EXCLUSIVE How the Hamptons turned hideous: Local MAUREEN CALLAHAN exposes dirty secrets of wealthy elites... and shames the worst A-list offenders (like a certain TV host with a filthy proclivity)
America's wealthiest, unhappiest people congregate here every summer, solely to compete for A-list party invites, the best tables at the most exclusive restaurants, the last $100 pound of fresh lobster, and the chance to splash their vacuous, conspicuous consumption all over social media.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
Paramount Global says Skydance merger should close in two weeks
July 25 (Reuters) - Paramount Global (PARA.O), opens new tab said on Friday it expects to complete its merger with Skydance Media by August 7, following government approval for the $8.4 billion deal. Skydance CEO David Ellison is prepared to assume the helm at Paramount, home to the venerable Paramount Pictures, the CBS broadcast network, and a collection of cable television channels. The new chief executive already is confronted with questions from investors about the future of the Paramount+ streaming service, plans for Paramount's declining television assets, and forecasts for spending on content -- including professional sports. "Now that the long, drawn-out sale process is finally nearing its end, Skydance leadership is poised to take control," wrote MoffettNathanson media analyst Robert Fishman. "With that, the real work begins -- rebuilding Paramount, addressing the critical strategic questions ahead, and charting a path toward a more sustainable and competitive future." Announced more than a year ago, the merger will unite Paramount's prized film and TV library including classics such as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," with films it produced with Skydance, including "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning." Ellison was not available for comment. He has previously said he plans to expand Paramount's technological capabilities, rebuild the Paramount+ platform and grow the streaming business, and reorganize the business to prioritize cash flow. A year ago, he said the team had identified $2 billion in cost savings. The Federal Communications Commission cleared the deal on Thursday, just weeks after Paramount settled a lawsuit filed by U.S. President Donald Trump over CBS' editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris. The $16-million settlement drew criticism that Paramount had effectively bought regulatory approval, with the Democratic dissenter in the FCC's 2-1 vote calling it a "cowardly capitulation" to the Trump administration. The agency has repeatedly said its review was independent of the lawsuit.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Furious Disneyland guest 'turned away' from iconic Star Wars bar… and the reason impacts thousands of visitors
An enraged Disneyland guest has claimed he wasn't served alcohol at an iconic Star Wars bar at the theme park despite showing his driver's license… but there's a very simple explanation as to why. The 26-year-old, who hails from Canada, had been attempting to buy a drink at the Star Wars-themed bar Oga's Cantina at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, when they said they were 'turned away' because their ID was no sufficient. Taking to the Disney Reddit thread, the guest complained they had showed the bartender their drivers' license and a copy of their passport, but was told it 'wasn't enough.' 'I guess the silver lining is that I don't have to pay for the overpriced drinks but it's just little frustrating,' they continued. 'They accepted my drivers' license when I entered the park ... but the bar must be as important as an airport with the level of scrutiny they give you.' According to the Disney website, Oga's specializes in 'fantastical drinks sourced with ingredients from across the galaxy that will delight even the youngest crew members.' The website also notes that to order selections with alcohol, guests will need to show photo identification. It turns out, the reason he was denied alcohol could impact thousands of others planning to visit the theme park from around the globe. The Canadian visitor had been attempting to buy a drink at the Star Wars-themed bar Oga's Cantina (seen) at the Disneyland Resort in California Because he's a non-US resident, original passports are the only form of identification deemed acceptable by California law. Non-US driver's licenses, ID cards, temporary ID cards, and copies of ID cards are not acceptable. However, for residents of the US, an identification card issued by a governmental agency is allowed, as is a valid original passport and valid active US Armed Forces ID. Temporary driver's licenses, temporary ID cards, and copies of passports, driver's licenses or ID cards are not accepted. The tough measures are down to California law, which states that foreigners are required to show a valid passport in order to buy alcohol. Many Reddit users pointed out the guest's mistake and noted that the requirements are laid bare on Disney's website. One asked: 'Why would they accept a scan? So easily altered.' Echoing a similar sentiment, another wrote: 'I have no idea why anyone would accept a 'scan' of a passport as proof of anything except that you are a bad forger.' 'I totally get why that was frustrating, but California has pretty strict laws when it comes to serving alcohol,' said a third. 'Bars are required to see a physical government-issued ID with your name, photo, birthdate, and physical description… 'This isn't just a Disney policy. It's state law, and the staff have to follow it, or they risk serious penalties.' Earlier this week, Daily Mail laid bare the sneaky way Disney World is making things more expensive for guests. For years, the site provided a long list of epic perks for those staying at a hotel at the beloved theme park - like free gifts and complimentary transportation. But recently, many of those bonuses have slowly started to disappear... and now, some avid Disney fans feel that the silent removal of the benefits, along with rising prices, is simply ruining the magic.
