NFLPA Issues Warning to Players About Fake Adult Film Star Involved in Fraud and Sex Trafficking Scheme

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) issued a statement to players warning them about a man allegedly scamming athletes out of personal information

NEED TO KNOW

• The man allegedly "lured athletes into having sex with an adult female OnlyFans creator, being filmed without their knowledge or consent," the memo said, according to NBC Sports

• The Department of Justice said Ford "allegedly obtained login credentials for Apple accounts belonging to NBA and NFL players"

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) issued a warning to players about a man who has been allegedly scamming athletes while posing as a female adult film star.

According toNBC Sports, the memo was sent via email on Thursday, March 26, informing players, "The FBI has advised that Kwamaine Jerell Ford, posing as a female adult film star, lured athletes into providing sensitive information."

Ford, 34, allegedly "lured athletes into having sex with an adult female OnlyFans creator, being filmed without their knowledge or consent," and "was supposedly able to access many athletes' iCloud accounts and stole victim information including credit cards," the email to players said, according to NBC.

On March 13, Ford pleaded not guilty to nine counts of wire fraud, seven counts of computer fraud, one count of access device fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of sex trafficking, according to a March 16press releasefrom the Department of Justice.

U.S. attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in astatementvia the Department of Justice on March 16, "While serving time for stealing credit card numbers from athletes and celebrities to fund his lifestyle, Ford allegedly engaged in the same conduct again. Disturbingly, the indictment alleges that Ford went even further and used a fraudulent online persona to traffic a young woman and coerce her to produce hidden camera videos of commercial sex acts with unknowing individuals."

The DOJ's press release said that Ford "allegedly obtained login credentials for Apple accounts belonging to NBA and NFL players through a two-pronged approach."

The scammer allegedly "posed online as a well-known adult film star and offered to send sexually explicit videos to the athletes," according to the release.

Advertisement

"At the same time, Ford spoofed legitimate Apple customer service accounts, posed as an Apple customer support representative, and requested, via text messages, that the victims send their username, password, and/or Multi-Factor Authentication codes in order to access the videos that this fraudulent adult film star persona was purportedly trying to send the victims," the release stated.

Additionally, Ford was using the credit and debit card information of "dozens of victims" to "pay for thousands of dollars in personal spending," the DOJ said.

In 2021, Ford allegedly "posed as the adult film star and recruited, tricked, and coerced a female victim into engaging in commercial sex acts with the professional athletes based on false promises that the film star would advance the victim's modeling career," according to the DOJ's release.

"Ford advertised the victim to the athletes, coordinated the victim's travel to the athletes, and negotiated payments from the athletes for the purpose of purchasing sex with the victim," the release continued, adding that Ford, who allegedly posed as "Teanna Trump" during the scam, "used additional fraudulent personas to threaten the victim and maintain her continued involvement in commercial sex acts with the athletes."

"Using false personas, Ford obtained a financial cut from the commercial sex acts, many of which Ford allegedly coerced his victim into filming without the athletes' knowledge or consent," the DOJ said.

According to NBC, the FBI is currently trying to identify all of the victims Ford scammed, and is urging any player who thinks he may have been targeted to contact his agent or the NFLPA.

Read the original article onPeople

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

NFLPA Issues Warning to Players About Fake Adult Film Star Involved in Fraud and Sex Trafficking Scheme

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) issued a statement to players warning them about a man allegedly scamming athletes ou...

Read More

Barret Robbins, who disappeared before Super Bowl, dies at 52, Raiders confirm

Former Oakland Raiders center Barret Robbins died, theLas Vegas Raidersconfirmed Friday, March 27. He was 52. No cause of death was immediately known.

"The Raiders Family is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Barret Robbins. ... The thought and condolences of the entire Raider Nation are with Barret's family and friends during this difficult time," the Raiders said in a statement.

Robbins famously went missing from the team in the days leading up to Super Bowl 37, which Oakland lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-21.

Eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Robbins went missing the day before Super Sunday on Jan. 26, 2003. He returned to the team in time but was deemed unable to play. Robbins later told ESPN that he'd convinced himself the Raiders already won and that he was celebrating; he even reached Tijuana, Mexico, although he could not recall why he went there. Super Bowl 37 was played in San Diego.

