Dillon Danis wants Logan Paul to repay the CryptoZoo victims their money as one of the conditions

The impact of the writers strike was evident as major television networks began their annual week of sales presentations to advertisers

Sound of Freedom debuted in theatres earlier this month and has earned more than $41 million at the box office so far, but the film has found itself at the centre of controversies and conspiracy theories. The film follows Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), a former Department of Homeland Security agents who catches child sex traffickers by staging sting operations. It is based on Ballard’s life who left Homeland Security roughly 10 years ago to found the group Operation Underground Railroad. The group catches child sex traffickers in other countries by working with local police. Former President Trump previously appointed Ballard to a State Department advisory council on human trafficking in 2019. However, two and half years before the film’s release an investigation by VICE found that the organisation has often exaggerated its role in the rescues. Multiple law enforcement agencies that partnered with the group said that the group’s support was “insubstantial”. But that isn’t the only controversy this group, and the film, has found itself in. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Sound of Freedom has been accused by many of being linked to QAnon as has Ballard and Caviezel, who portrays him in the film. Critics have accused it of playing into the belief of the movement that global elites run a highly organised child sex trafficking network to harvest their blood. Ballard had previously supported a debunked theory that the furniture retailer Wayfair was using its platform to sell children. And Caviezel has promoted numerous QAnon theories and ‘Q drops’ which refer to posts that are made by Q on sites such as 4chan, 8chan and 8kun. Caviezel has even been reported to have appeared at QAnon events. Speaking to Charlie Kirk - founder of the right-wing organisation Turning Point USA - Caviezel supported theories about the chemical compound Adrenochrome. QAnon theorists believe that global elites such as Hilary Clinton torture children and harvest the chemical from them. "Adrenochrome is a chemical compound that's been around since the 1930s. There is a natural form.. which is caused by torturing kids. I brought this up a few years ago and all of a sudden I was attacked by every media group,” Caviezel said in the interview. “The next day I never heard from my agency for 14 months. My lawyers let me go. My agency never called me after that.” In an interview with right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson, Ballard also affirmed his belief in the adrenochrome blood harvesting theory saying he had seen it himself when in parts of Africa, but that there is no evidence certain celebrities had done it. Ballard also said that he and his group have “condemned the majority of what they see with conspiracy theories.” In a review of the film, Rolling Stone criticised the film for “fetishising the torture of its child victims” and said that it may be used as a gateway for the audience to “far-right conspiracy theories”. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

To throw groupies and obsessed fans off the scent when checking into hotels, Liam Gallagher called himself Lou Cypher during Oasis tours.

What happens next for Skip Bayless?

The controversial influencer and internet personality Andrew Tate is to livestream himself for 24 hours in a fake jail cell, following his release from a real-life cell awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking. The former kickboxer posted a promotional video for the stunt on Twitter, saying: “I’m going back to jail. On August 12, Saturday at 10pm Romanian Time. I will spend 24 hours inside a re-creation of my experience in jail. No phones, No freedom.” Tate and his brother Tristan, both of whom have dual US and British citizenship, were charged in June along with two Romanian female suspects of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The suspects have denied the allegations. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter On 4 August a Romanian court placed Tate under judicial control, a less restrictive measure than the house arrest he had previously been subject to. He was held in a cell for 92 days earlier this year. The latest publicity stunt appears to be designed to garner sympathy among his loud, mostly male and often misogynistic fanbase. Tate has repeatedly bemoaned his detention, and the latest video includes stock footage of cockroaches, which he says he shared his cell with. Romania’s anti-organised crime agency alleges the Tate brothers and two other defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the US and Britain. The agency alleges that seven female victims were deceived and transported to Romania, including some who were “misled” by “false claims of marriage and love”. The alleged victims were taken to buildings in Ilfov county where prosecutors said they were sexually exploited and subjected to physical violence by the gang. One defendant is accused of raping a woman twice in March 2022, according to the statement. Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, and his brother have denied all of the allegations, with a trial due to take place. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Variety has a mess on its hands. One day after publishing a questionable 4,000-word story that aimed to detail the behind-the-scenes drama that has gripped CNN for the last 18 months, the Hollywood trade publication is being met with calls for it to issue corrections to the piece, if not a retraction altogether.

