Several of Blake Lively’s former co-stars and collaborators have thrown their weight behind her, as she takes “It Ends With Us” star and director Justin Baldoni to court. Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment, retaliation and several other charges in a complaint filed Friday, months after rumors of a behind-the-scenes feud between the “It Ends With Us” stars overshadowed the film’s summer release. After reports of Lively’s allegations spread over the weekend, her former collaborators including America Ferrera and director Paul Feig have spoken out in support. “As Blake’s friends and sisters for over twenty years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,” Lively’s “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” co-stars Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel said in a shared social media statement. The “Traveling Pants” trio praised Lively’s “courage” to demand a “safe workplace” on set and condemned the allegations detailed in her lawsuit, which also lists Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios and some producers as defendants. Wayfarer owns “It Ends With Us.” The movie, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel, follows a woman who faces domestic violence and emotional abuse. Lively alleged she experienced improper behavior on set, including producers allegedly showing nude videos and images of women, making comments about her weight, and physical touching and sexual remarks without consent. The complaint also details multiple scenes — including a birth scene — where Lively allegedly felt uncomfortable. Baldoni also allegedly pressed Lively about her sex life with her husband, “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds. In January, Lively participated in a meeting about the sexual harassment allegations before filming carried on after the Hollywood strikes, according to the complaint. Other members of the cast and crew also raised concerns about the work environment. Ultimately, the cast agreed to follow a contract that laid out protections against sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior and wrapped the film. Then the press tour drama, centered on their behind-the-scenes rift , ensued. “Mr. Baldoni and his Wayfarer associates embarked on a sophisticated press and digital plan in retaliation for Ms. Lively exercising her legally-protected right to speak up about their misconduct on the set, with the additional objective of intimidating her and anyone else from revealing in public what actually occurred,” the complaint said. Lively’s “Traveling Pants” collaborators accused the defendants “of a premeditated and vindictive effort that ensued to discredit [Lively’s] voice” and slammed the “exploitation of domestic violence survivors’ stories to silence a woman who asked for safety.” Feig, who directed Lively for “A Simple Favor,” dubbed the actor “one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with.” Speaking on her allegations, he tweeted on Sunday: “She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this.” Hoover showed Lively love on Instagram, writing in a story that the actor has “been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient” since they connected, according to E! She added: “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.” Stars who have worked with Lively aren’t the only people coming to her defense. In a statement to NBC News, “Aquaman” star Amber Heard reacted to the Lively-Baldoni lawsuit. Two years ago, Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp engaged in one of Hollywood’s most publicized defamation cases in recent years. Depp, amid the legal battle, enlisted the help of publicity veteran Melissa Nathan and Heard seemed to quickly fall from public grace . Baldoni reportedly hired Nathan amid the “It Ends With Us” scandal in the summer. “Social media is the absolute personification of the classic saying ‘A lie travels halfway around the world before truth can get its boots on,’” Heard said . “I saw this firsthand and up close. It’s as horrifying as it is destructive.” Amid the legal fallout, Baldoni was reportedly dropped from agency WME, which also continues to represent Lively. In a statement, Baldoni’s attorney Bryan Freedman denied the allegations against his client, calling the complaint a “desperate attempt” by Lively to repair her “negative reputation.” “These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” Freedman said. Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report.
Ralph DeLuca has carved out a rare niche for himself as the go-to art adviser of Hollywood’s A-list. The no-nonsense New Jersey native is on first-name terms with most major gallerists and counts blue-chip celebrity collectors like Sylvester Stallone and Leonardo DiCaprio as clients as well as friends. Other top-tier advisees include Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. If you’re heading to the Dec. 6-8 Art Basel, keep an eye out for him: He’s the bushy eyebrowed, shaven-headed force of nature squiring boldfaced names to the best booths in the fair. DeLuca, 47, started out on Wall Street before pivoting to collectibles more than 20 years ago. It was legendary dealer Tony Shafrazi who suggested he upgrade to art. DeLuca proved a natural: curious, unflappable and direct. “I don’t have a formal education. I come from nothing. But I have my reputation,” he says. “At the end of the day, we’re collecting stuff, not curing cancer. Art is very important, but we’re not changing the world.” Now based in Las Vegas, he’s one of the key supporters of LACMA’s looming satellite there. But he retains his close connections to Hollywood, earning his clients’ trust by advising them not only on what to buy, but also on how not to get hoodwinked. “With a celebrity art collector,” he says, “they can get totally exploited by an art adviser or dealer — I’ve seen that happen a lot.” Here are his Ten Commandments for any Hollywoodite keen to follow the DeLuca playbook. 1. Rules Are Rules “Just because you’re rich and famous doesn’t mean the rules of the art world don’t apply to you,” DeLuca says. Many Hollywood A-listers, he says, “don’t understand why, if they can call and get a private jet to Bora Bora from the chairman of the airline in a minute, they can’t buy work from a 24-year-old artist who’s two years out of school and painting with his feet.” Even household names need to earn the respect of a gallerist or dealer and put in face time at their booths or shopfronts. If you expect to simply snap up whatever you want, when you want it, expect to become familiar with the phrase “We’re taking indications of interest.” “You have to manage a client’s expectations and help them understand that a lot of people are asking for the same works, and galleries don’t place them right away. The more involved you are, the better access you get,” he says. “I’m only as good as my worst-behaving client. For me to make the phone call, I’d have to vet that client and school them in the rules for a while.” A strong gallery relationship, of course, unlocks better access to emerging work fresh from the artist’s studio, at which stage pricing will likely be much more favorable. “I am very selective when buying emerging work, which I buy for myself and my clients only in the primary market,” he says, referring to artworks that are being sold for the first time. “It’s important for collectors to care about and support young artists and galleries but with the proviso that they do their research — or hire someone.” 