Latest news with #SouthPark
Los Angeles Times
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Stunts in L.A. show Democratic states and cities that Trump's forces can invade anytime
Early this month, the U.S. military and masked federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and from Customs and Border Protection invaded a park near downtown Los Angeles — ironically, a park named after Gen. Douglas MacArthur. They came ready for battle, dressed in tactical gear and camouflage, with some arriving on horseback, while others rolled in on armored vehicles or patrolled above in Black Hawk helicopters. Although the invasion force failed to capture anyone, it did succeed in liberating the park from a group of children participating in a summer camp. The MacArthur Park operation sounds like a scene from 'South Park,' but it really did happen — and its implications are terrifying. As Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol agent in charge, said to Fox News: 'Better get used to us now, 'cause this is going to be normal very soon. We will go anywhere, anytime we want in Los Angeles.' And President Trump is sending the same message to every Democratic governor and mayor in America who dares oppose him. He will send heavily armed federal forces wherever he wants, whenever he wants and for any reason. The United States stands at the threshold of an authoritarian breakthrough, and Congress and the courts have given Trump a lot of tools. He's learned from Jan. 6, 2021, that he needs tight control over the 'guys with the guns,' as retired Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley put it. And that's what he got when Congress dutifully confirmed Trump loyalists to lead all of the 'power ministries' — the military, the FBI and the Department of Justice, the rest of the intelligence community and the Department of Homeland Security. As commander in chief, the president can deploy troops and, under Title 10, he can also put National Guard troops under his command — even against the wishes of local officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom challenged the legality of Trump's exercise of this authority in Los Angeles last month, and we will see what the courts say — but based on its initial rulings, the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit appears likely to defer to the president. Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the troops cannot currently enforce laws, but Trump could change that by invoking the Insurrection Act, and we have to assume that the current Supreme Court would defer to him on that as well, following long-standing precedents saying the president's power under the act is 'conclusive.' Trump could send the military into other cities, but the most dangerous weapon in his authoritarian arsenal might be the newly empowered Department of Homeland Security, which has been given $170 billion by Congress to triple the size of ICE and double its detention capacity. No doubt, this will put Trump's 'mass deportation' into overdrive, but this is not just about immigration. Remember Portland in 2020, when Trump sent Border Patrol agents into the city? Against the wishes of the Oregon governor and the Portland mayor, the president deployed agents to protect federal buildings and suppress unrest after the killing of George Floyd. Under the Homeland Security Act, the secretary can designate any employee of the department to assist the Federal Protective Service in safeguarding government property and carrying out 'such other activities for the promotion of homeland security as the Secretary may prescribe.' Under that law, DHS officers can also make arrests, on and off of federal property, for 'any offense against the United States.' This is why, in 2020, Border Patrol agents — dressed like soldiers and equipped with M-4 semi-automatic rifles — were able to rove around Portland in unmarked black SUVs and arrest people off the streets anywhere in the city. Trump could do this again anywhere in the country, and with the billions Congress has given to immigration and border agencies, DHS could assemble and deploy a formidable federal paramilitary force wherever and whenever Trump wishes. Of course, under the 4th Amendment, officers need to have at least reasonable suspicion based on specific, articulable facts before they can stop and question someone, and probable cause before they arrest. And on Friday, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE and Customs and Border Protection from making such stops without reasonable suspicion, and further holding that this could not be based on apparent race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; presence at a particular location, such as a Home Depot parking lot; or the type of work a person does. This ruling could end up providing an important constitutional restraint on these agencies, but we shall see. The Trump administration has appealed the ruling. However, this litigation proceeds, it is important to note that the DHS agencies are not like the FBI, with its buttoned-down, by-the-book culture drilled into it historically and in response to the revelations of J. Edgar Hoover's abuses of power. DHS and its agencies have no such baggage, and they clearly have been pushing the envelope in Los Angeles — sometimes brutally — over the last month. And even if Frimpong's ruling stands up on