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Back off, Meghan Markle haters: Her one-pot pasta technique is legit

Back off, Meghan Markle haters: Her one-pot pasta technique is legit

Washington Post07-03-2025

The aspiring lifestyle guru Meghan Markle — who now goes by her British royal name, Meghan Sussex — is a reliable headline generator. And this week, she gave media on both sides of the pond some grist for the gossip mill with her new aspirational Netflix show, 'With Love, Meghan.'

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Watch: Cheerleaders face audition stress in 'America's Sweethearts' Season 2
Watch: Cheerleaders face audition stress in 'America's Sweethearts' Season 2

UPI

time8 minutes ago

  • UPI

Watch: Cheerleaders face audition stress in 'America's Sweethearts' Season 2

Season 2 of "America's Sweethearts" arrives on Netflix June 18. Photo courtesy of Netflix June 4 (UPI) -- Netflix is previewing Season 2 of the docuseries America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, which premieres on the streamer June 18. In the trailer released Wednesday, the cheerleaders anticipate the results of a competitive audition process. "You're like 'when we make this team, we're gonna make it together 'cause we're friends,'" a hopeful says as the girls laugh and eat pizza together. "But then it doesn't always end up like that." The sophomore season will give a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the cheerleading squad during the 2024-2025 NFL football season, beginning with tryouts. "DCC (Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders) is the pinnacle of professional cheerleading, and Kelli Finglass, the team director, and Judy Trammell, the head choreographer, have returned to find the 36 best dancers from this smiling army of hopefuls," the official synopsis reads. Greg Whitely (Cheer) directs Season 2, which arrives roughly a year after the docuseries premiered.

TV Industry Scam Exposed: Fraudster Reported To FBI & UK Cybercrime Agency After Posing As Well-Known British Producers And Demanding Thousands Of Pounds From Writers
TV Industry Scam Exposed: Fraudster Reported To FBI & UK Cybercrime Agency After Posing As Well-Known British Producers And Demanding Thousands Of Pounds From Writers

Yahoo

time15 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

TV Industry Scam Exposed: Fraudster Reported To FBI & UK Cybercrime Agency After Posing As Well-Known British Producers And Demanding Thousands Of Pounds From Writers

