All posts tagged: False

Meet Christine Marie, the Hero of Netflix’s Trust Me The False Prophet

Meet Christine Marie, the Hero of Netflix’s Trust Me The False Prophet

Published by Daniella Wilson

Jesus Christ (of Latter-Day Saints), there are some terrible things (still) going on within the FLDS community. Netflix‘s Trust Me: The False Prophet (2026) is a four-part documentary series that captured the rise of Samuel Bateman, the self-proclaimed heir to convicted child abuser Warren Jeffs’ Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). If you thought Jeffs was a bad guy, well, you’re right, but cult expert and sexual abuse survivor Dr. Christine Marie tells The Hollywood Reporter her friends inside the community say Bateman was even worse. A decade before Rachel Dretzin‘s 2022 Netflix docuseries Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, which chronicled Jeffs’ crimes against children, arrest and life-plus-20-years sentencing, Marie, who has a PhD in psychology and a specialty in media psychology, and her videographer husband Tolga Katas moved to the tiny community of Short Creek, Utah, to help. They ended up helping more than they ever could have imagined. Over several years there, the couple went undercover, kind of, to infiltrate Bateman’s cult and expose his despicable behavior. After gaining Bateman’s …

Katy Perry blasts Ruby Rose’s sexual assault claims as ‘categorically false and dangerous lies’

Katy Perry blasts Ruby Rose’s sexual assault claims as ‘categorically false and dangerous lies’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Katy Perry has vehemently denied Ruby Rose’s claims that she sexually assaulted the Batwoman star nearly 20 years ago. The 40-year-old Australian actor made the accusations on Threads in response to a post by music outlet Complex about Perry’s reaction to Justin Bieber’s headlining performance at Coachella. “Katy Perry sexual [sic] assaulted me at spice market nightclub in Melbourne,” Rose commented. “Who gives a s*** what she thinks.” In a statement shared with Variety, a representative for the “California Gurls” pop star said: “The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous reckless lies. “Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named.” Katy Perry (left) has slammed sexual assault allegations made against her …

“Completely false”: Melania Trump denies any “relationship” to Jeffrey Epstein

“Completely false”: Melania Trump denies any “relationship” to Jeffrey Epstein

Published by Sam Flores

First lady Melania Trump denied any connection with Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes on Thursday, calling online rumors of a supposed connection between her and the notorious sex trafficker “false smears.” Rumors have swirled around Trump thanks to her husband’s relationship with the late sex trafficker. In 2025, Hunter Biden claimed President Donald Trump and Melania were introduced to each other by Epstein.  Author Andrew Lownie made a similar accusation in his book, “Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York.” Both claims sparked a swift legal response from Melania Trump’s lawyers, though Biden refused to retract his statement. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Melania Trump said she had “never been friends with Epstein.” “I am not Epstein’s victim.  Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband, by chance, at a New York City party in 1998,” she said. The first lady recalled that she met Epstein alongside Trump, at an event in 2000. “At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of …

France to target Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ with tougher penalties for ships sailing under false flag

France to target Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ with tougher penalties for ships sailing under false flag

Published by Sam Flores

France is to double penalties for ships that fail to fly a flag or refuse to comply, a draft law showed Wednesday, in what an informed source said was a bid to strengthen measures against Russia’s “shadow fleet”. The move comes as France has, since September, boarded three ships suspected of being part of the fleet transporting Russian oil in violation of Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Vessels in the “shadow fleet” frequently change the flags they fly, a practice known as flag-hopping, and sometimes sail under invalid flags in an attempt to escape detection and tracking. France will now punish those who fail to fly the correct flag or refuse to comply with orders to stop the ship with up to two years in prison and a fine of €300,000 ($351,000), according to a draft update to France’s military planning law seen by AFP on Wednesday. That would double the current penalties in place, with sanctions applying to any person – such as the owner, operator, or legally responsible individual – who exercises “power of …

With Warren Jeffs in Prison for Sex Crimes, Trust Me: the False Prophet Exposes the Evil Man Who Took His Place

With Warren Jeffs in Prison for Sex Crimes, Trust Me: the False Prophet Exposes the Evil Man Who Took His Place

