Latest news with #Sovereign
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘State of Firsts' Review: Trans Congresswoman Sarah McBride Steps Into the Spotlight for a Doc That's More Than Your Average Political Puff Piece
'Representation' takes two forms in Chase Joynt's new documentary, State of Firsts. The 93-minute film, premiering at Tribeca, follows Sarah McBride's quest to be elected to Congress, representing the state of Delaware; as she's aspiring to be in the House of Representatives, she's also on the verge of making history as the first openly trans member of Congress. McBride is proud of both kinds of representation, but she's pragmatic. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Andy Kaufman Is Me' Review: Solid but Unrevelatory Doc Uses Puppetry to Tackle the Iconic Comic 'Boy George & Culture Club' Review: An Affectionate Look at the '80s Band and Its Flamboyant Frontman That Entertains but Treads Too Carefully 'Sovereign' Review: Nick Offerman's Fierce Turn as an Anti-Government Extremist Boosts a Timely Drama McBride is a joyful trailblazer and a calculating politician, and Joynt's willingness to feature both sides of her personality is what finally makes State of Firsts more than just a hagiographic puff piece. It would have been easy for Joynt and editor Chris McNabb to trim away the 'politician' side of McBride's personality and let her be the uncomplicated icon that many of her supporters will probably want to see represented — that word again — here. Instead, they show an increasingly public figure at a crossroads for her and for the country, and suggest why McBride may have the mettle to chart a career that embraces her various 'firsts' while positioning herself for substantive further chapters. State of Firsts traces McBride's life from mid-2024 to early 2025, as she goes from an already precedent-shattering tenure as a Delaware state rep to a Congressional candidate — only to become one of the most visible figures of the country when Donald Trump and the Republican Party latch onto virulent transphobia as a wedge issue. Joynt begins the documentary with Delaware's own Joe Biden as president, but he has just completed the disastrous debate that became a catalyst for his exit from the presidential race. We follow McBride as she does the grunt work of retail politics, from knocking on doors to opening campaign offices to a debate that her opponent opts not to attend. She pushes back against intimations that she's running as a trans candidate and not a Delaware candidate, promising that her assortment of pet issues — healthcare, paid family leave, economic insecurity — will be relevant to the state where she was born and raised. Still, she knows that the 'first' guaranteed to come up in interviews isn't related to Delaware's state nickname. I don't know how to precisely describe McBride's attitude toward the inevitable trans-themed questions that she faces in every interview, toward the pressure to address issues of identity even in standard speeches, toward the fact that the 2024 Democratic Convention didn't have a trans speaker on the main stage's lineup. It isn't 'reluctance' and it isn't 'exhaustion.' It isn't 'wariness,' but it may be 'awareness' — awareness that no matter how much she says 'I'm running on behalf of the people of Delaware,' there will always be an AND or BUT that gets brought into the discussion. Circumstances, as casual observers of current events know, get even more heightened. After the election, South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace — who responded to her own experience breaking gender barriers at an entrenched institution (the Citadel) by becoming a cartoonish bully rather than developing an iota of empathy — uses McBride's bathroom use as a way to gain her own share of the spotlight. McBride's responses become a referendum even within her own community. It's an open question as to whether Joynt's very presence is a further source of McBride's self-conscious awareness. Despite McBride repeated emphasis that she's a Delaware candidate and not a trans candidate, the director's interest often seems just as trans-focused as that of the media. A rare exception to that angle comes when a constituent wants to engage McBride on issues related to the Israel/Gaza conflict — and even then, it's obvious that while McBride knows her ideological position, this isn't really the issue she wants to talk about either. Long stretches of the documentary feature McBride, Joynt and usually McBride's perpetually anxious campaign manager driving in cars. In those scenes, McBride's answers to the director's questions are thoughtful, passionate and, if you've seen other interviews with her, delivered with consistent preparedness or prepared consistency. Often State of Firsts is a film about a woman doing interviews while she waits to do more interviews. When McBride isn't answering the director's questions and when Joynt is able to fade into the