The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">prop door</a> from the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-cameron">James Cameron</a> blockbuster film “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/titanic">Titanic</a>” just sold at auction for more than $700,000.
Ever since the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">movie</a> was released in 1997, viewers have argued over whether there was enough room for both Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) to fit onto the door, using it as a makeshift raft until they could be rescued from the frigid sea. Many movie fans claim that the door may not have been buoyant enough to support two adults, even if there was sufficient physical space.
In the film, Rose survived, and Jack died from hypothermia.
The prop piece of balsa wood, which the auction listing says came from part of the door frame above the ship’s first-class lounge entrance, was one of several movie props sold at the Heritage Auctions Treasures from Planet Hollywood event, per <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/mar/26/titanic-floating-door-prop-sells-at-auction">The Guardian</a>. 
Other significant items included Winslet&#8217;s dress in “Titanic,” which fetched $125,000, and Indiana Jones’s bullwhip from “The Temple of Doom,” which went for more than half a million. The outlet also noted that Jack Nicholson’s axe from The Shining sold for $125,000.
Cameron and other “Titanic” stars have discussed the door controversy in the past, with the Canadian director admitting that the character of Jack was doomed to die because the story demanded it.
“We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie … We took two stunt people who were the same body mass of Kate and Leo and we put sensors all over them and inside them and we put them in ice water and we tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was: there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive,” Cameron told The Toronto Sun in 2022, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kate-winslet-james-cameron-share-opinions-on-infamous-titanic-door-debate">reported</a>.
“[Jack] needed to die,” he added. “It’s like Romeo and Juliet. It’s a movie about love and sacrifice and mortality. The love is measured by the sacrifice.”
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Winslet also shared her opinions in 2022, the 25th anniversary of the film’s release. 
“I have to be honest: I actually don’t believe that we would have survived if we had both gotten on that door,” the actress said. “I think he would have fit, but it would have tipped and it would not have been a sustainable idea.”
“So, you heard it here for the first time,” Winslet added. “Yes, he could have fit on that door, but it would not have stayed afloat. It wouldn’t.”

Titanic door

Controversial ‘Titanic’ Prop Door Sells For $700K At Auction

Controversial 'Titanic' Prop Door Sells For $700K At Auction

Entertainment

Hollywood

James Cameron

Movies

Titanic

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kate-winslet">Kate Winslet</a> said she wasn’t happy with the fame that accompanied starring in the 1997 blockbuster “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/titanic">Titanic</a>” opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.
The 48-year-old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">actress</a> made the remarks during a recent <a href="https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/porter/article-f46bd8ada94c36de/cover-stories/cover-stories/kate-winslet?cm_mmc=LinkshareUS-_-tv2R4u9rImY-_-Custom-_-LinkBuilder&amp;utm_source=rakuten&amp;utm_medium=affiliation&amp;utm_campaign=US_3157217&amp;utm_content=US_Skimlinks+%28Variable+Pricing%29&amp;utm_term=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;ranMID=24449&amp;ranEAID=tv2R4u9rImY&amp;ranSiteID=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;siteID=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;linkshare_siteID=tv2R4u9rImY-1.qGeV0thxdLB3mXPtacxA&amp;linkshare_affiliate_mid=24449">interview</a> with Porter. &#8220;I felt like I had to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, and because media intrusion was so significant at that time, my life was quite unpleasant,&#8221; Winslet told the outlet.
&#8220;Journalists would always say, ‘After Titanic, you could have done anything and yet you chose to do these small things’ … and I was like, ‘Yeah, you bet your life I did! Because, guess what, being famous was horrible.'&#8221;
Despite the negatives, the British Academy Award winner looks back fondly on the film that turned her into an international superstar.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not a burden, any of it,&#8221; Winslet clarified. &#8220;[Titanic] continues to bring people huge amounts of joy,&#8221; she said, &#8220;The only time I am like, ‘Oh God, hide,&#8217; is if we are on a boat somewhere.”
The actress had previously spoken about some of the downsides to fame, including what she described as being “bullied” by the British media. Winslet spoke more on that during a 2021 episode of the “WTF with Marc Maron” podcast, per <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/kate-winslet-says-she-was-bullied-faced-physical-scrutiny-after-t205829">Today</a>.
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&#8220;It was like night and day from one day to the next,&#8221; she said at the time of becoming famous. &#8220;Also, I was subject to quite a lot of also personal physical scrutiny, and criticized quite a lot — the British press were actually quite unkind to me.&#8221;
&#8220;I felt quite bullied, if I&#8217;m honest,&#8221; Winslet added. &#8220;I remember just thinking, &#8216;Okay, well, this is horrible and I hope it passes.&#8217; And it did definitely pass but it also made me realize that if that&#8217;s what being famous was, I was not ready to be famous, thank you. No, definitely not.&#8221;
“Titanic” director James Cameron also spoke about the fallout from the film. In an interview with the Radio Times, Cameron said that he thought Winslet “came out of ‘Titanic’ a bit traumatized by the scale of the production and her responsibility within it,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/actress-kate-winslet-traumatized-from-titanic-says-testosterone-hating-director-james-cameron">reported</a>.

