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The Disney Channel alum shares two children with her ex-husband.

"Safe for the Whole Family: How to Make a Christian Superstar" promises to exorcise fans' curiosity about the sacrifices faith-focused artists made in pursuit of fame.

"Safe for the Whole Family: How to Make a Christian Superstar" promises to exorcise fans' curiosity about the sacrifices faith-focused artists made in pursuit of fame.

Anthropic Raises $65BN At $965 Billion Valuation, Surpassing OpenAI

Amid an unprecedented valuation battle between ChatGPT and Anthropic raging in the private markets ahead of their respective IPOs in a few months, Bloomberg reported that shortly after releasing its latest Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic raised $65BN in a funding round that will nearly triple the start-up’s valuation and see it surpass arch-rival OpenAI as the most valuable AI lab.

The Claude chatbot maker was valued at $900bn, not including the new investment, as part of the fundraising led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital.

The round comes just three months after Anthropic raised $30bn in a deal valuing it at $350bn as the popularity of its tools for software developers and workplace customers has propelled extraordinary growth and given it an edge over OpenAI, which was most recently valued at $852bn.

“Claude’s latest advancements have driven large-scale adoption among the world’s most demanding organisations. This momentum positions Anthropic to lead the next phase of AI innovation,” said Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital.

While Anthropic’s run-rate revenue, a metric prefered by start-ups which estimates annual revenues based on short-term performance, crossed $47bn this month, some have expressed skepticism that the number is legitimate, with many suggesting that double counting and even extapolating of outlier is the reason behind the surge.

If true (and things in the press should be taken with grains of salt), this one customer was reported as $6b of ARR for OAI/Anthropic ($500m*12) the month this happened.

For reference, that is larger than (checks notes) yup, Snowflake's run-rate revenue as of Q1.

😳 pic.twitter.com/Dj67m6rUmi

— Jared Sleeper (@JaredSleeper) May 28, 2026

The more than fivefold increase since the start of the year is unprecedented for a start-up its size. It's also most likely bogus, but that will be for the company's new public shareholders to figure out in a few months when the company goes public at an even more ludicrous valuation. 

According to the FT, backers are looking to build their stakes in Anthropic ahead of an initial public offering which could come as soon as this year, as OpenAI and SpaceX also race towards public listings. Together, the three companies are expected to have a valuation of ~$3 trillion and will drain an unprecedented amount of liquidity from the market, likely sparking the next market drawdown. 

The funding caps an extraordinary period for Anthropic, led by former ChatGPT employee Dario Amodei, when the announcement of its new AI tools has rattled whole sectors of the stock market from wealth managers to cyber security groups.

The power of its Mythos model, which it released to a limited group of trusted partners because of its advanced cyber security capabilities, has prompted concern from governments and financial regulators around the world. On Thursday, Anthropic said it was making progress towards a wider release of Mythos “in the coming weeks”. It also released the latest version of its Claude model, Opus 4.8, which the company said was more “honest” and “more likely to flag uncertainties about its work and less likely to make unsupported claims”.

The company is also embroiled in a legal fight with the Department of Defense over the military use of its technology, a battle that has scarcely dented Anthropic’s financial progress.

The new funding includes investments from the three leading makers of memory chips: Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix. Anthropic is an end customer for their hardware, which has increasingly been in short supply because of huge demand from AI data centres.

Their participation follows other circular agreements by both OpenAI and Anthropic with cloud providers and other chipmakers, such as Nvidia.

These circle-jerking arrangements between customers, suppliers and investors - reminiscent of the circular deals that burst the dot com bubble - in the AI industry have added to concerns about a bubble in the sector. Anthropic initially targeted a $30bn raise from financial institutions. The company exceeded that total in part thanks to the participation of infrastructure partners, the same infrastructure partners that will now see their money returned to them for compute purchases.

This added to $15bn in previously committed funding from Big Tech “hyperscalers”, including $5bn from Amazon, to fill out the $65bn raising.

The new capital will go towards Anthropic’s effort to procure enough computing power to meet rising demand for its tools. It has struggled with capacity issues in recent months.

