Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, renames lifestyle brand to ‘As Ever’
As she began promoting her new Netflix show titled “With Love, Meghan,” the Duchess of Sussex took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a video filmed by her husband, Prince Harry.
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Duchess Meghan is showing she isn’t afraid to let loose.
The duchess posted a video appearing to twerk and drop it low Wednesday, June 4, with the As Ever founder and “With Love” star taking to Instagram to share footage, seemingly captured on a cellphone, of herself and Prince Harry dancing before the birth of their now-4-year-old daughter Lilibet.
“Four years ago today, this also happened. Both of our children were a week past their due dates… so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn’t work – there was only one thing left to do!” Meghan captioned the post.
Princess Lilibet is 4: Duchess Meghan shares sweet new photos with Prince Harry
Earlier in the day, the proud mom posted never-before-seen photos of the couple’s youngest child, who turned another year older on June 4.
“The sweetest bond to watch unfold 💕 Daddy’s little girl and favorite adventurer,” Meghan captioned rare photos of Harry and Lilibet, including one of the royal looking into his newborn’s eyes, and another of the pair walking barefoot on a dirt road. “Happy birthday Lili!”
Lilibet, who shares a childhood nickname for Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is also seen an earlier set of intimate black-and-white snaps as both a toddler held tightly by Meghan in a shot by the ocean, and as a newborn, swaddled and lying against her mom’s chest. Harry and Meghan also share Archie, the couple’s 6-year-old son.
Following a reclusive few years for the family of four after leaving British royal duties behind in 2020, the “Suits” alum reemerged in 2025 with a Netflix show “With Love” and companion lifestyle brand called As Ever, inspired by her pre-Harry pursuits.
As she peels back the layers of the family’s personal life, the up-and-coming mogul has maintained her children’s privacy by hiding their faces in photographs — a common move for celebrities in Hollywood.
Amid their next chapter, Meghan took to Instagram last month to give fans a glimpse at her love story with Harry to celebrate the couple’s anniversary.
“Seven years of marriage. A lifetime of stories,” the duchess wrote in an Instagram caption alongside a photo of a corkboard decorated with shots of the couple throughout their courtship, engagement and marriage.
President Trump speaks during the Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on May 26, 2025.
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President Trump said on social media on Wednesday that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin for an hour and 15 minutes about Ukraine’s recent strikes on Russian aircraft and about nuclear talks with Iran.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace,” Trump said in his post.
In fact, Trump said Putin had vowed during the call to respond to Ukraine’s Sunday drone strikes on air bases in Russia. “President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump said.
Trump has recently been critical of Putin because of Russia’s recent drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, but he did not repeat that criticism in his post about Wednesday’s call.
The call comes after the latest round of talks in Istanbul ended with little movement toward ending Russia’s three-year-long war in Ukraine. Trump has been trying to broker a peace deal.
Trump said Putin suggested he could help with Iran talks
Trump said he also updated Putin on his efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran. He said he told Putin that time was running out to reach a deal and that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Trump said he believed Putin agreed with him.
“President Putin suggested that he will participate in the discussions with Iran and that he could, perhaps, be helpful in getting this brought to a rapid conclusion,” Trump said.
Marissa Rothenberger has now thrown 21 consecutive scoreless innings for Champlin Park in the playoffs.
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(NORTH MANKATO, Minn.) – The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) girls’ softball state tournament is officially underway — and so is the controversy surrounding Champlin Park’s starting pitcher.
Marissa Rothenberger, a trans-identifying male athlete, threw a complete-game shutout Wednesday morning as No. 2-seeded Champlin Park defeated No. 7 Eagan, 5-0, in the Class AAAA quarterfinals. Rothenberger allowed seven hits and struck out four in the win.
Rothenberger, whose participation in girls’ sports highlights a growing trend across the state and country, threw 14 shutout innings in back-to-back games in the sectional finals to help Champlin Park reach the state tournament. The pitcher has now thrown 21 consecutive shutout innings in the playoffs.
Champlin Park and Eagan players shake hands following the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Girls’ Softball State Tournament.
