WATCH: Burglars Ransack Bill Maher's Swanky LA Weed Shop
A cannabis dispensary and lounge co-owned by political pundit Bill Maher and actor Woody Harrelson was burglarized by a team of masked thieves.
Surveillance footage posted to social media shows five hoodie-clad men smashing through a glass window to The Woods in West Hollywood and then haphazardly stuffing sacks with merchandise.
The same video shows the crew hitting a different LA dispo that night, although the operation ran less smoothly. At ERBA Markets, which shares minority owners with The Woods, the robbers encountered an armed security guard, who quickly opened fire.
The men can be seen fleeing the gun shots. They dove into a black SUV, which sped away. KTLA 5 reported that no one was hit and that the robbers were unable to take anything from ERBA.
At Maher's and Harrelson's shop, however, they absconded with as much as $3,000 in merchandise, ABC 7 reported.
'They went in and they just randomly took stuff off the shelves,' Michael Berman, another co-owner, told the outlet of the Thursday robbery. 'While there was a lot of mess from the broken glass, nobody was hurt. They got merchandise, but they didn't actually damage too much inside.'
The Los Angeles Police Department told the Daily Beast that the suspects are still at large and that an investigation into the incidents is ongoing.
The Woods launched in 2022 with Harrelson, 63, as the majority owner and Maher, 69, as one of its minority owners. The tropical-themed shop sells a wide range of cannabis products and features several cabana-style lounges where patrons can get stoned.
Maher, who hosts the HBO politics show Real Time, and Harrelson, known for starring in hits like Zombieland and The Hunger Games, have both emerged as high-profile advocates for the legal cannabis industry.
Maher has made a habit out of smoking weed while recording his podcast, Club Random. Last year, Maher admitted to losing out on an interview with Jackass star Steve-O—who is long sober—because he refused to abstain from weed for the episode. Maher called Steve-O's request 'ridiculous.'
In a 2024 interview with Los Angeles magazine—conducted at The Woods while Maher was high—he opened up about his marijuana habit.
'I don't smoke every day and never have,' he said. 'I'm a situational pot smoker. I would never get high to do Real Time. I can do stand-up high because I don't have to worry about a clock. I like it for sex. And I like it for writing.'
Harrelson told CBS in 2023 that he became a proponent of cannabis despite a conservative upbringing—and against his mother's best wishes.
'She'd be sitting there, she'd have her coffee and cigarette and everything in the morning, you know,' he recalled of his mom. 'And she'd be like, 'Son, if I ever hear that you're smoking marijuana …it'll just kill me!'"
Nevertheless, he's proud to own The Woods, calling it 'just a little dream of what a great dispensary could be.'
Neither Maher or Harrelson has addressed the burglary publicly, and representatives for each did not immediately return the Daily Beast's requests for comment.
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The Hill
4 hours ago
- The Hill
Immigration's twisted new reality is beneath America
Although it sounds like the premise for an absurdist sitcom or a dystopian novel, it seems that the Department of Homeland Security has actually considered participating in a reality show where 'legal immigrants' would compete for a fast track to U.S. citizenship. It took Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem nearly a week to deny the reports. Contradicting agency spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who told Fox News that it 'may be a good idea' for reviving 'patriotism and civic duty,' Noem told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security that 'there are no plans whatsoever to do a reality show.' That is probably just as well, because it isn't clear that Noem herself could pass a civics test, given her bizarre assertion in Senate testimony that President Donald Trump has the right to suspend Habeas Corpus 'to remove people from this country.' According to the Wall Street Journal, the reality show pitch came from Rob Worsoff, a producer of 'Duck Dynasty.' He explained that the show would be a 'celebration' of what it means to be an American citizen, in which contestants 'compete in various contests, including potentially on American history and science.' The winners would have their citizenship applications expedited — ideally sworn in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol — but the losers would not be deported or otherwise penalized a la 'The Hunger Games.' The various challenges in Worsoff's pitch, as outlined in a 36-slide deck, include such quintessentially American activities as gold mining and automobile assembly, while the contestants travel cross-country. The competition would have kicked off at Ellis Island, where no immigrants have entered the U.S. since 1943. Meanwhile, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a department of Homeland Security, still administers an actual civics examination as part of the naturalization process. Applicants are asked 10 questions, chosen by an examiner from a list of 100, with a passing score of six correct answers. Citizenship and Immigration also provides a study guide with approved answers (while noting that other responses might perhaps be acceptable, at the discretion of the examiner). The objective is to test the aspiring citizen's knowledge of U.S. civics, history and government, but Republican presidential administrations have repeatedly revised and politicized both