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 With Sunday’s Oscar show, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will close one of the most contentious awards seasons in its history and open an era of historic change, as the 89-year-old institution launches an ambitious drive to diversify its membership.

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 A Los Angeles Times study shows just how much work the academy has to do if it intends to reflect the audience it serves — and just how aggressive the group’s new goals are.

 In 2012, The Times reported that Oscar voters were 94% white and 77% male. Four years later, the academy has made scant progress: Oscar voters are 91% white and 76% male, according to a new Times study.

 Blacks are about 3% of the academy, up from 2%; Asians and Latinos are each just over 2%, with both groups up slightly.

 The academy has invited more women and minority group members over the last four years, but with its 6,261 voting members appointed for life, the organization’s ranks were on track to remain overwhelmingly white and male for decades.

 Under fire for nominating an all-white slate of actors for two years in a row, the academy last month vowed to double the number of women and minority members by 2020. It also adopted controversial new rules that will allow it to take away voting rights from inactive members.

 “Our goal is to make sure that we are active in bringing in different voices regardless of gender or race or sexual orientation,” academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said in an interview Thursday. “Inclusiveness in this organization, that is our goal.”

 Doubling the number of women and minority members over the next four years, however, figures to be daunting.

 The academy has about 1,500 women and 535 non-white people who are eligible to vote on the Oscars, according to Times estimates. Based on those findings, doubling their numbers would require inviting at least 375 women and more than 130 people of color each year.

 That would demand a dramatic shift in admissions given that the academy's latest class — touted as the largest and most diverse in its history — was only 322 people, most of them white men.

 Former academy president Hawk Koch says flatly that the targets are “impossible” to reach because of the academy’s stringent membership requirements and the underrepresentation of women and minorities in the entertainment industry.

 “There aren’t that many qualified people, period, of any race or gender, to invite each year,” he said.

 Boone Isaacs asserted that the goals are attainable.

 “There are enough qualified people,” she said, adding that academy leaders will “do everything in our power to meet our goals because we know that this is the right thing to do. We’re going to make it happen.”

 For years, the academy has declined to release a list of Oscar voters. In 2012, The Times identified nearly 90% of its membership, confirming each person’s race, sex and age through interviews, academy publications, resumes and biographies.

 Director Spike Lee. (Markus Schreiber / AP Photo)

 The new Times study updated that list by adding the more than 1,000 people invited to join in the last four years and subtracting several hundred others who have died. The resulting list includes more than 5,800 people, a few hundred short of the academy’s official count of members.

 Though the academy did not participate in The Times’ research, a spokeswoman confirmed that the numbers are consistent with the organization’s own internal reviews of its membership.

 In the wake of the 2012 Times story, the academy invited more women and minority group members. But when it announced its most recent Oscar nominations Jan. 14 and once again all 20 nominees in acting categories were white, the academy was faced with a firestorm of criticism and calls for boycotts of the awards telecast.

 Director Spike Lee — who said he would not attend the Academy Awards despite being awarded an honorary Oscar last fall — echoed the complaints of many when he said the fault was less with the academy than with the gatekeepers in Hollywood who control what films are greenlighted for production.

 The branches that decide which movies are made and how they are promoted are overwhelmingly white. Executives (98% white in 2012) Public Relations (96% white in 2012)

 Indeed, The Times’ review of the academy’s membership shows that the academy branches that hold the most power over Oscar season are the least diverse.

 The executive branch, which finances the movies and determines what films warrant an awards campaign, is 98% white. The public relations branch, which strategizes those awards campaigns, is 95% white.

 Other branches reflect the entrenched nature of certain hiring patterns in Hollywood crafts, such as visual effects, which is 98% male, and cinematography, which is 95% male.

 The announcement of the new rules, which the 51-member board of governors enacted in an unscheduled, closed-door meeting Jan. 21, succeeded in quieting some of the criticism of the academy.

 Some civil-rights groups are still planning to protest the show and encouraging those attending to wear black ribbons or armbands. Even so, the telecast producers have booked more than a dozen black presenters and performers, including Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Kevin Hart, Whoopi Goldberg and Quincy Jones.

 Some in the industry applauded the academy taking such dramatic action.

 “It’s not just an important conversation, but a necessary one,” said producer Jeremy Kleiner, co-president of Plan B Entertainment, the production company behind “12 Years a Slave” and “The Big Short.”

 The most male-dominated branches have hardly changed since 2012. Visual Effects (97% male in 2012) Cinematographers (96% male in 2012) Directors (91% male in 2012)

 “Making systemic changes so that the body of the academy is responsive to changes in culture and changes in personnel is smart,” Kleiner added. “And, if you look at the statistics, overdue.”

 But to reach its diversity targets, the academy will confront a major dilemma in drawing members from an industry in which women and minorities are scarce.

 Each of the academy’s 17 branches has detailed requirements for membership under the group’s bylaws. Actors, for instance, must have three film credits, including one in the last five years. Directors need two credits, with one coming in the previous decade. Visual effects artists are required to have eight years of experience in a “key creative position” to qualify.

 A recent report by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism described an “inclusion crisis” at studios, where 97% of film directors are male and 87% are white, where women hold just 21% of top executive positions and non-white actors garner just 27% of speaking roles.

 Jennifer Warren, a 74-year-old actress and director who is a member of the acting branch and who chairs the Alliance of Women Directors, said the academy merely reflects an industry dominated by white men.

 “It’s not the academy — it’s what the academy represents,” she said. “At least they recognize there’s a problem. And at least they’re embarrassed. I think that’s the only thing that will get movement in this industry is to embarrass individuals who are seen to have never hired a person of color or have never hired a woman.”

 Although the academy’s new rules may have tamped down some of the criticism, they also sparked a rebellion among academy veterans, who say the institution’s leadership acted hastily and without hearing from members.

 Some say the new rules, which now invite members for 10-year terms and require that they remain active in the film industry to retain voting rights, smack of another kind of prejudice.

 “They’ve traded one perceived problem — racism — for another one, ageism,” said one longtime academy member who’s still working in the industry and did not want to be identified.

 Boone Isaacs said she did not know how many people would lose their voting rights after the new rules take effect.

 “We know how difficult it is to get movies made,” Boone Isaacs said. “The fact is that there are people who’ve been in this industry for a very long time who are still at the top of their form. This is a process. We are working this all out.”

 Continue reading »

 How lofty are the academy's goals? The academy will need to dramatically increase the number of women and minorities it invites to join each year to meet its goal of doubling their numbers by 2020. Boost annual invitations Women Non-whites

 In March, Boone Isaacs and the rest of the board will meet to consider their next steps before the academy invites its next class of members later in the spring.

 Actors are the academy’s largest and most diverse branch Actors (88% white in 2012)

 The academy itself might be refining some of its proposed changes. In an email obtained by The Times, academy membership coordinator Susan Allen wrote to actors branch member Carol Eve Rossen that the “process for evaluating whether a member will continue as a voting member is evolving.”

 “Every possible aspect of the process is still under discussion, including the definition of ‘active’ and what the start date for involvement in the industry will be,” Allen wrote, referring to the proposed rule change provision that would require members to work in movies during three 10-year periods in order to retain their active status.

 Actors are the academy’s largest and most diverse branch Actors (98% white in 2012)

 “Clearly, they have taken a step back from their knee-jerk reaction to nominations not to their liking,” Rossen, 78, told The Times. “The outrage of the mem bership has to do with loss of community,” she added, noting that many members who may lose their voting rights have long served on committees evaluating documentary and foreign language films.

 “This year will tell a lot,” Koch said. “We’re not going to lower our standards. That’s what keeps the Oscars the Oscars.”

 Times staff writers Kevin Crust, Marisa Gerber, Taylor Goldenstein, Ben Welsh, Amy Kaufman and Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.

 Contact the reporters

 Graphics by Priya Krishnakumar. Graphics reporting by Sandra Poindexter. Interactive by Jon Schleuss and Armand Emamdjomeh. Design and development by Lily Mihalik and Evan Wagstaff.

 Want more watchdog journalism from The Times? Subscribe today for unlimited digital access » |||||

 "Straight Outta Compton" director F. Gary Gray (left) and actor O'Shea Jackson Jr. (right) pose with actor Anthony Anderson (center) after "Compton" won Outstanding Motion Picture at the 47th NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, Calif., earlier this month. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

 When film director Rod Lurie ran into some fellow Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members last month at a deli in Studio City — Hollywood veterans who, like him, would help decide the Oscar nominees for “Best Picture” — talk turned to “Straight Outta Compton,” the highest-grossing movie from a black director in history.

 Lurie thought it was one of the year’s best movies. But the other members — all white men, aged 70 and up — hadn’t voted for it; in fact, they hadn’t even seen it. Only one man had tried watching it, but stopped partway through, waving off the critically acclaimed rap biopic as “too loud.”

 Those men selected American film’s highest honor alongside a group that looks almost exactly like themselves — the academy’s directors branch. Composed of Lurie and many of the nation’s most celebrated filmmakers, the group is 89 percent male and 84 percent white, and roughly half are 60 or older, a Washington Post analysis found.

