Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former National Security Advisor John Bolton arrive for a plea deal hearing at U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on June 26, 2026 in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
(GREENBELT, Md.) — President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton is expected to plead guilty Friday to mishandling classified information.
Bolton, who arrived in federal court in Maryland Friday morning, is expected to plead guilty to one count of illegal retention of sensitive documents, sources have told ABC News.
Bolton has also agreed to pay a fine of $2.25 million, sources said.
The count he is pleading guilty to involves keeping classified national security information in diaries, according to sources. Bolton is expected to maintain that he did not take documents with classification markings out of government offices.
The guilty plea would make Bolton thus far the only successfully prosecuted case in Trump’s campaign of retribution against those he perceives to be his political enemies.
Bolton, who was national security adviser for part of the first Trump administration, was indicted by a grand jury in October 2025 on charges that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents.
The indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in Maryland, charged Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Prosecutors had accused Bolton of using a non-government personal email account and messaging application to transmit to two unauthorized family members at least eight documents that contained information classified at levels ranging from “secret” to “top secret.”
Leon Black, chairman and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management LLC, attends the annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., April 27, 2015. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Private equity billionaire Leon Black is set to face questions Friday from the House Oversight Committee regarding his decades-long relationship and sprawling financial entanglements with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The latest in a series of rich and powerful people questioned about their relationship with Epstein as part of the House Oversight panel’s ongoing probe, Black maintained a social relationship with Epstein since the mid-1990s and eventually paid him more than $170 million for “tax and estate planning advice,” according to the Senate Finance Committee.
Black has denied wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, though his financial payments to Epstein served as a lifeline to the convicted sex offender in the years after Epstein’s 2008 prison sentence for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has argued that Black has so far failed to provide a credible explanation for the payments and may have been “extorted” by Epstein.
“Leon Black was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s primary sources of income, flooding him with cash at a time when he was already a registered sex offender. Black has not yet offered a compelling explanation regarding the origination and execution of Epstein’s extraordinary compensation scheme for alleged tax advice,” Wyden wrote in a letter to the House Oversight Committee earlier this month. The Senate Finance Committee is leading its own investigation of Epstein’s finances.
Black has long been scrutinized over his relationship with the disgraced financier — describing it as a “horrible mistake” — and was forced out of his firm Apollo Global Management following an external investigation that revealed payments to Epstein totaling at least $158 million.
“Knowing all that I have learned in the past two years about Epstein’s reprehensible and despicable conduct, I deeply regret having had any involvement with him,” Black said during a 2020 Apollo earnings call. “With the benefit of hindsight, working with him was a horrible mistake on my part. I am not seeking to excuse that decision, but I do believe it may be helpful to convey some relevant facts.”
While the investigation concluded that Black and others were aware of Epstein’s 2008 conviction, a report summarizing its findings said that Black was not “involved in any way with Epstein’s criminal activities at any time” or aware of the “scope and details” of Epstein’s sex trafficking. Black has never been charged with a crime.
“When Black first retained Epstein, he believed that Epstein had served his time for the originally charged offenses and believed that it was not inappropriate to give Epstein a second chance, as many other prominent figures in business, science, politics and academia had done,” the report said.
The release of the Department of Justice’s Epstein files earlier this year cast more scrutiny on Black, whose name appears in the files more than 8,000 times. Epstein at one point appeared to serve as a middleman to pay $100,000 to a woman with whom Black allegedly had an affair, according to emails included in the files, and routinely served as a fixer for issues involving his finances.
“Leon, as you are well aware, there is little I won’t do for you or at least try to do as a friend, and a great deal that I have already done (both known and some things that will need to remain unknown),” Epstein wrote to Black in a 2014 email. In another email in 2017, Epstein described his relationship with Black as “saving you from yourself.”
In a statement to ABC News, Black’s attorney Susan Estrich pointed to the external investigation conducted for Apollo that found Black “had no awareness of the criminal activities that led to Epstein’s arrest in 2019” and noted that Black has called for an independent investigation of his relationship with Epstein.
Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee has called on the House Oversight members to scrutinize the $170 million that Black paid Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for purported tax and estate planning. According to Wyden, those payments are sixty times more than what Epstein paid his other tax and estate professionals during the same timeframe.
“Black is a well-advised businessman with access to sophisticated attorneys, yet it appears Epstein was able to shake him down for money that he wasn’t legally owed. This suggests that Epstein may have extorted Black or performed other unseemly tasks on his behalf,” Wyden wrote.
According to the 2021 external report, Epstein was paid proportionally to the amount of money he saved Black and that Epstein “provided advice that conferred more than $1 billion and as much as $2 billion or more in value to Black”; however, the report also acknowledged that Epstein’s advice was often not useful and that he was “generally a disruptive and caustic force.”
The external report said investigators found “no evidence suggesting that Black ever compensated Epstein for any service other than Epstein’s legitimate advice on trust and estate planning” and other issues.
Wyden urged the House Oversight Committee to question Black about the basis for those payments and argued he has seen “no proof” that Epstein’s compensation was tied to a percentage of the Black’s estate tax liability he saved.
