by | May 3, 2024 | Fox News
Former Bon Jovi member Richie Sambora reflected on his regrets over how he abruptly left the band during its Because We Can tour in 2013.
The 64-year-old musician, who joined Bon Jovi as the band’s lead guitarist in 1983, suddenly exited the group without warning hours before they were set to perform at a show in Calgary. In an Instagram post Thursday, Sambora shared a clip which he wrote was “from the cutting room floor” of the new Hulu docuseries, “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story.”
In the video, Sambora wore a red shirt, black pants and a brown cowboy hat as he spoke to the camera from a living room.
“I heard everything, and I was the guy that really fought for this to be a band,” he said.
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“It’s really hard to be married to four guys,” Sambora continued with a laugh. “And be in close quarters the way we were. That coupled with my daughter coming of age, my wife’s mental health stuff was really acting up, and she needed me.
“And I needed her,” he added, referring to his ex-wife Heather Locklear, 62.
Sambora and Locklear tied the knot in December 1994 and welcomed daughter Ava, now 26, in October 1997. In 2006, the “Melrose Place” alum filed for divorce from Sambora, citing “irreconciable differences.” Their split was finalized in April 2007.
Locklear has publicly struggled with mental health and substance abuse problems over the years. In 2008, she entered rehab to be treated for anxiety and depression. The actress has since sought treatment in rehab several times and has dealt with a number of legal problems.
Despite their divorce, Sambora and Locklear have remained close, and the rocker previously told People magazine he “will always be there” for her and their daughter.
Sambora has also been open about his own battles with substance abuse. He entered rehab for alcoholism in 2007 and again in 2011.
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In the clip that he shared from the docuseries, Sambora apologized to Bon Jovi fans and his former bandmates.
“I don’t regret leaving the situation, but I regret how I did it,” he said. “So, I would like to apologize fully right now to the fans, especially also to the guys because my feet and my spirit were just not letting me walk out the door.”
However, Sambora noted that he felt he “didn’t receive a lot of compassion” regarding the circumstances he was dealing with at the time.
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“I was in this organization for 31½ years, and everybody has their personal tragedies and things like that, but I didn’t receive a lot of compassion coming back for what I was going through,” he said.
“I believe everybody had their own respective perspective on how fame and fortune …,” he continued. “Everybody experiences that at different speeds. That’s how life can get whacked from one guy from the next and blah blah blah.”
Sambora was one of frontman Jon Bon Jovi’s most frequent songwriting collaborators, and the pair penned some of the band’s biggest hits. In the video, Sambora reflected on his relationship with Jon during his time in the band.
“I was essential because I spent more time with Jon than even his wife and was more honest,” he said. “We spent a lot of time in a room with no windows even for the beginning stages of writing the material and recording it.
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“I think that I had a good view,” Sambora recalled. “I was a fan, too. I could be a fan of Jon and be like, ‘I don’t want to hear you sing that’ if I’m a fan in the audience. That kind of thing.
“I think that was one of my primary roles besides being his right hand and an accurate mirror, so to speak.”
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Jon Bon Jovi shared his view on Sambora’s exit from the band.
“If I can accept the blame for working too hard, then I will,” he said. “But it was never anything malicious, and we never had a fight. And there was never any animus.
“Richie had issues that he has now addressed publicly and privately with substance abuse and some anxieties and being a single dad. But we had to continue to do what we do, and he chose not to want to do it any longer.
“So, unfortunately, for him and for us — you know, being in a rock band is not a life sentence. And so he chose not to want to do it any longer.”
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by | May 3, 2024 | Fox News
The U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights is investigating Atlanta’s Emory University for alleged anti-Muslim discrimination on campus.
The investigation comes as college campuses across America are being engulfed by disruptive, chaotic and often violent anti-Israel protests — leaving many Jewish students with no choice but to flee campus or fear for their safety.
The DOE’s investigation comes after the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia) and Palestine Legal filed a civil rights complaint against the school on behalf of Emory Students for Justice in Palestine.
