Firelight is also considering a broader universe of liquid assets that do not already generate substantial yield, CEO Anthony DeMartino told CoinDesk in an interview.
“There’s a bunch of different assets that we’re considering,” DeMartino said. “Anything … that’s a solid asset, that has good liquidity to it, that doesn’t provide its own natural yield, will eventually be eligible to be posted as collateral.”
Fintech money onchain
Firelight is betting that the bigger opportunity lies beyond crypto-native traders as fintechs, neobanks and payments companies increasingly plug onchain yield products into their apps.
The possibility of losing customer capital to an exploit can become a major obstacle when a product is ready to go live, DeMartino said. Firelight aims to provide a protection layer that makes that jump less daunting.
“This isn’t built for degens,” he said. “This is built to bring the next wave of capital in. We want to be that protection layer to allow that adoption.”
DeMartino said he expects more money currently sitting in bank accounts to migrate into fintech earn products powered by stablecoins, onchain vaults and wallets. Sentora itself has been working on bringing yield products to fintech applications, including payroll and remittance platforms, he said.
The protection gap remains large. Roughly $80 billion is locked in DeFi, according to Firelight, while only a fraction of a percent is protected by onchain cover.
Bitcoin has begun September slightly lower, falling 1% to below $78,000 as it enters what is commonly referred to as “Rektember.” Since 2013, September has been bitcoin’s worst-performing month on average, producing a loss of around 3% and only producing five positive monthly returns.
However, the past three Septembers have all delivered gains, offering some encouragement to bitcoin bulls. After climbing 25% in August, BTC’s strongest month since November 2024, the market could be due for a period of consolidation, if not a correction.
The macro backdrop also presents significant headwinds. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole speech last Friday, which emphasized elevated inflation, has contributed to a global bond sell-off. Many sovereign yields have reached new cycle highs, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rising to 4.784%.
Markets are now pricing in a 66% probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the Fed’s Sept. 16 meeting, followed by another potential rate boost by the end of the year. That would take the federal funds target range to 4.00-4.25% by the close of 2026.
A CBS News headline accompanying a story about Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has generated significant online scrutiny, and the Paramount Skydance news outlet, once known for its reserve, appears to feel the facts presented in the work outweigh the digital opprobrium.
On Monday morning, the CBS News feed on X posted a story with the accompanying headline: “As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001,” the post said, “Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack.”
The story described the candidate as someone who “opposed American wars and capitalized on anger over anti-Arab sentiment in a state with a robust and active Muslim community.” As evidence, the story cited two deleted posts that had originally surfaced in 2020 and compared the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic with the death toll from terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
The post drew rebukes from a host of digital personalities and critics, including Cenk Uygur, host of “The Young Turks” and Tim Miller of The Bulwark.
“Ma’am, hate to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know, your mask slipped off,” Uygur posted. Miller called the CBS News post “despicable anti-Muslim woke right garbage.
CBS News declined to make executives available for comment.
A person familiar with the story says CBS News saw nothing wrong in reporting on a politician’s deleted tweets. This person also says CBS News interviewed El-Sayed later in the day Monday and added his response to the matter. The story also included comments from a Michigan State political scientist about whether the tweets might affect the race in Michigan .
The digital outrage bubbles as media critics and even journalists within CBS News scrutinize the decisions of Bari Weiss, installed by Paramount as editor in chief of CBS News in 2025, for bias or the insertion of opinion into the CBS News daily report. Weiss, founder of the online opinion site The Free Press, is known for railing against so-called “woke” extremes and for unwavering support of Israel. In the recent past, CBS News has been watched for the way it covers New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The media newsletter Status on Monday night reported that Weiss praised the story during the network’s daily editorial meeting Monday, and directed that the headline mention El-Sayed had deleted tweets referencing the September 11 terrorist attacks.
But the person familiar with the article indicated Weiss sought a mention of the politician’s deleted tweets in the headline, since their discovery was a central part of the story. This person says CBS News deems El-Sayed’s past comments on 9/11 newsworthy, along with his association with the provocateur Hasan Piker, and how they might affect voters’ perception of his candidacy.
There’s a very specific kind of heartbreak in watching your daily tech take its last breath. The good news? You don’t have to limp your gear to its final rest. Walmart has decided not to wait for the long weekend, quietly unleashing a wave of early Labor Day tech deals from brands like HP, Roborock, Bose, and more. If your everyday tech is begging for retirement, this early holiday drop is the easiest way to upgrade.
I’ve been monitoring the price tracking charts, and the early hardware discounts are genuinely impressive. We’re seeing significant price cuts across flagship noise-canceling headphones, ultra-thin productivity laptops, autonomous robot cleaners, and a whole lot more. And I’ll keep updating this list through the week, so make sure you bookmark this page and keep an eye out.
HP Laptop Early Labor Day Deal
HP OmniBook 5 16-inch Touchscreen Laptop
Walmart
$749.00 at 16-inch 2K IPS touchscreen, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, FHD IR camera with Windows Hello, fast charge
For heavy multitasking and creative projects, this HP OmniBook 5 configuration offers immense value. Its 16-inch, 2K touchscreen delivers sharp detail with an expansive 16:10 workspace, paired with 16GB of fast memory and a 1TB SSD that holds massive files without breaking a sweat. Equipped with Windows Hello face sign-in and fast-charging battery tech, it’s an exceptional full-size laptop at almost 50% off.
