by | Dec 21, 2024 | Fox News
Former porn star turned pastor Brittni De La Mora is calling on age verification laws to become “mandatory” to “protect children” as Florida is set to effectuate legislation on the matter in January.
Pornhub will soon no longer be available to Florida users after the Sunshine State instituted a new age verification rule for access to adult sites. Taking effect Jan. 1, 2025, the age verification rule is tied to the state’s HB 3, a measure that aims to protect minors online.
Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, emphasized to Fox News Digital that it favors implementing effective age verification, just not specifically in the way Florida’s law was designed, saying other outlets have incorrectly reported it doesn’t support age verification at all.
“They’re deflecting accountability by saying that they don’t want to follow a simple law, which is age verification for pornography,” De La Mora said on “The Ingraham Angle.” “I don’t know exactly what they’re doing with their money, but I do believe that they are not out to protect young children.”
“Fifty-eight percent of minors that have watched pornography for their very first time — they watched it by stumbling upon it through a pop-up ad and so forth. And they weren’t looking for porn — porn was looking for them,” De La Mora said.
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Per the bill, a website or application that “contains a substantial portion of material that is harmful to minors” will be required to verify the age of the user. Through an “anonymous or standard age verification method,” it must confirm the user is 18 or older to proceed with engagement.
In response to the specifications of the measure, Aylo elected to halt access to the adult site in Florida, saying in a statement that collecting “highly sensitive personal information” puts “user safety in jeopardy.”
“First, to be clear, Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults. Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous. Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy. Moreover, as experience has demonstrated, unless properly enforced, users will simply access non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws,” Aylo told Fox News Digital in a statement.
The statement later continued: “The best solution to make the internet safer, preserve user privacy, and prevent children from accessing adult content is performing age verification at the source: on the device. The technology to accomplish this exists today. What is required is the political and social will to make it happen. We are eager to be part of this solution and are happy to collaborate with government, civil society and tech partners to arrive at an effective device-based age verification solution. In addition, many devices already offer free and easy-to-use parental control features that can prevent children from accessing adult content without risking the disclosure of sensitive user data.”
Florida residents still using the app ahead of the deadline are met with a countdown pop-up of how many more days they have access to the site.
“Did you know that your government wants you to give your driver’s license before you can access PORNHUB?” the pop-up reads. “As crazy as that sounds, it’s true. You’ll be required to prove you are 18 years or older such as by uploading your government ID for every adult content website you’d like to access.”
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The pop-up also addressed how it supports minors not having access to the site, and said that preventing use is a “good thing.” It directed readers to alternative methods of blocking minor access, such as “Device-Based Age Verification.”
De La Mora continued: “I was in the porn industry for seven years, and I would be paid extra money to do aggressive, abusive scenes.”
She expanded on how the “pulling hair, spitting and choking” acts often used in porn clips have become “sexual education” for young people.
After speaking with some young girls, De La Mora said many expressed not wanting to have sex again after their first sexual experience.
“I don’t blame the young boys. They are watching pornography, and this is what’s filling their minds, and this is what’s teaching them how to have sex,” she said.
“Protecting children is not a violation of your First Amendment rights in any way. I believe that our government has an obligation to protect children,” De La Mora said, arguing that adult content is “not created with children in mind.” “It is created for adults, and yet there has been no accountability for porn companies.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ communications office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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by | Dec 21, 2024 | Fox News
President-elect Trump announced on Saturday that he has tapped the creator of “The Apprentice” to serve a diplomatic role in the United Kingdom.
In a Truth Social post, Trump named Mark Burnett, a British-American TV producer who was born in London, as the next U.S. special envoy to the United Kingdom.
“It is my great honor to appoint Mark Burnett as the Special Envoy to the United Kingdom,” the president-elect said. “With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role.”
In addition to creating Trump’s former show “The Apprentice,” Burnett also created “Shark Tank” and led production of other programs such as “Survivor” and “The Martha Stewart Show.” In his Truth Social post, Trump said that the producer had created some of the “biggest shows in Television History,” and touted his achievements.
