Celebrities
When Hillary Clinton and Donald were friends
The sensational, spidery plot of the most gripping game of thrones in modern history is best captured by two images. The first is from Donald J. Trump’s extravagant third wedding at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2005: The junior senator from New York, glowing in gold silk and pearls, smiles up at the mogul in white tie with genuine delight as he says something that cracks up Hillary, Bill and Trump’s bejeweled bride, Melania. Donald and Hillary look “just like teenagers in love” in the flashbulb moment, as David Patrick Columbia, the editor of the website New York Social Diary, notes dryly.
The second, more sinister image is from the St. Louis presidential debate last month: A Tang-colored Trump looms behind Hillary like a horror-movie fiend as she makes a point, while three of Trump’s guests in the front row, women who accused Bill of sexual assault, give her the stink eye and Chelsea and Bill sit nearby looking grim. What a difference a decade makes: from a Babylonian celebration, with Hillary and Bill cozying up to Donald, to a seething face-off, with Donald summoning ghosts from Bill’s scandalous past and threatening to throw Hillary in the clink if he’s elected.
We are in the final days of the first presidential contest between two New Yorkers in 72 years, since Thomas Dewey ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt: The 42-year-old Republican governor of New York used a Trump-style attack on the 62-year-old Democratic president, calling him “a tired old man.” On election night, the party and the wake will both be held in Manhattan. Hillary will hold hers at the Javits Convention Center, with its literal glass ceiling and, as The Times’s campaign reporter Maggie Haberman noted, an air of trolling: Back in the late 1970s, Trump wanted to build the center and slap the Trump name on it, but the city refused.
In this historically dreadful and mesmerizing election, which could lead to the death of the Republican Party and the ideological makeover of the Democratic Party, the New York aspect has been largely overshadowed. Only Lin-Manuel Miranda made a point of highlighting it, on “Saturday Night Live,” urging people to take their minds off the crazy election by coming to “Hamilton”: “It’s about two famous New York politicians locked in a dirty, ugly, mudslinging political campaign. Escapism!”
In the “single compact arena” of New York, E.B. White wrote, a gladiator and a promoter can come together in a city vibrating with great undertakings. “These two names, for the last two or three decades, represent what has been incredible and vulgar about this country at the same time,” says the Manhattan ad man and television personality Donny Deutsch. “We can trace our downfalls or upticks as a society through them.” The story of how Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rose and reinvented themselves and embraced and brawled is the story of New York itself. It is a tale of power, influence, class, society and ambition that might have intrigued Edith Wharton, whose family once owned a grand home down the block from what is now Trump Tower.
The Clintons started their move to New York from Washington in 2000, so Hillary could pursue her bid for the United States Senate and fly on her own after the Monica Lewinsky scandal. She had never lived in New York, but carpetbagging was no sin to cosmopolitan New Yorkers, who embraced Bobby Kennedy when he decamped from Massachusetts and suburban Washington in 1964, so she looked North to Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Senate seat.
When they arrived, the Clintons found a lot of raw nerve endings among the moneyed elite, who were bitterly divided following Bush v. Gore. Although wealthy Democrats and Republicans in New York have largely united around Hillary this time, business executives were more suspicious of Gore than they were of the Clintons. In those days, Democrats were complaining that the election had been stolen from them, and Republicans were whinging that it had almost been stolen from them.
Hillary knew she should not be seen as a Manhattan insider, so just as Bobby chose Long Island as his base, she chose Westchester. She recast herself as a Yankees-loving New Yorker in the city and a Chicago-born daughter of the Great Lakes when she campaigned upstate. New York — and being a senator in the horrific aftermath of 9/11 — would change Hillary. “It toughened her up,” says Senator Charles Schumer of New York. “She’s harder-nosed about things. Life did that, but New York did, too.”
Bill also needed a reinvention. After the impeachment and the Marc Rich pardon, he was in bad odor. He had to abandon plans to rent lavish offices for their foundation in Carnegie Hall Tower for almost $800,000 a year after critics pounced. He moved instead into offices in Harlem for $210,000 a year. The mulligan-loving ex-president was snubbed by four of the prestigious Westchester County golf clubs he reportedly tried to join. As Trump marveled to me at the time: “Now Clinton can’t get into golf clubs in Westchester. A former president begging to get in a golf club. It’s unthinkable.” Bill started an elaborate campaign to improve his image, making speeches at colleges and enlisting former cabinet members and other surrogates to talk up his legacy. Once Bill moved up in public estimation, he moved downtown with the foundation.
With Hillary’s Senate bid underway, the Clintons held out their tin cup. They had been fund-raising in the city nonstop since 1990, but the asks intensified as they started their foundation in 2001 and rubbed shoulders with all the new wealth on Wall Street, which was driven by hedge funds and technology funds. With book deals and lucrative speeches and Bill’s role as an adviser to Ronald Burkle’s private-equity firm, Yucaipa, the Clintons worked their way out of the debt accrued by legal bills from a cascade of federal investigations to earn an estimated $230 million in the next 15 years.
As the Clintons fashioned a new life in New York, Trump was transforming himself as well — from a risk-taking developer facing bankruptcy to a low-risk licenser of his name for other people’s projects, from a brazen builder to a gilded reality-TV star on “The Apprentice.” He had come out of Queens, a pushy New York kid with family money but no social tools to climb the society ladder. “Even stuck out on Avenue Z, his head was always in Manhattan,” says Wayne Barrett, author of the biography “Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth.” Gwenda Blair, author of “The Trumps,” says Trump, resplendent in the ’70s in his three-piece burgundy suit with matching shoes and matching limo, recalled “this strapping lad from the provinces who comes to the city, like a figure out of Balzac’s ‘Lost Illusions.’ ”
Celebrities
‘It’s Christ over earthly possession’ — Judikay ends rift with EeZee Conceptz