2. Use Your Fame Wisely Patronage today involves deploying your own renown to help burnish the reputation of whoever you collect. The more you’re willing to say you own a work, or post a picture of it on social media, the better access you’ll get. “Sylvester Stallone is the perfect example of this,” says DeLuca. “He loves to get the artist on the phone, and he’s Instagrammed studio visits and things he’s bought and loved. He has a huge social media following, and it trickles down. It’s good for the ecosystem.” Galleries and artists cozy up to celebrities and tech barons for much the same reason. “They have these amazing parties, their homes get photographed — everyone from the Dalai Lama down has been to Leo DiCaprio’s house. It’s better that a painting is on their wall as opposed to a museum in Miami or Wisconsin.” 3. Buy on Instinct, Not on an Interior Designer’s Say-So Don’t fret over where a piece might be installed or if it matches the decor: “A real collector never worries about wall space. You can move stuff out when your tastes change.” 4. Stay Loyal Sure, assess a few advisers up front and see whose style and taste best fit your own, but once you choose one, don’t diversify. “Do not ask 40 people to chase after the same thing for you,” warns DeLuca. “It creates fake demand and makes you look like a trophy hunter and a flipper.” 5. See Art for Yourself ... “Go and see as much art in person as you can,” says DeLuca. “We’ve gotten complacent, and lazy, because we can buy on our phone or by FaceTiming the dealer. That’s a mistake, and it backfires. You need to understand the texture, the tonality, the tactileness of a work in person.” 6. ... but Approach Art Fairs With Caution “Celebrities get accosted at art fairs. People come up and ask for autographs, and you might just be standing there looking at something, a Warhol or whatever, and it gets out that you bought the painting,” he says, citing unauthorized shots from Art Basel Miami Beach that showed DeLuca with client DiCaprio last year. “You’re surrounded by 50,000 douchebags who want to go look at art and take selfies in front of a Twombly.” The rare exception: Art Basel’s OG fair in Switzerland. “It’s different and much more about the art. But celebrities have crazy schedules and don’t all have the time to go to Europe for a fair like that.” 7. Beware the BOGO The new gimmick whereby a gallerist will offer to sell a certain artwork as long as the buyer snaps up another one on behalf of a museum or institution is an unwelcome development, says DeLuca. Such practices, he notes, amount to creative blackmail by “force-feeding a museum to take a donation so the gallerist can tell the artist they got them into one. It’s not creating stewardship or patronage.” The exception: if a blue-chip institution asks for help acquiring a specific artwork. “Say Michael Govan at LACMA calls me up and says, ‘We want XYZ painting and we’re X dollars short.’ I would be happy to approach a client and work with the gallery.” 8. Resist the FOMO An adviser’s job is often to tell clients what to buy. DeLuca recalls walking around an art fair with a well-known, wealthy collector and discouraging him from buying almost everything he considered. “He had FOMO running around the art fair, so excited, like a kid in a candy store, because everyone was talking about needing to own this or that. In six months’ time, he would have said, ‘Why did I buy this?’ Keep your ears open, but don’t buy with them. Buy with your eyes and the opinion of your adviser.” It’s much harder to offload an artwork than a more fungible investment. “Going back to the gallery is a difficult conversation, because art is hard to buy and hard to sell. It’s not liquid like stocks.” Case in point: DeLuca has been working with a new client for more than six months — and has not yet transacted a single piece. The fact that so many folks were listening rather than looking is one major reason for the current slump in the secondary market for emerging art, he adds: “A lot of collectors were focusing too much on the social aspects of art collecting.” 9. Collecting Is Personal Ask an adviser about their own collection — but not to check their taste. “This is one business where you get high on your own supply,” says DeLuca. “It’s easy to spend other people’s money, but it’s important that the art adviser collects themselves.” It’s a lesson DeLuca learned from his mentor, storied adviser Todd Levin. Advisers may not have pockets as deep as those of A-list celebrities, of course, but they should be participating in the art economy, and at a similar percentage as they’d expect their clients to take. 10. Art’s a Business, Too “If you suggest money doesn’t play into this at all, you’re really blowing smoke up your own ass,” he scoffs. “[Art] is an asset class, and when it appreciates, you’re happy.” One sector DeLuca is watching closely on this front: Indigenous and Native American artists, where he’s seeing a surge in interest and support. But it’s important not to lose sight of art’s intrinsic worth. DeLuca often tells clients to ask themselves a difficult question: “Do I love this enough to want to live with it in perpetuity even if it does not increase — or even decreases — in dollar value over time?” . THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood Reporter
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For years, patients in the U.S. healthcare system have grown frustrated with a bureaucracy they don’t understand. Doctors are included in an insurer’s network one year but not the next. Getting someone on the phone to help can be next to impossible. Coverage of care and prescriptions is often unceremoniously denied. This week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson has unleashed a wave of public feeling — exasperation, anger, resentment, helplessness — from Americans sharing personal stories of interactions with insurance companies , often seen as faceless corporate giants. In particular, the words written on ammunition found at the shooting scene — “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” echoing a phrase used to describe how insurers dodge claim payouts — amplified voices that have long been critical of the industry. “All of a sudden, I am fired up again,” said Tim Anderson, describing how his wife, Mary, had to deal with UnitedHealthcare coverage denials before she died from Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in 2022. Anderson said they couldn’t get coverage for machines to help his wife breathe or talk — toward the end, she communicated by blinking when he showed her pictures. The family had to rely on donations from a local ALS group, he said. “The business model for insurance is don’t pay,” said Anderson, 67, of Centerville, Ohio. “When Mary could still talk, she said to me to keep fighting this,” he added. “It needs to be exposed.” For Anderson and others, Thompson’s death and the message left at the scene have created an opportunity to vent their frustrations. Conversations at dinner tables, office water coolers, social gatherings and on social media have pivoted to the topic, as police efforts to find the gunman keep the case in the news. Hans Maristela said he understands why the chatter is bubbling up. The 54-year-old caregiver in California was moved to comment on Facebook about UnitedHealthcare’s reputation of denying coverage. As a Catholic, he said, he grieves Thompson’s death and feels for his family, especially with the holidays around the corner. But he sees frustration with insurers even among his clients, most of them wealthy older people who’ve not been shielded from high out-of-pocket costs. “And then