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“He is the former Chairman of MGM, and has won 13 Emmy Awards!” the Republican wrote. “Mark will work to enhance diplomatic relations, focusing on areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment opportunities, and cultural exchanges. Congratulations Mark!”
No one is currently serving as a U.S. Special Envoy to the United Kingdom. Special envoy roles are typically temporary in nature and meant to fulfill a specific mission, though Trump did not specify the purpose of the role in his announcement.
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Earlier in December, Trump tapped Warren A. Stephens to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. James, also known as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.
“Over the last 38 years, while serving as the president, chairman, and CEO of his company, Stephens Inc., Warren has built a wonderful financial services firm, while selflessly giving back to his community as a philanthropist,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“Warren has always dreamed of serving the United States full-time. I am thrilled that he will now have that opportunity as the top Diplomat, representing the U.S.A. to one of America’s most cherished and beloved Allies.”
Burnett did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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by | Dec 21, 2024 | Fox News
Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell was taken off the field in a stretcher during Saturday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs after suffering a gruesome leg injury while scoring a touchdown in the second half.
The heartbreaking scene came just a little over three minutes into the second half when quarterback CJ Stroud connected with Dell in the endzone for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Almost immediately after making the catch, the second-year receiver remained down in obvious pain. He appeared to have sustained a serious knee injury.
Texans players gathered around Dell and prayed over him, as Stroud was visibly shaken by Dell’s injury.
He was eventually taken off the field in a truck.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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by | Dec 21, 2024 | Fox News
As 2024 winds down and Americans look forward to all that is set to happen in 2025, here’s a look at some wild wedding stories that made people laugh, cry and even cover their mouths in shock over the past year.
Brides, grooms, wedding party members and others shared their personal stories — while etiquette experts and others weighed in with professional opinions and advice.
There were plenty of tales to pick from, but here are five over the past year that stood out.
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Which one takes the cake for most surprising of them all?
A couple tied the knot in New York City on June 24, 2023, but their unusual wedding-day choices did not go viral until more than a year later.
Kareem (“Reemo”) and Nova Styles charged guests $333 each to attend the “wedding experience,” which amounted to a full day of activities throughout the city, as they described in their video.
The two pared down their guest list to just 60 people.
“They chose us,” said Nova Styles in a TikTok video. “They ‘hashtag’ trusted the process by purchasing a ticket to attend our wedding.”
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After the wedding ceremony, the guests went to Hudson Yards, a movie theater and One World Trade Center for dancing, food and merriment – with photo shoots occurring along the way, Nova Styles said in the videos.
An anonymous woman in the Bay Area found herself with a nonrefundable wedding reception venue and a called-off wedding – so she did the next best thing.
She donated the venue to Parents Helping Parents (PHP), an organization that provides support to children and adults with special needs, as well as their families.
“The family of the bride shared that our agency, Parents Helping Parents, provided services for the family in support of the bride’s sibling, who has special needs,” said Maria Daane, executive director of PHP.
PHP decided to use the already paid-for space to host “a party for people with disabilities 0 to 100,” Fox News Digital previously reported.
The party, dubbed the “Ball for All,” was complete with food, music, dancing, and a photo booth.
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Daane said she got a phone call from the family of the bride two weeks before the scheduled wedding.
PHP moved quickly. Within three days, the event was planned down to the catering, said Daane.
“I imagine weddings are canceled now and then, but never have I heard of one turned into a community party for those with disabilities and their families,” Daane said.
“It makes me feel grateful for the resilience and kindness of people — that this bride could do something so generous and thoughtful in the face of her own sadness is inspiring,” she added.
An amusing story from England showed that mistakes can happen to anyone – even on one of the most important days of someone’s life.
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Neil Crossley, dad of daughter Amy Totty, who was married in Yorkshire, England, in 2024, had an embarrassing moment captured on film.