“To date, I do not believe Black has provided a credible explanation as to why he paid Epstein amounts that vastly exceeded those paid to other professional advisors involved in his tax and estate planning,” he said.
Black also paid a $62.5 million settlement to the United States Virgin Islands in 2023 after acknowledging that Epstein used the money to “partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands,” where Epstein owned a private island. Wyden urged the House Oversight panel to press Black about whether he was ever under criminal investigation and if that money was used to fund sex trafficking.
Attorneys for Black have pushed back against Wyden’s accusations, accusing him of harassment and saying that the billionaire has cooperated “voluntarily and without compulsion.”
“We are aware of no other private citizen subjected to more written requests from you over the same period,” Black’s attorneys wrote in an April 2026 letter to Wyden. “Your continued attempts to invade into matters pertaining to Mr. Black’s personal life — without the support of any legitimate legislative purpose — appear targeted to unfairly harass Mr. Black in a manner that completely disregards the proper scope of Congress’s investigative powers.”
Disney+ has given a pilot order to a series based on the 2006 film Aquamarine. Deadline reports the project will be for both Disney+ and Disney Channel and will star one of the original film’s actors, Emma Roberts. She will also produce it. The original film’s director, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, is set to return at the helm, with The Bold Type creator Sarah Watson on board to write the pilot. The pilot follows a teenager named Coral who moves to a seaside town and discovers her mother was a mermaid just as magical powers awaken in herself. Disney is the parent company of ABC News …
Heated Rivalry star François Arnaud is set to make his Broadway debut. The actor will appear in a revival of Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain. Joining Arnaud is Superman actor David Corenswet, who also makes his Broadway debut in the production. Yvonne Strahovski will also appear in the revival, which starts performances in February 2027 …
Michael Gandolfini is the latest actor to join Daniels’ upcoming, untitled event film. Deadline reports Gandolfini joins Matt Damon, Sandra Oh, Sean Kaufman and Charles Melton in the Universal Pictures film. Daniels are the filmmaking duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who helmed the best picture-winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once …
If you watched the annual CMA Fest special Thursday on ABC, you got to witness Jelly Roll putting his “Hands Up” as he debuted his new radio single on national TV.
For the man born Jason Bradley DeFord, it’s an expression whose meaning has changed through the years.
“Man, this song is really just three snapshots of my life,” Jelly Roll reflects. “The first time I threw my hands up was at a concert as a kid, realizing music was bigger than anything I’d ever felt before. The second time was with a cop telling me to put ’em up because I was out there making some terrible decisions.”
“Then the third time was in a church,” he continues, “finally surrendering and giving God some things I couldn’t carry anymore. Same two words, hands up, but they meant something completely different in every season of my life.”
HARDY is one of Jelly Roll’s co-writers on “Hands Up.”
Jelly Roll’s most recent trip to #1 came back in March with Shaboozey and “Amen,” which spent two weeks at the top.
SZA attends the 27th Annual Webby Awards on May 15, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Webby Awards)
SZA’s hard work, dedication and success have earned her a spot in the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
She’ll be inducted in the category of performing arts and entertainment, and is one of 13 people being celebrated at the 18th annual NJHOF induction ceremony.
Fellow classmates include The Rascals, former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor and former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Inductees will also be honored with a year-round program that spotlights their impact on others.
“The Class of 2026 showcases the diverse talent, resilience, and spirit of achievement that define the great state of New Jersey,” NJHOF Chairman Jon F. Hanson said in a statement. “Each inductee, through their creativity, leadership, and pursuit of excellence, has made impactful contributions that continue to inspire future generations.”
“As our nation celebrates 250 years of independence, New Jersey is proud to honor a remarkable group of individuals whose achievements reflect the talent, innovation, and determination that define the Garden State,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill added. “The New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026 has made a lasting impact in their fields and serves as an inspiration to future generations. I congratulate this outstanding class of inductees and thank them for their contributions to New Jersey and beyond.”
The New Jersey Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Sept. 24.
Wet Leg has released the horsegiirL remix of their song “CPR.”
For those unfamiliar, horsegiirL is the moniker of German artist Stella Stallion, who wears a horse head mask onstage. You might’ve seen her join Wet Leg onstage to perform “CPR” during their set at Coachella.
The remix reimagines “CPR” as a pulsing electronic track and includes a new verse courtesy of Stallion.
The “CPR” remix is included on the upcoming deluxe version of Wet Leg’s 2025 sophomore album, moisturizer. The expanded set, which also includes live tracks, demos and other bonus recordings, is due out July 10.
The original moisturizer also includes the singles “catch these fists” and “mangetout.”
The Pretty Reckless’ new album, Dear God, is out now. With her band’s fifth full-length studio effort, frontwoman Taylor Momsen feels that the group has “really touched upon something incredibly special.”
“It just kinda does all the things I want it to do,” Momsen tells ABC Audio of Dear God. “It’s brutally honest, it’s vulnerable, it’s emotional, but it’s aggressive and intense, and it kinda covers the whole spectrum of human emotion.”