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet On Post-‘Titanic’ Life: ‘Being Famous Was Horrible’

Kate Winslet On Post-'Titanic' Life: 'Being Famous Was Horrible'

Celebrities

World

Academy Award-winning filmmaker <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/james-cameron">James Cameron</a> recently revealed some secrets from making his epic historical drama “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Titanic</a>,” including the reason he intentionally cast short extras.
The Canadian-born <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">director</a> explained his thought process during an <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-12-05/titanic-4k-james-cameron-25th-anniversary-adele-the-abyss">interview</a> with the Los Angeles Times for the film’s 4K remastering home video release.
“The scale of everything was beyond anything we could imagine in terms of our prior experience. At the time we thought, wow, there’s no way this movie could ever make its money back. It’s just impossible. Well, guess what?” Cameron told the outlet.
“Titanic” <a href="https://screenrant.com/titanic-movie-box-office-profit-explained/#:~:text=With%20a%20whopping%20budget%20of,million%20from%20its%20re%2Dreleases.">cost</a> a whopping $210 million to produce ($337 million adjusted for inflation), making it the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release in 1997. This causes a lot of concern in the industry, with many insiders calling the filmmaker crazy for spending so much. But even with the massive budget, Cameron said they did cut costs where they could. 
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“We only cast short extras so it made our set look bigger,” Cameron explained. “Anybody above five foot eight, we didn’t cast them. It’s like we got an extra million dollars of value out of casting.”
The “Titanic” gamble did pay off in a big way. Over its lifetime, the movie made $2.2 billion, making it the highest-earning film of all time until Cameron’s “Avatar” was released in 2009.
The director said he stands by putting in the funds to make the movie, which is what made it so successful. 
“If the studio had had their way, they would have cut the entire ship sinking,” Cameron told the LA Times. “The smartest thing we did was do the sinking last. It wasn’t because of strategy — it was simply because you sink the set last because otherwise it doesn’t look so good the next morning when you bring it back up.”
Cameron had previously weighed in on the infamous door controversy. Fans have been speculating for decades whether there was enough room on the floating door to save both Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet). He assured movie fans that while there may have been enough physical room, the door would not have stayed afloat with both adults on it. 
“We have done a scientific study to put this whole thing to rest and drive a stake through its heart once and for all,” Cameron <a href="https://torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/james-cameron-plans-to-prove-that-jack-couldnt-have-lived-in-titanic">told</a> The Toronto Sun in 2022.
“We have since done a thorough forensic analysis with a hypothermia expert who reproduced the raft from the movie,” he continued. “We took two stunt people who were the same body mass of Kate and Leo and we put sensors all over them and inside them and we put them in ice water. We tested to see whether they could have survived through a variety of methods and the answer was, there was no way they both could have survived. Only one could survive.”

James Cameron Said He Intentionally Cast ‘Short Extras’ On ‘Titanic’ For One Reason

James Cameron Said He Intentionally Cast 'Short Extras' On 'Titanic' For One Reason

