How loony leftists like Joy Reid and Neil deGrasse Tyson wokewash their past sins



Is Joy Reid okay?

From the look of things, obviously not. The MSNBC host has built a career on outrage and hyperbole, but her recent antics suggest something far more unhinged. In a bold attempt to deflect criticism over her apparent adoption of President Trump’s signature look, Reid chose to shave her head.

Neil deGrasse Tyson wrestled in college; he is intimately familiar with the profound physical differences between the two sexes.

She thought this move would silence her critics. Spoiler alert: It didn’t.

Instead, it sparked laughter, not at her critics but squarely at her. A middle-aged woman shaving her head in a fit of defiance doesn’t scream empowerment. It screams instability.

Turkey terror

More recently, Reid released a pre-Thanksgiving video warning that some Americans might not feel "safe" around their MAGA relatives. To bolster her point, she hosted an equally unhinged Yale psychiatrist who suggested that LGBTQ+ individuals should avoid conservative family members entirely. This is not reasonable advice. But reason and Reid are estranged bedfellows. They parted ways many moons ago.

The 55-year-old is a case study in what happens when someone builds her platform not on ideas but on the fragile foundation of identity politics and moral posturing. Reid's critics don’t need to discredit her; she does that all on her own. In trying to be everything to everyone on the left, she’s become a caricature of modern media: loud, hollow, and entirely insufferable.

Skeletons in her closet

Reid frequently lectures viewers on inclusion, tolerance, and justice, casting herself as a champion of the left’s ideals. But, I ask, are her views genuine or merely a theatrical performance?

Reid’s relentless grandstanding feels more like an elaborate deflection from her own controversial past — a past that is completely at odds with the persona she now projects.

In 2018, when homophobic blog posts from her early career resurfaced, she initially apologized, admitting to some of the commentary. But when more posts emerged, Reid’s story shifted dramatically.

Suddenly, she claimed her blog had been hacked years earlier, a defense that crumbled under scrutiny. The notion that a hacker planted posts in real time, matching her public commentary, defied logic. Even her cybersecurity consultant admitted that the evidence failed to support her claims. In other words, Reid was clearly lying.

Despite this troubling history, the pundit turned activist has positioned herself as a self-appointed arbiter of morality, eager to denounce others while her own record remains anything but spotless. Of course, it’s possible that she’s undergone a complete transformation and truly become the progressive warrior she now claims to be. But the sheer insanity of her rhetoric suggests something else: specifically, overcompensation.

Reid’s crusade against conservatives feels less like conviction and more like a desperate bid to rewrite her narrative, to drown out the sins of her past with louder, more righteous indignation.

Beam him up

Reid is not alone in her reinvention. Consider Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Once a respected figure in science and pop culture, Tyson has devolved into a farcical self-parody. He’s not just woke. He’s hyperwoke.

The astrophysicist’s shift from measured reason to full-throated wokeness didn’t happen by accident.

In 2019, four women accused him of sexual misconduct, a controversy that could have ended his career (four seems like a lot). Instead of addressing the allegations head-on, Tyson pivoted. Overnight, a man who once prided himself on logic became one of the loudest proponents of the woke agenda, particularly when it came to the most contentious of topics.

Yes, that’s right: trans athletes in women’s sports.

Tyson, supposedly a man of science, has publicly argued that it’s perfectly acceptable for biological men to compete against actual women.

One assumes he doesn’t actually believe this. Tyson wrestled in college; he is intimately familiar with the profound physical differences between the two sexes. The peddler of bad ideas and even worse ties may be many things, but stupid isn’t one of them — though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

His recent appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" was a master class in self-sabotage. When Maher, who oscillates wildly between bouts of wokeness and moments of clarity, confronted him on the undeniable physical advantages men have over women in sports, Tyson played dumb. Rather than being honest, he leaned on smug quips and feeble attempts at humor.

The performance flopped, laying bare not just the weakness of his argument but the pathetic pandering driving it.

Spineless signaling

Reid and Tyson are two sides of the same coin, figures who have sacrificed authenticity to appease an audience hungry for performative contrition.