the questions and the published set of approved answers. During the George W. Bush administration, for example, the test asked applicants to name an 'inalienable right.' Predictably, one of the approved answers was the right to bear arms, which could always be removed, that is, alienated, from convicted felons and domestic abusers. The first Donald Trump administration was worse. The battery of 10 questions was increased to 20 (from a set of 128), with 12 required to pass, making it incrementally harder to obtain citizenship. Under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, correct answers were provided to the questions about congressional representation. Senators represent 'all the people of the state,' and members of Congress represent 'all the people of their district.' In Trump's first term, however, those answers were altered, wrongly, to say that senators and House members represent only 'citizens' — again seeking to marginalize immigrants, despite the Constitution's requirement of apportionment according to an 'actual enumeration' of 'persons' in the various states. The correct answers were restored under President Joe Biden, and the number of questions to each applicant went back to 10, with a passing score of six. Neither correction has yet been reversed by Noem or Trump, but there is no telling what is in the works. There is one aspect of the citizenship test, unchanged from administration to administration, that must surely please the Trump administration. One question on the current test, which has appeared in some form since at least the Bush II presidency, asks for 'two rights of everyone living in the United States,' with only the following recommended answers in the study guide: Conspicuously missing from the answer list are the rights to counsel, due process, equal protection and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment or unreasonable search and seizure. An applicant who identified one of those rights would risk being marked wrong, although they are plainly found in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and 14th Amendments. Most ominously, or perhaps providentially from Noem's perspective, there is also no mention of Habeas Corpus, the right to challenge one's incarceration before a judge. Habeas Corpus, also called 'the Great Writ,' is guaranteed in Article I, making it the only individual right found in the original body of the Constitution. It can only be suspended by Congress, not the president, in cases of 'rebellion or invasion.' Habeas Corpus provides the ultimate protection against arbitrary imprisonment. Without it, there could be no meaningful rights at all against an oppressive government. In times like these, that is something both migrants and citizens ought to know about. Because we are not living in a reality show. Steven Lubet is the Williams Memorial Professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. He is the author of 'The Trials of Rasmea Odeh: How a Palestinian Guerrilla Gained and Lost U.S. Citizenship.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
George Floyd's legacy under siege as racial justice efforts lose ground, memorials removed
Five years after her nephew's murder, what Angela Harrelson misses most is hearing her phone buzz and knowing he was calling. 'He would call me and say, 'What's up, auntie? Just calling to check on you,' ' Harrelson said. 'And it made me feel so good.' Harrelson affectionately refers to her nephew by his middle name, Perry, but the world knows him as George Floyd. In 2020, millions watched in horror as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd beneath his knee for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. The murder sparked a massive outpouring of grief and anger as protesters took to the streets with handcrafted signs echoing some of his last words, "I can't breathe." Amid violent clashes with police, they pressed on. Artists adorned their cities with his image, a sign of resolve and the impact of his death. The intersection where Floyd took his last breaths was transformed from a gas station and corner store into a living memorial. Now that the chaos and media frenzy have settled, Harrelson visits the area − known as George Floyd Square − several times a week. 'It's a safe haven for me to sit and reflect on everything that has happened,' she said. 'And that includes the pain and the heartache.' The future of the square has been a subject of heated debate. Across the nation, other memorials honoring Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement have been removed, vandalized, or fallen into disrepair. As symbols of Floyd's place in history have faded, so too have hopes for federal police reform, commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion and American optimism about the future of racial justice. Just days before the anniversary of his death, May 25, the Department of Justice announced it is ending investigations and retracting findings of wrongdoing against the Minneapolis Police Department as well as those in Phoenix; Oklahoma City; Memphis, Tennessee; Trenton, New Jersey; Mount Vernon, New York; and Louisiana. Family members and advocates are determined not to let the losses and the nation's shifting political winds erase Floyd's legacy. Many say preserving the last vestiges of the protest movement is a key part of continuing to push for change and recover from the deep pain caused by his death. Some say it's a battle cry − a time to retrench and recommit to the fight. 'The country is actually regressing,' said Aba Blankson, a spokesperson for the NAACP. 