Mattel apologizes for link to porn site on ‘Wicked’ movie doll boxes
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(EL SEGUNDO, Calif.) — Mattel has apologized after boxes for some of its new dolls from the movie “Wicked” included a link to a pornographic website.
The packages for the dolls were printed with a web address to an adult film site with the same name as the upcoming movie musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Customers who noticed the mistake shared images of the toy boxes on social media.
Mattel has apologized for the boxes, describing the link as a “misprint.”
“Mattel was made aware of a misprint on the packaging of the Mattel Wicked collection dolls, primarily sold in the U.S., which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page. We deeply regret this unfortunate error and are taking immediate action to remedy this,” the toy company said in a statement.
“Parents are advised that the misprinted, incorrect website is not appropriate for children. Consumers who already have the product are advised to discard the product packaging or obscure the link and may contact Mattel Customer Service for further information,” the company added.
(MALIBU, CA) — A fast-moving brush fire exploded over 14,000 acres on Wednesday, prompting evacuations amid a red flag warning from the National Weather Service.
Ventura County remains under an “extremely critical” wildfire warning while firefighters struggle to gain an edge on the Mountain Fire, which is currently 0% contained.
At least two individuals have been transferred to hospitals for smoke inhalation, Ventura County Fire Chief Justin Gardner said during a press briefing Wednesday evening.
An accurate number regarding damage is expected on Thursday, as the area remains too dangerous to fully assess the damage, according to Gardner.
At least 14,000 people were told to evacuate, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff.
The Mountain Fire is one of two wind-driven fires that broke out in Southern California, leading the NWS to issue a rare red flag warning for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties alerting of an “extreme fire risk” from Malibu into the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Los Angeles, where winds could gust near 100 mph.
“A very strong, widespread, and long-duration Santa Ana wind event will bring widespread extremely critical fire weather conditions to many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Wednesday into Thursday,” according to the NWS warning.
As of Wednesday, at least two wind-driven fires have already broken out in Southern California.
Mountain Fire
According to local fire officials, the rapidly burning Mountain Fire in Ventura County has spread over 14,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders, threatening structures, and leaving several people injured.
“We do know we’ve lost homes, we do know we’ve had homes damaged, and we know of injuries but I do not have any counts,” Public Information Officer Scott Dettorre told ABC News.
“The injuries we do know of are civilian, we do not have any firefighter injuries at this time,” Dettorre said.
Due to extreme wind conditions, fixed-wing aircraft are unable to assist in firefighting efforts, according to the Ventura Fire Department, which said ground crews, helicopters and mutual aid resources are “actively working to protect lives and property.”
Evacuation orders are in effect for Walnut Ave to Balcom Canyon Road and North Highway 118 to the ridgeline and west to Saticoy County Club in Ventura County, according to CAL Fire.
Broad Fire
A second wildfire erupted in Los Angeles County’s Malibu area Wednesday — named the Broad Fire — and has burned at least 50 acres southwest of South Malibu Canyon Road and the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, according to CAL Fire.
Local fire officials have warned residents to prepare for potential evacuations and the PCH has been closed in both directions between Webb Way and Corral Canyon.
Santa Ana wind conditions
Named after Southern California’s Santa Ana Canyon, the region’s Santa Ana winds bring blustery, dry and warm wind that blows out of the desert, drying out vegetation and increasing wildfire danger.
The long-duration Santa Ana wind event will reach its peak on Wednesday, becoming moderate on Thursday, then tailing off to light offshore winds on Friday.
Northeast winds moving 20 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected across the canyons and passes of Southern California through Wednesday, with higher winds in the more wind-prone areas.
Another surge of wind is expected to peak late Wednesday night through Thursday morning with widespread northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph before weakening considerably by Thursday afternoon.
(NEW YORK) — The prosecution and defense are preparing for Monday’s closing arguments in the Daniel Penny trial as it comes to a close after a break for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Penny put Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man, in a fatal 6 minute-long chokehold after Neely boarded a subway car acting erratically.
Penny, 25, is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the May 2023 choking death of Neely on the New York City subway. He pleaded not guilty.
Here are the key takeaways from the trial so far:
The prosecution’s argument
Prosecutors argue that Penny, a former Marine trained in martial arts, should have known that his chokehold maneuver was turning fatal, arguing that Penny held onto Neely “for far too long” — more than 5 minutes after the train pulled into the station and passengers were able to exit.
Neely entered a moderately crowded subway car on an uptown F train at the Second Avenue stop and began yelling and moving erratically, when Penny put Neely in a chokehold. Thirty seconds later, the train arrived at the next station and essentially all the passengers left the train car.