They are not champions of progress; they are cowards and phonies. Too afraid to stand by their own convictions, they embody the spinelessness that comes with prioritizing approval over integrity. They exemplify self-preservation, willing to say or do whatever it takes to sustain their increasingly meaningless careers.

When they look in the mirror, one wonders whether they smile or whether tears of shame silently stream down their cheeks. Only they can answer this.

What is indisputable, however, is the fact that both Reid and Tyson have traded integrity for applause, hoping that louder declarations of virtue will obscure their past controversies. It won’t. It can’t. We all see them for what they truly are.

After year of woke disasters, Ubisoft reportedly seeking a buyout from Chinese shareholders



Canadian video game developer Ubisoft is reportedly seeking a buyout from its minority shareholders to avoid a hostile takeover, according to inside sources.

A report by Reuters cited "two people familiar with the matter" who requested to remain anonymous to provide the details.

The Guillemot family, the founders and largest shareholders (15%) in Ubisoft, have allegedly been in talks with the second-largest shareholder in the company, Tencent (9.99%), to organize a buyout.

Tencent is a giant, multinational media corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, China. It owns shares in over 30 gaming companies across the world, owning more than a third of studios like Epic Games and Shift Up. Tencent also wholly owns Riot Games out of Los Angeles, which created the ultra-popular League of Legends game.

The rumors allege that other minority shareholders, such as AJ Investments, have been nudging the founding family to take the company private or sell it off to a strategic investor.

The Guillemots would reportedly like to maintain control of the company, but Tencent has yet to decide whether or not it wants to increase its stake. Tencent has apparently asked for greater decision-making power in the boardroom including in regard to where cash flow is distributed. The Chinese company is hoping to avoid a hostile takeover by other investors who are unhappy with the company's drop in stock prices.

As of the time of this writing, Ubisoft stock prices have dropped by nearly 50% in the last year, falling from almost $25 per share in December 2023 down to around $13.30 in December 2024.

'We have utterly crushed this corrupt, gamer hating studio.'

Ubisoft has been mired in controversy for almost all of 2024, which has led to extremely sour tastes in the mouths of gamers and even poorer sales.

The company started off the year with marketing executive Philippe Tremblay saying consumers need to get used to not owning their video games in order to move the market in a direction that is focused on subscription-based access.

In April, developers of Star Wars Outlaws denounced oppression and inequality in a series of cringeworthy public statements meant to appeal to progressive audiences. Upon its release, Ubisoft said its sales were "softer than expected," admitting to just 1 million copies sold, which was incredibly low for a budget of approximately $250 million.

In July, the company's newest Assassin's Creed game faced relentless backlash for fabricating a story about a black samurai and making the character the face of the game. Assassin's Creed Shadows was eventually delayed until February 2025 as outrage spiraled online.

Game developer Mark Kern, who has led a crusade against forced diversity in video games in recent years, called Ubisoft one of the "most infected" studios in terms of heartless platitudes.

"[They] tried to make you love Star Wars Outlaws, and tried to virtue signal with Assassin's Creed Shadows."

Kern added, "You fought. We fought. And now, we have utterly crushed this corrupt, gamer hating studio."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

University of Michigan axes DEI statements after woke faculty begs for sustained race-obsessed programming



The University of Michigan announced Thursday that it was ending its use of DEI statements in faculty hiring.

This decision — recommended in late October by an eight-member faculty working group and inevitable in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29, 2023, ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard/UNC banning race-based college admission — is sure to disappoint the multitudes of leftists who rallied on campus Monday in support of continued funding for DEI initiatives.

The working group noted in its final recommendations document that while DEI statements have been used at the university for several years, they should no longer be solicited as part of faculty hiring and consideration for promotion, citing feedback from nearly 2,000 faculty members and policies at peer institutions.

"Critics of diversity statements perceive them as expressions of personal identity traits, support of specific ideology or opinions on socially relevant issues, and serve as a 'litmus test' of whether a faculty member's views are politically acceptable," wrote the working group. "Thus, as currently enacted, diversity statements have the potential to limit viewpoints and reduce diversity of thought among faculty members."