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oceangate-suspends-operations-after-deadly-implosion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OceanGate</a> submersible tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of five people, is being turned into a feature film from MindRiot Entertainment after the group landed the rights to make the docuseries &#8220;Salvaged&#8221; about the incident.
&#8220;The Blackening&#8221; producer E. Brian Dobbins has signed on to co-produce the movie, with MindRiot&#8217;s Justin MacGregor and Jonathan Keasey on board to co-write the film, <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/09/e-brian-dobbins-the-blackening-oceangate-mindriot-entertainment-1235559614/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deadline</a> reported.
It will deal with before, during, and after the tragedy, which captured the world&#8217;s attention when the submersible went missing on June 18 during its trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic in the Atlantic Ocean.
&#8220;The Titan Tragedy is yet another example of a misinformed and quick-to-pounce system, in this case, our nonstop, 24-7 media cycle that convicts and ruins the lives of so many people without any due process,&#8221; Keasey said.
&#8220;Our film will not only honor all those involved in the submersible tragedy, and their families, but the feature will serve as a vessel that also addresses a more macro concern about the nature of media today,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
EXCLUSIVE: After locking a docuseries based on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OceanGate?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OceanGate</a> and the submersible tragedy, MindRiot Entertainment has now set a fiction project, also based on the tragedy, with E. Brian Dobbins (The Blackening, Black-ish) signed on to co-produce <a href="https://t.co/FqFYADap6D">https://t.co/FqFYADap6D</a> <a href="https://t.co/LOsr79fVvw">pic.twitter.com/LOsr79fVvw</a>
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) <a href="https://twitter.com/DEADLINE/status/1707760782409150707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Truth is all that matters,&#8221; Keasey continued. &#8220;And the world has a right to know the truth, always, not the salacious bait crammed down our throats by those seeking their five minutes of fame. Life is not black and white. It&#8217;s complicated. There&#8217;s nuance. Always nuance.&#8221;
On June 18, the submersible lost contact with its mother ship. A four-day rescue mission from the United States and Canada ensued including using airplanes, boats, and submersibles in the attempt to find and save the crew of five on board, <a href="https://variety.com/2023/film/news/titanic-submersible-oceangate-movie-1235740084/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a> noted.
On the fourth day, the United States Coast Guard <a href="https://twitter.com/USCGNortheast/status/1671907901542211584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1671907901542211584%7Ctwgr%5Ecbfebb9adb1227d0cfd8b029851173bec1af7999%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.dailywire.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D574887action%3Dedit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that a remotely operated underwater vehicle had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/titanic-sub-rescue-effort-cost-millions-and-oceangate-likely-wont-be-paying-for-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found debris</a> from the Titan near the Titanic.
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&#8220;A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic,&#8221; USGC Northeast said in a statement. &#8220;Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information.&#8221;
&#8220;A debris field implies a break-up of the submersible … that really sort of indicates what is the worst-case scenario, which is a catastrophic failure and generally that’s an implosion,&#8221; marine scientist and rescue expert David Mearns told <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/debris-field-discovered-within-search-area-near-titanic-us-coast-guard-says-12906735" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sky News</a>.
&#8220;The only saving grace is that it would have been immediate — literally in milliseconds — and the men wouldn&#8217;t have known what was happening,&#8221; Mearns added.

Oceangate’s Titan

OceanGate Submersible Tragedy Being Turned Into Feature Film

Disasters

movie

OceanGate

Director James Cameron took to Twitter on Saturday to dispel the &#8220;offensive rumors&#8221; that he might be looking to direct a disaster movie based on the ill-fated mission of OceanGate&#8217;s Titan submersible.
Cameron noted that he didn&#8217;t normally find it necessary to address such rumors publicly, but that he felt this one was egregious enough to require immediate attention.
&#8220;I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be,&#8221; he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I don’t respond to offensive rumors in the media usually, but I need to now. I’m NOT in talks about an OceanGate film, nor will I ever be.
&mdash; James Cameron (@JimCameron) <a href="https://twitter.com/JimCameron/status/1680192385051947009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Cameron, 68, who directed the Oscar-winning drama &#8220;Titanic,&#8221; has visited the wreckage that the doomed crew members of the Titan were traveling to see on a number of occasions — and has said he believed there were a number of comparisons to be made between the ill-fated ocean-liner and the OceanGate submersible.
&#8220;A number of the top players in the deep submergence engineering community even wrote letters to the company, saying that what they were doing was too experimental to carry passengers and that it needed to be certified,&#8221; Cameron said during a recent appearance o ABC News. &#8220;I’m struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship, and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night and many people died as a result. For us, it’s a very similar tragedy where warnings went unheeded.&#8221;
A number of other experts have weighed in on what most believe was likely a preventable tragedy, saying that OceanGate chief Stockton Rush — who was piloting the vessel when it imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic — ignored numerous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-flags-surrounded-the-missing-titanic-sub-years-before-disappearance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red flags</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/like-a-horror-movie-underwater-expert-says-titan-sub-passengers-probably-knew-what-was-happening" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Underwater expert</a> and engineer Jose Luis Martin said he believed the passengers aboard the doomed submersible likely had just enough time to realize what was happening before the craft imploded.
&#8220;The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically because the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of passengers that were at the porthole unbalance the submersible. Everyone rushes and crowds on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear, and the agony,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It had to be like a horror movie. In that period of time, they are realizing everything, and what’s more, in complete darkness. It’s difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments … After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs.&#8221;

‘I’m NOT In Talks’: James Cameron Shreds ‘Offensive Rumors’ That He’d Direct Titan Disaster Movie

'I'm NOT In Talks': James Cameron Shreds 'Offensive Rumors' That He'd Direct Titan Disaster Movie