At Totty’s wedding, Crossley started walking down the aisle toward the altar — without his daughter.
He said there was a “miscommunication,” and he thought that he had been instructed to begin walking.
Crossley eventually turned around, fetched his daughter, and proceeded on a much more traditional march down the aisle.
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Guests can be heard on video laughing at the awkward moment, which Crossley said he later referenced in his father-of-the-bride speech.
His daughter particularly got a kick out of the whole mix-up.
“I especially appreciated it as I was trying very hard not to cry, and he helped me compose myself,” Totty said.
She added, “It was a special moment none of us will forget.”
A Reddit user who was kicked out of a wedding reception after he drunkenly ordered pizzas to replenish the depleted buffet got the last laugh after he revealed the bride’s father apologized and planned a replacement party.
“AITA for ordering pizza at my friend’s wedding because there was no food?” asked user “Adorable_Distance_15” in a post on the “r/AITAH” subreddit, an advice forum.
In the post, the man said he and his wife recently attended his friend’s wedding, which had about 70 guests, “mostly family.”
The bride’s family, however, ate all the food at the buffet before all the guests could go for their first plates.
“To my surprise, by the time we were called, there was nothing left,” he wrote.
Adorable_Distance_15 and other hungry guests then ordered four large pizzas and some chicken wings to the venue.
As the pizzas ran out, the trouble began. A man, who turned out to be the bride’s father, asked if he could have one of the remaining two slices.
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“I then took the two slices, I put them on my plate and started to eat them, then looked at him and said something like, ‘No, you and everyone at your tables had way more than your fair share of the buffet and ate all of it. This is the reason we ordered food in the first place. And now you have the nerve to ask us to share,’” he wrote.
These comments got the man kicked out of the reception — but after emotions cooled, the father-of-the-bride apologized.
To make up for the wedding reception issues, the father-in-law planned to throw an “after-wedding shindig” for everyone who was at the original wedding, plus other people, said the Reddit poster
A couple who informed their wedding guests they would be put to work on the special day had their actions described as “tacky, tacky, tacky” by a horrified Reddit user.
Earlier this year, Reddit user “joyousfoodie” posted about her cousin’s upcoming wedding, which she described as a “semi-destination wedding” that would be relatively small.
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While the woman said she was fine with both the location and size of the wedding, several aspects of the upcoming wedding did concern her.
“I just found out that the wedding couple are sending ‘cards’ to people [who] are not invited that they are getting married soon and ‘you are in our hearts on this special day’ before the wedding,” she wrote.
“Their excuse is for the sake of ‘curiosity and thinking of them,'” joyousfoodie wrote, “but what I don’t understand is why send this before the wedding?”
The action that prompted the Reddit post, however, was a text from the couple stating that “everyone has a role to help set up.”
“Once the ceremony is done, the wedding party will leave to take photos while the guests set up the tables for the reception,” said the woman in her text.
The couple never asked guests if they would be willing to help out and “just dictated [to] people what to do,” the Reddit poster said.
The couple claimed they could not afford to hire help to set up at their wedding, but the Reddit poster said the couple “went traveling” instead of saving up for their big day.
Other Reddit users told “joyousfoodie” to skip the affair altogether.
“That’s when you decide you are sick and do not go. They are being horrible hosts, and frankly, it’s gross,” user “byteme747” said.
Another Reddit user was a bit more blunt. “The only reason I’d go to this is morbid curiosity,” wrote “Obrina98.”
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by | Dec 21, 2024 | Fox News
Newly elected GOP Congressman Derek Schmidt told Fox News Digital that the efforts of DOGE will be critical in the next Congress and explained why he is optimistic that Republicans will be on the same page in January to push through President-elect Trump’s agenda.
“It’s no more business as usual,” Schmidt, elected in November to represent Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District, told Fox News about the impact of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy as the two lobbied against a 1,500 page continuing resolution that was being debated in the House and opposed by some conservatives for containing too much “pork.”