background, the documentary, which asserts little visual style other than fly-on-the-wall presence, is able to witness moments that showcase the unguarded McBride. Family gatherings and backstage meetings show McBride's vulnerability, dorky sense of humor and general passion for the political process. Much more than when she's making statements or espousing messages, it's these glimpses that allow State of Firsts to pack an emotional punch when she fields a congratulatory call from President Biden, hugs a trans constituent, or briefly takes in the joy that her parents and siblings feel as they walk down the hall on her first day at the Capitol. Whether we're seeing McBride the person or McBride the politician, McBride the Delaware rep or McBride the trans pioneer, State of Firsts portrays a young person realizing she can't avoid being all of these things at once — and facing, perhaps for the first time, the idea that she can't be a perfect representative of everything at all times. That's more interesting than if State of Firsts were just a love letter. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Accuses College Soccer Coach of Sexual Harassment
Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper claims in her new Hulu documentary that she was sexually harassed by her soccer coach, Nancy Feldman, at Boston University. Call Her Alex premiered at the Tribeca Festival on Sunday, and in part one, the podcasting mogul details the harassment she suffered over three years at the school, accusing Feldman of commenting on her body and asking questions about her intimate life, among other claims. Cooper, a top soccer player in high school, went to Boston University on a full scholarship. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Boy George & Culture Club' Review: An Affectionate Look at the '80s Band and Its Flamboyant Frontman That Entertains but Treads Too Carefully 'Sovereign' Review: Nick Offerman's Fierce Turn as an Anti-Government Extremist Boosts a Timely Drama 'American Psycho' Director Mary Harron Is Surprised by Movie's Lingering Relevance 'My sophomore year, everything really shifted,' she said in the documentary. 'I started to notice her really starting to fixate on me way more than any other teammate of mine. And it was confusing because the focus wasn't like, 'You're doing so well, let's get you on the field, you're gonna be a starter.' It was all based on her [Feldman] wanting to know who I was dating, her making comments about my body and her always wanting to be alone with me.' Cooper said she would try to avoid Feldman, but that her coach would retaliate by benching her during games. It ultimately ended with Cooper being kicked off the soccer team senior year. 'It was this psychotic game of, 'You wanna play? Tell me about your sex life, I have to drive you to your night class, get in the car with me alone,'' she recalled. 'I started trying to spend as little time as possible with her, taking different routes to practice where I knew I wouldn't run into her. During meetings, I would try to sit as far away from her as possible, literally anything to not be alone with this woman.' In Call Her Alex, Cooper claimed university officials 'dismissed' her allegations against Feldman and that there was no investigation. Cooper graduated from Boston University in 2017, and Feldman retired in 2022. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Boston University for comment. In a Q&A following the premiere, Cooper shared why she chose to open up about the sexual harassment allegations in the documentary. 'I think a lot of this process almost made me realize, if I have the finances to pay for a lawyer and I have the resources to do all these things, how is another woman going to feel comfortable to come forward? I'm still fucking scared up here, you know. And I was nobody when I was in college. I did come forward. I was denied, essentially. And so the story is frustrating, because I want to tell women come forward … But I did, and I wasn't believed, and then it took me a decade.' She continued, 'I actually think this is just the beginning. It's really opened my eyes to how difficult the system is, and it's so built against us as women, and we have to fight so fucking hard to have our voices heard, and we are denied, or we're questioned, or you feel shame, and that started to really get in my head of, how am I about to not put this in the documentary?… I realized, holy shit, I have so much more work to do, and I'm going to use my platform to hopefully inspire other people to come forward and tell their stories, because conversation is the only way that we're going to actually have change and we're going to make change.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nick Offerman on his new role in 'Sovereign'
Actor Nick Offerman joins Morning Joe to discuss starring in the new film 'Sovereign' about a single father struggling with debt who embraces the 'Sovereign Citizen' movement.