For gamers and power users seeking solid performance under $1,000, the MSI Cyborg 15 punches well above its weight. Driven by dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics and a fast Intel processor, it easily handles modern AAA titles and intensive multitasking. Its 144Hz Full HD display delivers fluid, tear-free motion during competitive matches, while the distinctive translucent chassis and responsive keyboard give it a sharp modern look.
You can check out its in-depth review by PCMag expert Marshall Honorof, who says that “the MSI Cyborg 15 is a well-built budget gaming laptop with high-quality components and punchy enough performance at an approachable price.” Score this capable gaming laptop for $350 off.
The Samsung Odyssey G55C delivers high-end gaming specs without the premium price tag. Its deep 1000R curve wraps around your peripheral vision for enhanced immersion, while the crisp QHD 1440p resolution provides noticeably sharper detail than standard 1080p panels. With a fast 165Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and AMD FreeSync to eliminate screen tearing, it’s a massive display upgrade for just $179.
Automate your floor cleaning with the Roborock QV 35A Qrevo, which features high-powered suction alongside dual 200 rpm spinning mops that automatically lift over carpets and scrub away stubborn stains across hardwood, tile, and rugs. Its all-in-one dock automatically empties debris, refills water, and washes and dries the mop pads to prevent odors. This is your best chance to bring home hands-free floor maintenance at a $250 discount.
The Bose QuietComfort headphones remain the benchmark for distraction-free listening. Its world-class ANC silences bustling cafes and commute noise instantly, while Aware Mode brings in surrounding sounds when you need them. PCMag’s audio expert Tim Gideon rated them “Excellent,” praising the active noise cancellation, refined audio signature, and comfortable fit in his in-depth review. With an ultra-lightweight frame, plush cushions designed for all-day comfort, and 24 hours of playback on a single charge, they’re a standout audio upgrade with $120 off.
More Deals on Bluetooth Headsets
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Apple AirPods Earbuds Early Labor Day Deal
Apple AirPods 4
H2 chip, personalized spatial audio, dynamic head tracking, voice isolation, IP54, USB-C case
Apple’s redesigned AirPods 4 bring meaningful upgrades to everyday listening in a refined open-ear design. Powered by the H2 chip, they deliver improved acoustic architecture with punchier bass, clearer call quality via Voice Isolation, and Personalized Spatial Audio.
Our PCMag expert rated them “Excellent” in his in-depth review for offering exceptional audio performance in an open-ear design. With an IP54 dust, sweat, and water resistance rating alongside a compact USB-C charging case providing up to 30 hours of total playback, they are a fantastic sub-$100 pickup.
More Deals on Earbuds
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
We’ll keep updating this page with more products as they pop up. In the meantime, you can check out even more epic Labor Day Deals on your favorite tech.
In August 2026, investigative outlet 404 Media (and later The Wall Street Journal) used location trackers to follow large shipments of books, some of which were rare, to an Amazon facility in Las Vegas. 404 Media claimed Amazon was cutting off book spines to more efficiently scan their contents for artificial intelligence data training purposes — destroying the books in the process.
The facility, called LAS8, was home to the VGT3 operation. Publicly available Google Maps images show the entrance of the facility emblazoned with the image of a dinosaur baring its jaws, holding a book in its claws.
According to online posts predating 404 Media’s reporting by more than a year, people claiming to be Amazon employees at the site described “cutting and scanning books for up to 12 hours at a time.”
404 Media also pointed to authentic 2024 messages from booksellers in Amazon vendor support channels raising concerns about unusually large orders for books coming from Las Vegas.
In an email to Snopes, an Amazon spokesperson said: “Amazon purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use.”
It remains unclear whether Amazon specifically seeks out rare books — or whether some of the books it acquires happen to be rare. It’s also unclear, as of this writing, whether the books are used purely for training AI or for some other purpose.
In August 2026, a claim circulated online that tech giant Amazon was acquiring large quantities of books, some of them rare, and cutting off the spines to more efficiently scan the pages for artificial intelligence training data — destroying the books in the process.
Social media users across multipleplatforms claimed Amazon was similarly destroying books, and dozens of Snopes readers contacted us seeking answers.
“Amazon is buying massive quantities of books, scanning them for AI training data, and destroying them in the process,” one Instagram user posted (archived) on Aug. 18, gaining more than 2.2 million views, as of this writing.
(Instagram user @aaronparnas)
The rumor stemmed from an Aug. 17, 2026, story by digital investigative outlet 404 Media. Reporter Emanuel Maiberg collaborated with a bookseller who suspected a large order of books was linked to Amazon’s book scanning project, planting an Apple AirTag in the shipment that eventually appeared at an Amazon facility in Las Vegas called LAS8.
Maiberg pointed to posts from booksellers raising concerns about unusually large shipments as well as online forum posts by people claiming to be Amazon employees writing in about the work at VGT3, the name for the operation, which Snopes tracked down and verified below.
In a follow-up story Aug. 26, Maiberg reportedly spoke with an employee who worked at Amazon’s VGT3 warehouse. The employee, who was quoted anonymously, reportedly described how machines cut the spines off books before 20 to 25 scanners flipped through the loose pages “like machines that count cash.”