While willing to give the DEI statements the boot in theory, the working group found a way to keep the "values of DEI" alive, recommending that applicants should incorporate DEI content into teaching, research, and service statements.

'Students were less likely to interact with people of a different race or religion or with different politics.'

The university did not enact this second recommendation.

"Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three of our core values at the university. Our collective efforts in this area have produced important strides in opening opportunities for all people," Laurie McCauley, the provost of the university, said in a statement Thursday. "As we pursue this challenging and complex work, we will continuously refine our approach."

"I'm grateful for this faculty committee, which spent months soliciting feedback from across campus, evaluating our methods and determining the best course forward," added McCauley.

Leftists on campus are evidently upset over the potential loss of the divisive and counterproductive tool for indoctrination and gatekeeping. After all, it has been a reliable cash cow that has kept numerous radicals employed.

The New York Times Magazine reported in October that the university had blown nearly $250 million on DEI since 2016. The result: an environment where internal polling reportedly indicated that "students were less likely to interact with people of a different race or religion or with different politics" and the creation of "a powerful conceptual framework for student and faculty grievances — and formidable bureaucratic mechanisms to pursue them."

'Some anti-oppressive DEI narratives can engender a hostile attribution bias and heighten racial suspicion, prejudicial attitudes, authoritarian policing, and support for punitive behaviors.'

A 2021 Heritage Foundation report indicated that Michigan had the largest DEI staff of any major public university on multiple measures, with hundreds of people formally tasked with providing DEI services.

The Times indicated that whereas other universities have seen theirs shrink, Michigan's DEI bureaucracy has actually grown in recent years such that the number of employees operating in DEI-related offices or with "diversity, "equity," or "inclusion" in their job titles at its Ann Arbor campus has actually ballooned by 71% since the school kicked off "D.E.I. 2.0" in 2023.

Those facing the potential loss of titles, jobs, and ideological dominance rallied on campus Monday to protest the possibility of a partial defunding of DEI initiatives at the university — something on which the board of regents is reportedly set to vote.

Pragya Choudhary, among the protesters who attended the rally, which was organized by the senate advisory committee on university affairs, said, "The principles of DEI have positively impacted every person here, and with improvement, DEI initiatives can do even more, but without DEI initiatives, we will all suffer," reported the Michigan Daily.

Su'ad Abdul Khabeer, an associate professor of American culture, said, "Unlike those who claim DEI here at the University of Michigan has done nothing, my critique is we haven't done enough."

Ali Mazrui, a SACUA member and African studies associate chair, suggested that by defunding the race-obsessed programs, the board was surrendering to the incoming Trump administration: "We in faculty government would prefer that the Regents saw themselves as representing us and the people of the state rather than bowing prematurely to a government that is likely to be hostile to DEI. … Acquiescing too early, too easily, without protest, is the way that totalitarian governments come to power."

"The Regents were interested in potentially doing away with the use of diversity statements for faculty hiring," Kevin Cokley, the psychology department's associate chair for diversity initiatives, told the Daily. "It is not a surprise to me that now there are some concerns about the potential dismantling of DEI initiatives at large."

Sarah Hubbard, on the board of regents, said, "The national conversation has highlighted the need to be sure there are results and that all people are being represented under these DEI programs."

A study published last week by the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University conclude that "while purporting to combat bias, some anti-oppressive DEI narratives can engender a hostile attribution bias and heighten racial suspicion, prejudicial attitudes, authoritarian policing, and support for punitive behaviors in the absence of evidence for a transgression deserving punishment."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

DEI Dies at Walmart: Retail Giant Ends Equity Trainings, Will No Longer Consider Suppliers' Race and Gender

Walmart announced Monday that it will discontinue its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs for staff and no longer consider race and gender when choosing suppliers.

The post DEI Dies at Walmart: Retail Giant Ends Equity Trainings, Will No Longer Consider Suppliers' Race and Gender appeared first on .