(Photo by Amber Harding)
On Wednesday, not everyone in the stands was clapping.
Two Eagan parents, both of whom requested anonymity for the sake of their daughters, expressed frustration and disappointment after the game. One mother, wearing a “Save Girls’ Sports” T-shirt, said the outcome felt inevitable.
“I was pretty disappointed and frustrated,” she told OutKick. “I think we’ve seen this happen over and over again to our girls. You look online, and you see women transitioning to men, and they’re not dominating any of the men’s sports. You don’t see that. But on the women’s side, you see it over and over again across the country. It’s super frustrating. I knew it was eventually going to happen to my daughter. I was sad to see it happen to her.”
RELATED: Father Blasts Leadership After Daughter Competes Against Trans Softball Pitcher: ‘It’s Cowardice’
Her frustration wasn’t just about the scoreboard.
“I think it’s really unfair,” she said. “I’m just really disappointed that all the schools didn’t band together and say, ‘Enough is enough. We’re going to protect our girls and we’re going to have an equitable playing field for everyone.’”
Marissa Rothenberger threw a complete-game shutout in the quarterfinals of the Minnesota Girls’ Softball State Tournament.
(Photo by Amber Harding)
A father of another Eagan player agreed, calling the situation a clear violation of federal law.
“Yeah, I think it’s completely unfair — violation of federal Title IX,” he said. “And the fact that the state of Minnesota wants to ignore that is ridiculous. If they want to continue to play sports — which I think is great — you can play baseball. But to do that to girls and just make everybody stay quiet about stuff is pretty ridiculous.”
RELATED: Minnesota Rep. Leigh Finke Stands By Trans Athletes As Girls’ Softball State Tournament Begins
He added that, while athletes are trained to compete under any circumstances, knowing Rothenberger would be on the mound added a layer of frustration.
“As athletes, you go out there and you play the hand you’re given, so you want to continue to compete,” he said. “But again, it’s frustrating.”
Champlin Park will face No. 6 White Bear Lake in the semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.
Jeff Kassouf covers women’s soccer for ESPN, focusing on the USWNT and NWSL. In 2009, he founded The Equalizer, a women’s soccer news outlet, and he previously won a Sports Emmy at NBC Sports and Olympics.
Jun 3, 2025, 09:17 AM ET
Feeling more like a nightclub than Old Trafford, music bumped through speakers as former Manchester United midfielder Josh Harrop walked into a concert-like atmosphere in London’s Copper Box Arena. The referee threw the ball into the air as an airhorn went off and social media influencers recorded the videos on their phones a few feet from the sideline.
Harrop, now a free agent, had only skimmed the rulebook for the Baller League before signing up, but he quickly realized that what he signed up for was nothing like the Premier League — or anything he had played before.
“[Once the game began] I’m thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, what’s going on here?’ This is chaos,” Harrop, who scored on Matchday 1 for FC Rules the World, told ESPN. “But the more the weeks have gone by, the more I’ve learned the rules. It’s easier to adapt.”
The Baller League — which features an eclectic cast of managers like Portugal icon Luis Figo, British rapper/actor Dave, England international Chloe Kelly and streamer Angryginge — is one of a growing list of alternative soccer tournaments that have emerged in recent years.
The Baller League itself is a spinoff of the highly successful Kings and Queens Leagues started by Spain and Barcelona legend Gerard Pique, and it’s part of a developing trend of new soccer events that look nothing like the traditional game. Then there is The Soccer Tournament, or TST, a $1 million winner-take-all event, and the debut of the newly formed World Sevens Football for women’s teams this year.
• Stream TST live on ESPN+, starting June 4
Most are small-sided games that max out at 7-v-7, with rules that range from closely mimicking full-field soccer to featuring unusual twists designed to add drama and go viral online. Those policies range from “target scores” — the leading team’s score plus one, ensuring all games end with genuinely game-winning goals, in lieu of a clock — to double-value goals, the awarding of random penalties and even the ability for teams to steal each other’s players.
But like the prize money at TST, here’s the $1 million question: Why create these start-ups and ditch the tried-and-true model of the globe’s most powerful sport? And are these zany, star-studded tournaments the future of soccer?