Asked for a response to 404 Media’s reporting, an Amazon spokesperson wrote in an email to Snopes: “Amazon purchases books through commercial channels to help develop and improve the products and services our customers use.”
We also reached out to Maiberg regarding whether Amazon specifically sought “rare” books and whether he came across any evidence that Amazon was scanning books for e-books, but did not immediately hear back. We will update this story if we do.
Although we verified the location of the VGT3 operation and identified the online messages referred to in 404 Media’s reporting, and Amazon confirmed it purchases books for the purposes of developing its products, we left this claim unrated because it remains undetermined whether Amazon specifically seeks out “rare” books and whether it uses the books exclusively for AI training data, as well as whether the online posts truly came from Amazon employees who worked at the Las Vegas facility.
Evidence of Amazon’s book-scanning operation
In July 2026, a bookseller reportedly told Maiberg they received an order of around 1,000 books on Biblio, an online bookselling marketplace. In cooperation with 404 Media they placed an AirTag in the shipment, which eventually turned up at an Amazon warehouse at 5801 Nicco Way, Las Vegas.
(Google Maps)
The entrance to the facility, where a window bears a large illustration of a dinosaur with its jaws bared holding an open book, is currently publicly viewable on Google Maps. A reporter for a local Las Vegas news outlet also captured another angle of the facility’s entrance.
Google Street View imagery from February 2026 shows the same building entrance — though it did not have the dinosaur emblem at that time.
We asked Amazon whether there were similar operations in other cities or countries, which the spokesperson did not address in their response.
The Wall Street Journal also reportedly spoke with a bookseller in the Pacific Northwest who similarly followed a shipment using location trackers inside the book covers. Reporter Melissa Korn wrote:
The other book went first to a warehouse in Kenosha, Wis., then to a spot in northern Las Vegas at an intersection with at least two Amazon facilities. It eventually moved to a position in Mexicali, Mexico. While the seller couldn’t determine the exact address, a Google map of the location shows a sprawling recycled-paper manufacturing facility.
404 Media also pointed to messages in Amazon support channels in which booksellers raised concerns about large orders. “This is the first order I’ve seen like this in over 10 years of selling here,” one bookseller wrote in September 2024, reporting that the buyer’s address matched an “Amazon Fulfillment Center” in Las Vegas.
An Amazon support representative responded that they were investigating the concerns, before eventually confirming the orders were legitimate.
What have purported Amazon employees said?
Both The Wall Street Journal and 404 Media referenced posts on online forums by purported Amazon employees from more than a year prior to the 2026 stories in which they described work at the Las Vegas facility, reportedly involving cutting and scanning books for up to 12 hours at a time.
“Some are assigned to cut books, and others go to receive where they get books and scan the bar codes,” one comment reportedly read.
Snopes verified that this post was real (archived), as were other posts dating back to at least July 2025 (archived, archived), although we were unable to verify they were truly made by Amazon employees.
In its Aug. 26 story, 404 Media reported that when asked what it looked like when the book spines were cut off, the employee said:
It’s a machine people operate. Each of these machines is just like a little workstation, and there’ll be one person at each of these stations. It’s really safe because it has a little cover and it has a little area where you slide the book into, remove your fingers from the area, and then you press a button, and it just comes down and slices it. And then you remove the books after the blade is gone.
The employee reportedly described how after the books were cut, they were put into large containers, saying, “They’re just piled in there. It’s also right next to where they start cutting the spines, and so I think right after that, that’s where it’s going [the trash].”
Because we do not rely on anonymous sources for our fact-checking, we do not consider this account to be primary evidence.
How did 404 Media define ‘rare’ books?
According to 404 Media, the books in the shipment it tracked were rare, meaning “there are not many copies of them in circulation.” Though many people online appeared to believe Amazon and other AI companies were specifically seeking out rare books, perhaps with the intention of gatekeeping or monetizing their contents by converting them into exclusive digital copies, we did not find evidence of this, as of this writing. Maiberg wrote:
That employees are scanning the barcodes or ISBNs on books — a unique serial number given to every published book — before scanning their content gives further credence to another theory put forth by booksellers: AI companies are trying to methodically scan every printed book in the world by working through the list of ISBNs. One bookseller told me they suspected this was the case because the very large orders they were getting never included very rare books that do not have ISBNs.
In other words, Amazon may be indiscriminately acquiring printed books, which may include some that have few copies in circulation.
This would align with the internal Anthropic documents we previously reported on, which stated that the goal of its book-scanning project, “Project Panama,” was to “scan and destroy ‘all the books in the world.’” In an email to a bookseller, project director Tom Turvey said “less common books are a great place to start.” It’s unclear whether “less common” refers to a book’s actual market rarity or the number of circulating copies.
It’s unclear, as of this writing, whether Amazon was specifically seeking out rare or collectable books in any capacity. We reached out to Maiberg seeking clarification. We also asked the Amazon spokesperson about how it chooses the books the company purchases, and they did not address this question in their response.
