Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck's Real Estate Regret Is Turning Into a Reported Blame Battle
Just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, Realtor.com revealed that the former duo took their $60 million Beverly Hills estate off the market after an earlier $8 million price reduction. Yep, they are going to lose a lot of money on this house. Spanning 38,000 square feet, the residence boasts 12 bedrooms and 24 bathrooms, plus all of the A-list amenities you could possibly imagine: boxing ring, sports lounge, movie theater. Lopez and Affleck thought it would be the perfect place for their blended family.
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Jennifer Lopez Quietly Echoes Jennifer Garner's Thoughts on Being Married to Ben Affleck
Now that they are divorced, the duo is reportedly blaming each other for the real estate nightmare, according to entertainment insider Rob Shuter. 'She never wanted the house. He did. Now she's stuck with it,' a source claimed to #ShuterScoop. 'Jen hated it from day one. It was all Ben's idea. She thought it was excessive—he thought it was private.'
Still, InTouch Weekly sources made contradictory allegations in March 2024. 'Ben was thinking more along the lines of $20 million for the house. But Jen overruled him,' they said. 'Their bills are through the roof. It's all eating away at their bank accounts… The pressure to make money keeps intensifying.'
The search for the perfect home took over a year, and they made their purchase in May 2023 to the tune of $60 million. According to documents obtained by The U.S. Sun in October 2023, they have a $20 million mortgage that's a '30-year home loan with JPMorgan Chase Bank' and it is interest only. They won't be paying off the principal until November 2033, but it's doubtful Lopez and Affleck want to hold onto the estate that long.
Whenever they do decide to put the mansion back on the market, it will still be a loss, instead of a profit-making venture, for both of them, according to Selling Sunset star and real estate agent Jason Oppenheimer. The property lines are in the city of Los Angeles, not Beverly Hills, which makes it subject to a hefty mansion tax.
'The house is located in the Beverly Hills post office area, which is technically in the city of Los Angeles (not the independent city of Beverly Hills), so the mansion tax applies,' he explained to Realtor.com. 'Therefore, they will have to pay a mansion tax of more than $3 million. So, they could lose more than an additional $5 million after commissions, taxes, etc.'
For now, Lopez is living in the home while her Hidden Hills estate is being renovated, and Affleck is residing in his Pacific Palisades residence. But the financial burden of the mega-mansion is a hefty reminder of their short-lived marriage.Best of SheKnows
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Teens increasingly turning to AI for friendship as national loneliness crisis deepens
A new study shows that a third of American teenagers prefer chatting with artificial intelligence companions over having real friends. Common Sense Media's report, titled "Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions," revealed that the most widespread uses of AI are aged 13-17. The report explained further that the "use of AI companions is not a niche interest, but rather mainstream teen behavior" and that teens "find conversations with AI companions to be as satisfying or more satisfying than those with real-life friends." "AI companions are emerging at a time when kids and teens have never felt more alone," Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer said in the press release. "This isn't just about a new technology — it's about a generation that's replacing human connection with machines, outsourcing empathy to algorithms, and sharing intimate details with companies that don't have kids' best interests at heart. Our research shows that AI companions are far more commonplace than people may have assumed — and that we have a narrow window to educate kids and families about the well-documented dangers of these products." Although nearly half of teens used AI companions as a tool, the report also stated that 33% of teens use AI companions for social interactions and emotional support. For example, teens would use them for living out relationships, emotional support, role-playing, romantic interactions and friendship. A writer at Daze who cited the study raised awareness about the loneliness epidemic among young people and that it could lead to an invasion of privacy. "Some teenagers are telling AI their most intimate problems and secrets, which poses another problem – it's not a good idea to entrust this information to tech companies, some of whom have an extremely lax approach to data privacy. Would you really want Sam Altman or Elon Musk to have access to the contents of your teenage diary?" James Greig wrote in Daze. He added that it underscores a "larger crisis of youth loneliness" as teenagers stopped hanging out at malls and going to the movies, "which has corresponded with rising rates of depression and anxiety." "Being able to speak to an AI companion might alleviate the feeling of loneliness, and some people may find it helpful, but if it's becoming a replacement for socializing in the real world, then it risks entrenching the problem," Greig added.

