Latest news with #RickHarrison
Scottish Sun
16-06-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
UK's ‘biggest' music retailer shuts ALL its stores with immediate effect as it collapses into administration
Find out if you could be affected FACE THE MUSIC UK's 'biggest' music retailer shuts ALL its stores with immediate effect as it collapses into administration ONE of the UK's biggest music retailers has closed all of its stores after it collapsed into administration earlier this week. PMT Play Music Today - a retailer of musical instruments - reportedly went into administration on June 11. 2 PMT entered administration on June 11 and has been partially acquired by Gear4Music Credit: Alamy 2 The retailer cited financial problems as the reason behind the closure Credit: Getty Customers became concerned after its website ceased operations, reopening this week under the retailer Gear4Music. A statement on Gear4Music's website stated that "S&T Audio Limited, trading as 'PMT Play Music Today' entered administration on 11 June 2025 and is no longer trading." They added: "We understand this might come as a surprise. While PMT is no longer operation, we want to ensure you still have a reliable place to turn to where you can find the products you were interested in, get support if you need it, and continue shopping with confidence and hence you've been redirected to Gear4Music. The company was the largest chain of musical instrument stores in the country, and the fourth largest in terms of revenue. However, all 11 of its shops have now closed, as well as its Liverpool-based warehouse. According to Insider Media, 96 people have been made redundant, as 48 people have been kept on to assist administrators. It added that while they had purchased some of PMT's assets, including some stock, branding and websites, the original company is still responsible for its liabilities and "may not have funds to meet them." Its stock is thought to be worth up to £2.4 million, while its websites, trademarks and commercial data could be worth up to £1.2 million. In addition, Gear4Music has no plans to us PMT's trading name after it entered insolvency. Despite being the fourth-largest multi-channel musical instrument retailer, boasting a reported annual turnover of £43 million for the year ending April 2024, it is one of several retailers to enter administration. Company adminstrator Interpath cited challenges like the competitive pricing of musical instruments reducing profit margins, and fragile consumer confidence, as some of the reasons for the closure. Popular bank with over 400 spots confirms it is shutting 18 branches in August – it follows 148 closures by rivals They also faced problems like upward pressure on fixed costs like rent, business rates, and people costs. While the directors considered reorganisation of the company, or refinancing and investment, they ultimately filed to appoint administrators. Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator said: 'It's been a tough few years for specialist music equipment retailers who have battled headwinds including rising costs, dwindling margins and the rising cost of living affecting consumer behaviour. "Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the board, in the case of PMT, these challenges proved too difficult to overcome. "While we are pleased to have concluded a sale of the stock and other assets to Gear4Music, our immediate priority is to provide support to those employees who have been made redundant." Stores in major cities like Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Oxford will be impacted by the closure. What does going into administration mean? WHEN a company enters into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator. The administrator has to leverage the company's assets and business to repay creditors any outstanding debts. Once a company enters administration, a "moratorium" is put in place which means no legal action can be taken against it. Administrators write to your creditors and Companies House to say they've been appointed. They try to stop the company from being liquidated (closing down), and if it can't it pays as much of a company's debts from its remaining assets. The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do to move the business forward. This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting. A Notice of Intention is used to inform concerning parties that a company intends to enter administration. It is a physical document which is submitted to court, usually by directors aiming to prevent a company from being liquidated. Like with a standard administration process, a Notice of Intention stops creditors from taking out any legal action over a company while they try and rectify the business. The update on Gear4Music's website also included guidance for PMT customers. Those whose outstanding orders were not fulfilled by June 11 will no longer receive their order, but could claim as an unsecured creditor by contacting Interpath's office. Customers hoping to return items for a refund, or use a gift card, may also be able to make a claim as part of the insolvency