Published by Sam Flores

As Jeffs (who inherited his role as “prophet” and president of the FLDS from his father, Rulon, in 2002) began serving a life sentence, Bateman, another self-proclaimed prophet, began marrying and sexually abusing female minors in the FLDS community. Meanwhile, Christine Marie, a cult expert, and her videographer husband, Tolga Katas, moved to Short Creek, Utah, in 2016. As two of the only non-FLDS residents, they saw an opportunity to endear themselves to this group and document Bateman’s crimes from within. The couple, who met Bateman in 2017, filmed him and his wives from 2019 through his 2022 arrest. Eleven of Bateman’s adult followers have also been convicted of charges related to child sexual abuse conspiracy. “When I saw their footage, my mouth dropped,” Dretzin says of her winter 2023 meeting with the undercover filmmakers. “It’s truly some of the most extraordinary material I’ve ever seen as a filmmaker.” Their more eccentric qualities—“What should I wear when I take down a pedophile?” Marie asks her dog the morning of the FBI arrest of Bateman—made them …

Bible Society retracts false Quiet Revival claims – Humanists UK

Bible Society retracts false Quiet Revival claims – Humanists UK

Published by Sam Flores

There has been no ‘quiet revival’ of Christianity in Britain. Today, the Bible Society has retracted its claims that there is a quiet revival of Christianity in Britain based on a faulty and unreliable YouGov survey.  For nearly a year, Humanists UK has called on them to do so and provided factual evidence that shows the decline of Christianity in the UK amongst all age groups. Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK said: ‘This is both validation and vindication. We need to be absolutely clear: there is no revival of Christianity in Britain. For almost a year, Humanists UK has taken a rational, evidence-based approach, repeatedly and rigorously explaining why the Bible Society’s claims do not stand up. They chose not to engage with that evidence. ‘Much of the damage has already been done. Global media reports have too often and wrongly jumped on the bandwagon of a supposed Christian revival in the UK. That must stop. At a time when truth in these social questions has never been more politically important, everyone has …

Readers reply: Travel broadens the mind – what other sayings are patently false, or not always true? | Life and style

Readers reply: Travel broadens the mind – what other sayings are patently false, or not always true? | Life and style

Published by Sam Flores

From what I can see, travelling in many cases has zero effect on a person’s outlook and prejudices. If that were not so, then high-flying politicians of all stripes would be among the most broad-minded people on the planet as they constantly jet from city to city. I can think of several proverbs that are extremely true, or at least seem so, such as “A stitch in time saves nine”, or “Many a mickle makes a muckle”, which it patently does – or especially the universally true, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. But what other proverbs or quotes or apparently clever soundbites are untrue, for at least some of the time? “Fine words butter no parsnips”? And how do questionable assertions become sayings in the first place? Neil Ashby, Powys Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Readers reply “Everything happens for a reason.” Everything happens, full stop. We as humans then try to apply a reason in a post-hoc rationalisation in order to feel better about the event itself. Sagarmatha1953 …

Fact check: Meningitis B vaccine and false ‘lockdown’ claim

Fact check: Meningitis B vaccine and false ‘lockdown’ claim

Published by Sam Flores

It is also worth noting that the vaccine protection is very good, but not perfect. Dr Bharat Pankhania, senior clinical lecturer in public health medicine at the University of Exeter Medical School, said the vaccine offers about 70-90% protection against the most common forms of menB meningococcal disease, and about 50-70% protection against the most invasive forms. Source link

The Collapse of a False “Natural Order”

The Collapse of a False “Natural Order”

Published by Sam Flores

There is a growing lament across the American commentariat about a generation that, through no fault of its own, can no longer perform the basic rites of adulthood. Homeownership is out of reach, stable jobs are scarce, college is crushingly expensive and millions of young adults remain in their parents’ homes long past the age at which previous generations struck out on their own. The lamentation is familiar: Something is broken, something once dependable is slipping away. The loud ones accuse “culture,” others, equally loud, accuse “politics.” Yet the debate rests on an unexamined conviction that the modern life script, born in the United States and in the middle of the 20th century, is not only desirable but a natural, universal trajectory from which any deviation signals civilizational decay. The script goes as follows: Leave home at 18, attend college, take a salaried job in a city far from where one grew up (to assert “independence”), marry into a nuclear household, purchase a home, have a couple of kids and accumulate savings in tax advantaged …