"I mean, this was the biggest game of my life," Robbins told ESPN months later. "This was everything I had worked for as a child, as a young man, as a collegiate athlete and going into the pros, this is everything I had worked for and … it's unbelievable to me."

Robbins completed a 30-day stint in rehab, where he was treated for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse after the episode before, returning to the team. Robbins later told HBO's Real Sports he would enter manic episodes for weeks at a time.

Advertisement

During that 2002 season, Robbins made the Pro Bowl and was named first-team All-Pro. He played nine games the next season in what was his final NFL campaign.

The Raiders selected Robbins in the second round of the 1995 draft (49th overall) out of Texas Christian University. He started 105 contests for the Silver and Black and played 121 regular-season games total.

The pre-Super Bowl episode was one of many mental-health-related incidents involving Robbins. A brawl with police in Miami Beach in 2005 led to him being shot three times, and he pleaded guilty to five charges from the incident, including attempted murder. Robbins was charged with assaulting a woman and her daughter outside a Florida hotel in 2016. In 2020, he was arrested three times in the span of a month in south Florida.

Raiders teammates Rich Gannon and Tim Brown posted on social media about Robbins' death, with Brown writing that Robbins' wife, Marissa, told him that Robbins passed peacefully in his sleep.

"Please pray for their girls, his family and tons of teammates who will be affected by this!" Brown wrote. "It's unfortunate that his life was never the same after he was not allowed to play in the Super Bowl! Rest Peacefully BR, you deserve it!"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Barret Robbins, Raiders center who disappeared before Super Bowl, dies

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

Barret Robbins, who disappeared before Super Bowl, dies at 52, Raiders confirm

Former Oakland Raiders center Barret Robbins died, theLas Vegas Raidersconfirmed Friday, March 27. He was 52. No cause of...

Read More

Yankees' Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs in same game for 60th time

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge shook off a rough Opening Night by hitting his first home run of the 2026 MLB seasonin Friday's 3-0 winversus the San Francisco Giants.

The two-run blast off Giants pitcher Robbie Ray came after the three-time American League MVPwent 0-for-5with four strikeouts inthe Yankees' season-opening 7-0 winover San Francisco on Wednesday night.

Two batters later, Giancarlo Stanton hit his first home run of the season off José Buttó, brought in to replace Ray in the sixth inning, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead. That was all the Yankees needed as they closed out the victory to stay unbeaten this season.

That was also the 60th time that Judge and Stanton homered in the same game, the sixth-highest total among teammates in MLB history,according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs.

Advertisement

Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season

By the end of the season, Judge and Stanton could very well tie or surpass the third-highest total of 68, currently held by Willie McCovey and Willie Mays, along with Duke Snider and Gil Hodges. That would put the current Yankees sluggers behind one of the team's legendary duos in Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, who hit home runs in the same game 75 times.

Making his season debut for the Giants, Ray allowed two runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four batters and walked none. He was outmatched by Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, who pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, allowing only one hit.

Yankees pitching has looked exceptional against the Giants, who haven't scored a run and only managed four hits in their first two games of the season. Schlittler and Max Fried combined for 11 2/3 scoreless innings, three hits allowed and 12 strikeouts. Six Yankees relievers have yet to allow a run either, with Camilo Doval making two appearances in two games.

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

Yankees' Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit home runs in same game for 60th time

New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge shook off a rough Opening Night by hitting his first home run of the 2026 MLB season...

Read More

Did “Love Story ”just address the infamous 'Kennedy curse'?

The finale of FX'sLove Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessetteended the only way it could have — by depicting thefatal plane crashthat ended the lives of JFK Jr., his wife Carolyn, and Carolyn's sister Lauren on July 16, 1999.

But the crash occurred roughly halfway through the episode, leaving the back half to explore how the Kennedy family grieved alongside the world. For many, JFK Jr.'s death was yet another example of the "Kennedy curse," a myth born out of the sudden tragic deaths that have haunted the political dynasty for more than 80 years.

In addition to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the family has endured drug overdoses, infant mortalities, terminal illnesses, and freak accidents, such as the 1997 death of Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, who died after skiing into a tree.

Numerous Kennedys have died in plane crashes, including Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in 1944, Kathleen Kennedy in 1948, the parents of Ethel Kennedy in 1955, and, of course, JFK Jr. in 1999. Ted Kennedy, too, survived a 1964 plane crash that killed two others.