 “The truth is, those academy members will watch movies that deal with the heroism of the African-American community or the history of blacks, like ‘12 Years a Slave,’ because that interests them,” said Lurie, an Israeli-American director whose work includes “The Contender” and AMC’s “Hell on Wheels.” “What doesn’t interest them is the current black experience or black culture. A movie like ‘Straight Outta Compton’ doesn’t stand a chance.”

 The anger that has again enveloped the Oscars, known through the social-media movement #OscarsSoWhite, has largely focused on the award show’s startling on-screen sameness of age, gender and race: All 20 Oscar acting nominations, for instance, have gone to white actors for two years in a row.

 Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep said her "We're all Africans" comment that she made at the Berlin Film Festival was misconstrued. Backlash over her comments came amid an uproar in Hollywood over this year's all-white Oscar acting nominees for a second consecutive year. (Reuters)

 But academy members say the movie industry’s toughest, most important challenge starts not with the academy, but with Hollywood itself, in the director’s chairs and corner offices of a risk-averse business that rewards old relationships, thrives on replication — and often blocks diverse talent out.

 [Diverse movies are a huge business. Why doesn’t Hollywood make more?]

 The full roster of the roughly 6,200 members in the academy’s 17 branches — for writers, casting directors, visual-effects artists and other specialties — is a guarded secret, and the academy has shared no data on the diversity of its membership, even as it calls for sweeping reforms.

 But by crunching data on academy notices, crowd-sourced databases, private archives and other sources, The Post analyzed the two branches that wield the strongest influence on the nation’s cinema: the directors, whose members preside over America’s most prominent film stories, casts and crews; and the executives, whose studio chiefs, executive producers, investors and movie moguls make the financial decisions that keep Hollywood alive.

 The data reveals a staggering lack of diversity among Hollywood’s top ranks: About 96 percent of the more than 450 members in the executives branch are white and 87 percent are men, The Post found. The average member is retirement age, just over 65.

 While people of color compose 37 percent of the United States and bought 46 percent of the movie tickets sold here in 2014, they are a small fraction of America’s most rewarded directors: Of the branch’s roughly 400 members, 6 percent are Hispanic, 5 percent are black and 4 percent are Asian, The Post found.

 Few if any of these white, male academy members will walk onstage at the glitzy Feb. 28 awards show in Los Angeles. But they wield unmistakable power behind the scenes, by deciding which projects get funded, which actors get cast — and which stories get ignored.

 [In Hollywood, must ‘white’ always equal ‘universal’?]

 If the American film industry truly hopes to be more inclusive, members said, this is where it’d need to start: By encouraging movie and business leaders to film or fund a more diverse range of stars, storytellers and ideas. But the branches’ overwhelming homogeneity shows how slow the industry has been to evolve — and how much work still needs to be done.

 “The heart of the problem isn’t who gets nominated. The heart of the problem is how the industry works,” said academy member Jennifer Warren, a director, actress and founding member of the Alliance of Women Directors. “The academy is a microcosm of the industry, and it (shows) benign neglect more than outright prejudice. It’s not that the industry is prejudiced. It’s that they’re disinterested in anything but themselves.”

 ***

 The Post shared its findings with the academy, but a spokesperson would not address them, saying only that “the Academy is privileged to lead the conversation on diversity, and help move it forward within our organization and the industry.” The spokesperson, Teni Melidonian, added in a statement, “During the last five years we’ve added a record number of women and minorities to our membership, and are confident that the historic changes outlined by the Academy’s Board will only continue to add momentum to this very important effort.”

 The directors branch, which decides the Oscar for best director, has been championed in recent years as a win for racial progress: Its last three awards have gone to Asian or Hispanic filmmakers, including Ang Lee, Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu, who is also nominated this year for “The Revenant.”

 Those three wins are a clear exception from the 88 years of Oscar history. Since 1927, 423 of the 435 nominations — about 97 percent — have gone to white directors. Only four — less than 1 percent — have gone to women, including Kathryn Bigelow, the only woman to ever win.

 Michael Mann, the four-time Oscar-nominated director of “Heat,” “The Insider,” “Ali” and “Collateral,” a board member of the Directors Guild of America and one of three governors of the academy’s directors branch, said The Post’s analysis appeared correct but added that the branch’s recent nominations should show it is not “ossified, conventional, some old boys’ club.”

 “To me, diversity isn’t cosmetic. It’s an imperative. It’s also extremely American,” said Mann, who added he was not speaking officially on the academy’s behalf. “It is less an academy problem than it is an employer problem. The employers have to have diverse hiring, to hire writers and directors and craftspeople who can begin working in the industry … achieve excellence and become something that an academy member can nominate.”

 He blamed that lack of diversity on a “self-perpetuating … persistence of institutional racism” in the industry, adding that “it feels like people are preserving privileges, or it’s habit or laziness or indifference.” But he also worried about “socially engineering” the academy on the belief that new members would solely vote alongside gender or racial lines.

 “There’s an unconscious implied racism in … thinking that if there are more women or Hispanics or Asians or blacks, that they will vote female, Hispanic, Asian or black. That’s an insult,” he said. “(‘12 Years a Slave’ director) Steve McQueen isn’t going to vote for a film because the director is black. He’s going to vote for an excellent film.”

 [Academy announces major changes to membership amid #OscarsSoWhite backlash]

 But the academy is only the “end of the train,” as members said -- it can only reward projects that are already onscreen. About 87 percent of lead actors, 87 percent of directors and 92 percent of writers for the top 163 films of 2014 were white, according to an analysis by UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies to be released later this month. Credits for people of color in those jobs actually slid 4 percent between 2013 and 2014.

 Women directed only 3 percent of the major films in 2014, compared to 17 percent of the shows on broadcast TV, University of Southern California researchers said in a study released this week on what they called the entertainment world's "inclusion crisis."

 All too often, those films are greenlit by executives who share producers’ skin color. White men lead all of Hollywood’s six biggest studios except Warner Bros. (where Kevin Tsujihara, an Asian American man, is chief executive), and those studios’ senior offices are run by 39 white men, 15 white women and six people of color. Those chiefs, members said, make decisions based less on color lines than fear of taking a chance on someone new

 “If you’re a studio head, you’re essentially a freelancer, because if you make two or three bad movies you’re a memory,” said Russell Williams II, one of two black men to win an Oscar for sound mixing, for “Glory” and “Dances with Wolves,” and who is now a distinguished artist-in-residence at American University. “So they say, ‘We’re going to go with people we know. We’re not going to cast the net for total strangers.’ Nothing is more frightening than the unknown quantity.”

 Invites to the executives branch have gone to a number of industry veterans famous for diverse film- and dealmaking, including Dreamworks Animation chair Mellody Hobson, Tsujihara and Universal Pictures chair Donna Langley, who ran the company last year when it set the record for highest-grossing studio in history.

 But those members remain the exception: In the executives branch, The Post found more white male billionaires over the age of 60 than black or Hispanic members of either gender.

 [Hollywood’s race problem: An insular industry struggles to change]

 That preference for the same faces can leave deep scars in which stories get told or ignored, said Stephanie Allain, an academy member, film producer and former executive at Columbia Pictures. A champion of black filmmakers in the '90s, Allain advocated at the studio level for “Boyz n the Hood,” the 1991 drama that helped make stars of Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett, and made director John Singleton the first black filmmaker to be nominated for best director, and the youngest, at age 24.

 High-quality films with diverse ideas and characters are out there, Allain said. But in today’s monochromatic Hollywood, executives tend to overlook such movies — or undercut them altogether. Of films like “Compton,” she said, “If it’s a hit, it’s an anomaly. It’s not a trend, it’s a one-off.”

 That attitude is all the harder to change, Allain said, because of how subtle it can be, particularly on film sets and in studio offices where most everyone looks the same.

 “It’s not overt. It’s not like you’re in Alabama and they’re shutting down the DMV. It’s people you love, people you work with or grew up with, who aren’t aware of the way they’re biased about the material, about other cultures,” Allain said. “And yet we set the tone for what the whole world sees.”

 ***

 The academy last month launched what it called an “ambitious, global campaign” to broaden its member base, saying it wants to double its count of “women and diverse members” by 2020. The board has also discussed other inclusion measures, such as allowing more academy hopefuls to apply for membership and expanding the number of Best Picture and acting nominees.

 “The academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the academy president and a black woman, in a statement. Isaacs was not made available for comment for this story, but at an Oscar nominees luncheon this month, she said, “This year, there’s an elephant in the room. I have asked the elephant to leave.”

 The academy’s diversity problem starts right at the top: Boone Isaacs and cinematographer Daryn Okada are the only non-white members of the academy’s 51-person ruling body, the Board of Governors.

 Those nominated for an Oscar are automatically asked to join the academy. Other film professionals need to be invited and the only way to receive an invitation is by having extensive Hollywood connections and proven experience. Members can join the executives branch if they’ve spent at least five years as “a driving force” in moviemaking as a chief operating officer, creative head or other senior rank.

 [What ‘Selma’ star David Oyelowo says is ‘unforgivable’ about the Oscars]

 To meet its goal, the academy will have to do far more than slowly add new faces into the fold. In the directors branch, the academy would have to add about 16 non-white members annually for the next four years; a tall order, given that the branch added an estimated 17 total members between 2013 and 2015. To meet its gender goal by 2020, about 10 of those invites would need to go to women.

