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Remember when the notion of government censorship in the U.S. seemed like the plot of an Orwellian novel, or something that happened in other places, countries where masked militia kidnap people off the street and disappear them? Our 1st Amendment rights as Americans seemed to guarantee that would never happen here. The state could not take away our free speech.

It turns out we don’t need a state-sponsored crackdown to punish those who express sentiments that offend, because the private sector has stepped in to do the job. An office supply store, a news network and an airline carrier are among companies that recently fired staff who made comments about influencer Charlie Kirk’s death that were interpreted as celebratory, insensitive or blaming the conservative activist’s polarizing viewpoints for his targeted killing.

Now Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah says that she was unfairly fired over thoughts she expressed following the assassination of Kirk last week in Utah. She wrote: “The Post accused my measured Bluesky posts of being ‘unacceptable’, ‘gross misconduct’ and of endangering the physical safety of colleagues — charges without evidence, which I reject completely as false.”

“They rushed to fire me without even a conversation,” Attiah said. “This was not only a hasty overreach, but a violation of the very standards of journalistic fairness and rigor the Post claims to uphold.” She said that in her posts she exercised “restraint even as I condemned hatred and violence.”

Her comments were largely about gun violence and issues of race. Attiah mentioned Kirk directly in just one post, paraphrasing from a comment he made about Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, both of whom are Black. “’Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a white person’s slot’ — Charlie Kirk,” she wrote.

Attiah didn’t celebrate the death of Kirk in her posts or make light of his slaying, but she didn’t mourn him either. In the current political environment, that alone could be enough to make her employer nervous, even compared to all the other truly awful stuff out there.

Sadly, the cruel, inhumane and politicized responses that followed Kirk’s tragic killing shouldn’t surprise anyone. Social media behaved as it always does — as a repository for every good, bad and really bad impulse experience following a tragedy or crisis.

The same quotient of 20% civility, 80% ugliness enveloped X, YouTube, TikTok and the like when three months ago Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were assassinated in their home in a politically motivated attack. Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also allegedly shot by the same suspect in their home but survived.

The difference back in June? There wasn’t a mass movement to fire, cancel or silence those who minimized the tragic killings or, worse, turned them into a trolling opportunity. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah blamed the killings on the left — “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way,” he wrote on X — and posted a picture of suspect Vance Boelter with the caption “Nightmare on Waltz Street.” It was a crass reference to Tim Walz, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, who was Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election. Lee (who is now publicly mourning Kirk’s death) was taking his cues from the top.

President Trump’s short condemnation of Hortman’s killing on Truth Social stated that “such horrific violence will not be tolerated.” There was no lengthy eulogy, he did not attend the funeral, and when asked the day after Hortman’s killing if he had called Walz, the president said, “I could be nice and call, but why waste time?”

In response to Kirk’s killing, Trump issued an order to lower American flags to half-staff at the White House, all public buildings, U.S. embassies and military posts. He announced he would posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And during an appearance Friday on “Fox & Friends,” he promised vengeance against the left for Kirk’s killing, though the suspect — let alone his motives — were still unknown at the time.

“I’ll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less,” Trump said. “The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime. They don’t want to see crime. They’re saying, ‘We don’t want these people coming in. We don’t want you burning our shopping centers. We don’t want you shooting our people in the middle of the street.’ The radicals on the left are the problem. And they’re vicious, and they’re horrible, and they’re politically savvy.”

The prospect of retribution from a thin-skinned leader leaves no mystery as to why major media outlets such as the Post, “60 Minutes” and MSNBC appear to be reshaping their newsrooms to be less critical of the current administration. The same now goes for break rooms, shop floors and office cubicles across all sectors of American working life. It’s not the Big Brother scenario envisioned in George Orwell’s cautionary tale about a totalitarian state, “1984,” but it’s a start.

It wasn’t the greeting I was expecting from my dad when I stopped by for lunch Wednesday at his Anaheim home.

“¿Quién es Charlie Kirk?”

Papi still has a flip phone, so he hasn’t sunk into an endless stream of YouTube and podcasts like some of his friends. His sources of news are Univisión and the top-of-the-hour bulletins on Mexican oldies stations — far away from Kirk’s conservative supernova.

“Some political activist,” I replied. “Why?”

“The news said he got shot.”

Papi kept watering his roses while I went on my laptop to learn more. My stomach churned and my heart sank as graphic videos of Kirk taking a bullet in the neck while speaking to students at Utah Valley University peppered my social media feeds. What made me even sicker was that everyone online already thought they knew who did it, even though law enforcement hadn’t identified a suspect.

Conservatives blamed liberalism for demonizing one of their heroes and vowed vengeance. Some progressives argued that Kirk had it coming because of his long history of incendiary statements against issues including affirmative action, trans people and Islam. Both sides predicted an escalation in political violence in the wake of Kirk’s killing — fueled by the other side against innocents, of course.

It was the internet at its worst, so I closed my laptop and checked on my dad. He had moved on to cleaning the pool.

“So who was he?” Papi asked again. By then, Donald Trump had announced Kirk’s death. Text messages streamed in from my colleagues. I gave my dad a brief sketch of Kirk’s life, and he frowned when I said the commentator had supported Trump’s mass deportation dreams.

Hate wasn’t on Papi’s mind, however.

“It’s sad that he got killed,” Papi said. “May God bless him and his family.”

“Are politics going to get worse now?” he added.

It’s a question that friends and family have been asking me ever since Kirk’s assassination. I’m the political animal in their circles, the one who bores everyone at parties as I yap about Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom while they want to talk Dodgers and Raiders. They’re too focused on raising families and trying to prosper in these hard times to post a hot take on social media about political personalities they barely know.

They’ve long been over this nation’s partisan divide, because they work and play just fine with people they don’t agree with. They’re tired of being told to loathe someone over ideological differences or blindly worship a person or a cause because it’s supposedly in their best interests. They might not have heard of Kirk before his assassination, but they now worry about what’s next — because a killing this prominent is usually a precursor of worse times ahead.

I wasn’t naive enough to think that the killing of someone as divisive as Kirk would bring Americans together to denounce political terrorism and forge a kinder nation. I knew that each side would embarrass itself with terrible takes and that Trump wouldn’t even pretend to be a unifier.

But the collective dumpster fire we got was worse than I had imagined.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with moderator Charlie Kirk, during a Generation Next White House forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, March 22, 2018.

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

Although conservatives brag that no riots have sparked, as happened after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, they’re largely staying silent as the loudest of Kirk’s supporters vow to crush the left once and for all. The Trump administration is already promising a crackdown against the left in Kirk’s name, and no GOP leaders are complaining. People are losing their jobs because of social media posts critical of Kirk, and his fans are cheering the cancel cavalcade.

Meanwhile, progressives are flummoxed by the right, yet again. They can’t understand why vigils nationwide for someone they long cast as a white nationalist, a fascist and worse are drawing thousands. They’re dismissing those who attend as deluded cultists, hardening hearts on each side even more. They’re posting Kirk’s past statements on social media as proof that they’re correct about him — but that’s like holding up a sheet of paper to dam the Mississippi.

I hadn’t paid close attention to Kirk, mostly because he didn’t have a direct connection to Southern California politics. I knew he had helped turn young voters toward Trump, and I loathed his noxious comments that occasionally caught my attention. I appreciated that he was willing to argue his views with critics, even if his style was more Cartman from “South Park” (which satirized Kirk’s college tours just weeks ago) than Ronald Reagan versus Walter Mondale.

I understand why his fans are grieving and why opponents are sickened at his canonization by Trump, who seems to think that only conservatives are the victims of political violence and that liberals can only be perpetrators. I also know that a similar thing would happen if, heaven forbid, a progressive hero suffered Kirk’s tragic end — way too many people on the right would be dancing a jig and cracking inappropriate jokes, while the left would be whitewashing the sins of the deceased.

We’re witnessing a partisan passion play, with the biggest losers our democracy and the silent majority of Americans like my father who just want to live life. Weep or critique — it’s your right to do either. But don’t drag the whole country into your culture war. Those who have navigated between the Scylla and Charybdis of right and left for too long want to sail to calmer waters. Turning Kirk’s murder into a modern-day Ft. Sumter when we aren’t even certain of his suspected killer’s motives is a guarantee for chaos.

I never answered my dad’s question about what’s next for us politically. In the days since, I keep rereading what Kirk said about empathy. He derided the concept on a 2022 episode of his eponymous show as “a made-up, new age term that … does a lot of damage.”

Kirk was wrong about many things, but especially that. Empathy means we try to understand each other’s experiences — not agree, not embrace, but understand. Empathy connects us to others in the hope of creating something bigger and better.

It’s what allows me to feel for Kirk’s loved ones and not wish his fate on anyone, no matter how much I dislike them or their views. It’s the only thing that ties me to Kirk — he loved this country as much as I do, even if our views about what makes it great were radically different.

Preaching empathy might be a fool’s errand. But at a time when we’re entrenched deeper in our silos than ever, it’s the only way forward. We need to understand why wishing ill on the other side is wrong and why such talk poisons civic life and dooms everyone.

Kirk was no saint, but if his assassination makes us take a collective deep breath and figure out how to fix this fractured nation together, he will have truly died a martyr’s death.

A POPULAR rock star has pulled out of his band’s 25th anniversary tour – after his wife’s death.

Greg Tribbett, 56, is the lead guitarist and a founding member of Mudvayne.

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Writing on social media, Greg’s bandmates confirmed his absence from their 25th anniversary tour following his wife Debbie’s passing.

They penned on social media: “Tour starts today!

“We are going to miss our brother Greg on this tour, sending him and his family all the love.

“- Chad, Matt, Ryan, & Mudvayne crew.”

Mudvayne’s tour began on September 11 and will continue until October 26.

According to a GoFundMe campaign, Debbie had been diagnosed with Angiosarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

Meanwhile, a fan page wrote on social media earlier this week: “With the heaviest of hearts we mourn the loss of our dearest most beautiful friend Debbie Tribbett.

“Anyone who has been here from the start of the Mob family knows she was a huge integral part of this page and the family she did take a step back once she needed to but was still watching and sharing as she always did.

“She was fiercely supportive of MUDVAYNE and her loving husband Greg always so proud!

“I thank her for bringing her love and light to so many of us who were lucky enough to connect with her.

“We miss you beautiful sweet friend more than words can say god bless you and may your family be blessed with strength.”

One person commented: “Ah man this is so sad to hear. Praying for Greg and the children. This is tough.”

Another added: “I heard the news yesterday and cried my eyes out. Makes my heart hurt for her babies.”