proceedings. In order to make a claim, you should contact the Insolvency pratitioners' team at Interpath. You will then be sent a form and guidance on how to submit your claim, although they have said customers should "please be aware that unsecured creditors often receive only partial repayment, if any." Warranties or guarantees on products purchased from PMT are "likely void". Customers who paid by credit/debit card, PayPal or Klarna should contact their credit provider to raise a dispute directly with them. It comes after Gear4Music's recent acquisition of GAK in April after the fellow UK-based retailer sold its stock and assets for an estimated £2.4 million. Staff at Gak's Brighton store were unaware of the company's financial troubles before they were made redundant on April 7. PMT has been approached for comment.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fact Check: No, 'Pawn Stars' personality Rick Harrison wasn't sentenced to life in prison
Claim: A judge sentenced "Pawn Stars" television personality Rick Harrison to life in prison. Rating: According to a rumor that internet users shared in early 2025, reality television star Rick Harrison — best known for starring in the History series "Pawn Stars" — received a sentence of life imprisonment. Snopes readers wrote in and searched our site for information about the claim, examples of which appeared in multiple YouTube videos. One such clip, uploaded on March 26 and embedded below, amassed more than 2.5 million views as of this writing. It was titled: "Rick Harrison From Pawn Stars Sentenced To Life Imprisonment." The claim also spread to social media platforms including TikTok and Facebook. In short, the rumor about Harrison receiving a life sentence was untrue and as a result we have rated the claim as false. As the website US Prison Guide noted on April 6, there was no credible evidence that Harrison had been incarcerated. A Google search for the terms "Rick Harrison" and "life sentence" also found no coverage of such a sentence from any reputable news outlets. Some of the YouTube videos sharing the story had disclaimers acknowledging that they did not reflect reality. For example, the description of an April 2 video about the story included a section reading: ➤Disclaimer: For entertainment purposes, our videos blend factual, rumored, and fictional content. Viewers should not consider any of this information as definitive or accurate. We advise responsible viewing. Other examples, such as the March 26 video embedded above, did not include an explicit disclaimer that the story was fiction. However, that video's description noted that the page's stories "may not always reflect the latest developments or offer a full perspective on the topics discussed" and included a statement reading: "We invite viewers to think critically and seek further credible sources to expand their understanding." The videos also contained multiple demonstrably false details. For example, starting at the 8:57 mark in the March 26 video, the narrator claims that in 2023, "FBI agents, accompanied by IRS investigators and representatives from the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection," raided Harrison's home, leading to his arrest and "multiple felony charges including tax evasion, money laundering, dealing in stolen property and conspiring to traffic illegally obtained cultural artifacts." However, it was not possible to find any record of these charges against Harrison nor of any U.S. government entity named the "Department of Cultural Heritage Protection" — although similarly named departments exist in other countries such as China and Poland. A Google search also produced no demonstrable evidence of any 2023 raid on Harrison's home. The same video claimed at the 16:28 mark that, following Harrison's alleged sentencing, "images of Rick being led away in handcuffs" dominated "news coverage and social media." However, there were no such images of Harrison in handcuffs on Getty Images or The Associated Press' AP Newsroom, two major sources of images for legitimate news outlets. Images from the videos that purportedly showed Harrison in an orange prison jumpsuit appeared to be the products of artificial intelligence software, according to the AI image detectors WasItAI and Decopy AI. In February 2025, Harrison and his "Pawn Stars" costar Austin "Chumlee" Russell launched a podcast, "Pawn After Dark," which is not formally affiliated with History. The same month, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that "Pawn Stars" was no longer under contract with History and was on "indefinite pause" after more than 20 seasons. There was no indication that the pause had anything to do with a prison sentence for Harrison. Ultimately, the videos sharing the story about Harrison receiving a life sentence did not recount true events. Instead, they told a fictional story designed to garner shares and likes. The claim that Harrison was sentenced to life in prison is not the first example we have investigated of a fictional story about a real public figure receiving a life sentence. For example, we looked into the equally false