Content is king for new soccer tournaments
All the organizations behind these tournaments shared two common goals in conversations with ESPN. First, they believe they’re complementary to conventional soccer — traditional soccer fans can love these new twists. Secondly, they view themselves as alternative programming for content-hungry fans — particularly Gen Z and younger, a demographic that, in theory, consumes sports more through short clips on their phone.
Soccer follows the wider sports trend in an effort to stand out in an increasingly crowded, fragmented market. The three-on-three basketball competition Unrivaled — which launched earlier this year as an offseason complement to the WNBA — uses alternative rules like an untimed final period for teams to reach a winning score. The PGA Tour has a similar equivalent, The Golf League, which has ushered in a stadium era that implements virtual reality, the most radical innovation in a sport that is hundreds of years old.
Executives across the soccer landscape see a similar opportunity to capture a young audience they believe is less likely to engage with traditional soccer, where scoring is low and games often end in draws. Kings League CEO Djamel Agaoua — a former tech director who recalls being asked, “So what’s happening now?” by his son after watching a 0-0 tie for boyhood club Marseille — told ESPN it’s “a big moment of disruption.”
“The young generation … they are exposed to much more content. Technology allowed them to navigate this content very easily,” Agaoua said. “They can just swipe up and go from content they like, to content they love, to content they dislike, and then they can make decisions like that in seconds.”
Part of that process means specifically having smartphones in mind during the production of Kings League matches, as opposed to television. According to Ofcom in a 2024 survey, smartphone ownership for children in the U.K. reached 97% as early as the age of 12, and in the U.S., Pew Research Center reported that 95% of teens own a smartphone. According to data sent by Kings League, from January 2024 to January 2025, 80% of their audience was under the age of 34.
“Sports has been financed for decades by traditional media, by TV — and TV has this challenge to look at the audience,” Agaoua said.
Similar conversations are being discussed in the women’s game. World Sevens Football debuted last week as a seven-a-side competition that features eight professional European women’s clubs that will battle for an eye-catching $5 million in total prize money. Aly Wagner, World Sevens Football chief of strategy and a former U.S. international, told ESPN that the concept leans into sport as entertainment.
“What do we know about this younger demographic today? They consume sports differently — they do,” Wagner told ESPN. “The attention span is not quite the same and so these moments will be, you know, shareable moments across all sorts of social media outlets that, again, will hopefully accelerate the growth of women’s soccer.”
“This is the type of content that this younger demographic really consumes.”
While other new competitions focus on ex-players and influencers, World Sevens Football is counting on current-day, top-tier professional players to drive engagement. With the likes of Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain in the running, the competition evokes scenes of a mini UEFA Women’s Champions League tournament — and in fact offers more prize money than the UWCL, which was decided a day later across town in Lisbon when Arsenal defeated Barcelona 1-0.
The net is wider elsewhere for alternative soccer, with participants ranging from seasoned Premier League retires to current stars from the non-soccer universe. At TST this summer, 40-year-old Anton Ferdinand, who made 163 appearances for West Ham, will be suiting up for the club as a player-coach, earning minutes with British actor Hero Fiennes Tiffin.
“I’ve got kids of my own, so I understand the new generation. They want to see these type of people — they want to see influencers playing football,” Ferdinand told ESPN. “For me, my kids seeing me play with influencers, my kids absolutely love it.
“When I was younger, the Premier League footballers were the influencers in terms of how you’re received. Influencers now are the celebrities of the world.”
In Kings League and Queens League, club presidents — who range from former professionals to an influencer like Ibai Llanos with 13.1 million subscribers on YouTube — are able to step into matches to take penalties. It’s a blurred line between entertainment and sport, and for a number of players with more humble resumes that populate these tournaments, the experience can be a bizarre but remarkable one.
“I was able to just see these people that I used to watch on TV, up close. I saw Sergio ‘Kun’ Aguero,” said Miraash Imthiyaz, a Kings League player for Aniquiladores FC, whose career has taken him through Spain’s lower leagues. “I used to watch him because I watched the Premier League a lot because I’m an Arsenal fan, so seeing him score a goal five meters from me, and then celebrate, was something that will stay in my head.”