In 1969, after theChappaquiddick incidentderailed his presidential hopes, a 37-year-old Ted, then the senator of Massachusetts,spoke at a press conferenceabout whether "some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys." JFK Jr.'s death, too, gave way to dozens of op-eds over which the idea of a Kennedy curse hung like a storm cloud.

While nobody specifically mentions a "curse" onLove Story, the tragedies of the Kennedy dynasty are directly addressed in the final episode. Below, we dig into how it's explored — and what the Kennedys have said about it since JFK Jr.'s death.

How does theLove Storyfinale address the Kennedy curse?

Following the crash, JFK Jr.'s older sister Caroline Kennedy (Grace Gummer) meets with Ann Marie Messina (Constance Zimmer), the mother of Carolyn andLauren Bessette.

As Ann laments the existential agony of losing her daughters, she asks, "How do you live in a world that doesn't make any sense? How do you even get out of bed?"

This prompts Caroline to tell the true story of a 1975 incident in which shenearly died in an explosionwhile staying at the home of a member of Parliament. She was 17 at the time, and a bomb exploded under a car in which she was meant to depart.

As Caroline tells it inLove Story, the only reason she and the M.P. survived was because they were running late. "I agonized over that for so many years. I couldn't understand why so many bad things had happened to people in my family, but for whatever reason I was spared that day a bomb went off," she says, addressing her family's tragic history.

"The only thing I really gleaned from that experience was that there is no rhyme or reason as to why some of us get to stay here a little longer. All we know is that time doesn't belong to us. Nothing is promised."

She goes on to explain that she's "not someone who lets people in very easily," saying, "I don't know if it's because I question their motives, or maybe it's because I have this feeling that the less people I know, the less people I'll inevitably have to grieve."

Later, Caroline finds some comfort in Ethel Kennedy (Jessica Harper), who recalls the death of her own parents in a plane crash before sharing some words of wisdom about persevering through grief.

Advertisement

"I know I'm not a Kennedy by blood, but you and I are alike in a lot of ways," she tells Caroline. "We take pride in our resolve and our independence. It's why we're so averse to pity in all its forms. It's not enough we have to survive all this loss. We have to ensure we're not defined by it. It's exhausting."

Ethel continues, "I understand the urge to retreat even further, to get away from the prying eyes and the concerned whispers. But privacy doesn't always ensure peace. If it did, I'd have vanished a long time ago. We are Kennedy women, and we're still here. And that can't be for nothing."

How have the Kennedys addressed the curse in real life?

It's exceedingly rare for members of the Kennedy family to address the curse publicly, but Ted's sons Ted Jr. and Patrick rejected the idea in a2009 interview onLarry King Live, which was conducted in the aftermath of Ted's death from brain cancer.

"You don't buy the idea of a curse?" King asked.

"No. No," Patrick replied. "Obviously my dad had a sense of spirituality that transcended his ability to face these problems, you know, in a way that would have otherwise paralyzed the normal person."

"The Kennedy family has had to endure these things in a very open way," added Ted Jr. "But our family is just like... every other family in America in many ways."

In 2019'sThe Kennedy Heirs,author J. Randy Taraborrelliquotes Eunice Shriver, a sister of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, as saying, "I've come to believe that it's not what has happened to our family that has been cursed as much as it's the fact that we've never been able to deal with it privately. There's little dignity found in living your life in so public a fashion, and that's especially true of our children. However, this burden is one we Kennedys have carried for generations. If there's a curse, it's surely it's that."

Taraborrelli discussed the curse in a2019 interview with PEOPLE. "Generally, [the Kennedys] did not believe in the curse," he said. "It was Ted Kennedy who came up with the concept of the curse after Chappaquiddick... And after that, the Kennedy curse became this sort of wide-ranging explanation for a lot of things that were happening. But when things got rough for them, I think they slipped into wondering if maybe there really was some kind of curse."

Steve Gillon, a Kennedy historian,said "there's no such thing as a Kennedy curse" in RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil's bookJFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography.

"They take risks that most other people would not take," he said. "John's uncle Joe took on what was a suicide mission in World War II. His aunt Kathleen flew into a thunderstorm. His father rejected the advice of the Secret Service and refused to put a bubble top on his car. Robert, without any Secret Service protection, plunged into crowds during the sixties when there are already three leaders assassinated, including his brother. John was a risk-taker."