Associated Press
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- Associated Press
Tom Lehrer, song satirist and mathematician, dies at 97
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Lehrer, the popular song satirist who lampooned marriage, politics, racism and the Cold War, then largely abandoned his music career to return to teaching math at Harvard and other universities, has died. He was 97. Longtime friend David Herder said Lehrer died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He did not specify a cause of death. Lehrer had remained on the math faculty of the University of California at Santa Cruz well into his late 70s. In 2020, he even turned away from his own copyright, granting the public permission to use his lyrics in any format, without any fee in return. A Harvard prodigy (he had earned a math degree from the institution at age 18), Lehrer soon turned his very sharp mind to old traditions and current events. His songs included 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' 'The Old Dope Peddler' (set to a tune reminiscent of 'The Old Lamplighter'), 'Be Prepared' (in which he mocked the Boy Scouts) and 'The Vatican Rag,' in which Lehrer, an atheist, poked at the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. (Sample lyrics: 'Get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries. Bow your head with great respect, and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.') Accompanying himself on piano, he performed the songs in a colorful style reminiscent of such musical heroes as Gilbert and Sullivan and Stephen Sondheim, the latter a lifelong friend. Lehrer was often likened to such contemporaries as Allen Sherman and Stan Freberg for his comic riffs on culture and politics and he was cited by Randy Newman and 'Weird Al' Jankovic among others as an influence. He mocked the forms of music he didn't like (modern folk songs, rock 'n' roll and modern jazz), laughed at the threat of nuclear annihilation and denounced discrimination. But he attacked in such an erudite, even polite, manner that almost no one objected. 'Tom Lehrer is the most brilliant song satirist ever recorded,' musicologist Barry Hansen once said. Hansen co-produced the 2000 boxed set of Lehrer's songs, 'The Remains of Tom Lehrer,' and had featured Lehrer's music for decades on his syndicated 'Dr. Demento' radio show. Lehrer's body of work was actually quite small, amounting to about three dozen songs. 'When I got a funny idea for a song, I wrote it. And if I didn't, I didn't,' Lehrer told The Associated Press in 2000 during a rare interview. 'I wasn't like a real writer who would sit down and put a piece of paper in the typewriter. And when I quit writing, I just quit. ... It wasn't like I had writer's block.' He'd gotten into performing accidentally when he began to compose songs in the early 1950s to amuse his friends. Soon he was performing them at coffeehouses around Cambridge, Massachusetts, while he remained at Harvard to teach and obtain a master's degree in math. He cut his first record in 1953, 'Songs by Tom Lehrer,' which included 'I Wanna Go Back to Dixie,' lampooning the attitudes of the Old South, and the 'Fight Fiercely, Harvard,' suggesting how a prissy Harvard blueblood might sing a football fight song. After a two-year stint in the Army, Lehrer began to perform concerts of his material in venues around the world. In 1959, he released another LP called 'More of Tom Lehrer' and a live recording called 'An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer,' nominated for a Grammy for best comedy performance (musical) in 1960. But around the same time, he largely quit touring and returned to teaching math, though he did some writing and performing on the side. Lehrer said he was never comfortable appearing in public. 'I enjoyed it up to a point,' he told The AP in 2000. 'But to me, going out and performing the concert every night when it was all available on record would be like a novelist going out and reading his novel every night.' He did produce a political satire song each week for the 1964 television show 'That Was the Week That Was,' a groundbreaking topical comedy show that anticipated 'Saturday Night Live' a decade later. He released the songs the following year in an album titled 'That Was the Year That Was.' The material included 'Who's Next?' ponders which government will be the next to get the nuclear bomb ... perhaps Alabama? (He didn't need to tell his listeners that it was a bastion of segregation at the time.) 