'So as we say, the anniversary is not about grief or recovering from the trauma. It is about purpose and being dedicated and recommitting to ensuring that the country is open to diversity, equity and inclusion, that the country continues to maintain equal protection under the law, that the country teaches truth in history, that the country is not diminishing the rights of women and immigrants.' Since Floyd's murder, the intersection of 38th and Chicago has become a sacred space. Two iconic murals were painted at the site, including a blue-and-yellow tribute on the side of the Cup Foods where Floyd was accused of spending a counterfeit $20 bill, prompting the fatal police response. The community installed a raised-fist sculpture at the center of the intersection and headstones engraved with the names of Black people killed by police. Residents erected barricades to keep traffic − and police − out until their demands for reform were met and to 'figure out how to build this space as one of healing,' according to Ashley Tyner, co-director of "The People's Way," a documentary film about the square. In 2021, the city removed the barricades and began to formulate a long-term plan for the area. Officials spent countless hours consulting with community members, in part, because one of the city's busiest bus routes runs through the square. 'We knew as a city staff, as a community, that we needed to be incredibly thoughtful about this sacred space to create a vision that would be endured and appreciated for really decades and centuries,' Alexander Kado, the city's senior project manager, said. They ended up with a proposal for a flexible, open layout that would allow traffic to flow unless officials closed part of the intersection for a special event. The plan would preserve space for Floyd's family to erect a permanent memorial in the spot where he took his last breaths and find someone to take over the former Speedway gas station, a property purchased by the city and dubbed the Peoples' Way. But the Minneapolis City Council rejected the plan and proposed that the city explore another option instead: establishing a pedestrian mall that would permanently close one leg of the intersection. Then-Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed that proposal. The council overrode Frey's veto in February. Council member Robin Wonsley said allowing traffic would 'erase' the history of the square. 'The way in which the city is approaching that is saying, essentially, 'Let's run buses up and down that same street. Let's run buses and cars across the very place where George Floyd was killed.' And that, for me, is a signal of erasure,' Wonsley said during one city council meeting. But Andrea Jenkins, who represents the area and supports the city's plan, said residents around the square want vehicle traffic. She pointed to a survey by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota that found about 70% of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods preferred full transportation access in the square. For now, the fate of the square remains in limbo. A final decision won't be made for months and construction likely won't be complete until at least 2027. Jenkins told USA TODAY she wants the space to be one where businesses, public transit and a national memorial to victims of police brutality can coexist. 'I would like it to be a space that honors the art and the artifacts that have been left at George Floyd Square, but also as a space for new work to be presented.' People from around the world come to the square, leaving behind flowers, balloons, signs and artwork. Residents like Leesa Kelly have stepped up to serve as caretakers and archivists of these 'offerings.' Kelly, executive director of Memorialize the Movement, said she was particularly moved by murals painted on the plywood businesses used to board up their windows during the 2020 protests. As demonstrations died down, she began to worry, 'Will businesses keep them? Will they throw them out?' So Kelly began collecting the murals and eventually amassed over 1,000 pieces. She said they depict many facets of Floyd's life, including one that features his daughter and another a message from his partner. 'It's just been really beautiful to see how we've been able to take something so tragic and still be able to build something powerful and impactful for our community," she said. The murals have been exhibited in universities and gallery spaces around the Twin Cities. Art from the square has also begun to make its way across the country. Rashad Shabazz, a historical cultural geographer at Arizona State University, helped bring hundreds of signs, posters and artwork from the protests to Phoenix in 2024. Shabazz, a former Minneapolis resident, said thousands of people, including members of the Floyd family, visited the Arizona State University Art Museum exhibit, which he called "one of the most important legacies' to come from the movement. He said it is crucial for institutions like museums to put the items on display − whether they be carefully painted portraits or messages hastily scrawled on pizza boxes. 'The offerings are stories, and preservation of them is a preservation of the story,' he said. 