Submersible

A viral video using animation from 3D modelling software shows how the Titan submersible imploded.
The Titan submersible submerged on June 18, quickly losing communications with its support vessel. Passengers Hamish Harding, 58, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman Dawood, 19, as well as French Navy pilot Paul-Henry (PH) Nargeolet and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush perished in the tragedy.
The video, published on the YouTube account AiTelly , explains that Titan&#8217;s carbon fiber construction was insufficient to deal with the pressures of the deep ocean.
“In the case of the Titan submersible, the implosion was caused due to very high hydro-static pressure of the surrounding water, which happened in a fraction of a millisecond,” the video states.
“At the depth the Titanic rests, there’s around 5,600 pounds per square inch of pressure (PSI). That’s almost 400 times the pressure we experience on the surface. &#8230; When this force becomes larger than the force hull can withstand, the vessel implodes violently,” the narration continues.
“Existing technology is based on steel, titanium and aluminium. &#8230; But the Titian has had an experimental design; it used mostly carbon fibers, which have the advantage of being lighter than titanium or steel,” the video narrates.
The animators show what the inside of the sub would have looked like, how the joysticks directing the vessel worked, and how the thrusters powered the vessel underwater.
To indicate the small size of the vessel, they show its size next to a full-grown man and a small SUV.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fhiBnQ0Ar4E" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Within a week after the tragedy, Superintendent Kent Osmond of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police <a href="//D3B6ACAB-EF06-4359-8B00-512CDBBE9149/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that an investigation would be launched to determine whether a criminal investigation would be warranted.
“Such an investigation will proceed only if our examination of the circumstances indicate criminal, federal or provincial laws may possibly have been broken,” he said. ”Following the US Coast Guard&#8217;s announcement earlier this week that debris from the submersible was located and all five on board were presumed dead, we will now look at the circumstances that led to those deaths. Our investigators are engaged and active in this matter as of this morning. Once a determination has been made as to whether or not a full investigation will be launched, we will provide an update at that time.”

Titanic tourist submersible disappear on an expedition to explore the famed shipwreck

WATCH: Viral Animated Video Details Doomed Titan Submersible

Animation

viral video

Underwater expert and engineer Jose Luis Martin said that the passengers on the doomed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/its-like-peanut-butter-doomed-oceangate-ceo-had-described-glue-holding-titan-together" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Titan submersible</a> probably had just enough time to realize what was happening before the unthinkable occurred.
Martin likened the scene to something out of a &#8220;horror movie,&#8221; saying that he believed the craft probably nose-dived after an electrical fault, causing them to plummet — in complete darkness – toward the sea floor. During that time, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/11/titan-sub-victims-likely-realized-their-fate-between-48-to-71-seconds-before-deaths/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, the passengers would have been thrown against each other — in free fall for 48-71 seconds before the submersible could no longer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/titanic-foundation-probing-claims-oceangate-ceo-made-about-vessels-safety-before-director-joined-doomed-voyage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">withstand the pressure</a>.
&#8220;During the controlled immersion of the Titan, there must have been an electrical fault, which left the craft without thrust,&#8221; Martin told Spanish news outlet NIUS. &#8220;Without thrust, the weight of the passengers and the pilot (about 400 kilograms), which was focused on the front end close to the view port, would have disrupted the Titan’s longitudinal stability.&#8221;
&#8220;At this point, the submersible begins to fall headlong towards the seafloor, and with control and safety functions damaged, it can no longer be maneuvered,&#8221; Martin continued, noting that would also make it impossible for Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush to drop weights and make an emergency return to the surface.
Once the submersible had been thrown off balance, there would have been nothing anyone onboard could do to correct it, Martin argued.
&#8220;The Titan changes position and falls like an arrow vertically because the 400 kilos (880 pounds) of passengers that were at the porthole unbalance the submersible. Everyone rushes and crowds on top of each other. Imagine the horror, the fear, and the agony,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It had to be like a horror movie.&#8221;
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​&#8221;In that period of time, they are realizing everything,&#8221; Martin added, saying that he believed the entire sequence of events likely played out over about 48-71 seconds. &#8220;And what’s more, in complete darkness. It’s difficult to get an idea of what they experienced in those moments &#8230; After those 48 seconds, or one minute, the implosion and instantaneous sudden death occurs.&#8221;
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Titan Submersible

‘Like A Horror Movie’: Underwater Expert Says Titan Sub Passengers Probably Knew What Was Happening

'Like A Horror Movie': Underwater Expert Says Titan Sub Passengers Probably Knew What Was Happening