you know the CEO of this company you pay a lot of money to gets $10 million dollars a year, you won’t have a lot of sympathy for the guy,” Maristela said, citing Thompson’s compensation package that included base pay and stock options. “Healthcare is a business, I understand, but the obsession with share price, with profit, has to be reevaluated.” University of Pennsylvania researcher Michael Anne Kyle said she’s not surprised by the growth of conversation around insurers. “People are often struggling with this by themselves, and when you see someone else talk about it, that may prompt you to join the conversation,” she said. Kyle studies how patients access care and said she’s seen frustration with the system build for years. Costs are rising, and insurers are using more controls such as prior authorizations and doctor networks to manage them. Patients are often stuck in the middle of disputes between doctors and insurers. “Patients are already spending a lot of money on healthcare, and then they’re still facing problems with the service,” she said. Insurers often note that most of the money they bring in goes back out the door to pay claims, and that they try to corral soaring costs and the overuse of some care. In Ohio, Anderson said his initial reaction to the CEO shooting was to question whether it was connected to a coverage denial, like the ones he’d experienced with his wife. “I definitely do not condone killing people,” he said. “But I read it and said, ‘I wonder if somebody had a spouse whose coverage was denied.’ ” It’s something Will Flanary, a Portland, Ore.-based ophthalmologist and comedian with a large social media following, saw online a lot in the shooting’s immediate aftermath and found very telling. “It’s zero sympathy,” he said. “And the lesson to take away from that is not, ‘Let’s shame people for celebrating a murder.’ No, it’s: ‘Look at the amount of anger that people have toward this system that’s taken advantage of people and do something to try to fix that.’” Flanary’s content, published under the name Dr. Glaucomflecken, started out as niche eye doctor jokes and a way to cope with his own experiences with two cancer diagnoses and a sudden cardiac arrest. But it has evolved, featuring character skits that call attention to and satirize the decisions of large health insurers, including UnitedHealthcare. He said he’s never seen conversations around health insurance policy take off the way they did this week — and he hopes these new voices can help bring about change. “I’m always talking about how powerful social media can be with advocacy,” he said, “because it really is the only way to put a significant amount of pressure on these corporations who are doing bad things for patients.” Murphy and Shastri write for the Associated Press.
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Jimmy Carter And Rosalynn Carter: A Look At Their Relationship TimelineBy many accounts, Thailand consistently ranks among the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. The oft-cited Global Climate Risk Index by GermanWatch ranked Thailand's long-term climate risk in 2021 as 9th in the world. Thailand is one of the 10 most flood-affected countries in the world, and the risks it faces are expected to increase. In Thailand, "the number of people affected by an extreme river flood could grow by over 2 million by 2035–2044, and coastal flooding could affect a further 2.4 million people by 2070–2100", according to the 2021 climate risk country profile, published by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Climate change not only threatens all key sectors of Thailand's economy, but its critical infrastructure in many areas is highly exposed to worsening climate scenarios, particularly the risks of heat stress, more intense and frequent floods, and land subsidence. As one of the world's most unequal countries in terms of income and wealth equality, what is more worrisome is that vulnerable groups in Thailand are likely to be the most disproportionately affected by climate change. Rural communities still dependent on agriculture and already saddled with high debt will face increased risks of crop damage and lower yields from floods and/or droughts, low-income urban residents face increased risk of property damage and loss of livelihoods from floods, and low-pay workers who work outdoors face increased risk of health hazards from higher temperatures. These potential climate impacts have clear implications on the health and wellbeing of the populace, and the income inequality and economic competitiveness of the country means that Thailand needs significant financing for climate adaptation. Such "adaptation finance" should be considered worthwhile investments, not expenses, since its purpose is to help avoid or reduce climate change's social and economic impacts. Financing this adaptation to climate change is complex because successful activities are highly context-specific -- financing better disaster preparedness requires a different approach from financing climate-smart agriculture, for example. However, we can estimate the overall scale of adaptation financing needed by looking at potential losses and damages from climate change. In 2021, for example, the Climate Economics Index of insurance giant Swiss Re estimates that Thailand's cumulative losses from climate change could amount to 19.5% of GDP by 2050, up from the 2018 level, if the world's average temperature rises 2C, and 42.6% of GDP under a 3.2C rise. Given Thailand's 2018 GDP of US$507 billion (17 trillion baht), the 19.5% cumulative loss estimate under the 2C rise scenario translates to $99 billion between 2018-2050. Adaptation investment totalling less than this amount is, therefore, worth making if it can help avoid such losses. Given the volatility and uncertainties inherent in climate risks, a precise calculation may be impossible, but this kind of ballpark estimate is still helpful in gauging the size of adaptation finance that would be needed. The amount of climate adaptation finance in Thailand remains minuscule compared to the financing needs. For an ongoing research project, our research team at Climate Finance Network Thailand (CFNT) compiled publicly disclosed data from different sources of funds and found that the total financing in Thailand that went into climate adaptation activities between 2018-2024 amounted to only 14 billion baht, most of which was spent by the government in various conservation projects (which helps reduce climate change impacts on ecosystems), promoting climate-smart rice farming with support from the Green Climate Fund, flood diversion canals, and disaster risk reduction programmes. Thailand is not alone in facing a significant financing gap between climate adaptation needs and actual investments. The Adaptation Gap Report 2023 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates the current adaptation finance gap worldwide at $194-366 billion per year. The report suggests several ways to increase adaptation financing, including "domestic expenditure and international and private sector finance. Additional avenues include remittances, increasing and tailoring finance to small and medium enterprises, and reforming the global financial architecture. The new Loss and Damage fund will also need to move towards more innovative financing mechanisms to reach the necessary scale of investment." Meanwhile, in September, the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance, or "the Lab" in short, launched a report titled "A Decade of Climate Finance Innovation: Impact Lessons from the