It is easy to overlook now, with Kevin Garnett long-retired from the NBA and enshrined within the Basketball Corridor of Fame, however the narrative from the early stage of his profession was outlined partly by playoff disappointment and a story that he disappeared within the largest moments.

KG’s Wolves misplaced seven consecutive first-round collection between 1997 and 2003. They had been usually overmatched as a decrease seed, however Garnett took the brunt of criticism — some truthful, some not.

The arc of his profession took a dramatic flip, although, throughout the 2003-04 season. He delivered an MVP season and joined forces with Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell to guide the Wolves to the No. 1 seed within the West. And as soon as there, he helped ship two collection victories, punctuating the second with a narrative-busting effort in a Sport 7 victory over Sacramento within the Western Convention semifinals.

KG’s recreation — 32 factors, 21 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals in 46 minutes of an 83-80 win that wasn’t determined till a Chris Webber three-pointer rimmed out within the closing second — turned a part of his legend, which I talked about on Friday’s Day by day Supply podcast.

That was the final and solely nice workforce in Wolves historical past — till this season. And in a quirk of scheduling that works nicely with our love of round-number anniversaries, the one different Sport 7 in franchise historical past will arrive Sunday in Denver precisely 20 years after that Wolves victory over the Kings on Might 19, 2004.

That additionally occurs to be KG’s birthday. He delivered that masterpiece on the day he turned 28.

Anthony Edwards is greater than 5 years youthful than Garnett and will not flip 23 till August. He does not carry almost as a lot playoff baggage as KG did, neither is it maybe truthful to count on as a lot from an ascending 22-year-old as from a mid-career MVP.

However make no mistake: this is a chance for Ant, simply because it was for KG. Edwards already has a repute as a playoff riser, in distinction to Garnett’s early profession, however it is a likelihood to begin constructing a legacy.

If Edwards delivers a KG-like Sport 7 efficiency and the Wolves win Sunday in Denver, will probably be a second Minnesota followers speak about 20 years later when Ant is long-retired and maybe additionally enshrined within the Corridor of Fame.

The whole lot we find out about Edwards suggests he’s prepared for the second.

Listed below are 4 extra issues to know in the present day:

*Additionally on Friday’s podcast, the Star Tribune’s Kent Youngblood joined me to arrange the Lynx house opener at Goal Heart and to speak concerning the explosive progress of the WNBA.

*The main points actually elevated Patrick Reusse’s column on the Twins’ offensive futility in a three-game sweep by the Yankees.

*The Scottie Scheffler story is unreal.

*You probably have Apple TV+ you possibly can watch the Twins vs. Guardians on Friday evening.

Billie Eilish has received 9 Grammys, two Oscars and two Golden Globes, and each single album she’s launched has hit No. 1. You would be forgiven if you happen to forgot she’s simply 22 years previous. However that swift and early rise additionally means she’s grown up within the public eye, and the highlight of social media.

On Eilish’s new album, Hit Me Onerous and Mushy, her voice resounds with new confidence when a track requires it, although she will nonetheless return to her signature whispered vulnerability when she needs to devastate. The track “Lunch” is likely one of the catchiest songs she and her brother and collaborator Finneas have ever served, with brazenly lustful lyrics which might be equal elements foolish and sultry. “Skinny,” in the meantime, is a fragile masterpiece, with Eilish exposing interior ideas about her physique whereas turning the general public’s gaze again on itself.

Morning Version host Leila Fadel talked with Billie Eilish and Finneas about how their years of collaboration have modified them, as artists and as individuals, and the brand new sides of their creativity which have surfaced on Hit Me Onerous and Mushy. Hear the radio model on the audio hyperlink, and browse extra of their dialog beneath.

This interview has been edited for size and readability.

Leila Fadel: I wish to begin together with your voice, Billie: You appear extra assured pushing your voice in numerous methods. What’s totally different about this album?

Billie Eilish: So many issues. You understand, I began recording once I was 13 — my voice was very younger, and I might solely achieve this a lot with it. And naturally, on the time, the best way we all the time do, I used to be like, “That is my voice, and that is how it’ll sound endlessly.” I did not take into consideration the way you develop up and the whole lot modifications. Over time, touring for a few years and getting again into voice classes, my voice has utterly matured and adjusted and grown. I can do issues that I by no means thought I might be capable of. It has been probably the most superb journey ever.

Hit Me Onerous and Mushy was actually the primary time that I used to be conscious of the issues that I might do, the methods I might play with my voice, and truly did that. That is one factor I really feel very happy with with this album — my bravery, vocally.

Fadel: Is there anyone track the place you have been like, “Hey, I did that with my voice?”

