Today is Tuesday, December 23, 2025.
It is the 357th day of the year.
8 days remain.
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: A missing cat returns!
BEN and JEN and JEN drama in SHOWBIZ.
JIMMY KIMMEL hops the pond in CASTING CALL.
Some end-of-year cheer from the Sussexes. Details in ROYALS.
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This is the last-ever edition of Morning Martini.
Thank you for reading and subscribing and we wish you a happy and healthy 2026.
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VERTICAL INTEGRATION: SPACEX has purchased at least 1,000 Cybertrucks from TESLA with plans to double that number in the coming months.
Both companies are owned in part and managed by ELON MUSK.
Analysts believe Tesla has sold only about 60,000 Cybertrucks in the last two years – well below the 250,000 per year target set by the company. [via Elektrek]
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A pet cat that disappeared in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene last year has returned to its home in North Carolina.
Gabby the tabby cat turned up at a local humane society, which was able to find and scan her microchip.
In total, Gabby was missing for 443 days. [via New York Post]
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A wayward, driverless WAYMO car went rogue in Austin, Texas last week, driving on the wrong side of the street.
The robot car wandered down an Interstate frontage road, very, very slowly.
Fortunately, the human drivers were able to stop or pull off to the side. Eventually, the car found its way to a gas station. In a statement, Waymo says, “Safety is our highest priority at Waymo, both for people who choose to ride with us and with whom we share the streets. We take situations like this seriously and are committed to improving road safety through our ongoing learnings and experience.” [via My San Antonio]
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Airline companies seem to be going out of their way to make a miserable flying experience even worse.
In a policy change, AMERICAN AIRLINES no longer allows flyers purchasing basic economy tickets to earn miles or other perks. A basic seat now includes a free personal item and carry-on plus whatever snack service is provided. [via CNBC]
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Crypto hackers sponsored by the North Korean government ripped off $2.02 BILLION in 2025.
The eye-watering sum represents nearly 60% of the $3.4 BILLION in total stolen cryptocurrencies this year. Over the years, the Kim regime has reportedly made off with $6.75 BILLION.
Most of this year’s haul came from a single crypto heist, when $1.5 BILLION worth disappeared from Dubai-based crypto exchange BYBIT. [via NBC News]
WORTH REMEMBERING: Before turning to crypto schemes, North Korea had a reputation for committing large-scale insurance fraud to fund its government.
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BETTY REID SOSKIN has died.
In 2022, she retired as a United States park ranger at the age of 100, making her the oldest ever to hold the job. She spent most of her time working in the San Francisco area.
She didn’t get her first ranger job until she was 84.
Betty was 104.
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NICKI MINAJ is all in on MAGA.
She sat for an on-stage interview with ERIKA KIRK at Turning Point’s AmericaFest over the weekend.
When Kirk asked about the backlash Minaj has gotten from the entertainment industry for supporting Trump, Minaj brushed it off, saying, “I didn’t notice.”
Minaj also took California Governor GAVIN NEWSOM to task for his support of child sex change surgeries and men playing in women’s sports.
MEANWHILE: A straw poll of attendees at the conference showed 84.2% support JD VANCE for president in 2028.
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📈 The DOW gained 227 points (0.47%) to close at 48,362 on Monday. The S&P gained 43 points (0.64%) to close at 6,878 and the NASDAQ increased 121 points (0.52%) to close at 23,428.
🛢 WEST TEXAS INTERMEDIATE closed at $58; BRENT CRUDE at $62.
⛽ The national average price of a GALLON OF GAS was $3.85 on Monday.
₿ BITCOIN was mostly flat on the day, reading around $88.4k.
💰Tonight’s MEGAMILLIONS jackpot will be for $100 MILLION or a $45.5 MILLION cash payout.
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A couple of actors have weighed in with their take whether “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie.
