It was an ordinary afternoon back home from school when Owen Burns heard his sister screaming. He was annoyed at the intrusion her screaming brought, thinking nothing sinister of her squeals for help.

But when he looked out his window, he was shocked but recovered quickly enough to make a life-saving decision.

Owen Burns was settling in to play his favorite game “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” on his PlayStation 3 when he heard his sister screaming from their yard. The 13-year-old thought she was goofing around and became annoyed.

Moments later the teenager looked out his bedroom window to see a stranger trying to drag his 8-year-old sister to the woods edging their home.

The panicked teenager grabbed his slingshot and got his hands on any immediate ammunition he could find; a marble and a rock. He directly aimed at the kidnapper and hit him squarely between the eyes.

The second time, he hit him in the chest. “He was swearing. He was cussing,” Owen told the press.

So cops came back today searching agian for this dudes sweater and they found it was actually a shrit thing he threw in…

Posted by Maggie Kay Burns on Thursday, May 11, 2023

The encounter happened at the Burns’ home in Alpena Township in Michigan in broad daylight. Their mother Maggie Burns noted that kidnappings were unheard of in the area.

At the end of the encounter, his 8-year-old sister was safe albeit probably traumatized from the incident. The kidnapper was a 17-year-old that the Michigan State Police did not identify but have confirmed will be charged as an adult.

“He really is the one that … I believe saved his sister’s either life or from something seriously bad happening to her,” Lt. John Grimshaw said at a news conference, calling Owen’s actions “extraordinary.” This young boy’s actions were nothing short of heroic!

He added that the young man should be commended for his efforts.

The slingshot the teenager used was nothing out of the ordinary. His mother bought it on clearance for $3. The teen would at times go out to his yard and target practice on old orange juice cans which apparently perfected his aim.

The teenager said when he first saw a kidnapper attempting to abduct his sister one thought immediately crossed his mind; the stranger if successful in his attempt would likely either make his sister a sex slave or kill her.

Grimshaw recounted the encounter saying the kidnapper, “came from behind her, grabbed her like you see in the movies — hand over the mouth, arm around the waist — and was attempting to pull her into the woods.”

That is when Owen reached for his slingshot and fired at him. When his sister freed himself from the kidnapper’s grasp, she ran inside the home crying telling her brother she was almost killed. An enraged Owen ran outside cursing at the kidnapper. He hurled a baseball at him which missed. He then attempted to hit him with his slingshot again but the rubber broke and made his third attempt futile.

The siblings then called their mother who had stopped at a relative’s place to help out while she had been on her way home from work. When she heard her incoherent and upset children on the phone, she made out the word ‘kidnapper’ and rushed home to call the police.

“I was in shock for a few days,” Maggie said.

The 17-year-old kidnapper was found hiding at a nearby gas station. He was then charged with attempted kidnapping, attempted felony assault, and misdemeanor assault and battery in Alpena County District Court.

“He had obvious signs of an injury consistent with those that would have been sustained from the slingshot strikes to his head and chest,” police said in a press release.

Maggie said she was dubious of his son’s story about hitting the kidnapper from 200 feet away perfectly on his forehead and chest. But the police confirmed the story saying when they were interviewing the suspect, the marble-induced goose egg on his forehead kept growing.

“You said I always lie!” Owen said to his mother.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” she replied. “It just didn’t sound real, until there was proof. It sounds like something you would see in the movies.”

“Mom,” the teenager said, “stuff in the movies can and do happen in real life.” Clearly this young man is a hero!

Looking at Jennifer Aniston’s success, it’s easy to think she had an incredible childhood that paved the way for a perfect life.

The 54-year-old is blessed with beauty, talent, and genes – her father is John Aniston, famed for his role as the mobster Victor Kiriakis in Days of Our Lives – however, life wasn’t so fortunate for her as a young girl.

Opening up about the importance of letting go of “toxic” anger, Aniston says of her once estranged mother, “thank you for showing me what never to be.”