Footage of the interaction between Penny and Neely, which began about 2 minutes after the incident started, captures Penny holding Neely for about 4 minutes and 57 seconds on a relatively empty train with a couple of passengers nearby.
“He was aware of the risk his actions would kill Mr. Neely and did it anyway,” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran said in her opening statements. “Jordan Neely took his last breaths on the dirty floor of an uptown F train.”
Prosecutors further argued that while Penny may be an “honorable veteran” and “nice young man,” he used too much force for too long and was reckless with Neely’s life because “he didn’t recognize his humanity.”
She later continued, “Under the law, deadly physical force such as a chokehold is permitted only when it is absolutely necessary and for only as long as is absolutely necessary. And here, the defendant went way too far.”
The second-degree manslaughter charge only requires prosecutors to prove Penny acted recklessly, not intentionally, according to prosecutors.
The defense’s argument
Defense attorney Thomas Kenniff countered that Penny sought to protect passengers, claiming he was responding to Neely’s “unhinged rage.”
“This is a case about a young man who did for others what we would want someone to do for us,” Kenniff said. “It doesn’t make him a hero, but it doesn’t make him a killer.”
Penny claims to have heard Neely say “I will kill,” said Kenniff, who has said there was no opportunity for his client to de-escalate or stop Neely from the harm he was threatening.
Borrowing from “a bit” of martial arts training he received in the Marine Corps, Penny put Neely into a chokehold without intending to kill him, the defense said, but to hold him until police arrived.
“His conduct was consistent with someone who values human life and that’s why he was trying to protect it so fiercely,” the defense attorney said.
Kenniff insisted his client “does not want to use any more force than is necessary,” but Neely “aggressively resisted” while in Penny’s grip. He said Penny thought Neely, who police say was unarmed, might have a weapon as he waited for police.
Daniel Penny’s interview with police
Jurors saw body camera video that had not yet been publicly released of Penny’s initial encounter with police, more than 4 minutes after he let go of Neely.
On the first day of the trial, the jury saw the officer’s body-worn camera footage that captured the attempts to save Neely and showed his lifeless body on the subway floor.
When searched for weapons, the only thing officers found in Neely’s pockets was a muffin. Nothing else was found in the jacket, Officer Teodoro Tejada confirmed.
Penny is heard saying, “I put him out,” when the officer asked what happened. To prosecutors, the footage — which had not been seen publicly until the trial — is evidence Penny disregarded Neely’s basic humanity.
The defense used Tejada’s testimony to suggest to the jury Penny did not behave like a criminal by fleeing the scene.
“Did he appear cooperative?” the lawyer asked.
“Yes,” the officer replied.
“It didn’t appear that he had anything to hide?” Kenniff asked.
“No,” Tejada said.
Video of Jordan Neely’s subway chokehold death
In a video taken by then-17-year-old high school student bystander Ivette Rosario, a witness can be heard calling out to Penny, “He’s dying…you need to let him go.” Others are heard yelling on the clip to “get the cops!”
Rosario testified that she did not hear anyone say that Neely is “dying” at the time and it’s not clear whether Penny heard it either.
Man who helped restrain Neely testifies A Bronx man who helped Penny restrain Neely ”jumped in and tried to help” so Penny could release his chokehold, according to the man’s testimony.
Eric Gonzalez, who is seen in video footage holding Neely by the wrist, boarded the subway and noticed Penny holding down Neely “with his legs around his waist and his arm around his neck.” Gonzalez testified he did not know why Penny was restraining Neely but he heard people yelling to call for the police.
Gonzalez said he waved his hands in front of Penny’s face to get his attention.
“I said, ‘I will grab his hands so you can let go,’” Gonzalez told the jury. “Just giving him a different option to hold his arm — well, to restrain him until the police came.”
Prosecutors asked Gonzalez to clarify: “If I held his arm down, he could let go of his neck,” he said.
Gonzalez said he watched Neely’s body go limp and let go of him before Penny did the same.
“I tried to shake Jordan Neely to get a response out of him, feel for a pulse, and then I walked away,” Gonzalez said.
Conflicting testimony about the cause of death
Dr. Cynthia Harris of the city’s Chief Medical Examiner’s Office conducted Neely’s autopsy in 2023 and ruled Neely’s death a homicide, with the cause of death as “Compression of neck (chokehold).”
She testified at the trial that “the consensus was unanimous” in the medical examiner’s office that Neely had died from the chokehold, according to Associated Press reporting: “There are no alternative reasonable explanations,” she said.