News18
05-06-2025
- Health
- News18
From Failed Psychiatrist To $149-Million Fraud: Indian-Origin Man's Trail Of Scandal In US
Last Updated: Tonmoy Sharma, once a high-profile doctor in the UK, has long courted headlines- first for his research work and then for the ethical and legal storms that followed. Indian-origin doctor Tonmoy Sharma was arrested in the United States for allegedly masterminding a $149-million healthcare fraud. The 58-year-old was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport as he was allegedly preparing to flee to Dubai. Tonmoy Sharma, once a high-profile doctor in the UK, has long courted headlines- first for his research work and then for the ethical and legal storms that followed. Tonmoy Sharma first rose to prominence in the 1990s for conducting clinical trials for major pharmaceutical companies in the UK. But his reputation began to unravel in 2001 when concerns were raised about irregularities in a £250,000 study comparing Sanofi's antipsychotic drug Amisulpride with a rival from Eli Lilly. Sanofi launched a private investigation after their medical adviser, Catherine Baxter, flagged discrepancies in Tonmoy Sharma's work. The probe uncovered a series of ethics violations which included fabricated approvals from ethics committees, recruitment of vulnerable patients without proper consent, financial incentives to encourage participation and false academic claims including a non-existent professorship and doctorate. In 2007, after multiple complaints and an investigation by the UK's General Medical Council, Tonmoy Sharma's medical licence was revoked. He was found guilty of serious professional misconduct after which he moved to the United States. Allegations In The US In California, Tonmoy Sharma established Sovereign Health Group, which rapidly grew into a prominent network of addiction treatment centres. Since 2017, Sovereign has been under investigation by the FBI for suspected fraud. In 2018, federal agents raided the group's headquarters in San Clemente, several treatment centres and Tonmoy Sharma's residence in San Juan Capistrano. Though Sovereign shut down that year, Tonmoy Sharma continued operating under a new name- Dana Shores Recovery- using a different license to stay under the radar. According to the federal indictment, Tonmoy Sharma and his associates submitted more than $149 million in fraudulent insurance claims and received at least $21 million in illegal kickbacks for patient referrals. He now faces four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy, and three counts of receiving illegal remunerations. If convicted, Tonmoy Sharma could face up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge, five years for conspiracy, and 10 years for each kickback-related offense. About the Author Mallika Soni Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: June 05, 2025, 20:53 IST
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Indian-origin pharma tycoon Tonmoy Sharma arrested in Los Angeles over $149 million healthcare fraud
Indian-origin pharma tycoon Tonmoy Sharma arrested in California. Indian-origin doctor and businessman, the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct Sovereign Health Group, was recently arrested over $149 million medical fraud. The 61-year-old psychiatrist has been charged with four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy and three counts of illegal remunerations for referrals to clinical treatment facilities. What was the medical fraud? What was Sharma's modus operandi? Tonmoy Sharma's Sovereign Health Group was a prominent addiction treatment provider throughout Southern California and several other states. According to court documents, the company billed private insurance companies for drug addicted and mentally ill patients at extremely high rates between 2014 and 2020. Sovereign used to pursue patients aggressively through various forms of marketing forcing them to get admitted to the company's treatment facilities. The patients were told that their treatment would be paid by a foundation funded by the donations from former SDpvereign patients. There was no such actual foundation and it was a ruse for Sovereign employees. They obtained patients' names, date of birth and Social Security numbers and then obtained health insurance coverage on their behalf while the patients remained in the dark. Sovereign employees sometimes pretended to be the patients when calling into these insurance companies. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals Undo At Sharma's direction, the court documents said, the employees claimed qualifying life events that had not happened in order to obtain new insurance outside the enrollment period and inflating or underreporting their income so the patients would qualify for Affordable Care Act government-subsidized private insurance instead of Medicaid, whose reimbursement rates were significantly lower than private insurers. Sovereign also paid more than $21 million in illegal kickbacks for patient referrals to patient brokers. Originally from Assam's Dibrugarh, Sharma studied MBBS from Dibrugarh University. Sharma's medical license was once revoked while he was practicing in the UK before he established his career in California.
