by Jessica Levinson | Jun 21, 2026 | Opinion
Tyra Banks, the television personality and supermodel who captivated viewers in the early aughts, recently filed a defamation and false light suit against Netflix and the makers of the documentary, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.” As the title indicates, the documentary provides an inside look into “America’s Next Top Model,” the show that Banks created and hosted for 24 years.
To succeed, Banks, as a public figure, faces a higher bar than most in that she will need to show more than private figures bringing defamation suits about private matters to prove the documentary included false statements about her that harmed her reputation. The law also requires that she show the filmmakers acted with something called “actual malice.” This is a high, but not insurmountable, threshold.
In one particularly regretful episode Banks made contestants cosplay as different races, including having a contestant being made up in blackface.
The basis of Banks’ defamation claim is that the makers of the series used only 16 minutes of a three-and-a-half hour interview, and edited the comments she made in those 16 minutes to place her in a false light.
Banks alleges that she took accountability for some of the show’s more questionable decisions. Banks has, for instance, said she made “some really off choices,” regarding things like statements she made that were critical of one contestant’s gap in her teeth, and, in one particularly regretful episode, made contestants cosplay as different races, including having a contestant being made up in blackface.
Last year, in response to some of those criticisms, she admitted, “Did we get it right? Hell no. I said some dumb s—.” But in
by Noor Noman | Jun 21, 2026 | Opinion
My father is dying. I suppose we all are, but he is actively closer to death than anyone else I know.
My father began declining in 2020. First, his body started to give up on him. He has Parkinson’s disease. One day he tried to get out of bed and his legs didn’t work, so he fell out of bed, and ended up in the hospital. Another day, his right hand stopped working, so he could barely use his phone or computer, his only points of contact with the outside world (he’s almost entirely lost his ability to write), making him further isolated. A few years after his Parkinson’s diagnosis, my father’s mind started to give out on him, too. He developed dementia, a diagnosis he steadfastly refuses to admit or discuss, which makes taking care of him even more challenging.
As an academic and intellectual, this is a perceived humiliation my father cannot bear. He has fits of anger, confusion, fear, frustration and disorientation. I spoke to him last week while he was in the hospital for yet another issue (a now semi-regular occurrence) and he started shouting, “I don’t know why the hell I’m here! Get me out of here, talk to someone!”
This is an incredibly difficult piece to write — one I almost didn’t.
To make matters more complicated, he now lives in Pakistan, where he is from, while I live in the United States and my mother, who co-caretakes with me, is based in South Africa. He lived in the States for most of his adult life, but we simply could not afford the cost here of the
by Jason Page | Jun 20, 2026 | Opinion
On Thursday, Pennsylvania Minor League Baseball team The York Revolution announced it would forfeit its game after some players said they would not wear special pride jerseys in celebration of Pride month, coinciding with the club’s annual Pride Night event.
You might think that I, an openly gay, nationally syndicated sports-talk host and writer, am applauding the club’s decision to pause the game and issue a statement clarifying its dedication to the rights of LGBTQ+ communities.
You would be wrong.
If wearing a hat that carries a rainbow colored logo for one night is that offensive to their sensibilities, I’d prefer to know who those players are.
There has been a lot of outrage directed at both these minor league players, and the handful of MLB players who chose not to wear pride-themed hats, or who added the numerology of a Bible verse to their caps in protest, this month of all months. (Players are not contractually obligated to wear pride hats. The MLB has stated that writing on hats or uniforms violates the league’s policy regardless of the message.) U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon referred the league to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a letter to the MLB commissioner, signaling an investigation into whether it has engaged in religious discrimination for calling out the players who wrote Bible verses on their Pride hats.
Some fans want the players punished. Some have questioned whether players who declined to participate should even be allowed to take the field on Pride Night, a consequence we saw play out in the case of the York Revolution. But I want them to be left alone.The fact
by Darryl Robertson | Jun 20, 2026 | culture, Opinion
From the start, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has been consistent that his primary concern in life is making even more money. “I’d rather die enormous than live dormant,” he raps on “Can I Live?” That’s one of the songs on his 1996 debut masterpiece, “Reasonable Doubt,” which is mostly about him making the transition from drug dealer to musical artist. And “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” the first song on that album, is his declaration that no one can criticize him for how he accumulates wealth.
