YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP | | | |
Actor Blake Lively is accusing her "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni of carrying out an online smear campaign. President Joe Biden is achieving a campaign promise to address the death penalty. We have the top five financial resolutions you should make for 2025. |
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni feuded. Next came the smear campaign, she alleges. |
Black Lively claims that her "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni coordinated a PR campaign with a crisis firm after she took issue with on-set behavior, according to a copy of a legal complaint obtained by USA TODAY on Saturday. Lively's lawyers called the alleged plot "'social manipulation' designed to 'destroy' Ms. Lively's reputation" by Baldoni, who directed the film. |
The background: When it was released in early August, a rift between Lively and Baldoni derailed the media tour for the film, which is about breaking generational cycles of domestic violence. |
| • | Now, new details have emerged on the stars' feud: Ahead of the film's release, Baldoni hired a PR team, along with producer Jamey Heath, to counter Lively's private allegations of harassment by engaging in a public spear campaign, the complaint says. | | • | What is astroturfing? The complaint alleges Baldoni's PR team planned to plant stories to sway the public against Lively during the film's promotion, showing a heightened level of control over the narratives about celebrities. | | • | A sisterhood gathers behind Lively: America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, and Amber Tamblyn, who co-starred with Lively in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" franchise, issued a joint statement on Sunday in support of Lively. | | Producer Blake Lively stars as Lily Bloom and director Justin Baldoni stars as Ryle Kincaid in "It Ends With Us." Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures |
Biden commutes sentences of most federal death row inmates |
President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he is commuting the sentences of nearly every inmate on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in a move intended to keep his successor, President-elect Donald Trump, from going forward with executions he had previously halted. |
The background: Biden pledged to end the death penalty during his presidential campaign and had been under pressure from progressive lawmakers and criminal justice activists to commute the sentences of federal death row inmates before Trump takes office. Read more |
Luigi Mangione to be arraigned on state murder charges |
Luigi Mangione is set to appear in court in New York on Monday for arraignment on state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The Manhattan District Attorney's office said it was coordinating with federal authorities, who are currently holding the 26-year-old shooting suspect in a detention center in Brooklyn. Read live updates from USA TODAY. |
What's the latest on bird flu? |
Public concern over bird flu ratcheted up last week as the H5N1 virus continued its sweep through the nation's dairy and poultry farms and the first American was hospitalized with a severe infection. The strain of H5N1 bird flu that infected a Louisiana patient is different from the one that has infected cattle, poultry and farmworkers for most of this year, U.S. health officials said. If the virus continues to infect more people and animals, it will have more opportunities to mutate, potentially becoming more contagious or dangerous. Here's when experts say to worry. |
What are your 2025 financial resolutions? |
If you want to sober up quick on New Year's Day, open your credit card statement. The most popular financial New Year's resolutions for 2025 represent the opposite, basically, of what many of us do around the holidays, which is spend money and take on debt. |
Here are the top 2025 money goals: |
| 1. | Build up your savings, or pay down your debt | | 2. | Make a budget | | 3. | Save for emergencies | | 4. | Earn 5% on your savings | | 5. | Repay 25% of your credit card debt | |
Read more from USA TODAY's Money experts about how to set these goals, keep track of them and why they matter the most. |
Photo of the day: The Nittany Lions win eighth national championship | Penn State celebrated with the trophy after winning the NCAA Championship Volleyball match in Louisville, Kentucky, on Dec. 22, 2024. Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal |
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here . Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com. | | | | After Blake Lively accused her "It Ends With Us" co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment, author Colleen Hoover made it clear where she stands. | | | | The bird flu outbreak has spread to all 50 states, infecting dairy cattle, poultry farms and 61 humans across the country. | | | | By NFL Week 16, you might think things would be settled with the top teams. Guess again. It's time to reconsider some common narratives. | | | | I arrived at a weekend book retreat with a grief-stricken heart, and left with a renewed sense of belonging thanks to fellow booklovers. | | | | The College Football Playoff is on a break, leaving bowl season to the programs that did not make the field .A look at the games on Dec. 23. | | | | USA TODAY's daily news podcast, The Excerpt, brings you a curated mix of the most important headlines seven mornings a week. | | | | Our app gives you award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, eNewspaper and more. | | | | | | | Brighten your day with one of our games. | | | | | |
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