A tenured Louisiana music teacher has been charged with cruelty to children and simple assault for allegedly placing Band-Aids over the mouths of seven of his students, Us Weekly has learned.

Pearl River Police contend George Serban allegedly placed the Band-Aids on the students’ mouths because they would not stop talking during class.

Serban, 38, is a teacher of music at Riverside Elementary School in Pearl River, where he has tenure.

According to police, Serban was arrested on Tuesday, March 17, after the seven students told their parents Band-Aids were placed over their mouths as punishment for speaking in class on Monday, March 16.

The students are aged 8 to 10, according to police.

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A 29-year-old Louisiana biology teacher is facing serious criminal allegations after allegedly sexually abusing one of her students. Teddi Page, who is no longer working at Academy of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls Catholic school in New Orleans, turned herself into police on Thursday, February 5. She was subsequently charged with a single count of […]

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The Band-Aids were stuck to their lips against their wills, according to investigators.

“Officers interviewed the children and learned that the children were scared and very afraid,” police said in a statement.

“Pearl River Police officers were in constant contact with the St. Tammany Parish School Board and worked together to come to a resolution of this incident as soon as possible,” the release stated.

The children’s parents were notified of the allegations and insisted that he face criminal charges.

Serban surrendered to the authorities after learning he was the subject of an active arrest warrant. He was processed at the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center, where, on Wednesday, March 18, he posted a $15,000 bond for his release.

His attorney, Robert Toale, sent a statement to WDSU, saying that the adhesive bandages were just part of his lesson that day.

“He was teaching his students musical concepts developed by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze,” the statement reads. “You can Google and learn more about the Dalroze eurythmics technique but suffice it to say the band-aids were meant to cover a sense, to better understand pitch.”

Toale added the Band-Aids were not placed on the children as a punishment. In fact, “I also understand the children were playing around, as 3rd graders do, using the band-aids as fake mustaches.”

It was unclear if he had entered pleas at any point.

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A Louisiana teacher at Broussard Middle School – who was previously named Teacher of the Year in September 2025 – has been arrested and charged with child sex crimes. Christie Oster was arrested on Wednesday, January 28, and charged with indecent behavior with juveniles and carnal knowledge of a juvenile, according to online records viewed […]

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Us tried to contact Serban via phone, email, and social media, but received no responses.

Police said the case will now be turned over to the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney.

St. Tammany Parish Public Schools officials were unavailable for comment on Thursday, March 19, and the prosecutor’s office did not return a call seeking comment.

Information about Serban’s employment status was also unavailable at press time.

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Love Story: JFK Jr. & Carolyn Bessette Episode 8

If FX’s romance drama, Love Story, showed us the reality of John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s (Sarah Pidgeon) wedded bliss in last week’s episode “Obsession,” then this week’s penultimate chapter, “Exit Strategy,” strips everything down even more. In Thursday night’s episode of Ryan Murphy’s controversial anthology series, the moment between the pair narrows almost entirely to them inside their loft as tensions hit a boiling point after Princess Diana’s death. It’s a point that turns the hour into one long, intimate conversation about grief, fame, resentment, and the emotional distance that can open up even inside a marriage built on love.

Written by Juli Weiner and co-creator Connor Hines, “Exit Strategy” feels like a bottle episode, but it never feels stagnant in its direction. Instead, the inside look across its 41 minutes becomes one of the show’s more revealing chapters. With that physical confinement helping bring their own fears to the surface, what emerges is not a tabloid version of their relationship, but something more grounded and painful.

Seen as just two people trying to understand each other while carrying very different burdens, Weiner tells Collider exclusively that this emotional approach was clearly central behind the scenes, too. “Ryan and Connor and the entire team came at [it] with these memories of this incredible love story and wanting to find the emotional truth in that, and seeing these characters as not tabloid caricatures, but really human people in a real marriage, it was something that was really important to us.”

In addition to discussing how they built around this kind of interiority to tell JFK Jr. and Carolyn’s love story, Weiner breaks down how the late Princess Diana’s death becomes a different emotional trigger for each of them and why “Exit Strategy” captures the marriage at its most complicated and human.