Britney Spears' hotly anticipated memoir The Woman in Me has caught the attention of the internet following its official release on 24 October. In the run-up to its publication, snippets from the explosive autobiography revealed a new harrowing meaning behind her hit 'Everytime', as well as lifting the lid on how her relationship ended with Justin Timblerlake. Reports have claimed the star gave the final sign-off to publishers weeks before Asghari filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage, meaning she has "no right to demand any further changes". Spears ‘dropped jaws’ with her audition for The Notebook October 24, 11:19 Spears revealed she was "glad" to have lost the lead role in The Notebook to Rachel McAdams, prompting casting director Matthew Barry to share her audition tape with The Daily Mail. In the two-minute-long video, an emotional Spears says: "I prayed for you to die in the war, really. Well, not die. I would have felt completely horrible if you would've died. But I kinda didn't want you to be alive anymore because I couldn't bear the thought of you being with somebody else, or of us never seeing each other again. So I gotta go, okay?" Barry told the publication the pop star "wasn't just good, she was phenomenal." Read more Emma Roberts ecstatic to receive copy of Spears' autobiography October 24, 11:11 Britney Spears finally confirms how things ended with Justin Timberlake October 24, 11:07 The star has detailed how the former NSYNC star dumped her via a text message. "I was comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood," she wrote in an excerpt. Spears said the break-up affected her so much that she considered quitting the music industry at the time. Read more Spears sends a copy of 'The Woman in Me' to Paris Hilton October 24, 10:58 Britney Spears' Everytime acquires 'new meaning' after Justin Timberlake abortion bombshell October 24, 10:57 Britney Spears shot to fame as the quintessential sugar-pop princess but, in 2003, she showed her serious side with the moving hit ‘Everytime’. In the autobiography, Spears, 41, claims that she fell pregnant during her three-year relationship with fellow superstar Justin Timberlake. And while she’d been convinced that she and the NSYNC heartthrob would have children together “one day”, she said he "definitely wasn’t happy" about the news. The singer wrote in an excerpt published by People on Tuesday: "I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated. "But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young." Read more How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Many flocked Reddit to share their views, and most of them didn't seem too positive about the fate of the show

Martha Stewart has been criticised for posting a photo of a small iceberg she took from Greenland to use in her cocktails. Posting on Instagram, the TV personality posted on social media about her recent cruise and captioned her Instagram pictures: “End of the first zodiac cruise... into a very beautiful fjord on the east coast of Greenland. “We actually captured a small iceberg for our cocktails tonight.” One commenter said: “So as the climate warms due to the profits of a couple thousand people, billionaires vacation to the melting icebergs, scoop them up and use them to keep their cocktails cold. That sounds like a line from a dystopian novel. Can’t make this s**t up". Another wrote: "Martha the ice caps are melting don’t put them in your drink." However, some people defended her. One wrote: "This is normal on those excursions. The ice is already floating, not part of the ice mass, it is slowly melting in the ocean. Every tour company does it. We did it in Alaska and Patagonia. We did NOT disturb the glaciers." Another said: "I love seeing her enjoy her life". The television personality has been posting lots of photos of her trip online, from photos of a fox from inside a Reykjavík, Iceland volcano, to a sky lagoon in the same area. But if she keeps up with this social media posting, she is bound to get an icy reception. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Damien Chazelle paid a moving tribute to the late William Friedkin - who died last month aged 87 - at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday (03.09.23).

Sophie Turner's divorce from Joe Jonas is getting ugly, Joe Burrow got a massive new contract, the Lions beat the Chiefs and more in the Roundup.