EXCLUSIVE: A scammer has been reported to both the FBI and UK cybercrime agency after posing as well-known TV executives and asking writers to send them up to £2,500 ($3,300) to help get their scripts developed. Deadline has seen evidence of at least half a dozen British writers who have been contacted by a person pretending to be UK producer Charlotte Walls on the Stage 32 networking platform, asking them to submit ideas, sign an NDA and then pay a 'refundable facilitation fee' of between £2,000 and £2,500. More from Deadline Disney Slack Hack Suspect Pleads Guilty In Deal With Feds; Could Get 10 Years Behind Bars For 2024 Attack Eriq La Salle To Direct First Episode Of CBS' 'FBI' Offshoot Series 'CIA' Starring Tom Ellis 'FBI' Offshoot 'CIA' Starring Tom Ellis Ordered Straight-To-Series By CBS For 2025-26 Season The scammer also posed as another high-profile UK producer, who wished to remain nameless, and approached writers asking for money. In all, we are told by Stage 32 that around 100 messages were sent to UK creatives on the platform and about 25 people responded. Working with one writer, Anette Martinsen, we have tracked down what we believe to be the scammer's name, bank details and bank address. This information has been reported by Stage 32 to the FBI and by Martinsen to UK Action Fraud, a national reporting center for fraud and cybercrime that passes reports to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which then decides whether to refer to local police forces for investigation. We are aware of at least one other report of the same scammer to Action Fraud. 'Action Fraud can confirm that it received a report on 30 May 2025 and it is currently being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) at the City of London Police,' said a spokeswoman. Stage 32 founder Richard Botto told us the scam is a 'copy or extension of the same scam that has infiltrated Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, LinkedIn and X over the last three years.' He said Stage 32 'believes we have identified the perpetrator of this scam and are working with Action Fraud and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in an effort to bring them to justice.' How it works Using a VPN to create a Stage 32 account from a foreign IP address, the scammer sets up fake profiles and impersonates producers like Catalyst Global Media's Walls. They then send writers a message like the one in the above image asking if they are interested in submitting material. If they respond saying they are interested, the scammer sends over a set of terms that say, 'Should your project be identified as a strong candidate for development, we will proceed under a formal Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).' Following the signing of the NDA, the scammer says it requires a 'refundable facilitation fee' of varying amounts between £2,000 and £2,500, which 'serves as a demonstration of mutual commitment to advancing the project into early development and securing access to critical production infrastructure and strategic resources.' The scammer goes on to note that while this fee 'may not be customary in every production arrangement,' 'it is important to clarify that most professional producers and consultants charge substantial fees for their involvement.' 'We fully understand that some creators may be seeking informal feedback or free evaluations,' it adds. 'However, we wish to be transparent: our team invests significant time, resources, and professional leverage into every project we undertake.' We are not aware of anyone who has fallen victim to the scam and Stage 32's Botto told us 'to the best of our knowledge, no one sent this 'producer' any money.' Some writers told us they smelled a rat quickly due to the payment demand and the even stranger stipulation to sign an NDA simply to get a script into development. Others realized that the email address the scammer supplied was different to the company's email address on its website. The scammer pretending to be Walls, for example, was using a Gmail account. 'Most people contacted recognized the scam, notified us, and the offending accounts were deleted and the IP's and emails blocked immediately,' Botto said. Martinsen went along with the scam to see what she could uncover. Having agreed to the scammer's 'terms' and signed a fake NDA, she was asked swiftly to send a £2,000 payment to a person called Agnieszka Falkowska, who banks with Barclays and whose bank address is listed in Peterborough, South England. When Martinsen didn't respond, she was quickly chased up and told that Agnieszka Falkowska works in the accounts department at Catalyst Global Media, although no such person in the Catalyst accounts team exists. At this point, Stage 32 was notified and contacted both the FBI and Action Fraud. We are aware of at least one other person who has also reported the name Agnieszka Falkowska and these same bank details to Action Fraud. Deadline has contacted the Gmail address the person calling themselves Agnieszka Falkowska was using and we have not received a response. Martinsen said 'something didn't feel right' when she was contacted by the scammer via the fake Walls profile on Stage 32 about a comedy script she was developing titled In The Spotlight. 'I talked to my friend Gina Lyons from Gobby Girl Productions who suspected it was a scam too,' Martinsen told Deadline. 'I feel disappointed as you can imagine as it is tough being an older woman in the TV and film industry and I was of course hoping to get In the Spotlight made with a well respected company.' When Deadline contacted Walls last week to tell her she was being impersonated on Stage 32, Walls was mortified. 'I'm devastated to have been caught up in a scam like this and genuinely shocked,' she said. 'Writers are the lifeblood of our industry. It's more important than ever for people to be vigilant.' Another producer who has been impersonated and preferred to remain anonymous queried why these scammers are able to create fake profiles in the first place on platforms like Stage 32, and why they contacted so many writers before being caught. 'There must be a way to check,' said the producer. 'This is appalling. Our own reputations will end up being smeared and tarnished.' Botto said Walls' profile was 'deleted within two minutes, much to her satisfaction.' 'I speak frequently and repeatedly during my monthly Ask Me Anything broadcasts about how to protect yourself in this industry, including not to trust if a 'named producer' is writing to you in broken English or through a suspicious email address,' added Botto. 'As a writer, producer and actor myself who has been targeted by these scammers, I urge everyone to be vigilant and to do your due diligence.' Ellie Peers, General Secretary of the Writers Guild of Great Britain, said the guild's recent Is it a Steal? report, which found that 94% of writers who had paid to have their book published lost money, typically in the thousands, proves that 'there is no shortage of people wanting to exploit writers online.' 'If writers are asked to pay someone for something that they should themselves be paid for, that is always a red flag,' added Peers. 'This also shows the importance of always getting your writing contracts vetted by an expert before signing.' Another writer we spoke with pointed out that scams have become far more sophisticated and hard to spot in the age of AI, with platforms like ChatGPT able to easily replicate documents like contracts and NDAs. Spot the fraud: how to avoid getting conned Be on high alert if anyone is asking for money prior to a meeting and for work you have previously done for free (or have even been paid for in the past). If you haven't heard of them, search LinkedIn and other platforms for the person getting in contact in order to check their credentials. Contact the producers independently if you believe they are being impersonated. Check the email addresses you are being supplied and whether this matches up to the company email address on its website. Share concerns in forums or with industry friends. If you wish to contact the author of this article to supply further information or share your experience, please email: Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More

Britain's Prince Harry explored changing surname to Spencer, says Guardian report
Britain's Prince Harry explored changing surname to Spencer, says Guardian report

Yahoo

time15 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Britain's Prince Harry explored changing surname to Spencer, says Guardian report

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan explored the idea of changing their family name to Spencer amid months of delays in their two children receiving British passports, the Guardian newspaper reported on Wednesday. Harry, the Duke of Sussex, believed that the passport delays were the result of British officials blocking the applications over the use of the Sussex surname and HRH titles (his or her royal highness) for his children, the newspaper said, citing an unnamed source. A source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the prince had a meeting with his late mother Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, to discuss the family name. The source also said other media reports which said Spencer had advised Harry against changing his surname and that the legal hurdles to doing so were insurmountable, were inaccurate. Harry, the younger son of King Charles, stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and moved to California, where he lives with Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet. Since leaving, he and Meghan have been highly critical of the royals in TV documentaries, an explosive interview with U.S. chat show host Oprah Winfrey and most notably in Harry's best-selling biography "Spare." The prince is barely on speaking terms with either his father or his elder brother, heir to the throne Prince William. In a BBC interview last month, Harry said he wanted reconciliation with the British royal family, but that his father King Charles will not speak to him over a separate row about his security.

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