When Hillary Clinton appeared before the House Oversight Committee in a closed deposition, she denied having any connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. There was one alleged statement from the late billionaire, however, she didn’t take offense to — and it made everyone in the room laugh.

“Mr. Epstein is commenting and he quotes, ‘Hey, Hillary Clinton is much prettier in person,’” Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert said in a video of Clinton’s Thursday, February 26, deposition.

“I’m not going to object to that,” Clinton, 78, replied, shrugging her shoulders in a sheepish manner as the room laughed in response.

A legal representative of Clinton’s can be heard asking the congresswoman off camera, “Can we see the documents? We don’t think the document says that.” He then turned to Clinton and said, “Not that you’re not pretty.”

Related: Bill Clinton Speaks Out Against Jeffrey Epstein Before Testifying in Private

Before sitting down with the House Oversight Committee and testifying about Jeffrey Epstein, former President Bill Clinton is speaking out about his intentions. “I’m here today for two reasons. The first is that I love my country. And America was built upon the idea that no person is above the law, even Presidents — especially […]

The interaction between the pair provided a moment of levity in an otherwise tense proceeding, with Clinton responding, “I’ll take it if I can get it.”

Despite making a few jokes while facing the committee in Chappaqua, New York, for six hours last week, Clinton maintained she did not have a relationship with Epstein after she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton’s names were found in some of the Epstein’s files.

The former first lady told the panel she had “no idea” about Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes prior to his arrest. Hillary also claimed she barely knew the man and never visited any of his properties.

Related: Newly Released Epstein Photos Feature Donald Trump, Woody Allen and More

Advertisement

President Donald Trump, Woody Allen, former President Bill Clinton and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are all seen in newly released photos obtained from the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. On Friday, December 12, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released 19 archival photos, of more than 95,000 total images, recovered from Epstein’s estate as part […]

Hillary noted that Epstein’s crimes are not a one-off and the victims should be the subject of everyone’s focus.

“If you are new to this issue, let me tell you: Jeffrey Epstein was a heinous individual, but he’s far from alone,” she said in her opening statement to the committee via The Independent. “This is not a one-off tabloid sensation or a political scandal. It’s a global scourge with an unimaginable human toll.”

In July 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors. (He also pleaded guilty in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor — a lesser charge as part of his “sweetheart” plea deal.) He pleaded not guilty to the charges but before the case could go to trial, Epstein died in a New York City jail at the age of 66. His death was later ruled a suicide.

While Epstein is no longer alive to speak about his alleged crimes, he is still continuing to make headlines thanks to the Justice Department’s long-awaited release of his Epstein Files as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

In recent months, several high-powered figures — including celebrities, politicians and royals —have been named in the documents.

Related: Unsealed Court Documents Reveal Names of Jeffrey Epstein’s Associates

Advertisement

Documents that name dozens of public figures associated with accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been unsealed.  The first of what is expected to be multiple batches of documents were released in federal court in New York on Wednesday, January 3, following federal judge Loretta A. Preska’s December 18 ruling. The documents were initially filed […]

Bill, 79, and Hillary both met separately with the House Oversight Committee to deny their alleged connection to the late criminal.

“First, I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing,” Bill wrote in a statement via X on Friday, February 27, ahead of his closed deposition. “No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than your interpretation of those 20-year-old photos: I know what I saw, and more importantly, what I didn’t see. I know what I did, and more importantly, what I didn’t do. I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”

He added that the committee might not like his answers, but he’s going to speak his truth. “That might be unsatisfying. But I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of,” Bill said. “Since I am under oath, I will not falsely state that I am looking forward to your questions. But I am ready to answer them to the best of my abilities, consistent with the facts as I know them.”

If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Sen. Tillis To Kristi Noem
ICE Killings Are Like Dog You Killed

Published
March 3, 2026
6:20 PM PST

Related

Three’s Company — The Collider TV Quiz

Can you identify the show from a trio of its stars? John Ritter, Suzanne Somers, and Joyce DeWitt hope you can.

If the Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery merger clears the final regulatory hurdles, this could mean significant changes for HBO Max subscribers in how they access the service. According to Paramount president David Ellison, integrating HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single direct-to-consumer service will give both companies access to the scale they need in an increasingly consolidated streaming marketplace.