As Aniston navigated through her formative years, her mother’s critiques on her appearance became more pronounced. Reminiscing about that time, she shared, “She was from this world of, ‘Honey, take better care of yourself,’ or ‘Honey, put your face on,’ or all of those odd sound bites that I can remember from my childhood.”

Jennifer Aniston was born February 11, 1969, to parents John Aniston and Nancy Dow, who were married from 1965 to 1980.

John, who died at 89 in 2022, was best known for his role on Days of Our Lives, that he played on and off for 37 years until his death. Her mother, who died at 79 in 2016, was an actor with a few minor roles in TV series like The Beverly Hillbillies and The Wild Wild West.

When Aniston’s parents divorced when she was nine, the Cake star said “it really screwed up” her mom. But, Aniston “was thrilled to get out” of the old family home in New York City that “was not a fun house to live in.”

Speaking with her pal Sandra Bullock for Interview Magazine in 2020, Aniston further explained how “growing up in a household that was destabilized and felt unsafe” helped her deal with life when it derails.

“Watching adults being unkind to each other and witnessing certain things about human behavior that made me think: ‘I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be that. I don’t want to experience this feeling I’m having in my body right now. I don’t want anyone else that I ever come in contact with ever to feel that.” The Just Go With It star continued, “I guess I have my parents to thank…You can either be angry or be a martyr, or you can say, ‘You’ve got lemons? Let’s make lemonade.’”

Outside of the family, it was also challenging.

”I was one of those kids who got sort of bullied, and I don’t know why,” Aniston said and added:

”I was one of the kids who the others would decide to make fun of. It was an odd period of time during fifth, sixth, seventh grades. I was a little on the chubby side, so I was just that kid.”

A lot of the time, it felt like her mom was hurling lemons at her.

“I have had to do personal work that was long overdue, parts of me that hadn’t healed from the time I was a little kid,” Aniston shared.

“She had a temper. I can’t tolerate that. If I get upset, I will discuss [things]. I will never scream and get hysterical like that.” Aniston, completely unaware of her staggering beauty, continues, “She was critical. She was very critical of me. Because she was a model, she was gorgeous, stunning. I wasn’t. I never was. I honestly still don’t think of myself in that sort of light, which is fine. She was also very unforgiving. She would hold grudges that I just found so petty.”

Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, the Horrible Bosses star reveals that she never lived up to Dow’s expectations, and there were years they didn’t speak.

Aniston adds, “I did not come out the model child she’d hoped for, and it was something that really resonated with me, this little girl just wanting to be seen and wanting to be loved by a mum who was too occupied with things that didn’t quite matter.”

Aniston stopped speaking to Dow after her mom wrote the 1999 tell-all book, “From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir.” The star was reportedly furious that her mother had violated her privacy.

In fact, Aniston was so upset that she didn’t invite her mother to her 2000 wedding to Brad Pitt, although they eventually reconciled after the couple divorced.

But she reportedly hadn’t seen her mother in several years prior to the death of Dow, who earlier suffered a couple of strokes.

Meanwhile, the relationship she had with her dad was quite different.

“He thought I was going down the road of absolute destruction and heartache,” she said of following his path in acting. “And then I kind of got a whole different relationship with him once he had something to talk to me about. Which was, ‘Oh, you’re an actor. I’m an actor.’”

Aniston is way more than just an actor.

One of the highest paid actors in the industry, Aniston, who holds a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, has been listed several times as one of the world’s most beautiful women, and runs LolaVie, a haircare company. She’s also the founder of Echo Films, a production company with titles she stars in, like The Switch, Dumplin’ and Murder Mystery 2.

In June 2022, before he died, John received a Daytime Emmy lifetime achievement award, which was presented in a pre-recorded segment by his daughter, who praised him for his decades-long acting career.

And when he died, the comic posted a sweet photo of him holding her as a baby, along with a heartfelt message on Instagram. The Friends star writes, “Sweet papa…John Anthony Aniston, You were one of the most beautiful humans I ever knew. I am so grateful that you went soaring into the heavens in peace – and without pain…I’ll love you till the end of time. Don’t forget to visit.”