Come for Morning Wire&#8217;s Afternoon Update&#8217;s straight news, but stay for why it matters. The following six stories, and more, can be heard on today&#8217;s Morning Wire Afternoon Update podcast. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/biden-administration-appeal-twitter-threatens-legal-action-afternoon-update-7-6-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here to listen</a>. 
1. Biden Administration Fights For Censorship
On Wednesday, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-administration-to-appeal-judges-order-blocking-contact-with-social-media-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> a judge’s order blocking several government agencies and officials from contacting social media companies. The appeal sets up a clash over the U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty’s July 4th judgment, which granted the injunction in a 2022 lawsuit by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri that accused the government of violating the First Amendment after the alleged collusion with social media companies to censor “disfavored” speech.
Why It Matters: As previously covered by The Daily Wire, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/friendly-fascism-biden-white-house-wanted-to-censor-even-private-speech-over-covid-vax">Biden administration has always shown a keen interest</a> in getting Big Tech to censor speech it disapproves of. Often under the guise of fighting disinformation or protecting national security, the Biden administration has arguably trampled upon the First Amendment in order to maintain power.
Judge Doughty, however, has put a temporary stop to all this and is already having an impact as federal agencies have canceled meetings with Big Tech groups out of caution until they get further legal guidance.
Of course, the Left is going to fight for censorship — it helps Democrats stay in power. The truth is an antidote to their propaganda. For example, if the truth were really allowed to proliferate on social media in 2020 — such as saying men cannot get pregnant, that the Hunter Biden laptop was real, and that everyday household COVID masks didn&#8217;t work as advertised — then the Democrats would have likely lost the presidential election.
The Left&#8217;s success depends on deceit. To make it work, the Left needs to be able to trample out the truth and command the narrative. It always has, and always will. Unfiltered social media thwarts that control, hence the Democrats&#8217; desire to have Big Government and Big Tech working together to silence dissenters.
2. More Biden &#8216;Crime Family&#8217; Drama — A New Witness Steps Forward
Another <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2023/07/06/dr_gal_luft_details_biden_corruption_in_extraordinary_video_602490.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">witness in the Hunter Biden</a> saga has come forward, this one a former adviser to the Chinese energy company CEFC. Gal Luft is accusing the Bidens of corruption and the DOJ of covering it up. He made the claims in a video obtained by the New York Post. Luft is an expert in geopolitics and energy security who is currently in hiding from U.S. authorities. He said he’s being pursued by the DOJ on charges of arms trafficking, acting as an unregistered foreign agent, and lying to the FBI. But he says his indictment is an attempt by the DOJ to keep him from sharing what he knows about the Biden family’s dealings with CEFC.
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Luft met with U.S. authorities to blow the whistle on the Bidens in March of 2019, but heard nothing in response until authorities arrested him in Cyprus in February. He escaped custody with the help of friends, he said, and is keeping his current location a secret.
Why It Matters: It wouldn&#8217;t be the first time that an opponent of the Biden administration has had the DOJ effectively sicced on them. Parents, pro-life fathers, the owner of the laptop repair store where Hunter had it dropped off, and even the former president have all been targeted by law enforcement due to arguably weak cases — with the only common denominator being that they threaten Biden&#8217;s power. Read <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-activist-arrest-shows-doj-doesnt-care-if-its-politicized-whats-the-gop-going-to-do-about-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more here</a>. If the allegations about the Biden family&#8217;s money-making are even remotely true, it&#8217;s no surprise that Luft would feel he has to go incognito for his own survival.
3. Where In the World Is Yevgeny Prigozhin?
The mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlim, is in Russia today while his Wagner troops are in their field camps, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/06/1186186367/yevgeny-prigozhin-wagner-russia-belarus-lukashenko" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the president of Belarus</a>. Alexander Lukashenko’s claim could not be independently verified, however, Russian media have reported Prigozhin was seen at his offices in St. Petersburg. It was not clear if Prigozhin’s presence in Russia would violate the deal, which allowed the head of the Wagner Group to move to Belarus and gave a promise of amnesty in exchange for ending the rebellion.
Why It Matters: &#8220;In war, the first causality is the truth,&#8221; Greek tragedian Aeschylus is believed to have first said. And boy does that ever apply to the Ukraine-Russian War. The truth has been repeatedly twisted from all directions, and we still haven&#8217;t learned why Prigozhin started his &#8220;coup&#8221; in the first place. 
But with regard to Prigozhin, Lukashenko, and President Vladimir Putin — none of these people were trustworthy even before the war started. During it, their propaganda has only ramped up. Readers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/un-risk-of-nuclear-war-at-record-high-please-engage-in-peace-talks-russia-and-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">should keep in mind that Belarus</a> has also denied — despite mountains of evidence — that Russia has been moving tactical nuclear weapons into the country — which just happens to border Ukraine. You can&#8217;t exactly trust Lukashenko&#8217;s claims about Prigozhin here.
4. UPS Strike Looming?
More than 340,000 UPS workers could go on strike if the shipping giant and the Teamsters Union don’t come to a new contract agreement soon. Negotiations appeared to be going well until 4:00 a.m. Wednesday morning — when The Teamsters walked away from the negotiating table. 
UPS released a <a href="https://about.ups.com/us/en/newsroom/press-releases/people-led/ups-encourages-teamsters-to-return-to-the-negotiations-table.html">statement</a>, saying, “Refusing to negotiate, especially when the finish line is in sight, creates significant unease among employees and customers and threatens to disrupt the U.S. economy.” The company hasn’t had a strike since 1997. 
Why It Matters: While there might be a few reasonable arguments for some voluntary unionism, there are none for forced unionism (or public unions, but that&#8217;s a different story) and bullies who take money from unsuspecting temporary workers. And unfortunately, the Teamsters Union has many a time preyed on seasonal workers during the summer and during the Christmas season to demand &#8220;union dues&#8221; illegally.
For example, in 2014, one poor seasonal worker received a $0 paycheck because Teamsters Fat Cats took it all. Thankfully, attorneys from the <a href="https://www.nrtw.org/es/news/ups-seasonal-worker-receives-0-paycheck-after-company-illegally-seizes-dues-for-teamster-union-0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Right to Work Foundation</a> were there to help him out.
As for the potential UPS strike, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/business/teamsters-ups-strike-possibility/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experts</a> say this would be disastrous for the American economy.
5. Sex Cult Actress Released From Prison Early
Former <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66111026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8216;Smallville&#8217; actress Allison Mack</a> has been released early from her prison sentence for her involvement in the NXIVM sex cult started by Keith Raniere. Mack was sentenced to three years in prison in June 2021 after pleading guilty to a number of charges. Raniere was sentenced in October 2020 to 120 years in prison, and Mack subsequently called her involvement with the group her “biggest mistake and greatest regret of my life.”
Why It Matters: It&#8217;s called Hollyweird for a reason.
6. Oceangate Suspends Operations
OceanGate, the company that owned the submersible that imploded on its way to the wreck of the Titanic, said Thursday it has suspended operations. Read more <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oceangate-suspends-operations-after-deadly-implosion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. All five people who were on board the most recent mission were killed after the submersible presumably imploded as it made its descent into deep North Atlantic waters on June 18. 
Why It Matters: Some view those who died as bold pioneers, steeped in the American tradition of doing &#8220;things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.&#8221; Then, there are those who think the men were idiots — like the kind of people who go &#8220;adventuring&#8221; in Latin America and plunge to their death after trying out Ecuadorian zip lines to prove how loco they are.
Wherever you stand on this issue, five innocent souls were lost, and that is always a tragedy. But that&#8217;s not how the Left saw these deaths.
Numerous people on the Left were glad because five rich men were killed at the bottom of the sea. Much like the &#8220;We&#8217;re coming for your children&#8221; chants at Pride parades across America, when the Left says, &#8220;Eat the rich!&#8221; there&#8217;s more truth to their chants than not. Success is always envied by the Left, and that emotion leads to contempt. The fruit of that contempt rears its ugly head when catastrophe strikes the Left&#8217;s opponents.
To listen to the audio version of Afternoon Update, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