Mudvayne formed in 1996 with Greg, vocalist Chad Gray, drummer Matthew McDonough and bassist Shawn Barclay.

Ryan Martinie joined the group a year later, to replace Barclay as bassist.

Mudvayne went on hiatus in 2010 before returning to the stage in 2021.

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Kyiv, Ukraine – Evhen Ihnatov was a young teenager when Russian forces occupied his hometown.

In the eight months of 2022 when the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson was overtaken, his mother was killed and his brother was forcibly held in Russia.

“We buried her in the countryside. Grandma was beside herself,” Ihnatov told Al Jazeera of the tragedy that befell the family when his mother, Tamara, died. He was aged just 13.

On October 6, 2022, Tamara, 54, had boarded a minibus that was ultimately blown to pieces on a bridge by a misdirected Ukrainian missile.

His brother left for a Russian camp on the day she died.

Now 16 and living in Mykolaiv, studying in a college to become a car mechanic and working part time in a pizzeria, Ihnatov has spoken to Al Jazeera about life in occupied Ukraine.

After graduation, he said he might sign a contract with the army.

But that ambition felt impossible when he was living under Russian control, a period he survived with angst, the denial of all things Russian and a sense of dark humour.

Kherson is the administrative capital of the eponymous southern region the size of Belgium, which mostly lies on the left bank of the Dnipro River, which bisects Ukraine.

Russians occupied the region and Kherson city, which sits on the Dnipro’s right bank, in early March 2022 and rolled out in November that year.

According to Ihnatov, other witnesses and rights groups, Ukrainians were mistreated, assaulted, abducted and tortured from day one. Russia regularly denies intentionally harming civilians.

“They beat people, a real lot,” Ihnatov said. “Those who really stood up are no more.”

A former Ukrainian serviceman he knew was assaulted so violently that he spent a week in an intensive care unit, Ihnatov said.

In the first weeks of occupation, Kherson city was rocked by protest rallies as Ukrainians tried to resist the new rulers. Moscow-appointed authorities soon packed hundreds of people into prisons or basements in large buildings.

“Detained for minor or imaginary transgressions, they were kept for months and used for forced labour or sexual violence,” Nikolay Mitrokhin, a historian with Germany’s Bremen University, told Al Jazeera.

Survivors have said they were forced to dig trenches, clean streets, trim trees and bushes, and haul garbage.

At least 17 women and men were raped by Russian soldiers, Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general at the time, said in May 2023.

Rallies stopped because of the crackdown, but most of the locals remained pro-Ukrainian, Ihnatov believes. He said the fewer pro-Russian locals were mostly elderly and nostalgic about their Soviet-era youth, attracted to the idea of Russia because of Moscow’s promises of higher pensions.

But to him, the Russian soldiers did not look like “liberators”.

He said many drank heavily and sported prison tattoos. In July 2022, the Wagner mercenary group began recruiting tens of thousands of inmates from Russian prisons with promises of presidential pardons and high pay.

“They look at you like you’re meat, like you’re chicken,” Ihnatov said.

He said ethnic Russian soldiers or ethnic Ukrainians from the separatist region of Donbas in the east whom he saw several times a day on patrols or just moving around were often hostile towards Ukrainian teenagers. Ethnic Chechens were more relaxed and gave them sweets or food, he said.

Fearful of Russian forces, the Ihnatovs – Evhen’s seven siblings and their single, disabled mother who occasionally worked as a seamstress – moved to their grandmother’s house outside Kherson. While still occupied, the village was not as heavily patrolled as the city.

There was a cow, some ducks and a kitchen garden, but they were cash-strapped and moved back to the city right in time for the new school year that began on September 1, 2022.

But Russian-appointed authorities were facing an education disaster.

Many teachers had quit to protest against the Moscow-imposed curriculum, and enrolment fell as some parents preferred to take a risk and keep their children in Ukrainian schools online.

A Russian curriculum was introduced in all of Kherson’s 174 public schools, and by August, Russia-appointed officials and masked soldiers began knocking on doors, threatening parents and offering them monthly subsidies of $35 per child who would go to a Russia-run school.

Ihnatov’s eldest sister, Tetiana, enrolled her school-aged siblings.

Students at Ihnatov’s school were herded into the schoolyard to listen to the Russian anthem. But he and his friends “just turned around and went to have a smoke”, he said.

The school was not far from his apartment. He remembered seeing about 50 children staring at Russian flags and coats of arms on the school building.

His class had 22 students. They were surprised by an oversimplified approach of new teachers who treated the students like they knew nothing.

“They explained everything, every little thing,” he said.

Communication between students changed. Their conversations became cautious, and they did not discuss sensitive issues, worried others would overhear them.

“Everything was happening outside the school,” he said.

The new curriculum was taught in Russian and emphasised Russia’s “greatness” while Ukrainian was reduced to two “foreign language” lessons a week.

“Everything was about references to Russia,” Ihnatov said.

However, to his clique, Russia’s efforts appeared half-hearted.

Teachers were more interested in fake reporting and just gave away A’s, he said.

“They didn’t force us to study, couldn’t make us,” he said.

“I’d crank up the music in my earphones, didn’t care about what they were saying, because anyway I’d get an A. We got good grades for nothing. They wanted to show that everyone studies well,” he said.

Only his history teacher would confront his group of friends while “the rest were scared,” he said.

Their rebelliousness could have cost them more than reprimands had Russians stayed in Kherson longer, according to observers.

“What they did only worked because the occupation was short term. Had the occupation gone on, the screws would have gotten tighter,” Victoria Novikova, a senior researcher with The Reckoning Project, a global team of journalists and lawyers documenting, publicising and building cases of Russia’s alleged war crimes in Ukraine, told Al Jazeera.

After school, Ihnatov took odd jobs in grocery shops or the city market and hung out with his friends.

Ukraine ‘never existed’

The new teachers paid special attention to history classes. Instructors from Russia or annexed Crimea were promised as much as $130 a day for teaching in Kherson, the RBK-Ukraine news website reported.

New textbooks “proved” that Ukraine was an “artificial state” whose statehood “never existed” before the 1991 Soviet collapse.

The erasure of Ukrainian identity went hand in hand with the alleged plunder of cultural riches.

Russians robbed the giant Kherson regional library of first editions of Ukrainian classics and other valuable folios and works of art after the building was repeatedly shelled and staffers were denied entry, its director said.

“My eyes don’t want to see it. My heart doesn’t want to accept it,” Nadiya Korotun told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, thousands of children in occupied areas were reportedly taken to summer camps in Crimea or Russia – and never came back as part of what Kyiv calls a campaign of abduction and brainwashing.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of forcibly taking 20,000 Ukrainian children away and placing them in foster families or orphanages.

In 2023, The Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “unlawful deportation and transfer of children”.

Some of the abducted kids “broke”, a presidential adviser on children’s rights said.

“They are really maximally broken. Russians do absolutely everything to achieve that,” Daria Herasymchuk told Al Jazeera. “There were cases of Stockholm syndrome when [the abducted children] became Russian patriots.”

Ihnatov’s elder brother Vlad, 16 at the time, was among those who went to a camp – and was forcibly kept in Russia for a year until his sister travelled there to get him back.

In an unfortunate twist of fate, he had left for the camp hours before his mother was killed.

He was transported to a summer camp on Russia’s Black Sea coast and then transferred to the city of Yevpatoria in annexed Crimea, where he continued school – and was not allowed to return home.

His sister Tetiana travelled there to spend a week in a “basement” while Russian security officers “checked her”, Ihnatov said.

They returned to Ukraine via Belarus and Poland and “don’t talk much” about the experience, he said.

A month after his mother’s death, Moscow decided to withdraw its forces from Kherson city and the region’s right-bank area.

Ukrainian forces were greeted like long-lost family.

“The liberation was about nothing but joy, freedom and joy,” Ihnatov said.

But Russians holed up on the left bank and began shelling the city and flying drones to hunt down civilians.

“In a week or two, the cruellest shelling began. And then – fear,” Ihnatov said.

His sister decided to relocate the family to the Kyiv-controlled city of Mykolaiv, where they live in a rented three-bedroom apartment.

RICKY HATTON’s next opponent has broken his silence following the tragic death of the British boxer.

The former world champion was found dead aged 46 in his Manchester home on Sunday.

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Eisa Al Dah, 46, was due to be the next person to face the Hitman in the ring in Dubai on December 2.

He has now broken his silence following the news of Hatton’s death.

He told The National: “In just a couple of hours, I was [going to see] him here in Dubai.

“We booked the hotel. We booked the [plane] ticket. Everything had been arranged.

“From my side, I was checking everything, and I was so excited to see him over here and visit us here in Dubai.

“And he was also excited. But suddenly, I get this news from his managers. My heart is broken.

“Since knowing I will fight him, I became very close to him, seeing his news, following him on Instagram.

“I follow his life, how he trained, everything. I cannot believe it. I wish somebody told me this is wrong.

“I’ve been through many things in my life in the boxing or business.

“But this is something that I cannot believe.”

More to follow…

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..

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A DJ and reality TV star has paid tribute to his late friend – champion Ricky Hatton.

The music producer – who is best known for his songs Darlin’ and You Want Me – shared a sentimental snap with boxer Ricky taken just weeks before his shock death.

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Former Celebs Go Dating star Tom Zanetti posted the picture alongside his friend and wrote a touching tribute.

He penned: “So horrible. I was with him two weeks ago and speaking on Insta just recently.

“What a nice talented man, a natural comedian and obvs huge legend in boxing.

“So sad. Love and strength to Ricky’s family and friends.

“We never know what’s round the corner. We have to enjoy every day, take care of ourselves and each other.”

It comes after Ricky, 46, was found dead at his home over the weekend.

It’s thought pals called the police after they were unable to contact him.

Friends were ‘initially worried’ after The Hitman missed a gym session on Friday and was absent for an event in Bolton on Saturday, featuring one of his young boxers.

They then made a “concern for welfare” call to the police.

Cops discovered Ricky’s body at his £1.75million mansion in Hyde, Gtr Manchester, just before 7am.

Police yesterday said that the death was not being treated as suspicious.

Friend DJ Tom found love earlier this year with model Hope Phillips after being single for four years.

He was last in a relationship with Made In Chelsea star Sophie Hermann.

Tom last dated Sophie after meeting her on Celebs Go Dating: The Mansion in early 2021.

Fans watched them fall for each other, with Tom joining her show Made In Chelsea that year.

However, just six months after they got together The Sun exclusively revealed how the couple had split up.

In the past, Tom has been open and honest about the tragic death of his girlfriend when he was in his early 20s.