Eilish: “The Biggest” — that one, for positive. However I feel the primary one which I could not even consider that I hit was “Birds of a Feather” — there is a belt on the final refrain. I used to be taking part in round with totally different melodies as a result of I needed it to be just a little totally different than the others. And I keep in mind being like, “Oh, I ought to most likely go up there, however I actually do not assume I can,” and attempting the whole lot else that I might presumably do as an alternative of that, to get away from it. Then I used to be like, “You understand what? I am simply going to should attempt.”

Fadel: You informed Rolling Stone in regards to the making of this album, “This complete course of has felt like I am coming again to the woman that I used to be. I have been grieving her.” What do you imply by that?

Eilish: I feel {that a} large a part of us with the ability to end this album was me needing to be shoved out of my consolation zone: I needed to be pushed out of it to determine what I used to be doing and what I needed and who I used to be. I began out actually younger, and folks determined who I used to be for a very long time, and that made me really feel insane — so I actually needed to show everybody incorrect on a regular basis. For this album, I lastly bought over the necessity to show everybody incorrect. I simply figured it out myself, and it wasn’t about explaining myself — it was about expressing myself. I feel that is what we did.

Fadel: Has that been laborious? I imply, it is sort of unbelievable what you have achieved at simply 22, all that you have already created and been acknowledged for. However you have grown up very a lot beneath scrutiny within the public eye.

Eilish: You understand, a lot of my life is f***ing superior, and I am so conscious of how privileged I’m. However changing into an grownup in entrance of everybody could be very scary and worrying and actually implies that you by no means develop up, in a approach. I am not complaining, however I additionally am: It is sort of horrible, you recognize, beginning at 13, after which “Dangerous Man” got here out once I was 16. It was lots, and it nonetheless is lots. Day-after-day I wrestle with figuring myself out. As an alternative of simply attending to really feel the way it feels to study one thing about myself, I’ve to listen to about what everybody else thinks about it.

Fadel: Finneas, a few of these preparations are spare; some are very lush and layered. I am to know in regards to the secret sounds a producer layers into a combination.

Finneas: What I all the time attempt to go for once I’m working with any artist — however Billie and I clearly work the closest, she’s actually within the room for 99.9% of the whole lot that I am doing, production-wise — it is to encourage her. If there’s drums that we’re writing on a track like “Lunch” — or “Skinny,” the place I am sitting with an electrical guitar taking part in as we’re sitting there writing — to me, it is nearly serving to to articulate the story and the sentiment of the track. If there is a line that I feel ought to all of a sudden be three-part concord, it is due to the content material or the emotionality of it. I feel manufacturing is all about context.

The factor that was novel for me on this album, versus our different albums, was the incorporation of a string quartet [the Attacca Quartet]. I’ve spent a good period of time within the final two years composing for movie and have had the chance to write down elements for string quartets and have liked doing it, studying that craft.

Fadel: How has your method to working collectively modified since “Ocean Eyes,” that first single of yours?

Finneas: I feel that it hasn’t modified in some methods — and it is modified immensely. The actual fact is that we have simply gotten higher and higher at speaking and articulating. Like Billie is speaking about together with her vocal confidence, I had barely ever produced something. Now, we have made her albums collectively, I’ve produced music for different artists, and I really feel extra assured. I’ve simply had extra hours behind the keyboard, so to talk.

Making this album felt, for me, like two individuals who had the chance to study their craft during the last seven years. We have been simply sort of having enjoyable with it, with all of the instruments that we developed.

Fadel: I am one among 5 children — and I like my siblings, however we additionally struggle like loopy. I really feel like that is a part of love. Do you guys ever get sick of one another? Do you ever struggle over the method?

Eilish: We do not get sick of one another, however we undoubtedly struggle — I imply, we’re siblings, that is going to occur. However truthfully, it is nearly higher that it occurs. I really feel like whenever you work with any individual who is not a sibling, when you could have a disagreement, it is actually laborious to say it. You actually do not wish to offend them. What in the event that they by no means wish to work with you once more? With your loved ones, it is a lot more durable to burn a bridge and break up. It takes a whole lot of effort. I feel that when Finneas and I’ve a disagreement, we do not waste time attempting to be good. We, politely-ish, say, “I do not like that.” After which, if we do get into an argument, we’re siblings and we’ll get by means of it as a result of we love one another. It is good, truthfully.

Fadel: Is there any particular track on the album the place you sort of duked it out, and the completed product was a product of you guys working by means of it?

Finneas: I really feel like “Blue” was a track that actually puzzled us.

Fadel: And I hear you singing on that one, proper?

Finneas: No — we wrote that half in a unique key, after which we shifted it into the important thing that it was in. Once you shift the vocal, it modifications the formant. It is simply Billie’s voice pitched down — however I am ready for everyone to assume it is me.