'Wokeness is on its deathbed': Walmart kicking DEI, LGBT activism to the curb



Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck and other conservatives keen to depoliticize corporate America have gone online to celebrate a massive victory in the war on woke this week: Walmart, which employs roughly 1.6 million workers nationwide, is scrapping its divisive DEI initiatives and curbing both its customer-facing and worker-facing LGBT activism.

"This is the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America," said Starbuck, who has successfully pressured a number of other American companies, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, Jack Daniel's, and John Deere, to abandon their race-obsessive policies, embrace of gender ideology, and other alienating leftist commitments.

"This won't just have a massive effect for their employees who will have a neutral workplace without feeling that divisive issues are being injected but it will also extend to their many suppliers," continued Starbuck. "Companies like Amazon and Target should be very nervous that their top competitor dropped woke policies first. I think Target specifically will suffer serious sales problems as a result and Walmart will benefit."

Following "productive conversations" with Walmart executives, Starbuck announced Monday that Walmart committed to ending its participation in the LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, a "national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees" used strategically to crush dissent and maximize conformity.

Walmart once again secured a perfect score on the index last year by engaging in LGBT activism and outreach and by providing sex-change guidelines; at least one additional transvestite "inclusive policy or practice for its employees"; and LGBT training elements and an "intersectionality" training session.

'The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality.'

Starbuck noted that Walmart has also committed to: identifying and removing "inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children"; reviewing all funding for LGBT events to ensure that kids are not targeted with inappropriate sexualized content; letting its Center for Racial Equity initiative expire; ensuring that supplier diversity programs are not discriminating on the basis of race; eliminating the term "LatinX" from official communications; discontinuing "racial equity training"; and ditching the use of the term DEI.

The company has confirmed its change of course, telling the Guardian in a statement:

Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America. We've been on a journey and know we aren't perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers, and to be a Walmart for everyone.

Walmart spokeswoman Molly Blakeman told CNBC that the company will no longer permit third-party sellers to sell various LGBT-themed items on the Walmart website, especially products, such as harmful chest binders, that target confused children.

Chest binders are pieces of compression clothing that flatten a woman's chest to make her more "male-presenting." They reportedly can cause breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, headaches, skin infections, broken ribs, and malformations of the spine. According to a 2021 study in the journal Pediatrics, 97% of those who use them suffer health problems as a result.

While Walmart is taking steps to shield children from LGBT propaganda and deformative apparel, it will continue to award grants and funding to LGBT events such as Pride parades.

Blakeman also confirmed that the company will no longer share data with the HRC and will wind down its Center for Racial Equity.

"Our campaigns are now so effective that we're getting the biggest companies on earth to change their policies without me even posting a story outlining their woke policies," wrote Starbuck. "Companies can clearly see that America wants normalcy back. The era of wokeness is dying right in front of our eyes. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are now the trend, not the anomaly."

'Keep up the pressure.'

Starbuck was deluged with congratulatory messages and thanks for helping Walmart find its way back to common sense.

"Great!" wrote Elon Musk.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, recently nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as American ambassador to Israel, tweeted, "Standing ovation for @robbystarbuck who is perhaps the most influential person in America restoring our culture & country to sanity! He is [fire emoji]! And thanks to @Walmart for focusing on the core business of retail. It's a gift to the customers & shareholders."

Andy Puzder, the former CEO of Hardee's, similarly thanked Starbuck and noted, "The list of actions Walmart is taking to walk away from DEI is impressive! The #1 US employer’s labor policies will once again be based on qualifications, merit and character not sex or skin color. A true win for US workers of every race & both sexes!"

"Wokeness is on its deathbed," tweeted All-American swim star Riley Gaines.

Starbuck appeared to agree with the sentiment, noting elsewhere, "Wokeness is on life support. We just have to keep up the pressure."

The Bud Light boycott demonstrated the vulnerability of corporate giants to conservative boycotts. While the threat of a repeat performance may be enough to prompt companies to act, some organizations may also be responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29, 2023, decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. Harvard/UNC banning race-based college admission. The high court held that it is unconstitutional under the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for colleges and universities to factor race into the admissions process.