Judikay, the Nigerian gospel singer, has announced her decision to step away from the controversy surrounding her former record label, EeZee Conceptz.
In June 2024, Judikay petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, the founder of EeZee Conceptz.
She accused Ezekiel and his label of falsifying accounts and committing theft against her to the tune of £800,000.
The label founder was recently charged by the EFCC for the alleged exploitation of the gospel singer.
However in an Instagram post on Saturday, the ‘Capable God’ hitmaker said she has decided to “walk away” from the drama and prioritize the greater good and unity of the body of Christ.
She expressed her gratitude to her colleagues, family, and fellow believers for their support “during this period”.
“After prayerful consideration, I have made the deliberate decision to walk away from this entire drama and I choose to prioritise the greater good and unity of the body of Christ,” she wrote.
“My role as a member of the body of Christ takes precedence and I willingly make this sacrifice, drawing strength from the knowledge that Christ is of far greater worth than any earthly possession or vindication.
“With this conviction, I choose to step away. I sincerely express my heartfelt gratitude to the leaders in the body of Christ, my fellow believers, the gospel music community, and my precious family for their continued encouragement and prayers during this period.
“My focus and commitment remains on Jesus Christ and this ministry HE entrusted in my hands.”
Celebrities
‘Mention people who used, dumped you’ — Nons Miraj dares viral fish pie seller

Nons Miraj, the content creator, has responded to a recent claim made by Alax Evalsam, the pastry seller known for his signature ‘Fish Pie’ tune.
In August 2024, Alax’s life changed when he posted a video of himself singing while hawking his fish pies on TikTok.
Following his social media popularity, rumours circulated that Alax had received large sums of money from celebrities.
Miraj was one of the celebrities who helped him. She visited him, moved him into a rented apartment, and gifted him N200,000 and a car.
But on Wednesday, Alax claimed he was “used and dumped” by the people who supported him during his viral moment.
Reacting to Alax’s claims, Miraj challenged him to publicly reveal the names of those who allegedly took advantage of him.
The content creator insisted that her brand should not be associated with Alax’s claims, emphasizing that she had done her part to help him.
“You said some people used you; please do me a favor like I have done you a favor. Come out and clear the air on who used you,” she said in an Instagram video.
“I am not a user, God uses me to bless and help people. Don’t ruin my brand because you don’t want to call names. I’m daring you now to call the names of people that used you.
“The car, clothes, and house I gifted you are still with you. Don’t ruin my brand with this claim; call the names of the users, but don’t associate my brand with this.
“Out of all the people I have helped, I spent more money on you. My friends were against buying you a car but I bought it because I feel it is good for you to be mobile after being public.
“I also got you a deal with 1XBet. What else do you want from me? I have given you the necessary things so help yourself to the next level.”
Celebrities
James Nolan, Briton who jumped bail, waives right to call witnesses in P&ID fraud trial

James Nolan, a British national on trial over his involvement in the Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) fraud, has waived his right to call witnesses for his defence.
Nolan is standing trial alongside a company, Micad Project City Services Limited, on a 20-count charge of obtaining by false pretence, non-compliance with the Money Laundering Act 2011 (as amended), and criminal conversion of proceeds of crime to the tune of N151,394,328.
At the court session on Thursday, Bala Sanga, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told the court that the business of the day would have been for the prosecution to call its last witness.
“But upon review of the case, we found that it is superfluous, and therefore we are dispensing with the last witness,” Sanga said.
Michael Ajara, Nolan’s counsel, did not oppose the prosecution’s submission.
Ajara told the court that the defence team would rely on the evidence and witnesses brought by the prosecution.
“Based on the evidence already before the court adduced by the prosecution, we shall be resting our case on theirs. So, we don’t intend to call any witness,” he said.
Obiora Egwuatu, the presiding judge, adjourned the matter until March 10 to adopt the parties’ final written addresses.