 Along the way, the academy will likely meet stiff resistance from members, who have fought back against what they call the damaging overreactions of academy reforms. Stephen Verona, a member of the academy’s directors branch since 1972, wrote last month in the Hollywood Reporter, “Try telling the NBA to hire more white, Latino, Chinese or Eskimo basketball players and see the backlash.” He added, “If people make better movies, they will be rewarded. That’s as simple as it can be.”

 The calls for Oscar boycotts from stars such as Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee have become damaging distractions for the academy in the weeks before the awards. Some called on host Chris Rock to drop out.

 The #OscarsSoWhite anger also threatens to undermine the academy’s core moneymaker: The more than $100 million it reaps every year from commercial airtime and other revenue tied to its signature event. The show’s viewership last year plunged 14 percent from 2014 to 37 million viewers, its thinnest audience since 2009. Black viewership fell 20 percent, Nielsen data show, to 9 percent of the total audience, down from 13 percent when Rock lasted hosted the awards in 2005.

 “Straight Outta Compton” ultimately wasn’t nominated for “Best Picture”: Its only Academy Award nod went to the film’s all-white screenplay team. But it earned $200 million at the box office and won praise from film critics — Richard Roeper called it "one of the better musical biopics of the last 20 years" — both of which members said would likely convince executives to give more movies like it a chance.

 “Racism is a big problem in this country, but a lot of this can not be attributed to simply race: That’s a very lazy analysis,” said Gil Robertson, co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association. “This is a town of serial copycats. It’s a business: This town is open to do business. And now that they’ve seen these films can make money, can make a good return on investment, they’re going to jump on that boat.” |||||
What is a summary?

– The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has promised to diversify its membership—but making good on that promise is slow-going: A Los Angeles Times analysis of 5,800 of the academy's 6,261 voting members shows that 91% are white and 76% are male, only a slight improvement from 2012, when 94% of voters were white and 77% were male. What's more, the academy's executive branch is 98% white and its public relations branch is 95% white. Meanwhile, about 87% of lead actors, 87% of directors, and 92% of writers for the top 163 films of 2014 were white, according to a new UCLA study, per the Washington Post. "What doesn't interest them is the current black experience or black culture," filmmaker Rod Lurie says of the academy, which hands out its annual honors on Sunday. "A movie like Straight Outta Compton doesn't stand a chance." The UCLA study also found that women directed only 3% of 2014's major films. The academy says it will double the number of women and minority voters (now 1,500 and 535, respectively) by 2020.


Article:
VALRICO — On the way out of Chili’s, Dustin Snyder dropped to one knee.

 After two years together, Snyder and his girlfriend Sierra Siverio started talking seriously about marriage on Monday.

 On Thursday, he proposed after dinner.

 The young couple can’t waste any time. Snyder, 19, has a rare form of cancer. Doctors say he has weeks, maybe a month to live.

 But Snyder and Siverio aren’t focusing on that.

 They have a wedding to plan.

 •••

 They met at Mulrennan Middle School in Valrico. He was a brown-haired class clown, recalled Siverio, 21.

 "He was a dorky kid," she said. But she was smitten.

 Their middle school romance lasted through sixth grade, until Snyder’s family moved to Lithia and he transferred to Randall Middle School. They lost touch until 2015, when she walked into a Valrico Steak ’n Shake to apply for a job. She was shocked to see Snyder working the grill. They picked up where they left off.

 "He’s just so fun to be around," Siverio said. "He brings people up."

 On June 27, 2016 — the day before his 18th birthday — Dustin went to the hospital with chest pains. His mom thought it was asthma, but the next day doctors diagnosed him with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that targets soft tissue and is more common among teenagers and young adults.

 "When I first found out I was devastated, but then he told me I needed to be strong for him," Siverio said. "Ever since he said that I’ve been by his side."

 Later that week, surgeons removed Snyder’s lung and began chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

 The cancer went into remission. Snyder and Siverio moved into a Valrico townhouse together. A few weeks later, the cancer returned, this time on Snyder’s bladder. Doctors removed part of that tumor but the cancer would return a third time, spreading throughout Snyder’s stomach and pelvis. Doctors said there’s no way to operate.

 A few weeks ago, Snyder began hospice care.

 On Monday, the couple started talking about marriage. Siverio asked when he wanted to get married. As soon as possible, he said.

 "After her being there with me through this cancer, always supporting me and loving me, that’s when I knew she was the one," Snyder said. "I wanted to give her something back before my time was up."

 The next day, Snyder’s sister Brittany Hails posted her brother’s story on Facebook along with a request for a donated ring and tuxedo.

 Within minutes, offers started pouring in. They continued as the story spread on news and social media. A woman donated a diamond ring. Several people donated tuxedos, but Snyder took an offer by the Men’s Warehouse to fit him with a new one. A company called Solid Asset Solution in Tampa donated a wedding dress — blue sequins with a sweetheart neckline and a long flowing train like Elsa the Snow Queen in Disney’s Frozen — and seven dresses for Siverio’s maid of honor and bridesmaids. The Big Red Barn in Plant City offered to host the wedding and reception on Sunday.

 Hails started a GoFundMe page to cover other costs and had raised nearly $13,000 by Friday. On Thursday, Hails posted an update, saying they had met their goal for the wedding and the donations left over will go to help the family with other expenses, including the costs "when the day comes for Dustin to be at rest."

 "I didn’t think it would go this far, but God was on our side," said Hails, 27. "Dustin’s really excited, and all we wanted is for him to be happy. And he’s happy right now. "

 •••

 The couple say they have been shocked and overwhelmed by the support from strangers.

 "It’ been amazing to see people in the community coming together and helping me out and supporting my family after everything we’ve been through," Snyder said.

 Siverio admits her heart breaks with the reality of her fiance’s diagnosis, but she also believes God, not doctors, will decide, and that they’ll be together again eventually.

 "Like I tell Dustin, no matter what, it’s not the end," she said. "I feel like this is the beginning."

 For now, she said, she will focus on making her husband’s life the best it can be, not how much time he has left.

 It’s a philosophy the couple shares.

 "The more you think about it, the worse it gets," he said. "I just like to keep that off my mind and think positively and live life as much as I can until the day I die."

 ï¿½

 UPDATE: Dustin and Sierra were married on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018, at the Big Red Barn.

 ï¿½

 Contact Tony Marrero at [email protected] or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes. ||||| Dustin Snyder, who has terminal cancer, is set to have his dying wish come true this weekend.

 Interested in Be Inspired? Add Be Inspired as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Be Inspired news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest

 The 19-year-old, who is in a hospice with a pain pump connected to his heart, will marry his high school sweetheart, Sierra Siverio.

 "I'm blessed that he has her and that all the time that he's gone through, she's literally been by his side the whole time," Cassandra Fondahn tells ABC News. "That's a lot for a 19-year-old girl."

 Courtesy Brittany Hails

 Snyder has been battling synovial sarcoma since being diagnosed a day before his 18th birthday. After surgery to remove the affected lung and chemotherapy, doctors reported the cancer was gone. Three weeks ago, Dustin was rushed to the hospital when he started experiencing abdominal pain.

 Courtesy Brittany Hails

 His cancer had returned, taking over his stomach and pelvic area.

 Courtesy Brittany Hails

 But now Snyder can look forward a wedding.

 He has been with Siverio for a little over two years but the two have known each other since they were young. They had dated in middle school but had lost touch until Siverio walked into the Steak and Shake that Snyder was working in.

 Courtesy Brittany Hails

 The two have been inseparable ever since.

 Fondahn says the plan to have the wedding came about on Monday with Dustin's sister Brittany Hails setting up a Go Fund Me page to pay for the wedding. The page has received more than $14,098 as of Friday evening, but a wedding dress, tuxedo, photographer and even the venue, The Big Red Barn, have also been donated to the couple.

 Hails tells ABC News that she and her sisters have helped all they could for the wedding but for the community to come together with this is a blessing.

 On Friday, Hails said in a statement that she was "overwhelmed by the love and support by the community."

 "We have made our goal for the wedding but any extra will be going for the cost for when the day comes for Dustin to be at rest," Hails said. "I love and appreciate everyone so much."

 LifePath Hospice is also donating the flowers and bridesmaid dresses for the wedding.

 The couple will be married this Sunday at The Big Red Barn surrounded by friends and family. |||||Summary:

– Dustin Snyder and Sierra Siverio are moving fast. The Tampa Bay Times reports Snyder proposed to his girlfriend of two years after leaving a Chili's in Florida on Thursday. They'd only been talking about marriage since Monday, and they're getting hitched on Sunday. But you have to move fast when doctors give you less than a month to live and marrying your high-school sweetheart is one of your dying wishes. "I wanted to give her something back before my time was up," Snyder says. The 19-year-old has synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer, and doctors say there's nothing they can do, according to WTSP. ABC News reports Snyder is in hospice with a pain pump connected to his heart. But that won't stop him from declaring his love for Siverio in front of friends and family this weekend. Snyder and Siverio dated in middle school and reconnected as seniors in high school when Siverio showed up to the Steak and Shake where Snyder was working. "I'm blessed that he has her," Snyder's mom, Cassandra Fondahn, says. "She's literally been by his side the whole time." Siverio says Snyder was her "first love," and Snyder says she "means the world" to him. “She was there with me since the beginning, and I couldn't imagine being with anyone else,” he tells WTSP. Now the community has come together to give them a wedding, donating a dress, photographer, venue, and even a diamond ring. “I can't believe the amount of people that have reached out to help,” Fondahn says. Another $13,000 or so in donations will help the young couple tie the knot.