While some legal experts have indicated that the decision has no direct legal impact on private employers, it has nevertheless paved the way for numerous lawsuits and federal civil rights complaints targeting companies' DEI initiatives, such as the complaint America First Legal filed in September with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the kitchenware retailer Williams Sonoma.

Just weeks after the Supreme Court ruling, the attorneys general of 13 states wrote a letter reminding Fortune 100 CEOs of their obligations as employers under federal and sate law to "refrain from discriminating on the basis of race, whether under the label of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' or otherwise."

It appears that companies that depoliticize their offerings will not only maximize their market reach but possibly also minimize their legal liability in the face of increasing effective backlash.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

WATCH: Bud Light pokes fun at marketing missteps in latest Shane Gillis ad



Just when you thought woke weirdness in commercials couldn't get any worse, along comes Jaguar as if to say, "Hold my beer."

Just as the iconic British carmaker drives its brand off a cliff with its latest ad, Bud Light continues to win back customers with its latest effort — its second spot starring stand-up Shane Gillis.

The Gillis campaign returns Bud Light to its pre-woke era, when the brand embraced comedy to appeal to its young, male customer base

As Blaze News reported in February, the beloved beer brand signed a marketing deal with Gillis in an attempt to repair the damage caused by its disastrous partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

The latter caused conservatives to spearhead a boycott, which caused Bud Light to drop from the top-selling beer to the third, while parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev lost roughly $1.4 billion in sales. In a bit of meta-commentary, the spot — entitled "Wrong Commercial" — finds Gillis showing up at what he thinks is the set of his latest Bud Light commercial — only to encounter a snake-handling femme fatale and an existentially depressed guitarist (all shot in black and white).

"I think I'm in the wrong commercial," the flannel-clad Gillis announces, Bud Light in hand. "Yeah dude, this isn't right."

Meanwhile, the actor who is supposed to be in the avant-garde fragrance ad is at the Bud Light set: a raucous sports bar where he has the time of his life drinking beer, eating wings, and watching football.

Gillis' first Bud Light commercial debuted in September.

The Gillis campaign returns Bud Light to its pre-woke era, when the brand embraced comedy to appeal to its young, male customer base in a series of memorable ads, including "Real Men of Genius," "Bud Light Institute," "The Hitchhiker," "Paper or Plastic," "Magic Fridge," "Swear Jar," "Dog Sitter," and "Rock, Paper, Scissors."

This run ended in 2022 when the company promoted Alissa Heinerscheid to vice president of marketing, the first female to fill the role.

From the start, Heinerscheid was outspoken about her intentions to shake things up. During an interview in March 2023, Heinerscheid declared that Bud Light needs to welcome more "inclusivity."

"So I had this super clear mandate. It's like, we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand," Heinerscheid proclaimed. "And my ... what I brought to that was a belief in, OK, what does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that's truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men."

Heinerscheid expressed disgust for Bud Light's previous marketing campaigns.

"And we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," she stated.

You can watch the Shane Gillis Bud Light commercial below.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here.

Critics blast Jaguar over weird new car-less ad: 'Jaguar just pulled a Bud Light'



The British luxury vehicle brand Jaguar released a bizarre new ad Tuesday, prompting intense criticism along with questions about whether the company was still in the business of making cars and whether it may have confused November for so-called Pride month.

Jaguar leaned into the backlash to its loud and car-less campaign ostensibly celebrating deviancy, suggesting that its hackneyed call to defy the "ordinary" — already uniformly and reflexively resisted by massive companies, Western governments, the media, and various other institutions unmoored by tradition — was an introduction to "the future."

Provocative advertisements have long been used to court controversy, secure earned media, and remind the public that a company and its products still exist.

Facing a chicken delivery management crisis in the United Kingdom and widespread closures, the KFC Corporation leaned on the creative agency Mother in 2018 for a novel way to simultaneously apologize and advertise — printing "FCK," the anagram of its brand name, on chicken buckets.