claim that televangelist Kenneth Copeland collapsed in a courtroom after receiving such a sentence. "A Different Side of 'Pawn Stars,' 'Pawn After Dark' Kicks Off." Las Vegas Review-Journal, 17 Feb. 2025, Affiliation Profile – Department of Cultural Heritage Protection and International Communication – Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025. "Corey Harrison: 'I Can't Play Another Season' as 'Pawn Stars' on Hiatus." Las Vegas Review-Journal, 28 Feb. 2025, "HERITAGE CATEGORIES AND A CROSSCUTTING APPROACH AMONG CONVENTIONS." OurWorldHeritage Foundation for Civil Society Heritage Partners, Accessed 9 Apr. 2025. Liles, Jordan. "Televangelist Kenneth Copeland Is the Target of False AI-Generated Videos." Snopes, 27 Mar. 2025, Rick Harrison From Pawn Stars Sentenced To Life Imprisonment? Shocking Lie. 6 Apr. 2025, "Stream Pawn Stars & Watch All Episodes." The HISTORY Channel, Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison recalls the one time Trump apologized to him: 'This is all my fault'
Rick Harrison and President Donald Trump have a special bond. The "Pawn Stars" personality admitted in an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" that he once received an apology from President Trump after a backstage mishap with Secret Service. Harrison, a longtime conservative, also suggested politics may be in his near future after years of denying any political ambition. 'Pawn Stars' Boss Rick Harrison Questions If He Could Have Saved Son From Fentanyl Overdose The television star remembered a time when President Trump called to say he was "sorry" after Harrison wasn't allowed backstage at a rally. "So this is kind of crazy," he told Bensinger. "So this is in 2018, he's having a rally here in town for … someone running for Congress and Senate. And they wanted me to announce him at the rally. So I show up with my son Jake and my daughter Serena, White House staff goes, 'Hey Rick, how's it going? Come on, come this way.'" Read On The Fox News App 'Pawn Stars' Personality Rick Harrison Says Son Adam Died From Fentanyl Overdose, Blames Border Crisis Just as quickly as they made their way back, the family was denied entrance to the event. "We go to backstage and Secret Service goes, 'He's not on the list,'" Harrison remembered. "And they're going like, 'But it's Rick Harrison.' And his friend's like, 'Not on the list. Doesn't matter.' And I'm literally trying to call a U.S. senator, some other people, some congressman. I can't get a hold of anybody. "Secret Service throws me into the public and I am getting mobbed. And we had to leave. We could not stay there. And I'm f----ng pissed." Not only was Harrison slightly embarrassed, he was upset to disappoint his son, who was excited to tell his friends he was meeting the president. 'Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison Rips Politicians Over Fentanyl Crisis After Son's Death: 'Absolutely Disgusting' "So I get a block from the house and then Senator Heller's number pops up in my truck, and I'm like, Senator Heller knows I have no filter," Harrison said. "So the first words out of his mouth, he's like, 'Rick, before you say a word, the President of the United States would like to talk to you.'" Harrison added, "And the first words out of Trump's mouth were, 'Rick, I am really sorry. This is all my fault, because my White House staff, they work for me. They screwed up. That makes it my fault. I'm sorry. They should have informed the Secret Service. So, I'm sorry, will you please come back down to the convention center? We'll try and make this happen.' "And you're not going to tell the president of the United States 'no,' right?," Harrison said. The longtime TV star has thwarted political ambitions, but admitted he might be ready for a new gig. "Give it a few years. I might," he said when asked about running for governor. "I know I can't completely change the world, but I would like to leave it in a better place. Just changed a little bit, to make it a little bit better. Like What You're Reading? Click Here For More Entertainment News "I do a lot of work with charity work and stuff like that. I'm proud of that. So maybe. I think I would do a good job at it." Harrison previously praised President Trump after the pair met following the loss of Harrison's son, Adam, who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2024. The reality star both praised Trump and blasted politicians during the previous administration for being "complicit" in fentanyl deaths. "He's an incredible individual," Harrison said of Trump, 77. "He wants to do something about this. There's so many different places you have to start at, all at once, but one of the major ones is get the damn stuff out of the country and stop making it so cheap to get high." Harrison guessed that "anybody" could afford a fentanyl pill due to the easily accessible market, but suggested, "Let's start arresting the people selling it, arresting the people bringing it over the border, close down the border, make it really expensive. Let's make a fentanyl death rare." He added, "It's insane because they're letting it happen. They're literally letting it