John and Carolyn’s Different Reactions to Princess Diana’s Death Signal a Deeper Divide

Weiner uses Diana’s death to show how their different histories shape love, empathy, and misunderstanding.

Image via FX

COLLIDER: While “The Wedding” episode, which you directed, was gorgeous, I want to talk about “Exit Strategy,” the penultimate episode of the series. This episode is almost entirely just John and Carolyn in the loft. When you and Connor approached it, did you see it as a bottle episode emotionally, or more like a pressure cooker that had been building all season?

JULI WEINER: Well, thank you so much for your kind words about the show. It’s incredibly exciting to see people respond to it. Yes, episode eight, we did approach it like a bottle episode. It was an episode all about interiority, so it was a challenge. Obviously, we knew it was one set — I guess two sets, but one set [was] their apartment, two conversations a year apart. We had to think a lot about how to show the progression of time and the progression of the characters’ relationships while not leaving the apartment.

And we really had to dramatize what was going on with them at different points in their marriage through conversations that they were just having in the course of their daily lives in the apartment, so we did think of it almost like a play. And the way we wrote it was very play-like in that we would be writing an enormous amount, like nine or 10 pages a night sometimes, and the actors would get it that night or the next morning.

We’d rehearse with director Jesse Peretz and then sometimes film the next day. So it was very, it felt very immediate, very theatrical, very collaborative. And I just loved it.

When John says watching Princess Diana’s death was like watching his mother die twice, it ties public tragedy to private grief. Was that always the emotional connective tissue of this episode — that they’re both haunted by different versions of fame? Because we see it even with Carolyn, reacting to it through her fear of the paparazzi never giving her space.

WEINER: I think we thought a lot about the two characters’ different reactions to the tragedy of what happened to Princess Diana. It’s really interesting to think about it; how their different life experiences have both informed their reaction to this tragedy in different ways. As you said, Carolyn is obviously very tormented by the paparazzi and their intrusive presence in her life, but the character of John is coming at it from a totally different space. He is relating to it as someone who has been famous his entire life and someone who has experienced the very public death of a parent. And I think that is so often in relationships, you do your best to have empathy for the other person, but until you articulate, well, actually, this is where I’m coming from, this is what I’m bringing to it, you can overlook the emotional reality of the person who’s the closest to you. And I think that is so often the challenge in any relationship.

JFK Jr.’s Candle-Flame Moment Reflects Everything Going Wrong in His Life

“There were a lot of things that felt very perilous” in John’s life, Weiner says of Episode 8.

Image via FX

John says at one point that Carolyn is rarely vulnerable, yet she’s the one admitting she feels worthless. Were you intentionally exposing how differently they interpret vulnerability — and how their generational baggage shapes that?

WEINER: Absolutely, yeah. They’re also of different genders and have their own life experiences. I think that the two of them, the two characters, move about the world from incredibly different perspectives. And at the core of their relationship, they love each other, and they care so deeply about each other and want the best for each other. It can be tricky navigating how to want to help your partner when the thing that would be most helpful is just maybe listening, unless you are very clear about articulating the thing that would be most helpful to you — finding a way back from conversations that are maybe painful that you share at the core of the relationship, [but] that’s the stuff of a marriage. It can be so challenging, and the claustrophobia of that all occurring within essentially like a large loft. It just heightened the claustrophobia of their lives at this time.

I will say that the claustrophobia was so interesting because it is such a small loft, and the two of them are trying to understand each other through this conversation, but I noticed little undercurrents of danger flickering between them. There was the candle flame he kept playing with, the broken leg, and then he was talking about the hours of flying. How delicate was that line between the subtle foreshadowing, but then also leaning into what’s inevitable by the finale?