He previously admitted to The Sun how he had spent years “trying to replace” his late girlfriend Lizzie.

The star’s world was rocked in 2010, aged 21, when his girlfriend of three years died in a car crash.

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BASKING RIDGE, N.J.  — After years of complaints from the right about “cancel culture” from the left, some conservatives are seeking to upend the lives and careers of those who they believe disparaged Charlie Kirk after his death. They’re going after companies, educators, news outlets, political rivals and others they judge as promoting hate speech.

Just days after the conservative activist’s death, a campaign by public officials and others on the right has led to the firing or other punishment of teachers, an Office Depot employee, government workers, a TV pundit and the expectation of more dismissals coming. A Florida reporter was suspended for a question posed to a Republican congressman.

This past weekend, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted that American Airlines had grounded pilots who he said were celebrating Kirk’s death.

“This behavior is disgusting and they should be fired,” Duffy said on the social media site X.

As elected officials and conservative influencers lionize Kirk as a warrior for free expression who championed provocative opinions, they’re also weaponizing the tactics they saw being used to malign their movement — the calls for firings, the ostracism, the pressure to watch what you say.

Such tactics raise a fundamental challenge for a nation that by many accounts appears to be dangerously splintered by politics and a sense of moral outrage that social media helps to fuel.

The aftermath of Kirk’s death has increasingly become a test of the public tolerance over political differences. Republicans are pushing not only to punish the alleged killer but those whose words they believe contributed to the death or dishonored it. At the same time, some liberals on social media have criticized those, such as actor Kristin Chenoweth, who expressed sympathy online over Kirk’s death.

“This pattern that we’ve seen for decades seems to be happening much more now and at this moment than it ever has before,” said Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He dates the urge to persecute people for their private views on tragedies at least to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “If there was ever time to support the better angels of our nature, it’s now.”

Goldstein noted that it’s unpopular speech, such as people applauding Kirk’s shooting, that stands as the greatest test of acceptance of the 1st Amendment — especially when government officials get involved. “The only time you’re really supporting free speech is when it’s unpopular,” Goldstein said. “There’s no one out there trying to stop people from loving puppies and bunnies.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, has cautioned that the motive for the slaying has not been confirmed. He said the suspect in custody clearly identifies with the political left and had expressed dislike of Kirk before the shooting. But he and other authorities also say the suspect was not known to have been politically engaged.

Kirk was seen as an architect of President Trump’s 2024 election win, helping to expand the Republican outreach to younger voters. That means many conservatives see the remarks by liberals as fomenting violence rather than acts of political expression.

“I think President Trump sees this as an attack on his political movement,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on NBC as he noted the two assassination attempts against Trump as well as Kirk’s killing. “This is unique and different. This is an attack on a movement by using violence. And that’s the way most Republicans see this.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is running for governor, called on social media for the firings of an assistant dean at Middle Tennessee State University and professors at Austin Peay State University and Cumberland University.

All three lost their jobs for comments deemed inappropriate for expressing a lack of sympathy, or even for expressing pleasure, in the shooting of Kirk. One said that Kirk “spoke his fate into existence,” an apparent reference to the activist’s comments that some view as having fueled America’s current environment of political fury.

Because conservatives previously said they felt “canceled” by liberals for their views, Trump on his first day back in office signed an executive order prohibiting everyone in the federal government from engaging in conduct that would “unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”

In February at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President JD Vance criticized the preceding Biden administration for encouraging “private companies to silence people who dared to utter what turned out to be an obvious truth” regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. He assailed European countries as censoring political speech.

“Under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree,” Vance said at the time.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has cracked down on immigrants and academics for their speech.

Goldstein noted that Trump’s State Department in the minutes after Kirk’s death warned it would revoke the visas of any foreigners who celebrated Kirk’s killing. “I can’t think of another moment where the United States has come out to warn people of their impending cancellation,” Goldstein said.

The glimmer of bipartisan agreement in the aftermath of Kirk’s shooting was in a sense that social media was fueling the violence and misinformation in dangerous ways.

“I can’t emphasize enough the damage that social media and the internet is doing to all of us,” Cox, the Utah governor, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He added: “The most powerful companies in the history of the world have figured out how to hack our brains [to] get us addicted to outrage.”

But many Republican lawmakers have also targeted traditional news media that criticized Trump for contributing to a toxic political climate for his consistent rhetoric painting anyone against him as an enemy.

On Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) blamed news outlets for having guests on who called Trump a fascist or compared him to Hitler.

Such statements have been born out of Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss, his pardoning of Jan. 6 rioters and a range of other actions, including deportations, deployment of the National Guard in American cities, mass firings of federal employees and his scorn for the historical limits on the power of the presidency.

But for Britt, those expressions were unfair, inaccurate and triggered violence.

“There must be consequences with regards to people spewing that type of hate and celebration in the face of this,” Britt said. “And I believe that there will be.”

Boak and Riccardi write for the Associated Press and reported from Basking Ridge and Denver, respectively. AP writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville contributed to this report.

STRICTLY Come Dancing star Thomas Skinner has revealed that he had terrifying death threats after meeting up with the vice-president of the United States JD Vance.

The American politician reached out to him after seeing his social media posts saying he admired his positive attitude for life.

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And he invited him to the barbecue of the summer at 18th-century Dean Manor near Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds.

But afterwards The Apprentice star and market stall holder proudly posted a photo of them together on social media – and received a shocking backlash.

In an exclusive interview he admits: “Since I posted that picture I’ve had loads of death threats. People saying they want me dead, saying I am this political figure that I’m actually not. I actually really ain’t. I couldn’t tell you what’s going on in the world right now.

“Now the left seems to be attacking me every day on social media. The right seems to see me as this figurehead and it’s all been a bit much for me, if I’m honest with you.

“I was getting death threats and people calling me controversial. I was thinking, what have I ever done? What have I ever said that’s controversial? When you actually go through my tweets, apart from saying that knife crime is bad in London, yeah?

“I’m not this political figurehead that people believe that’s got my hand.

“I’ve had loads of death threats over the years, you know.

“I didn’t see it as anything more than a barbecue, if I’m honest with you. But I’ve been turned into this political figure that I’m actually not.”

But the East Londoner does admit he was nervous after accepting the invite along with Cambridge academic James Orr and Tory MP Danny Kruger.

He said: “I was very nervous about it, I didn’t know what to wear. When I arrived he literally was like, ‘Why have you got a suit on?’

“He was actually a normal bloke. We spoke about English cheese being so much better than American cheese, West Ham United and how they call football ‘soccer’.”

Fry-up fan Thomas was blown away by the food, laid on by the local pub, describing it as “the b******s.”

He said: “There was a pub in the town, and Jay wanted to go to a traditional English pub, but he knew by going to this pub it would obviously have to shut, because I’ve never seen so many security guys in my life… a proper entourage… he didn’t want it to affect the locals.

“So he asked the pub if they would kindly – he paid them a lot of money – bring some of their staff to cook at the place, and they did, they actually left this beautiful pub in the Cotswolds, they’d come round to the garden, and they cooked this fantastic spread, it was steaks, kebabs, halloumi, honestly it was unreal.  Everyone was really friendly.”

He didn’t take pictures, he says, because he didn’t want to “disturb his privacy”.

Joking, he adds: “When Trump comes he might invite me to a BBQ too.”

NO REGRETS

Despite the furore online Thomas insists he doesn’t regret posting the picture. He said: “I don’t regret it, I am a normal bloke and it was an amazing opportunity.

“Put yourself in my shoes. What would you do?  You’re a normal person.  And, I’ve been given this opportunity to sit with the Vice President of the most powerful country in the world, the United States of America. To me that was, “Wow’.

“And I would have gone, whether it was the leader of France, Germany, I think to sit there and learn, and experience that, whether you agree with him politically or not, it wasn’t about that for me, it was literally to say, ‘I’ve sat there and met the Vice President of the United States of America’.”

Yesterday, dad of three Thomas told how he had cheated on his wife – but bitterly regrets his mistake.

Sinead has been by his side since they got together nearly a decade ago.

Thomas began working part time as a market trader at 13 after being expelled from school. He found several businesses before starring on The Apprentice in 2019 after Sinead encouraged him to apply.

Since then he has appeared on Celebrity MasterChef, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and Michael McIntyre‘s Big Show.

But he is also known for his motivational videos on social media where he shares his love of kebabs and pints.

It was his conservative political views that led to US Vice President JD Vance actually getting in touch with him.

SPREADS POSITIVITY

He says he loves spreading positivity.

He said: “Even when JD Vance sent me a DM, he was like, ‘Look I love your energy, keep it up, I love seeing the high energy and the positivity you spread’.

“Which is literally all I do, all I do is share videos of me having a roast dinner, and do a morning video to say, ‘Have a good day’,  because I know what it’s like to wake up and feel like you can’t do this. I’ve been there, and that’s why I won’t ever give up spreading the positivity.”

Throughout the ups and down in his life Sinead – who he dubs Super sensible Sinéad – has been at his side throughout.

He admits the past few weeks have been tough and he has struggled with the public scrutiny.

He said: “It does affect you. I’ve always put on this brave face. But it’s alright to be vulnerable and be down and be upset. There are times I’ve felt low.”

CLOSE PALS WITH RYLAN CLARK

His close pal Rylan Clark also faced backlash recently over his views on migrant hotels which sparked over 700 Ofcom complaints.

Thomas said: “Rylan has been a friend of mine since I was a teenager. I love him. He’s a family friend, he comes to our family events. I go round to his and I bring him round to ours.

“He’s a top guy. And the thing that I just worry about is nowadays, whether someone’s got a different opinion to you, or you say something that might be slightly incorrect or you don’t agree with, everyone should be allowed to have their opinion, and everyone should be allowed to express it and argue it and talk about it.

“But if your opinion is different to someone else’s, people shouldn’t be able to attack you and ram it down your throat, and I think that’s wrong, if I’m honest with you.

“Poor old Rylan got a bashing, and obviously I know what it feels like, because I’ve had a bashing in the last couple of years.”

What Rylan said was: “How come if I turn up at Heathrow Airport and I’ve left my passport in Spain, I’ve got to stand at that airport and won’t be let in? But if I arrive on a boat from Calais, I get taken to a four-star hotel?

“I find it absolutely insane that all these people are risking their lives coming across the Channel like they are. But when they get here, it seems, ‘Welcome, come on in’.”

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He later said he was angry at being “put in a box” over his opinions and called for more intelligent debate. Rylan posted on X: “You can be pro immigration and against illegal routes. You can support trans people and have the utmost respect for women.