“Blue” has components of a chunk of music from earlier than Billie’s first album got here out. It has components of a chunk of music from Billie’s second album that by no means got here out. I do not know that we had it out or something, however we have been each so puzzled by it that we had a debate about what to do for numerous elements. It was one thing that was driving Billie loopy. We all the time knew we liked the second half, however the first half, we have been like, “It would not really feel proper.” I keep in mind I simply layered tons of drums on it, and it modified the entire vibe.

Fadel: We have now to ask about “Lunch.” It is about uncooked, animal attraction. What impressed that track?

Eilish: This was one of many first ones that we made for the album. We solely had the hook, after which, trustworthy to God, like a 12 months later, we got here again and we wrote the remainder of it.

As quickly as we wrote that hook, it was like, “Oh, OK, we bought one thing right here!” — however we have been stumped on it for a very long time. It is actually laborious to know that one thing might be actually good, and in addition could possibly be dangerous if you happen to make it dangerous. We put lots into that one as soon as we lastly bought again to it. I like that track. It is so enjoyable and it is foolish and it is … I do not know. Life is so unserious. It is necessary to recollect to have just a little enjoyable with it.

Fadel: How do you keep so open and weak in your music as you additionally cope with being so public, due to what you selected to do in life?

Eilish: Once we write a track, I am probably not eager about, “Everybody’s going to listen to this and have one thing to say!” That headspace can actually block you. I feel it is necessary to write down songs with the thought, “I haven’t got to place something out if I do not wish to.” It is best to simply be as weak as you may with out eager about how persons are going to listen to it, after which go from there. Make the track whereas pondering, “Nobody’s going to listen to this.” Then, if you happen to like it and you are feeling snug, you talk about if I am OK with this out on the earth.

Finneas: Two issues. One: She makes music together with her brother. You understand I would by no means play anybody something that she was uncomfortable with. After which the opposite factor is, typically a track can really feel extremely weak the day that you just write it, since you’re dwelling by means of it. After which that track comes out a 12 months later, and you’ve got perspective. The state of affairs has grow to be historical past.

Fadel: It should be a blessing to have that protected area with any individual you have recognized your complete life, that you recognize you may belief in these moments whenever you’re figuring it out with the music earlier than anyone else ever hears it.

Eilish: Oh my God, it is such a blessing. I can not even. Once I discuss to fellow artist associates of mine and so they say they’re within the studio with some random individual they do not know for the subsequent two weeks, I am like, “How the hell are you going to try this?” It is so loopy to me.

Having Finneas is the good factor on the earth for me. I am an open guide — perhaps to a fault — in my life. However I additionally am not super-comfortable with vulnerability or weak spot. Being with my brother and having him be somebody who is aware of me so effectively, typically he can see one thing that I am doing or feeling earlier than I even know that I am doing or feeling it, and that’s actually highly effective and particular. I feel with out that, it might be actually totally different.

This story was produced for broadcast by Mansee Khurana and tailored for the net by Phil Harrell.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Earlier this 12 months, the singer and songwriter Billie Eilish, who’s twenty-two, turned the youngest two-time Oscar winner in historical past, accumulating the Greatest Authentic Music award for “What Was I Made For?,” a fragile existential ballad that she co-wrote for the movie “Barbie.” (She additionally received in 2022, for “No Time to Die,” a moody and portentous Bond theme.) By the way, Eilish can also be the youngest individual ever to have a clear sweep of all 4 of the principle Grammy classes (Greatest New Artist, File of the 12 months, Music of the 12 months, and Album of the 12 months), which she achieved in 2020, for her début LP, “When We All Fall Asleep, The place Do We Go?” At that 12 months’s ceremony, moments earlier than Album of the 12 months was introduced, Eilish could be seen mouthing, “Please don’t be me”; onstage, standing alongside her brother Finneas O’Connell, who can also be her co-writer and producer, she appeared bewildered, if not mortified. “We wrote an album about despair, and suicidal ideas, and local weather change,” O’Connell instructed the group. “We get up right here confused and grateful.” It’s each heartening and barely mystifying that Eilish, who writes sombre, idiosyncratic, goth-tinged electro-pop about her loneliness and tedium, has change into such a lodestone for business accolades. “Man am I the best / God I hate it,” Eilish sings on “The Best,” a forlorn, walloping track from her compact however highly effective new album, “Hit Me Onerous and Mushy,” which was simply launched.