WEINER: I think that we really wanted to approach it — like, the way we depicted the marriage was of two people always trying. Always trying; these characters never gave up trying to make it work. Yeah, it’s interesting, the elements of danger. I think there are a lot of things that felt very perilous in the moment for these characters. You hear at the end of [Episode 8], John talks about all the things that are going wrong in his life. He talks about his failing magazine [George]. He talks about the health of his cousin [Anthony Radziwill]. He talks about the death of his mother [Jackie Onassis], and those are things that I think were reflected in a lot of the tension that comes out in other ways. Whether that’s being short with Carolyn or putting your hands over the flame of a candle.

Weiner Says Fairness Meant Refusing to Turn John or Carolyn Into a Villain

“There are no good guys, there are no bad guys” in John and Carolyn’s story.

Yeah, that was a very interesting touch. It definitely adds a bit of nuance to him, so I appreciate that texture. I will also ask that in all your research and writing: Did you view John’s commitment to flying as autonomy, escapism, recklessness, or something more symbolic about control in a life that often wasn’t fully his?

WEINER: I think the way we approach their two characters, John, the character of John was so much more of a thrill seeker. Even though Carolyn was — we depicted her character as someone who is incredibly brave. She is someone who was elevated from working at a mall in Boston to conquering this absolutely terrifying New York fashion world, getting a job at Calvin Klein, and ascending to the highest ranks of society. So guess that’s almost more of a metaphorical high flying. In a lot of ways, they were both, I think, courageous [but also] thrill-seekers. John’s obviously expressed that much more, literally like riding his bike through traffic.

There’s a really vivid story about him in Elizabeth Beller‘s book [“Once Upon A Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy”], which inspired the series about how racing his Fiat with the Staten Island ferry, so he’s always had a taste for the dangerous thing. But Carolyn got her thrills in other ways.

Related

‘Love Story’s Alessandro Nivola Responds to JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s Nephew’s Harsh Criticism [Exclusive]

‘Love Story’ star Nivola breaks down Episode 6 and addresses the Kennedy family backlash: “I understand the feeling of being exposed.”

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Were there lines you consciously chose not to cross in this episode — moments where you thought, “This may be dramatic, but it doesn’t feel fair”?

WEINER: We definitely thought a lot about trying to make it feel balanced. Something incredibly important to not just me and Connor [Hines], but everyone and Ryan [Murphy] and everyone involved in the production was approaching both characters with empathy and curiosity and a lack of judgment. They make decisions, or they speak to each other in a certain way, they’re obviously doing it from a place of love and trying to work on the marriage and trying to maintain this love that they had that was so epic. It touches people now, even 30 years later. I think we never wanted — there are no villains, there are no good guys, there are no bad guys, just two people are trying to do their best, and that was something that we thought about the entire series.

Weiner Hopes Viewers See the “Love and Care” Behind His Portrayal of John and Carolyn

Weiner says John and Carolyn always tried to meet each other with “good faith” and “the benefit of the doubt.”

Image via FX

The Kennedy name is being invoked and repurposed in very public, political ways right now, and Jack Schlossberg called it “fiction with a capital F.” Did you feel an added weight dramatizing John and Carolyn in a moment when the family legacy itself feels contested?

WEINER: I mean, we took it incredibly seriously, depicting real people. That was something we thought endlessly about and did as much research as we possibly could. Ultimately, though, it is a love story. It is a dramatized love story and not a Kennedy biopic. Jack and everyone else are certainly entitled to their opinion, but I hope that anyone watching the show will see the love and care and attention and sensitivity that we approached it with.

It is very much a love story – and really, a marriage story at the end of the day. But if this episode is a microcosm of their marriage, what do you hope audiences understand about them that history — or headlines — never quite captured?

WEINER: Yeah, that’s a great question. What I hope people see with both John and Carolyn in this episode is two people who are trying to do their best and don’t always get it right. But their intentions are always to try to make things better, to try to lead with love, and they fuck up, and they fail. But it’s not for a lack of deep caring about their partner. And I find that very inspiring and relatable that relationships are really messy and complicated, but the sort of ability to forgive and to always look at, always look at each other. What I liked was their ability to always try to look at each other in good faith — yeah, I hope people take away from the episode that John and Carolyn are always looking at each other in good faith and really giving each other the benefit of the doubt as much as they possibly could.