“You can be heterosexual and still support gay rights. Stop with this putting everyone in a box exercise and maybe have conversations instead of shouting on Twitter.”

Thomas says the pressure that he and other celebrities receive due to fame can be hard to deal with.

And key to helping keep his mental health stable is the group of friends from the market that he still meets every Friday for “a pint”.

He said: “I think that’s so important, they think it’s funny I’m going on Strictly.

“Every Friday, and I’ve done this for years, you know, since I started out, no matter what, me and my group of little pals have a pint on a Friday afternoon.

“Some of us could be skint on our arse, some of us could be flying, we’re all having the same beer, in the same circle, talking the same thing, and we always, we always talk about what’s been a bad week, sad week, a happy week, a good week, a great week, and we all support each other, and I think that’s so important.”

And his biggest fan – his mum couldn’t be prouder.

Both his parents still work and are real “grafters” – which is where he says he gets his work ethic from.

His mum works in a call centre – but until this week hadn’t revealed who her famous son was, because she says they “never asked”.

He said: “She’s one of the people, when your boiler goes, she’ll ring up, my mum’s the one that you abuse on the phone saying, ‘My boilers gone,” she’s got one of the hardest jobs in the world. bless her.

“When she asked for the day off she said her son was on Strictly. They said, ‘What who’s your son? What do you mean?’ She showed them a picture of me.”

Her son is still a market trader with his own stall selling mattresses and pillows. He survives on just five hours sleep a night and even when rehearsing for the BBC show he says he will set up his stall first.

He still loves his work and feels proud to be helping Britain’s High Street.

Thomas said: “I’m going to try and set up at 6am. Markets help the shops, but then the shops are suffering, the high street’s dying.”

One thing that isn’t dying is his fan base.

Thomas confesses that he has been inundated with direct messages from celebrities on social media offering support for the new dance show.

He said: “I’ve had hundreds of messages, footballers, TV stars, all sorts.

“But I don’t think it’s fair to say who, because they’ve said that to me confidentially, and I respect that.

“People like my energy and the positivity I spread, which is literally all I do.”

Thomas has experienced financial highs and lows, and even homelessness.

He said: “I know what it’s like to have a few quid in my pocket, when everything’s going well, and your business is flying, and you’ve got everyone around you.

“But I also know what it’s like to be on your a***, not having anywhere to live, and not knowing how you’re going to pay your next bill. I’ve been at both spectrums.

“It’s taught me to be strong, and taught me to try and help other people, because life can be so hard.”

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“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade apologized Sunday for remarks he made last week that suggested using involuntary lethal injections to get mentally ill homeless people off the streets.

Kilmeade’s comments came during a discussion last Wednesday on “Fox & Friends” about the Aug. 22 stabbing death of a 23-year Ukranian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, on a light rail train in Charlotte, N.C.

Zarutska’s suspected killer, DeCarlos Brown Jr., is a homeless man with a long criminal record and is a paranoid schizophrenic, according to his family.

The attack on Zarutska was captured on security cameras and circulated widely online. The incident has sparked a national debate on public safety policy and criminal sentencing.

The topic led “Fox & Friends” co-host Laurence Jones to say that billions of dollars have been spent on programs to care for the homeless and mentally ill but many of those afflicted resist help.

“A lot of them don’t want to take the programs,” Jones said. “A lot of them don’t want to get the help that is necessary. You can’t give them the choice. Either you take the resources that we’re going to give you, or you decide that you’ve got to be locked up in jail.”

Kilmeade added: “Or involuntary lethal injection or something — just kill ‘em.”

A clip of Kilmeade’s remarks started to circulate widely on X on Saturday.

“I apologize for that extremely callous remark,” Kilmeade said during Sunday’s edition of the morning program. “I am obviously aware that not all mentally ill, homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina and that so many homeless people deserve our empathy and compassion.”

Many online commentators pointed out that Kilmeade’s comments evoked the extermination of mentally ill and disabled people that was authorized by Adolf Hitler in 1939. The German chancellor’s euthanasia program killed more than 250,000 people ahead of the Holocaust.

For now, Kilmeade has avoided the fate of political analyst Matthew Dowd, who lost his contributor role at MSNBC after commenting on the Wednesday shooting death of right wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

Dowd told MSNBC anchor Katy Tur that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which then lead to hateful actions.”

Dowd, once a political strategist for President George W. Bush, described Kirk as a divisive figure “who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups.”

The angry reaction on social media was immediate after Dowd’s comments suggested that Kirk’s history of incendiary remarks led to the shooting.

Rebecca Kutler, president of MSNBC, issued an apology and cut ties with Dowd.

Dowd also apologized in a post on BlueSky. “I in no way intended intended to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack,” he said.

The top executives at MSNBC parent Comcast sent a company-wide memo Friday citing Dowd’s firing and told employees “we need to do better.”

Channel 4 hit show Gogglebox has been a staple on our screens since 2013 and sees much-loved faces speaking about the week’s biggest TV moments

The Gogglebox cast have become well-known faces ever since the show first kicked off back in 2013. Viewers get ready each week to watch the reactions of their favourite sofa-sitters as they give their opinions on the week’s biggest TV moments.

Some of those that grace our screens each week have been there ever since the show began more than a decade ago. However it hasn’t been smooth sailing for all of the families.

They have been open about ups and downs in their lives over this time and this has included health struggles. Here’s a look at the iconic TV critics’ health worries over the years.

READ MORE: Gogglebox confirms legend’s show future after more than 10 years as fans left concernedREAD MORE: Gogglebox sparks fury as fans issue same demand minutes into show

Tremaine’s cancer diagnosis

Tremaine Plummer who joined Gogglebox in 2016 alongside his brothers celebrated five years cancer-free after suffering from bowel cancer in 2020.

He shared a photo of himself where he was in a hospital bed during his treatment as well as sharing a caption where he admitted he used to hate the picture.

He said: “When I first saw this photo it made me feel sick and weak. I hated this photo for a long time. But now this photo is my medal. This was me 5 years ago. Post surgery for bowel cancer.”

“One of the worst things that could have happened to me has turned into one of the best. Not everything bad that happens to you is the end. Out of some bad s*** comes good s***. The entire experience has been an eye opener and I view life totally different now. Stay strong,” Tremaine added.

Sue’s Bell’s Palsy

Sue Sheehan opened up in 2024 about how she had been diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy. Bell’s Palsy is a condition that causes temporary facial paralysis or weakness and usually affects one side of the face due to inflammation of the facial nerve.

This means that Sue struggled with being able to speak during this time. She joined the programme in 2019 with her husband Steve.

Sue explained: “I mean, I’ve had to relearn to do a couple of things since this Bell’s palsy. One is to speak through the side of my mouth, and the other one is chewing. Chewing takes a long time.”

Pete’s sudden cancer death

Pete McGarry died from bowel cancer in 2021. He was one of the original stars as he joined Gogglebox in 2013 with wife Linda.

At the time, Linda said Pete was told he had six months to live but died just a few days later. Linda told The Sun: “Pete was a lovely man and I was so lucky to have him for 25 years. I said to him, ‘We’ve not only been 25 years, it’s been day and night with each other.’ He was my life.”

READ MORE: Shoppers say hair loss ‘significantly reduced’ with discounted shampoo set

Mary’s near-death experience

Mary Killen and Giles Wood have been on Gogglebox since 2015 and are fan favourites. However, Mary has a near death experience before her TV fame.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mary explained: “The closest I’ve come to death was contracting Legionnaires’ disease in 1999.”

She added: “I caught it from air conditioning in the Bahamas and developed something called Beau’s lines: white ridges across the fingernails which are a sign that your body’s shutting down for death.” She then said she’s never been quite the same since.

Jenny’s painful condition

Jenny Newby and Lee Riley are arguably some of the favourites in Gogglebox history after first appearing in 2014. But it was in 2018 that Jenny spoke about struggling with arthritis.

Before an advert came on by charity Versus Arthritis, Jenny said: “I’ve got arthritis.” She explained: “I get more stressed now because I can’t fasten my coat. I can’t open a tin of beans and I’ve got to ask somebody. And that I think is the worst, when I have got to ask somebody because I feel like I am stupid.”

Jenny shared a press release afterwards when she said: “I’ve suffered with arthritis for a while now. I think something people don’t realise is the impact the condition has on simple everyday life. I really do think we should change that by being able to talk about it openly. It’s really important to me.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

A coordinated online doxxing campaign has emerged in the wake of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s killing, targeting academics, teachers, government employees and others who have posted critical remarks about him.

At least 15 people have been fired or suspended from their jobs after discussing the killing online, according to a Reuters tally on Saturday based on interviews, public statements and local press reports. The total includes journalists, academic workers and teachers.

On Friday, a junior Nasdaq employee was fired over her posts related to Kirk.

Others have been subjected to torrents of online abuse or seen their offices flooded with calls demanding they be fired, part of a surge in right-wing rage that has followed the killing.

Chaya Raichik, who runs the right-wing “Libs of TikTok” account and is known for her anti-immigrant activism, is at the forefront of the campaign. She has shared names, photos and workplace details of individuals who expressed little sympathy for Kirk’s death.

In one case, Raichik targeted a lecturer at California State University, Monterey Bay, who reportedly wrote in an Instagram story: “I cannot muster much sympathy, truly. People are going to argue ‘He has a family, he has a wife and kids.’ What about all the kids, the many broken families from the over 258 school shootings 2020–present?”

Raichik reposted the lecturer’s photo, accusing him of mocking Kirk’s assassination.

The lecturer has not commented, but several teachers across the United States – including in California, Florida, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas – have been suspended or dismissed over similar online remarks. Union leaders condemned Kirk’s killing, but also warned against punishing educators for free speech.

Raichik has also targeted members of the military. One Coast Guard employee is under investigation after posting a meme saying he did not care about Kirk’s death. A former Twitter worker was also singled out for criticising the New York Yankees for holding a moment of silence for Kirk.

A newly registered site, “Expose Charlie’s Murderers,” has 41 names of people it alleges were “supporting political violence online” and claims to be working on a backlog of more than 20,000 submissions.

A Reuters review of the screenshots and comments posted to the site shows that some of those featured joked about or celebrated Kirk’s death. One was quoted as saying, “He got what he deserved”, and others were quoted providing variations on “karma’s a bitch.” Others, however, were critical of the far-right figure while explicitly denouncing violence.

Some institutions have already taken disciplinary action. Middle Tennessee State University dismissed an assistant dean after she wrote: “Looks like ol’Charlie spoke his fate into existence. Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.” The comment referred to Kirk’s 2023 defence of gun violence, in which he argued: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment … That is a prudent deal. It is rational.”