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Grammy-winning jazz musician Chuck Mangione behind hit single Feels So Good dead at 84
Legendary jazz musician Chuck Mangione, the man behind the international hit single Feels So Good, has died at the age of 84. The trumpet and flugelhorn player landed his breakthrough in the 1960s performing for bandleader Art Blakely, before becoming a star in his own right. He won two Grammy Awards over the course of his decades-long career, and his music was included in two Olympic ceremonies. Mangione's 1977 album Feels So Good, which contained the full nine-minute version of the instrumental title track, rocketed to number two on the Billboard 200. When a truncated three-minute single of Feels So Good was released the following year, it too rose to become a thunderous smash success. He died this week of natural causes at home in his upstate New York hometown of Rochester, his manager informed TMZ. Charles Frank Mangione was born in 1940 in Rochester and fell in love with jazz thanks to his father Frank, a grocer who was an avid fan of the genre. Mangione's father 'would take my brother Gap and me to Sunday-afternoon matinees at the jazz clubs,' he fondly recalled. 'When I was a kid, there were hordes of wonderful small group - Miles Davis' band, Cannonball Adderley's band, Sonny Rollins' band, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Charlie Ventura.' The musical stars who came to town often wound up at the Mangione home for dinner at the invitation of young Chuck's father. 'At that time, there were two TV stations and two movies in town. The musicians were in town for two weeks, so when they found out that they could come over to our place and hear a good record collection, have some homemade pasta and some good Italian red, it wasn't too hard to get them to come by,' said Mangione. 'It happened so often, so regularly, that it took me years to realize how significant it was. And I kind of grew up thinking that every kid had Carmen McRae or Art Blakey at his house,' he confessed to the Los Angeles Times. Mangione's own early career in the 1960s included working with his pianist brother Gap, as well as a trumpeter in Art Blakely's group the Jazz Messengers. However his true stardom arrived in the 1970s, the decade he began collaborating with saxophonist Gerry Niewood as part of a quartet. 'For a long time I lived in the shell of the so–called jazz musician, who said: "To hell with the people. I'm the artist, I know what's right, and I'm going to play for myself. If they like it, fine; if they don't, too bad,"' Mangione remarked in 1972. 'Well, that's partially true, but you can still maintain your musical conviction and try to communicate with people. For me, lifting the people up, making them enjoy what we're doing is as important as it is for me to play the kind of music I want to play. Both are very possible.' During that decade he won his two Grammys, first in 1977 for his instrumental composition Bellavia, the title of which was his mother's middle name. His second Grammy was for playing on the soundtrack for the 1978 Anthony Quinn movie The Children of Sanchez, for which Mangione also wrote the score. The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal included Mangione's composition Chase the Clouds Away - and four years later, the theme song for the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York was another Mangione original called Give It All You Got. Mangione's beloved father Frank 'Papa' Mangione, who used to joke that he 'played the cash register,' retired from the grocery store business in 1975 and went on tour with his jazz musician sons, hawking their merchandise on the road. Over a career in which he released 30 albums and earned 14 Grammy nods, Chuck Mangione's crowning success was the album Feels So Good and its title single. After the full LP emerged as a galloping success in 1977, Mangione was faced with the task of trimming its more than nine-minute title track to the length of a single. 'We did major surgery on Feels So Good and cut it down to three minutes,' the musical artist explained in the 1990s. 'Then, without my knowing it, the engineer thought it might be a hair too slow and cranked it up a half a step in pitch. I didn't find out until I went on a radio show and the deejay asked me to play along with it. I said: "Sure," and then I discovered it was a half-tone higher. I said: "What? I'm half a step flat." But it worked.' In an era dominated by disco and rock 'n' roll, Mangione's instrumental jazz single soared to number four on the Billboard Hot 100, a crossover triumph that he himself readily described in retrospect as a 'fluke.' The track passed into musical history, featured on the soundtracks of projects ranging from The Big Bang Theory and Doctor Strange. Mangione also earned a firm position as a pop culture icon of sorts, to the point he memorably played himself on the beloved animated series King of the Hill. With his trademark top hat constantly on and his trumpet regularly in hand, Mangione was unmistakable even in cartoon format. His memorial services at the Bartolomeo & Perreto Funeral Home in upstate New York are to be kept private, according to the local outlet Rochester First.