The groups claim that Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students have been called “terrorists,” “fake Muslims” and endured severe harassment, intimidation and discrimination on campus and online. It claims students had their flyers, noting the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, ripped down or thrown in the trash.
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“The last 6 months at Emory University have been difficult for Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students. We want the Department of Education to do what Emory failed to — which is [to] investigate our reports of bias properly, listen to our voices, and hold Emory accountable, so we can safely advocate for Palestinian rights without fearing for our safety on campus,” Emory Students for Justice in Palestine said in a release from CAIR-Georgia about the complaint. “No student should ever feel marginalized, intimidated and unsafe like we have been feeling. We are here to learn, and we should be able to do so in peace without being threatened, harassed and dox[x]ed simply for being Palestinian, Muslim, Arab or a supporter of Palestinian rights.”
When reached by Fox News Digital, Emory University said it received the complaint from the DOE and will respond, but said it is unable to discuss an open investigation.
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Similarly, the DOE confirmed the investigation, but told Fox News Digital it “does not comment further on pending investigations.”
CAIR-Georgia — a group whose main chapter top executive said he was “happy” to witness the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel — praised the DOE’s investigation into Emory.
“It is unconscionable that students have been made to suffer an unsafe and unwelcome learning environment without recourse despite asking the University for help multiple times,” Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia’s executive director, said in a press release. “We hope that this investigation will compel Emory University administration to address the harassment and systemic discrimination faced by Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students.”
The DOE’s investigation into anti-Muslim discrimination comes as students and outside agitators have staged often-violent anti-Israel encampments at universities across the U.S.
ANTI-ISRAEL STUDENTS AT EMORY UNIVERSITY BASH BIDEN, AVOID OUTRIGHT CONDEMNING OCTOBER 7
At Emory, at least 28 people were arrested during a recent demonstration at the Emory Quad. The school said its Police Department “issued criminal trespass warnings to six individuals suspected of committing recent acts of vandalism on campus” and “confirmed that none of these individuals are affiliated with Emory.”
Video taken on campus showed police officers armed with Tasers, tear gas and pepper balls attempting to bring the rowdy anti-Israel agitators under control.
Former FBI Special Agent and Fox News contributor Nicole Parker said the DOE investigating alleged anti-Muslim discrimination on Emory’s campus and not antisemitism is just par-for-the-course with the current federal criminal justice system under the Biden administration.
“It seems that when it comes to investigating members of the liberal progressive movement, the FBI and DOJ almost turn a blind eye,” Parker told Fox News Digital. “But yet they drop the hammer on those on the conservative end of the spectrum.”
Parker stressed that she cannot speak about the DOE, but said the federal criminal justice system in general “picks and chooses who they are going to protect.”
“The FBI claims that the violent and dangerous actions against Jews on college campuses the past couple of weeks are simply an exercise of first amendment rights,” Parker said. “If those activities don’t constitute violation of civil rights or a hate crime — I’m not sure what a hate crime is.”
She pointed to the FBI’s definition of a hate crime. On its website, the FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
COLLEGES CLAIM NOT ALL PROTESTERS GETTING ARRESTED ARE PART OF THEIR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES
When previously reached by Fox News Digital about the anti-Israel and often blatant antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses, the FBI released the following statement:
“The FBI is in close contact with state and local law enforcement partners and, as we do in the normal course of business, we will share any information regarding potential threats. We respect the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights and the FBI investigates individuals who violate federal law through violence or other criminal activity.”
Parker encouraged any students who feel they have been the victim of a hate crime to contact the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
She said “hold them accountable.”
“First amendment free speech is embraced in our blessed nation, but violence, terroristic threats and destruction are not. In fact, those are serious crimes and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Emory Students for Justice in Palestine, but has not yet heard back.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
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by | May 3, 2024 | Fox News
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House on Friday for a visit with President Joe Biden and walked away with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a greater respect for the office.