Love Story airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on FX and streams the next day on Hulu.

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Love Story

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Release Date

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February 12, 2026

Directors

Max Winkler, Anthony Hemingway, Crystle Roberson Dorsey, Gillian Robespierre, Jesse Peretz

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Writers

Connor Hines, D.V. DeVincentis, Juli Weiner, Kim Rosenstock

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Is anyone else wondering about the timeline between Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette that will now not air and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives?

Season 4 of the hit Hulu series, which premiered in March 2026, showed the weeks leading up to Taylor leaving for Los Angeles for season 22 of The Bachelorette. Before she left, however, Taylor hooked up with ex Dakota Mortensen at least two times — once just a few hours before her flight — which left some wondering whether she was serious about her search for The One.

“It was a choice,” Taylor told Us Weekly in an exclusive cover story earlier this month while reflecting on her Bachelorette journey. “Ready, at the end of the day, is a decision. So I made the decision to leave for two months and try. I reassured [the men] that was why I was here.”

Taylor explained that she and Dakota “were just not progressing,” adding, “We like each other sometimes, and then we fight. It’s really hard to explain to people and unless you’ve been in that situation, it is hard to understand. If I could just snap out of it, trust me, I would. It’s just a lot harder said than done.”

Related: Mormon Wives’ Taylor Frankie Paul, Dakota Mortensen‘s Relationship Timeline

Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen‘s complicated romance was thrust into the spotlight on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives — and their relationship status remains unclear. The couple started dating before the show premiered on Hulu. Dakota was Taylor’s first public boyfriend after her divorce from husband Tate Paul due to a high-profile “soft […]

Taylor, who shares son Ever with Dakota, acknowledged that it’s been “so hard to remove” herself from the “cycle” of their messy off-and-on romance.

News later broke that filming on season 5 of Mormon Wives was put on pause after Taylor and Dakota were allegedly involved in a domestic violence dispute. A spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department confirmed that there is an open “domestic assault investigation” involving Taylor and Dakota.

During her interview with Us — which took place days before a police report was filed regarding the alleged incident — Taylor opened up about her status with Dakota.

“That’s a good question,” she hinted. “I don’t even know. I have to ask myself that question all the time. Where do we stand? I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow.”

Taylor’s season of The Bachelorette was ultimately canceled before a single episode could air amid ongoing conflict with Dakota.

Keep scrolling for a breakdown of the timeline between The Bachelorette season 22 and The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 5:

October 26, 2025

Hours after filming her last scene for season 4 of Mormon Wives — which showed her seemingly sleeping with Dakota Mortensen again — Taylor Frankie Paul was on a plane to the Bachelor Mansion. She met with nearly 20 former franchise leads, who offered her advice for The Bachelorette: Before the First Rose special.

November 12, 2025

In a prerecorded segment that aired during The Golden Bachelor season 2 finale, Taylor Frankie Paul spoke to Jesse Palmer about her contestants.

“They’re all amazing, which has made this all so much harder,” Taylor shared at the time. “If they were not the best, it would make it easy to weed them out, but they’re just gentlemen and there’s chemistry with them. It’s been wild.”

Taylor noted that not every suitor was a match.

“I’m not a very by-the-book girl, [and] I just want to be more comfortable,” she said. “The more comfortable we are, myself and the men … we try to be our truest selves. If I want to wear Crocs tonight, I’m wearing my Crocs. … Can we eat the food that’s on the table? But also, if I want to send people home before the rose ceremony, if I catch something, I’m sending them home.”

After Jesse then revealed that Taylor “literally” did just cut one of her contestants “a couple hours ago,” she added, “He made it easy because he was trying to fire back at me, and I’m like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I’m not here to waste your time, please don’t waste mine. If you’re here for the wrong reasons, you’re leaving.”

December 9, 2025

Although Bachelor Nation leads and contestants typically don’t have access to social media while filming, Taylor Frankie Paul appeared to be the exception as she shared glimpses at her looks for the rose ceremonies.