It recently struck a multibillion-dollar deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to use one of its data centres, as well as long-term agreements with Google, Broadcom and Amazon potentially totalling hundreds of billions of dollars.

“This funding will help us serve the historic demand we are experiencing, stay at the research frontier, and bring Claude to more of the places where work happens,” said Krishna Rao, chief financial officer of Anthropic.

Other venture capital and fund managers who invested include Baillie Gifford, Blackstone and Brookfield and state-backed investors including Abu Dhabi’s MGX and Singapore’s Temasek. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 18:31

A 39-year-old man was riding the stand-up scooter west in the bike lane when he rammed into the bicyclist, a 35-year-old man pedaling in the opposite direction, cops said. 

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to name a former NYPD officer — who made headlines for suing the police department more than a decade ago — to serve as the Big Apple's next sheriff, The Post has confirmed.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed Thursday that 6 million American children are enrolled in the about-to-launch "Trump Accounts" while brushing off what he called "short-term challenges" to the economy.

"We need this as much as we need a hole in the head,” Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist said.

Prosecutors say alleged gang member Angel Guzman helped butcher a man deep inside the Angeles National Forest in 2017.

Demand for nine-figure properties in Florida is surging.

Tilman Fertitta Nears $5.7 Billion Caesars Takeover

Tilman Fertitta, the Texas billionaire behind Golden Nugget and Landry’s, is nearing a $5.7 billion takeover of Caesars Entertainment — a deal that would dramatically expand his footprint across casinos, hotels, and restaurants, according to Bloomberg.

The merger would unite Caesars’ gaming operations with Fertitta’s hospitality empire, which includes brands such as Mastro’s, Bubba Gump Shrimp, Rainforest Cafe, and several casino properties. Certain assets, including the Houston Rockets and some hotels, are expected to stay separate from the deal.

Bloomberg reports that Fertitta, 68, began working in his family’s seafood business in Galveston before building Landry’s into one of the country’s largest hospitality companies. After weathering the Texas oil crash in the 1980s, he grew through aggressive acquisitions and entered the casino industry with the purchase of Golden Nugget in 2005.

Recognized for his hands-on leadership and lavish business style, Fertitta became a national media figure through CNBC’s Billion Dollar Buyer and later served as U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino under President Donald Trump.

Caesars would give Fertitta a larger presence on the Las Vegas Strip, something he has sought for years. He first attempted to acquire the company in 2018. More recently, he became Wynn Resorts’ largest shareholder after publicly criticizing the company’s direction.

Despite owning major casino and online betting businesses, Caesars has faced slowing Las Vegas demand, softer regional results, and increasing pressure from betting competitors including FanDuel and DraftKings.

Fertitta’s broader portfolio also includes hotels, luxury car dealerships, and entertainment venues. His personal assets reportedly include a 384-foot yacht and a Gulfstream G700 jet. The Houston Rockets, which he bought in 2017 for $2.2 billion, are now estimated to be worth about $5.5 billion.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 18:00

When is the BAU back on the case?

Fred Armisen joins the cast in Season 2. Also guest starring are Andrew Rannells, Lilly Singh, Kumail Nanjiani and Tan France.

One of Claude Lemieux's longtime rivals had touching words for the four-time Stanley Cup winner, who died by suicide at the ago of 60.

Major League Baseball owners proposed a hard salary cap to the players' union during a Thursday meeting — and New York’s high-priced teams would feel the brunt of it.

The freebie trinket is inspired by the classic Season 7 episode "The Calzone."

Website building and hosting platform Webflow is just the latest victim of Artificial Intelligence that has wreaked havoc on California tech industry — making the shocking announcement Wednesday that many of its employees will be laid off. 

Even Iran's president recently acknowledged the strain on his country's resources.

"EU officials called this a 'digital leap.' From where I was standing, it looked more like a total cluster f*$k," said Ward.