For viewers, the real story isn’t the corporate maneuvering — it’s what happens when the apps on their home screen start to change. A unified service has the potential to reshape the everyday user experience while also raising bigger questions about whether HBO’s carefully protected brand identity can truly remain untouched inside a much larger ecosystem.

Your App and Library Could Get Bigger and More Bundled

Image via HBO Max

Advertisement

The first and most tangible change would likely show up in the interface itself. Ellison has repeatedly emphasized plans to bring the two platforms together, but executives have been notably light on specifics about whether that means a full technical merger or a hub-style experience where brands live side by side.

Either way, the direction is clear: the combined service is being positioned as a scale play. Paramount leadership has pointed to the sheer volume of content across both companies — spanning blockbuster franchises, prestige dramas, network television, and sports — as the primary competitive advantage. For subscribers, that likely translates into a broader content library accessible through a more unified experience.

Consumer-wise, the shift could mean one bill, one app, and a new price structure. That kind of consolidation has become the default playbook across the streaming industry, where mergers and bundle experiments typically lead to recalibrated tiers and packaging. While no pricing changes have been announced, history suggests that price hikes, bundle tiers, and ad-plan shifts are typically what follow when platforms bulk up this aggressively.

There are also quieter but meaningful implications for how the service actually feels to use. A merged platform often brings algorithmic tweaks, navigation changes, and different content-surfacing priorities. Paramount executives have already highlighted the technical upside they expect from combining the services, which suggests the recommendation engine and overall UI could evolve alongside the expanded catalog.

Importantly, none of this appears imminent. The deal itself still faces regulatory review in the U.S. and Europe, and Paramount has indicated the broader transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Details about the streaming integration are likely to come closer to 2027, meaning subscribers shouldn’t expect their apps to suddenly transform overnight.

HBO’s Independence Is Being Promised — Not Guaranteed

Image via Paramount

If the first potential change is about how subscribers use the service, the second is more philosophical: What happens to HBO’s identity once it’s folded into a much larger streaming machine? Ellison has been emphatic on this point. He has repeatedly said that HBO will continue to “operate with independence” and that the premium brand should be allowed to keep doing what it does best. He has also publicly praised HBO and HBO Max content chief Casey Bloys, as well as the network’s recent creative momentum, as HBO’s reputation has always rested on a very specific programming strategy. Subscribers are paying for a curated sense of prestige, careful development cycles, and a quality bar that historically sits above the broader streaming field.

It is uncertain if creative insulation in practice would equate to structural independence on the page. Viewers will monitor theatrical windows for signs of tightening budgets, changes in release strategies, and any potential need to support a larger algorithm-driven ecosystem. Any change, no matter how small, to theatrical window timeframes or episode roll-out timing could be viewed over time as a philosophical change.

For the time being, Paramount has communicated to calm any anxieties. Paramount executives have positioned the newly merged company as a distribution extension, not as a creative transformation; this is evident in that the leadership of HBO will remain intact following the merger. That said, in the streaming era, brand identity is as much influenced by platforms as by assurances from Company Senior Leadership.

Podcaster Claudia Oshry isn’t impressed with one of the newest cast members of The Real Housewives of New York City.

“I have some, like, tea. I don’t know if tea is the right word for this,” Oshry, 31, shared via TikTok on Monday, March 2. “Of course I know my girl Erika Hammond — great casting. And then I saw the name Hailey Glassman. I could not put my finger on why her name sounded so familiar to me, so I went over to her Instagram.”

Bravo recently confirmed Sai De Silva, Erin Lichy, Jessel Taank and “friend of the cast” Carole Radziwill would be joining Glassman, 39, Hammond, 34 and Daisy Toye for season 16.

After looking at her DM messages, Oshry claimed that Glassman has been “a troll of mine, like, a deep internet troll since 2017.”

Related: Everything to Know About ‘RHONY’ Season 16: Filming Dates, Cast and More

The Housewives are heading back to the Big Apple for The Real Housewives of New York City season 16. Bravo announced the new season’s cast in March 2026, including three returning full-time cast members and three new faces, plus the long-awaited return of a former RHONY Housewife. “We’ll be there in a New York minute🍎 […]

“Omg your voice is so annoying,” the first alleged message Oshry claims to have received from Glassman read. “Like Janice from Friends.”