But 30 years later, people are knocking Jay-Z’s hustle. The hip-hop legend and media mogul is partnering with Target to push out a new collector’s item: a 30th-anniversary edition of “Reasonable Doubt” on vinyl. When Target ended its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives during the first days of the second Trump administration, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Monique Cullars-Doty and Jaylani Hussein, stood outside Target’s headquarters in Minneapolis and announced that a nationwide boycott would begin on Feb. 1, 2025. Later, the Rev. Jamal Bryant, a prominent Black pastor in Atlanta, also called for a boycott. Target suffered declining store traffic and significantly fewer sales.
“Can’t Knock the Hustle” is his declaration that no one can criticize him for how he accumulates wealth.
In March, when Bryant announced an end to the boycott, Levy Armstrong wrote in an op-ed for MS NOW that Bryant had “no authority” to end the boycott and that it continues. “Why should we end the boycott now when Target hasn’t changed any of the policies that caused us to launch the boycott?”
This isn’t the first time Jay-Z has seen an opportunity for himself with
by Michael Steele | Jun 20, 2026 | culture, Opinion
After winning a cage match in front of the White House on Sunday, UFC fighter Josh Hokit paused his postfight interview to take a vulgar swipe at former first lady Michelle Obama.
In the days that followed, Obama began trending across social media — not because of the insult, but because Americans responded by celebrating her, sharing elegant portraits, highlighting her accomplishments and praising the grace and dignity she brought to public life.
It is a familiar pattern in the Trump era. First comes the clumsy effort to glorify the president and demean his perceived opponents. Then comes the public reaction that elevates the very people and values he is trying to diminish.
Trump reminded Americans of everything they appreciated about the Obamas.
President Donald Trump wanted Americans to celebrate his birthday with a big UFC fight. Instead, he reminded Americans of everything they appreciated about the Obamas.
He wanted to be greeted as a native son at a Knicks game in Madison Square Garden. Instead, New Yorkers booed when his face flashed on the jumbotron, and fans literally burned sage to spiritually cleanse the arena after he left.
He wanted the nation to honor him during the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Instead, he saw headlines dominated by canceled performances and announcements of rival events, including a star-studded concert at the Obama presidential library.
Trump wants love, but he doesn’t know how to win it. He wants respect, but he doesn’t know how to earn it. He wants to be feared, but he doesn’t know how to inspire it.
Frustrated, he turns to forced displays of loyalty and empty threats. And Americans respond with ridicule
by Anthony L. Fisher | Jun 20, 2026 | Opinion
Elon Musk’s new status as the world’s first trillionaire has unsurprisingly generated strong criticism, much to the horror of his loudest fans, who view pretty much any criticism of Musk as an attack on freedom and prosperity.
Some Musk detractors lamented the very existence of a trillionaire as an obscenity, when millions of Americans live one broken bone or illness away from financial ruin. Surely if a rising tide lifts all boats, then one man becoming a trillionaire — roughly tripling his net worth since bankrolling President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign — ought to mean there’s enough wealth to trickle down to provide basic social services for the tens of millions of Americans struggling to make rent every month? Perhaps if one man’s businesses have been subsidized for years by billions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers, and whose net worth exceeds the GDP of all but 19 countries, then maybe there’s enough left over for average Americans to receive the kind of basic health coverage that’s a staple of every Western capitalist democracy but our own?
No! That’s just jealous, parasitic commie talk from people who hate “the accomplishments of great men,” say Musk’s right-wing fans — who are often beneficiaries of billionaires’ largesse themselves.
Play
Why trillionaire Elon Musk’s investment relies on you
June 12, 2026 / 09:29
Among the self-parodic headlines: the National Post’s “Here’s how to properly love Elon Musk, the world’s greatest entrepreneur,” The Spectator’s “Why can’t Elon Musk’s critics just be pleased for him?”, The Federalist’s “Leftist Freak Out Over Elon Musk’s Trillionaire Status Embodies Their Hatred For Success.”
Joel Berry, former managing editor of The Babylon Bee (MAGA’s one-joke answer to