– When Adam Seger was brought on as head of restaurant operations at the storied Seelbach Hotel (now the Seelbach Hilton) in downtown Louisville, Ky., he announced that he'd stumbled upon the recipe of a pre-Prohibition drink that used to be the hotel's signature drink and that he tried it, he enjoyed it, and he was putting in back on the menu. But as the New York Times reports, the "rescued classic" that gained fast notoriety and established Seger as a brand name was in fact Seger's own creation, a "ruse" as the Louisville Courier-Journal calls it. Now Seger, who "carried this around" for 21 years, has decided to finally come clean. "I was nobody," says Seger, who left the hotel in 2001, is now 47, and recently helped open the Tuck Room in Manhattan. "I knew I could make a great drink. I wanted it to be this promotion for the hotel, and I felt the hotel needed a signature cocktail. How could you have a place that F. Scott Fitzgerald hung out in that doesn’t have a damn cocktail?" Everyone bought the story (even the historian known as Dr. Cocktail who wrote a book about vintage spirits) and loved the drink, which is made with bourbon, triple sec, bitters, sparkling wine, and garnished with an orange twist. Even the hotel is sticking with the drink as its signature cocktail, saying it's become a hotel tradition and "will remain part of its future." (This is Obama's cocktail of choice.)

Expand this summary.

Buy Photo Adam Seger prepared Kentucky Fosters at the Oakroom in the Seelbach Hilton Hotel in September 1998. (Photo: CJ File Photo)Buy Photo

 The man who claimed to bring back the famed Seelbach Cocktail admitted to the New York Times that the entire story was a promotional move.

 Adam Seger, former director of restaurants for the Seelbach Hotel, said that the cocktail – a bourbon-champagne drink believed to be part of the downtown hotel's history – is actually his creation. He also admitted to concocting the tale of its invention, which has become a part of Louisville lore.

 “I was nobody,” said Seger, who recently helped open The Tuck Room in downtown Manhattan to the Times. “I had no previous accolades in the bar world. I knew I could make a great drink. I wanted it to be this promotion for the hotel, and I felt the hotel needed a signature cocktail. How could you have a place that F. Scott Fitzgerald hung out in that doesn’t have a damn cocktail?”

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 According to a story published in the Courier-Journal on Dec. 17, 1997, Seger said that an Irish hotel school intern discovered the recipe for the drink before he began his tenure as director of restaurants. He decided to include the recipe on the menu as an homage to the history of the hotel, which inspired Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby."

 "The explanation he gives for its creation is this, that a bartender at the old Rathskeller bar opened a bottle of champagne, whose contents shot into the air. The bartender grabbed a customer's Manhattan cocktail to catch the overflowing champagne," wrote the Courier-Journal.

 Shortly after the initial story, the drink was included in “New Classic Cocktails,” a 1997 book by Gaz Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan. It later found its way into “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails," a book by historian Ted Haigh, also known as Dr. Cocktail.

 The Courier-Journal continued to report the story numerous times, including most recently in a Q-and-A with a Seelbach Hotel bartender in January 2013. That article remains linked on the hotel's website.

 "In 1995, the hotel's restaurant director, Adam Seger, discovered the recipe and put it back on the hotel's cocktail menu," the 2013 story said. "In short time, the Seelbach Cocktail has been established as a true classical cocktail and featured on menus all over the world."

 In the Times story, which was posted Monday, Seger said that nobody, including the newspaper and the authors, ever asked him to show the old menu with the cocktail in it. He recently admitted his fabrication to Gaz Regan.

 “To be honest, I always suspected that Adam had created the drink, but I really, really loved it, his story was almost plausible, and I needed recipes for ‘New Classic Cocktails,' " he said, according to the Times.

 While the hotel, now known as the Seelbach Hilton, is aware of the Seger's transgression, a hotel official said that it has no plans to remove the drink from its menu.

 The cocktail "has certainly been a tradition of the hotel and will remain part of its future," said Matthew Willinger, the hotel’s director of public relations, according to the Times.

 The Seelbach Cocktail (Photo: File Photo)

 The Seelbach Cocktail (Makes 1 drink)

 1 ounce Old Forester bourbon

 1/2 ounce triple sec

 7 dashes Angostura bitters

 7 dashes Peychaud bitters

 5 ounces chilled Korbel Brut

 1 orange twist, for garnish

 Combine the bourbon, triple sec and both bitters in a champagne flute; stir briefly, just to blend. Pour in the champagne. Twist the orange peel and rub the exterior of it around the rim of the flute; drop the twist into the cocktail. Serve at once.

 (Source: Previously published in the Courier-Journal on Dec. 17, 1997.)

 Justin Sayers can be reached at (502) 582-4252 or jsayers@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_JustinSayers.

 Read or Share this story: http://cjky.it/2fatRmT ||||| For the last 20 years, if you were in the bar business and knew one thing about the bartender Adam Seger, it was that he was the man behind the Seelbach cocktail.

 The Seelbach is named after the Seelbach Hotel (today the Seelbach Hilton), a storied century-old lodging in downtown Louisville, Ky., that is mentioned briefly in “The Great Gatsby.” Shortly after being put in charge of the hotel’s bar and restaurant operations in 1995, Mr. Seger declared that he had discovered a recipe for a pre-Prohibition cocktail that was once the hotel’s signature drink. He tested it, liked it and put it on the menu.

 The news media soon picked up on the tale, and within a few years, the Seelbach cocktail was regarded as a rescued classic. It’s a tantalizing back story, one that has charmed cocktail writers and aficionados for years, and there’s only one thing wrong with it: None of it is true. |||||


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more. ||||| Abstract

 Pole vaulting is a unique sport in that athletes often land from heights ranging from 10 to 20 feet. We retrospectively reviewed 32 catastrophic pole-vault injuries that were reported to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research between 1982 and 1998. The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanisms of injury so that preventive strategies can be implemented. Information was obtained by means of a telephone interview with someone familiar with the accident. All injuries occurred in male athletes at an average age of 17.5 years; 31 were catastrophic head injuries and 1 was a thoracic spine fracture that resulted in paraplegia. Three common mechanisms were identified: 17 (53%) athletes landed with their body on the landing pad and their head on the surrounding hard ground, 8 (25%) landed in the vault box after being stranded at the height of the jump, and 5 (16%) completely missed the landing pad. The mechanism of injury in the remaining two athletes was unknown. The accident resulted in death in 16 (50%) athletes and in permanent disability in 6 (19%). Increasing the minimum landing pad size and enforcing the rule requiring soft surfaces adjacent to the landing pads are the primary recommendations for preventing injuries. The authors discuss other rule and equipment changes that may help reduce the occurrence of future injuries. ||||| Abstract

 Background: Although pole vaulting has been a sanctioned collegiate event since the 1920s, little is known about the injury patterns observed in the sport.

 Purpose: To describe injury incidence, patterns, and risks in collegiate pole vaulters.

 Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

 Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of collegiate athletes participating in pole vault over a single track-and-field season. Baseline athlete information was collected on study enrollment. Injuries were recorded in a standardized form to document diagnosis and event circumstances. A log of practice and competition exposures was maintained for each athlete. Injury incidence was reported as the proportion of injured vaulters and number of new injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures. Regression analysis on baseline variables was performed to determine risks for injury.

 Results: A total of 135 vaulters from 15 universities took part in the study. There were 70 injury events reported during 8823 exposures. Forty-one percent of vaulters sustained injury, and there were 7.9 injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures. The low back was the most common injury location (16.7%), followed by the hamstrings and lower leg (13.9% each). Overall, 60% of injuries were to the lower extremities, 21% to the upper extremities, and 18% to the back. No head or neck injuries were reported. Injuries were most commonly muscular strains (39.2%) or overuse type (25.5%). Thirty percent, including 83% of low back injuries, occurred during the plant/takeoff phase of the vault. One-third of lumbar injuries were spondylolysis, with 75% of these being season ending. The odds of injury were 2.7 (95% CI, 1.1-7.1) times greater in vaulters with multiple prior injuries. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– If the words "pole vaulting" don't inspire fear in you, they should. That's the upshot of a Vice article about the sport, which succinctly expresses why: "At 20 feet, a pole vault accident is like someone falling off the roof of their house, while running as fast at they can with a thick pole in their hands." If that sounds like a brush with death, it quite literally can be: A 2001 study analyzed the 32 catastrophic pole-vault injuries that were reported to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research between 1982 and 1998; half the accidents resulted in death, and 6 in permanent disabilities. A follow-up study published in 2012 noted that one safety-related change made in 2003 was an expansion of the landing pad's minimum dimensions. In the 8 years that followed, the study noted only two of the 19 catastrophic injuries were fatal. But the rest weren't pretty: major head injuries and spine or pelvic fractures were among them. And a study of collegiate pole vaulters published this last January found 41% sustained some kind of injury, a figure that researchers saw as suggestive of the fact that "injuries are very common in experienced vaulters." The injury stats aren't good, and the potential pay and fame aren't much better. So why the heck do it? Vice talked to US record-holder Brad Walker (one of 18 men to ever clear 6 meters), who sums up vaulters as "risk-takers, usually with something to prove to themselves ... you won't find a vaulter jumping high who doesn't have at least one screw loose." As for why they stay with it, Vice points to its highly technical and challenging nature: As you approach the box you're a sprinter; then you're a gymnast. Walker says you need "significant body control and spatial awareness," too.