She also reconciled with her mother before her death.

“I forgave my mom. I forgave my father. I’ve forgiven my family,” she says, adding that it’s about honoring all moments, good and bad.

“It’s important…It’s toxic to have that resentment, that anger. I learned that by watching my mom never let go of it. I remember saying, ‘Thank you for showing me what never to be.’ So that’s what I mean about taking the darker things that happen in our lives, the not-so-happy moments, and trying to find places to honor them because of what they have given to us,” she said.

Jennifer Aniston is such a humble and impressive talent! It’s always interesting to learn about a star’s history and see them as average human beings. Still, it’s sad to hear that Aniston had such a strained relationship with her mother and we hope she’s found some peace.

Madonna made a bold statement at her sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, showcasing her muscles in a skimpy red négligée.

The daring outfit served a special purpose as the 65-year-old Queen of Pop celebrated her daughter Chifundo ‘Mercy’ James Kambewa Ciccone’s 18th birthday during the performance.

The Michigan-born singer had her daughter Mercy join her on piano for the 1992 track ‘Bad Girl‘, and her 18-year-old son David Banda Mwale Ciccone accompanied her on guitar for the 2003 song ‘Mother and Father‘.

Fans were left in shock at Madonna’s muscular physique, taking to social media to comment on her appearance. Many people wrote that she was too old to be dressing the way she was, while others applauded her figure.

Despite the controversies surrounding Madonna, she continues to make headlines not only for her music but also for her energetic and theatrical stage presence.

On Friday last week (January 19), two fans, Michael Fellows and Jonathan Hadden, filed a federal civil lawsuit against Madonna, accusing her of “false advertising.”

The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of New York, seeks unspecified damages for the singer’s alleged tardiness during her December 13 concert at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, according to BBC. Madonna reportedly went on at 10:45 pm due to “sound check issues,” causing confusion among concertgoers who believed she was hours late.

Madonna’s recent health struggles, including a serious bacterial infection that led to a 48-hour medically induced coma and the star being revived by NARCAN injection in June, have not deterred her from continuing her music career. The singer, with 44.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, is currently on her Celebration Tour, which has grossed $77.4 million over 79 dates.

Teaming up with creative director Lewis James and musical director Stuart Price, Madonna has curated a spectacular stage presentation for her 12th concert tour, honoring her four-decade-long career. Instead of a traditional band or singer, Madonna chose RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 champion Bob the Drag Queen as the opening act for her shows.

Despite Madonna’s previous health setbacks, including knee and hip injuries that led to the cancellation of 14 shows during her Madame X Tour in 2019-2020, as per USA Today, she remains resilient. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic posed further challenges, but Madonna underwent knee surgery in April 2020, followed by hip surgery in November 2020, along with regenerative treatment for “missing cartilage,” the Mirror detailed.

Looking ahead, Madonna has plans to direct her own Universal Pictures biopic titled Little Sparrow, featuring actress and three-time Emmy winner Julia Garner.

Collaborating on the script with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, Madonna eventually brought Independent Spirit Award-winning screenwriter Erin Wilson on board after Cody’s departure. The biopic is set to explore Madonna’s illustrious career and personal journey.

Leslie Uggams has had a fascinating career as an actress on the big screen and on the stage.

Probably best known for her role in the Deadpool series the Harlem-born singer and actress has had a successful career spanning seven decades.

But behind the scenes, her personal life could be the subject of a movie after she tied the knot with White Australian man Grahame Pratt in 1965 as their love affair throughout the ages has defied all the odds of interracial love...

Leslie was a talented singer and in 1953 when she was just 10 years old she made a record for MGM. Encouraged by her aunt singer Eloise Uggams she attended the Professional Children’s School of New York and prestigious New York music school Julliard.

But her musical career was only the start of her journey and by 1969 she had her own TV variety show “The Leslie Uggams Show”, the first network variety show to be hosted by a black person since “The Nat King Cole Show.”