Eilish is understood for taking her time in a track, typically crawling by means of a melody as if it have been a bowl of molasses, and she or he usually chooses to sing in a whisper, letting a notice hold within the air earlier than it dissipates completely. Her vocal type jogs my memory of an evanescing cloud of smoke after somebody blows out a cluster of birthday candles—stunning, fleeting, a bit bit haunted. But, on “The Best,” Eilish belts and bellows. “I waited / And waited,” she wails, her voice getting greater and larger. It’s uncommon to search out Eilish in bloodletting mode, however fury and loudness go well with her, too. Lyrically, a lot of “Hit Me Onerous and Mushy” is about wanting a relationship however failing, in some elementary and inescapable method, to maintain closeness with one other individual. It’s an attention-grabbing downside: needing one thing, but in addition realizing you’re incapable of getting it. The twists and turns of Eilish’s emotional journey are mirrored and amplified by O’Connell’s manufacturing; these songs are vulnerable to sudden adjustments and reinventions, ups and downs. Quicker, slower, shut, far, right here, gone. “L’Amour de Ma Vie,” a brand new track a couple of soured relationship—“You have been so mediocre,” Eilish sings—shifts from a lovelorn, jazz-inflected torch track right into a pulsing membership banger, chilly and threatening. In much less assured arms, that transformation could be disorienting, however Eilish and O’Connell are masterly at discovering the connective tissue between disparate emotions and sounds. Why can’t a love track be mild and aggressive, grounded and spectral? Isn’t love?

From the beginning of her profession, Eilish has by no means been notably snug with celeb, and at occasions she has appeared viscerally repelled by it; the anxiousness and paranoia introduced on by international fame are one other theme right here, and are maybe straight liable for Eilish’s romantic angst. On “Skinny,” the craving ballad that opens the album, she displays on coming of age beneath the scrutiny of strangers. “Folks say I look joyful / Simply because I received skinny / However the outdated me remains to be me and possibly the true me / And I believe she’s fairly,” Eilish sings, her voice feathery and resigned. (“The Web is hungry for the meanest sort of humorous / And anyone’s gotta feed it,” she factors out.) “Skinny” is a beautiful track, wounded and fragile, with a whiff of Lilith Truthful folksiness. It ends with a mournful string determine by the Attacca Quartet, the one different musicians featured on the album in addition to Eilish, O’Connell, and Eilish’s tour drummer, Andrew Marshall.

Eilish writes usually about management, an concept that manifests in photographs of closed doorways and lyrics about feeling caged. (The duvet artwork encompasses a {photograph} of Eilish sinking right into a deep-blue abyss, just under a white door.) “Once I step off the stage I’m a fowl in a cage / I’m a canine in a canine pound,” she sings, on “Skinny.” On “Chihiro,” she is imploring: “Open up the door / Are you able to open up the door?” On “Blue,” which closes the album, she returns to each photographs:

Don’t know what’s in retailer
Open up the door
The again of my thoughts
I’m nonetheless abroad
A fowl in a cage

Claustrophobia, darkness, concern—these are all concepts that Eilish and O’Connell luxuriated in on “When We All Fall Asleep, The place Do We Go?,” however right here they really feel deeper, broader, and extra dramatic. Partway by means of “Blue,” Eilish begins chanting, her voice so flat and filtered that initially I believed it could be O’Connell. For Eilish, fame and despair are entangled, heavy predicaments to endure and, she hopes, survive:

And I might say the identical ’bout you
Born innocent grew up well-known too
Only a child born blue now

Musically, “Hit Me Onerous and Mushy” lands someplace between “When We All Fall Asleep, The place Do We Go?” and Eilish’s second album, “Happier Than Ever,” from 2021. Lately, Eilish’s songwriting has felt extra indebted to jazz-adjacent pop singers resembling Peggy Lee and Amy Winehouse than to the spooky despondency of 9 Inch Nails. “Hit Me Onerous and Mushy” is mature and nuanced, and that feels applicable—the religious distance between seventeen and twenty-two is huge—however I typically miss Eilish’s giddier and extra puerile aspect. Many listeners first got here to know Eilish by means of “Unhealthy Man,” the fifth single from “When We All Fall Asleep, The place Do We Go?” It’s a humorous and ingenious monitor, that includes a campy synthesizer riff and a dramatic tempo change. What made “Unhealthy Man” so intoxicating was the suave method it balanced youthful insouciance—that “Duh,” delivered on the finish of every refrain, was so completely saturated with teen-age disdain it felt like getting hit within the face with a water balloon—and a sort of playful, empowered sensuality. Within the track’s video, Eilish sports activities blue hair, and blood is smeared throughout her face; her eyes are vacant, unfeeling. However she additionally dances round like an unlimited goof, carrying an outsized butter-yellow sweatsuit, and leads a gang of dudes down a suburban avenue from behind the wheel of a toy race automobile.