“I love the merch,” he said, taking off the glasses during a quick appearance at the White House daily press briefing following his visit with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, kidded with reporters that he’d take a few questions — as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”
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“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he said. He’s been to the White House before, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never checked out the Oval Office, and that was quite something, he said. Biden showed off photographs and other Oval Office items, Hamill said.
Hamill said Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill offered an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”
“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also voiced the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
Both Hamill and the White House were vague about his reason for visiting. But Hamill, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a huge social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.
“May The First Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he wrote on May 1.
On Friday he posted, “May The Third Be Absurd That The Guy Who Tried To Steal A Fair Election Is Allowed To Run Again,” a reference to Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
May 4th is unofficially “Star Wars” Day, in part because of the famous Jedi phrase “May the force be with you.” The pun goes, “May the fourth be with you.”
Hamill also lent his voice to “Air Alert” — a downloadable app linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice urges people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.
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by | May 3, 2024 | Fox News
President Biden honored 19 individuals with the United States’ highest civilian award on Friday, many of whom are Democratic allies.
The White House announced the roster for the annual Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, with notable recipients including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Vice-President Al Gore, and former Secretary of State John Kerry.
Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who gave Biden a critical endorsement in the 2020 primary, also received the medal.
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“The Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian award — we the people doing what we can to ensure the idea of America, the cause of freedom, shines like the sun to light up the future of the world,” Biden said of the medal in a video promoting the latest recipients.
Civil rights leaders are well-represented among the recipients, including: LGBTQ activist Judy Shepard, Juneteenth recognition advocate Opal Lee, lawyer Clarence Jones, and Mississippi civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
United Farm Workers president Teresa Romero received the award — as well as Catholic priest Fr. Greg Boyle, an anti-gang ministry organizer.
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Other recipients include long-time talk-show host Phil Donahue, Olympian Katie Ledecky, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, astronomer Jane Rigby, and former NASA Johnson Space Center director Ellen Ochoa.
The first American Indian Olympic gold medalist, Jim Thorpe, received a posthumous award — as did the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.
The only Republican lawmaker recognized is former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who served in the cabinets of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. It replaced the Medal of Freedom established by President Harry S. Truman in 1945, which honored individuals who rendered significant aid to the U.S. in World War II.
It is the highest civilian award in the nation and is intended to recognize “any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Biden himself received the medal from then-President Barack Obama while serving as his vice president on Jan. 12, 2017.
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by dap | May 3, 2024 | Fox News, Mediate
Neil Cavuto questioned Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-SC) claim that pro-Palestine protests on college campuses are funded by Jewish philanthropist and Democratic megadonor George Soros.
Universities across the country have been hotbeds of protest designed to get those schools to divest from Israel as it continues waging war in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. More broadly, they oppose President Joe Biden’s continued aid to Israel.
On Friday’s edition of Your World, Cavuto asked Mace about the demonstrators’ demands and whether universities should negotiate with them.
“There’s a push right now on the part of some of these institutions to negotiate with the protesters and to go ahead and put up for a vote any measure that would call for divesting of funds or investment in Israel,” Cavuto said. “What do you think of that?”
“Well, they want disclosure and divestment,” Mace noted. “I want firings. I want people to be expelled. I want those who are here illegally or here on a student visa participating in these things deported. It’s a very different scenario. If these were peaceful protests, if this were about the First Amendment, I think it’d be something very different, but it’s not.”
Mace then repeated the unfounded allegation that Soros is financially backing these protests.
“You’ve got groups that are funded by George Soros,” she continued. “There are Palestinian rights groups that I believe are involved funded by George Soros and they need to be off our college campuses if they are committing violence. Full stop.”
Cavuto offered a fact check.
“There’s no proof that these are funded by George Soros, by the way,” he said. “Their folks have denied that, but we’ll see exactly where all of this money is coming from.
“We’ll agree to disagree,” Mace insisted.
“Ok, I’ve just looked for the checks and I haven’t seen them yet,” Cavuto shot back.
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The post ‘There’s No Proof’: Fox’s Cavuto Challenges Nancy Mace’s Claim That George Soros Is Behind Campus Protests first appeared on Mediaite.