But behind the scenes she had met and fallen in love with actor Grahame Pratt. After first meeting him at Professional Children’s School of New York, where they were both students, the couple then ran into each other while she was performing in Sydney during one of Leslie’s celebrity tours in Australia.

Leslie knew what the repercussions would be of dating a white man as she’d done so in her teens and her aunt had told her not to entertain the idea of a future with him.

“I remember the shock I got once when I was dating a white boy,” Leslie said in a 1967 interview with Ebony.

“He sent me a color picture of himself. I showed it to my aunt. He was a good looking boy with beautiful hair. I thought he was gorgeous. But my aunt took one look and started in to lecture me. ‘Well he’s alright, I suppose,’ she told me, ‘but only for dates, huh, honey? When you’re thinking of settling down for keeps you’ll make sure you marry a nice [Black] fella, won’t you?’”

After her chance meeting with Grahame Leslie said she kept seeing him.

“I found myself really falling for him, which was quite a thing for me to realize as I was only 21.”

When she left Australia it would be 12 months before she saw him again.

The two had fallen in love, despite Leslie’s reservations over her family’s reaction and what it would mean for the two of them as Grahame would have to move to the U.S. for Leslie’s career. They got engaged for 5 months and Grahame visited her in New York.

“Knowing my family’s ideas about mixed marriages I wanted to know, too, whether they would really accept Grahame and not just tolerate him,” she said.

But Leslie had nothing to worry about as for Grahame being Australian had its advantages.

‘But of course we did get mail’

“He had none of the self-consciousness about the situation that a white American often has. He fitted in easily with all my friends…just because he liked them. And they certainly liked him, both the men and the girls.”

The two got married in 1965 and although didn’t encounter many of the racial issues that the rest of the U.S. was experiencing living in New York, Leslie said she still received hate mail over their union.

“It was not as hard as I expected it to be,” Leslie said of her marriage in an interview with PEOPLE. “I think the reason is that Grahame was not an American white man. But of course we did get mail.

“Sometimes when I go on tour through the States I get anonymous letters about being married to a white man,” Leslie revealed. “I remember I got one in Detroit of all places. It came to the club addressed to ‘The Little Negro Entertainer.’ They’re always addressed something like that and they’re not pleasant to read.”

Grahame became Leslie’s manager and the couple had two children Danielle, born in 1970, and son Justice, born in 1976.

By 1977, one year after their second child was born, Leslie had landed the lead role in the miniseries “Roots”, a part she received an Emmy nomination for her role as Kizzy.

Two years later she starred as Lillian Rogers Parks in “Backstairs at the White House”, a miniseries for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actress.

In 1996, she played the role of Rose Keefer on “All My Children” and in 1983 she received a Daytime Emmy Award as a host of the NBC game show “Fantasy.”

She also made guest appearances television programs such as “Family Guy” (as herself), “I Spy”, “Hollywood Squares”, “The Muppet Show”, “The Love Boat” and “Magnum, P.I..”

Leslie and Grahame are still together and very much in love 55 years later and as well as having two children they also have granddaughter Cassidy.

And the secret to their happy union – Leslie said, “We laugh all the time — but it ain’t always roses. We have fun together.”

The love these two have for each other has defied all odds and has stood the test of time. They are clearly devoted to each other and have supported each other throughout the years, they are an inspiration.

J.K. Rowling is perhaps one of the most well-recognized writers of this generation. Her Harry Potter series is one of the most-read book series even today.

In her personal life, she has made some statements lately which have been deemed controversial by some. Keep reading to learn more about what has happened…

J.K. Rowling’s book series was already an international bestseller when it was adapted into a movie. However, the film franchise grew just as big and catapulted the young actors who played the famous characters into international stardom.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, and Emma Watson, who was Hermione Granger, seemingly had a wonderful relationship with Rowling, who wrote the characters they brought to life on the screen. But things might have become strained between them lately.