The harsh alleged messages only continued when Glassman commented on the podcast host’s weight.

“Skinny minnie, now. Looks great but you gotta own you’re on wegovy,” Glassman allegedly wrote. “You’re an influencer and you really should be honest on your platform about it. When you need any skin tightening since you def lost enough to need it, I’ll set you up with a great plastic surgeon in NYC.”

Later on in her TikTok, Oshry started to question if Bravo’s newest star may actually be a fan of hers after all.

“But I think she’s also a huge fan because she also has ‘mazel tov’ when I announced I was pregnant,” she shared. “My biggest hater and my biggest supporter.”

Oshry then shared a purported message from Glassman when she allegedly wished her a Happy Mother’s Day.

“I don’t know what barrel Bravo was scraping the bottom of when they cast this person,” Oshry shared, “but it’s giving Monica from Salt Lake City.”

Monica Garcia appeared on season 4 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and was accused of being part of a troll Instagram account called Reality Von Tease.

After seeing Oshry’s video on Instagram, Garcia, 42, commented, “Hey now! What did I ever do to you?? 😂.”

Us Weekly has reached out to Bravo for comment.

According to Instagram, Glassman — who was previously linked to Jon Gosselin — is a public relations professional based out of New York City and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

Bravo previously confirmed that season 16 begins filming this week, with past seasons available to stream anytime on Peacock.

New details have emerged in the wake of Katherine Hartley Short’s tragic death, which has officially been ruled a suicide.

Katherine, the only daughter of actor Martin Short, was cremated on Friday, February 27, after she died at her California home on Monday, February 23, according to her death certificate. She was 42.

The certificate listed her occupation as a social work therapist, noting that she obtained her master’s degree. (Katherine also had a part-time job at the Amae Health clinic.) She worked in the mental health field for 10 years and never married.

Katherine was found dead inside of her Hollywood Hills residence after Los Angeles Police Department officers and Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters rushed to the scene.

Related: Martin Short’s Late Daughter Had ‘Mental Illness’ Support Dog Before Death

Martin Short’s daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, reportedly had a service dog to help her navigate“mental illness” prior to her untimely death at age 42. Katherine reportedly shared a photo and bio for her dog Joni, named after singer Joni Mitchell, on her since-deleted professional website, according to Page Six. “Joni is my incredible service dog, […]

Law enforcement sources previously told TMZ that she was discovered “behind a locked door and with a note nearby.” Katherine was located by a friend who did a welfare check after she hadn’t been heard from for a day.

The friend who called 911 said they were at Katherine’s home in the Hollywood Hills but unable to enter a bedroom at the residence, as heard in dispatch audio obtained by the outlet.

The LAPD confirmed to Us Weekly that officers responded to a radio call of a possible suicide attempt on Monday, February 23, at 6:43 p.m. The LAPD said responding officers found a deceased female upon arrival..

Martin, 75, adopted Katherine with his late wife, Nancy Dolman. The couple also shared adopted sons Oliver, 39, and Henry, 36. Martin and Dolman tied the knot in 1989 and remained married until her death. (Nancy died at 58 in August 2010 after battling ovarian cancer.)

“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short. The Short family is devastated by this loss and asks for privacy at this time,” the actor’s rep told Us in a statement. “Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”

One of Katherine’s neighbors exclusively told Us that she gave “no indication of struggle” before her death. “Katherine was a private person but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t friendly. She was quite outgoing,” the neighbor fondly recalled.

More than a decade before her death, Katherine filed to change her name to “Katherine Elizabeth Hartley” due to the nature of her career in October 2012. “My father is a public figure. I am a psychiatric social worker,” Katherine explained in court documents obtained by Us.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

It’s safe to say that the Western genre would not have developed into one of the most popular categories of film if it weren’t for the extraordinary career of John Wayne. While it was not the first Western ever made, the 1939 classic Stagecoach fulfilled everything cinephiles could want from the genre, and kicked off a notoriously illustrious partnership between Wayne and director John Ford. Although Wayne’s work with Ford was arguably the highlight of both of their filmographies, Wayne worked with many great filmmakers, and began to make darker and more reflective films in the last decade of his career. In addition to finally earning him the Academy Award for Best Actor that he had long been denied, Wayne’s performance in True Grit contains what he believes is the best acting of his career.