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– "Mama’s done playing games and being a doormat." That was an Australian mother's message to her 13-year-old son when she decided to charge him more than $700 a month for rent, electricity, Internet, and food, Kidspot reports. According to CBS News, it all started when the single-mother's son told her she couldn't control him and bragged, "At least one of us is making money," during a fight over homework. She's unemployed, and the teen apparently makes a small income from his YouTube channel. Deciding her son was acting more like a bad roommate, the woman—going by Estrella Havershim—wrote a letter to him outlining his new bills and shared it on Facebook, where it went viral, Seventeen reports. It's been shared more than 160,000 times as of this story. In addition to the above bills, the letter and its accompanying Facebook post assigned the teen chores in lieu of a $30 maid's fee and a $3 per day charge for renting his clothes, Kidspot reports. "If you decide you would rather be my child again, instead of a roommate, we can renegotiate terms," the letter concludes. Though she took flak from people calling the letter too harsh, she also drew support from people around the world, with one Facebook comment reading, “Kids these days need a hard lesson so that they become better adults." CBS notes another stated, "We need more parents like you." The tough-love letter apparently worked, with the rebellious teen eventually paying with chores and an apology instead of money. (For parents with bratty kids, there's hope on another front, too.)

Parents around the world are coming to a mother's defense after a letter detailing a "creative" punishment for her 13-year-old son went viral.

 The mom wanted to teach her son, Aaron, a lesson familiar to kids his age: If you want to be treated like an adult, you have to start acting like one.

 To make a point, she took away his clothes, comforter, Legos, stuffed animals -- even the lightbulbs in his room. If he wanted them back, he'd have to pay: rent: $430; electricity: $116; Internet: $21; food: $150. He would also have daily chores.

 "I guess you will need a lesson in independence," Aaron's mom, who wants to be referred to as Estella, stated in a Facebook post. "If you decide you would rather be my child again, instead of roommate, we can renegotiate terms."

 Estella Havisham

 Estella told CBS News she came up with the punishment after her son walked in the door from school a few weeks ago and told her he didn't have any homework. Later that night, he ran into her bedroom, searching for colored pencils to "color something for school."

 "That's it. You are not getting your computer, you're not going to have access to the TV," she recalled scolding him. "He sat at the end of my bed, and just started lipping off: 'You can't take that away from me. You can't control me.'"

 The 13-year-old, who makes a few bucks here and there from his YouTube channel, fired back at his unemployed mom: "Well, at least one of us is making money!"

 Estella, who has been unable to work due to health issues, said that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

 "I wrote the letter to make a point on a lot of different things," she explained. "First off, you're my child, you don't get to talk to me that way. Secondly, you're treating me more like a roommate -- and not a very good roommate."

 When Aaron read the letter, he stormed off, took a long walk and eventually circled back to his mom's room to apologize for his behavior: "I'm so sorry, mom. I'm really sorry. I was wrong. I was out of line. What can I do to start earning my stuff back?"

 As Aaron completed his chores, Estella slowly began giving him his items back, including his precious Internet.

 "I know that he knows it wasn't about making him pay money; it was about having gratitude," she said.

 In the end, Aaron wasn't the only person who learned a lesson. Estella said she did, too.

 "Don't be afraid to be creative -- think outside the box sometimes," she advises. "That's where I have the most success."

 More than 160,000 people shared her letter and nearly 14,000 commented.

 Some agreed, others disagreed with her parenting tactics. But in the end, both Aaron and Estella received praise.

 "We need more parents like you," one Facebook user commented.

 "I wish I were standing next to you. I would hug you sooo tight! And Aaron, kudos to you sir, for being mature enough to work with your mom on this," another replied.

 Despite getting some harsh criticism online, the mom knows she made the right decision.

 "My advice: You know your child best, don't second guess yourself," she said. "If you've made a decision for a consequence for your child, you know that's the right decision." ||||| Estella Havisham, a single mum to a 13 year old called Aaron, has attracted both wild applause and condemnation for writing this tough-love open letter, demanding that Aaron return to behaving like a child rather than a flatmate after he lied about doing his homework and was rude to her face.

 Here’s the note:

 It reads:

 Dear Aaron, Since you seem to have forgotten that you are only 13 and I’m the parent, and that you won’t be controlled, I guess you will need to learn a lesson in independence. Also, as you threw in my face that you are making money now, it will be easier to buy back all the items I bought for you in the past. If you would like your lamp/lightbulbs or access to the internet, you will need to pay your share of costs: Rent: $430 Electricity: $116 Internet: $21 Food: $150 Also you will need to empty the trash Mon, Wed & Friday as well as sweep and vacuum those days. You will need to keep your bathroom clean weekly, prepare your own meals and clean up after yourself. If you fail to do so I will charge you a $30 maid fee for every day I have to do it. If you decide you would rather be MY CHILD again instead of a roommate, we can negotiate terms.

 She then posted the note onto Facebook with the message below, where the whole post was shared over 80,000 times:

 The child is going to have a rude awakening today after the words he exchanged with me last night. Not only will he find this on the door, but his mattress stripped, and the toys and clothes that I bought confiscated. He will have three options.. Buy his own, rent his clothes at $3 a day, or renegotiate his terms of being a child. Mama’s done playing games and being a doormat.

 Positive response from parents everywhere

 Let’s get one thing out of the way first – how cheap is the internet where they live!?

 Estella set the post to ‘public’ on her page and soon people all over the world were adding their opinions, the majority being overwhelmingly positive:

 “Kids these days need a hard lesson so that they become better adults and don’t take things for granted!” wrote one. “Well done! Parenting done right!’

 “Thanks for being the parent and not the friend,” wrote another.

 And, “Good for you mom. I’m 65 years old, the 5th child of six. My parents were poor by many standards, but very hard working, honest people. Disrespectful behaviour to our parents simply was not tolerated. We were not abused but we knew crossing the line brought consequences. Thank you for loving your son enough to teach him about the real world.”

 Unreasonable or attention-seeking?

 But others thought Estella’s threats to charge her 13 year old money for rent and board were unreasonable. “Good luck getting the money! Wouldn’t you rather have them save to get their own place? Would be wiser or for their future college education if desired?” wrote one observer.

 Others thought her decision to embarrass her son by sharing the post publicly proved that she was more interested in showing off her tough-love parenting skills than really teaching her son any valuable lessons. “Why embarrass ur kid on FB like this like really?” wrote one commenter. “You don’t need to broadcast to everyone how you discipline your child, just do it. You just want brownie points.”

 Here’s what happened when he read the note:

 For the most part, Estella seems to have a pretty smart attitude, and she went on to explain later that the note had the desired effect. “This hasn’t hurt our relationship,” she explained of the response she had from her son when she gave him the note. “He and I still talk as openly as ever. He has apologized [sic] multiple times. He even removed some luxuries from his room that I missed. And he is trying harder.”

 She also clarified that she’s not really planning to charge him any money – Aaron earns a small pittance from YouTubing, which Estella knows wouldn’t cover any real expenses. “I wrote him a ‘bill’ to make a point,” she says. “Nothing comes free. Someone is making a sacrifice somewhere down the line.”

 But are kids today really so terrible?

 I would, however, dispute this commonly-held belief that ‘kids these days’ are significantly more rebellious or badly-behaved than previous generations. Who didn’t push boundaries at 13, 15, 17? Who didn’t mope sullenly or disrespect the value of money? As one mum said to me, “In fact, I’d say my teenagers push back less today than I did, because mobile phones mean I can keep track of them and know what they’re up to. They can get away with less.”

 There are differences of course – parents work longer hours and have less time or inclination to discipline in the short moments they have with their kids. But perhaps some of those differences aren’t the fault of the family unit. Job security is much less straightforward or linear than it used to be, and the cost of living has skyrocketed. Can you blame a lot of kids for feeling listless or despondent about their futures, and acting out accordingly?

 But nonetheless, Estella seems to have a pretty solid handle on how to effectively wrangle a teen. We’ll be interested to see if the positive changes last. Go Mama.

 What’s the most creative discipline measure you’ve used with your kids?

 More from Kidspot: ||||| Even if you love your parents more than anyone else in the world, it's hard to keep your temper from flaring up around them every once in awhile. Aaron Havisham, a 13-year-old from Australia, learned to treat his mom Estella with kindness and respect the hard way, after she took a tough love approach to punishing his misdeeds.

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 Aaron lied about doing his homework and was rude to his mom's face — not cool at all. At some point during the argument, he even bragged that he was making his own money now. So Estella left him a note filled with epic tough love, explaining that he was going to act like a terrible roommate instead of a loving son, he could pay her like a roommate.

 Facebook

 If Aaron wants to turn on his lights or have Internet access, he'll have to make monthly payments: $430 for rent, $116 for electricity, $21 for Internet, and $150 for food. (That adds up to more than $700 a month.) He'll also have to empty the trash, sweep, and vacuum every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; clean his bathroom weekly; and prepare his own meals. Every day that he slacks off, his mom will charge him a $30 maid's fee. The note went viral on Facebook, racking up more than 80,000 shares.