MACAULAY CULKIN says the action flick is NOT an Christmas movie. “It’s based around Christmas, but if it were also St. Patrick’s Day, it would still work. But you couldn’t do ‘Home Alone’ on Memorial Day. It doesn’t work that way,” he says.
ZOE DESCHANEL takes the exact opposite approach; she says “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie. She says, “And maybe it’s not like Elf or something, where there’s a magical creature or a magical person or whatever at the center of the film — so it doesn’t have that, like, super Christmas forward element — but it has Christmas in the background.”
SPEAKING OF MACAULAY CULKIN: In the first “Home Alone,” Kevin spends just shy of $20 on his cart of groceries. A USA Today calculation of that same cart would cost $53.95 today.
AND SPEAKING OF MONEY: MARIAH CAREY earns between $2.5 and $3 MILLION a year just from royalties on “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” depending on who you ask. She initially earned $60 MILLION when it was first released.
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MARK WAHLBERG says he eats the same thing for breakfast every day: hard-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs with turkey, salmon, and blueberries. “Same [s–], every day,” he said in a recent social media video – while fist-bumping his full time personal chef, which certainly makes his diet ambitions more accessible.
Food Network chef ALEX GUARNASCHELLI chimed in in the comments to the post, adding “Great ingredients = great result.” [via @markwahlberg]
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JAMES CAMERON says he was deeply hurt by a joke made by AMY POEHLER when she co-hosted the 2013 Golden Globes with TINA FEY.
During the show, Poehler introduced director KATHRYN BIGELOW to the room, who was a best director nominee for “Zero Dark Thirty.” Poehler joked, “When it comes to torture, I trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron.”
More than a decade later, Cameron now says Poehler went too far, calling it an “ignorant dig, at an event which is supposed to be a celebration of cinema and filmmakers, not a roast.” [via Variety]
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STEPHEN SPIELBERG refused to work with BEN AFFLECK over a years-long feud.
Writer and director MIKE BINDER explained during a recent podcast interview that Spielberg was ready to produce one of Binder’s projects, but when Spielberg learned Affleck was starring in it, Spielberg dropped out.
The story goes that years ago, Affleck was on vacation with the Spielberg family, because he was at the time dating GWYNETH PALTROW, who is Spielberg’s goddaughter.
Affleck walked out by the pool fully dressed. Spielberg’s son pushed Affleck into the pool. Affleck got angry, got out of the pool, picked the kid up, and threw him in.
Apparently this incident has led to years of bad blood. [via EW]
WORTH NOTING: No word how old the kid was a the time, but some napkin-math indicates that when Ben was dating Gwyneth in the late-’90s, Spielberg’s three sons would’ve been 6, 9, and 13 years old.
MEANWHILE: Ben and JENNIFER LOPEZ were spotted shopping together at the Brentwood Country Mart in Los Angeles this week, with his son Samuel in tow.
Insiders say Ben and Jen are planning a holiday reunion for their kids, who remain close, to spend time together – but other Jen (Garner) isn’t keen on the idea and is unwilling to change the holiday schedule to accommodate. [via Radar]
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SPOTTED: ROBERT F KENNEDY JR partied it up in Aspen over the weekend at a DIPLO concert.
Insiders say that RFK and Diplo are actually good friends.
Bobby stopped in to the set for just about a half hour, still wearing ski gear. [via Page Six]
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PARAMOUNT owner LARRY ELLISON has personally put up a $40.4 BILLION guarantee behind the proposed hostile takeover of WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY. Ellison is also promising $5.8 BILLION if Paramount’s potential acquisition doesn’t clear regulatory hurdles.
The details show Ellison and Paramount are not backing down from their attempt to stop the acquisition by NETFLIX. [via Variety]
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Professional climber ALEX HONNOLD – known for the 2017 movie “Free Solo” – has announced his next big stunt: on January 23 he’ll free-climb the side of the Taipei 101 building in Taiwan.
The stunt will stream live on Netflix.