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OceanGate announced Thursday that it is suspending operations after its Titan submersible imploded last month during a tour of the Titanic, killing all five people on board.
&#8220;OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial operations,&#8221; the company <a href="https://oceangateexpeditions.com/">said</a> in a banner on its website.
The company, founded over a decade ago, gained international notoriety last month after its Titan submersible lost all communications after about 1 hour and 45 minutes into its descent to view the wreckage of the Titanic.
Five years before the tragedy occured, an expert pilot for OceanGate reportedly warned of his concern that the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush, “kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego.”
David Lochridge, a submersible pilot and engineer who had served in Great Britain’s Royal Navy and worked all over the world, had expressed reservations about the design and build of OceanGate’s submersible, but his concerns were reportedly dismissed. He found numerous problems with the vessel, including the carbon-fiber hull having “very visible signs of delamination and porosity,” the glue for ballast bags coming off, sealing faces with errant plunge holes, and O-ring grooves whose design was not standard, among many others, The New Yorker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/a-reporter-at-large/the-titan-submersible-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. When Lochridge brought up his concerns at a company meeting, he was fired.
“I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen,” Lochridge wrote to Rob McCallum, who co-founded a company called Eyos Expeditions and had taken tourists to the Titanic years before. “There’s no way on earth you could have paid me to dive the thing. … I don’t want to be seen as a Tattle tale but I’m so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego.”
OceanGate’s director of finance and administration said in the interview that she could not work for Rush and so she quit as soon as she found another job.
“I could not work for Stockton,” she said, claiming that he had asked her to take over as chief submersible pilot. “I did not trust him. It freaked me out that he would want me to be head pilot, since my background is in accounting.” She noted that several of the engineers for the company were in their late teens and early twenties.
Hank Berrien contributed to this report. 
This is a breaking news story; refresh the page for updates.