Volkswagen ran its playful "Think Small" campaign in the 1960s to promote the Beetle.

Red Bull, evidently keen to sell more energy drinks, had Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner take a helium balloon up to an altitude of 39 kilometers, jump, break the sound barrier, and land on his feet in New Mexico.

Apple released an ad earlier this year titled "Crush" in which a compressor destroyed the various tools and means for real-world artistic endeavors and in-person activities that its new device would apparently replace and virtualize.

On Tuesday, Jaguar gave it a go, launching an ad campaign on social media with the caption "Copy nothing."

The video opens with a feminine individual with a Pacman-shaped afro leading five androgynous individuals dressed in misshapen apparel out of an elevator and onto a pink moonscape.

The text "delete ordinary" appears over a subsequent shot of an individual painting white lines.

'Fire your marketing team.'

In the following shot, a masculine figure wearing a dress and wielding a yellow sledgehammer appears in a blue room with the text "Break moulds."

Finally, the cast of androgynes, now joined by a heavyset black woman, crews together on the pink moonscape and strikes a well-choreographed pose.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in response to the ad, "Do you sell cars?"

Conservative writer and author Peachy Keenan shared a screenshot of the opening still and wrote, "You lost me at :01."

Keenan added, "Copy nothing [b]ut the worst, stalest cultural trends so you can subvert a storied brand. Congrats and no thanks."

"Well ... we know where the advertising team for Bud Light went," wrote Nick Freitas, Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

"Jaguar just pulled a Bud Light," wrote End Wokeness. "Wtf is this?"

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck tweeted, "Fire your marketing team and drop the woke stuff."

When asked, "What the actual hell is this[?]" the company responded, "The future."

The company's corresponding splash page states, "We're here to delete ordinary. To go bold. To copy nothing."

Rather than credit the Ohio band Devo or fashion designer Pierre Cardin with its new aesthetic, Jaguar said in a release that its "transformation is defined by Exuberant Modernism, a creative philosophy that underpins all aspects of the new Jaguar brand world."

Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover suggested to Car Dealer Magazine that the company is looking to sell to "younger, more affluent, and urban livers."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'Girls must compete against girls': Christian school forfeits state championships over male player on girls' volleyball team



A high school girls' volleyball team in California refused to play in a tournament match after learning their opponent has a male athlete on their team.

Stone Ridge Christian School was set to play San Francisco Waldorf in the California Interscholastic Federation State Girls Volleyball Championship playoffs. However, after learning the San Francisco team had a male player, the team has announced its intention to forfeit.

A copy of a school letter sent to parents, posted on X, revealed that the school was standing on its religious beliefs as the reason to not participate.

"As many of you know, our girls won on Wednesday and advanced to the state playoffs," the letter dated November 15 began. "Unfortunately, we were just informed that our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has a male athlete playing for their team."

"We believe God's Word is authoritative and infallible. It is Truth. And as Genesis makes clear, God wonderfully and immutably created each person as male or female," the letter continued.

"We do not believe sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message," it added.

The message concluded by expressing a "duty and responsibility" for the safety of the students, expressing that standing on their beliefs "means more" than the game.

The school then asked recipients to congratulate the student-athletes.

'We will always stand for Biblical truth.'

The male student was identified by outlet Reduxx as Henry Hanlon, a senior who also plays on the Waldorf girls' basketball team.

Hanlon has likely sparked previous forfeits in basketball, particularly from the Islamic school Averroes High School, which declined to specify the reason for its forfeiture.

In a statement to Blaze News, Stone Ridge said it intends to stand for what the school believes is the truth.

"We will always stand for Biblical truth and what is right."

"Girls must compete against girls for fairness safety and truth," the school added.

Stone Ridge has a history of going against the grain in the ultra-liberal state of California. In 2021, it was one of three schools to receive a two-year playoff ban in high school football for playing while COVID-19 shutdowns were in effect.

Capital Christian, Ripon Christian, and Stone Ridge received bans, in addition to their teams and athletic departments being placed on probation.