The anonymous employee who reportedly spoke with 404 Media said the shipments contained “all kinds of books”:
When we first started a lot of them were brand new. Some of them are used as well. Like you could tell, they were liquidated from a library or something like that. We were even getting boxes of stuff from London. There were a lot of books from the University of London. There was even like, I don’t know what you would call them, but it was like kind of stapled together papers that said that they were presented to Parliament on the behalf of Her Royal Majesty the Queen. So they were like government documents. I don’t know if they’re public. Probably they’re public, but it was just interesting that we found all that in there.
According to The Wall Street Journal, several “rare-book sellers” reported receiving these mass orders, with one seller reportedly claiming his sales more than doubled in one year. It’s unclear what percentage of the total amount of books Amazon has acquired has come from rare-book sellers as opposed to standard book marketplaces.
Unclear whether Amazon uses books for AI training
Amazon did not respond to our question regarding whether the book scans were used to train AI, converting the physical books into e-books or some other purpose.
“They didn’t tell us it was for AI, I personally thought we were scanning them to make them into e-books, that was depressing to realize,” a Reddit user who claimed to have once worked at VGT3 posted in August 2026.
As we previously reported, AI companies such as Anthropic have sought to train their models on books as high-quality data to prevent “model collapse,” which happens when AI trains on its own content. This feedback loop degrades the quality of AI output and results in AI slop.
Labor Day signals the end of summer, even though there’s at least a few more weeks before we officially hit the fall (and it’s still hot). But it also marks a great time to score some serious deals.
If your living room TV still takes five full minutes to launch, or you’re tired of second-guessing your health, Amazon is making a strong case for a setup refresh. The retail giant just hit the switch on its early Labor Day Rollbacks, dropping major tech markdowns days ahead of schedule on brands like Garmin, LG, Blink, and more. It’s a rare chance to grab long-weekend pricing before the holiday rush.
I’ve combed through the electronics aisles to hand-pick the markdowns that actually justify hitting the checkout button. We found massive-screen-for-the-money 4K smart TVs, rugged outdoor security cameras, premium health tracking smartwatches, and so much more. And I’ll keep updating this page through this week and the holiday weekend, so make sure you keep coming back to not miss out.
Blink Outdoor Security Camera Early Labor Day Deal
Blink Outdoor 4 Wireless Security Camera (3 pack)
1080p HD live view, enhanced motion detection, two-way audio, infrared night vision, 2-year battery
Protect your property inside and out with the weather-resistant Blink Outdoor 4 three-camera system. Delivering crisp 1080p HD video with wider field-of-view coverage and infrared night vision, it alerts your smartphone the moment motion is detected. You also get two-way audio, which lets you speak to visitors directly through the app.
PCMag expert John R. Delaney rated it “Excellent” in his in-depth review. As he says, “The Blink Outdoor 4 is a battery-powered and Alexa-integrated security camera that captures sharp daytime video, with a wider field of view than its predecessor and optional people alerts.” With wire-free installation and an incredible two-year battery life on included AA lithium batteries, this whole-home monitoring system can be yours for 45% off.
More Deals on Outdoot Security Cameras
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
LG 4K Smart TV Early Labor Day Deal
LG 65-inch evo AI C6 Series 4K Smart TV
65-inch 4K OLED Evo panel, Alpha AI, 144Hz refresh, Dolby Vision and Atmos, G-Sync, FreeSync
Upgrade your home theater with the stunning contrast and deep, inky blacks of the LG C6 Series OLED evo. Driven by LG’s latest Alpha AI processor, it optimizes picture brightness and audio clarity scene by scene, bringing lifelike realism to movies and sports. Gamers get an ultra-fast 144Hz refresh rate, 0.1ms response time, and full Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium support, making this flagship 65-inch display an extraordinary value at a massive $1,200 discount.
The 41mm Garmin Venu 3S packs advanced health coaching and lifestyle convenience into a sleek, lightweight profile. Its bright AMOLED touchscreen tracks Sleep Coach metrics, daytime naps, and Body Battery energy reserves so you know when to push and when to rest. An integrated speaker and microphone allow hands-free voice calls and text replies right from your wrist, all backed by up to 10 days of battery life for over $160 off. Don’t waste time getting one.
Combining razor-thin styling with next-generation AI efficiency, the new 13.8-inch Surface Laptop delivers exceptional mobile productivity. Its 120Hz PixelSense Flow touchscreen provides fluid scrolling and rich color accuracy, while the Snapdragon X2 elite platform powers advanced on-device Copilot+ tools with remarkable battery stamina. With a spacious 1TB SSD and 16GB of snappy RAM in an ultra-light aluminum chassis, it’s a premier ultraportable workstation discounted by $400.
The Bose QuietComfort headphones remain the industry benchmark for silencing everyday distractions. World-class active noise cancellation isolates your music in crowded environments, while Aware Mode lets you tune back into ambient conversations instantly.
Recommended by Our Editors
Our PCMag expert Tim Gideon, rated them “Excellent,” praising the “excellent active noise cancellation and a refined audio signature in a comfortable fit” in his in-depth review. Featuring deeply cushioned earcups for fatigue-free all-day wear and 24 hours of playback on a single charge, they are a standout audio upgrade for $130 off.