OceanGate Suspends Operations After Deadly Implosion

In a 2017 video posted to his company’s YouTube channel, OceanGate Expeditions’ CEO Stockton Rush, who perished along with four passengers on the ill-fated Titan submersible in mid-June, described the glue holding the vessel together by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziIPav8t8hY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comparing it to a popular food</a>.
The 2017 video showed the submersible being put together as Rush asserted, “It’s pretty simple, but if we mess it up, there&#8217;s not a lot of room for recovery,”
Then he added, “The glue’s very thick, so it’s not like Elmer’s Glue; it’s like peanut butter.”
Rush had been warned years before the tragedy that his vessel was unsafe. David Lochridge, formerly the director of marine operations for Titan project, issued a 2018  engineering report in which he expressed reservations about the design and build of OceanGate’s submersible, but his concerns were reportedly dismissed. He found numerous problems with the vessel, including the carbon-fiber hull having “very visible signs of delamination and porosity,” the glue for ballast bags coming off, sealing faces with errant plunge holes, and O-ring grooves whose design was not standard, among many others, The New Yorker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/a-reporter-at-large/the-titan-submersible-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
But when Lochridge brought up his concerns at a company meeting, he was fired.
“I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen,” Lochridge wrote to Rob McCallum, who co-founded a company called Eyos Expeditions and had taken tourists to the Titanic years before. “There’s no way on earth you could have paid me to dive the thing. &#8230; I don’t want to be seen as a Tattle tale but I’m so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego.”
“That sub is not safe to dive,” Lochridge warned McCallum.
“Do you think the sub could be made safe to dive, or is it a complete lemon?” McCallum asked. “You will get a lot of support from people in the industry . . . . everyone is watching and waiting and quietly s***ting their pants.”
“It’s a lemon,” Lochridge replied tersely.
Lochridge sent OSHA investigator Paul McDevitt an inspection report in the hope that the government might intervene, prompting McDevitt to contact OceanGate. OceanGate’s lawyer then reportedly issued Lochridge a court summons saying he had ten days to withdraw his claim and pay OceanGate almost ten thousand dollars in legal expenses or OceanGate would sue him, wreck his reputation, and accuse him of immigration fraud. Lochridge ultimately withdrew his whistle-blower claim.

‘It’s Like Peanut Butter’: Doomed OceanGate CEO Had Described Glue Holding Titan Together

Peanut Butter

Five years before the tragedy in which the OceanGate Titan submersible imploded in the deep ocean during its journey to the Titanic, an expert pilot for OceanGate reportedly warned of his concern that the company’s CEO, Stockton Rush, “kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego.”
David Lochridge, a submersible pilot and engineer who had served in Great Britain’s Royal Navy and worked all over the world, had expressed reservations about the design and build of OceanGate’s submersible, but his concerns were reportedly dismissed. He found numerous problems with the vessel, including the carbon-fiber hull having “very visible signs of delamination and porosity,” the glue for ballast bags coming off, sealing faces with errant plunge holes, and O-ring grooves whose design was not standard, among many others, The New Yorker <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/a-reporter-at-large/the-titan-submersible-was-an-accident-waiting-to-happen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. When Lochridge brought up his concerns at a company meeting, he was fired.
“I would consider myself pretty ballsy when it comes to doing things that are dangerous, but that sub is an accident waiting to happen,” Lochridge wrote to Rob McCallum, who co-founded a company called Eyos Expeditions and had taken tourists to the Titanic years before. “There’s no way on earth you could have paid me to dive the thing. &#8230; I don’t want to be seen as a Tattle tale but I’m so worried he kills himself and others in the quest to boost his ego.”
After Lochridge was fired, McCallum reportedly told him, “Stockton must be gutted. You were the star player &#8230; and the only one that gave me a hint of confidence.”
“I think you are going to [be] even more taken aback when I tell you what’s happening,” Lochridge answered, adding that he was concerned Rush might target him, saying, “We both know he has influence and money,” then adding, “That sub is not safe to dive.”
“Do you think the sub could be made safe to dive, or is it a complete lemon?” McCallum asked. “You will get a lot of support from people in the industry . . . . everyone is watching and waiting and quietly s***ting their pants.”
“It’s a lemon,” Lochridge replied tersely.
“He wanted me to run his Titanic operation for him,” McCallum said of Rush. “At the time, I was the only person he knew who had run commercial expedition trips to Titanic. Stockton’s plan was to go a step further and build a vehicle specifically for this multi-passenger expedition.”
After Rush made it clear he refused to have his submersible classed by a marine-certification agency, McCallum decided he did not want to be associated with OceanGate. “The minute that I found out that he was not going to class the vehicle, that’s when I said, ‘I’m sorry, I just can’t be involved,’” he told The New Yorker.
“I can tell you that the class society has been nothing but supportive,” he told Rush. “They are actually part of our innovation process. We’re using the brainpower of their engineers to feed into our design.”
“Stockton didn’t like that,” McCallum remembered. “He didn’t like to be told that he was on the fringe.” He warned Rush, “You can’t cut corners in the deep. It’s not about being a disruptor. It’s about the laws of physics.”
“People would ring me, and say, ‘We’ve always wanted to go to Titanic. What do you think?’” he said. “And I would tell them, ‘Never get in an unclassed sub. I wouldn’t do it, and you shouldn’t, either.’”
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“I could not work for Stockton,” OceanGate’s director of finance and administration, whom Rush asked to take over as chief submersible pilot, recalled. “I did not trust him. It freaked me out that he would want me to be head pilot, since my background is in accounting.” She noted that several of the engineers for the company were in their late teens and early twenties. She quit as soon as she had another job lined up.
Lochridge sent OSHA investigator Paul McDevitt an inspection report in the hope that the government might intervene, prompting McDevitt to contact OceanGate. OceanGate’s lawyer then reportedly issued Lochridge a court summons saying he had ten days to withdraw his claim and pay OceanGate almost ten thousand dollars in legal expenses or OceanGate would sue him, wreck his reputation, and accuse him of immigration fraud. Lochridge ultimately withdrew his whistle-blower claim.