Sac-Joaquin Section school district said at the time that while it "understood that the postponement of interscholastic athletics" was "frustrating," it expected all schools to follow the rules set forth by the governor's office.

Commissioner Michael Garrison called the shutdown a "public safety issue" and expressed disappointment that the schools did not follow directives.

Stone Ridge is reportedly seeking counsel for the volleyball debacle from Alliance Defending Freedom.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

‘Hard times create strong men’: Gavin McInnes on why woke tyrants made the right stronger



Donald Trump’s victory made one thing crystal clear: Generation X is sick and tired of the left, and Gavin McInnes of “Get Off My Lawn” has some suspicions as to why that is.

“We had ‘Caddy Shack’ and we had ‘Blazing Saddles,’ so we remember when things were fun and funny. I think, unfortunately, Millennials didn’t experience that kind of no-holds-barred language,” McInnes tells Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight.”

“We played their game of being politically correct and watching what we say, and it was really un-fun, and it sucked. And now we have Trump’s DA or Trump’s lawyer saying, ‘Hey Tish, we’re going to put your fat a** in jail,’” he says, adding, “It makes me feel at home. I’m no longer homesick for the glory days of comedy.”

And the past four years of being shackled by made-up woke rules have only led more Americans to feel the same way.


“I think that having four years of Biden was the best thing that could possibly happen to us as MAGA extremists, because it did two things. It showed America what life is going to be like under this bureaucracy, this Marxist war on meritocracy. So they saw how bad things can get when the Kamala camp is in charge,” McInnes explains.

“And it gave Trump a chance to sort of regroup and realize that hiring neocons like John Bolton, hiring trans lovers like General Milley, hiring his son-in-law and his daughter, he was screwing up. It was a real learning curve those first four years,” he continues, noting that this is why the break was so good for him.

Not only has the Biden-Harris administration gotten weaker as Trump has grown stronger, but the mainstream media has started to fall apart as alternative media has become the source many Americans trust instead for their information.

“I think you’re going to see the Blaze, Daily Wire, even weird outcasts like Censored.TV become numbers-wise the mainstream. I mean, we see that with Joe Rogan and his podcast. He’s supposed to be the outcast and he’s getting millions, tens of millions more eyeballs than MSM,” McInnes says.

“Hard times create strong men,” he says, adding, “They’ve hammered us so hard, that we’re just stronger and better.”

Want more from 'Blaze News Tonight'?

To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

NBA star fined $100K for jokingly saying 'no homo' during postgame interview — league calls remark 'offensive'



Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball was swiftly fined by the NBA for making a joke during a postgame interview that the league deemed "derogatory."

After a 115-114 nail-biting victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on November 16, Ball was asked for his comments on the final play of the game.

"What did you see right here when Giannis [Antetokounmpo] took that shot and everyone was underneath the basket for that rebound?" a reporter asked the 23-year-old.

After confirming what the reporter said, Ball responded with his $100,000 answer.

"We loaded up — no homo — that's what we wanted. Put the hand up and then live with the results," the point guard replied.

It didn't take long for NBA officials to push out a press release calling Ball's joke "offensive" and slapping him with the whopping fine.

"Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball has been fined $100,000 for making an offensive and derogatory comment in a postgame interview, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations," the league wrote.

— (@)

'... I don't discriminate.'

The next day, head coach Charles Lee said the organization "obviously" does not condone Ball's language.

"Our standards and what is required of our players in our environment that we create is really important to us," the coach claimed during a press conference. "I spoke to Melo and he's obviously very apologetic from what I've seen since I've been around him. He loves everyone and he's a joy to have around in the facility, and that's not typically how he operates."

The coach added that his star player now knows "what's going to be expected of him" and claimed Ball wants to "be better" going forward.

According to TMZ, Ball told journalists following Sunday's 128-114 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers that he "really didn't mean anything" by the remark and that he doesn't "want to offend anybody."

"I've got love for everybody ... and I don't discriminate," Ball reportedly added.

The fifth-year player is averaging 29.7 points per game in 2024-2025 and is in the first year of a five-year contract extension that has him averaging over $40 million per season.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!