Engineered to punch far above its palm-sized footprint, the second-generation Bose SoundLink Micro delivers surprisingly loud, detailed sound with deep bass. Its rugged silicone exterior is IP67-rated to resist water, dust, and drops, while the flexible utility strap easily clips onto backpacks, handlebars, or coolers.
No surprises that our PCMag expert, Christian de Looper, gave it an “Excellent” rating in his in-depth review, and recommends it to people “who like the compact size and the durable build, especially for fans of Bose’s industrial design.” With upgraded Bluetooth 5.4, multipoint pairing, and up to 12 hours of playtime, it’s the ultimate grab-and-go outdoor speaker under $80.
More Deals on Bluetooth Speakers
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
We’ll keep updating this page with more products throughout the week. In the meantime, you can check out even more epic Labor Day Deals on your favorite tech.
In the sequel, set 25 years after the 1998 cult classic, Joey King and Maisie Williams replace Evan Rachel Wood and Alexandra Artrip as the daughters of Bullock’s Sally Owens. Wood has previously spoken out about being recast, saying she was “not asked to come back” and “it was not in my control or my choice.”
On a red carpet for The Shards in July, Wood added that it appeared she wasn’t asked back because “it seems like they’re not following the book,” but wished King the best in taking over the role as oldest daughter Kylie.
At the follow-up’s L.A. premiere on Monday, King told The Hollywood Reporter that she “had a lovely conversation” with Wood following that interview, “and I just was so appreciative of the support that she showed to me and to the rest of the cast. She is so talented and so beautiful and she made this role so special when she was a young girl. I feel so grateful to be able to play Kylie at this age but I love Evan so much and I’m so appreciative of her kind words and the exchange that her and I shared.”
Director Susanne Bier also shed some further light on the recasting decision, explaining, “It had to be a certain age group; in the story they’re just like literally out of college, and with Joey and Maisie it just felt completely right.”
Practical Magic 2 sees Kylie Owens in a much larger role, as she discovers hidden family secrets and develops her own dark abilities. As a result, the Owens women — with Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing back as the witchy aunts of Bullock and Kidman’s characters — must reunite to finally break the curse that has haunted their family.
Maisie Williams, Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock and Joey King at the L.A. premiere.
Chloe Kern/FilmMagic
The original film was not a smash hit, but has reached cult classic status over the years. Bullock said there wasn’t the thought of a sequel “until the din got very loud on social media” and “it required a lot of things to fall into place for it to be the right time. We had to find the window where we could shoot it. Do we have the budget? Can we make it for that budget? Who is going to write it? Who knows us? Akiva Goldsman came in and was like, ‘Let me write this,’ and we were like, ‘Have at it.’ It was a lot of things that crashed together at the same time.”
Kidman added, “There were so many parts to the book [Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel The Book of Magic] that we were basing it off that it was like mining. Going, what do you choose for this particular film? Because it can’t be eight hours.” Bullock teased, “I mean it can, but no one will go” as she noted, “We were very true to the nostalgia of it.”
Producer Denise Di Novi, who was behind the first film as well, echoed that the sequel came together when “the fans built to such a crescendo of saying ‘we want this movie’ and the last few years it kind of became undeniable. We all felt it at the same time.”
And as for if a third movie would be possible, Di Movi emphasized, “We hope so! Spread the word,” while also explaining the decision for Aidan Quinn’s Officer Gary Hallet — who seemed to be getting a happily ever after with Sally Owens at the end of the original — to not appear in the sequel.
“He died! Gary died of the curse,” she confirmed. “We thought the curse had been solved but the curse had not been solved, and it took down poor Gary. We love Aidan Quinn; you have to watch the movie but I think people will be happy with what happens.”
Gal Gadot is criticizing DC’s handling of its superhero talent from when the company transitioned away from its Zack Snyder-led era.
The actress told the Happy, Sad Confused podcast that the shift from the Snyder-verse to the current creative era — run by co-chairmen and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran — was “not handled elegantly, to say the least.”
First, Gadot was asked if there was a moment where she was told by Gunn and Safran that she would no longer play Wonder Woman.
“No, they told me the opposite,” Gadot said. “They were like, ‘We’re going to develop it with you, the third one.’ But I saw the way everybody else was handled, right? And I, you know — the Henry situation was unfortunate. I was in the middle of that. The Henry situation was not handled elegantly, to say the least.”
Continued Gadot: “Same with [Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins] — it was not handled elegantly. I feel like we’re all adults and it’s all good. It’s not even about them. They are there and they’re there to do what they believe in, and it’s all good.”
Cavill was actually announced as officially returning as Superman just before Gunn and Safran took control of DC Studios. Cavill’s Superman appeared in a Black Adam post-credits scene and then took to social media to declare on Oct. 24, 2022, that he was “back as Superman” and later added there was “a bright future ahead” for the character.
Two months later, Gunn announced his new Superman movie would focus on an earlier period in the character’s life and not star Cavill. The actor then replied, “After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest.” Actor David Corenswet was eventually cast as Gunn’s new Man of Steel for the reboot Superman, which was released last year.
Gunn himself has acknowledged the situation was “really unfortunate,” saying, “The day our [DC] deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back. And I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do ‘Superman.’ So it was really unfair to him and a total bummer.”
Gunn suggested there was a faction within the studio trying to “force” its own plan for the future of the franchise. Gunn said he and Safran then sat down with Cavill. “He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.’”