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 "The child is going to have a rude awakening today after the words he exchanged with me last night," Estella added. "Not only will he find this on the door, but his mattress stripped, and the toys and clothes that I bought confiscated. He will have three options... Buy his own, rent his clothes at $3 a day, or renegotiate his terms of being a child. Mama's done playing games and being a doormat."

 There's no word on how Aaron dealt with the punishment, but we have a hunch that viral humiliation is enough to whip even the worst-behaved kid into shape. ||||| See more of Heidi Johnson on Facebook |||||


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Insurance company Pacific Life announced Friday that it is pulling its advertisements from Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight” after the host said the “immigration crisis” in America makes the country “poorer and dirtier and more divided.”

 The action came after an advertisement from the company was shown on-screen right after Carlson made the comment on his opening monologue.

 The ad promoted the company as having been “protecting generations of families for 150 years.”

 The company quickly received backlash on social media calling for it to distance itself from Carlson’s program.

 ADVERTISEMENT

 Pacific Life said it would pull all ads from the show "in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program,” according to a statement posted to Twitter.

 “One of our ads appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show last night following a segment where Mr. Carlson made a number of statements regarding immigration,” the company said.

 “As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in,” the statement also read.

 "We will not be advertising on Mr. Carlson's show in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program."

 A message from Pacific Life: pic.twitter.com/bDq9hzia53 — Pacific Life (@pacificlife) December 14, 2018

 A Fox News spokesperson in a statement shared with The Hill called controversy over Carlson's comments "unfortunate and unnecessary distractions."

 "It is a shame that left wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed 'media watchdogs' weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech. We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions," the statement said.

 Updated at 5:45 p.m. ||||| Carlson also insisted immigrants are not “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” but “cynical shake-down artists who have been watching too much CNN.”

 After Carlson’s screed, a Pacific Life ad touted its 150 years of protecting generations of families.

 Critics on Twitter quickly called for sponsors to drop the program. |||||

– Comments about immigrants that Tucker Carlson made on his Fox News show Thursday have just caused a major advertiser to give pause. The Hill reports that insurance company Pacific Life is, at least for "the coming weeks," yanking its ads from Tucker Carlson Tonight as it "[reevaluates] our relationship with his program," per a statement posted on Twitter. What Carlson said that prompted Pacific Life's retreat: Per HuffPost, the Fox host was taking issue with "previous" US leaders who insisted that Americans "shut up and accept" immigrants. Then, in a continued mocking of those previous leaders, Carlson went on to say that "we have a moral obligation to admit the world's poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer, and dirtier and more divided." Pacific Life's ad aired immediately after the opening segment in which Carlson made those remarks. "As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson's statements," Pacific Life says. "Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in." In its own statement to the Hill, Fox News lamented the "unfortunate and unnecessary distractions" it says were spurred by "left wing advocacy groups [that] under the guise of being supposed 'media watchdogs' weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech." Newsweek notes that, before this incident, Carlson has never been boycotted by advertisers, though other Fox News hosts like Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilly (who's no longer with the network) have.


Article:
Paul R. Giunta/Getty

 David Crosby hit a jogger at 55 miles per hour – the posted speed limit – while driving in Santa Ynez, California, according to KEYT. Emergency responders airlifted 46-year-old victim Jose Jiminez, who suffered multiple fractures, abrasions and lacerations, to a hospital. His injuries are reportedly not life-threatening. The incident took place near the singer-songwriter's home.

 Related The Oral History of CSNY's Infamous 'Doom Tour' The band and key associates revisit a wild 1974 run of drug-fueled and ego-ridden gigs

 Crosby told authorities that he had been blinded by the sun at the time of the accident. Neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the accident, according to a police report, and Crosby stopped his vehicle immediately after the accident. TMZ reports police are still investigating the incident.

 The singer-songwriter has kept a low profile in recent months, though he piped in late last year to confirm that Crosby, Stills and Nash would not be touring with bandmate Neil Young ever again. At the time, he said that Young was "very angry" with him and told a fan on Twitter that he knew "at least 20 better guitar players than Neil." Ostensibly, Young was angered by Crosby's comments that his girlfriend, Daryl Hannah, was a "purely poisonous predator," in an interview with The Idaho Statesman.

 Graham Nash chimed in later and said that Young was "just a little upset right now."

 Prior to the controversy, CSN performed with "Neil Young" (or at least Neil Young played by Jimmy Fallon) on the Tonight Show for a funny rendition of Iggy Azalea's "Fancy." The quartet accordingly replaced the rapper's "I-G-G-Y" chant with "C-S-N-Y."

 Last January, Crosby put out a new solo album, Croz, premiering the album via Rolling Stone. "I spent a lot of that time working with Crosby, Stills and Nash these past two decades," he said. "But I wanted to challenge myself and work outside the group. Also, I do things differently than they do and a couple years ago, I just started writing like crazy. I'm so happy that I did." ||||| Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash came together in the late 1960s and have continually split and reformed through the decades. According to The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Young had become a respected elder statesman of rock by the 1990s. Nash, meanwhile, had become a successful photographer while Crosby had become ill and received a liver transplant. Here, Crosby, Stills and Nash perform in front of a crowd at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 2012. Hide Caption 1 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – Blondie formed forty years ago, with Debbie Harry, pictured, as front-woman. "Heart of Glass" was its first big hit, in 1979, and the band followed up with chart-topping singles such as "Call Me" and "Rapture." Here, Harry performs on May 15, 2014 in New York City. Blondie released its latest album, "Ghosts of Download," this week. Hide Caption 2 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – Black Sabbath emerged in 1969, and become one of the leading proponents of heavy metal music. The band -- whose front man, Ozzy Osbourne, became known as the Prince of Darkness -- was critically snubbed but sold more than 8 million albums before Osbourne went solo in 1979. Osbourne and other band members then played together intermittently through the 1990s and 2000s, and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. They joined the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the following year. Here, Osbourne performs onstage at the Barclays Center of Brooklyn on March 31, 2014 in New York City. Hide Caption 3 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – The New York Dolls formed in 1971, and helped drive the punk movement. According to The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, their cross-dressing "captured the outrage and threat of glam." However, tragedy hit the group when drummer Billy Murcia died after suffocating when he mixed alcohol and pills in the band's first England tour. The band played support for Alice Cooper in 2011. Here, the New Yorks Dolls' David Johansen performs at London's Alexandra Palace on October 29, 2011. Hide Caption 4 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – The Rolling Stones formed in 1962 and, while the band has taken breaks, it's never broken up. According to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they hold the record for band longevity. The Stones represented the opposite of the Beatles, according to the biography, epitomizing "the darker, bluesier and more boldly sexual side of rock and roll." They are due to play Australian and New Zealand later this year, after postponing due to the death of singer Mick Jagger's partner, designer L'Wren Scott. Here, Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards perform at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on March 12, 2014 in Shanghai, China. Hide Caption 5 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – ACDC was formed by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young in Sydney, in 1963. "Highway to Hell," in 1979, put them on the U.S. charts and the album "Back in Black," released in 1980, sold more than 22 million copies to become one of the best-selling albums in U.S. history. According to The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, their "rowdy image, giant riffs and macho lyrics" helped make them one of the biggest hard rock bands in history. Here Angus Young of AC/DC performs on stage on the first day of the Download Festival at Donington Park on June 11, 2010 in Derby, England. Hide Caption 6 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – The Who started in 1964, and blasted into the charts with their anthem "My Generation." According to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band "didn't just play rock and roll, they attacked their music and their instruments with raw power fueled by teenage rage." In the late 60s and early 70s they released conceptual albums "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. Here, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend perform at the 02 Arena on June 15, 2013 in London, England. Hide Caption 7 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – The Eagles emerged in the early 1970s from Los Angeles, and have sold more than 100 million albums. The Eagles "Their Greatest Hits" album went platinum and is one of the biggest selling in the U.S. The band broke up in 1980 but reunited in the mid 1990s with a successful tour, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Here, Bernie Leadon, Timothy B. Schmit and Glen Frey of the Eagles perform during "History Of The Eagles Live In Concert" at the Bridgestone Arena on October 16, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. Hide Caption 8 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – The origins of British instrumental group The Shadows date back to 1958, with Cliff Richard as a key front person. The band disbanded in 1968, but started up again in the 70s. They were then inactive through the 90s but reunited in the mid 2000s. Here, the now Sir Cliff Richard performs with Hank Marvin of The Shadows at Kirstenbosch Gardens to a sold out crowd on 9 March 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. Hide Caption 9 of 11

 Bands still going 40 years later 11 photos Bands still going 40 years later – The Beach Boys, known as the band who invented California Rock, emerged in the early 1960s after brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson began churning out easy pop hits like "Surfin Safari" and "Surfin U.S.A.," about the West Coast life. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Here, Brian Wilson, David Marks, Mike Love and Al Jardine of The Beach Boys perform at the Royal Albert Hall on September 27, 2012 in London, England. Hide Caption 10 of 11 ||||| David Crosby was looking forward, but it was right into the sun.