Watch: Hollywood Actress Blows Whistle On Systemic Anti-White Discrimination In Casting

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Actress Samaire Armstrong, known for her role in the hit series The O.C., stepped forward with a raw account of Hollywood’s entrenched discrimination. For years, she stayed silent as casting directors repeatedly rejected her for one reason: her race. When she couldn’t hold back any longer she broke that silence, revealing how merit has been sacrificed on the altar of identity politics.

That was five years ago. In the intervening time, Hollywood has doubled and tripled down on this momentum.

Armstrong explained, “Over the last 6 years, I’ve heard nonstop, ‘They’re not looking for white.’ — ‘They liked you, but you’re white.’ And, you know, I kept that to myself in silence…the pendulum has swung so far, you know, like, ‘We’re gonna fit this transgender character in here now that we’re PC.’ Natural, organic stories stopped being told.”

“You gotta wonder, what’s the point of acting school and putting this time into developing the craft if that doesn’t matter anymore?” Armstrong urged.

Her testimony, shared in a PragerU interview and amplified across platforms, underscores a troubling reality: Hollywood isn’t just leaning into diversity — it’s enforcing exclusion.

This isn’t one isolated voice. Armstrong’s experience reflects a broader industry shift where skin color determines opportunity more than skill, training, or audience appeal. In a country still majority white, the creative heart of American entertainment has turned against its foundational talent pool.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formalized this bias with its “Representation and Inclusion Standards” for Best Picture eligibility. Starting with the 96th Oscars in 2024, films must meet at least two of four detailed standards, backed by a confidential Academy Inclusion Standards form (RAISE).

These rules prioritize “underrepresented” groups — defined to include women, racial or ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and the disabled or deaf — across every level of production.

Standard A: On-Screen Representation, Themes and Narratives
To qualify, a film needs at least one of these:

• A lead or significant supporting actor from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
• At least 30% of actors in minor and supporting roles from at least two underrepresented groups.
• A main storyline or theme centered on an underrepresented group.

Standard B: Creative Leadership and Project Team

• At least two creative leadership or department head positions filled by underrepresented groups (with at least one from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group).
• At least six other key crew or technical positions from underrepresented groups.
• At least 30% of the overall crew from at least two underrepresented groups.

Standard C: Industry Access and Opportunities focuses on paid apprenticeships, internships, and training programs targeted at preferred demographics. Standard D: Audience Development requires multiple senior executives or consultants from underrepresented groups in marketing, publicity, and distribution.

These mandates didn’t emerge in a vacuum. They accelerated after 2020 amid corporate panic over social justice pressures. The Academy framed them as promoting “equitable representation” to reflect a “diverse global population.” In practice, they function as barriers against projects centered on white characters or led by white creatives in a nation where whites remain the demographic majority.

Iconic films from Hollywood’s golden eras would fail these tests. Casablanca, The Godfather, Saving Private Ryan, No Country for Old Men, or even Titanic in its original form wouldn’t check enough boxes. The rules don’t just encourage diversity — they penalize storytelling rooted in European-American cultural traditions or historical accuracy.

Armstrong didn’t arrive at her critique lightly. In her PragerU “Stories of Us” segment, she detailed the gradual erosion she witnessed. She acknowledged past imbalances — “Oscars were so white for decades” — but argued the correction overshot into absurdity. Natural character development and subtle narratives gave way to forced inserts and demographic engineering.

Organic tales of human struggle, ambition, love, and loss vanished under layers of ideological checklists.

This hits aspiring actors hard. Acting demands years of classes, auditions, rejections, and honing emotional range. When race becomes the deciding factor, that investment must feel pointless.

Reports from others in the industry echo her account. White actresses and actors describe similar experiences — agencies steering clients away from certain roles or auditions explicitly noting preferences for non-white performers. One parent recounted her son’s early acting opportunities drying up once “no whites” language appeared in casting calls. Families of talented young performers now face tough choices: pivot careers or accept systemic disadvantage.

Hollywood’s defense often falls back on “underrepresentation” statistics. Yet these ignore viewer preferences and box office realities. Audiences don’t reject diversity when it feels authentic; they reject pandering that prioritizes messaging over entertainment.

'This might actually be a good thing - but if you’re doing it to be tokenistic, it’s completely pointless!'