Honnold says, “It’s been a long time goal of mine and it’ll be the most ambitious urban climb that I’ve attempted. It’s a nearly 1,700 ft tower! What’s not to like?!” [via Alex Honnold]
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Sanctimonious ass-clown JIMMY KIMMEL has filmed a video message on Christmas Day to be aired in the United Kingdom. In a preview of his remarks, Kimmel will reportedly say, “From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year.”
British network Channel 4 has for years programmed an “Alternative Christmas Message” against the monarch’s annual address. Previous alternative message speakers include former Iranian president MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD and EDWARD SNOWDEN. [via Variety]
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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SUSSEXES: On the heels of news that SOME GUY FROM SANTA BARBARA and HIS WIFE are rebranding their charitable foundation, they’re also letting staff go, just in time for Christmas.
Along with the name change from ARCHEWELL FOUNDATION to ARCHEWELL PHILANTHROPIES, three staffers were fired.
Sources say the philanthropic endeavor isn’t bringing in any money and that the staff was a drag on its finances. Public filings show Archewell brought in $5.3 million in 2023, but only $2.1 million in 2024, while spending more than $3 MILLION in salaries and travel expenses.
It only gave $1.25 MILLION in grants.
Hopefully the name change solves that problem.
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Festivus
National Roots Day
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1620 - A week after landing at Plymouth, pilgrims who traveled to the New World aboard the Mayflower begin constructing the first buildings of their settlement.
The first winter was harsh -- half the colonists would die either from the conditions or from disease.
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1783 - George Washington retires as leader of the Continental Army.
For General Washington, leading the colonies to independence was to be the peak of his career, and he looked forward to a quiet retirement.
This of course was not the case, and he was elected the first president five years later.
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1888 - Eccentric and depressed French painter Vincent Van Gogh lops off his ear. He captured the mutilation in his self-portrait, titled “Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear.”
Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime, and only became an artistic legend after his death.
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1968 - The crew of the American Navy ship Pueblo are released by the government of North Korea after 11 months.
While detained, the crew suffered at the hands of ruthless captors. The captain eventually signed a confession that his mission was to spy, which the North Koreans used as a propaganda piece.
Today the Pueblo is still in the hands of the North Koreans and is a frequently-visited museum piece in the communist country to celebrate victory over the imperialist American Navy.
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1986 - The Voyager aircraft flies around the world without stopping to refuel, clocking in at 26,366 miles in total and averaging an 11,000 foot altitude.
It took off from Edwards Air Force Base on December 14 that year — at 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds of flight, the mission also set a flight endurance record.
It took two significant detours during the flight: First to avoid Typhoon Marge in the Pacific then when Libya denied access to its airspace.
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1997 - Terry Nichols is found guilty of manslaughter in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Nichols was Timothy McVeigh’s accomplice in the planning and preparation of the truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The bombing claimed the lives of 168 people.
He is currently incarcerated in Colorado on a cellblock commonly referred to as “Bombers Row.”
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2002 - A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25.
This is the first time in history that an aircraft and a modern unmanned drone engaged in combat.
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Finn Wolfhard - actor, “Stranger Things” - 23
Isabella Castillo - actress, “Club 57” - 31
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle - actress, “Hannah Montana” - 35
Noel Wells - actress, “SNL” - 39
Harry Judd - drummer, McFly - 40
Danielle Busby - reality star, “Outdaughtered” - 42
Holly Madison - model - 46
Kirby Smart - football coach - 50
Nick Moran - actor, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” - 56
Eddie Vedder - singer, Pearl Jam - 61
Jim Harbaugh - football coach - 62
David Pasquesi - actor, “Veep” & “Lodge 49” - 65
Susan Lucci - actress, “All My Children” - 79
Born On This Date
Corey Haim - actor, “Firstborn” - 1971 (d. 2010)
Greg Biffle - race car driver - 1969 (d. 2025)
Madam C.J. Walker - first female African-American millionaire - 1867 (d. 1919)
Joseph Smith - religious leader - 1805 (d. 1844)
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