News

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate who is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, could face the death penalty if convicted. In a statement released on Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing for federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione, according to ABC News.

“Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi’s statement began. “After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”

Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, criticized Bondi’s decision, calling it politically motivated. The decision to seek the death penalty “goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent,” Agnifilo said.

She added, “By doing this, they are defending the broken, immoral, and murderous healthcare industry that continues to terrorize the American people.”

When and why did the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting happen?

Thompson was murdered outside a Hilton hotel in Manhattan as he was on his way to a UnitedHealthcare investors conference. Bullet casings engraved with words like “deny” and “delay” were found at the scene of the crime. Less than an hour later, Thompson was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.

On Dec. 9, 2024, Mangione was arrested in connection to the shooting at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. As Blavity reported at the time of the murder, “Law enforcement officials said Mangione was carrying a handwritten ‘manifesto’ criticizing health insurance companies for prioritizing profits over giving care to the public.”

“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the manifesto reads in part, according to Newsweek.

“I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done,” the letter continued. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.”

When is Luigi Mangione due back in court?

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges. While he has not entered a plea for the federal charges, he is due back in federal court on April 18, 2025. He remains in custody at a federal detention center in Brooklyn, which is the same place where Diddy is being held as he awaits his sex trafficking trial.

In a February 2024 statement, Mangione expressed his gratitude for the droves of supporters who protested outside the courthouse.

“I am overwhelmed by — and grateful for — everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,” he said in the statement, per a website his defense team created on his behalf. “Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe. While it is impossible for me to reply to most letters, please know that I read every one that I receive.”

Richard Sherman‘s home was recently burglarized by gunmen while his family was inside. The break-in happened on Sunday just after midnight on Sherman’s 37th birthday, according to ABC News. The incident took place after a series of burglaries at NFL and NBA players’ homes.

“House being robbed at gun point with my family in it isn’t what anyone wants for a birthday gift,” he wrote on social media. “Scary situation that my wife handled masterfully and kept my kids safe. If anyone has any info that can help find these people please reach out.”

Sherman shared security camera footage on social media in the hopes of it helping the investigation. The video captured three individuals coming through a window at his home.

House being robbed at gun point with my family in it isn’t what anyone wants for a birthday gift. Scary situation that my Wife handled masterfully and kept my kids safe. If anyone has any info that can help find these people please reach out. pic.twitter.com/HSHPiRHuoP— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) March 31, 2025

There are no suspects and no arrests have been made so far. Law enforcement said the investigation is currently active. It is unclear if anything was taken from Sherman’s home.

The burglary happened after several incidents at the homes of professional athletes.

As reported by USA Today, at least nine athletes have had their homes burglarized in recent months. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Joe Burrow are among those who have been targeted.

In February, prosecutors charged seven Chilean individuals with such burglaries. They allegedly stole cash and luxury items such as jewelry and watches. Previous burglaries have been conducted as it was known that the athletes would be away from home. Sherman did not share whether he was in the house at the time of the incident.

Hooters of America, the restaurant chain known for its chicken wings and an all-female waitstaff dressed in signature orange athletic shorts and white tank tops, filed for bankruptcy Monday. The company founders plan to keep locations open and rebrand under new ownership.

Wait, is Cardi B out here with a Raising Cane’s skincare routine?

Makeup company Ipsy and the chicken chain are encourage beauty and chicken lovers to revamp their skincare routines.

The duo has teamed to launch Raising Cane’s x Ipsy Moisturizing Sauce, a “face cream” inspired by Raising Cane’s famous sauce. The new “cream” is already a Hollywood favorite, with stars like Cardi B and beauty blogger Raye Boyce cosigning the product on social media.

Here’s what Cardi has to say about the Raising Cane’s x Ipsy Moisturizing Sauce and where you can get it.

Photo: Raising Cane’s

Cardi B says it’s the key to her glowing skin

One of the new cream’s biggest fans is Cardi B, who shared a video on TikTok and Instagram showing how the product is an integral part of her routine.

“Everyone always asks me how my skin looks so beautiful, so shiny, so amazing at the age of 32 with three kids, a job that stresses me out, and sleepless nights,” Cardi said in an Instagram video. “I’ve been using this new cream – it’s the Cane’s ‘Moisturizing Sauce.’ It’s not greasy, not sticky, and it smells just like chicken.” 

She tries on the product in the video and raves about its “non-greasy,” “non-sticky” quality and chicken aroma. The “Up” rapper slathers it all over her face, and after commenting on how “refreshing” the cream is, she tastes it.