Even quoting that remark has been enough for some to be targeted.

Republican response

Some Republicans want to go further still and have proposed deporting Kirk’s critics from the US, suing them into penury or banning them from social media for life.

“Prepare to have your whole future professional aspirations ruined if you are sick enough to celebrate his death,” said conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, a prominent ally of Trump and one of several far-right figures who are organising digital campaigns on X to ferret out and publicly shame Kirk’s critics.

The wave of firings and suspensions has raised concerns over free expression, while far-right activists celebrate what they see as a campaign of accountability.

US lawmaker Clay Higgins said in a post on X that anyone who “ran their mouth with their smart**s hatred celebrating the heinous murder of that beautiful young man” needed to be “banned from ALL PLATFORMS FOREVER.”

The US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on the same site that he had been disgusted to “see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action.”

Republicans’ anger at those disrespecting Kirk’s legacy contrasts with the mockery some of the same figures – including Kirk – directed at past victims of political violence.

For example, when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was clubbed over the head by a hammer-wielding conspiracy theorist during a break-in at their San Francisco home shortly before the 2022 midterm elections, Higgins posted a photo making fun of the attack. He later deleted the post.

Loomer falsely suggested that Paul Pelosi and his assailant were lovers, calling the brutal assault on the octogenarian a “booty call gone wrong.”

Speaking to a television audience a few days after the attack, a grinning Kirk called for the intruder to be sprung from jail.

“If some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area wants to really be a midterm hero, someone should go and bail this guy out,” he said.

NEW YORK — Matthew Dowd’s firing has opened a floodgate.

The MSNBC political analyst, who lost his job shortly after on-air comments about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was the first of many figures to face consequences Thursday for public statements or actions about the shooting.

Raw feelings about the killing have ignited a campaign to shame — and worse. Several conservative activists sought to identify social media users whose posts about Kirk they viewed as offensive or celebratory. Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer said she would try to ruin the professional aspirations of anyone who celebrated Kirk’s death.

MSNBC said Dowd is no longer with the network after his comments, shortly after the shooting, in which he said that “hateful words” can lead to “hateful actions.” Both MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler and Dowd apologized for the remarks, which Kutler called “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”

Dowd said he didn’t intend for his comments to blame Kirk for the attack, as some may have construed them. Still, it brought an abrupt interruption to his work as a television commentator, which the former aide to President George W. Bush has done for nearly two decades.

The moves to curb certain public commentary after Kirk’s death are particularly notable, as his admirers had lauded him as a champion of free speech.

Actions spread across country

A Florida reporter was suspended for a question posed to a congressman. A comic book writer lost her job because of social media posts, as did educators in Mississippi and Tennessee. “CBS Mornings” host Nate Burleson was attacked for a question he asked. An Arizona sports reporter and a Carolina Panthers public relations official lost their jobs.

An anonymously registered website pledged to “Expose Charlie’s Murderers” and asked people to offer tips about people who were “supporting political violence online.”

The site published a running list Thursday of targeted posts, along with the names, locations and employers of people who posted them. While some posts contained incendiary language, others didn’t appear to celebrate the shooting or glorify violence. There were several similar efforts, including one by activist Scott Presler, who asked his followers about teachers purported to have celebrated Kirk’s killing and posted findings on X.

A staff member at the University of Mississippi was fired after sharing “insensitive comments” about Kirk’s death, according to the school’s chancellor, Glenn Boyce. The university did not identify the employee or immediately respond to questions from the Associated Press.

The president of Middle Tennessee State University said he’d fired a staffer who offered “callous and inappropriate comments on social media” about Kirk’s shooting. President Sidney A. McPhee did not identify the staff member but said the person “worked in a position of trust with our students.”

It wasn’t clear if it was the same person, but an X post by Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn identified an assistant dean of students at MTSU who posted online that she had “ZERO sympathy” after the shooting. Blackburn said the person should be ashamed and fired.

A warning to teachers in Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education commissioner warned the state’s teachers that making “disgusting” statements about Kirk’s killing could draw sanctions, including the suspension or revocation of teaching licenses. Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said in a memo to school district superintendents that he’d been made aware of “despicable” comments on social media.

“I will be conducting an investigation of every educator who engages in this vile, sanctionable behavior,” Kamoutsas said in the memo, which he also posted on X on Thursday. “Govern yourselves accordingly.”

The rush to police commentary appeared to have little precedent in other recent examples of political violence, such as the 2022 home-invasion hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; or the shooting deaths in June of Minnesota House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.

DC Comics announced that it was ditching a new “Red Hood” series, a Batman spinoff, after one issue had been published and two more were in the works. The comics’ writer, Gretchen Felker-Martin, had published comments about Kirk’s shooting online that DC called offensive.

“Posts or public comments that can be viewed as promoting hostility or violence are inconsistent with DC’s standards of conduct,” the comics publisher said.

Loomer, an informal advisor to President Trump whose pressure campaigns have resulted in several firings in his administration, attacked the entertainment website TMZ for what she called a “disgusting” livestream in which employees could be heard laughing and cheering seconds before Kirk’s death was announced. TMZ said the noise had nothing to do with the Kirk story — the staff members were crowded around a computer watching a car chase — but apologized for the bad timing and how it looked to viewers.

A writer for the Arizona media company PHNX Sports was fired after conservative activists called attention to a series of online posts that attacked Kirk’s positions on guns and Gaza and called him evil.

The NFL’s Carolina Panthers distanced themselves from an employee who posted comments about Kirk and a photo referencing Wu-Tang Clan’s song “Protect Ya Neck.” Kirk was shot in the neck. Football communications coordinator Charlie Rock was fired, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke under condition of anonymity because the team typically doesn’t announce firings.

Rock’s name has been removed from the team’s website. He did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

CBS News anchor under attack

Burleson, a former NFL star turned anchor for CBS News’ morning show, was attacked online for asking former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the air Thursday whether this was a moment for the Republican Party to reflect on political violence. His co-anchor, Gayle King, immediately tried to soften the question by interjecting, “I’d say both parties.”

Another former NFL player, Jay Feely, running for Congress in Arizona, said the question was offensive. “Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of his family and you ask if Republicans need to tone down their rhetoric?” he said. (Kirk’s family was not present at the shooting.) Some conservative media stars also weighed in, with talk show host Erick Erickson calling for Burleson to be fired and Clay Travis calling him a ”moron.”

A reporter for the Floridapolitics.com news site was suspended for texting a Florida congressman a question about gun control immediately after Kirk’s shooting. Peter Schorsch, Floridapolitics.com publisher, said he was concerned that reporter A.G. Gancarski was trying to provoke a source rather than initiate a serious policy discussion. Utah law allows people to carry guns on college campuses; Kirk was slain on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, texted back that he had learned of Kirk’s shooting only 23 minutes earlier and was repulsed to get the question when people should be praying for Kirk’s safety. Schorsch said he agreed that the timing was inappropriate, and didn’t want any of his staff members to be put in danger by anyone angry about it.

“I think everybody today should be asking questions about a wide range of policies,” Schorsch said in an interview Thursday. “But when a house is on fire, I don’t think you should ask questions about a person’s insurance policy. You put out the fire first.”

He said Gancarski was a good reporter who made a mistake. He’ll be back on the job after a few days out. Gancarski, reached by phone, declined comment.

The feminist website Jezebel removed a post headlined “We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk” that was published Monday, two days before Kirk’s death. “The piece was intended as satire and made it absolutely clear that we wished no physical harm. We stand by every word,” Jezebel said in an editor’s note.

“We may republish at a later date, but out of compassion for the victim’s family, we want to make clear that we prioritize an end to violence over anyone wanting to read about Etsy witches,” Jezebel said, in a reference to the online storefront.

Bauder and Swenson write for the Associated Press. AP journalists Sophie Bates, Kate Payne, Steve Reed and Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.

There are plenty of Gogglebox stars who have lived heartbreaking health battles

Numerous Gogglebox personalities have confronted devastating health challenges over the years.

Since the cherished long-running Channel 4 programme launched over 10 years ago in 2013, it has brought us countless memorable households across the nation.

From Giles Wood and Mary Killen in Wiltshire and the Siddiqui clan in Derby to best pals Jenny Newby and Lee Riley in Hull, the participants consistently delight audiences with their brilliant quips and amusing reactions to the week’s television gems.

Nevertheless, various of the show’s personalities are battling serious health conditions and have candidly shared their ordeals throughout the years. reports the Manchester Evening News.

Sue’s Bell’s Palsy revelation

Last year, Sue Sheehan disclosed that she was battling Bell’s Palsy, which has impacted her ability to communicate. The South London resident – who appeared on the programme in 2019 alongside husband Steve – discussed the condition during a Gogglebox episode.

“I mean, I’ve had to relearn to do a couple of things since this Bell’s palsy,” she explained. Sue continued: “One is to speak through the side of my mouth, and the other one is chewing. Chewing takes a long time.”

Steve responded: “I have offered to chew your food for you, but you declined.” Sue then shot back: “I’m not having that.” Steve added: “I’ve got to say, you haven’t lost the sharp side of your tongue though, have you?” She quipped: “No, it’s sharper than ever actually.”

Tremaine’s cancer fight In 2020

Tremaine Plummer – who became part of Gogglebox in 2016 alongside his brothers – marked five years of being cancer-free following his battle with bowel cancer.

Sharing a hospital bed photograph on Instagram, he penned: “When I first saw this photo it made me feel sick and weak. I hated this photo for a long time. But now this photo is my medal. This was me 5 years ago. Post surgery for bowel cancer.

“One of the worst things that could have happened to me has turned into one of the best. Not everything bad that happens to you is the end. Out of some bad s*** comes good s***. The entire experience has been an eye opener and I view life totally different now. Stay strong.”

Jenny’s ‘awful’ condition

Gogglebox star Jenny Newby became part of the programme in 2014 alongside best pal Lee Riley. Yet in 2018, Jenny disclosed she has been struggling with arthritis.

Prior to viewing an advertisement created by charity Versus Arthritis, Jenny disclosed her condition, stating: “I’ve got arthritis.”

She went on: “I get more stressed now because I can’t fasten my coat. I can’t open a tin of beans and I’ve got to ask somebody. And that I think is the worst, when I have got to ask somebody because I feel like I am stupid.”

In a statement following the advert, Jenny confessed: “I’ve suffered with arthritis for a while now. I think something people don’t realise is the impact the condition has on simple everyday life. I really do think we should change that by being able to talk about it openly. It’s really important to me.”