‘True Grit’ Has One of John Wayne’s Greatest Performances

True Grit is based on the novel of the same name by Charles Portis, which also inspired a 2010 remake by Joel and Ethan Coen that starred Jeff Bridges. Wayne stars as the aging U.S. Major Marshall Rooster Cogburn, whose cantankerous behavior and constant drinking have caused many of his peers to think that he is past his prime. However, a violent insurrection forces Cogburn to jump back into the line of fire. In Yell County, Arkansas, the farmer Frank Ross (John Pickard) is murdered by the outlaw Tom Chaney (Jeff Corey), whom he had once employed as a hired hand. Although the Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) is determined to hunt Chaney down and bring him to justice under the law, Ross’ young daughter Mattie (Kim Darby) decides to hire Cogburn to help track down her father’s killer.

While he had starred in countless Westerns by the time of the film’s release, Wayne was uniquely cast in True Grit as an aging protagonist who was past his prime. Cogburn did not have the excitable energy of Sheriff John T. Chance in Rio Bravo, nor did he have the incisive rage of Major Ethan Edwards in The Searchers. Rather, Cogburn is a character who is no longer respected and uses his new mission to help Mattie as a means of solidifying his reputation. In many ways, this felt like a self-reflective performance on Wayne’s part. While the 1960s saw the emergence of new Western stars like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef, Wayne proved in True Grit that he hadn’t lost a step with the genre that had paved the way for his career.

Related

Collider Acrostic — The Collider Movie Quiz!

Can you answer these movie questions, wherein each correct response begins with a successive letter of the word “Collider”?

Advertisement

Although the film strays radically from the original source material, True Grit’s depiction of Cogburn made use of Wayne’s inherent strengths as an actor. It’s often unspoken how comedically adept Wayne was, as he starred in many romantic comedies throughout his career. While True Grit is first and foremost a drama, Wayne was able to add a touch of humor to the adventure throughout the film, specifically in his interaction with La Boeuf. Cogburn’s cantankerous, somewhat nontraditional approach to following the law ends up rubbing the stuffy and proper Texas ranger the wrong way. It was also a great depiction of Wayne as a reluctant hero. Although he initially views his mission to avenge Mattie’s parents as merely one that is financially beneficial, Cogburn begins to believe in the merits of his assignment, and forms an attachment with his young employer.

John Wayne Showed His Range in This ‘True Grit’ Scene

Although the film certainly allowed him to chew the scenery, Wayne showed his range as a dramatic actor during a moving monologue in True Grit. When Cogburn and Mattie are waiting for the film’s villains to discover them, the aging U.S. Marshall reveals that he had once been married, and that his wife had left him at an unaccepted moment. Although he reflects on the sadness of not being able to have a family, Cogburn insists that he’d rather lose his wife than sacrifice his independence. It’s a rare moment of intimacy from a character who is uneasy about expressing his emotions. While director Henry Hathaway deserves credit for setting up the scene, it’s Wayne’s subtle performance that makes True Grit one of his greatest films ever.

While he had appeared in no shortage of memorable Western shootouts, Wayne cited the True Grit monologue scene as the greatest moment of acting in his entire career. He called the part of Cogburn his “first decent part in twenty years,” as it gave him his “first chance to play a character role instead of John Wayne.” By leaning away from his inherent idiosyncrasies and investing in the character’s backstory, Wayne felt that Hathaway had made True Grit into “a fantasy, and yet he kept it an honest Western.” Wayne revealed that Cogburn was “not like what I’ve done before,” and that the opportunity to show his range excited him.

‘True Grit’ Shows a Softer Side to John Wayne

Image via Paramount Pictures

Wayne’s True Grit monologue showed us a softer side of the actor we so rarely got to see during his legendary career. You get the sense as Cogburn opens up about his ex-wife that there is a heartbreaking wistfulness for the past, even if it’s a life that no longer suits him. This is particularly poignant when Mattie asks about his son. After telling her that his wife took him with her after the divorce, Cogburn looks down with a pause, shaking his head for a few seconds before stating matter-of-factly, “He never liked me anyway.” Wayne relies on a quiet understatedness here, a stark contrast to the swaggering, assertive cowboy persona that made him a Western icon.