That exact mixture—“Unhealthy Man” is equal components severe and foolish—jogs my memory of loads of issues, however particularly of intercourse, which could be solemn, typically sacred, but in addition fully absurd. Eilish embraces her carnal appetites on “Lunch,” a brand new track about pure animal lust:

I might eat that woman for lunch
Yeah she dances on my tongue
Tastes like she could be the one

For all of the hand-wringing concerning the lagging intercourse drive of youthful People, Eilish has been outspoken concerning the methods by which that form of bodily communion could be therapeutic. In a latest interview with Rolling Stone, she endorsed the myriad advantages of masturbation—“Folks must be jerking it, man”—and of feminine sexual pleasure extra typically. “I believe it’s such a frowned-upon factor to speak about, and I believe that ought to change,” she mentioned. “You requested me what I do to decompress? That shit can actually, actually prevent typically, simply saying. Can’t advocate it extra, to be actual.” “Lunch” is a bizarre, pulsing monitor, vigorous and sexy. It’s additionally my favourite track on the brand new album, partially as a result of Eilish sounds extremely free, which is to say, she seems like herself. ♦

It’ll be an NBA Sport 7 doubleheader to complete the weekend.

The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves will meet for his or her winner-take-all collection finale Sunday at 6 p.m. MT, the league introduced Friday evening. The sport at Ball Enviornment in downtown Denver can be broadcast on TNT and obtainable for streaming on Max.

The beginning time was depending on the results of Sport 6 between the Knicks and Pacers. If the Knicks had completed off the Japanese Convention semifinal collection Friday with a 3-2 lead, Denver and Minnesota would have been within the afternoon TV slot Sunday. As a substitute, Knicks vs. Pacers at Madison Sq. Backyard takes that area, pushing the Western Convention conflict to the night.

This would be the Nuggets’ first elimination sport in additional than two calendar years and their first Sport 7 for the reason that bubble in 2020. Denver took a one-game lead over Minnesota for second place within the West on the final day of the common season to earn home-court benefit for this collection, together with its grand conclusion. The winner will advance to the Western Convention Finals to face both Dallas or Oklahoma Metropolis.

The visiting staff gained the primary 4 video games of the collection, with Denver erasing a 2-0 deficit. Since then, the Nuggets and Timberwolves have traded residence wins. Minnesota staved off elimination Thursday at Goal Middle with a 115-70 blowout that holds the excellence of being the Nuggets’ worst playoff loss in franchise historical past by level margin.

Need extra Nuggets information? Join the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA evaluation.

Surveillance video obtained by CNN seems to point out music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting ex-girlfriend Cassie in a 2016 resort assault she detailed in a since-settled lawsuit that alleged the rapper bodily and sexually abused her for years.

CNN reported that the video was from an incident in March 2016. It captures a number of angles.

Cassie, 37, whose title is Casandra Ventura, alleged in a federal lawsuit in November that Combs raped and bodily abused her, together with punching, beating, kicking and stomping her over the course of their relationship. The lawsuit was settled the day after it was filed. 

Representatives for Combs, 54, didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark Friday. He has beforehand denied the allegations, calling them sickening. Shortly after the settlement with Cassie, an legal professional for Combs mentioned the settlement was “under no circumstances an admission of wrongdoing.”

Within the go well with, Cassie alleged Combs lured her into the connection from the time they started working collectively whereas she was a rising artist at Combs’ label. She mentioned within the go well with that the abuse lasted greater than a decade and accused Combs of controlling all elements of her life.

Since Cassie’s lawsuit, Combs has been accused in a sequence of lawsuits from others of sexual and bodily abuse, gang rape and “critical criminal activity.” 

He’s a topic of a federal felony investigation and brokers searched his properties this spring.

Combs has denied all of the allegations and has vowed to clear his title.

In line with CNN, the video, captured in a resort hallway, exhibits Combs in a towel with no shirt on. He walks up behind a lady close to an elevator after which grabs her and throws her to the bottom. The person recognized by CNN as Combs then seems to kick her twice. He then begins dragging the lady by her hooded sweatshirt whereas she is on the bottom.

The girl, in keeping with the video, picks up a telephone whereas Combs is out of the view of the digital camera. Combs then enters the video body and seems to shove the lady, who’s not within the view of the digital camera.

Moments later, Combs, sitting in a chair, seems to choose up an object and throw it. The video footage doesn’t have audio.

NBC Information has not independently verified the video.

“The gut-wrenching video has solely additional confirmed the disturbing and predatory conduct of Mr. Combs,” Douglas Wigdor, an legal professional for Cassie, mentioned Friday. “Phrases can not categorical the braveness and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has proven in coming ahead to deliver this to mild.”

In her go well with, Cassie detailed an alleged assault that she mentioned occurred at a Los Angeles resort in 2016 by which she suffered a “black eye” after Combs turned drunk and punched her within the face.

She mentioned that Combs then fell asleep however continued to be bodily violent when he awoke and Cassie tried to depart the resort room, the lawsuit said.

“He adopted her into the hallway of the resort whereas yelling at her. He grabbed at her, after which took glass vases within the hallway and threw them at her, inflicting glass to crash round them as she ran to the elevator to flee,” the go well with said.