Expert Pilot Fired By OceanGate Warned CEO Would Kill Himself, Others ‘To Boost His Ego‘: Report

Death

Stockton Rush

RMS Titanic Inc. is looking into claims made by OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush about the safety of his submersible after one of the foundation’s leaders died when the sub imploded last week. 
On June 19, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, the <a href="https://www.discovertitanic.com/about-us/team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">director</a> of underwater research for RMS Titanic Inc., boarded the 22-foot Titan submersible with four other passengers, including Rush, on a voyage to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to view the Titanic wreckage. All five aboard the Titan likely died hours after the underwater trip began, and Nargeolet’s foundation is seeking answers.
“We have now our own internal questions about the representations [OceanGate] made that we made the basis on giving PH the OK to go,” Jessica Sanders, the president of RMS Titanic Inc., <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/06/30/rms-titanic-inc-probing-if-cavalier-stockton-rush-misled-them-to-get-ph-nargeolet-aboard-doomed-sub/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The New York Post. “We’re going back and looking at that now ourselves internally, because there were representations not only made to us, but made to the court, that now we have to go back and verify because of these stories that are coming up that question them.”
Rush reportedly told passengers that the Titan was “way safer than flying in a helicopter or even scuba diving,” but <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/red-flags-surrounded-the-missing-titanic-sub-years-before-disappearance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">red flags surrounded the submersible</a> years before the disaster. Those wishing to squeeze into the submersible roughly the size of a minivan had to sign waivers accepting the possibility of injury or death, and before Titan’s latest trek, OceanGate faced multiple warnings from people inside and outside the company, as well as a lawsuit from an employee flagging what he saw as massive safety issues.
Rush proudly used off-the-shelf items and “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/23/titanic-submersible-ceo-carbon-fiber-rush/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discounted</a>” parts when he built the Titan and steered the vessel with a <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/06/23/logitechs-stock-hit-titanic-subs-video-game-controller/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">game controller</a>. The OceanGate CEO also once <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boss-of-titanic-sub-company-didnt-want-50-year-old-white-guys-on-his-team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he didn’t want to hire “50-year-old white guys” on his team even if they were seasoned submariners.
Sanders said Nargeolet joined the OceanGate expedition as a guest, and not for research purposes, according to the Post. Nargeolet approached the foundation, asking for approval to join OceanGate’s voyage to the Titanic, and after careful consideration, RMS Titanic Inc. said yes. The 77-year-old Frenchman was one the first people to visit the Titanic wreckage in 1987, and he went on to re-visit the Titanic wreckage roughly 35 times. 
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“If you didn’t get a chance to meet PH, it really is your loss,” Sanders said. “You ever meet somebody that always has a really great story that’s always semi-unbelievable? … That was who he was.”
Those aboard the Titan likely died “in milliseconds,” according to experts who spoke after pieces of the vessel were discovered. Rush and Nargeolet were joined by billionaire explorer Hamish Harding and British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet

Titanic Foundation Probing Claims OceanGate CEO Made About Vessel’s Safety Before Director Joined Doomed Voyage

Titanic Foundation Probing Claims OceanGate CEO Made About Vessel's Safety Before Director Joined Doomed Voyage

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