Rowling seems to have expressed her dissatisfaction with the two actors recently. On X (formerly known as Twitter) she wrote a thread for the long-awaited Cass Review. The review was by Dr. Hilary Cass, a pediatrician who was analyzing gender identity services for minors in the UK. The findings said that there was a “lack of high-quality research” on the effects of puberty blockers on children.

Following the review’s publication, Rowling took to X to express her anger over what she referred to as “severe medical malpractice.”

“Even if you don’t feel ashamed of cheerleading for what now looks like severe medical malpractice, even if you don’t want to accept that you might have been wrong, where’s your sense of self-preservation? The bandwagon you hopped on so gladly is hurtling towards a cliff,” she wrote earlier this week.

She went on in her posts, writing, “If I sound angry, it’s because I’m bloody angry. I read Cass this morning and my anger’s been mounting all day. Kids have been irreversibly harmed, and thousands are complicit, not just medics, but the celebrity mouthpieces, unquestioning media and cynical corporations.”

While she had not named celebrities especially, her pointed remarks toward Emma and Dan came after a follower sent her a tweet saying, “Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them.”

The author responded to the tweet and in doing so, directly addressed the stars in question. She said, “Not safe, I’m afraid.” She went on, writing, “Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.”

In 2020, when Rowling was involved in major headlines for her controversial comments on transgender people, both Radcliffe and Watson made statements. The entire event started because Rowling retweeted an op-ed piece where she had an issue with the article using the term “people who menstruate” instead of using the word “women.”

“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” she tweeted.

People flooded her mentions with their opinions about what she had written. Many people were upset by her implication and wanted to ask her to leave it alone.

Even though she faced a lot of backlash for her tweet, she stood her ground. She later said in another tweet, “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”

Following her controversial statement, Radcliffe released an essay at the time for The Trevor Project to extend his support to the transgender community and also apologized for any pain the author’s words might have caused to people.

Watson also released a statement that supported the trans community. She wrote, “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”

“I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you, and love you for who you are,” she went on.

Have you ever noticed how some celebrities look so similar? Sometimes you’d swear they were separated at birth. Hollywood is riddled with look-alikes, and sometimes the resemblance between stars is so uncanny, it’s downright spooky.

O.J. Simpson, America’s famous football star acquitted of murder in 1995, has died at the age of 76. This news comes just two months after O.J. dismissed rumors that he was in a hospice

King Charles may be ready to let bygones be bygones to some extent as regards the rift between he and his son, Prince Harry.

According to Page Six, the King, currently undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, is planning to invite Harry and Meghan Markle to a huge get-together for the Royal Family at Balmoral later in the year.

Though relations between the Sussexes and the monarchy have been seriously damaged over the past few years, some royal fans retain hope that the situation may be salvaged. However small those chances seem, it would appear that the first hurdle to any eventual parlay is getting the parties involved all in one place.

Yet that’s only a potential bonus as far as Charles is concerned, and reportedly not the reason he’s prepared to extend an olive branch across the Pond.

No, as per a well-placed royal insider speaking with Page Six, the King is keen to have Harry and Meghan make the journey to British shores because he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren.

Given the tumultuous circumstances that have plagued the King’s relationship with Prince Harry in recent years – and all that Harry and Meghan have said since moving to the US – it should come as small surprise to many that Charles hasn’t seen nearly so much of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet as he would have liked.

Harry has returned to his homeland on a number of occasions, including earlier this year after his father’s cancer diagnosis was made public, but Meghan and the children haven’t traveled with him.

And it’s perhaps in light of his health woes that Charles is growing more concerned with the nature of the relationship – or lack of – that he shares with Archie and Lilibet.

“I can see Charles desperately wanting to see the children, and extending this olive branch to Meghan and Harry,” the aforementioned royal insider told Page Six. “He may decide that life is just too short. Balmoral is truly the perfect, restful place for a reunion. If he does issue an invite, then Harry and Meghan should surely agree to the visit.”