'Pollution' takes a look at the then-new concept that perhaps rivers and lakes should be cleaned up. He also wrote songs for the 1970s educational children's show 'The Electric Company.' He told AP in 2000 that hearing from people who had benefited from them gave him far more satisfaction than praise for any of his satirical works. His songs were revived in the 1980 musical revue 'Tomfoolery' and he made a rare public appearance in London in 1998 at a celebration honoring that musical's producer, Cameron Mackintosh. Lehrer was born in 1928, in New York City, the son of a successful necktie designer. He recalled an idyllic childhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side that included attending Broadway shows with his family and walking through Central Park day or night. After skipping two grades in school, he entered Harvard at 15 and, after receiving his master's degree, he spent several years unsuccessfully pursuing a doctorate. 'I spent many, many years satisfying all the requirements, as many years as possible, and I started on the thesis,' he once said. 'But I just wanted to be a grad student, it's a wonderful life. That's what I wanted to be, and unfortunately, you can't be a Ph.D. and a grad student at the same time.' He began to teach part-time at Santa Cruz in the 1970s, mainly to escape the harsh New England winters. From time to time, he acknowledged, a student would enroll in one of his classes based on knowledge of his songs. 'But it's a real math class,' he said at the time. 'I don't do any funny theorems. So those people go away pretty quickly.' ___ Former Associated Press writer John Rogers contributed to this story. Rogrers retired from The AP in 2021.


Fox News
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- Fox News
Kidnapping survivor, once dismissed as a liar, now retrains police to help victims
Denise Huskins, who was accused of lying after surviving a home invasion and kidnapping, has now found herself teaming up with law enforcement. The California woman, whose ordeal was chronicled in the Netflix true-crime docuseries "American Nightmare," is now being invited to speak with officers who are looking to change the way they are trained to interrogate suspects. The 40-year-old recently spoke out in a true crime podcast by PAVE Studios, "Clues," which is hosted by Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore. The weekly series aims to analyze some of "the world's most infamous crimes where a single clue can crack a case wide open." "This past year, as we've connected with more people in law enforcement, we've felt a new sense of hope," Huskins told Fox News Digital. "There's still resistance. There are still people within law enforcement and out there who see us in a certain way, but now we get to see the other side of it." "What's been even more encouraging is having some of those people… say, 'I'm so sorry.'" Huskins' nightmare occurred on March 23, 2015. Matthew Muller broke into Huskins' Vallejo home, where he drugged and tied her up and her then-boyfriend, Aaron Quinn. He kidnapped Huskins, brought her to a cabin in South Lake Tahoe, and sexually assaulted her. Two days later, Muller drove Huskins to Southern California and released her. The Vallejo Police initially believed the invasion and kidnapping were a hoax orchestrated by Quinn. The case was referred to by the press as the real-life "Gone Girl," referring to the hit Ben Affleck thriller and novel in which a small-town wife stages her own murder to get back at her cheating husband. According to the docuseries, Quinn endured 18 hours of questioning. After months of public scrutiny, the couple sued the Vallejo Police Department. They reached a $2.5 million settlement in 2018. Fox News Digital reached out to the Vallejo Police Department for comment. "Initially, advocacy started with self-advocacy," Huskins explained. "We needed to fight for the truth in our case. We needed to correct the narrative and have the real truth out there." Huskins noted that after the premiere of "American Nightmare," members of law enforcement began reaching out. Huskins admitted to feeling surprised, but felt it would also be the perfect time to turn personal pain into purpose. She said among those who connected with her was the chief of police in Seaside, California, who asked her to host a talk. "I have been closely following the case of Denise and Aaron from the very start," Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges told Fox News Digital. "Although I was not involved in the investigation, I always had faith in their truth. When Lt. Misty Carausu from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office finally brought the case to light in 2015, it became clear how many errors had occurred. I felt a strong desire for my department to learn from these missteps to improve our future investigations and interactions." "After watching the Netflix docuseries, I reached out to Denise and Aaron, surprised that they were willing to engage with law enforcement after everything they had faced," he shared. "They agreed to share their story at a Seaside event, and hearing it firsthand was an incredibly moving experience." "I have learned many lessons from them since working with them since 