Forensic pathologist Satish Chundru disputed that determination in his testimony in defense of Penny, according to the AP, arguing that Neely died from “combined effects” of his schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana, a blood condition and his efforts to struggle against Penny.
“In your opinion, did Mr. Penny choke Mr. Neely to death?” defense lawyer Steven Raiser asked, according to AP.
“No,” replied Chundru.
Prosecutors argued that Chundru’s testimony departed from medical literature and his own opinion in similar cases, but Chundru testified that the cases were not comparable to this one, according to the AP.
Marine Corps instructor who trained Penny testifies
According to the AP, Joseph Caballer, the combat instructor who trained Penny, said that Penny was taught how to knock a person unconscious — but that the technique could kill someone if held too long. He argued that someone performing the technique is supposed to let go when the person is rendered unconscious, and testified that Penny used the chokehold in an “improper” manner when asked by prosecutors.
However, the defense claims Penny did not use a strong enough hold to kill Penny, the AP reports.
(MIAMI, FLORIDA) — As Election Day nears, Donald Trump is continuing his long-standing effort to recast the violent events of Jan. 6, 2021, now calling it a “day of love” even as he tries to distance himself from what happened.
A Republican audience member, during a Univision town hall on Wednesday, pressed Trump on his actions that day as thousands of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, temporarily disrupting the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
“I want to give you an opportunity to win back my vote,” the participant said, adding he found Trump’s actions and alleged inaction on Jan. 6 a “little disturbing” and wanted to know why some of Trump’s former top administration officials are no longer supporting him — some even calling him a danger to national security and democracy.
Trump quickly went on defense and in the process repeated some false or misleading claims that have been long disproved or debunked.
The former president said he “totally disagreed” with then-Vice President Mike Pence’s adamance to his constitutional duty to uphold the certification process and not unilaterally reject the election results. Pence has said he is not endorsing Trump this cycle.
Trump then claimed thousands of his supporters who traveled to Washington “didn’t come because of me,” despite his posting on social media in mid-December 2020 that there would be a “big protest” on Jan. 6.
“Be there, will be wild!” Trump famously wrote on Twitter, where he’d amassed some 88 million followers.
One man who admitted to illegally entering the Capitol that day, Stephen Ayres, testified in court documents and before the House Jan. 6 committee that he was influenced heavily by Trump’s activity on social media to come to Washington for the rally at the Ellipse.
“They came because of the election,” Trump said on Wednesday. “They thought the election was a rigged election, and that’s why they came. Some of those people went down to the Capitol but I said peacefully and patriotically. Nothing done wrong at all.”
Trump went on to say, “Ashli Babbitt was killed. Nobody was killed. There were no guns down there.”
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Trump supporter and Air Force veteran, was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer as one of a group of rioters who tried to break into the House floor through barricaded entrances near the Speaker’s Lobby.
She was one of several people who died during or after the riot of various causes. Four officers who responded to the Capitol attack later died by suicide. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was pepper sprayed by rioters, suffered strokes and died the next day. A Washington medical examiner determined he died of natural causes but said his experience that day played a role.
The Justice Department has noted that in court it has been proven that “weapons used and carried on Capitol grounds include firearms; OC spray; tasers; edged weapons, including a sword, axes, hatchets, and knives; and makeshift weapons, such as destroyed office furniture, fencing, bike racks, stolen riot shields, baseball bats, hockey sticks, flagpoles, PVC piping, and reinforced knuckle gloves.”
More than 1,500 people have been federally charged with crimes associated with the Capitol attack, the Justice Department said earlier this year. That includes 571 charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement agents and 171 defendants charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
At least 943 individuals have pleaded guilty — including 161 who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement and 67 who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement with a dangerous or deadly weapon — and an additional 195 people have been found guilty at trial.
Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the DOJ has said.
Jan. 6 began with Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, in which he did tell supporters to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol, as he now likes to note, but also stoked tensions by saying they have to “fight like hell” or they wouldn’t have a country.
“But that was a day of love,” Trump said at the Univision town hall. “From the standpoint of the millions, it’s like hundreds of thousands. It could have been the largest group I’ve ever spoken to before. They asked me to speak. I went and I spoke, and I used the term ‘peacefully and patriotically.'”
The comments come as Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance continue to deny the 2020 election outcome and downplay what transpired on Jan. 6.
Vance on Wednesday when asked if Trump lost the election replied, “No, I think there are serious problems in 2020 so did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use.”
Vance has also said he wouldn’t have certified the election were he in Pence’s shoes in 2021.
The election denialism and Jan. 6 comments have prompted swift push back from Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has cast Trump as a threat to democracy as the 2024 campaign enters its final weeks.
ABC News’ Jack Date, Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
