Fresh blow for Outback Wrangler Matt Wright on the eve of his criminal trial... He faces the fight of his life - now his best mate's widow has dropped a bombshell
In bombshell documents obtained by the Daily Mail, Wright claimed he had no duty of care to mate and Wild Croc Territory co-star Chris 'Willow' Wilson, who died after the helicopter he was dangled 30m from crashed on February 28, 2022.
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The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Laura Loomer testified that Bill Maher's joke about her sleeping with Trump torpedoed her chance at White House job
MAGA extremist Laura Loomer recently testified in her $150 million defamation lawsuit against Bill Maher that the HBO star's joke about her sleeping with Donald Trump ended up costing her a position at the White House because of the 'media frenzy' it created. Loomer, the self-annointed Trump 'loyalty' enforcer whose influence with the president has seemingly risen in recent months, sat down for a deposition last week with HBO's attorney. And, as Puck reported, it quickly became 'every bit as unhinged as one might expect.' The lawsuit, which Loomer filed in October of last year, centers on a September 2024 episode of Real Time where the comic suggested that Loomer's sudden ascendance in Trump's orbit was due to the two of them engaging in a sexual liaison. 'I think maybe Laura Loomer's in an arranged relationship to affect the election because she's very close to Trump. She's 31, looks like his type,' Maher quipped. 'We did an editorial here a few years ago… it was basically, who's Trump f***ing? Because I said, you know, it's not nobody. He's been a dog for too long, and it's not Melania. I think we may have our answer this week. I think it might be Laura Loomer.' In her complaint, Loomer alleges that she was subjected to 'unjustified ridicule, embarrassment, loss of reputation and professional opportunity, as well as being damaged financially' by the joke, adding that the comments were 'false, malicious and defamatory.' She also claimed that Maher denied her request for a public apology and an invitation on his show to 'mitigate prior and any further damage.' Maher's joke, meanwhile, came days after Loomer accompanied the then-candidate to a presidential debate and events commemorating the 9/11 attacks, prompting concerns from advisers and allies about her unofficial campaign role. During the final days of the campaign, he would publicly distance himself from her, all while promising his aides that he'd stop regularly inviting her on his flights. During her deposition, which was briefly on the public docket last week before being sealed by Magistrate Judge Philip Lammens, Loomer looked to make the case that she would currently be working in the White House if it weren't for Maher. Throughout the questioning from attorney Kate Bolger, Loomer boasted about her increasing clout with the president, stating that he first became impressed with her adversarial 'reporting' on GOP presidential rival Ron DeSantis in 2023. Loomer noted that she would soon be invited to Mar-a-Lago and that Trump told Susie Wiles, his current White House chief of staff, to immediately hire her. Instead, Loomer stated, that didn't happen because the news was leaked to the New York Times, which reported that her hiring 'would cause a backlash, given her history of inflammatory statements and her embrace of the Republican Party's fringes.' The Times later appended the story to point out its reporting had 'ignited a firestorm' among the MAGA base and resulted in Trump backing off. Still, according to Loomer, she continued to enjoy access in Trumpworld and estimated that she'd visited Mar-a-Lago at least '20,30 times,' flew around with Trump, and submitted a resume for an administration job. She also recalled that on the flight to Trump's debate with Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, she showed him what she said was a police report after he asked if the rumors about Haitian immigrants in Ohio were real, leading to the infamous 'eating dogs' moment. Bolger, meanwhile, pressed Loomer on why she was so certain it was Maher's joke – which came days after the debate – that doomed her job prospects with the president. 'Other than Bill Maher, can you name a single human being on all of Planet Earth that believes what Bill Maher said?' Bolger asked, prompting Loomer to respond: 'It's up for interpretation.' Loomer went on to say that Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita would later tell her she wasn't welcome back on Trump's plane because of the 'media frenzy' the HBO host's joke had sparked. Elsewhere in the deposition, Bolger brought up the lengthy history of inflammatory commentary from Loomer, a self-described 'proud Islamophobe' who has made numerous accusations about the personal lives of other prominent political figures. This could have potentially been an effort to establish that Maher's one-off line about Loomer wouldn't have done any meaningful reputational damage to the far-right provocateur. That did lead Loomer to bring up her ongoing feud with fellow MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, whom Loomer accused of being 'very jealous of me' and not well-liked by Trump's staff. Naturally, a sitdown with Loomer wouldn't be complete without a nasty swipe, which Bolger received when the plaintiff took aim at her past representation of Disney in the ABC News lawsuit that was settled with Trump. 'I'm not going to be gaslit by a Democratic lawyer who represents fake news media,' Loomer fumed. While Loomer may not have a White House job, and the six-figure salary that comes with it, she has been patting herself on the back lately over the amount of influence she supposedly wields with the president. Claiming to have played an outsized role in the abrupt firings of more than a dozen high-ranking administration officials over what she says is insufficient loyalty to the president, who she has repeatedly declared her 'love' for, Loomer recently joked that one of her friends now calls her 'Trump's Rasputin.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Reckoning for Australia's childcare sector after onslaught of abuse cases
Twice a week, Ben Bradshaw drops his young son off at a Sydney childcare centre before heading off to thousands of parents and carers across Australia, the 40-year-old had always been confident that the staff have his child's best interests at in recent months, that trust in the childcare system has been "eroded", the father-of-two says, after several high-profile cases of alleged sexual and physical abuse at centres across Australia."It's that old adage of cockroaches - if you see one in your house, there's 10 that you don't see. These are the ones that get caught. It's more scary the ones that you can't see," he tells the the past few weeks, 2,000 children in Victoria have been urged to undergo infectious disease testing after a childcare worker was charged with the mass sexual abuse of babies; police have named a Sydney man who worked for 60 after-school-care providers and is accused of taking "explicit" images of children under his supervision; a Queensland woman has faced court over allegations she tortured a one-year-old boy; and another two workers in Sydney have been charged after a toddler was left covered in comes as the nation is still reeling from the crimes of childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith - dubbed "one of Australia's worst paedophiles" - who was late last