happen. They're not doing anything about it. So they're complicit in all these deaths." WATCH: 'PAWN STARS' RICK HARRISON RIPS POLITICIANS OVER FENTANYL CRISIS AFTER SON'S DEATH: 'ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING' Harrison told Fox News Digital that he found the current border policy "absolutely ridiculous" and blamed politicians for what he described as their inaction to prevent drugs from entering the country. "Nothing is getting done about it," Harrison said. "It's the equivalent of a 737 [airplane] loaded with passengers crashing every single day. That's how many people die from it. And, you know, the politicians don't want to talk about it. The news doesn't want to talk about it." "A big part of is politics. I mean, we know where it's all coming from. It's all coming right across the border, and they won't do anything about it. I mean, they're doing nothing." On Jan. 19, 2024, Adam was found dead at a guesthouse in the Las Vegas area, according to an incident report obtained by the New York Post. Adam was living in the guesthouse for two weeks before his death, per the article source: 'Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison recalls the one time Trump apologized to him: 'This is all my fault'
USA Today
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Rick Harrison opens up about son's death from drug overdose: 'I think about him every day'
Rick Harrison opens up about son's death from drug overdose: 'I think about him every day' Show Caption Hide Caption In Memoriam: Adam Harrison of 'Pawn Stars' legacy Adam Harrison, son of 'Pawn Stars' Rick Harrison, has passed away at 39 from a suspected drug overdose. Rick Harrison is opening up about grief more than a year after his son's death. In an interview with Graham Bensinger released Wednesday, the "Pawn Stars" creator, 59, reflected on the loss of his son Adam, who died in January 2024 from a drug overdose. He was 39. "I think about him every day," Harrison shared. "In his 20s, he had the drug problems, and I put him in rehab so many times. Every time, he'd be doing great, and then it would fall back. You hear the same story from a million people. It got really, really bad, and apparently, it wasn't heroin. He ended up getting some fentanyl that killed him." Harrison added that "when you lose a kid, you second guess" everything. "Could I have done something different?" he asked. "I think I did everything right, but you just sit in your head (thinking), 'What if I did this? What if I did this?' ... You have a hundred things go through your mind. There is nothing worse than losing a kid." Rick Harrison's son Adam dies at 39 of a suspected drug overdose Adam Harrison was pronounced dead after he was found unresponsive in the Las Vegas guest house he was living in, according to a police report by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department obtained by USA TODAY. A representative for the family told USA TODAY that Harrison died of a fentanyl overdose. "The fentanyl crisis in this country must be taken more seriously," Rick Harrison told TMZ last year. All the news from Hollywood: Sign up for USA TODAY's Entertainment newsletter. The cause of death was later confirmed to be fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity. The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner said the manner of death was accidental. Cause of death for Adam Harrison, son of 'Pawn Stars' creator Rick Harrison, is released According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overdoses involving fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, have "risen sharply" in the past decade. In 2022, the rate of overdose deaths that involved synthetic opioids was almost 24 times the rate in 2013, the agency said. Harrison told Bensinger that as the parent of a child struggling with drug addiction, "you try to give them tough love," but "you never see the OD coming." "I never thought that would happen," he said. Harrison added that he gets through the grief by thinking "about the good times" and spending time with his other children and grandkids. He also said that his son's death taught him to "appreciate what you've got, because you're not always going to have it." In a 2024 tribute on Instagram announcing his son's death, Harrison wrote, "You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam." Adam's older brother Corey Harrison also wrote at the time, "I will always love you bubba." Contributing: Ahjané Forbes and KiMi Robinson
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Not just condos: Florida's housing market is softening, especially along the southwest coast