As the title suggests, Dear God makes frequent reference to religious imagery in its lyrics. Momsen describes herself as not a particularly religious person, and describes the idea of God on the album as “grander than religion.”
“Don’t crucify me for saying that,” she quips.
“God is representative of something bigger than you,” Momsen continues. “This album is really, it’s a collection of confessions of my life.”
In those confessions, Momsen not-so-fondly revisits her hard-partying days with the single “When I Wake Up,” while in “Love Me” asks the power above, “Why doesn’t anyone love me?” Meanwhile, the track “Eye of the Storm” finds Momsen confessing to emotions she wouldn’t even tell those closest to her as she sings, “Tell the band I’m doing fine.”
“You can be as close to someone in the world … my band is my, you know, everything,” Momsen says. “We’re chosen family, we know each other inside and out. But when you’re individually living in an unsettled space in your brain, that’s not always something that you reveal to everyone.”
The Pretty Reckless will launch a U.S. headlining tour in support of Dear God July 10 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The trek also includes dates opening for AC/DC.
Lead singer Michael Hutchence (back row, left) with INXS band members, clockwise from top right: Andrew Farriss, Tim Farriss, Garry Gary Beers, Kirk Pengilly, and Jon Farriss. (Photo by Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
The music of INXS is going to be the subject of a new ballet opening in the band’s native Australia.
The Queensland Ballet has teamed with HOTA, Home of the Arts, Gold Coast, for the new contemporary ballet Elegantly Wasted, featuring dance interpretations of the band’s songs.
“INXS have always embraced exploring new ideas and the different ways our music can connect with people,” INXS founding member and composer Andrew Farriss says in a statement. “This ballet is a fresh artistic interpretation that stands in its own space. It’s not about the band’s story but shows how our music can inspire new forms of expression.”
He adds, “It’s exciting to see the work approached from a completely new perspective. … [W]e’re looking forward to seeing how it comes to life.”
The production is described as a “striking contemporary work that charts a compelling shift from artifice to awareness, from surface to soul. It invites us to question what we perform, what we conceal, and what we might rediscover if we dare to be seen without filters.”
Elegantly Wasted was the band’s 10th studio album and its final album recorded with frontman Michael Hutchence before his 1997 death.
All eight episodes of the Emmy-winning drama’s fifth and final season are now streaming on Hulu. The season takes place over the course of one day in the titular Chicago restaurant, where everything that could possibly go wrong does — and then some. Adding to the pressure is the threat of imminent closure by The Bear’s chief investor, Olivier Platt’s Uncle Jimmy.
“I think it makes so much sense for everybody to throw themselves into this last service, to be existing with these characters in real time. … It amps everything up, you know?” Jeremy Allen White, who plays Carmy Berzatto, told ABC Audio.
“There’s more struggle, there’s more urgency, time is important, stakes rise, and so yeah, I thought structuring the last season this way was just a great, great idea, and ended up being really effective.”
The season also picks up right after Carmy’s season 4 finale decision to leave The Bear in the hands of Sydney, Natalie and Richie. That means Ayo Edebiri [EYE-oh eh-deh-BEE-ree]’s Sydney finds herself in charge in the most stressful of circumstances, before finally breaking down.
“It’s a lot to get to do inside and have it build,” she told ABC Audio. “And so when it does come out in those physical moments, that’s always really fun for me. I feel like my body is, like, Laffy Taffy.”
As for Ebon [EH-ben] Moss-Bachrach’s front-of-house manager Richie, he refuses to give up and goes overboard in trying to motivate the staff to keep going.
“It is a very aggressive optimism, maybe, I would say,” he laughs. “It feels nice to play someone who has that generosity, who wants to take care of everyone.”
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
The video begins with the words “Part II,” because it’s a sequel to the 2025 video for “bandaids.” As you might recall, that clip ended with Katy lighting a cigarette at a gas station and blowing it, and presumably herself, up.
In “Watch It Burn,” Katy is rushed into a hospital operating room covered in burns. As doctors try to save her, she gets flashes of herself destroying everything around her with a massive scorpion tail, but when she looks in the mirror, it’s not there.
After breaking out of the hospital and going through a car wash, Katy’s scorpion tail fully emerges, and she walks down the street causing mayhem and destruction. Finally, she staggers into the church, where she’s held down in a baptismal font of holy water until she emerges, gasping.
According to a press release, “Watch It Burn” is about “permission to feel anger honestly, to stop minimizing pain and let the suppressed emotions finally surface.” In it, she sings, “For years/ I tried to rise above/ Was only light and love/ But now I’m shut the f*** up.”
In the chorus she sings, “You know I gave and I gave/ Now I’m giving up/ There’s nothing more you can take, no/ Don’t wanna cause a scene/ But give me the gasoline/ Tonight’s the night/ I light a match/ Throw it hard behind my back/ Gonna try to forgive and forget/ Light a cigarette/ And watch it burn.”
Katy’s been performing “Watch It Burn” during her festival dates this summer, and she wrote on Instagram, “Loved seeing how many of you already know the words.”
