sort of consequences they will actually face?&#8221;
Indeed, thanks to a 2019 bail reform law, shoplifters and other ne&#8217;er-do-wells like the ones featured in the video often go unpunished or are given a slap on the wrist before returning to the streets. Now, even Democratic lawmakers are calling for changes to state law.
&#8220;It’s utterly ridiculous that a small subset of career criminals make up 30% of shoplifting arrests in 2022,” City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) recently told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/09/lawmakers-express-outrage-over-nycs-revolving-door-shoplift-crisis-thats-killing-local-businesses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a>. The paper noted that Holden cited statistics that the New York Police Department which showed &#8220;that 327 career crooks were busted a total of about 6,600 times.&#8221;
“We can’t have this revolving door of criminality in our state — it’s time to dust off the successful tactics from the ’90s in New York City, which actually worked to reduce crime,&#8221; he added.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has been <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/nyc-mayor-says-shoppers-in-masks-are-hiding-from-cops-not-covid-and-should-be-barred-from-stores/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced to request</a> that individuals take off their masks when entering establishments to help reduce crime — quite a contrast to the days of COVID.
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Assemblywoman Inez Dickens (D-Harlem) also expressed her dismay at the utter shamelessness of punks these days.
“You have to have some common sense reasoning. There need to be some changes,” she said.
&#8220;I went into a fish store the other day and someone just walked in and stole the biggest fish and walked out,&#8221; Dickens explained. &#8220;I thought it was terrible.&#8221;
It is unclear if Harlem&#8217;s Dickens is related to the late Charles Dickens, but suffice to say, he&#8217;d be mortified as well. Artful Dodgers these thieves are not — but when the police don&#8217;t care, why even bother going to that effort if you are hellbent on crime?
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

USA, New York State, New York City, Crime scene barrier tape

Young New York Rapscallions Get A Hankering For Seafood, Cause 20k In Damages In Less Than A Minute

Crime

Eric Adams

New York

New York City

Theft

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/germany">German</a> ballet director has formally apologized for smearing dog feces in the face of a critic, but she’s not buying it.
The incident occurred over the weekend when Marco Goecke approached Wiebke Hüster, a newspaper critic, during an intermission of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/theater">show</a> and asked why she was there, per Buzzfeed News. Goecke was allegedly angry about a bad review Hüster had written about one of his shows in The Netherlands and claimed she was responsible for people canceling season tickets to his performances.
Per reports, the ballet director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/crime">retaliated</a> by smearing dog feces in the critic’s face on Saturday.
“He didn’t just throw it at me. He pulled out the bag with the open side of the bag and rubbed it in my face brutally, so the dog poop would stick in my face,” Hüster <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/german-ballet-director-marco-goecke-accused-of-throwing-dog-feces-on-critic">told</a> The Daily Beast of the incident. “One moment we were still talking and the next moment his fist was in my face. When I realized what he had done, I screamed. I was so shocked, so panicked. You can’t imagine.”
“I would like to apologize sincerely to all concerned, first and foremost to Ms. Hüster, for my absolutely unacceptable act,” Goecke shared in a written statement. “In retrospect, I am clearly aware that this was a disgraceful act in the heat of the moment and an overreaction,” he continued.
He also said the incident occurred following a &#8220;nervous strain of two premieres in quick succession&#8221; in The Hague on February 9 and in Hanover on Saturday, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ballet-director-dog-feces-critic-intl-scli/index.html">CNN</a>.
Next, the director attempted to defend his actions, saying Hüster should “rethink a certain form of destructive and hurtful reporting that damages the whole cultural sector” and accused her of posting “nasty reviews.”
“I apologize for the fact that I finally blew my top, but I also ask for a certain understanding at least for the reasons why this happened,” he wrote. Goecke also told public broadcast station NDR that Hüster had been &#8220;throwing s***&#8221; at him &#8220;for years.”
“What kind of an apology is this supposed to be?” Hüster replied while speaking with 3sat television, per HuffPo.
Goecke was subsequently suspended from his role as ballet chief at the Hannover State Opera following the incident. 
&#8220;Ballet director Marco Goecke has violated all principles of conduct of the Hanover State Opera by his impulsive reaction towards journalist Wiebke Hüster last Saturday evening, has deeply offended Ms. Hüster personally and has thus unsettled the audience, the employees of the house, and the general public in the most extreme way,&#8221; the organization said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ballet-director-dog-feces-critic-intl-scli/index.html">CNN</a>.
Hüster’s review of Goecke’s play “In the Dutch Mountain” was published the same day as the incident and called the production “disjointed” and capable of making audiences “go insane and be killed by boredom while watching.”

New artistic directors at the Staatstheater Hannover

German Ballet Director Issues Apology For Smearing Dog Feces In Critic’s Face, Asks For ‘Understanding’ Of Why He Did It

German Ballet Director Issues Apology For Smearing Dog Feces In Critic's Face, Asks For 'Understanding' Of Why He Did It

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