Lab". The Lab was founded in 2014 by the UK, German, and US governments as a global public-private initiative to "identify, design, and support the piloting of new climate finance instruments with the aim of unlocking billions of dollars of fresh private investment for climate change mitigation and adaption in developing countries". Members of the Lab include leaders from governments, pension funds, investment banks, project developers, and development finance institutions. During its first decade, the Lab's portfolio of climate finance solutions has mobilised over $4 billion through 78 innovative financing instruments in emerging markets around the world, including $1.6 billion from the private sector. I believe the Lab's success stories in spurring private investment in climate adaptation are highly instructive and applicable for Thailand. Thailand needs the private sector to engage in climate financing. Despite the country's well-developed and sophisticated private sector, financial markets, and financial institutions, the involvement of the private sector and private financial institutions in adaptation financing has been nearly nonexistent. I pick three of these strategies depicted in The Lab's report and rank them in the order of urgency that I believe suits Thailand's context. 1. Capacity-building reduces pipeline risk and creates investment incentives. Many promising climate adaptation projects in Thailand are conceived and run by government officials, civil society and philanthropic organisations or local community members. They, or people who assist them with access to finance, need more technical skills to create and maintain monitoring systems to measure and report climate adaptation outcomes. They also need certain financial know-how to secure loans and manage climate adaptation finances. Funders, especially grant-based, should provide technical assistance for the entire duration, ranging from initial planning to ensuring that projects can be operated and monitored in the long run. Access to credible and actionable climate risk data, particularly water stress maps and heat stress maps under different climate scenarios, is among the first steps that are necessary to incentivise private investment in climate adaptation since companies will be spurred to action if they see more clearly how climate change will likely affect their business. Therefore, technical assistance and investments in the gathering, analysis, and distribution of climate risk data should also form an integral part of climate finance capacity building in Thailand. 2. Blended finance mitigates risks and unlocks private capital. Many risks, such as political instability and revenue risks, are common barriers to private investment in developing countries, including Thailand. The growing field of structuring "blended finance", or using public and philanthropic funds to mobilise private capital, helps alleviate the concerns of private investors and allows different types of investors with different risk appetites to work together for a common goal. There should be many opportunities for structuring blended finance for climate adaptation in Thailand, given the well-developed financial markets and financial intermediaries, a small but growing number of impact investors, the need for a more cost-effective deployment of the government budget, especially in response to climate-related disasters, and the clear climate-adaptation needs. 3. Aggregated portfolios better meet the needs of larger private investors. Small projects often find it difficult to attract larger investors due to high transaction costs and low per-transaction returns. Bundling several projects into a single investment package can make them more attractive and achieve the necessary economies of scale for larger investors. In India, the Lab-supported Sustainable Energy Bonds (SEBs) bundled small loans for rooftop solar and energy efficiency retrofits to spread their fixed costs and create an appealing value proposition for debt investors. CFNT explored a similar concept in our research report, "Here Comes Everybody: Boosting Residential Solar Financing with Crowdfunding Models in Thailand", which was launched in October. Sarinee Achavanuntakul is Head of Research at Fair Finance Thailand and Director of Climate Finance Network Thailand (CFNT).
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When Shylo Malcolm’s week in Cuba came to an end, she assumed her vacation romance was ending, too. Not that she wanted the romance to be over — far from it. Shylo just assumed all vacation flirtations have an obvious end date. “I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Shylo tells CNN Travel today. To her surprise, the object of her affections, Frenchman Yann Dervaux, was keen to share numbers, emails and social media information. In fact, he told her they’d “stay in touch”. “Yeah, right,” Shylo thought. She was returning to her life in Ontario, Canada. Yann was going back to his home near Lille, France. Over 3500 miles (5600km) would soon stretch between them. Still, when Shylo boarded her flight back home, she surprised herself by not feeling sad. Instead, she felt a twinge of excitement. “I’d had such an amazing week, and maybe we wouldn’t see each other again, the future was uncertain,” recalls Shylo. “But I went to Cuba, had the best vacation, had fun with my friends, and I met him ...” Shylo’s trip to Cuba coincided with her 27th birthday in the summer of 2016. When she imagined turning 27, Shylo envisaged herself lounging on a beach, a drink in her hand, the sun’s warm rays on her skin. Shylo recruited two of her oldest and best friends — persuading them with the allure of beaches and cocktails aplenty. The trio picked a resort in coastal Varadero, Cuba, known for its stretch of sandy beaches and vibrant bars. “We were ready to have fun, party it up,” recalls Shylo. But when the trio arrived at their hotel late one June evening, Shylo had to swallow her disappointment. Nothing seemed to be open, and no one seemed to be around. It definitely wasn’t the party atmosphere she’d anticipated. Still, after walking around the resort, Shylo and her friends eventually tracked down the only bar at the resort showing signs of life. They walked inside and glanced around. It was pretty empty. A soccer game blared from a television, and a handful of guys were sitting, beers in hand, watching the screen. Shylo and her friends raised eyebrows at one another. This still was not the vibe they were after. But they decided if the party wasn’t coming to them, they would have to bring the party. So the trio went to the bar, ordered a round of fruity cocktails and grabbed a table. Before long, a couple of the guys in the bar turned their attention away from the soccer and to the group of women. “We all just started talking,” recalls Shylo. A couple of the men were German — Germany, it turned out, was the soccer team playing that evening. While the German guys were happy to chat to Shylo and her group, they were still half-watching the game. But one of the guys was French and less bothered by the soccer happenings. And when he mentioned he was French, Shylo was intrigued — she’d always been a bit of a Francophile, dreaming of visiting Paris. Helping matters, Shylo and her friends were all French speakers. Their high school had run a French immersion program, where some of the classes took place entirely in French. “My friends and I were excited to practise our French, since we hadn’t used it in years,” Shylo recalls. “Immediately we were having a good time.” The Frenchman — of course — was