To see Wayne portray a man in a state of vulnerability towards the end of his career only adds to the scene’s power. Cogburn is opening up, showing a side to Mattie she doesn’t normally get to see from the U.S. Marshall. It feels like a triumphant victory lap for Wayne, who is giving us one of the most intimate performances of his entire career, something that was often sorely lacking from his more traditional films.

‘True Grit’ Was the Summation of Wayne’s Career

Although it ended up inspiring the sequel Rooster Cogburn, True Grit was one of the last films of Wayne’s career. In that sense, it’s hard to not see Cogburn’s touching speech as a moment of reflection on Wayne’s part. Cogburn is reminiscing about what he missed out on as the result of his career, and Wayne was once again playing a Western gunslinger who is forced to show his heroism. This connection between the two makes the film even more powerful. Just as Cogburn decides to aid Mattie and prove himself worthy of wearing a badge, Wayne reaches unexpected emotional depths and delivers one of the most stirring performances of his career.

Although the Academy Awards frequently disregard great Westerns, Wayne’s performance in True Grit earned him his first and only Best Actor Oscar. Some actors earn major awards towards the end of their careers as “career prizes” for their entire body of work, but in the case of True Grit, Wayne won his award on merit alone.

Wayne Had a Shaky History at the Oscars

Related

As a Western Fan, These Are the 10 Movies in the Genre I Rewatch the Most

Yee-haw!

One of the reasons that the acclaim for True Grit was so satisfying was that Wayne’s work had consistently been overlooked by the Academy Award before he finally earned the Best Actor trophy. The Oscars have not historically been kind to “genre” movies, as the only western that had won Best Picture prior to the release of True Grit was Cimarron, which was released way back in 1931; the Oscars would show more willingness to accept the genre in subsequent years, as Unforgiven, Dances With Wolves, and No Country For Old Men also earned the Best Picture award. Nonetheless, True Grit wasn’t nominated in any other major categories, signifying once again that awards voters were rather close-minded. Wayne’s victory may have been the exception to the rule, rather than the initiation of a new trend.

Even though True Grit is a film that is cited as a western classic, many of Wayne’s best performances were overlooked by the Oscars. Wayne is best known for his collaborations with John Ford, who is the most decorated filmmaker in history thanks to his four victories in the Best Director category. Wayne appeared in Best Picture nominees directed by Ford, such as The Long Voyage Home, The Quiet Man, and Stagecoach, but did not get recognized for any of his performances. Prior to True Grit, he had been nominated for Best Actor in the war drama The Sands of Iowa Jima and received a Best Picture nomination for the historical epic The Alamo, which he both directed and produced. However, it is unfortunate to see that Wayne did not get any recognition for The Searchers, a classic cited by critics’ groups like the AFI and Sight & Sound as being one of the greatest films ever made. Wayne’s performance as a ruthless Marshall with a serious sense of bloodlust predated many iconic anti-hero characters, such as Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) in Taxi Driver, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt and Edward Norton) in Fight Club, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) in American Psycho, and Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) in Joker.

Ironically, the remake of True Grit fared much better at the Academy Awards, as it earned ten nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for the Coen Brothers (both of which it ended up losing to The King’s Speech). Among the nominees for the film was Jeff Bridges, who took on the role of Rooster Cogburn that Wayne had crafted in such a delicate way. Bridges did not win the award, but this is not entirely surprising, as he had won the previous year for his performance as an alcoholic country singer in the acclaimed music drama Crazy Heart. That being said, there is a legitimate argument to be made that Bridges should have earned the prize two years in a row; he managed to bring a lot of depth to his portrayal, as it did not feel like he was simply trying to do an impression of what Wayne had already done before.

Advertisement

True Grit

Advertisement

Release Date

June 11, 1969

Runtime

Advertisement

128 minutes

Director

Henry Hathaway

Advertisement

Writers

Charles Portis, Marguerite Roberts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Carole Radziwill Says Bravo Fans Manifested Her ‘RHONY’ Return

Bravo Also Announced The Rest Of The Season 16 Cast

Fans Are Mixed About Radziwill’s Return

The Former ‘RHONY’ Star Previously Discussed Her Connection To Maxwell

What The Royal Siblings Said About Meghan Markle

Experts React To The Royal Siblings’ Comments About The Duchess Of Sussex

Meghan Markle Could Possibly Return To The U.K. For The Invictus Games

The Duke And Duchess’s ‘Credibility Has Been Bruised’