appeal, ICE and Customs and Border Protection will no doubt adapt by training their officers to articulate other justifications for stopping people on the street or in workplaces. Ultimately, these agencies are used to operating near the border, where, in the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist's words, the federal government's power is 'at its zenith,' and where there are far fewer constitutional constraints on their actions. These are the tools at Trump's disposal — and as DHS rushes to hire thousands of agents and build the detention facilities Congress just paid for, these tools will only become more formidable. And one should anticipate that Trump will want to deploy the DHS paramilitary forces to 'protect' the 2026 or 2028 elections, alongside federal troops, in the same way they worked together to capture MacArthur Park. A fanciful, dystopian scenario? Maybe, but who or what would stop it from happening? Congress does not seem willing to stand up to the president — and while individual federal judges might, the Supreme Court seems more likely to defer to him, especially on issues concerning national security or immigration. So, in the words of Bruce Springsteen, 'the last check on power, after the checks and balances of government have failed, are the people, you and me.' Suit up. Seth Stodder served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of Homeland Security for borders, immigration and trade and previously as assistant secretary for threat prevention and security. He teaches national security and counterterrorism law at USC Law School.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Inside the $3 Billion ‘South Park' Fight That May Blow Up Its Future
The premiere for the 27th season of South Park later this month is in serious doubt amid wrangling between series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Paramount Global and incoming studio owner Skydance, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. At the heart of the dispute: a new 10-year, $3 billion overall deal for Parker and Stone that would more than triple the valuation of the current deal that expires in 2027, according to people familiar with the situation. Park County, the South Park pair's entertainment company, believes it struck a basic framework with Paramount Global on an agreement. 'I think that Paramount pre-acquisition was interested in a broader range of possibilities than would have been approved by Skydance and Redbird,' an insider close to the negotiations says. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'South Park' Global Fans Furious as Show Pulled From Paramount+ Amid Licensing Dispute 'South Park' Removed From Paramount+ Outside the U.S. What Will It Take to Get the Paramount-Skydance Deal Done? But Skydance, which maintains that it has approval rights on contracts as it pursues regulatory approval of its merger with Paramount, has other plans. The duration of the proposed deal has emerged as a sticking point in negotiations, with Skydance refusing to an extension beyond five additional years amid a fast-moving media environment in which it's prioritizing cash reserves. 'There is no resolution at this time, but all involved recognize the need for a quick, positive resolution,' a spokesperson for Park County said on Monday. Skydance and Paramount declined to comment. A Skydance rep had previously told THR that 'under the terms of the transaction agreement, Skydance has the right to approve material contracts.' It's increasingly likely that the dispute ends up in court. Parker and Stone have brought on Bryan Freedman, a prominent lawyer and bulldog negotiator known for aggressive legal maneuvering, to tee up what could be a lawsuit accusing the Skydance regime — including CEO David Ellison and Jeff Shell, the RedBird Capital executive who'll be the president of new Paramount if the merger is greenlit — of interfering in contract negotiations. The alternative involves a public relations battle in which Skydance could see its name splashed across headlines as an another example of an entertainment merger gone sour. The potential delay to the season 27 premiere, which has already been pushed back two weeks later than originally planned to July 23, has surfaced as the most visible example of the damage caused by the delay to approval of the Paramount-Skydance merger. The relationship between Parker and Stone, among the most sought-after creative duos in Hollywood, and Skydance is in question, as is the future of the show after more than 28 years and 300 episodes. 'This merger is a shitshow and it's fucking up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow,'' Parker and Stone wrote in a social media post on July 2. South Park is owned by Paramount, with streaming rights owned through a joint venture Parker and Stone operate with the company called South Park Digital Studios, which is governed by a five-member board of managers that includes Paramount affiliate Comedy Partners. The series is produced by Park County. Park County has an extraordinarily unusual deal, dating back to 2007, that gives the company about 50 percent of streaming revenue through the joint venture. South Park was a juggernaut on linear TV and on DVD when streaming video was still nascent. Park County began streaming episodes on a dedicated website with advertising support, though later premium subscription