December 11, 2025

“Teaser: Last night was one of the BEST nights of my life,” Taylor Frankie Paul wrote via her Instagram Stories as she prepared to wrap filming on the dating show. “Can’t wait to talk about [it] in like six months LMAFO [sic].”

December 13, 2025

While Taylor Frankie Paul was still in Los Angeles filming The Bachelorette, production kicked off on season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. (The cast has previously mentioned that they don’t often have a break between seasons as producers continue filming them.)

“Just catching @Taylor Paul up on life lately 😉😂,” Jessi Ngatikaura wrote via TikTok after getting into a social media feud with costar Demi Engemann, which is expected to play out on Mormon Wives season 5.

Based on the Mormon Wives cast’s interactions with Taylor before The Bachelorette wrapped, there will likely be some crossover with the stars of both shows.

December 20, 2025

Taylor Frankie Paul filmed The Bachelorette throughout the fall of 2025, teasing via social media that the outcome of season 22 would be “worth the wait.”

“And that’s a wrap,” she revealed via Instagram. “I never experienced anything like this. Can’t wait to talk all about [The Bachelorette], share it, show it.”

She concluded: “Such a passion for what goes into something like this. Feeling so grateful to be part of the bachelor nation family and crew. I left the most ‘me’ picture [her flipping the middle finger] for last. This will be worth the wait, stay tuned coming in March.”

February 19, 2026

While Taylor didn’t reveal whether she got engaged, she teased her Bachelorette ending in her Us Weekly cover story interview.

“I’m happy in the moment,” she said. “[The season] ended in a Taylor way. Some people may know what that means, and some people might not.”

February 24, 2026

According to a spokesperson for the Draper City Police Department, “contact was made with involved parties on [February] 24th and 25th” regarding an alleged dispute between Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen. The spokesperson noted “allegations have been made in both directions” and that there is an open “domestic assault investigation.”

March 15, 2026

Taylor Frankie Paul attended the 2026 Oscars to promote The Bachelorette season 22. She also took to TikTok to share a video of herself with a mystery guy — which some thought was her finalist from The Bachelorette — with a caption that read, “Sorry kinda busy.”

March 16, 2026

A source confirmed production was “shut down” on season 5 of Mormon Wives following Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen’s alleged domestic dispute.

“The Mormon Wives cast [is] honestly terrified to film with Taylor right now,” the source exclusively told Us, noting that “the women have made it clear they don’t want to be around her because they see her as a major liability.”

According to the insider, the Mormon Wives cast “believed Taylor was in a better place” after she filmed her season of The Bachelorette and that their Hulu reality show “was heading in a different direction.”

“Now, many of them feel they’ve moved past the point of dealing with this kind of behavior and simply don’t want to be put in that position again,” the source continued.

March 17, 2026

“There’s more to the context to everything, and it’s unfortunate,” Taylor Frankie Paul exclusively told Us about the news of her dispute with Dakota. “It’s been hard. And it sucks to be in this position. And the mother that I am, that is something I will always stand my ground on. I believe that I am a good mother and I have always treated my kids very well.”

She continued: “The headlines that are out right now are very hard to see, because that’s not the truth of it. I have always treated my children with respect and I’ve never touched them. So it’s been really hard.”

Taylor noted that it was “unfortunate” to see the incident making headlines ahead of the Bachelorette season 22 premiere, adding, “It’s another premiere that’s been taken away from me. I’ve never enjoyed a premiere for any one of my shows. So it’s just been very sad.”

March 18, 2026

Dakota Mortensen broke his silence on the alleged altercation with Taylor Frankie Paul.

“His number one priority here is protecting [their son], Ever,” a rep for Dakota told Entertainment Weekly. “He knew there was a possibility it could come out, but he was not going to be the one to proactively do that because he has always wanted a decent relationship with Taylor. It’s been really hard to achieve that, but he wants to coparent well.”

The rep denied that Dakota was responsible for the alleged domestic violence dispute with Taylor being made public after filming for season 5 of the Hulu reality show was halted.

“He was just hoping that if he says nothing, as he usually does, it would go away. He’s never done any kind of sit-down interview about his side,” the statement continued. “He kind of just lets it all happen to him, and I think he realizes with the severity of everything now that he just can’t do that.”