 The Crosby, Stills & Nash singer-songwriter hit and injured a pedestrian with his car Sunday while motoring his 2015 Tesla on a street near his ranch in California's Santa Ynez Valley—but luckily, everyone involved is going to be all right.

 "David Crosby is obviously very upset that he accidentally hit anyone," a rep for the artist said in a statement to E! News today. "And, based off of initial reports, he is relieved that the injuries to the gentleman were not life threatening. He wishes the jogger a very speedy recovery."

 Jose Jimenez, 46, was jogging with his 14-year-old son when the 73-year-old Crosby dinged him with the right front end of his vehicle, according to a California Highway Patrol collision report obtained by E! News.

 According to the CHP, Crosby was going the speed limit—55 mph—and he didn't see Jimenez off to his right because he was driving into the sun. |||||Summary:

– A jogger in California is lucky to be alive after an encounter with folk-rock legend David Crosby. Jose Jimenez, 46, was on a road near Crosby's Santa Ynez when the singer hit him in his 2015 Tesla, which was traveling at or near the 55mph speed limit, CNN reports. Jimenez was airlifted to the hospital with fractures and other non-life-threatening injuries. Crosby stopped after the collision, and the California Highway Patrol says he's unlikely to face charges since the jogger was supposed to be on the other side of the rural road, running against traffic, E! Online reports. A CHP spokesman says Crosby "was not impaired or intoxicated in any way," but he didn't see the jogger because of the sun. "David Crosby is obviously very upset that he accidentally hit anyone," a rep tells E! Online. "And, based off of initial reports, he is relieved that the injuries to the gentleman were not life-threatening. He wishes the jogger a very speedy recovery." Apart from the accident, the 73-year-old singer-songwriter hasn't been in the news much lately, Rolling Stone notes, although he put out new solo album Croz early last year, and last fall confirmed that Crosby, Stills, and Nash would never tour with Neil Young again—but said he knows "at least 20 better guitar players than Neil."


Today, Jennifer Herold, Candidate for The Ohio House of Representatives-7th District, issued a statement regarding Tom Patton’s insulting and discriminatory comments made on “America’s Workforce Radio” on January 18th.

 “On January 18th, Mr. Patton appeared on a local radio show and attempted to disqualify me as a candidate due to the fact that I am the mother of 2 children when he made the following comment:

 ‘The gal that’s running against me is a 30 year old, you know, mom, mother of 2 infants. And you know, I don’t know if anyone explained to her you have to spend 3 nights a week in Columbus. So, how does that work out for you? Umm, I waited until I was 48 til my kids were raised, and at least adults, before we took the opportunity to try.’

 He questioned my intelligence, insinuating I was not aware of the requirements of the State Representative Position. Mr. Patton also specifically implied that I am precluded from running for office until my kids were adults.

 The decision to run for State Representative is one that my family and I took very seriously when we made it. We realize the sacrifice that is involved in holding such a position.

 However, Tom Patton has crossed a line by trying to turn the fact that I am a mother of two children, into a negative campaign issue. It’s insulting for my opponent to suggest that “motherhood” is a liability. In fact, my experience as a Mom is perhaps my greatest strength.

 There are numerous examples of women with children who have admirably served our nation. Sarah Palin was on the Presidential ticket in 2008. At the time she had 5 non adult children, including a newborn. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is the 4th highest ranking member of the Republican Leadership in the in the US House of Representatives, and has had two children while in office. Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor has two sons she has raised while serving in her current role, as well as during her time in the Ohio House and as State Auditor. Ohio House Representative Christina Hagan just welcomed her daughter last December and is now back serving her constituents.

 I would also be remiss if I did not recognize the men who also serve while they have children at home. For example, our own Governor John Kasich has two teenage daughters. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s three children have all been born while he has been in Congress. He commutes weekly between Washington D.C. and his home in Janesville, Wisconsin.

 So I ask Mr.Patton, by your logic, are you saying that 2 Vice Presidential nominees, the highest ranking woman in The House Leadership Team, our sitting Governor and Lieutenant Governor and a colleague in the Ohio Legislature are all unfit to serve? Further, are your colleagues in the Ohio Legislature, the majority whom have had young children while serving, aware of your views? Do you draw a distinction between whether that representative is a mother or a father who is serving?

 I call on The Cuyahoga County Republican Party, The Ohio Republican Party, and any other organizations endorsing a candidate in this race to seriously consider whether Tom Patton’s comments reflect your own values. By choosing to my support my opponent, you are tacitly endorsing his beliefs regarding the inability of parents of children to also serve in the legislature. In a district that is composed of over 50% women, with many parents who successfully balance demanding jobs as well as a family, there is no place for this kind of anti-working parent mentality.

 And once last thing, Tom, only one man in my life is allowed to call me “sweetie.” From now on, I respectfully ask you to refer to me as Jen, Jennifer, Ms. Herold, or your opponent.”

 Ms. Herold encourages those who denounce Tom Patton’s comments to make their voices heard by signing our petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ISupportJen. In addition, they may tweet support using the Hashtag #ISupportJen. Follow Jen on Twitter @Herold4Ohio.

 For more information, please visit our website at www.HeroldForOhio.com. For Media inquiries contact the campaign directly at 440-606-6623, or email to HeroldForOhio@GMail.com. ||||| COLUMBUS, Ohio--Senate Majority Leader Tom Patton, now running for the Ohio House, suggested in a radio interview that his primary opponent Jennifer Herold shouldn't be running for office because she is a young mother.

 "The gal that's running against me is a 30-year-old, you know, mom, mother of two infants," said Patton, a 62-year-old Republican from Strongsville, in a recent radio interview . "And I don't know if anybody explained to her we've got to spend three nights a week in Columbus. So, how does that work out for you? I waited until I was 48 and my kids were raised, and at least adults, before we took the opportunity to try."

 Patton referred to Herold as a "young gal" and, while talking about his role in bringing additional school funding to his area, said, "I want to tell her, 'Hey Sweetie, I just got 27 percent of the pie in just my district, which is nine times what should have been done.'"

 In a release, Herold -- who has two sons, ages 1 and 3 -- said Patton's remarks were "insulting and discriminatory," noting that politicians such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, and state Rep. Christina Hagan have all served in office while raising a family. On Wednesday, Hagan brought her one-month-old baby while testifying before a Senate committee that Patton serves on.

 Ohio Sen. Tom Patton's comments about rival are 'not sexist or out of line,' Cuyahoga GOP chair says

 "In a district that is composed of over 50 percent women, with many parents who successfully balance demanding jobs as well as a family, there is no place for this kind of anti-working parent mentality," she said in a statement, questioning whether Patton would have made the same statement about young fathers in the legislature.

 Herold, who is married, added: "Only one man in my life is allowed to call me 'sweetie.'"

 In a statement, Patton said his comments "appear to have been misunderstood."

 "As a widower who raised five daughters, it was not my intention to suggest that a young mother couldn't serve ably in the legislature," he said. "I used a poor choice of words to express what I know first-hand - raising young children and working is tough. Millions of women do just that every day, including my own daughters. I would ask to be judged on my hard work and advocacy for working families. I sincerely apologize if my words were misplaced on this matter."

 The winner of the House District 7 GOP primary on March 15 will face Democrat David Thurau, a former Berea School Board member, in November.

 Patton made the remarks Jan. 18 on the "America's Work Force" radio show, broadcast on WERE 1490 AM. His comments about Herold being a young mother start around the 32:00 mark. His "sweetie" remark is at 38:40. |||||

Write a summary.

– Ohio state Sen. Tom Patton is a term-limited Republican who's now going after an Ohio House seat, and he's running against a real "sweetie." At least, that's what the 62-year-old called his chief Republican opponent in a radio interview last week, but it's a separate comment he made about Jennifer Herold that has drawn the most fire. In a Jan. 18 interview with Ed Ferenc on the America's Work Force radio show, he questioned why Herold is running while being a young mother, reports the Columbus Dispatch. "The gal that's running against me is a 30-year-old, you know, mom, mother of 2 infants," he said. "I don't know if anybody explained to her you have to spend three nights a week in Columbus. So, how does that work out for you? I waited until I was 48, 'til my kids were raised, and at least adults." Herold, who has 1-year-old and 3-year-old sons, took to Facebook with a lengthy response in which she asked whether the current legislators with children, mothers and fathers alike, are "all unfit to serve." She added: "Tom, only one man in my life is allowed to call me 'sweetie.' From now on, I respectfully ask you to refer to me as Jen, Jennifer, Ms. Herold, or your opponent." Cleveland.com reports Patton has followed up with his own statement in which he "sincerely" apologizes and says his comments were "misunderstood." He notes that "millions of women" balance work and family every day, including his own daughters: "I used a poor choice of words to express what I know first-hand—raising young children and working is tough." The two will face off in the March 15 GOP primary.