The Free Speech Nation panel discuss the Oscars’ new diversity and inclusivity rules.

🖥 GB News on YouTube https://t.co/Wa58gYGZwF pic.twitter.com/MLk5tcPb0c

— GB News (@GBNEWS) May 14, 2023

When every ensemble requires a precise racial mix, every leadership team checks ethnicity boxes, storytelling suffers. Characters become mouthpieces. Plots twist to accommodate themes rather than emerging from genuine conflict.

The decline isn’t imaginary. Recent years delivered a string of high-budget disappointments: franchise entries laden with awkward diversity lectures, remakes that rewrite history for contemporary politics, and originals that feel like committee products rather than visionary works.

Studios chase Oscar validation and corporate ESG scores. Meeting Academy standards boosts awards chances and shields against activist boycotts. But it alienates core domestic audiences who simply want compelling stories. International markets sometimes reward spectacle over messaging, yet even there, fatigue sets in when quality plummets.

Compare this to earlier eras. Classic Hollywood produced universal stories — tales of redemption, heroism, romance, and tragedy — that transcended demographics. Directors cast the best actors for roles, not the best demographic fit. Writers explored human nature without mandatory identity arcs. The result was timeless cinema that still draws viewers decades later.

Today’s approach inverts that. “Natural, organic stories stopped being told,” as Armstrong noted. Scripts now insert transgender subplots or racial redemption arcs mechanically. Casting directors scan headshots for skin tone checkboxes first. This creates a chilling effect: white performers self-censor or exit, while others game the system.

The financial toll shows. Major releases flop despite massive marketing. Streaming catalogs fill with forgettable content. Independent and international films — less beholden to U.S. Academy rules — often outperform in authenticity and engagement. Asian cinema, in particular, thrives on merit-based casting and culturally grounded narratives without Western-style guilt.

This discrimination fits a larger pattern of institutional hostility toward majority populations in Western nations. Policies that punish success and reward grievance thrive in elite circles detached from everyday consequences. Hollywood, overwhelmingly coastal and progressive, embraced these ideas enthusiastically after 2016 and 2020.

Armstrong’s conservative leanings — including past support for Trump and criticism of certain activist movements — make her voice especially threatening to the establishment. Speaking out risks career suicide in an industry known for enforcing ideological conformity. Her decision to go public anyway highlights growing cracks in the silence.

Critics of the standards face accusations of racism for pointing out anti-white bias. Yet the rules themselves codify racial preference. In a just system, opportunity flows from talent, work ethic, and market demand. Forcing outcomes by skin color inverts justice — it becomes discrimination with extra steps.

Entertainment should unite through shared humanity, not fragment by mandated identity tallies. When government-adjacent entities like the Academy dictate creative output, art dies. Viewers sense the fraud and tune out.

Broader society feels the ripple effects. Young white talent redirects energy elsewhere — tech, trades, entrepreneurship — where merit still rules. Cultural confidence erodes when a nation’s primary storytelling medium treats its founding stock as obstacles. Families notice the pattern in commercials, shows, and films: white characters often portrayed as clueless, evil, or sidelined.

Change won’t come from within Hollywood’s echo chamber. It requires audience rebellion — supporting projects that prioritize story over quotas. Independent creators, YouTube filmmakers, and platforms free from legacy gatekeepers already fill voids. Success stories like certain unapologetic comedies or action films prove audiences crave competence and fun.

Some performers and executives quietly admit the problems. Box office data reinforces the point: preachy content underperforms. Global competition from industries unburdened by these rules grows fiercer.

Armstrong’s stand adds to a chorus demanding restoration of merit. Her call to “break the silence before it’s too late” urges others in the industry to prioritize truth over career preservation. If enough voices join, pressure could build against the Academy’s rules and studio practices.

Ultimately, Hollywood’s anti-white tilt reveals deeper contempt for its audience and heritage. By sidelining skilled performers, the industry doesn’t just harm individuals — it degrades the art form itself. Viewers deserve better than propaganda disguised as entertainment.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Thu, 05/28/2026 - 17:40