He continued, "John is solely responsible for the death of his wife and her sister. He bears the responsibilities of his recklessness that night — it was his poor judgement."

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

Did “Love Story ”just address the infamous 'Kennedy curse'?

The finale of FX'sLove Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessetteended the only way it could have — by depicti...

Read More

“Stand by Me” cast felt instant bond reuniting as adults after 40 years with 'bittersweet sadness' over missing costar

Stand by Me costars Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, and Corey Feldman are touring together to celebrate film's 40th anniversary.

Key Points

• The beloved coming-of-age film is also back in select theaters this weekend.

• The stars tell EW they leaned on each other amid the shocking death of their director, Rob Reiner.

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?

Four decades afterStand by Mefirst hit theaters, its three surviving child stars have reunited as adults and found the message of the movie as profound as ever.

"We're three guys who share something. Each of us, there's two people in this world we can talk to about some things, and it's the three of us right here," starWil Wheatontells EW on a virtual call with childhood costarsJerry O'ConnellandCorey Feldman, as the group embarks on a national tour to celebrate the beloved coming-of-age film's 40th anniversary (tickets available now).

"That's such a blessing all these years later to have this and to have this time together to celebrate the movie," says the actor who played 12-year-old Gordie Lachance, the film's main protagonist (played briefly as an adult by Richard Dreyfuss).

Based on a 1982 Stephen King novella,Stand by Metells the story of four boys — Gordie, Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Feldman), and Vern (O'Connell) — who embark on an adventure in 1959 to see the body of a missing boy found dead near the train tracks, forming a tight bond along the way.

"It didn't take a minute, it didn't take an hour, it was instant," Wheaton says of the actors coming back together all these years later. "It was like we had never left. It was like we had never walked off the set."

O'Connell concurs. "I just can't believe it's 40 years," he marvels. "When we watch this movie in the theater and we're all sitting next to each other, doesn't it feel like we were just doing it yesterday, fellas?"

In addition to the reunion tour,Stand byMereturns to select theaters for one week, beginning today. The big anniversary celebration is not without some sadness coming just three months after the shockingkillings of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. (The couple's son, Nick Reiner, was charged withtwo counts of first-degree murder in connection to their deaths.He pleaded not guilty.)

"I was so grateful, and how grateful were you all, that the three of us had each other after this Rob and Michele passing?" O'Connell says to his childhood costars. "We still are in communication a lot. We didn't have to grieve alone. Thank God for you two."

Advertisement

Wheaton agrees, saying that their reunion "really softened the blow and gave me a place to land when we all found out so unexpectedly and horrifically that we had lost Rob."

Of course, this isn't the three actors' first brush with tragedy tied to their film family. Phoenix died at age 23 in 1993 of a drug overdose.

"There's that kind of bittersweet sadness for all of us that River's not here to experience all this," Feldman says. "I just wish so badly that he could be part of this. I mean, the fun that we would be having right now on these tours if it was all four of us is incalculable, literally because I couldn't even imagine how much fun we would be having if we didn't have these terrible sad points to our story. But of course, what story is rich and flavorful without those sad points, I guess."

He points out the parallels between the fate of Phoenix's character in the movie and real life.

"The irony is still very deep in the telling ofStand by Mein which River's character, Chris, unfortunately, meets with his passing at a very young age, and we are left, the three of us, to grieve about it."

Wheaton says rewatching the movie in theaters with his costars has also allowed him to "feel closer to my memories of River" and tap right back into the boy stars' shared experience as kids.

"When we are watching this movie in a theater with an audience, and we're sitting next to each other for the first time in 40 years, we have these wonderful moments of asking, 'Do you remember blah, blah, blah about this?' or 'Wow, I had totally forgotten about that,'" Wheaton shares. "And we've had a lot of those moments and they've been really special to me."

Stand by Mereturns toselect theatersbeginning today. Wheaton, O'Connell, and Feldman's tour has upcoming stops in Anaheim, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Indianapolis; and Chicago.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

“Stand by Me” cast felt instant bond reuniting as adults after 40 years with 'bittersweet sadness' over missing costar

Stand by Me costars Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, and Corey Feldman are touring together to celebrate film's 40th...