services like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and, of course, Paramount+, would change how streaming videos were monetized dramatically. Streaming deals for the show expired on June 23, forcing an extension of a domestic deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to keep it on HBO Max for now. Last week, Paramount+'s international license to stream episodes of the long-running animated series expired, which led to the streamer pulling the series from its global service. Paramount and Park County are both taking a hard-line stance in negotiations. When they resumed discussions recently, Kevin Morris, a lawyer for Park County, refused to budge from a decade-long deal worth at least $3 billion. In recent years, Morris became a nationally known figure for his years-long legal and financial support for Hunter Biden. Paramount's Chris McCarthy, who runs the company with two other co-CEOs, oversees the streaming and television programming side of the studio and COO Keyes Hill-Edgar negotiates on deals. The Paramount-Skydance deal has been held up in large part due to its own political dimension involving President Donald Trump and a lawsuit against 60 Minutes over an interview with Kamala Harris. One possible factor in the negotiations: an $800 million loan that Park County took in 2023 from private equity firm the Carlyle Group. Parker and Stone could be squeezed for cash to repay roughly $80 million in interest per year, according to one person knowledgeable of the arrangement, who noted that Paramount may be open to paying more than $150 million annually in a new deal but not for 10 years. By Skydance's thinking, the interim operating agreement affords the company the right to approve — and deny — all material contracts. Park County has maintained that Skydance is barred from taking control and issuing directives until the merger's official closure. A legal battle is brewing. 'We hereby demand that you, Redbird, and Skydance immediately cease your interference,' stated the letter Park County sent to Shell on June 21. 'If these activities continue, we will have no choice but to act to both protect our rights and discharge any obligations we may have to the public.' July 14, 8:18 p.m. Updated to characterize the new 10-year, $3 billion overall deal as more than tripling the valuation of the previous deal. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Broadcast TV Slips To All-Time Low Audience Share In Nielsen's Report On June Viewing
Broadcast TV slipped to a record-low 18.5% of overall viewing in June as streaming climbed to 46% of the total, Nielsen said in its latest Gauge report. The absence of meaningful sports, notably football, as well as prime time episodes after series wrapped their seasons in May, sent broadcast networks down 5% from May. It is the first time the category's share has fallen below 20%. Broadcast and cable combined declined from 44.2% in May to 41.9% in June. Cable viewing was fairly flat compared to May, but the category still lost 0.7 share points due to the larger increase in overall TV usage, Nielsen said. More from Deadline 'Bluey' Tops Streaming Rankings Dominated By Acquired Titles From 'Supernatural' To 'South Park' In First Half Of 2025, Nielsen Says Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano Rematch Nabs 6M Global Viewers On Netflix 'Harry Potter' TV Series Due To Hit HBO In 2027: Everything We Know About The Cast, Who's Creating It, What J.K. Rowling Says & More Streaming, paced by Netflix and Peacock, captured 46% of viewing. Time spent streaming rose 5.4% in June compared with May. Netflix, thanks to new originals like Ginny & Georgia, grew its viewing 13.5% in June compared with May and its 8.7 billion minutes of viewing represented 8.3% of total tune-in. Acquired titles Animal Kingdom and Blindspot, also contributed to the Netflix surge. The first three days of the third and final season of Squid Game also came during the month of June. Peacock viewing jumped 13.4% in June thanks to Love Island USA, but the NBCUniversal platform accounted for a modest 1.5% of overall viewing. In terms of demographics, kids and teens drove the surge in streaming. With school out for most young people, TV usage among kids 6 to 17 increased 27% compared with May, with streaming accounting for two-thirds of the group's TV time. The 'other' category, which includes video game console and set-top box usage on TVs, shot up 41% in June, Nielsen said. While the monthly snapshot presented a grim picture for linear TV, the NBA Finals on ABC accounted for the top seven telecasts of the month. Cable news also notched a 12% gain over May viewing, with special programming providing a boost along with breaking news. The Army 250 Parade on Fox News Channel ranked fifth among cable programs with 2.8 million viewers, and the live broadcast of Broadway play Goodnight and Good Luck on CNN came in seventh among cable programs in June with 2.4 million viewers. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far 'Street Fighter' Cast: Who's Who In The Live-Action Arcade Film Adaption 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Broadcast TV Slips To All-Time Low Audience Share In Nielsen's Report On June Viewing