March 19, 2026

Leaked footage from Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul’s 2023 dispute showed her throwing multiple chairs while her daughter — whom she shares with ex-husband Tate Paul — cried in the background. Dakota subsequently filed a restraining order against Taylor, who claimed in a statement the footage of their argument was “edited.”

ABC ultimately confirmed that season 22 of The Bachelorette was canceled.

March 22, 2026

ABC has not announced what will air instead of The Bachelorette.

The Bachelorette alum Ryan Sutter has dealt with highs and lows of his Lyme disease battle.

“I’m at a pretty good place. I think the majority of my days are good, with a few bad ones sprinkled in there,” Sutter, 51, told People in an interview published Thursday, March 19. “I’ve kind of learned how to handle those. If I pay close enough attention, I can feel the onset of things coming on, and then I’ll just make sure I don’t overdo it or overexert myself.”

Ryan, who is married to the first-ever Bachelorette Trista Sutter, confirmed his diagnosis in 2021. While dealing with the health battle, Ryan soon began navigating a series of dark thoughts and feelings.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever sympathized with suicide,” Ryan told the outlet. “I was never like, ‘I need to go [act on the thoughts],’ but I understood that [chronically ill] people get to this level of frustration where they just feel like they’re going to feel like this for the rest of their lives, or be a burden on everybody that they’re around.”

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He continued, “You think, ‘I don’t know what my purpose in life is,’ and if there is no purpose to it, if it’s just getting up every day and feeling like this. It really hurts me to think that so many people are in that kind of pain and don’t think they’ll ever get out of it.”

Ryan noted he’s learned to pay “closer attention” to his moods and make sure to take supplements to help combat any suicidal thoughts.

“As long as I can keep going, moving forward, I feel like that keeps it at bay,” he explained. “But, compared to when I first got diagnosed, it’s like night and day. If I refer back to that time, I’m always like, ‘I’ll take this a hundred times out of a hundred.’ It’s way better than what it used to be. Also, the mindset I’ve developed is that it’s just not going to be what gets me off the rails.”

The firefighter is also hopeful that there will eventually be a cure for his future family’s sake.

“I just want to be healthy enough that, God willing, we have grandkids that I can do fun things with them,” he said.

Related: What Percent of ‘Bachelor’ Couples Who Wed on TV Are Still Together?

Nine Bachelor Nation couples have tied the knot in a televised ceremony — with a 55.5 percent success rate. Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter were the first Bachelor Nation couple to exchange vows in December 2003, with a reported 17 million viewers tuning in to watch the OG Bachelorette marry her final rose winner. Two […]

Ryan has been married to Trista, 53, for over two decades, during which time they welcomed son Maxwell, 18, and daughter Blakesley, 16.

Watching Ryan navigate his Lyme battle has been particularly “scary” for Trista.

“He definitely has a lot of ups and downs still and really would like to feel better at least most of the time. He says he’s about 80 percent,” Trista said on Chris Harrison’s “Most Dramatic Podcast Ever” in April 2025. “I would go to his doctor’s appointments with him because he is so incredibly humble. So he’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to complain about whatever’s going on with me,’ even if it’s really significant.”

She added at the time, “If it was me that was going through what he’s going through, I would be bedridden every single day and maybe even hospitalized. He is able to get through this because he’s freaking superhuman. I don’t understand it.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Kim Kardashian is all for fairness and equity when it comes to reward for labor!

“The Kardashians” star has lent her voice to a bill that would ensure that the firefighters who fought day and night to quench the destructive Pacific Palisades wildfire early last year get duly compensated for their courageous service.

Kim Kardashian earned her share of backlash last year, first for promoting a SKIMS sale in the heart of the wildfire crisis and then for urging higher wages, which some critics think would make the issue political at such a sensitive period.

Kim Kardashian Is On A Personal Mission With The Legislative Process

The business mogul is fully backing and endorsing the new bill introduced by Senator Cory Booker this week, which would ensure that firefighters who work from prison would get a minimum wage. According to Kardashian, her interest grew in the case because she watched prisoners put their all into fighting the Los Angeles fires last year.