“Look, that was the top-line message from the voters last November. They want us to make progress on some of these issues, and we’re not going to make progress by continuing to do the same things and expecting a different result. So, you know, it’s going to be messy. It’s going to be tumultuous, but that’s what it takes in order to get this country back on track.”
Schmidt told Fox News Digital that DOGE reforms are part of what Trump ran on.
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“That’s what President Trump promised. That’s what many of us ran on. And that’s what I at least intend to be part of accomplishing,” Schmidt said.
“So anything that helps put the genie back in the bottle, that helps move us back in the direction of this, you know, this federal system, this remarkable system of self-government that our founders gave us and that we have drifted so far from, especially since the New Deal, I think is something I want to be part of trying to help fix. I want to leave this country better for my kids than I found it, and that will not be true if we don’t start getting a handle on runaway federal spending. And on this, the sprawling, grotesque federal bureaucracy that is unaccountable to voters.”
Despite a net loss of two seats in the 435-member House in November, Republicans will hold a fragile 220-215 majority when the new Congress convenes next month giving them a razor-thin margin for error when attempting to advance Trump’s agenda.
Schmidt told Fox News Digital that he expects some “dissension” in the next Congress, which he called “the nature of Democratic self-government” but says he feels confident Republicans will unite on the big issues.
“I think we’re going to get the president’s agenda adopted, look, I think a couple of things are true. One, to the extent that I’ve met my fellow incoming class members in the House and to the extent I’ve talked with current House members, there seems to be a broad sense that everybody knows we’ve got to deliver,” Schmidt, who served as Kansas attorney general for over a decade, said.
“We have this trifecta, so-called, that the voters have given us. They’ve trusted us to do what we said we’re going to do, and everybody, even though they may have different perspective disagreements, understands we’ve got to deliver, and that means we’ve got to find ways to hang together.”
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Schmidt continued, “Number two. What’s different now from, you know, a few times in the past when things have lined up is we have a strong Republican president. President Trump pulled no punches. He was very clear on the campaign trail the direction he wants to take the country, the types of policies that he wants enacted, and the voters approve that, not with just a win in the Electoral College, not with just a win for him in the popular vote, but also with the trifecta to help deliver that so we don’t have to figure out what the agenda is. We have to listen to what the voters said by electing President Trump, what he articulated on the voter’s behalf. And we have to step up, hang together and deliver results.”
After winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote, Schmidt told Fox News Digital it is clear that Trump has a “mandate” from the American people and that House Republicans understand that a deadlock in Congress won’t be something the voters are content with.
“I think the voters knew what they were choosing, and they made that decision and I also think it’s very important, you know, to keep in line what I believe was the top line message, which is do something, make progress on these issues,” Schmidt said.
“If we don’t like as the electorate, if we don’t like what you’ve done, will judge that two years, four years, six years down the road. But do something. This sort of deadlock of accomplishing very little is an unacceptable way to lead the greatest nation on earth. And so I think that sense is pretty widely accepted among at least most of us who are entered into public office, and we’ve got a spirit of let’s get together and act.”
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Fox News Digital asked Schmidt what he is most looking forward to when serving in Congress, and he outlined his excitement about taking part in what he called the “extraordinary experiment” of American governance.
“I don’t I don’t mean to sound like Mr. Smith goes to Washington, but there is a certain element of truth in the idea that each of us who is allowed to represent a group of Americans has an opportunity to be part of this extraordinary experiment in self-government that is still going despite all of its warts and imperfections,” Schmidt said.
“A lot of people who came before us paid great price at great personal expense to build this country into what it is today. We have an opportunity, those of us serving, myself included, to be part of rewriting or writing the next chapter in the American story. And I get excited about that every single morning. Whatever my service in public office ends, whether it’s in two years, ten years or somewhere down the road, I want to be able to look back and say, I made a difference. I left America better than I found it. And so few people have that opportunity and a direct way. I will never lose sight of what I’ve been entrusted with.”
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
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