Pete’s tragic passing

In 2021, Gogglebox star Pete McGarry tragically passed away from bowel cancer at the age of 71. He joined the show alongside his wife Linda in 2013.

Speaking about his death at the time, Linda revealed that Pete was told he had six months to live, but sadly died just days later, as reported by The Sun.

Linda told the publication: “Pete was a lovely man and I was so lucky to have him for 25 years. I said to him, ‘We’ve not only been 25 years, it’s been day and night with each other.’ He was my life.”

Mary’s brush with death

Giles Wood and Mary Killen have been regulars on Gogglebox since 2015. However, years ago, Mary had a near-death experience.

In a chat with The Guardian, Mary disclosed: “The closest I’ve come to death was contracting Legionnaires’ disease in 1999.”

She went into detail about the terrifying experience, saying: “I caught it from air conditioning in the Bahamas and developed something called Beau’s lines: white ridges across the fingernails which are a sign that your body’s shutting down for death.”

Having survived the ordeal, she admitted: “It knocked the stuffing out of me. I’ve never been quite the same since.”

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.

A few hours after Charlie Kirk was killed, Sean Feucht, an influential right-wing Christian worship leader, filmed a selfie video from his home in California, his eyes brimming with tears.

The shooting of one of the nation’s most prominent conservative activists, Feucht declared, was no less than “a line in the sand” in a country descending into a spiritual darkness.

“The enemy thinks that he won, that there was a battle that was won today,” he said, referencing Satan. “No, man, there’s going to be millions of bold voices raised up out of the sacrifice and the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk.”

Soon afterward, Pastor Matt Tuggle, who leads the Salt Lake City campus of the San Diego-based Awaken megachurch, posted a video of Kirk’s killing on Instagram, adding the caption: “If your pastor isn’t telling you the left believes a evil demonic belief system you are in the wrong church!”

People place lighted candles below a photo of Charlie Kirk at a vigil in his memory in Orem, Utah.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

Kirk’s death has triggered a range of reaction, much of it mournful sympathy for the 31-year-old activist and his family. But it also has sparked conspiracy theories, hot-take presumptions the left was responsible and calls for vengeance against Kirk’s perceived enemies.

At a vigil for Kirk in Huntington Beach this week, some attendees waved white flags depicting a red cross and the word “Jesus,” while some chanted, “White men, fight back!” Kirk spread a philosophy that liberals sought to disempower men, and some of his male supporters see his killing as an attack against them.

Whether the calls for vengeance will ebb or intensify remains to be seen, especially with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s announcement Friday that a suspect in the fatal shooting, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, had been arrested after a family member turned him in.

In life, Kirk spoke of what he called a “spiritual battle” being waged in the United States between Christians and a Democratic Party that “supports everything that God hates.”

In death, Kirk, one of the Republican Party’s most influential power brokers, is being hailed by conservative evangelical pastors and GOP politicians as a Christian killed for his religious beliefs.

President Trump called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom,” and ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in his honor. He blamed Kirk’s death on the rhetoric of the “radical left.” Vice President JD Vance, who helped carry Kirk’s casket to Air Force Two, retweeted a post Kirk wrote on X last month reading, “It’s all about Jesus.” And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, quoting Jesus, wrote on X: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

A woman lays her head down on a seat during a vigil at CenterPoint Church for Charlie Kirk in Orem, Utah.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

Experts on faith and far-right extremism say they are troubled by the religious glorification of Kirk in this era of increased political violence — and the potential vengeance that may spring from it. The activist’s death, they say, seems to have ignited various factions on the right, ranging from white supremacists to hard-core Christian nationalists.

“The ‘spiritual warfare’ rhetoric will only increase,” and Kirk is now being lifted up as “a physical manifestation” of a religious battle, said Matthew Boedy, a professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia who has written a forthcoming book about Christian nationalism that prominently features Kirk.

“Spiritual warfare rhetoric was a big part of Jan. 6,” he said of the deadly 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters. “Making a martyr out of Charlie Kirk will change our nation in severe ways.”

Samuel Perry, a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma and expert on Christian nationalism, said he is a Christian himself but that religion, cynically used, “has the potential to amplify what would otherwise be very secular political conflicts between Democrats and Republicans.”

“What if those are amplified with a cosmic and ultimate significance?” he said. “It becomes, ‘This is God vs. Satan. This is angels vs. demons — and if we lose this next election, we plunge the nation into a thousand years of darkness.’ … It basically provokes extremism.”

Feucht, a Christian nationalist and failed Republican congressional candidate from Northern California, said that “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church” and that, in the wake of Kirk’s death, “we have to do something.”

Kirk — who rallied his millions of online followers to vote for Trump in the 2024 election — declared that God was on the side of American conservatives and that there was “no separation of church and state.” He was also known for his vitriol against racial and religious minorities, LGBTQ+ people, childless women, progressives and others who disagreed with him.

Kirk called transgender people “a throbbing middle finger to God.” He said the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was “a huge mistake” and called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “awful.” On his podcast, he called with a smirk for “some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area [who] wants to really be a midterm hero” to bail out of jail the man who attacked then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer in their home in 2022.

A memorial is set up for Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

In 2023, Kirk sat on the stage of Awaken Church in Salt Lake City and said: “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the 2nd Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”

Two days before his death, Kirk retweeted a video of himself saying that a “spiritual battle is coming for the West,” with “wokeism or marxism combining with Islamism” to go after “the American way of life, which is, by the way, Christendom.”

Perry said, “There’s no need to whitewash the legacy of Charlie Kirk.”

“This is a tragedy, and no one deserves to die this way,” Perry said. “Yet, at the same time, Charlie Kirk is very much part of this polarization story in the U.S. who used quite divisive rhetoric, ‘us vs. them, the left is evil.’”

Perry noted that Kirk’s Turning Point USA had placed him on its Professor Watchlist, a website that says it aims to expose professors “who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda.” The entry on Perry flags him for “Anti-Judeo-Christian Values.”

Some on the right say their recent fiery words are only a response to the hateful rhetoric of the left. One widely shared example: Two days before Kirk’s killing, the feminist website Jezebel published an article titled, “We Paid Some Etsy Witches to Curse Charlie Kirk.” It has since been removed and replaced by a letter from the site’s editor saying it had been “intended as satire and made it absolutely clear that we wished no physical harm.”

Kirk was killed by a single sniper-style shot to the neck Wednesday during an outdoor speaking event at Utah Valley University.

After announcing the suspect’s arrest Friday, Gov. Cox said he had prayed that the shooter was not from Utah, “that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country.” But that prayer, he said, “was not answered the way I hoped for.”

He then said that political violence “metastasizes because we can always point the finger at the other side” and that, “at some point, we have to find an offramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse.”

Some of Kirk’s most prominent evangelical followers have said that his death represents an attack on conservative Christian values and that he was gunned down for speaking “the truth.”

Jon Fleischman, Orange County-based conservative blogger and former executive director of the California Republican Party, who started out as a conservative college activist, knew Kirk and said “there is one hell of a martyr situation going on.”

“A lot of people are getting activated and are going to walk the walk, talk the talk, and give money as their way of trying to process and deal with losing someone they care about,” he told The Times.

In recent years, Kirk had become more outspoken about his Christian faith. He founded the nonprofit Turning Point USA in 2012 as an avowedly secular youth organization and became known for his college campus tours, with videos of his debates with liberal college students racking up tens of millions of views.

But in 2020, during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, college campuses closed. Kirk started speaking at churches that stayed open in violation of local lockdown and mask orders, including Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Ventura County, which was led by Pastor Rob McCoy, a former Thousand Oaks mayor.

McCoy is now the co-chair of Turning Point USA Faith, which encourages pastors to become more politically outspoken. McCoy, who could not be reached for comment, wrote in a statement Friday: “For those who rejoiced over his murder, you are instruments of evil and I implore you to repent. For those of you who mock prayer, you would do well to reconsider. Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us toward a more peaceful and civil life.”

Professor Boedy said McCoy turned Kirk toward Christian nationalism, specifically the Seven Mountains Mandate — the idea that Christians should try to hold sway over the seven pillars of cultural influence: arts and entertainment, business, education, family, government, media and religion.

Christian nationalism, which is rejected by mainline Christians, holds that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that the faith should have primacy in government and law.

Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, said, “the more violent fringes of Christian nationalism have disturbing aspects that are eliminationist and antidemocratic.”

He noted that some of the same Christian nationalists and white supremacists who are now calling Kirk a martyr already deified Trump, especially after he survived two assassination attempts on the campaign trail last year and said he had been “saved by God to make America great again.”

Levin said many Christian nationalists portray Trump as “an armed Christian warrior protecting America from a disturbing assortment of immigrants, religious minorities, genders and sexual orientations.” And so, when he uses martyr language to describe Kirk, his adherents latch on.

“Where do martyrs come from? From violent conflicts and wars,” Levin said. “The fact of the matter is that this is a moment that Trump could have more effectively seized, but he veered into divisive territory.”

California Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-Santee) also called Kirk “a modern day martyr.” In a statement, Jones quoted Thomas Jefferson, who said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Jones wrote: “Let us take care that we allow that tree to grow and blossom as it feeds on the lifeblood of Charles J. Kirk in the years to come.”

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.

You Bet! host and TV favourite Stephen Mulhern has made a rare admission about his father following his death as he revealed how he gave him his start in magic

Stephen Mulhern has made a rare admission about his father following his death. The magician, 48, was left devastated in November last year when his father Christopher passed away at the age of 76.

In the weeks that followed, coupled with a reaction an anaesthetic, the former Dancing On Ice host collapsed in front of diners at Pizza Express in Sunningdale, Berkshire. It is believed Stephen had the bad reaction to some medication after having a few drinks with his meal. Earlier in the day, he underwent a procedure, for which he was administered the anaesthetic.

Since then, the TV star has remained relatively private about the tragedy, but during an appearance on Friday’s This Morning, he was able to open up about his father when host Dermot O’Leary sensitively reminded him about his dad, who was also a magician, played a major part in kickstarting his career.

READ MORE: ITV You Bet! On Tour viewers say the same thing about Stephen Mulhern’s new showREAD MORE: Stephen Mulhern’s heartbreaking reason for first cry on television in new show with Ant and Dec

Dermot began: “There’s a lovely story, I remember we were eating dinner together and you were telling me about what a great man your dad was. He was almost responsible, wasn’t he?”

Stephen replied: “My dad loved magic and he was a brilliant magician. I started when I was 11 and he would teach me tricks.”

Dermot added: “Wasn’t one of the acts ill or something?” and Stephen, shocked at what the TV star could remember replied: “God, you’ve got a good memory!