As for Wonder Woman, the role has not been officially announced as having been recast, but Adria Arjona has been cast in a mystery role in Gunn’s Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow and fans are speculating the character is Wonder Woman.
Jenkins has previously addressed reports that claimed she walked away from Wonder Woman 3 because she refused to take studio notes. “This is simply not true. I never walked away. I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding that there was nothing I could do to move anything forward.”
Also in Gadot’s interview, the actress reveals she did a four-hour screen test along with Tom Hiddleston for George Miller’s action classic Mad Max: Fury Road (though they lost the parts to Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, respectively).
“I came to London, and I remember walking into this beautiful home in London, into this office, and we stayed there for four hours. I came with all layers because it was a winter, cold day in London, and I came out in a tank top. The work that we’ve done was so intensive, and how much we filmed … It was amazing. I felt good about the work that we did. And Hiddleston is such an incredible actor, by the way.”
Gadot is currently promoting her new Prime Video thriller The Runner, in which she plays a single mother whose son is kidnapped.
In the days after Dolly Parton’s death, rumors spread online about recent public funding cuts to the country legend and philanthropist’s Imagination Library, which sends free books to children up to age 5. Readers asked us whether “Republicans,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and/or Congress had defunded Parton’s organization, either before or after her death.
Parton’s Imagination Library, which has a presence in all 50 states, receives state government funding in about two dozen states. Two Republican-controlled and two Democrat-controlled states — Indiana and Missouri, and Maine and Washington — cut that funding months before Parton’s death. In Nevada, which has a Legislature controlled by Democrats and a Republican governor, a state grant that helped maintain the Imagination Library’s presence there ran out, affecting operations in a major county.
Some Imagination Library partners lost federal grant funding that helped support their organizations’ work. For example, New Hampshire’s Whitefield Public Library lost funding to run an Imagination Library program in the northern half of the state after a financial partner shut down because Trump’s administration rescinded its federal education grants.
In several of the above instances, state governments, the Imagination Library and its partners turned to private charity to maintain the program. There also are bipartisan efforts in various states to protect existing funding or secure new statewide funding for the Imagination Library.
After country music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton died in August 2026, rumors spread online about supposed public spending cuts to her Imagination Library, which sends free books to children until their 5th birthdays.
Posts online claimed that Missouri or Indiana Republicans cut funding for the child literacy program. Someclaims were vaguer, merely stating that “Republicans” ended financial support for the Imagination Library. Readers asked us whether the Imagination Library was “defunded” after Parton’s death or in the past year and whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Congress, Republicans or other various entities were the culprit.
Here’s the truth: In about two dozen states, the Imagination Library receives state government funding. In the year before Parton’s death, two states with Republican-controlled governments — Indiana and Missouri — and two with Democrat-controlled governments — Maine and Washington — ended or reduced financial support for the Imagination Library.
At least one state with a Republican governor and Democrat-controlled Legislature, Nevada, also did not renew several grants that supported local partners of the Imagination Library.
The federal government does not directly fund the Imagination Library, which the Dollywood Foundation oversees. However, at least two of the Imagination Library’s local partners lost funding after the Trump administration rescinded education grants as part of a larger clawback of federal funds.
Dollywood Foundation spokesperson Tracy Long declined via email to answer any questions about funding for the Imagination Library; The New York Times reported on Aug. 25 that the Imagination Library was overwhelmed following Parton’s death.
At least one state, Oregon, passed bipartisan legislation in 2026 that codified the Imagination Library as an official state program.
According to the Imagination Library’s website, one in six kids in the U.S. under age 5 receives books from the organization. Imagination Library’s website also has a map showing which areas of the United States have coverage.
Here’s everything we know about the Imagination Library’s funding and why some states and other organizations stopped providing support within roughly the last year of Parton’s life:
How is the Imagination Library funded?
The Imagination Library uses a mix of private and public funding at the state and local levels. The organization itself covers all of the administrative and overhead costs. Local partners who work with the Imagination Library are asked to enroll children in the coverage area and pay an average of $2.60 per child per month toward wholesale books and mailing costs, according to a 2024 infographic from the library.
(Imagination Library)
According to Courtney Vashaw, director at a New Hampshire library that partners with Parton’s foundation, in at least some cases, like hers, the Imagination Library pays for the books, too.
“Where does local funding come into it? The postage,” she said in a phone call. “There has to be some kind of partnership that allows for that money to be raised.”
As of June 2026, the Imagination Library has full coverage in 21 states, according to a fact sheet the organization released. State governments oftensupport those statewide programs through a 50/50 funding match, where the state pays for half of the local partners’ costs.
Many of the Imagination Library’s local partners — which are all nonprofit organizations — also heavily rely on federal or state grant funding.
Did state Republicans cut funding?
Missouri and Indiana Republicans cut funding after reportedly facing budget deficits. Kentucky lawmakers also reportedly considered cutting funding but reversed the move after public backlash.
Missouri
In November 2023, under Republican Gov. Mike Parson, Missouri became the first state to cover all costs for the Imagination Library. (Tennessee, Parton’s home state — which Republicans control — was the first to introduce a statewide program involving partial public funding support.)