Yann, a 29-year-old tech expert who was in Varadero with a group of friends, all of whom had retreated to bed before Shylo and her friends turned up that night. Shylo thought Yann seemed friendly and sweet but didn’t immediately pinpoint him as a romantic prospect. Yann, on the other hand, fell for Shylo right away. “I remember I looked at Shylo, and she was beautiful,” he tells CNN Travel today. “And also attractive — the way she was speaking, and she seemed so happy.” More rounds of drinks were ordered. The soccer game ended, and the German guys left. But Yann, Shylo and her friends were still in full swing. “We ended up hanging out late that night,” says Shylo. “Then we went to the beach. I don’t even know what time it was. We were up into the early hours of the morning, hanging out as a group.” For Shylo, the prospect of a romantic connection with Yann didn’t cross her mind until the group got down onto the beach. Shylo’s two friends suggested a nighttime swim and immediately ran into the water and started frolicking in the ocean. Meanwhile, Shylo stood back. It looked fun, but she was more than a little apprehensive about the inky black water, illuminated only by moonlight. “I don’t like going into the water when I can’t see,” says Shylo. “Everyone was being spontaneous and going out into the ocean. And I was like, ‘No, I’m not going to do that’.” Noticing Shylo’s hesitance, Yann suggested they could go in together. He offered to give Shylo a piggyback to keep her at a decent distance from the murky depths. “Come, I’ll take you on my back,” he said, smiling. Something about Yann’s presence — teamed with Dutch courage from multiple rounds of fruity cocktails — reassured Shylo. She agreed, leaping onto his back. And that’s when it happened. Shylo realised Yann wasn’t just helping her counter her fear of the ocean. This was definitely flirting. As they waded into the water, laughing and splashing Shylo’s friends as they went, Yann started whispering “sweet nothings” in Shylo’s ear, telling her she was “très belle”. It was flattering, and Shylo allowed herself to get swept up in the moment. Still, deep down she remained a little sceptical, assuming Yann was a player who said that kind of thing to all the women he encountered. She figured he’d disappear as soon as they left the beach. But to her surprise, over the next week, Shylo kept crossing paths with Yann. Often Yann was out on day trips, exploring Cuba with his friends. Meanwhile Shylo and her travelling party enjoyed relaxing by the pool. “But we usually found each other, as a group, at night,” says Shylo. “And as the week went on, and we spent more time talking, feelings of romance were definitely there. We enjoyed each other company, and the chemistry between us was great, too.” “Little by little, we talked a little bit more in depth about our lives,” recalls Yann. “We hung out as a group, but Shylo and I were always side by side. I was attracted to her and I liked her joy, her way of thinking and every evening we were looking for each other so we could spend more time together.” Shylo and Yann’s friends were aware of their obvious connection. “My friends were like, ‘You’re on vacation, live it up,’” recalls Shylo. “They said, ‘You don’t know if you’re going to see him, but just have fun while you’re here, get to know him’. They were supportive in that way.” Meanwhile Yann’s friends could see he was falling for Shylo and teased him that it was a “crazy way” to meet someone. “But they were happy for me,” he says. As Yann and Shylo grew more comfortable with each other, they started spending more time with no one else around. It was exciting, but for Shylo, the excitement was also laced with a tinge of panic. “I was like, ‘I’m getting in over my head. I’m kind of screwing myself over’,” she recalls. ‘I thought, ‘This guy’s going to go back to France and he’s so nice and kind to me, but we’re going to go from seeing each other all the time to not seeing each other at all, and then I’m going to have to get over this guy that I just met’.” Shylo had to stop herself mourning the end of the connection before it began. She tried to enjoy the moment. Then, when it came to saying goodbye, things with Yann were left open-ended. That’s why Shylo figured they’d never see each other again. And assuming the worst was a bit of self-protection, as much as anything else. Yann was more hopeful. And when he told Shylo they’d “stay in touch,” he meant it. He looked her up on Facebook as soon as he got home from Cuba and sent a friend request. And when Shylo got home and checked her socials and emails, she spotted the Facebook notification. She was surprised but pleased — and the excitement she’d been tentatively feeling on the aeroplane spilled out into full on happiness. “I thought, ‘OK maybe he’s not going to totally disappear on me,’ ” she says. “This could work.” After all Shylo’s fears about the vacation romance not lasting and Yann dropping off the face of the Earth, staying in touch happened quite seamlessly, to her surprise. “We ended up talking every single day,” she recalls. “Sending pictures, lots of pictures.” In Cuba, they’d largely communicated in French. Now the messages were a mix of “broken French, broken English”. “Google Translate helped a lot,” says Yann. “We also had some video chat dates, although it was hard because of the time difference,” adds Shylo. On one of their video calls, when Yann was talking about France, an idea crossed Shylo’s mind. “I’d dreamt of going to Paris forever, and I was like, ‘This guy lives in France, maybe we could kill two birds with one stone, I could finally get to see Paris, and I could see this guy again’,” Shylo recalls. At first, Shylo dismissed the idea as “kind of crazy”. “We’d been talking for two months, and I met him once,” she says, “But then I just decided to look up flights, and I found some flights that weren’t too expensive.” When she mentioned the idea to Yann, he was immediately enthusiastic. He encouraged her to book the tickets. “I was really happy to have the opportunity to see her again,” Yann says. “We had shared great memories together when we met, I wanted to share these same moments again.” And so at the end of August 2016 — a couple of months after the Cuba trip — Shylo arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, ready to spend a few days there with Yann, before they went to Paris together. On the journey over, Shylo was wracked with nervous excitement about reuniting with Yann. “I was like, ‘OK, how is this interaction gonna be? Do we hug? Do we kiss?’ I was just going over, over and over it,” she recalls. In the end, their reunion was “a little awkward” but in a sweet way, as Shylo recalls it. “We were both kind of shy and didn’t know what to do,” says Shylo. “We had a little hug, and then started walking together. But then as the day progressed, we got more comfortable.” Yann was happy that they soon settled back into the easy conversation they’d enjoyed in Cuba. “When we were together over those Cuba evenings, we would always talk to each other, learn everything about each other,” he says. “And when we met in Europe, it was the same mood. We were very happy to see each other again.” It was also exciting for Yann and Shylo to spend time without any friends around, to see how they might work as a couple. “I wanted to see how it would be to be together, how you interact with each other,” says Yann. “It was really important to me to experience that.” Shylo was also encouraged by the fact she felt very cared for by Yann. She was a little apprehensive about being in Europe for the first time, but he made her feel at ease. “He took care of finding accommodation, and planned out activities,” she recalls. “I went for two weeks. And we packed a lot into those two weeks.” The highlight of the trip was the time Yann and Shylo spent together in Paris. “Every day he took me to nice restaurants,” Shylo recalls. “It was such an amazing time. It was like a dream come true for me. I’d been dreaming of it, and then getting to go with this guy who was so sweet. No one had ever spoken to me, how he spoke to me.” When Shylo’s time in Europe came to an end, there were no longer any question marks in her head about whether she and Yann would stay in touch. Yann promised to come and visit Canada a couple of months later, around the holiday season, and he kept to his word. “I wanted to see her as soon as possible,” says Yann. This trip happened to coincide with Yann taking a break between jobs, which allowed him to spend six weeks in Ontario with Shylo. “I took him to see all the things here,” says Shylo. “And because he was here for a longer period of time, we lived together.” It was a taste of what a life together full-time might look like. Shylo also introduced Yann to more of her loved ones, who had time to get to know him over the six weeks, including at a New Year’s Eve party that Shylo hosted. “Everybody loved him,” she says. From then on, Shylo and Yann saw each other every couple of months — visiting one another in France and Canada, and also travelling the globe together — taking vacations to destinations including the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and the UK. “We always had a really good time,” says Shylo, with Yann adding that the time they spent together was filled with “powerful moments.” In between, the time spent apart was always tough. “It’s just not the same, seeing somebody through the screen,” says Shylo. The couple navigated the ups and downs of long distance for some years. They enjoyed some incredible adventures together, but by 2019, they were looking for ways to be together longer term. “We needed to figure out how to close the distance,” says Shylo. Thanks to Shylo’s love of France, the couple had always imagined she might be the one to move. But by the time they came to discuss the idea more seriously, Shylo’s family ties to Canada made the thought of relocating across the world less appealing. “My family was growing at the time, both my sisters had young kids, and I was a little worried about missing out on them growing up, because we’re a pretty close family,” says Shylo. “We do all the holidays together. We do family dinners and stuff like that. So it would have been really hard for me to leave.” For the first time, the couple talked seriously about the idea of Yann relocating to Canada. Yann was open to the idea — he’d grown to love Ontario over the years. He started looking into the logistics of making this dream happen. “And then in November 2019, he came and never left,” says Shylo. It was an exciting step — and a little surreal that after almost four years of travelling across the globe to visit one another, Yann and Shylo were finally living together. It wasn’t always an easy transition. Speaking “Frenglish,” as Shylo describes it, sometimes led to miscommunication. “Add in that he’s a European White male and I’m a Canadian with Jamaican roots Black girl, we’ve definitely come across our share of differences,” she says. “But we manage it and talk things out and try to communicate a little more to avoid problems. “There was a lot of navigating to do. But I’m thankful that he is a very loving person, which is perfect for me.” Yann also highlights Shylo’s “kindness and joy” as some of his favourite traits of hers, as well as “the spontaneity, the projects and ideas she comes up with and so much more”. Navigating the challenges of living together full-time only made Shylo and Yann stronger. And in time, Yann became more anchored in Canada. He took English classes to perfect the language. He got a job he enjoyed in the tech world. He got closer to Shylo’s family and friends. Yann and Shylo felt more connected than ever. After a few years of living together in Canada, Yann and Shylo found themselves discussing marriage. It was something they’d talked about before, but as the pandemic waned, the couple began considering the prospect more seriously. “I said, ‘I don’t want to just be a girlfriend forever. It’s important for me, for us, to get married’,” Shylo recalls. “Then Yann started looking at rings, and he proposed with my whole family here, which was really nice.” The proposal, in early 2023, was a surprise for Shylo. Her family had gathered together under the guise of celebrating her sister’s birthday. “Almost everyone was in on it, letting me believe we were having a birthday gathering when in actuality, Yann was going to purpose,” says Shylo. “It perfect that everyone was there for this special moment.” “We were married a couple months later, because we’d already been together seven years. We felt like we didn’t need a long engagement.” The wedding took place in spring 2023, in Canada, with Yann calling it “a wonderful day”. “Shylo was beautiful,” he says. “We rented an Airbnb on a lake and kept it small to just immediate family and bestest friends,” adds Shylo. “It was a crazy day that went by so fast, but it turned out to be absolutely beautiful and everyone enjoyed themselves.” Today, Shylo and Yann are still basking in the joy of their wedding, having enjoyed an extended “extra honeymoon period,” as Shylo puts it. Shylo’s also busy with her business, designing, making and selling travel-themed gifts. She’s also got a blog, Simply Blessed Shy where she chronicles her travel adventures with Yann. “We travel really well together,” says Shylo. “And the fact that he loves travelling just as much as I do, it’s great. He’s my favourite travel buddy.” It’s fitting, says Shylo, that they met and fell in love while travelling. “We met on vacation, he was in France, and I’m from Canada, and we ended up choosing the same resort and being there for almost the same amount of time,” reflects Shylo. “I don’t know if it’s fate. Yann thinks it is. I guess it was meant to be.”
Baker Mayfield threw for five touchdowns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stayed in the race atop the NFC South by pounding the visiting Carolina Panthers 48-14 on Sunday afternoon. Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan both caught two TD passes and Bucky Irving rushed for 113 yards as Tampa Bay's second victory of the month against Carolina came much easier than the road version in overtime. Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes for 359 yards and Evans caught eight balls for 97 yards. The Buccaneers (9-7) collected 551 yards of total offense. The Panthers (4-12) have lost five of their last six despite Bryce Young throwing two touchdown passes to Adam Thielen (five catches, 110 receiving yards). Young finished 15-for-28 passing for 203 yards, but Carolina managed only 39 rushing yards as it played without injured top running back Chuba Hubbard. Both of Mayfield's TD tosses to Evans were short (2 yards, 1 yard). Mayfield's scoring throws to McMillian covered 10 and 16 yards. He also had a 5-yard throw to Payne Durham to open the second-half scoring. The Buccaneers also scored off J. J. Russell's blocked punt return during a 25-second span of the third quarter when they racked up 14 points. Chase McLaughlin kicked field goals of 23 and 34 yards for the Buccaneers, who need to finish with a better record than the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional race because the tiebreaker favors Atlanta, which plays at Washington on Sunday night. Tampa Bay hosts New Orleans next weekend, while Carolina plays at Atlanta. After scoring on its first possession, Carolina's next three series on offense resulted in a total of minus-6 yards and three punts. The Buccaneers cashed in for 17 points following those defensive stops. The Panthers perked up by going 70 yards in 21 seconds to score on Young's 40-yard pass to Theilen with 50 seconds left in the half. They got the ball back following a Tampa Bay punt, and were in position to post 10 points in the last minute of the half until Eddy Pineiro's 53-yard field goal attempt was off the mark. Carolina has surrendered more points this year than in any season in franchise history, though Tampa Bay came four points shy of matching the most points ever allowed by the Panthers in a game. --Field Level Mediarom October 7 to 10, the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize were announced in a staggered manner. The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, December 10, to commemorate the anniversary of the death of its founder, the , which occurred in 1896. Also from December 7 to 10, a series of events will be held to present the winners and talk about their research and contribution to humanity The awards will be presented in , for the prizes in physics, chemistry, economics, literature and medicine, while the peace prize is presented hours earlier in During the week, the different winners participate in the which consists of different public events where they present their research and their careers are recognised. On the day of the ceremony, they will give an acceptance speech for their awards and receive the as well as a cash prize of 11 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to $1.1 million The history of the Nobel Prizes At the time of his death, Alfred Nobel stipulated in his will that his fortune should be used to reward those who in the fields in which Nobel himself worked: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economics and peace. After a long process of organizing and evaluating the candidates, the first prizes in his honor were awarded in 1901 and have become a worldwide milestone Where to watch the 2024 Nobel Prize ceremony? The Nobel Prize awards ceremony will be broadcast through the official channels of the prize itself: and its official social networks: The award ceremony will take place on Tuesday, December 10 at 16:00 Central European Time (CET), which is 10:00 ET/07:00 PT Who are the Nobel Prize winners in 2024? Physics: John Hopfield and Geoffry Hinton Hopfield, from Princeton University, and Hinton, from the University of Toronto, received the prize "for fundamental discoveries and inventions that allow machine learning through artificial neural networks," according to the Nobel Committee. Both used tools from physics to lay the by designing methods that allow machines to learn through artificial neural networks. This allows machines to mimic human functions such as memory and learning. Chemistry: David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper Baker, a researcher at the University of Washington, received the award for his work: While Demis Hassabis and John Jumper, both researchers at Google DeepMind, received the award for their work on predicting protein structure using AI, using a system called which is capable of predicting the structure of almost 200 million proteins, virtually all known proteins. As a result, it is now much easier to understand antibiotic resistance. Literature: Han Kang The Korean writer has been recognised as the only woman to receive the Nobel this year for Her best-known work worldwide is The Vegetarian (2007), a sample of a rich and complex writing, ranging from poetry to novels, which is why she is considered one of the most influential literary figures of her generation. Medicine: Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun Ambros, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, and Harvard's Ruvkun are recognized for the discovery of . Their discovery indicates that these molecules constitute an essential mechanism for controlling genes and their role is fundamental for the differentiation of cells and their alteration, which can lead to cancer. Economics: Simon Johnson, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson Johnson and Acemoglu from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Robinson from the University of Chicago present a study on the formation of economic and political institutions and their positive influence in shaping the prosperity of nations and reducing inequality between them. Their work analyses the political and economic systems used by European empires in their colonies from the 16th century onwards and how they worked for the welfare of their populations. With this analysis, they explain why differences in prosperity persist and how institutions can change. Peace: Survivors of the atomic bombs The Nobel Peace Prize recognizes the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, made up of survivors of the , and recognizes their fight against nuclear weapons, in order to eradicate them worldwide, thanks to their testimonies of the tragedy that occurred in 1945.
Zeke Mayo has 25 as No. 8 Kansas takes down Brown‘Twas the night before for Christmas Eve (Christmas Adam, if you will), and all through the league, everyone was chasing the elusive big three. The NFL regular season is nearing its end and teams are setting themselves up for a Super Bowl run. After Week 15, the Buffalo Bills were at the top of the Super Bowl odds following their win over the Detroit Lions . The two teams have flipped after Week 16. The Lions are the favorites again at +400, followed closely by the Bills and two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs , who are both +450. The Philadelphia Eagles (+600) and Baltimore Ravens (+750) close out the top five spots in the odds. Seeding for the postseason is not settled yet, but the big three of Detroit, Buffalo and KC are all in the mix to win the Super Bowl. 2025 Super Bowl odds Lions back at it Week 15’s loss to Buffalo was a setback for Detroit, but the Lions took care of business this week by knocking off the Chicago Bears to get to 13-2. Detroit’s offense was sensational, racking up 475 total yards, and Jared Goff shouldered more of the load with 336 passing yards and three scores. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta contributed as usual, but Goff’s top target was Jameson Williams , whose breakout 2024 campaign is littered with plays like his 82-yard touchdown catch against the Bears. He finished with a career-high 143 receiving yards. The Lions may have lost Knuckles indefinitely with David Montgomery ’s MCL injury, but Sonic is still a great solo act. Jahmyr Gibbs took his expanded responsibilities in the backfield and ran with them, as he totaled 154 yards from scrimmage (109 rushing, 45 receiving) and added a rushing touchdown. The second-year back has 15 total scores on the season, with 12 coming on the ground. What may have been most impressive for the Lions, though, was holding off Chicago’s offense after battling through a multitude of injuries within their defensive unit. Caleb Williams was able to rack up on the yardage throughout, but he played a hand in one of the Bears’ two fumbles that held them back from keeping pace with the Lions. Detroit has now held 10 opponents to 20 points or less this season. The Lions can nearly feel the NFC North title in their hands, but first they will need to match up with the San Francisco 49ers and close out the regular season in what could be a winner-takes-all division title game with the Minnesota Vikings (+1100 to win the Super Bowl), who are also 13-2. Bills survive a close call Sometimes, a major win like Buffalo had against Detroit leads to a letdown game the next week. The Bills looked like they were asleep at the wheel for much of the day against the lowly New England Patriots . But they made just enough plays to get to 12-3. The game didn’t have much to boost Josh Allen ’s case for MVP, but James Cook came to play. Cook totaled 126 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving). The biggest play of the day from the Bills offense was Cook’s 46-yard touchdown tote in the second quarter. Allen’s down day (184 total yards, one touchdown pass, one interception) did not hold the Bills back. He also avoided major injury to his throwing hand , which will be something to monitor. The Bills are still holding out hope of securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed, but they will need some help from the Chiefs to get there. Buffalo plays the New York Jets and has a rematch with the Pats left on the schedule. Chiefs keep rolling with a bit less drama The 2024 season has not always looked pretty for the two-time defending champions. But like the DJ Khaled song, all they do is win no matter what. The Chiefs now sit at 14-1 after knocking off the Houston Texans . KC has won 19 of its last 20 games and is one step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC. You know the formula: The Chiefs showed well defensively, Patrick Mahomes made a few plays and the team made enough plays down the stretch to get the win. This marked the 11th one-score win this year for KC. Mahomes continued his stellar play as of late, going 28-of-41 with 260 passing yards and a touchdown pass. But the play that caught everyone’s eyes was his 15-yard touchdown scamper, notably after he came into the game nursing a high-ankle sprain. This is the part of the season Mahomes has thrived in throughout his career. He’s heating up again. Over the last five games, Mahomes has thrown eight touchdowns against zero picks with 240.8 passing yards per game and a 63.8 QBR. The medley of weapons expanding around him has helped. Xavier Worthy continues to develop in his rookie campaign, DeAndre Hopkins and Travis Kelce continue to be reliable veteran targets, and Isiah Pacheco and Hollywood Brown have returned to the field in recent weeks. But it all starts with the Chiefs defense, which picked off second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud twice in the win and held an opponent to 20 points or less for the 11th time this year. KC will now turn its attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day. All the Chiefs need to do is win one more time to clinch the No. 1 seed and take home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Eagles losing in more ways than one Philly’s loss to the Washington Commanders may not be the biggest deal when all is said and done. Now 12-3, the Eagles are still atop the NFC East and still have a chance to usurp the Lions as the conference’s No. 1 seed. But the biggest news from the loss may be the fact that star QB Jalen Hurts left the action with a concussion. Former first-round pick Kenny Pickett stepped in and had a solid showing, but was unable to help Philly secure the win. The loss came despite a masterclass performance from Saquon Barkley , who finished with 150 rushing yards and two scores. He’s now up to 1,838 rushing yards, 268 yards away from topping Eric Dickerson’s single-season record from 1984. The other big story from that game was the play of Rookie of the Year favorite Jayden Daniels , who fried the Eagles’ top-ranked defense for 339 total yards (258 passing, 81 rushing) and a career-high five TD passes. Not only were the 36 points the most the Eagles have allowed all season, but it was only the fifth time a team has totaled over 350 yards of offense against them this year. Philly will need its defense in order to lock up the NFC East title as they finish the season out against the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants . Ravens retaking the North The Ravens have finally slayed the dragon. After losing eight of nine to Pittsburgh, Lamar Jackson and Baltimore beat the Steelers to get to 10-5 and move into a tie for the AFC North lead. Baltimore’s high-paced offense did it again, led by Jackson’s three touchdown passes, Derrick Henry ’s 189 total yards and Zay Flowers’ fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season. This year’s Ravens feel different than past years because of all the weapons around Jackson, who is now up to a career-high 37 touchdown passes against a mere four interceptions. Flowers has emerged with more than 1,000 yards in his sophomore campaign, but that’s in addition to Mark Andrews , Rashod Bateman , and Isaiah Likely all playing vital roles as well. But this offense is still powered by Henry, who is now up to 1,636 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns on the year. The Ravens D was much maligned earlier in the season, but has found a new form in the back half of the year. Since Week 11, they have allowed 278.2 yards and 19.2 points per game, as opposed to 367.9 yards and 25.3 points per game allowed through the first 10 games. Baltimore forced two pivotal Russell Wilson turnovers in the game to limit the Pittsburgh offense, with the second being a game-sealing pick-six from Marlon Humphrey in the fourth quarter. The Ravens close the season again the Houston Texans and Cleveland Browns , while the Steelers play the Chiefs and the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals . This article originally appeared in The Athletic .Dana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact. Related Articles National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own National Politics | President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America’s tallest peak National Politics | Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request. The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation. Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9. To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison. Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds. But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational. Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered. Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.” Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12. Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility. Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon. Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years. “Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.” The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool. It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten. “Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.” Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show. The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights. “Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform. Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000. Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.” “I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.” Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.” “I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.” With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson. ©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.