“Yeah, so [at Butlin’s] one of the acts didn’t turn up and my dad said, ‘Well my son’s a magician and he’ll fill in for you.’ I got my spot on stage and I feel incredibly lucky.”

Just weeks after losing his father, Stephen was back on screens at the Royal Variety. He took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall, performing a magic trick in front of His Majesty The King and millions of viewers at home.

Upon completion, the star dedicated the performance to his late father saying: “That was for you dad.”

Following his two-year stint as a Redcoat, Stephen joined The Magic Circle as its youngest-ever member at the age of just 17, and gained an appearance on Blue Peter off the back of this.

After appearing on The Big Big Talent Show with Jonathan Ross in the late 1990s, he was invited to perform at the Royal Variety before becoming a regular on CITV alongside Holly Willoughby.

In more recent years, he has hosted Britain’s Got More Talent and regularly fronts Catchphrase, but due back on the box with a new series of You Bet for ITV1, in which stars such Josie Gibson, Josh Widdecombe and Alesha Dixon bet on of members of the public and their ability to carry out certain tasks.

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THEY say that a cat has nine lives – and this particular one has used up several of his.

For the life of Cat Stevens, the singer-songwriter who became Yusuf after converting to Islam, has been shaped by his brushes with death.

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The first of them happened in his early teens when the teeming streets — and inviting rooftops — of London’s West End were his playground.

One night, while out gallivanting with his best friend Andy, he found himself clinging by his fingertips to a ledge, several storeys up, near Prince’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Fall and his short life would be over but, as “the dark abyss” beckoned, Andy stretched out, grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety in the nick of time.

“It was the moment I first faced up to mortality,” Yusuf tells me, casting his mind back to the early Sixties.

“I already considered myself as a thinker by then and, as such, you can’t help thinking that one day you won’t be here.

“Whether it’s through an accident or illness or by dying in your sleep, it’s all one thing. You leave this world.

“That to me was a problem. I just had to understand more about it.”

So began a spiritual quest that Yusuf has carried with him to this day.
Two more narrow escapes followed.

In 1969, he contracted a life-threatening bout of TB which required months of recuperation.

With time to ponder his existence, he underwent a rapid transformation from Carnaby Street-styled pop star to tousle-haired, guitar-toting troubadour.

His thoughtful but hook-laden songs began flowing freely — Father And Son, Wild World, Moonshadow and Peace Train among them — and they made him a global superstar and bedsit pin-up.

Then, in 1976, he nearly drowned while swimming    off the coast of Malibu, California.

As his life ebbed away, he looked up to the sky and prayed, “Oh God, if You save me, I’ll work for You!”

At that moment, a wave rose up and nudged him towards dry land. He sensed that, “God was right there”.

Not long afterwards, his brother David Gordon bought him a copy of the Qur’an for his birthday.

It had a dramatic effect, prompting Cat Stevens to embrace Islam, change his name to Yusuf (a variation on Joseph) and begin a lengthy retreat from music.

He says: “I was like, ‘This is actually it’.

“Everything I’d been writing in my songs was converging into this one new message. It overtook everything.”

And yet, as we know, there was a second coming.

For the past two decades, Yusuf has rekindled his passion for songcraft — releasing acclaimed albums and keeping his timeless Cat Stevens songs alive with gigs around the world, including the Glastonbury “legends” slot.

‘BLANK CANVAS’

Now he has documented his singular journey in a heartfelt, detailed, illuminating, funny, sad, often profound memoir, Cat: On The Road To Findout.

There’s also a hits album celebrating his various eras, and last weekend he embarked on a book tour of the UK and US, described as “an evening of tales, tunes and other mysteries”.

That means I’ve been given another chance to speak to Yusuf via video call.

With his neat grey/white hair and beard framing still handsome features, the 77-year-old greets me warmly before diving into subjects closest to his heart.

After our chat ends, I realise we’ve covered his faith, his family, his music, the impact of those near-death experiences — all the things which have moulded Yusuf/Cat Stevens.

If I had to pick his defining song, I know which one I’d go for and I think the man himself might agree.

It’s the fourth track on side two (I’m going vinyl here) of his classic 1970 album Tea For The Tillerman.

Called, as you might have guessed, On The Road To Find Out, it serves as his mission statement — an early acknowledgement of his spiritual journey.

Recalling its creation, Yusuf says: “I had scraped my way through a lot of life’s difficulties and challenges but they were the things which built me and prepared me.

“So I was already feeling like a receptacle for some kind of inspiration to be my guide.”

I watch as he recites the opening lines of the song he’s sung so many times, “Well I left my happy home to see what I could find out/I left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out.”

He maintains that when he wrote On The Road To Find Out, not being tied to one religion proved “very, very useful”.

“I wanted a blank canvas,” he says. “I didn’t want to be influenced by my background or wherever I was situated in society.”

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Yusuf draws my attention to the end of the song and adds: “It’s incredible really. It says, ‘Pick up a good book’.

“I was absolutely determined to write ‘a’ good book, not ‘the’ good book. I didn’t want people to think it had to be The Bible.”

His thoughts turn towards his childhood, his first encounters with spirituality and the parents he writes so affectionately about in his memoir.

His “handsome, bold” Cypriot cafe owner father Stavros was Greek Orthodox and his “beautiful azure blue-eyed” Swedish mother Ingrid was a Baptist.

They sent their youngest of three children, Steven Demetre Georgiou, as he was known then, to St Joseph’s Roman Catholic elementary school and he also attended Mass.

Though this was the first time he came “close to God”, he still felt like an “outsider” as a non-Catholic.

“Sometimes, the church itself can be a barrier between you and your creator,” muses Yusuf.

“When Jesus was asked how to pray, he didn’t say go to church. He said, ‘Pray direct to God’.

Mum taught me how to love and dad taught me how to work

Yusuf/Cat Stevens

“I was fortunate not to be tied to a strict religion.

“That gave me flexibility — I achieved my observer status as far as spirituality was concerned.”

As a child, Yusuf was given a lively introduction to the world.

“Growing up in the West End had a big impact on me,” he says.

“It felt like the whole world was crammed into this little area of London where everything happened.

“You didn’t necessarily learn how to climb trees, but you did learn how to climb roofs,” he adds with a rueful smile about the time he nearly fell.

Next, I ask him to share memories of his parents.

“Mum taught me how to love and dad taught me how to work,” he replies.

Yusuf says that his mother Ingrid “had a massive impact on me”.

“Swedes have a characteristic which is beautiful in a way. It is called ‘lagom’ which means equality — you don’t need everything, you just need enough.

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“From that, you can develop your attitude towards charity and all sorts of things.”

He continues: “Mind you, Dad was also charitable. He used to give cups of tea to tramps.

“It was part of the culture of the family to appreciate having food on the table.”

Yusuf describes how his father Stavros “first went from Cyprus to settle in Egypt”.

“Then he went to America and, from there, he passed back through Greece to the UK — you know, to the Empire, because Cyprus was connected to Britain at that time.

“He gave me the traveller’s bug and also a work ethic. I certainly know how to wash dishes!”

Yusuf credits his parents to a certain extent for his love of music and performing.

He remembers writing a “sweet Swedish lullaby” with his “naturally musical” mother while they sat at the piano.

The final couplet translates as, “Come will you take my hand and lead me away/The way to my heart is so short.”

In the book, Yusuf describes Ingrid’s strength of character when she discovered her husband was having an affair with a waitress, leading to their separation.

She whisked her children to her hometown of Gavle for five months, where young Steven was the only “dark-eyed, black-haired lad in town”.

‘SO FORTUNATE’

Yusuf says his “extrovert” father probably gave him the characteristics to command a stage.

“He was extremely sociable to customers and an expert at Greek dancing with glasses of water balanced on his head.”

One of the most moving passages in the book arrives when Yusuf gets to 1978 and his dad has only days to live.

Stavros had called him “Stevie” from the day he was born but, as he lay on his deathbed, he whispered, “Where’s Yusuf?”

It was an act of acceptance for Yusuf’s Muslim faith for which he is eternally thankful.

He says: “You called your son one name all your life, and that’s the one you chose for him.

“Then, at the end, you accept his path and his identity. You don’t detach from it, you embrace it.

“My God, I was so fortunate. I was so lucky to have a dad like that.”

Now it’s time to turn our attention to music… after all, it’s what made Yusuf/Cat Stevens famous.

In the autobiography, he recalls buying his first single, Baby Face by Little Richard, how much he loved Buddy Holly and how later on he was blown away by John Lennon’s mighty holler on The Beatles’ cover of Twist And Shout.

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He tells me with a laugh: “You can just imagine the Queen at the Royal Variety Show watching The Beatles and wanting to pull off her pearls and diamonds and dance in the aisles.

“But I’m afraid she couldn’t.”

So what compelled him, already a gifted visual artist, to venture into the music business and adopt the “hip” stage name Cat Stevens?

“I felt I had something to offer,” he replies. “I felt that people should get it.

“It wasn’t just a career choice or business decision. It was more than that — it felt like a calling.

“I responded to it and it responded to me. My songs, everything, came so easily.

“I wrote The First Cut Is The Deepest when I was 17 [in 1965].

“My brother David also had a big hand in it because he was the business head of the family.

“He was instrumental in getting me contacts.”

After a run of hits including I Love My Dog, Matthew & Son and I’m Gonna Get Me A Gun, Cat Stevens went through his dramatic change of tack, prompted by him contracting TB.

“It was an opportunity to take another stab at life — from a new, inspired position,” says Yusuf.

As human beings, our way forward is to understand that we’re all the same in our dreams, our visions and our hopes

Yusuf/Cat Stevens

“By that time, I’d read a very interesting book dealing with metaphysical issues of the spirit, the soul, the beyond, the divine. It put me on another plateau.”

One of the songs written by the “new” Cat Stevens was Where Do The Children Play?, as relevant today as ever.

He says: “There’s a very poignant line pointing to what we are facing today, which is assisted dying.

“I say, ‘Will you tell us when to live/Will you tell us when to die?’.

“I mean, God Almighty, you’ve got a chance to live. You don’t want to lose that.

“When you look at the way the corporate world is moving, it really is designing life for the people of this planet.

“And it may not be the best life because we’re detached from nature so much of the time.

“Where Do The Children Play? is a song about nature and children are perfect examples of human nature.”

Before we go our separate ways, I ask Yusuf about the long hiatus from music after his conversion to Islam.

It was a time when he was dragged into various controversies.

One headline, which he repeats in the book, even read, “Cat Stevens Joins The Evil Ayatollah”.