Broadcast TV slipped to a record-low 18.5% of overall viewing in June as streaming climbed to 46% of the total, Nielsen said in its latest Gauge report. The absence of meaningful sports, notably football, as well as prime time episodes after series wrapped their seasons in May, sent broadcast networks down 5% from May. It is the first time the category's share has fallen below 20%. Broadcast and cable combined declined from 44.2% in May to 41.9% in June. Cable viewing was fairly flat compared to May, but the category still lost 0.7 share points due to the larger increase in overall TV usage, Nielsen said. More from Deadline 'Bluey' Tops Streaming Rankings Dominated By Acquired Titles From 'Supernatural' To 'South Park' In First Half Of 2025, Nielsen Says Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano Rematch Nabs 6M Global Viewers On Netflix 'Harry Potter' TV Series Due To Hit HBO In 2027: Everything We Know About The Cast, Who's Creating It, What J.K. Rowling Says & More Streaming, paced by Netflix and Peacock, captured 46% of viewing. Time spent streaming rose 5.4% in June compared with May. Netflix, thanks to new originals like Ginny & Georgia, grew its viewing 13.5% in June compared with May and its 8.7 billion minutes of viewing represented 8.3% of total tune-in. Acquired titles Animal Kingdom and Blindspot, also contributed to the Netflix surge. The first three days of the third and final season of Squid Game also came during the month of June. Peacock viewing jumped 13.4% in June thanks to Love Island USA, but the NBCUniversal platform accounted for a modest 1.5% of overall viewing. In terms of demographics, kids and teens drove the surge in streaming. With school out for most young people, TV usage among kids 6 to 17 increased 27% compared with May, with streaming accounting for two-thirds of the group's TV time. The 'other' category, which includes video game console and set-top box usage on TVs, shot up 41% in June, Nielsen said. While the monthly snapshot presented a grim picture for linear TV, the NBC Finals on ABC accounted for the top seven telecasts of the month. Cable news also notched a 12% gain over May viewing, with special programming providing a boost along with breaking news. The Army 250 Parade on Fox News Channel ranked fifth among cable programs with 2.8 million viewers, and the live broadcast of Broadway play Goodnight and Good Luck on CNN came in seventh among cable programs in June with 2.4 million viewers. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far 'Street Fighter' Cast: Who's Who In The Live-Action Arcade Film Adaption 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why ‘South Park' has vanished from streaming sites, explained
For weeks, there have been rumblings online about an ongoing dispute related to South Park's streaming rights, most notably resulting in the two-week delay of Season 27 and a public statement from creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But last week, the issue grew to a global scale as South Park became completely unavailable to stream outside the U.S. A source told The Hollywood Reporter that Paramount's international license for the four-time Emmy-winning show expired, but that negotiations to restore the series to Paramount+ were ongoing. More from Gold Derby 'The Young and the Restless' leads Daytime Emmy predictions for Best Drama Series 'Adolescence,' 'The Penguin,' 'Disclaimer,' and more last-minute Emmy nominations predictions for Best Limited/Movie Directing So what is going on? Here's everything you need to know about the drama behind South Park's streaming issues. Last week, the main series of South Park that airs on Comedy Central disappeared from Paramount+ for all territories outside the U.S. The seven specials made specifically for the platform, however, remain available. The reason for the vanishing act is part of a larger drama playing out behind the scenes of the series with the parent comedy of Comedy Central, Paramount. With the licensing deal on the show set to expire in two years, Parker and Stone have been meeting with other media companies, shopping around the rights for South Park at places like Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix. According to a legal letter acquired by The Hollywood Reporter, a lawyer representing the show creators accused Paramount's next potential president of attempting to alter the terms of these potential deals behind their backs in a way that would benefit the corporation in the midst of a merger. The conflict seemed to lead directly into the two-week delay of Season 27, which was supposed to have premiered on July 9, but is now scheduled for July 23. Once the new season was officially delayed, the creators issued a statement via the South Park's social media accounts, directly blaming the merger on the lack of new South Park. The removal of South Park from Paramount+ in international territories is just the latest development in the still-unresolved dispute. A source told THR that global access to the show would hopefully be restored soon, but with a timeline uncertain, fans are likely watching the potential premiere date of July 23 to see how this all plays out. Best of Gold Derby Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Everything to know about 'Too Much,' Lena Dunham's Netflix TV show starring Megan Stalter that's kinda, sorta 'based on a true story' Cristin Milioti, Amanda Seyfried, Michelle Williams, and the best of our Emmy Limited Series/Movie Actress interviews Click here to read the full article.