The bill was reintroduced by the democrat on Thursday, March 19, and it would require that prisoners who are working get to earn the minimum wage through amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act. This bill will also eliminate outrageous deductions for fees, fines, and living costs in prisons.

Kardashian explained why she joined the movement, stating that the firefighters whom she personally watched risk their lives to curb the spread showed so much bravery and courage, just like professional firefighters, but earned less pay. “In many cases, they’re banned from even applying for firefighting jobs once they’re released. That’s not just unfair, it’s un-American,” the media personality declared, as shared by PEOPLE.

The SKIMS Founder Approached Governor Gavin Newsom For A Raise In Wages Last Year

As the fire raged deeper into the area, Kardashian hopped online and called for more recognition and higher pay for the heroes who braved the fiery furnace and helped families survive loss and destruction. As noted by The Blast, the reality star took to Instagram to tag Governor Newsom about reviewing and raising wages for these incarcerated people on the frontline of the rescue mission.

The mother-of-four declared that the inmates worked grueling hours under harsh weather and living conditions, only to earn less than $1 hour, which is nothing compared to such a large-scale disaster.

According to reports, nearly 1,000 inmates assisted in combating the wildfires, which they claimed had already burned over 40,000 acres and killed about 16 people. However, no inmate firefighters have lost their lives in the process of saving affected persons.

Kim Kardashian Angered Critics For SKIMS Promotion During The Fire Incident

Before her advocacy, the 45-year-old was slammed for promoting a big sale for her SKIMS line while the fire broke out. Meredith Lynch was at the forefront of the criticism, dragging the entrepreneur on her Instagram for telling people to buy SKIMS while families and lives were being displaced and destroyed.

Lynch continued that Kardashian could have used a platform as big as hers to provide resources and raise awareness about the fires, but is hell-bent on using it to sell her products. The fire also threatened Kardashian’s expansive $70 million Malibu mansion right by the ocean.

The property was previously owned by supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband, Rande Gerber. As for her Hidden Hills property, the star reportedly exited her home, alongside the rest of her family, after receiving a mandatory evacuation order due to the fire’s rapid spread.

The Fashion Icon Debunked Emails Asking For Financial Aid For Victims

The star certainly had her hands full during such a trying period in the city, as she took the time out to warn internet users and fans about scammers using her name in emails for false fundraisers. She explained that such a scam may claim they want to raise funds to support affected families and victims of the wildfires, which she endorsed.

She uploaded a sample picture of one of the numerous scam emails going around with her name on it, warning her followers to verify links before donating to anyone. The Blast noted that the reality star also praised the firefighters for staying up all night long to help families affected by the fire and save the community.

The Los Angeles wildfires, which began last January, consumed over 40,000 acres of land in the Southern part of Los Angeles, with more than 200,000 persons evacuated as efforts were made to rein in the spread. The fire affected homes of celebrities like Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Anthony Hopkins, Tina Knowles, John Goodman, Candy Spelling, Milo Ventimiglia, and Miles Teller, alongside 12,000 other structures.

Kim Kardashian’s Sister Called For Donations Amid The Fires

While the entrepreneur did not earn good points for how she handled the aftermath of the outbreak, her younger sister, Khloé Kardashian, joined her 300k+ followers to make a difference in the heart of the crisis.

Khloé hopped online to speak out on behalf of the victims and firefighters, noting that a neighbor of hers was in direct contact with fire department officials who shared that the firefighters are desperate, hungry, and tired.

The Good American founder also provided actionable ways to help the victims, encouraging them to support their local fire stations by dropping off supplies like protein-packed meals, Gatorade, and coffee. 

The mother-of-two attached her neighbor’s Venmo details to one of her posts, revealing that if anyone was interested in donating to them, they could proceed as he would be heading to Costco to pick up rotisserie chickens and sides to deliver to several stations.

Will Kim Kardashian see this through and add it to her long list of advocacy successes?