Archie and Lilibet have only been to the UK on one occasion since their parents decided to make their famous royal exit in 2020, according to the Express – that for the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

Tensions remain obviously high between Harry, Meghan and the rest of the royals, with a number of serious grievances aired by the Sussexes via their infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey, as well as the subsequent Netflix documentary they released, and of course, Harry’s tell-all memoir, Spare.

Last year Harry and Meghan were relieved of their UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, meaning that they now have no official base if and when they choose to visit. This, coupled with security concerns the couple are said to have, has made any potential visit that doesn’t fall into the realm of absolutely essential highly unlikely.

As a result, it will be interesting to see how the Sussexes react if Charles does extend an invite to Balmoral. Harry has recently gone on record to confirm his intention to return to the UK for professional commitments, and it’s expected that he will make the trip for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games on May 8.

Whether or not his family will be with him remains to be seen.

The well-publicized separation between Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner has had its fair share of ups and down, and it would appear that the train of speculation and rumor shows no signs of slowing.

The couple have officially been divorced since September 2023, with reports insisting that both are in the process of moving on and finding new romances

There’s now been a twist in the tale courtesy of an insider who has claimed that Costner “always suspected” that his ex-wife was having an affair with financier Connor.

Earlier this month, Baumgartner finally relented under a storm of gossip, admitting that she and Connor are dating.

Following that update, the aforementioned insider told Us Weekly that Costner had a strong inkling that “something was going on between Christine and Josh”, adding that the pair’s “close bond was a real elephant in the room.”

Earlier this month the Daily Mail published a series of snaps of 49-year-old Christine and Josh, including one wherein the former, a fashion designer by trade, appeared to be seen dropping the latter off at his home.

After the two were sighted during a summer vacation to Hawaii last July, Baumgartner was forced to answer a question about their relationship with one another while in her divorce court proceedings.

“No,” Baumgartner answered when asked where Connor was her boyfriend. The 49-year-old then insisted that Connor had slept in a separate room while the pair were on vacation. The Mail, however, say that Baumgartner and Connor then took a second trip to Hawaii in December.

Indeed, according to the Mail, sources have confirmed that Christine and Josh’s romance has been “going on for some time”.

The insider said: “They’re together and they have been for a while. They spent time before Christmas together in Hawaii while Kevin was presumably in Aspen with the kids.”

Isabella Strahan took to social media this week to offer an unexpected update on her battle with cancer.

The 19-year-old daughter of former NFL star Michael Strahan was left crying “happy tears” as she explained that she would now only have to face four rounds of chemotherapy instead of the planned six.

Isabella was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a cancer at the base of her brain, last year, announcing it during an interview that aired on Good Morning America in January 2024.

“I’m feeling good. Not too bad,” Isabella said at the time.

Isabella was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in October 2023 after experiencing headaches for a month during her first year of college at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t notice anything was off till probably like Oct. 1,” she said in the GMA interview. “That’s when I definitely noticed headaches, nausea, couldn’t walk straight.”

At first she blamed vertigo, but after she woke up one day in late October and began throwing up blood she knew something was seriously wrong.

“I was like, ‘Hm, this probably isn’t good.’ So I texted [my sister], who then notified the whole family.”

Since her diagnosis the road has been a tough one for Isabella as she fights to recover. In her latest YouTube video the teenager provided a positive update though, revealing that she would only have to go through four rounds of chemotherapy instead of six.

“These are happy tears,” she said in the April 10 video. “It’s not even considering crying when it’s happy tears.”

Given that Isabella finished her second road of chemo in March, she’s now halfway done.

“I’ll be done in May. And I can kind of try and have a summer to feel better,” she added. “And I’m so happy cause I thought I’d be done at the end of July. I was supposed to do six rounds in total. And then I really would just have to go straight back to school. I’m so happy.”

“I literally think that in a lot of ways, I’m the luckiest man in the world because I’ve got an amazing daughter,” her famous father Michael said in January.

“I know she’s going through it, but I know that we’re never given more than we can handle and that she is going to crush this.”

Here’s to sending love and strength in Isabella’s direction! Leave a comment if you’d also like to send prayers.