“It’s just prejudice,” says Yusuf. “And that is something we have to be very careful about.

“As human beings, our way forward is to understand that we’re all the same in our dreams, our visions and our hopes.”

This comment reminds him of “what we’re seeing right now in Palestine”.

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“These are people, these are families,” he says. “They’re not from an alien planet.

“That’s why it’s good to see the response from ordinary grandparents and ordinary kids, responding to the devastation people are facing.

“You may argue about the term genocide, but you can’t argue about the term infanticide.”

Returning to his break from music, he says: “I have no regrets at all. I chose the name Cat Stevens and was content with that.

“That was my success but it was not the success I was yearning for overall in my life.

“The biggest thing for me was finding my identity — and that’s twice as difficult when you have a show name.”

It was Yusuf’s son Yoriyos, one of his five children with wife Fauzia (a sixth died in infancy), who encouraged him to make his comeback.

“He got what I was about and he said, ‘This cannot be buried’.

“It wasn’t a case of reinventing, more of reviving the spirit. He saw it as a pure, good thing — and it inspired me.”

Finally, I ask Yusuf if he’s still on the road to find out.

He answers: “There’s a saying in the Qur’an — ‘If all the seas were ink and all the trees were pens, you would never exhaust the words and the knowledge of God’.

“So, yeah, no fear about drying up here.”

On the night TJ McGee overdosed from a mixture of drugs and alcohol in his freshman year at UC Berkeley, his friends found him passed out in the hallway by their shared dorm room.

The roommates tried to help, but when McGee stopped breathing, they called 911.

McGee survived and, racked with guilt over what happened that night, committed to confronting his substance-use problem. Then, in the days that followed, McGee received a surprise email from campus officials that ushered in a whole new wave of emotions.

The letter said the administration would be placing McGee on academic probation for violating Berkeley’s residential conduct rules against drug and alcohol possession, use and distribution — possibly jeopardizing his academic career.

“They made me feel as if I was a villain for the choices I made,” said McGee, 20, now a junior. “I felt shameful enough already.”

Today, McGee speaks regularly in support of California State Assembly Bill 602, which would prohibit public colleges and universities from punishing students if they call 911 during an overdose emergency, or if a peer does so on their behalf. It requires schools to offer rehabilitation options and requires students who seek emergency medical assistance to complete a treatment program.

“The bill would protect students just like me from even receiving a letter like that,” and ensures that they are given care instead, McGee said.

The bill recently passed in both houses of the state Legislature; it awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature. A spokesperson for Newsom said he typically does not comment on pending legislation.

Despite a recent nationwide plunge in the number of deaths stemming from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and contaminated versions of those drugs, overdose remains the leading cause of death for Americans age 18 to 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Though numbers could be revised as new data from California come in, the CDC provisionally estimates a 21% drop in overdose deaths in the state to 9,660 between March 2024 and March 2025, compared with 12,247 in the previous 12-month period. Opioid-related deaths, in particular from fentanyl, made up the bulk of California’s overdose fatalities in 2023, the most recent year for which statistics are available on the state’s opioid-prevention website.

In response, California started requiring campus health centers at most public colleges and universities to make the opioid overdose-reversing nasal spray Narcan available to students in campus residences.

McGee said that while he hadn’t taken any opioids the night of his overdose, he was administered Narcan while incapacitated.

Advocates for AB 602 say more needs to be done to increase the likelihood that college students will seek immediate help during a drug-related emergency.

It’s important for lawmakers and college officials to realize how much fear is involved when an overdose occurs — not just with the person who is overdosing but among peers who seek to help but don’t want to get a friend in trouble, said UC Berkeley student Saanvi Arora. She is the founder and executive director of Youth Power Project, a nonprofit that helps young people who’ve had adverse health experiences use their personal stories to promote policy reforms.

“California has dramatically increased investments in school-based mental health and crisis-intervention resources and access, for example to fentanyl testing strips on college campuses and access to Narcan,” Arora said. “But one big gap that we see … is that there’s still a really low utilization rate among young people and students.”

Fear of academic probation, suspension or expulsion leads some students with substance-use problems to avoid reaching out to residential advisors, instructors or school administrators for help, leaving them feeling so isolated that they see few other options besides turning to the police as a last resort or doing nothing at all, Arora said.

Youth Power Project authored a bill to combat these problems; Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), its chief sponsor, introduced it to the state Legislature this past spring. “During an overdose any hesitation can be deadly,” the lawmaker said in a statement. “AB 602 makes it clear that calling 911 will never cost you your academic future.”

Campus discipline and legal prosecution can be counterproductive if the goal is to prevent overdose deaths, said Evan Schreiber, a licensed clinical social worker and director of substance abuse disorder services at APLA Health, an L.A.-based nonprofit that offers mental-health and substance-use services and backs the bill.

“By removing the fear of consequences, you’re going to encourage more people to get help,” Schreiber said.

Schreiber and Arora said AB 602 extends to places of higher learning some of the protections guaranteed to Californians outside of campuses under the “911 Good Samaritan Law,” which went into effect in 2013 to increase the reporting of fentanyl poisoning and prevent opioid deaths.

That law protects people from arrest and prosecution if they seek medical aid during an overdose-related emergency, as well as individuals who step in to help by calling 911. It doesn’t, however, cover disciplinary actions imposed by colleges and universities.

One difference between the 911 Good Samaritan Law and the version of AB 602 that passed both houses of the Legislature is that the latter does not cover students who call on behalf of an overdosing peer and who are themselves found to have violated campus alcohol and drug policies, said Nate Allbee, a spokesperson for Haney. Allbee noted that Haney hopes to add this protection in the future.

Even though AB 602 doesn’t include all of the protections that supporters wanted, the rule solves what Arora identified as a major problem: UCs, Cal State campuses and community colleges in California are governed by a patchwork of policies and conduct codes regarding substance use that differ from campus to campus, making it difficult for students to know where they stand when they are in crisis.

McGee said he wished he’d learned more about the support services that were available to him at Berkeley before his overdose. But he was already struggling emotionally and living on his own when he entered college in fall 2023.

McGee described growing up in an environment in which substance use was common. He never felt that he could turn to anyone close to him to work through feelings of loneliness and bouts of depression. It was easier to block it all out by partying.

McGee started using harder drugs, missing classes and spending whole days in bed while coming down from his benders. He wouldn’t eat. Friends would ask what’s wrong, but he’d stare at the wall and ignore them. His grade-point average plummeted to 2.3.

Some of the friends who helped McGee on the night of his overdose grew distant for a time, too dismayed over the turmoil he was causing himself and those around him.

McGee knew he needed to keep trying to salvage his academic career and earn back the trust of his peers. All he could think was: “I need to fix my grades. I need to fix myself.”

One day during his recovery, McGee sat his friends down, apologized and explained what he was going through.

Then in his sophomore year, McGee happened to be lobbying lawmakers in Sacramento over campus funding cuts when he overheard a separate group of students from Youth Power Project talking about a bill they authored that would become AB 602.

It was like eavesdropping on a dark chapter in his own life. McGee agreed to present the bill to Haney and share his experience at meetings with legislators and in hearings.

McGee’s disciplinary probation on campus lasts until the end of 2025, but working on the overdose bill has given him a new sense of purpose. A psychology major, McGee eventually took on public policy as a minor.

“I feel like I became a part of this bill and it became such a large source of hope for me,” McGee said. “It would be amazing to see this support and care implemented nationally. This is not just a California issue.”

The California Department of Justice will sue the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and its sheriff, Robert Luna, for what Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta called a “humanitarian crisis” inside of the county jails.

Inmates are housed in unsafe, dirty facilities infested with roaches and rats, Bonta said in a news conference Monday, and lack basic access to clean water and edible food. “More alarming, people are dying,” he said.

There have been over 205 in-custody deaths in four years, Bonta said, with 40% caused by suicide, homicides and overdoses. He called for comprehensive reform, but said the county forced his hand by refusing to comply.

“I’d prefer collaboration over litigation, but the county has left us with no choice, so litigation it is,” he said.

Bonta called for L.A. County and the sheriff’s department to provide inmates with adequate medical, dental and mental health care, protect them from harm, provide safe and humane confinement conditions. He also called on jail officials to better accommodate the needs of disabled inmates and those with limited English proficiency.

Bonta painted a dark portrait of L.A. County’s jails, describing filthy conditions, vermin and insect infestations, a lack of clean water and moldy and spoiled food. He said prisoners face difficulty obtaining basic hygiene items and are not permitted to spend enough time outside of their cells.

L.A. County, which houses the largest jail system in the country, has long been criticized for poor conditions. As it has expanded to hold around 13,000 people on any given day, decades — perhaps a century — of mistreatment and overcrowding have been documented.

The system lost a federal lawsuit in 1978 after decades of dirty, mold-ridden and overcrowded jails prompted inmates to fight back through the courts, and frequently faces suits alleging it fails to provide proper food, water and shelter.

The state’s lawsuit comes amid a years-long struggle to close and replace Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, from which inspectors regularly document poor conditions: mold, mildew, insufficient food and water and, more recently, a report last year that said jailers were too busy watching an “explicit video” to notice a noose hung inside a cell.

“In June 2024, the Sybil Brand Commission reported that multiple dorms at Men’s Central were overcrowded with broken toilets, some containing feces that could not be flushed; a urinal that caused ‘effluence to emerge through the mid-floor drain’ when flushed; and ceilings that had been painted over to cover mold,” Bonta’s office wrote in its complaint.

In addition to Luna and the sheriff’s department, the county Department of Health Services, Correctional Health Services and its director, Timothy Belavich, were also named as defendants.

The lawsuit decried the “dilapidated physical condition of the facility and the numerous instances of violence and death within its walls.” It went on to explain that the county Board of Supervisors voted to close the chronically overcrowded Men’s Central Jail twice, including in 2020.

The sheriff’s department has said it would be difficult to close the jail because of the high volume of inmate admissions and lack of viable alternatives.

But in-custody deaths this year are on track for what Bonta’s office described as at least a 20-year high with 36 reported so far, or about one a week, according to the county’s website.

Inmates have been known to set fires in rooms with no smoke alarms — not to cause mischief, but to cook and supplement cold, sometimes inedible meals.

Some inmates — many of whom have been arrested recently and have not been convicted of crimes — are left to sleep on urine-soaked floors with trash bags as blankets and no access to medications and working plumbing. A 2022 lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union called the conditions “medieval.”

“The LASD jails,” the state attorney general’s office wrote in the complaint, “have a longstanding history of deplorable conditions and constitutional violations.”