An alternate path to soccer stardom
Just as much as young fans are seeking these alternative soccer tournaments, the same could be said for names like Imthiyaz that didn’t reach the heights of an Aguero. Looking across TST, Baller League, Kings League and Queens League, the lifeblood of these tournaments are lesser-known names who are still chasing their sporting dreams.
“I’ve been playing football for all my life, like traditional football, and there’s so many people who played and not everyone reaches the maximum category or the professional levels due to many, many different circumstances,” said Imthiyaz.
There’s an underdog story built in for these players who are then able to shine on an uncommon platform. TST founder and CEO Jon Mugar highlighted that they don’t want to showcase only professional clubs or stars in the 64-team competition kicking off in early June, stating: “Higher profile players, up-and-coming players. We want a mix of all these different types.”
“We know this wouldn’t be the event we’re looking for if it’s all Premier League teams, or all MLS teams, or all recreational teams, we want a mix of all the above for it to represent a cross section of the sport,” Mugar told ESPN.
In last year’s edition of TST, the $1 million prize went to La Bombonera, a group of mostly experienced indoor players — another variation of soccer that is played on turf inside a hockey rink — that have a modest following of only 1,968 on Instagram. Amateur side Newtown Pride won the first edition in 2023, also with indoor players on its roster.
Back in the U.K., Harrop’s coach Eva Kray Batousol has noticed that the younger generation who may not have thought twice about his non-league players are suddenly wearing Baller League jerseys.
“Obviously their favorite players are [Erling] Haaland and all these kinds of guys, and now you’re seeing kids walk around in Baller League shirts. That’s also an amazing thing,” said Batousol. “As a kid, if I don’t make it into the Premier League, to League Two, for example, I know I have a pathway in non-league, I could potentially go and play in Baller League alongside playing non-league.”
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US Women celebrate after winning $1 million prize at TST
US Women beat NC Courage 6-3 at The Soccer Tournament, claiming $1 million prize and sparking wild celebrations.
South of the border in Mexico, Kenne Kessler, a former collegiate and Villarreal player from Texas that joined Queens League Americas, also noted her unique opportunity. Last Saturday during a championship final, Kessler scored in an eventual 2-1 title-winning victory for the Galacticos del Caribe at a sold-out Estadio Luis ‘Pirata’ Fuente — a remodeled venue which once housed the now defunct Liga MX side Club Deportivo Veracruz.
“I’ve played across many different countries, places and stages over the past few years, but this one was a bit different,” said Kessler to ESPN. “There was streamers and cameras everywhere. At all times there were eyes on you.”
Coupled with a Kings League Americas final that was also hosted at the stadium, the event has so far garnered more than 1.5 million views on the tournament’s YouTube stream.
“I love that it’s streamed on YouTube, so basically anyone around the world can watch our games,” Veronica Perez, a Queens League player and former Liga MX Femenil and NWSL pro, told ESPN. “That branding, the marketing, it’s more visible.”
Welcome to the new future of soccer?
With a mixture of eye-popping prize money numbers, viral social media attention and a strong attraction for a younger fanbase, are these alternative tournaments the future of soccer? And could they one day surpass the traditional models?
“At Kings League, we don’t believe for a second that we are going to replace traditional football, not a fraction of a thousandth of a second,” Agaoua told ESPN. “We’re not going to replace Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and all those guys. I mean, not even in our dreams.”
“At the very beginning, I would say traditional football saw us like a competitor, but now they understand that we’re not competing directly. We’re actually giving something alternative, and we are bringing new fans to the football ecosystem.”
The sentiment was a similar one for Wagner with World Sevens Football.
“The opportunity really is to have a solution that is incrementally beneficial, that is additive to the current women’s football landscape,” said the former U.S. player about the tournament that could open new markets. “You think about the way that fans fall in love with teams and sports and players, it is really through those high entertainment moments.”