In lieu of local nonprofit partners, Missouri had school districts partner with the initiative, and the schools did not have to pay for the books or postage.
But in June 2026, under Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, Missouri lawmakers cut state funding for the program for the upcoming fiscal year — reportedly from $6 million to $2 million.
“The Governor is a strong supporter of children’s literacy. Given the seriousness of Missouri’s budget imbalance, tough decisions are being made to restore responsible spending across the entirety of state government,” Gabby Picard, Kehoe’s spokesperson, said in an email.
According to the Missouri Department of Education, the planned cuts mean it can’t support adding more children to the program. However, Missouri children already enrolled in the program will continue receiving books “as funding allows.”
Indiana
Indiana began supporting the Imagination Library statewide through the 50/50 funding match model in 2023 under Republican Gov. Eric J. Holcomb, who championed the program. Lawmakers allotted $6 million to the program over two years.
In 2025, under Republican Gov. Mike Braun, GOP lawmakers cut the funding from the state budget entirely. Facing public backlash, the Indiana governor tasked his wife, Maureen Braun, with fundraising for the state-level match.
“In March, Mrs. Braun announced that fundraising for the state-level match for the program through June 30, 2027 is nearly complete,” Griffin Reid, a spokesperson for Indiana’s governor, said in an email. “The program is successfully delivering books to young Hoosiers in all 92 counties in Indiana.”
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the program was on hiatus while Maureen Braun fundraised.
News outlets have reported that the governor’s office has consistently declined to share how much the first lady has raised. Reid also did not respond to our questions asking for specific numbers.
Did state Democrats cut funding?
Yes, in Washington, which was facing budget issues, and Maine, for unclear reasons. Nevada, which has a Republican governor but a Democratic state Legislature, also failed to renew several grants to help fund local partners of the Imagination Library.
Washington
Washington established its statewide program in 2022 through bipartisan legislation under Democratic leadership. The state also used the 50/50 match model.
In 2025, while facing a $12 billion shortfall, Washington cut all state funding to the Imagination Library under Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson and a Democrat-controlled Legislature.
State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, a Democrat, kept the program running through “limited discretionary funds” until June 2026. Reykdal has called on the Legislature and Ferguson to restore funding.
On July 31, 2026, the Imagination Library of Washington announced grants from two private foundations “expected to ultimately restore access for approximately 40,000 children and return the program to full statewide coverage.”
Ferguson’s office did not return an inquiry about restoring state funding.
Maine
Maine’s Imagination Library program launched in late 2023 using the 50/50 match model after the Democratic state Legislature approved a $200,000 proposal from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.
During Maine’s budget process for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, both Mills and the Maine State Library requested funding to continue operating the program and to expand it into all of Maine’s counties, according to emails from Beth Crist, director of special projects at Maine State Library, and Ben Goodman, a spokesperson with Mills’ office.
The final budget the Legislature approved provided only $100,000 a year, however, which was not enough to expand the program, nor to support the existing nonprofit partners who administered it across seven counties at the time, Crist and Goodman said.
Maine’s budget chairs, both Democrats, did not return an inquiry as to why the Legislature did not fully fund the program. Crist said the Legislature did not provide an explanation to Maine State Library.
Some chapters still operate in Maine without state funding.
Nevada
Nevada does not have a statewide Imagination Library program. However, in October 2025, Storied, a local partner serving Clark County, announced that the Nevada Legislature did not renew a grant that started in 2023, as the Nevada Current reported (and Storied confirmed).
Meredith Helmick, executive director of Storied, said in an email that the organization was able to resume its program in July 2026, “but on a much smaller scale.”
“Kids will start receiving books in September,” Helmick said.
Helmick said Storied spent the 10-month hiatus applying for local and state grants and receiving donations from local private foundations and individuals. She hopes to “find a path towards statewide coverage or to at least bring the program in Clark County back to its previous levels.”
The Nevada Independent also reported that United Way Northern Nevada and the Sierra, a partner in Nevada’s Washoe County, lost state grant funding in 2025.
However, a United Way Northern Nevada and the Sierra spokesperson, Daniel Amaya, said in an email that it was “changes in federal funding and resources being allocated elsewhere” that resulted in a pause in its partnership with Imagination Library.
“The loss of federal funds to the State of Nevada directly impacts the amount of money the state can allocate,” Amaya said.
According to the Imagination Library’s website, Washoe County no longer has an operating Imagination Library presence. United Way is seeking donations to resume the program.
“Our hope and goal is to restart Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Northern Nevada as soon as we secure the funding needed,” Amaya said. “We look forward to the day we can turn the page and begin this important work again.”
Did Trump or the federal government cut funding?
Federal funding indirectly provided support to local partners who worked with the Imagination Library, even though the federal government doesn’t directly fund the program.
Aside from Washoe County in Nevada, the Trump administration’s 2025 cuts to federal grant funds affected at least one other area: New Hampshire’s North Country, which is effectively the top half of the state.
Whitefield Public Library — the Imagination Library’s local partner in the North Country — first launched the program in 2025 after months of work, said Vashaw, the director of Whitefield Public Library.
Part of that work involved finding a financial partner who could cover the local partner costs for the program: an organization called the Education Alliance for New Hampshire.