Florida's pandemic-era housing boom is finally starting to fade. For-sale inventory in the state has reached the highest levels on record, and homes are staying on the market longer even as peak homebuying season kicks off. In many parts of the state, prices are starting to fall. The turning market comes as migration to the Sunshine State slows, and a combination of hurricane fears, rising insurance and tax bills, and a steady supply of new construction has given buyers more leverage. While the state's condo market has been in correction ever since new building laws took effect in the aftermath of the 2021 condo collapse in Surfside, Fla., the market for single-family homes is also starting to soften. 'Inventory and time on market has been dramatically increasing,' said Ben Grieco, a real estate agent in the southwestern city of Port Charlotte. 'It's not like buyers have left by any means, but there's just so much to choose from that it's really pushing prices down.' Listings across the state usurped pre-pandemic levels in January, according to As of last month, there were more than 168,000 homes active on the market. Residences in Florida spent an average of 75 days on the market, up 13 days from a year earlier, according to Redfin. As of January, single-family home prices were falling the fastest in a cluster of cities on the southern Gulf Coast. Prices in Punta Gorda are down nearly 8% since January 2024, according to Zillow data. Thirty miles south, in Cape Coral, home prices have dropped 5.6% year over year. Prices in North Port and the high-end, golf-focused city of Naples have also fallen by more than 3% in the last year. 'People are worried' Memories of Hurricane Ian, which devastated a number of southwest Florida communities in 2022 and was the costliest storm in the state's history, still loom large with today's buyers and sellers, said Rick Harrison, a Fort Myers-based real estate agent. Buyers are asking detailed questions about homes' flooding history, while sellers are motivated to complete transactions before the next hurricane season starts in June. 'Everybody at this point has been educated enough to know that hurricanes had a huge impact on our area,' Harrison said. 'On both sides, people are worried.' Yet even as prices fall, many buyers are struggling to afford what's available for sale. The median listing price in the state is $435,000. It's been drifting lower since mid-2022 but is still 32% higher than at the end of 2019. The prices, coupled with mortgage rates above 6%, have left many would-be buyers shut out of the market entirely, contributing to the inventory glut. But buyers who can afford it are finding themselves with plenty of leverage. In cooler markets, agents say that offers $20,000 below asking price will often be accepted, and sellers are willing to make any repairs that come up during inspection. Contingencies that were frequently waived during the boom years, like the buyer successfully selling their current home, are also back. There are deals to be found in new construction too, after several years of aggressive development have left many builders sitting on unsold homes. Builders are often willing to buy down mortgage rates to below 5%, cover closing costs, and offer credits toward upgrades. Some are cutting prices on homes entirely, something they typically avoid doing because it hurts existing owners in their communities. Buyer incentives abound Harrison said he's pointing many buyers toward new construction for the incentives, and the fact that the newest buildings are subject to stricter building codes to guard against hurricane damage. Olivia Wadden and her husband had long dreamed of relocating from Iowa to Florida, where they both have family. 'I do not want to be in Iowa, looking at cornfields every day,' said Wadden, 27. 'I want the warm weather and the beach, and there's a lot more opportunity down here.' After spending two years casually scoping out the market around Bradenton, about 50 miles south of Tampa, they jumped in earlier this year when they noticed prices beginning to fall. Their below-list price offer of $289,000 on a three-bedroom new construction townhome was accepted, and they received a slew of other incentives, including a mortgage rate buy-down, a closing cost credit, and upgraded storm windows. Learn more: Closing costs: How they work and how much you'll pay 'Obviously, the market has been so crazy high, but lately it's been dropping' Wadden said. 'We just had our eyes open and were looking with a Realtor. We finally found the one that fit our family.' Florida is still among the top relocation destinations nationwide, but the number of people moving each year has been trending down. The Sunshine State added a net 64,000 people from elsewhere in the country last year, down from more than 100,000 who moved in 2023 and over 300,000 in 2022, according to Census Bureau data. In some cities, home prices are still rising. Statewide, homes are selling for about 1% more than they were a year ago, with metro areas including Miami, Tallahassee, and Gainesville seeing gains. In the Tampa Bay area, real estate agent Sam Brown Perez says she's noticed buyers picking up some power in recent months, but competition for well-priced homes, especially those closer to city centers, can still be stiff. 'The market is now correcting,' Brown Perez said. 'We're not seeing an overcorrection, but it's starting to level out again.' Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance. Click here for real estate and housing market news, reports, and analysis to inform your investing decisions Sign in to access your portfolio