“Sorry, I’m just so hungry,” she said in the clip as she continued to rub the “cream” on her face. The cream appears to be Cane’s sauce.

Where can you get the moisturizing sauce?

Unfortunately, the Raising Cane’s x Ipsy Moisturizing Sauce cannot be purchased at Raising Cane’s Restaurants or through an Ipsy subscription because it doesn’t exist….and it’s April Fools Day.

But, those disappointed about not finding the next great hydrating moisturizer can sign up for a monthly beauty subscription from Ipsy. Subscribers receive monthly goody bags with some of beauty’s most coveted products.

According to a news release shared with Blavity, Cardi put actual Cane’s Sauce on her face. However, Raising Cane’s does not recommend beauty lovers try this at home; instead, it urges fans to rub the sauce on chicken or the restaurant’s crinkle-cut fries, not their faces.

Happy April Fools’ Day!

The Trump administration said it made an “administrative error” in deporting a Maryland man to a prison in El Salvador. Although the man has a protected legal status, the administration said he has alleged ties to local gangs and is refusing to bring him back to the United States.

Abrego Garcia is a 29-year-old man who has been living in Maryland with his wife, who is a U.S. citizen, and their child.

Who is Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia?

He “left El Salvador when he was around sixteen years old, fleeing gang violence,” according to his lawyer’s complaint, as reported by the Associated Press. “Beginning around 2006, gang members had stalked, hit, and threatened to kidnap and kill him in order to coerce his parents to succumb to their increasing demands for extortion.”

In 2019, Abrego Garcia was deemed to be a likely member of the MS-13 gang by an immigration judge following claims from an informant. He contested the decision and the court found that his fear of torture and persecution was credible, according to Politico.

Court documents of the time do not describe Abrego Garcia as a convicted gang member. Instead, it was noted that he should not be deported to El Salvador because it was “more likely than not that he would be persecuted by gangs,” his lawyer’s complaint notes, per the Associated Press.

“Although he has been accused of general ‘gang affiliation,’ the U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation,” the complaint indicated, adding that he is not affiliated with any gangs.

Why was Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia deported?

The man was arrested on March 12 after ending his shift as a sheet metal worker apprentice at a construction site in Baltimore. He was deported on March 15 and sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center, also referred to as CECOT. Abrego Garcia was identified as being one of the prisoners by his wife.

The prison was opened in 2022 as El Salvador President Nayib Bukele started to crack down on gang violence in the country. CECOT can hold up to 40,000 inmates, with each cell holding 65 to 70 prisoners. It is known as a mega-prison where prisoners aren’t allowed outdoors and has been accused of violating human rights after allegations of abuse, torture and lack of medical care, according to NPR.

Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador alongside over 100 Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act under claims that they have ties to criminal gangs. The act is a wartime order that allows the president to detain or deport citizens of an enemy nation. It has been used three times in U.S. history, according to The Brennan Center.

An ‘administrative error’ that may have gone against court orders.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials admitted to the error on Monday. The Trump administration then said that ICE “was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador” but deported Abrego Garcia “because of an administrative error.” It reiterated his alleged gang ties and argued he was a danger to the country. 

“This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13,” Robert Cerna, the ICE acting field office director of enforcement and removal operations, wrote in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

Federal judge James Boasberg previously ordered the March 15 flights to be halted or turned around. It appears the Trump administration went against his order. He also currently put a stop to further deportations from being conducted under the Alien Enemies Act.

Kenan Thompson was taken aback by Morgan Wallen’s behavior on Saturday Night Live this past weekend.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Thompson said he’s not sure why Wallen walked off the SNL stage over the weekend.

“I don’t know what goes through people’s minds when they decide to do stuff like that,” Thompson told EW. “I don’t know if he understood the assignment or not, or if he was really feeling a certain kind of way.”

What happened to Morgan Wallen on ‘Saturday Night Live’?

Wallen, who appeared as a guest on the March 29 episode of SNL and performed two songs, abruptly walked off the stage at the end of the show. The country singer’s exit was a shock for Thompson and his colleagues, who normally send off their guests with hugs at the end of the show while the credits roll.

“You see somebody before you get a chance to say hi or say good job or anything like that, they just dipping,” Thompson said. “I thought maybe he had to go to the potty or something.”

He added, “It’s definitely a spike in the norm. We’re so used to everybody just turning around and high-fiving us, everybody’s saying, ‘Good job, good job, good job.’ So when there’s a departure from that, it’s like, hmm, I wonder what that’s about?”

Adding to the bizarre night, Wallen went to social media after leaving the show and posted a photo of a private jet along with a caption that read, “Get me to God’s country.” 