Read More

Why Prince William and Kate Will Be Scaling Back Their Duties in the Coming Weeks

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

It has been a busy first few months of the year for Prince William and Princess Catherine. They welcomed England Women's Rugby team to Windsor Castle (an occasion for which Kate wore maybe herbest power suit ever), hosted the Nigerian state visit (to which the princess wore herfirst tiara of the year), and attended the Archbishop of Canterbury's installation ceremony (where Kate wore a fabulouswide-brim hat)—among many other things. So it's understandable that the couple has decided to take things slow in April.

Kate and Will arereportedlyexpected to scale back their schedule of royal duties in the coming weeks as their three children—Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7—are on their Easter break from Lambrook School. The three started their break from classes today, March 27, and will return to school on April 22.

Advertisement

Kate and William have previously opened up about their choice to prioritizefamily time, especially when their children are on school break, and they are known to travel together during these periods. Last year, for example, they went skiing in theFrench Alpswith their little ones.

Usually, these getaways involve plenty of time surrounded by nature. "Spending time in nature can play a pivotal role in helping children grow up to become happy, healthy adults," Kate said in astatementback in 2019. "The great outdoors provides an open playground for children to have fun and learn lifelong skills—from balance and coordination to empathy and creativity—with their friends, their parents, their carers, or their family members."

You Might Also Like

• Grace Jones's Career in Photos

• Michelle Pfeiffer's Style Evolution Through the Years

• Goldie Hawn's Style Evolution Through the Years

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

Why Prince William and Kate Will Be Scaling Back Their Duties in the Coming Weeks

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." It ha...

Read More

Judge won't block meeting that could exempt Gulf drilling from Endangered Species Act

A judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration can convene a meeting next week to seek an exemption from the Endangered Species Acton the basis of national securityfor expanded oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump Oil God Squad

District of Columbia District Judge Rudolph Contreras rejected the Center for Biological Diversity's motion to postpone the Interior Department's upcoming meeting of the Endangered Species Committee.

The committee is set to meet Tuesday to seek an exemption from endangered species laws — which make it illegal to harm or kill species on a protected list, without a viable alternative — for national security purposes as invoked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

According to a Department of Justice filing, Hegseth called for an exemption for "all Gulf of America oil and gas exploration and development activities" overseen by federal agencies in his request to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for the meeting. The request came as the world experiences oil shocks and soaring energy prices amid the U.S.-Iran war.

Composed of six high-ranking federal officials plus a representative for states involved, the committee has been called the "God Squad" by environmental groups that say its actions can essentially determine the fate of an endangered species. It has convened only three times in its nearly 50-year history and the national security provision has never been invoked.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued earlier this month, saying Burgum did not meet requirements or the legal basis needed to convene the committee. In seeking a temporary restraining order, the center argued the government could cause irreparable harm through the actions it decides next week. Environmental groups are especially concerned about the Rice's whale in the Gulf, where only about 50 remain.

Government attorneys argued in court that the environmental group was challenging an exemption decision that hasn't been made and said the government's reasoning for the exemption will be detailed next week.

The judge said the center did not meet a high standard necessary to issue the temporary restraining order.

Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called it disappointing that the court "didn't immediately stop Hegseth's reckless power grab."

Advertisement

"We'll be outside the Department of the Interior on Tuesday protesting this outrageous abuse by Trump's extinction committee. We'll certainly be back in court to save the Rice's whale and all of the Gulf of Mexico's wildlife from being driven to extinction by the oil industry," he said.

The Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Environmental groups say the administration is seeking an exemption to avoid the intensive process required for an Endangered Species Act exemption. They say such an exemption could set a dangerous precedent for future fossil fuel projects.

The Gulf has long been affected by the environmental harms that oil can bring. Anoil spill in the Gulfearlier this month spread 373 miles (600 kilometers), contaminating at least six species and polluting seven protected natural reserves. BP'sDeepwater Horizon spill in 2010wreaked havoc on the Gulf, spilling 134 million gallons of oil and devastating life in the region. The administration approved BP's new $5 billion ultra-deepwater drilling project in the Gulf just weeks ago.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X:@alexa_stjohn. Reach her atast.john@ap.org.

Read more ofAP's climate coverage.

The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP'sstandardsfor working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atAP.org.

byCosmopolite

in

March 27, 2026

Judge won't block meeting that could exempt Gulf drilling from Endangered Species Act

A judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration can convene a meeting next week to seek an exemption from the Endanger...

Read More