Harrop, now recognized out in public because of viral Baller League videos, also doesn’t believe that these alternatives will replace the likes of the Premier League or the league system, but he was blunt when discussing what major competitions can learn from these latest start-ups.
In line with the freedom that new tournaments have with their experimental rules and formats, there’s also a freedom for players to showcase more of their character in a social media-led context — which can feel refreshing in comparison to the more sterile environment of a traditional league.
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La Bombonera take down Nani FC to win $1 million at TST
La Bombonera players celebrate after beating Nani FC 4-0 and to win $1 million at The Soccer Tournament.
“I defo believe what lacks in normal football now is personality, in terms of players being able to be themselves,” said Harrop. “You see an interview now after a game and it’s very media-trained, it’s all the game was, the game was good, thank you to the away fans. It’s the same stuff…
“I am a big football fan, but I kind of lost interest in watching it as much, because games are just so, so boring and dry.”
In these alternative leagues, the formula is not just about an entertaining on-field product, but in being authentic in ways that would be deemed too risky or brazen for most top flight competitions. Whether it’s from the competitions themselves or rule-makers like the International Football Association Board, there’s little incentive for radical change, so the status quo rarely changes.
Old-school leaders of the game have pushed back and looked down upon the new tournaments. LaLiga president Javier Tebas called the Kings League “a circus” in 2023, saying that it should not be compared to soccer.
It’s very unlikely that momentum will suddenly shift away from traditional soccer at any point in the future, but if significant changes do occur, they could be spearheaded or influenced by the handful of new competitions that are beginning to gain ground.
“It’s really beholden upon challengers like us to carry out any sort of bold, innovative ideas,” said TST’s Mugar. “Fans, I think, appreciate it.”
Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen has declared Friday, June 6, a public holiday to mark the celebration of Eid-ul-Adha.
CS Murkomen made the declaration in a gazette notice on Wednesday.
“It is notified for the general information of the public that in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2 (1) of the Public Holidays Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration declares that Friday, 6th June, 2025, shall be a public holiday to mark Eid-ul-Adha,” read the notice.
Eid ul-Adha, which means the Festival of Sacrifice, is one of the most important festivals in the Muslim calendar.
Eid ul-Adha celebrates unity and solidarity and coincides with the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca — one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Muslims exchange gifts and greetings, host grand feasts, and distribute meat to relatives, friends, and family, as well as to the needy and less fortunate.
Demi Moore’s recent reinvention has been nothing short of remarkable. The Hollywood star had briefly considered quitting acting, but everything changed when she received the script for horror film The Substance.
What followed was a comeback worthy of its own movie: a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, her first Academy Award nomination and a standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival.
“I’m in shock,” the 62-year-old said during her Golden Globes acceptance speech in January. “I’ve been doing this over 45 years and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor. I’m so humbled and so grateful.”
Demi may have been surprised by her success, but there was one woman who would have known it was coming: her oldest and dearest friend, and Hollywood’s most influential psychic, Laura Day.
Demi Moore was supporting her close friend, celebrity psychic Laura Day, at her book launch
The pair have been best friends for the past 37 years, since they were introduced at The Ivy restaurant in Los Angeles. Over the years, Laura has taught Demi the power of her intuition while also offering psychic guidance, and Demi has encouraged Laura to share her talents, too.
The psychic is now a New York Times best-selling author with six books under her belt and has appeared on shows hosted by Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson.
When it came to the publication of Laura’s latest book, The Prism: Seven Steps to Heal Your Past and Transform Your Future, it was Demi’s turn to shine the spotlight on her friend with a star-studded launch party in Los Angeles.
“I’ve met many who have gifts of this nature, but there are none who have the precision that Laura has,” Demi exclusively tells HELLO!.
“My greatest gift is the closeness of our friendship and the second is the encouragement she gives me in trusting myself. If I’m uncertain but have an instinct, I have someone who helps me clarify. And most often, it is accurate to me.”
Laura has also worked with famous names including Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman, who calls her “extraordinary”.