After just a “handful of months” of that group running the program, however, the Trump administration rescinded federal grant funding that the Education Alliance relied on. The Education Alliance closed down.
“Their doors were shuttered, their programs closed with very little notice and that meant we had no funding,” Vashaw said. “We literally weren’t sure we were going to be able to pay the bills come January.”
The Department of Education declined to answer questions about these funds on the record.
After emergency fundraising, the Whitefield Public Library was able to keep the program going. As of this writing, 620 kids are enrolled, Vashaw said.
Vashaw said private fundraising isn’t on track for 2027. However, she’s hoping a bipartisan effort from New Hampshire lawmakers to make the Imagination Library available statewide will help keep the program going.
Social media posts allege U.S. President Donald Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, once called him “an idiot with zero common sense” and predicted he would be a “disaster” if he ever entered politics. The rumor is unfounded.
The alleged quote has circulated since at least 2019. On multiple occasions, Snopes has attempted to find evidence of Trump’s mother making the statement without success.
Some posts spreading the alleged quote included images that resembled newspaper clippings. We have found no evidence of any real newspapers attributing the quote to Mary MacLeod Trump.
Snopes will update this report if additional information surfaces.
An alleged quote by Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, the mother of U.S. President Donald Trump, expressing doubt about her son’s intelligence and ability to succeed in politics has circulated for years.
A meme with the quote that spread on Facebook in August 2026 read:
Trump’s mom knew best!
“Yes, he’s an idiot with zero common sense, and no social skills, but he is my son. I just hope he never gets into politics. He’d be a disaster.”
Mary Anne Trump: Telling the truth before it was trending.
(Facebook user JOE BIDEN 2024)
Snopes readers wrote in to ask us whether the quote was real.
Versions of the alleged quote have circulated for years, usuallywith the part reading “I sincerely just hope he never gets into:” ending with the word “politics.” We’ve hunted for evidence the quote was real since 2019 and have found no proof that Trump’s mother ever said these words. Other publications, such as PolitiFact and Reuters, also fact-checked the quote and found no indication it was real.
Because digital archives of newspapers, books and magazines grow and change over time — meaning it is always possible for new evidence for historical claims to become available — we took another look at the quote after it began circulating again in 2026, during Trump’s second term as president.
In short, just as in 2019, there was no compelling evidence supporting the claim that the quote is authentic, as of this writing.
Searches for the full alleged comments — as well as the distinctive clauses “he’s an idiot with no common sense” and “I just hope he never goes into politics” — on Newspapers.com and Gale OneFile, both of which are large databases of periodicals, uncovered no evidence supporting the quote’s authenticity. Searches on Google Books and the Internet Archive likewise returned no evidence that the quote ever appeared with secure attribution in any legitimate publication.
A Google search found no instances of the alleged remark at all before 2019, nearly two decades after Mary MacLeod Trump’s August 2000 death. The absence of any evidence of a quote dating within the alleged originator’s lifetime is a common red flag for fake or misattributed quotes.
One development since 2019 was the emergence of the supposed newspaper clipping featuring the in-question comment underneath a photo of Trump and his mother, which appeared (archived) to have first circulated (archived) online in June 2020. Examples of the clipping, which did not include the name of the paper in which it was allegedly published or a date, appeared (archived) in numerous (archived) posts on X (archived).
(X user @RobertCStern)
It has not been possible to find proof that the clipping is genuine. Although it included a genuine photo of Trump and his mother that was prominently featured in a 2016 New Yorker article titled “Donald Trump’s Immigrant Mother,” searches uncovered no instances of the picture paired with the quote in any real newspaper or magazine.
It remains possible that a primary source proving the quote’s authenticity exists somewhere — for example, in a newspaper archive that has not been digitized as of this writing — and for that reason we’ve refrained from issuing a definitive rating.
Previously, we looked into the claim that Trump’s mother was an immigrant in the country illegally.
Sources
Emery, David. “Here’s How to Authenticate Viral Quotes Attached to Historical Figures.” Snopes, 5 Dec. 2022, https://www.snopes.com//articles/464027/how-to-authenticate-quotes/.
Evon, Dan. “Did Trump’s Mom Once Call Him an ‘Idiot’?” Snopes, 12 Dec. 2019, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/trumps-mom-call-him-idiot/.
“False Claim: Donald Trump’s Mother Said He Would Be a Disaster in Politics.” Reuters, 17 Apr. 2020. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/article/world/false-claim-donald-trumps-mother-said-he-would-be-a-disaster-in-politics-idUSKBN21Z29U/.
Kasprak, Alex. “FACT CHECK: Was Donald Trump’s Mother an Undocumented Immigrant?” Snopes, 30 Jan. 2017, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/donald-trumps-mother-immigrant/.
“Mary MacLeod Trump Philanthropist, 88.” The New York Times, 9 Aug. 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/09/nyregion/mary-macleod-trump-philanthropist-88.html.
Pilon, Mary. “Donald Trump’s Immigrant Mother.” The New Yorker, 24 June 2016. www.newyorker.com, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trumps-immigrant-mother.
Putterman, Samantha. “No Evidence Trump’s Mother Called Him an Idiot.” @politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/dec/18/facebook-posts/no-evidence-trumps-mother-called-him-idiot-zero-co/. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