She left the resort however returned with plans of “apologizing for operating away from her abuser,” the lawsuit mentioned.

Resort workers urged her to get again right into a cab and go to her condominium, “suggesting that that they had seen the safety footage exhibiting Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her within the resort hallway,” in keeping with the go well with.

In her go well with, Cassie alleged that Combs paid the resort $50,000 to acquire footage of the hallway incident.

On Friday, IHG Accommodations & Resorts mentioned that the resort within the alleged incident is not underneath IHG administration.

“IHG didn’t produce this footage, didn’t obtain cash for this footage, and doesn’t have entry to it,” it mentioned in an announcement.

A supply acquainted with the felony investigation involving Combs advised NBC in March that three ladies and a person had been interviewed by federal officers in Manhattan in relation to allegations of intercourse trafficking, sexual assault and the solicitation and distribution of unlawful narcotics and firearms.

Since final fall, the rapper has been hit with 5 lawsuits in New York accusing him of sexual assault, sexual trafficking and interesting in different felony exercise.

He has settled the go well with with Cassie, however the different fits are pending. 

Legal professionals for Combs have filed paperwork in courtroom in search of to dismiss a Jane Doe lawsuit and partially dismiss one other lady’s go well with.

In March, federal brokers searched the rapper’s houses in Los Angeles and Miami. Three sources acquainted with the matter advised NBC Information that firearms have been discovered at his residences, however no further particulars have been offered.

Dyer, one in every of Combs’ attorneys, issued an announcement following the raids and mentioned that Combs “was by no means detained however spoke to and cooperated with authorities.” He described the raid as an ambush, saying there’s been a rush to judgment primarily based on “meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”

“There was no discovering of felony or civil legal responsibility with any of those allegations,” Dyer mentioned. “Mr. Combs is harmless and can proceed to combat each single day to clear his title.”

On Thursday, a person who was arrested on drug fees whereas federal brokers carried out the searches of Combs’ properties agreed to a plea deal.

Brendan Paul was with Combs as federal brokers searched the rapper’s aircraft and was arrested on the Miami-Opa Locka Govt Airport on fees of possession of suspected cocaine and suspected marijuana sweet in March, in keeping with a police report.

“Brendan accepted the prosecutor’s supply to allow his entry into the diversion program which, after completion, the case towards him shall be dismissed in its entirety,” his legal professional, Brian Bieber, mentioned Thursday.

CNN
 — 

A 2016 surveillance video obtained completely by CNN exhibits Sean “Diddy” Combs seize, shove, drag and kick his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura throughout an altercation that matches allegations in a now-settled federal lawsuit filed by Ventura in November.

The footage, compiled from a number of digital camera angles dated March 5, 2016, seems to point out the rapper, producer and enterprise mogul throughout an incident that, in response to Ventura’s criticism, occurred on the now-closed InterContinental Resort in Century Metropolis, Los Angeles. CNN verified the situation based mostly on publicly obtainable images of the previous resort’s inside.

Within the video, Ventura exits a resort room and walks to a financial institution of elevators. Combs, holding a towel round his waist, runs down a corridor after Ventura. He grabs her by the again of the neck and throws her to the ground. Nonetheless holding his towel closed with one hand, he then turns to kick her, the video exhibits.

As Ventura is on the bottom, Combs retrieves a handbag and suitcase from the ground close to the elevators. He turns round and kicks Ventura once more as she lies immobile on the ground. About 4 seconds transpire between the 2 kicks, in response to the video. He then briefly drags Ventura by her sweatshirt towards a room earlier than strolling away.

Ventura is then seen slowly standing up. She gathers objects from the ground and strikes to choose up a telephone on the hallway wall close to the elevators. Combs, nonetheless in a towel and socks, returns. A mirror straight throughout from the safety digital camera exhibits Combs showing to shove Ventura.

Seconds later, he sits down on a chair, grabs an object off a desk and forcefully throws it towards Ventura. Combs is seen strolling away, then turns towards Ventura as soon as once more when an elevator door opens and somebody seems to exit.

Ventura, who reached an undisclosed settlement with Combs, declined to touch upon the video obtained by CNN.

Ventura’s lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, mentioned: “The gut-wrenching video has solely additional confirmed the disturbing and predatory habits of Mr. Combs. Phrases can not specific the braveness and fortitude that Ms. Ventura has proven in coming ahead to deliver this to mild.”

CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs for remark. Combs has beforehand denied Ventura’s allegations.

When contacted by CNN, a consultant for InterContinental Inns mentioned on Friday, “This resort is not below IHG administration, and we wouldn’t have any entry to prior incident data or footage.”

Combs and Ventura, a mannequin and singer recognized for songs like “Me & U,” have been in an off-and-on relationship from 2007 – 2018. The 2 have been photographed collectively on the Los Angeles premiere of the movie “A Good Match” on March 7, 2016.