year sentenced to life in prison for raping and sexually abusing almost 70 series of allegations have sparked panic and fear among parents, child safety advocates have demanded action to fix what they call a dangerously incompetent system, and politicians have promised reform to keep Australia's most vulnerable safe."Some childcare centres are still safe, but the current childcare system is definitely not working to protect children or prioritise their safety," says Hetty Johnston, a leading child protection advocate. "It fails at every step." Rapid growth, greater risks In recent years, there has been a nationwide push to give more children access to early childhood education and care, which research indicates has many positive long-term of dollars have been poured into the sector from federal and state governments, including funding to guarantee three days of childcare for low and middle-income families. Such measures have prompted rapid growth in the sector, with a rush of new centres opening which has deepened a shortage of qualified growth has led to "significant vulnerabilities", says Prof Leah Bromfield, director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection."Whenever you grow something really quickly, that comes with risks," she says, listing off a lack of regulation and monitoring, limited training for managers, and the disparate and casual nature of the workforce."You put all that together and you've created a weak system from the perspective of a predatory perpetrator… a system where it's easier to infiltrate."In the wake of the Melbourne child sexual abuse case where Joshua Dale Brown was charged with 70 counts of abuse against eight babies, the federal government gave itself greater powers to strip funding from providers that breach quality and safety Education Minister Jason Clare said the measure was not designed to "shut down centres" but rather increase pressure for them to "raise standards".But Mr Bradshaw wants more. He says taking away funding from a centre "doesn't stop the crime, it just punishes it"."You have to do things that are proactive in nature." Knee-jerk reactions The spate of alleged crimes have sparked a heated national conversation about how to better protect kids. Limiting the role of men in childcare is one of the most controversial was a public call to ban men from certain tasks such as changing nappies and taking children to the toilet – though some warned this could place extra pressure on female staff."It's not about banning male educators, but about providing families with agency and informed choice," says Louise Edmonds, an advocate for child sex abuse case prompted G8 Education – who owned the centre where he worked - to introduce so-called "intimate care waivers", giving parents and carers the opportunity to choose who carried out private and sensitive duties. It also pledged to install CCTV at all of its centres. Ms Johnston - who founded child protection group Bravehearts - says these are natural responses, but cautioned that, though "men are definitely a higher risk", women do abuse children too and offenders can do so in all kinds of settings."They are opportunistic… when others don't pay attention, when they are distracted, complacent, disinterested or too trusting, they create 'opportunities' for offenders."Other practical measures centres could adopt to improve child safety include having two educators with direct line of sight of children at all times and getting rid of blind spots in centres - replacing solid doors with glass panes, eliminating windowless walls, and putting more mirrors up to create "incidental supervision"."It's all about reducing opportunities for predators to isolate or conceal in nooks and crannies," Ms Johnston says. Hiding in plain sight But massive system reform is also long overdue, experts 2017, more than 400 recommendations emerged from a years-long royal commission into child sex abuse in institutional settings – like churches, schools and childcare - but critics say progress has stalled on some of the most significant of those outstanding recommendations, to be discussed by the country's attorneys-general at a meeting this month, is to overhaul Australia's checks on those who work with each state and territory complete what is essentially a police check required for those who work alongside children, but they don't share the information with each other. Advocates have called for a nationalised system, but some say the checks themselves don't go far enough."It's inconsistent, relies too heavily on prior convictions," Ms Edmonds instance, many say, the system should capture red flags such as formal complaints, workplace warnings, police intelligence, and people identified as alleged abusers in confidential applications to the national redress scheme set up after the royal a broader net is important, experts argue, as child abuse allegations can be difficult to stand up in court. Often the witnesses are young children, who are either non-verbal or have limited vocabulary, may struggle with memory, and often have a lack of situational understanding."Catching someone red-handed and being able to prove it beyond reasonable doubt is almost impossible," Ms Johnston says. That's why Prof Bromfield is among those calling for a national registration scheme for the childcare sector – like those that exist for doctors or teachers. It would require workers to prove their qualifications, could provide a detailed work history, and would bind them all by a code of argue the system could also capture many of the things the working- with-children checks currently do not."Often in child sexual abuse cases, when you look back, you see lots and lots of red flags," Prof Bromfield says."There might be a pattern, but [at the moment] we just don't see that because they are moving between states or between sectors or between providers."Mr Bradshaw says having access to more information about staff would help parents like him make informed is a necessity for his family, he explains, as he works full-time and his wife, a high school teacher, works four days a often, there's little detail about the childcare centre's staff "beyond the pictures on the wall" of the teachers and educators, so parents often have to assess a provider "based on vibes"."It's a bit of a blackbox and you're bound because you need to have your kids in childcare so you can pay for living in a big city."That's where greater education for parents is needed too, Prof Bromfield says, so they know what questions to ask and, in the worst-case scenarios, how to spot signs of grooming include enquiring about a provider's child safety policies, asking about its staff turnover, and assessing the physical spaces for any visibility issues. There also needs to be better, more regular training for managers in the sector on how to prevent and identify problematic behaviour or patterns, experts Prof Bromfield - who was part of the team which conducted the royal commission into child sex abuse – these are conversations she has been having for over a she is hopeful the current crisis will shock Australia into taking greater action."Perhaps one of the things that will happen is there will be greater political will to prioritise safety for children," Prof Bromfield says."The big lesson is that we can never rest on our laurels when it comes to children's safety."Perpetrators just keep getting smarter, working around the systems we've got. We can't forget the lessons of the past… and we can't assume that this is a problem that's gone away."
