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Wild Hollywood Fraud Allegations

Wild Hollywood Fraud Allegations

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
March 19, 2025

Good Wednesday morning. The Major League Baseball regular season had its soft launch yesterday when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. Have a great day!

In Today’s Brief

JFK: Records dump
Hungary: Pride ban
Vance: RNC role
Google: $32B acquisition
Tennis: Labor lawsuit

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Stranger than fiction

Well, this is going to make for a heck of a documentary some day.

The news: Director Carl Erik Rinsch was charged with wire fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes yesterday. The Justice Department alleges the Ronin 47 director stole $11M from Netflix and directed it toward exorbitant purchases and cryptocurrency investments.
The backstory: Netflix outbid competitors for a science-fiction show helmed by Rinsch, paying out $44M for the series over 2018 and 2019. He then asked for an additional $11M in 2020 to finish the show -- the amount he is accused of scamming.
Big picture: Netflix canceled the series in 2021 before a single episode was produced. Rinsch and the boondoggle were the subject of a 2023 expose by The New York Times; the report also alleged erratic behavior by Rinsch. A mediator ruled he owed $12M to the streaming service last year. Rinsch faces up to 90 years in prison.

2) A shell game

Russia continued its seemingly hollow efforts to end its war in Ukraine.

The news: President Donald Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to "an immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure" following a call yesterday. But the Kremlin readout said a truce was struck regarding "energy infrastructure." And then Russian forces bombed a Ukrainian city and took out its electricity.
More details: Putin did not agree to the ceasefire the U.S. and Ukraine had signed off on last week in Saudi Arabia. Trump said talks on a broader ceasefire and peace deal would immediately begin. But Putin again signaled he would only agree to end the war with concessions that would effectively end Ukrainian sovereignty, including a halt to all Western intelligence and military aid.
Summit Series? Trump said he and Putin discussed future U.S.-Russia hockey games featuring NHL and KHL players as a step to re-normalizing relations. Russia has been barred from most international athletics competitions since invading Ukraine and did not have a team in the recent 4 Nations Face-Off.
Big picture: While Trump said the call was "very good and productive," most Western observers said it further reinforced Putin has no serious interest in ending the war without Ukrainian capitulation. The ceasefire terms he agreed to were less than those initially proposed by Ukraine and fell far short of what the U.S. proposed last week.

3) Off the board

One of the FBI's most wanted fugitives is in custody.

The news: Mexico extradited Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales to the U.S. on Monday. He is said to be a top leader of MS-13, a transnational gang recently declared a terrorist organization by the White House. FBI Director Kash Patel called his apprehension "a major victory."
The allegations: A 2022 federal warrant accused Roman-Bardales of drug trafficking and violence against civilians and gang rivals. He allegedly directed gang activities in the U.S., Mexico and El Salvador. The Salvadoran national was captured by Mexican officials in Veracruz.
Big picture: The arrest comes weeks after Mexico extradited 29 high-profile prisoners to the U.S. The country has sought to cooperate with federal law enforcement against drug cartels and border crimes to mitigate trade disputes with the Trump Administration (and has had more success than Canada on that front to an extent).

Quick Tips

U.S. News

New John F. Kennedy assassination records were released last night. Some documents were redacted despite President Trump's pledge they would not be; some remain withheld under court-ordered seal (More)
A Texas measles outbreak is about to match last year's national case total. Close to 300 people have been infected, with one death in the state and another in nearby New Mexico; the bulk of patients are not vaccinated against the disease or have unknown vaccination status (More)
A Georgia day care center is accused of giving kids Benadryl to make them sleepy at nap time. Three people have been arrested; the business, which operates out of a church, was ordered to shut down (More)

World News

Hungary's parliament outlawed Pride events in the country. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has cracked down on the LGBTQ+ community's rights; the ban is said to target Budapest's annual event (More)
Peru declared a state of emergency in its capital city. A violent crimewave has engulfed Lima; the order gives military troops and police wide latitude to detain people (More)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top political rival could be barred from seeking the office in 2028. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's college diploma was revoked; presidential candidates must have university degrees to be eligible (More)

Political News

Vice President J.D. Vance will be the Republican National Committee's finance chairman. The position leads fundraising efforts for the 2026 midterm elections; no sitting VP has ever held it (More)
Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked conservative calls to impeach judges who have ruled against the Trump Administration. He did not specifically name President Trump, but the rare Supreme Court statement came after the president attacked a federal judge on social media (More)
Wisconsin Supreme Court early voting began yesterday. The battle for an open seat on the seven-judge panel has drawn national attention and seen significant out-of-state political spending (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed lower yesterday as Wall Street's sell-off resumed. The Nasdaq dropped over 300 points (Dow-0.62%, Nasdaq -1.71%, S&P 500 -1.06%).
Google struck a $32B takeover deal for cloud security firm Wiz, its largest-ever acquisition. The tech giant also agreed to pay $28M to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging it favored Asian and white employees (More | More)
BYD is claiming breakthrough electric vehicle charging technology. The Chinese EV maker and Tesla rival said it has developed an unverified platform that allows cars to reach about 250 miles of range after a five-minute charge (More)

Entertainment & Sports

An upstart professional tennis players union is suing the sport's governing bodies in federal court. The filing alleges "anti-competitive practices and a blatant disregard for player welfare" and seeks a jury trial (More)
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group's film library is open to all bids after filing for bankruptcy. The production house controls over 100 movies, including prominent titles like The Matrix and Ocean's Eleven (More)
Auburn's Johni Broome and Duke's Cooper Flagg were unanimous picks to the Associated Press men's basketball All-America team. Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., Alabama's Mark Sears and Purdue's Braden Smith also earned first-team honors (More)

Quick Hitters

Real Hero: A British delivery driver -- who wasn't even supposed to be working -- sensed something was amiss at a drop-off. So he went back and discovered the homeowner was having a medical emergency.
Be Safe: Various Lean Cuisine and Stouffer's frozen meals are being voluntarily recalled. Parent company Nestle USA said the offerings could be contaminated by a wood-like material.
Go Deep: All we seem to talk about in the U.S. these days are eggs. Towns in Belgium and France have been giving away free chickens for years to combat food waste, and the idea may begin to catch on elsewhere.
Take Note: Most cereal boxes used to come with toys inside, but they are scarce nowadays. Here's a look at why.
Be Well: Doctors in Switzerland are prescribing a new treatment to combat mental health challenges and chronic illnesses -- they are sending patients to visit art museums and other similar venues.

Watch This

Netflix released a new trailer for Happy Gilmore 2. It will debut on July 25.