– President Trump was on Twitter Sunday morning defending his eldest son and taking aim at two of his favorite targets: Hillary Clinton and the media. In a series of posts starting around 6am, Trump wrote, "HillaryClinton can illegally get the questions to the Debate & delete 33,000 emails but my son Don is being scorned by the Fake News Media?" And: "With all of its phony unnamed sources & highly slanted & even fraudulent reporting, #Fake News is DISTORTING DEMOCRACY in our country!" Donald Jr. came under scrutiny last week after releasing emails confirming he took a meeting last year with a Russian lawyer promising damaging information about Clinton, Politico reports. That meeting has raised more questions about collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. President Trump also tweeted a "thank you" message to former campaign adviser Michael Caputo "for saying so powerfully that there was no Russian collusion in our winning campaign." On Friday, Caputo told CNN that he "never once" heard anyone in the campaign discuss Russia. "No one ever breathed the word 'Russia' to me," he said. "The idea that somebody at that campaign would have had the forethought and the treachery ... or the resources to go out and do this is laughable." Caputo, who resigned from the Trump campaign last June, has strong ties to Russia, advising then-President Boris Yeltsin's re-election campaign and doing PR work for a media company owned by Vladimir Putin's government. Caputo's interview was conducted before Donald Jr. released his emails.

Expand this summary.

President Donald Trump often uses Twitter to rail against the media. | AP Photo Trump slams 'fake news' for treating son unfairly and 'distorting democracy'

 President Donald Trump on Sunday morning tweeted that “fake news” is treating his son unfairly for meeting with a Russian lawyer, adding that the media are “distorting democracy” in America.

 “HillaryClinton can illegally get the questions to the Debate & delete 33,000 emails but my son Don is being scorned by the Fake News Media?” the president said in a series of posts. “With all of its phony unnamed sources & highly slanted & even fraudulent reporting, #Fake News is DISTORTING DEMOCRACY in our country!”

 Story Continued Below

 Also on Twitter, the president thanked former adviser Michael Caputo for defending the administration against accusations of colluding with Russia. In the same vein, he thanked attendees of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament “who far out-numbered the protesters.” Trump attended the tournament on his golf course at Bedminster in New Jersey, on Friday. The event continues through Sunday.

 Trump often uses Twitter to rail against the media. The president in particular has criticized the media for what he calls unfair and biased coverage.

 His son Donald Trump Jr. has come under intense scrutiny since The New York Times last weekend published a story detailing his meeting, along with then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and adviser Jared Kushner, with a Russian lawyer. ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| (CNN) Michael Caputo, a former top Trump campaign adviser with strong ties to Russia, told CNN in an exclusive interview that he "never once" discussed nor heard anyone else mention Russian involvement in the race to defeat Hillary Clinton.

 "No one ever breathed the word 'Russia' to me," Caputo said in the interview, conducted days before he testified to the House intelligence committee Friday.

 Caputo, who advised the campaign on communications, is one of several former Trump campaign aides who are being questioned as part of a multi-pronged investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. In fact, of all of President Donald Trump's campaign workers, Caputo might be the one with the deepest links to Russia: He lived in Moscow for several years in the 1990s, claims to have worked for the Kremlin and continues to try to do business there.

 A colorful public relations specialist and fill-in radio talk-show host in Buffalo, New York, Caputo agreed to testify behind closed doors, at the insistence of the Republican and Democratic committee leaders. But he said he wanted his story -- his denial of wrongdoing -- to be made public.

 "I heard nothing of the kind," Caputo said, when asked if he ever heard anyone inside the campaign discuss Russian assistance. US intelligence agencies have determined that Russia interfered with the election in order to help Trump win. "In fact, we were so busy just trying to keep up with the sun rising and setting on that campaign that I can't imagine anyone had the time, nor the wherewithal to go out there and even do something like this.

 "Anybody who covered the Trump effort knew this was a pell-mell operation from the moment he woke up in the morning until the moment he went to bed," he said. "The idea that somebody at that campaign would have had the forethought and the treachery ... or the resources to go out and do this is laughable."

 Still loyal to Trump

 Caputo talked to CNN on Monday, the day before Donald Trump Jr. released emails that raised further questions about potential collusion between his father's campaign and the Russian government. According to the emails, Trump's eldest son agreed to meet with a woman described as a "Russian government lawyer" because he was told she had damaging information on Clinton. Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and now a senior White House adviser, and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended the meeting on June 9, 2016.

 Less than two weeks later, on June 20, Caputo resigned from the campaign after celebrating the dismissal of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with a tweet that said, "Ding Dong the witch is dead." Manafort, who brought Caputo into the national campaign in April 2016 after his success with the New York primary, replaced Lewandowski as chairman.

 Ding dong the witch is dead! https://t.co/pSqQwmAGz1 pic.twitter.com/5dE7GMeEK6 — That Michael Caputo (@MichaelRCaputo) June 20, 2016

 Still loyal to the President, Caputo defended Trump Jr.

 "You try to find ways to trip up your opponent. And if somebody comes to you and says, 'I've got, you know, the smoking gun on the ... Clinton campaign,' you have that meeting. You definitely have that meeting. ... If that lawyer had contacted me, I would have recommended she meet with somebody else, but I would have passed it up the chain of command."

 Caputo's relationship to Russia

 Caputo's history in Russia dates to 1994, when he says the US government sent him there to help the country's young government design election laws.

 "I was sent there by the Clinton administration to meddle in their elections," he said, flippantly using language that alludes to the current controversy.

 Caputo was forced to resign in 1995 when he bucked the State Department by defending the Russian Election Commission's decision to disqualify a progressive party from an election, according to a Washington Post story at the time.

 After losing his job, Caputo opened a public relations firm in Moscow to help Western companies do business there. He also married a Russian woman (whom he later divorced), helped create a program similar to America's "Rock the Vote" and advised then-President Boris Yeltsin on his re-election campaign. He moved back to the US in 2000 after the Russian economy collapsed and Vladimir Putin was elected president.

 "And ever since then, I've been involved in the former Soviet Union, and I'm not going to stop now," Caputo told CNN.

 Russian links criticized

 Caputo is a protégé of Roger Stone , a Trump adviser who has also agreed to be interviewed by the House intelligence committee.

 Caputo's name arose as part of the investigation in March, when Rep. Jackie Speier, a committee member and Democrat from California, said he was part of a "tarantula web" of links to Russia. Speier referred to Caputo as "Putin's image consultant," an apparent reference to work he did for Gazprom Media, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned energy company that took over an independent TV station in 2001. When pro-democracy groups blasted Putin and his government for violating press freedoms, Caputo was brought in to help smooth things over.

 "I'm not proud of the work today," Caputo told The Buffalo News in March 2016. "But at the time, Putin wasn't such a bad guy."

 In the CNN interview, Caputo denied that he worked to improve Putin's image.

 "No. That's absolutely false," he said, criticizing Speier's office for faulty research. "I didn't work on Putin's image. I was trying to help Gazprom Media explain why they took over NTV, a television network. If that somehow down the line helped the Kremlin, that wasn't what I was hired for."

 Caputo said he came across Putin twice in the late 1990s, when the future Russian leader was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, but that the two never had a conversation. He said he didn't realize Putin had been at a reception in Caputo's Moscow home until he saw photos afterward.

 Over the years, Caputo has continued to do business with Russians, starting with "business leaders and oligarchs who were trying to come to the United States." In 2004, however, he wrote a column in The Washington Post in which he referred to the oligarchs as "brutal billionaires." Facing death threats, he bought a tugboat and a gun and lived at sea -- with a white parrot -- for most of five years.

 Caputo took a break from the boat in 2007 to consult on a parliamentary campaign in Ukraine, where he met his second wife. He has been particularly critical of Putin for Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

 Working with 'both the White House and the Kremlin'

 In 2015, he re-established an old partnership with Sergey "George" Petrushin, founder of the Zeppelin nightclub in Moscow. Their PR agency has offices in New York, Miami and Moscow.

 The firm's website claims that Caputo is "the only executive in history who has worked for both the White House and the Kremlin," a statement that Caputo acknowledged Thursday is not entirely true. In response to a CNN question, Caputo said he worked for then-President George H.W. Bush's losing re-election campaign in 1992, but never for the White House. "I worked on the campaign, not in the building," he said in a text message. "Spent a lot of time in the White House and on the road with the President (Bush) but not WH staff."

 Caputo, who first met Trump in 1988, said he never thought the New York businessman could become president. He said he still supports Trump, and downplayed the ongoing investigations by Senate and House committees and a special counsel -- what he calls the "Russia collusion delusion" -- as a "Democratic strategy" to block the President's agenda.

 "I've had a couple of very significantly in-depth discussions with Donald Trump about America and about patriotism and about the gifts this country has given him," Caputo said. "And he is not the kind of person who would ever do anything like this."

 The testimony

 After testifying for three and a half hours before the House intelligence committee Friday -- an hour and a half longer than expected -- Caputo told reporters that in the hearing he denied having knowledge of any alleged contacts between the campaign and Russia.

 "I spent my time in front of the committee detailing the fact that I had no contact with Russians, that I never heard of anyone with the Trump campaign talking with Russians, that I was never asked questions about my time in Russia, that I never even spoke to anyone about Russia, that I never heard the word 'Russia,' and we did not use Russian dressing," Caputo told reporters in a press conference after the closed-door testimony. "There was absolutely no discussion of Russia on the Trump campaign 'til the day I left."

 Florida Republican Tom Rooney, California Democrat Adam Schiff, California Democrat Eric Swalwell and Washington Democrat Denny Heck attended, Caputo's lawyer, Dennis Vacco, said.

 Heck told CNN's Jim Acosta shortly after the hearing that it was "probably the most fascinating three hours of time I've spent in my nearly five years in the United States House of Representatives." |||||