Real Housewives Kyle Richards and Erika Jayne also swear by Laura’s advice
“Some things defy explanation and Laura Day is one of them,” the Babygirl star writes in a foreword for the psychic’s new book, which spiritual author Deepak Chopra describes as “a masterpiece for anyone ready to awaken their highest potential.”
Despite her VIP connections, Laura’s primary job involves using her insight and techniques to advise billion-dollar companies in banking, tech, media and pharmaceuticals.
Sharing her gift
What she enjoys most, however, is teaching others to use their intuition to transform their lives. Laura describes Demi’s acceptance of her role in The Substance as a “miracle moment” – the type of catalyst that can change everything.
“A miracle does take a moment; it’s an encounter, it’s a tiny change, it’s a little bit of help, and you will find your entire life changes,” she says. Her book provides tools to help readers achieve their goals in areas such as relationships, career, sex or family life.
Laura encouraged Demi to accept her role in The Substance – and the rest is history
“I don’t think we realise that we all predict and we are all celebrities in our own lives,” she says. “We are told to do all of these things to change our lives, but I wanted a simple system to show how making tiny changes can make such productive big changes in our lives.”
Celebrity fans
VIPs flocked to celebrate Laura’s new book at the Beverly Hills home of super-agent Kevin Huvane, who also works with celebrities including Ariana Grande, Sandra Bullock and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Among the guests were British author Florence Given, activist Monica Lewinsky, socialite Kathy Hilton and comedian Jack Whitehall, plus Scout Willis, the second of Demi’s three daughters with her former husband, actor Bruce Willis.
As the sun went down over Los Angeles, specially created Prism cocktails of Casamigos tequila mixed with watermelon and sparkling pineapple juice were served, alongside canapes of wagyu beef and arancini balls.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards told us: “Demi has told me about Laura for years and I’ve wanted to meet up with her. I’ve heard such good things about this book – I really can’t wait to read it.”
Pretty Little Liars actress Lucy Hale met Laura a year ago and the pair have been in contact ever since. “She is the most caring and loving soul,” Lucy tells us. “The book is phenomenal; she has a way of making this information digestible and giving people tools and exercises to help them.”
Laura says: “Everyone is having a hard time right now. I want people to realise that we are all energy; we are all connected, no matter if you are a celebrity or not. If you label it as being psychic, it is mysticalising our own power, but this has been proven by science. You really can change your own life.”
For the full interview, pick up a copy of this week’s HELLO!, on sale now. The Prism: Seven Steps to Heal Your Past and Transform Your Future by Laura Day is available to preorder now.
LE SCAN SPORT – Attendue sur le court Philippe-Chatrier ce mercredi, la dernière Française en lice s’est échauffée avec un sparring-partner de choix : le numéro un mondial italien.
Entraînement cinq étoiles. Ce mercredi entre 10h et 11h, la dernière française en lice à Roland-Garros, Loïs Boisson, a effectué son échauffement avec… Jannik Sinner, l’impressionnant numéro un mondial. Temps pluvieux oblige, sous un toit fermé, la Tricolore et l’Italien se sont retrouvés sur le même court Philippe-Chatrier pour échanger des balles avant leur quart de finale respectif face à la Russe Mirra Andreeva et le Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
La prodige Andreeva, 18 ans, était d’ailleurs, elle aussi, sur la terre battue du Central au même moment pour s’échauffer avec un jeune sparring-partner.
Demi Moore’s Oscar-nominated comeback has taken Hollywood by storm, but her longtime friend and psychic, Laura Day, may have seen it coming all along.
“I’ve met many who have gifts of this nature, but there are none who have the precision that Laura has,” Moore, 62, told HELLO! “My greatest gift is the closeness of our friendship and the second is the encouragement she gives me in trusting myself. If I’m uncertain but have an instinct, I have someone who helps me clarify. And most often, it is accurate to me.”
Day’s intuition paid off when Moore signed on for The Substance, the groundbreaking horror film that earned Moore a standing ovation at Cannes, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and her first-ever Academy Award nomination.
“I’ve been doing this over 45 years and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor,” the actress said during her emotional Golden Globes speech in January.