'And in doing that, we add those stories to our collective understanding of the world we live in, that moment in time. And they serve as lessons. If we listen to them, we might learn something.' While some work to preserve memories of the movement, others have found symbolic and substantive ways to try and erase it. One by one, memorials to Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement have come down in recent years, including in Washington; Des Moines; Indianapolis; Salt Lake City; Santa Barbara, California; and Asheville, North Carolina. A push jump-started by Floyd's death to remove or rename Confederate memorials has slowed to a trickle. In early 2024, only two had been removed, compared to nearly 170 in 2020, according to a recent report from the Southern Poverty Law Center. More than 2,000 Confederate symbols remain, and some have recently been restored, including the Confederate names of two Virginia schools that were changed during the racial reckoning of 2020. After the Supreme Court in 2023 struck down race-based affirmative action admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the precedent has had far-reaching implications for the racial justice movement. Citing the decision, President Donald Trump wiped out diversity initiatives across the federal government and urged schools and businesses to follow suit despite pledges made after Floyd's murder. In Minnesota, leaders are bracing for the possibility that Trump will pardon Chauvin, who is serving concurrent state and federal prison sentences for murder, violating Floyd's constitutional rights and other crimes. Trump has said he isn't considering a federal pardon for Chauvin, though aides have raised the idea. Changing the narrative: How Trump 2.0 is reframing George Floyd and the 2020 protests The DOJ announced in January that it had reached a court-enforceable agreement known as a consent decree with the city of Minneapolis to make systemic changes to its police department after a federal investigation sparked by Floyd's murder found a pattern of civil rights violations. Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for the department's Civil Rights Division, announced on May 21 that the government would abandon those efforts and retract the department's findings in Minneapolis and a host of other cities, including Louisville, Kentucky, where the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor drew outrage. Amid all the changes, Americans are feeling increasingly pessimistic about gains in racial justice, if any, since 2020 and the possibility that Black Americans will ever have equal rights, according to Kiana Cox, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center. 'The majority of Americans think that the attention that the country paid to race as a result of George Floyd's murder was a watershed moment,' she said. 'But when we asked the more specific question, 'Do you think that attention actually resulted in changes to Black people's lives?' we get a different story.' In 2023, 40% of respondents said such changes had happened. But in 2025, just 27% said the same. Still, Harrelson said the current political climate can't erase her nephew's lasting legacy. 'It has not changed how people feel about what happened five years ago. They still carry that pain. They still carry that weight,' she said. Harrelson said she sees Floyd's impact each time she visits the square, where dozens of their family members and thousands of others will soon gather for a three-day festival in his honor. The annual celebration will include live music, a church service, and community discussions about racism, police reform and grief called "Perry Talks." But Harrelson's favorite part is taking a quiet moment to think about her nephew during the candlelight vigil. 'I hope I'm doing right by his legacy the best I can,' she said. Contributing: Phillip M. Bailey and Savannah Kuchar This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Floyd legacy under siege as reform stalls, memorials disappear
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Jennifer Lawrence's advice to aspiring actors? Have kids
This week, actress Jennifer Lawrence promoted her new film — and motherhood. Two months after giving birth, Lawrence was at the Cannes Film Festival to discuss 'Die, My Love.' 'The Hunger Games' star plays a young mother in the movie, which she stars in alongside Robert Pattinson. In real life, Lawrence shares two children with husband Cooke Maroney including a 3-year-old son named Cy, according to People. At a festival press conference on Sunday, Lawrence was asked how motherhood had impacted her perspective on her career and life. 'Having children changes everything. It changes your whole life. It's brutal and incredible,' she said. Lawrence said she takes her children into account when deciding 'if I'm working, where I'm working, when I'm working.' She added that motherhood has made her a better actor. 'I didn't know I could feel so much, and my job has a lot to do with emotion and they've opened up the world to me. It's almost like feeling like a blister, something like so sensitive. So, they've changed my life, obviously, for the best, and they've changed me creatively,' she said. Lawrence then shared some advice for aspiring actors. 'I highly recommend having kids if you want to be an actor,' she said. Lawrence's costar, Pattinson, was also asked to weigh in on parenthood after Lawrence. He and his partner Suki Waterhouse welcomed a baby girl last spring. Pattinson praised the creative benefits that came along with becoming a parent. 'I think in the most unexpected way having a baby gives you the biggest trove of energy and inspiration afterwards,' he said. But Lawrence wasn't quite sold on his answer and interjected with a question of her own. 'You get energy from having kids?' she asked. He laughed and clarified that 'it's a different kind of energy.' He then playfully lamented that the question was impossible for a man to answer correctly, drawing laughs from his costars and the audience. 'It's literally — I'm just like, 'What Jennifer said.' I'm here to support," he said.