2024," Borges continued. "The most significant lesson I took away from them is that collaborating with victims can greatly enhance our ability to solve crimes. We must listen. "Thanks to their courage, their perpetrator has received four new life sentences, providing answers to victims who might have otherwise remained in the dark. Denise and Aaron have not only improved my understanding but have also made my department and many others in law enforcement more effective." "In the end, they are the true heroes," he added. Huskins described her experience of meeting officers who wanted to improve their tactics "a blessing." "Before, no one in law enforcement invited us to speak," she said. "Now they are. And we've met a lot of amazing people in law enforcement who've been doing tireless work for decades, trying to make changes. It's nice to finally feel we're a part of that. And we, for the last decade, wanted to work with law enforcement. We didn't see them as opposing sides. We all just needed to work together to make these changes happen." "It's been incredibly validating to feel seen, heard and respected in a way that we have never experienced before with law enforcement," Huskins shared. "It has helped us regain some hope." During her talks, Huskins has been teaching investigators about "science-based interviewing," which relies on evidence during interviews with victims and suspects. "A lot of what science-based interviewing is doing is telling [investigators] to treat people with respect and decency, whether it's a suspect or a victim," said Huskins. "It allows someone to open up. It allows you to connect with them, understand their background, all while having a conversation with the suspect. But also, it's about having someone else observe that conversation and try to back it up with facts and evidence, not having the primary goal be a confession." GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB "A lot of times, I think the draw is to get that confession, because people know that confessions get convictions," she noted. "But also, people falsely confess. It's a serious problem, because not only are you ruining that person's life, but you are emboldening the perpetrator to attack again." On June 5, 2015, another couple woke in the middle of the night to a near-identical home invasion. After reaching out to police departments in the Bay Area, Misty Carausu, then a rookie detective, learned that Muller had been a suspect in a 2009 Palo Alto home invasion. Also at the scene were a pair of swimming goggles blacked out with duct tape that had blonde hair attached. While the wife hid in a bathroom and called police, her husband managed to fight off the attacker. But he left crucial evidence behind: zip-ties, duct tape, a glove and a cellphone. Carausu traced the phone to Muller's stepfather. She learned that Muller was a Harvard-educated immigration attorney and Marine veteran. Carausu contacted the FBI, and Muller was arrested. Evidence in his home, including Quinn's laptop, linked him to Huskins' kidnapping. He pleaded guilty to one count of federal kidnapping in September 2016 and was sentenced to 40 years behind bars. Muller also faced state charges for burglary, robbery, kidnapping and two counts of rape. According to the documentary, Muller was deemed incompetent to stand trial for those charges in 2020. He allegedly suffered from "Gulf War illness" after his military service, and his attorney claimed he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Muller was then sentenced in 2022 to 31 years in state prison after pleading no contest to two counts of forcible rape of Huskins. Huskins admitted it took time for her and Quinn, now her husband, to begin trusting police again after being accused of orchestrating a hoax. For years, the sound of a police siren left her feeling "terrified." "I think our whole worldview was just shattered," she reflected. "It was more victimizing, more traumatic, to be received and treated that way than the crime itself… We all know that there are bad people out there… But you grow up with the belief that if you call 911, if you go to police, they'll be helpful. And in our case, they made things worse. And what do you do if something happens? Who do you turn to for help?" "It's really a hopeless place," she added. Today, Quinn and Huskins hope to continue making a difference for victims. "When people message me, it's fuel," she said. "This is something we need to keep fighting for… A big piece of all of this, I think, for a lot of sexual assault survivors, but probably most victims and survivors of a violent crime, is that you lose your sense of self and identity. And then to be publicly shamed and have the world call you [names], you can get lost in self-blame and self-doubt." "Who I really am – the core of my being, my values, my worth – I wasn't going to let anyone dictate that," she added.