Moore and Day met 37 years ago and have remained close ever since. As noted by HELLO!, Day has helped Moore deepen her intuition, while Moore has pushed Day to bring her psychic work to the public.
That dynamic was on display at the star-studded launch for Day’s latest book, The Prism: Seven Steps to Heal Your Past and Transform Your Future, held at the Beverly Hills home of super-agent Kevin Huvane. Other guests included Kathy Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, Florence Given, and Moore’s daughter, Scout Willis.
Reflecting on Moore’s recent success, Day called it a “miracle moment,” telling HELLO!: “A miracle does take a moment; it’s an encounter, it’s a tiny change, it’s a little bit of help, and you will find your entire life changes.”
Give Karen Read supporters this much — questions raised early on were worth asking.
Like, why would Jen McCabe be awake at 2 in the morning searching the internet for information about how long it takes for someone to die in the cold? (Turns out she searched at 6:24 am, after O’Keefe’s body was found, because Read asked her to).
How can a guy suffer a fatal head injury but have no broken bones or injuries to his lower body after being hit by a car? (Not uncommon for sideswipe pedestrian collisions).
How can a human arm crack a taillight and suffer scratches? (Still a bit unsettled except we know the scratches were not from a dog because there was no dog DNA and the medical examiner said the injuries were topical abrasions with no depth).
Most importantly, why would the feds open an investigation of a pending state murder investigation? (Utterly perplexing even today though it did end with no finding of misconduct by anyone).
The first trial didn’t exactly answer all these questions, but it, along with the prosecution’s case thus far in the second trial, did provide a solid pile of forensic proof that Karen Read dropped John O’Keefe off in front of 34 Fairview Ave; he was found dead feet from where she dropped him off; taillight pieces from Read’s car were found on John’s clothing and strewn around the crime scene; and John’s DNA was found on Read’s car, near the taillight.
If that were the only evidence, it would be a lot. But there’s more, including computer data from Read’s car showing that right after she dropped O’Keefe off, she gunned her car backwards at 24 miles per hour, with the gas pedal at 75% force, before leaving the scene and driving back to O’Keefe’s house.
If this isn’t enough for you, that’s fine. And if these facts don’t answer all the questions about whether evidence was planted, and whether cops behaved badly and acted overzealously because one of their own was killed, that’s fine, too. And if you think Read was overcharged, I can see the argument. It’s fair to assume that extra efforts would be used to prosecute an accused cop-killer.
What’s not fair is pointing the finger at innocent people in the name of due process. Nothing in the Constitution says that a criminal’s fair trial rights include the right to defame an innocent person by falsely claiming that they committed murder. That said, this isn’t the first time innocent people have been falsely accused because the law in this state is ridiculously generous to criminals – to a point where judges in other states roll their eyes when lawyers cite Massachusetts law as a guiding principle.
For example, defendants in this state are allowed to hire experts to lie and the defense can then whip the public into a frenzy by promoting the lies. It’s not that there’s a rule that says “the defense can lie” it’s that there are no meaningful sanctions when they do.
If the prosecution or one of their experts lies, a judge can suppress evidence and even dismiss charges as punishment (remember Annie Dookhan?). This threat of sanctions works very well as a deterrent, but it doesn’t apply to the defense.
No matter how unfair or even unethical the conduct of a defense attorney, a judge cannot suppress evidence or punish the defendant. The Supreme Judicial Court made this clear years ago in a case where a trial judge excluded evidence favorable to the defendant because the lawyers violated the rules of discovery.
The state’s highest court reversed that decision on the grounds that the rights of the accused are more important than the deterrence of defense misconduct. The judge in the Read case, Beverly Cannone, was obviously aware of this when she recently ruled that evidence helpful to Read would not be suppressed even though the defense violated the rules.
So Read will be able to use every piece of relevant evidence that could possibly help her case – but she has a big problem named Hank Brennan. He is a highly skilled defense attorney — serving as a prosecutor just for this case – and he knows all the tricks. Even worse for Read, she has made too many damning public statements that are devastating to her case and Brennan used all of them brilliantly.