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
'Most harrowing film ever made' still available to stream as Netflix pulls it
A brutal psychological thriller described as one of the most harrowing films ever made – and which sparked walkouts with its brutal content – has been removed from Netflix. However, it still has a streaming home for viewers in the UK. The award-winning 2018 film The Nightingale was part of the group of titles Netflix removed from its vast UK back catalogue during the fist few days of August, which also included movies from the Final Destination franchise and Shrek trilogy, alongside White House Down. But for those wanting to seek out the film described as 'the most shocking of the year' and hard to watch, it is available on Amazon Prime Video for subscribers free of charge. A disturbing period-set drama, The Nightingale takes place in 1825 and follows young Irish convict Clare (Aisling Franciosi) as she hunts a British officer, played by Sam Claflin, to extract revenge for the unspeakable acts of violence he committed against her and her family. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. On the way, she enlists the services of Aboriginal tracker Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The intense thriller is directed by Jennifer Kent, who made a name for herself as the writer and director of psychological horror film The Babadook, frequently cited as one of the best horror films in recent years. After premiering at Venice Film Festival, where it clinched the Special Jury Prize, The Nightingale screened as part of the Sydney Film Festival months later, where some cinemagoers revealed they had walked out over its intense and upsetting scenes. *Warning – descriptions of graphic scenes below* Alongside sequences depicting murder, assault and infanticide, there are also three visceral and horrifying rape scenes within the first 20 minutes, which according to local reports prompted protests and shouted criticisms at director Kent – who was sitting in the audience. Kent later defended the scenes, the breathtaking violence of which continues further into the film, as an 'honest and necessary depiction' of a particularly brutal moment in history in Tasmania, where the massacre of Aboriginals by British colonists intensified during the Black War. Critics and viewers also praised Kent for her unflinching take on things, with writer Michael Ouzas describing The Nightingale as 'essential viewing and an Australian classic' and @jesuevalle admitting on X that while he walked out 'to take myself away from that brutal space', he still recognised The Nightingale as 'an important film' and walked back in to finish watching it. We Live Entertainment's critic Scott Menzel called it a 'haunting and unforgettable masterpiece', while awarding The Nightingale 9.5 stars out of 10 and acknowledging its very dark nature. 'I don't think that any review can mentally, physically, or emotionally prepare you for what Kent has brought to life with this film,' he added. Meanwhile Alex Flood for NME branded it 'the most shocking film of the year' and advised that the film was 'not for the faint-hearted', while Little White Lies' Hannah Strong described it as a 'devastating, uncomfortable watch' while suggesting it needed to be 'exactly the film it is, bubbling with completely justified anger and pain'. The Nightingale holds an impressive 87% score from critics on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, while boasting a decent 73% from the smaller pool of audience members sharing their reactions. 'Genuinely one of the most harrowing pieces of cinema I have ever experienced,' shared Dan L, who said that there 'aren't words for how incredible this film is'. More Trending 'I watched this a few months ago and I still think about it all the time. It's one of those movies that really sticks with you,' wrote Laura M, adding: 'This movie made me WEEP.' Meanwhile, Amanda H said she was 'hooked from start to finish', which Hua M agreed with, chiming in: 'Had me completely riveted/shook from start to finish. Incredible performances all around (but particularly by Aisling), and a nightmarish, visceral experience that I will not soon forget.' 'Although some scenes were hard to watch, I couldn't tear my eyes off the screen,' wrote Maria D. The Nightingale is streaming now on Prime Video in the UK. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: This Wednesday season 2 filming location has a devastating haunted past MORE: Wednesday fans baffled by Lady Gaga's season 2 role as they beg for answers MORE: Another major Neighbours star exits months before show finale