In response to Ventura’s criticism, which cited the altercation as occurring “round March 2016,” Combs turned “extraordinarily intoxicated and punched Ms. Ventura within the face, giving her a black eye.”

After Combs fell asleep, Ventura tried to go away the resort room, however he awoke and “adopted her into the hallway of the resort whereas yelling at her,” the criticism mentioned.

“He grabbed at her, after which took glass vases within the hallway and threw them at her, inflicting glass to crash round them as she ran to the elevator to flee,” the criticism alleged.

After Ventura obtained within the elevator, her criticism states that she took a cab to her condo.

“Upon realizing that her operating away would trigger Mr. Combs to be even angrier together with her, and utterly caught in his vicious cycle of abuse, Ms. Ventura returned to the resort with the intention of apologizing for operating away from her abuser,” the criticism claims. “When she returned, resort safety employees urged her to get again right into a cab and go to her condo, suggesting that that they had seen the safety footage displaying Mr. Combs beating Ms. Ventura and throwing glass at her within the resort hallway.”

The criticism alleges Combs paid the InterContinental Century Metropolis $50,000 for the hallway safety footage, one in every of a variety of allegations made within the November lawsuit through which Ventura claimed she was raped in 2018 and subjected to years of repeated bodily and different abuses by Combs.

Ventura, who was formally signed to Combs’ label, claimed in her swimsuit that he “exerted his energy and affect” over her all through the course of their skilled and romantic relationship. In response to the criticism, she was 19 after they met and Combs was 37, and their enterprise relationship lasted till 2019. It detailed claims that Combs was bodily violent towards Ventura and compelled her to interact in varied intercourse acts with different males throughout that point.

Ben Brafman, an lawyer for Combs, mentioned in a press release to CNN on the day it was filed, “Mr. Combs vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations.”

The swimsuit was resolved the next day.

“A call to settle a lawsuit, particularly in 2023, is under no circumstances an admission of wrongdoing,” Brafman instructed CNN in a press release on the time. “Mr. Combs‘ resolution to settle the lawsuit doesn’t in any method undermine his flat-out denial of the claims. He’s completely happy they obtained to a mutual settlement and desires Ms. Ventura the perfect.”

Particulars of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

Since November, Combs has confronted 5 different civil lawsuits accusing him of a variety of sexual misconduct and different criminal activity. He has denied the allegations, and the circumstances stay lively.

Authorities searched Combs’ properties in California and Florida in March as a part of a federal investigation carried out by a Division of Homeland Safety group that handles human trafficking crimes, in response to a senior federal regulation enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The investigation stems from most of the identical sexual assault allegations put forth within the civil lawsuits, in response to a second regulation enforcement supply accustomed to the searches.

Aaron Dyer, an lawyer for Combs, issued a press release on the time, calling the searches a “gross overuse of military-level power.”

“This unprecedented ambush – paired with a complicated, coordinated media presence – results in a untimely rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing greater than a witch hunt based mostly on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits,” he mentioned. “There was no discovering of felony or civil legal responsibility with any of those allegations. Mr. Combs is harmless and can proceed to combat each single day to clear his identify.”

Editor’s Notice: When you or somebody you recognize is battling intimate associate violence, there are assets obtainable, together with the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline.

A earlier model of this story misstated when the searches of Combs’ properties occurred. They occurred in March.

As soon as hailed as “Las Vegas’ first 21 Century resort,” The Mirage Resort & On line casino confirmed Wednesday that its iconic volcano outdoors of its entrance entrance goes dormant lower than 1 / 4 of a century into the brand new millennium.

Proprietor Onerous Rock Worldwide introduced the resort will stop operations on July 17, with bookings being accepted till July 14. The long-lasting resort — sporting a jungle-fantasy theme —was maybe greatest identified for its exploding 54-foot man-made volcano, magicians Siegfried and Roy, and its white tigers and dolphins.

“We’d prefer to thank the Las Vegas neighborhood and crew members for warmly welcoming Onerous Rock after having fun with 34 years at The Mirage,” mentioned Jim Allen, Chairman of Onerous Rock Worldwide in an announcement.

The resort is predicted to be redeveloped into the Onerous Rock Resort & On line casino and Guitar Resort Las Vegas, with the volcano giving strategy to an almost 700-foot guitar-shaped resort. The venture is predicted to open in spring 2027. An analogous 638-room resort stands in Hollywood, Fla.

The Related Press reported that greater than 3,000 staff shall be laid off. Onerous Rock acknowledged it might pay roughly $80 million in severance packages for union and nonunion labor.

The Culinary and Bartenders Union accounts for about 1,700 Mirage staff. It introduced Wednesday that its staff have two choices.