The defense does have some helpful evidence, like disgusting texts sent by the state trooper in charge of her case to a group of his buddies. Read also has in her favor the fact that Brian Higgins, an ATF agent friend of O’Keefe’s, threw his phone away in a very suspicious manner after Read kissed him and they engaged in sexual banter by phone.
But these sideshows do nothing to diminish the physical and forensic evidence.
The jury can’t help but see this case as a straightforward drunk driving hit-and-run homicide. So the real issue is whether jurors see a murderer in Karen Read.
Most people are uncomfortable thinking that an educated white woman from suburban Massachusetts could be a killer. But if the jurors in this case can get over that discomfort, Karen Read could soon be doing a mandatory 20 years for second degree murder. Even the lesser charge is mandatory five.
Either way Read will have a long time behind bars to contemplate whether the circus was worth it.
Dedham, MA May 12 Under questioning by defense attorney Alan Jackson, Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, of the Massachusetts State Police, answers questions about the projection of the right arm of Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, when he returns to the witness stand in the murder retrial of Karen Read, in Norfolk Superior Court, in Dedham, MA on Monday May 12, 2025. (Pat Greenhouse/ Pool photo)
A photo of the rear right taillight on Karen Read’s SUV is shown again as evidence during her murder retrial at Norfolk Superior Court. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
Pat Greenhouse/Pool
Boston Police Officer Kelly Dever, formerly with Canton Police, testifies during the murder retrial of Karen Read Monday. (Pat Greenhouse/Pool)
AP Photo/Mark Stockwell/Pool
The prosecution played a final media clip from a docuseries in which defendant Karen Read says she asked herself if she could have hit murder victim John O’Keefe before resting its case on Thursday. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell/Pool)
Dedham, MA – May 27 – Accident Reconstructionist slide of Dr. Judson Welcher testing a collision between his arm and a Lexus at the Karen Read trial. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Dedham, MA – May 27 – A slide of John O’Keefe’s arm during the Karen Read trial. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Greg Derr/Pool photo
Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist Christina Hanley discusses glass fragment evidence during Karen Read’s murder trial Wednesday. (Greg Derr/Pool photo)
Greg Derr/Pool photo
Brain surgeon Dr. Aizik Wolf testifies about the injuries to John O’Keefe during Karen Read’s murder trial Wednesday. (Greg Derr/Pool photo)
Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald
Digital forensics analyst Shanon Burgess looks up at defense attorney Robert Alessi from the witness stand at the Karen Read murder trial. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Dedham, MA – May 20 – Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone speaks to the jury during the Karen Read trial. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Ashley Vallier, a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, testifies during the trial of Karen Read in Norfolk Superior Court Friday. (Mark Stockwell/Pool photo)
Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on murder victim John O’Keefe, explains to the jury the nature of an autopsy, during the trial of Karen Read in Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell, Pool)
Mark Stockwell/Pool photo
Andre Porto of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab testifies during the trial of Karen Read in Norfolk Superior Court Friday. (Mark Stockwell/Pool photo)
Mark Chavous/Pool photo
Massachusetts State Police forensic scientist Maureen Hartnett looks over photo evidence under cross examination at the Karen Read case at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham on Wednesday. (Mark Chavous/Pool photo)
Detective Sgt. Zachery Clark of the Mass. State Police testifies at the Karen Read case in Norfolk Superior Court on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Pool photo/Mark Chavous
Dedham, MA May 12 A photo of Karen Read’s SUV, parked in the Canton Police Department’s sally port, is projected during her murder retrial in Norfolk Superior Court, in Dedham, MA on Monday May 12, 2025. Pieces are missing from the right rear tail light. (Pat Greenhouse/ Pool photo)
Karen Read leaves during lunch break at Norfolk Superior Court Monday. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
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Dedham, MA May 12 Under questioning by defense attorney Alan Jackson, Sgt. Yuri Bukhenik, of the Massachusetts State Police, answers questions about the projection of the right arm of Boston Police officer John O’Keefe, when he returns to the witness stand in the murder retrial of Karen Read, in Norfolk Superior Court, in Dedham, MA on Monday May 12, 2025. (Pat Greenhouse/ Pool photo)