“The ‘God’s country’ of it all is strange because it’s like, what are you trying to say?” Thompson said. “You trying to say that we are not in God’s country? We’re not all in God’s country? We’re not all under God’s umbrella? That’s not necessarily my favorite. But whatever. Moving on, we got a new show. We got Jack Black this week. We will be fine.”

Why did Morgan Wallen Walk Off ‘Saturday Night Live’?

According to Variety, sources closes to Wallen said the country singer didn’t have any issues with the show and had a good time while filming. One guest who was in attendance for the dress rehearsal said Wallen also walked off at that time.

Thompson said Prince did something similar when he was a guest on SNL, but the cast wasn’t surprised at that time because “Prince was notoriously kind of standoffish.”

“Saturday I guess it was just different because it just felt so abrupt,” Thompson said, per EW. “And it was already such a small grouping on the stage anyway. So it was just like, oh wow, that was pretty visible. You know what I’m saying? It was a pretty visible thing.”

March 31 is International Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual recognition meant to raise awareness of trans individuals and trans issues. This year’s Trans Day of Visibility is the first since Donald Trump returned to the White House, and it comes as the U.S. federal government has rolled back previous administrations’ policies and placed restrictions on trans recognition and opportunities.

Recognizing trans individuals and issues

International Transgender Day of Visibility, recognized on March 31 of each year, is an event meant to recognize trans individuals and foster connections and community. The event was founded in 2009 by psychotherapist Rachel Crandall-Crocker of Michigan, who said that the event “means we will resist, and we’re not going back into the closet — it’s a unified, strong voice saying, ‘We are here. We are here, and we’re not leaving,’” according to The Hill. This year, the event will include acts of protest against the Trump administration and its policies, with over a dozen lawmakers expected to join a demonstration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Past recognition and controversy

Crandall-Crocker created Transgender Day of Visibility in 2009 as an addition to the preexisting Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual event marked in November that remembers victims killed by anti-trans violence. Later that year, then-President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity federal hate crimes. President Joe Biden regularly issued White House proclamations on Transgender Day of Visibility. This routine led to controversy in 2024, as Easter also fell on March 31, leading to false accusations that the White House or trans activists intentionally caused the event to fall on the same day as one of the most holy days in Christianity as an insult to Christians.

Trump policies put trans issues in new spotlight

This year’s day of visibility comes amid a variety of restrictions placed on trans rights by the Trump administration. One of the executive orders signed by Trump on Inauguration Day announced the government would only recognize male and female genders, and it reversed previous policies on transgender and gender-nonconforming recognition. Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have also objected to transgender people serving in the U.S. military. Another Trump order called for a ban of transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports, though an attempt to reinforce this ban through federal legislation was killed in the U.S. Senate.

The politics of transgender identity are perhaps more visible than ever, even as the people involved face exclusions and rollbacks of previous recognition. With these various policies being put in place, this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility comes at a pivotal moment for trans individuals and the United States as a whole.

Stephen Graham, the star and co-creator of Netflix’s Adolescence, sat down for an interview with The Sun and talked about the racial abuse he faced as a child. The 51-year-old star said he often faced racial slurs as a mixed-race child.

“I was called horrible words that I don’t even want to say, and little monkey boy,” Graham told The Sun.

The Netflix star previously opened up about racism when he spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and reflected on his role in the 2006 film This Is England. Graham told the outlet that he was taken back to his childhood experience as he played the role of a racist character who attacked a Black man.

What did Stephen Graham say about facing racism and mental health struggles?

“It was life-changing. I lost myself quite a bit within that character,” Graham said at that time, according to the Daily Mail.

The 51-year-old actor said he came home crying after filming the movie and struggled with his mental health for a while. Graham also spoke in detail about his mental health struggles when he sat down for an interview with The Sunday Times in 2019. The award-winning actor said at that time that he faced “really bad depression” and tried to cope with alcohol. He also added that he tried to take his own life.

“Thankfully, the rope snapped and I’m here today,” Graham told The Sunday Times, per the Daily Mail.

After filming This Is England, Graham said he struggled to find another role and nearly quit his acting career.

“For about eight months, I couldn’t get an audition,” he said. “I almost packed it all in. I was going to be a youth worker.”

Who supported Stephen Graham when he faced mental health struggles?

Graham, who has a Jamaican grandfather, was raised by his mother and stepfather, Mike, who worked as a head pediatric nurse. Graham’s mother, who worked as a social worker, died in 2022. The Adolescence star also remains close with his biological father. Graham said his family was his biggest supporter as he faced mental health struggles.

“They supported me throughout everything,” he said.