The primary was a severance package deal of $2,000 for yearly of service plus six months of pension and well being advantages. The second choice provides staff a lesser, undisclosed quantity whereas sustaining seniority rights all through the property’s closure together with 36 months of recall rights for jobs on the new resort.

“Culinary Union members at The Mirage have a powerful union contract, making certain that staff are protected, even because the property closes its doorways solely for 3 years from July 2024 – Might 2027,” mentioned Ted Pappageorge, Culinary Union secretary-treasurer, in an announcement Wednesday.

The brand new resort is projected to make use of almost 7,000 staff, in line with Onerous Rock administration, whereas 2,500 building jobs are anticipated in the course of the rebuilding course of.

Onerous Rock mentioned that every one reservations past July 14 can be canceled and that visitors ought to contact the visitor companies division or reserving company for a refund.

The Mirage’s closure is the second on the strip this yr.

In April, the 66-year-old Tropicana closed its doorways to make approach for a 30,000-seat stadium that’s anticipated to function the house of the Oakland A’s.

The Mirage’s opening by on line casino tycoon Stephen A. Wynn in 1989 was hailed because the ushering of a brand new period of resorts. It was the primary strip resort to open for the reason that MGM Grand in 1973.

Wynn shelled out $600 million, then the most costly on line casino venture, for the sprawling 103-acre property.

The Mirage was the primary totally built-in resort, in line with Alan Feldman, a Distinguished Fellow at UNLV’s Worldwide Gaming Institute.

Integration meant working and treating all sides of the resort, together with on line casino, meals and beverage, retail, leisure and conference house, with equal significance, in line with Feldman, who rose to grow to be an govt with the Mirage and stayed from 1989 to 2019.

Feldman mentioned resort homeowners beforehand cared first concerning the on line casino and “every thing else was final.”

“They gave away leisure, meals and rooms so long as somebody got here and performed,” mentioned Feldman. “The Mirage was the primary to consider you possibly can truly become profitable in these areas for those who invested sufficient.”

Its glistening 30-story white-and-gold towers have been mentioned to make neighboring Caesars Palace look “retiring by comparability.” Site visitors sometimes backed up on the strip as engineers examined gas-flared flames 40 toes into the air each jiffy.

“Individuals simply bought out of the vehicles and went over to see what was happening,” one limousine driver mentioned on the time.

The resort included a 20,000-gallon fish tank at its reception desk and three,049 rooms.

Its animals — and its white tiger habitat — introduced the resort fame and infamy, together with in 2003 when a tiger critically injured magician Roy Horn.

The Mirage’s opening kicked off a resort constructing and transforming spree that included the debut of the Circus Circus’ Excalibur in June 1990, the $250-million renovation of Caesars Palace and the opening of Treasure Island in 1994.

New York
CNN
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The Mirage Lodge and On line casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and its immediately recognizable volcano, is quickly shutting down after greater than three a long time in enterprise.

The three,000-room resort will stop operations on July 17 because it undergoes a three-year renovation that wipes away any markings of the Mirage and its tropical theme.

Opened in 1989 by on line casino mogul Steve Wynn, the Mirage ushered in a period of luxe resorts for the Strip and was the primary resort to have a sidewalk attraction with its volcano, prompting the Bellagio and Venetian to mimic the Mirage with its dancing fountains and canals, respectively.

“We look ahead to the start of an thrilling journey into a brand new period as Exhausting Rock Las Vegas will ignite the Strip with leisure, innovation and world-class hospitality,” the Mirage mentioned on its Fb account, which has been flooded with reminiscences within the feedback.

Along with the volcano, the Mirage was additionally house to different quintessential Las Vegas options just like the Siegfried and Roy’s white tigers present and a Cirque du Soleil present set to Beatles music.

The resort will reopen in 2027 as Exhausting Rock Las Vegas, with a hovering 700-foot-tall lodge tower within the form of a guitar, much like its Florida property, with the volcano being destroyed to create space for brand spanking new rooms.

MGM Resorts purchased the Mirage from Wynn in 2000 and offered it in 2022 for greater than $1 billion to Exhausting Rock Worldwide. It’s the second time Exhausting Rock can have a presence in Las Vegas, with the model beforehand proudly owning the now-Virgin Lodge off the Strip.

Greater than 3,000 Mirage staff will probably be laid off starting in July. The Exhausting Rock mentioned it should pay greater than $80 million in severance. The Culinary Employees Union, which represents about half of the Mirage’s staff, mentioned in a press release that affected staff will get $2,000 for every year of employment with the choice of returning when the lodge reopens.

Mirage company which have reservations past July 14 will probably be cancelled and refunds issued. As for on line casino chips, additionally they have to be utilized by that date on the Mirage however could be redeemed at neighboring Treasure Island for an additional 120 days following the resort’s closing.